President's Letter

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November 2009

I just returned from speaking at the annual missions conference for Appalachian Bible College.  What a blessing to be involved at this college where young men and women are training to serve the Lord.  Dr. Dan Anderson is a fine president and his spiritual leadership is very evident at the college.

One of the messages I presented was about “following Jesus.”  You will remember in the scriptures how Jesus called the disciples and said, “Follow me.”  Peter, James, and John were fishermen.  Matthew was a tax collector.  At a later date, Jesus amplified what it meant to follow Him.  He says in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, verse twenty-four that to follow demands denial of self and picking up your cross. 

The implication of following Christ means I will leave something, deny my own desires for His, and in humility, bear the cross (my assigned duty) and keep my eyes on Him.  I fear that many Christians say they follow Christ, but have not realized the implications of doing so.  In the Old Testament, God says of Caleb, “he has wholly followed me,” Numbers 14:24.  There is a difference in following or wholly following.  I like to use the concept of “being engaged.”  An automobile with a standard transmission (remember your first experience) has a clutch.  To disengage the clutch, you must push the pedal down which in turns pushes against the throw out bearing which pushes against the fingers of the pressure plate which releases the clutch plate from the fly wheel.  To engage the clutch, you do the opposite (aren’t you glad I gave you all that useless information?).  I say all this to say, followers need to be engaged.

Most church planters are engaged followers.  They have left their homes and employment, denied their own desires, and have taken up their cross (assigned duty) to serve Jesus Christ.  The temptation every church planter faces (and which we all face) is physically being where God wants us but not there with our heart.  I once read this statement, “there but not there.” 
Where are you?  Are you at church, but not really there?  Are you an engaged follower? 

On a lighter note, my wife and I were talking the other night via phone and she shared with me the delight in reading last month’s receipt letter.  You see, we get the letter I write because we too are monthly donors.  If you like to read my monthly letter, you can donate monthly, or you can go on the web page (bcpusa.org) and click on publications and then the President’s letter. 

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