1 Timothy 4 is referenced many times when speaking to the youth. We, in the Church, talk about growing up our young people, but do we really do it? What are your thoughts about this chapter and Paul and Timothy’s example?
The verse that is generally quoted either to or about young people in ministry is verse 12:
Don’t let anyone make fun of you, just because you are young. Set an example for other followers by what you say and do, as well as by your love, faith, and purity. (CEV)
There’s two ways to go wrong in reading this passage. The first is to read it as addressing only the older members of the congregation. Sermons based on this reading generally start by explaining how Paul put Timothy in a leadership position and told him not to let others make fun of him or despise him, so modern church leaders should put more young people in ministry.
The second is to read it as addressing solely the young person. This reading is for sermons explaining to young people how they must step up to the plate when they are placed in a position of leadership. This latter reading pays more attention to the context, particularly the last part of the verse, but it still misses part of what Paul* is getting at.
To get the message you need to read the whole book of 1 Timothy, but you can get a good deal of the message by just starting at the beginning of chapter 4, where Paul concludes the main portion of the letter. Here we have a warning regarding false teachings that will come. Paul is discussing ministry specifically in terms of how leadership is to deal with it.
Briefly, in verses 1-4, Paul tells us what the problem is, and in 5-10 he basically tells Timothy to keep his focus on ministry. Starting in verse 11 he gets specific about how Timothy personally should respond.
He’s not telling us who should be a leader; he does not question that Timothy is rightfully a leader. He’s interested in how a leader must behave so as to confront false doctrine and bad behavior. In this he starts with how the leader must behave. He is to be an example to the believers.
You might paraphrase the message in this way: “Timothy, you’re a leader, and people might try to despise you because of your age. In order to meet this challenge you need to be above reproach. Your life should be an example to those you lead.”
This isn’t a message that applies only to young people. People might despise your leadership because you’re too old, too young, not from around here, from around here (so you can’t be an expert), or for any of a number of other reasons.
There’s a message here for the people in leadership: Prepare and then commission. In the church we frequently spend years training people, but never let them get out and lead. On the other hand, we are constantly shoving unprepared people into positions of leadership. Sometimes the choice of church leaders involves the least time of prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit, rather than the most. But Paul specifically mentions that Timothy was commissioned because God had spoken (v. 14).
Let me summarize what Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4 for the church:
We need to be preparing people, young and old, for ministry. We have plenty of time with Sunday School classes to train . We need to do it.
When we choose leaders we need to pray, listen to the Holy Spirit, and identify the persons God is gifting for a particular position of leadership. Once we identify the gift, we need to learn to ignore all the irrelevant reasons people will find to oppose leadership. In Timothy’s case it was age, but there are many other possible reasons.
Once a leader is chosen, he or she is responsible to be an example. If there is to be opposition, let that opposition be unfounded.
*While some scholars maintain that 1 Timothy was written by a disciple after Paul’s death because of the church structure it reflects, amongst other things, I would disagree. I think arguments for dating of New Testament books based on the development of church structures ignore the derivation of early church structures from the synagogue and other structures in the surrounding culture.
Think of us as servants of Christ who have been given the work of explaining God’s mysterious ways. And since our first duty is to be faithful to the one we work for, it doesn’t matter to me if I am judged by you or even by a court of law. In fact, I don’t judge myself. 1 Corinthians 4:1-3 (CEV)
The mission and vision of Bible Study Paths is to encourage enthusiastic Bible study in individuals and in the Church. It is to help us acknowledge the hunger and questions inside of us that can only be fed through the Living Bread of God’s Word.
I am saddened this month that only one person was nominated for the 2010 Bible Path Award. This person has been a tremendous influence on many, many people that I know. But this person is not the only one. Whether it is in a classroom, a sanctuary, a living room, or sitting at a table in the restaurant, there are people who have blessed me with their passion for God’s Word. Freely they have received and freely they have given to me! (Matthew 10:8) I wish I could nominate them all!
As we look at the modern Church, how many members are active? What is the percentage of those who attend worship once per week and those who do that and also attend a weekly Bible study? And how many encourage and mentor a ‘younger’ Believer? (And thousands of dollars are spent on surveys and studies to determine why the Church is declining!) All these things are vital to producing strong, deep roots in God’s vineyard. When will we learn to take the hard look at our life and set the priorities as God directs instead of allowing ourselves to be tossed about on the world’s sea? When will we live a real life example for our children and their children?
Take a moment and give thanks for those who have sown into your life, helping your to grow in your spiritual life. Maybe the Lord will speak to your spirit to send an email or card or pick up the phone and encourage this person who has given so freely to strengthen your feeble limbs.
Thank You, Lord, for these people in my life. Thank You for sending them with Your message. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
A comedian once said that people have the silly impression that the glass in cars somehow shields us from others seeing in. He wonders how could we think we were hidden by such a transparent material when it is so obvious that if we can see out certainly others can see in! It is so true! When I think about the things I’ve done “behind the windshield,” it just makes me burst out in fits of laughter! I’m quite sure that no other woman has perfected the art of the 5-minute make-up fix in the overhead mirror the way that I have. But, I’m really talking about time with God —praise, worship, and prayer kinds of things–hands waving, arms outstretched, heart totally revealed to God from the driver’s seat and hurtling toward destinations of His choosing. I think you get the picture. Glass is a two-way material.
Prophetic intercession is more than just walking places and proclaiming in English things that WE think God wants us to proclaim for Him. The majority of the time I have spent in prophetic intercession was behind the wheel of my Suzuki XL7, totally immersed in speaking in tongues, following His directions, without knowing where or why I was being sent–only that He was sending me. The things that are seen through that glass!
Now, I don’t want you to think that these “prayer rides” happen on a whim. Many times, the Lord will begin revealing certain issues months before a prayer ride actually takes place. The revelations determine a general course of a large ride. It is almost like a jigsaw puzzle. You can see how certain pieces fit together, but–well, God sometimes removes the box lid before He dumps the pieces out. That’s where faith comes in–and trust. You can’t always see the bigger picture. He teaches you to trust Him with the big things in life by starting with the smaller pieces. He reveals what you need to know, when you need to know it–and I’m not just talking about prayer rides here. It is the space between the beginning and the end that are filled with His surprises and delight–and His blessings. One time, while in Bessemer, AL, I rode by a little storefront. It was in a seemingly forgotten part of town, and truthfully, looked like a junk store. The Lord said to go in there. So, always up for an adventure with Him, I parked and walked in. As I looked around, trying to figure out why I might be in there, I saw a most pleasant woman sitting at her desk. A prayer request box was sitting on the desk. That sparked a conversation during which it came out that she was a pastor. She didn’t have an appointed church, she said, but the Lord led me to tell her that this store* was her church. We talked about how every customer that came through those doors would be ministered to by her sweet spirit and willing heart to help those who were hurting. A wonderful prayer and blessing followed. She gave me a candle that I still have. One day, we’ll see each other again. What a report I hope to hear–whether here on earth or in Heaven!
Another story that cannot be overlooked here was in a section of NW Alabama that the Lord sent me through. Two counties and countless cow pastures; towns that didn’t even have a red light, where no car passed me in either direction on those beautiful country backroads. Six months later, a dear pastor friend and a life mentor of mine sent me a random email to let me know what she had been up to. She mentioned, casually, that she was conducting a revival in the very small town of Valley, AL, that had been at the heart of the two county ride six months earlier. Needless to say, I attended the revival and what an awesome time the Lord gave. Along with a small restaurant, Canada’s Homestyle Cafe, at exit 77 on I-85, we had some good food that trip–spiritual and natural! You never know how God is going to thread things together! Next time you and your family are through there, stop by and tell Miss Velma that Iris sent you. You will be blessed by her loving heart and her gracious hospitality. After a down home meal, you might need to take a nap before you get back on the road!
It is true that my tires have traveled through many cities and across many miles–50,000+ in one year. Those were some incredible trips. When you travel for God, you are listening to His directions true; but it’s His nature that is to be your guide. He seeks to spread His love. That’s the main purpose of a prayer ride–spreading His love into places, and sometimes the lives of people, who just need a touch. He can do that through us when we surrender our limited understanding of how He can use us. He can speak from behind that glass through our praise and worship, our spirit prayers, or His proclamations through our lips. Those trips transform the lives of not only those people whose cities we ride through but also our own. His revealed power and glory in the lives of others bring us to a new understanding of who He is to US; and more importantly, who we are to Him. A new place that we all need to come to understand –a place of transparent existence in Him, for those looking out and in. And, after all, isn’t that where THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD? Rosie’s Unique Place, 527 19th Street North, Bessemer, AL 35020.
World Prayr was a vision given to Pastor Patrick Badstibner that God has grown by His Spirit into an organization of people founded on the belief that the second greatest commandment Christ gave us was to “love your brother as yourself.” We show we are his followers, not by what we might term “religious acts” but by our love for one another.
There are many team members who contribute to the success of World Prayr’s mission – bloggers, ezine and online store managers, business managers, the senior council team, Pastor Pat’s council of twelve and the trustees. Many are laying the foundation and the building blocks for what will hopefully be a ministry organization that will serve long after the founders have gone to be with their beloved Savior. BSP: What is the day-to-day mission of World Prayer?
World Prayr aggressively evangelizes the web providing online resources of encouragement, support, and prayer. It is also developing a network of believers in Christ that re-connect hurting people to local ministries and local bodies of believers, providing fellowship, support, and real answers; and treat them as family ought to be treated – nothing more nothing less.
As World Prayr began to take focus, one of the things that became obvious to its leaders was the tremendous disconnect of those online in these networks. As we watched, prayers came through our streams – the pain, hurt, despair, and feeling of loss was overwhelming. The physical, emotional, and spiritual needs were huge. People are disconnected in a multitude of ways including some of the following:
Need for a relationship with Christ
Believers who need fellowship in the body of Christ
Emotional pain
Financial challenges
Career changes and uncertainties
Too long has the body of Christ allowed itself to be divided by secondary issues, instead of making those outside the body envious to be in it. These divisions have made the body unattractive and have resulted in great chasms in the body of Christ.
It is within those chasms that World Prayr has chosen to work. It is our hope that in building connections and developing systems and methods to serve Christ that we will be able to work towards reconnecting those holes and letting the world know we are one. BSP: What systems and methodologies is World Prayr developing and working on to put in place?
World Prayr is currently working on and developing the following systems to serve those hurts we see and help put feet on the many prayers we see.
We are constantly at work developing a mission force using web technology to go into those sites where people are hurting
We are working on developing an online a connection point in times of emotional difficulty; to offer real hope
We are working on developing a connection point for support in budget management and career counseling
We are looking at creating ways to generate multiple streams of income; helping those in need and financially hurting to create new ways of generating income
We are making connections with other ministries and churches; we are working towards bridging that gap.
We are giving of our resources, time, and knowledge to serve others. In doing so we are exhibiting to the World our passionate love for another.
BSP: How can someone who is reading this help “put feet to prayers”?
We are on a definitive mission to put feet on the hundreds of prayers we see. As such, to say we need prayer would be stating the obvious. We welcome people who would like to serve in World Prayer. There are many ways to volunteer. We are in constant need of support from financial to time to other gifts that we may not have identified but that God has laid on your heart. If you are looking to be part of a bridge uniting the body of Christ and want to be part of a global effort to help put feet on people’s prayers as well as pray for others, World Prayr needs you! Contact us at: volunteer@worldprayr.org. BSP: Let’s hear from three World Prayr members. Each was given this question: What does reconnecting a broken world mean to you and how does your answer and your role fit in with the mission of World Prayr? Bob Kimball, CFO, World Prayr:
“We are all broken people as a result of sin inherited from Adam and practiced in our daily lives. Christ came to save us from our sin, but not only that, to sanctify us through his Spirit (2 Thessalonians 2:13). This can be termed the “restorative value of redemption.” In the words of John Donne, “no man is an island, entire of itself…” We are, or should be, connected to others and to Christ, but such bonds are severed by sin. Those of use who belong to Christ by faith and experiencing his sanctifying work, are called by Him to participate in His restorative work by bringing his message of salvation to others and healing the bonds broken by sin. We do this by helping others connect with a local body of believers where they can experience the human touch rather than virtually, and by helping fulfill needs under the right conditions.
My current role as CFO fits in with this by providing financial accountability, not just within the organization of World Prayr Inc, but helping those we come in contact with via World Prayr to be accountable to others.”
Pastor Bob Kimball became a follower of Christ in the summer of 1974. He graduated from a Bible College in 1981, was ordained, and worked at a Christian school for a year. He then went back for more schooling and received a Bachelors degree in Computer Science, married, and moved to Atlanta in 1989. He is a manager in the IT department at T-Mobile. He’s the father of special needs twins, which inspired his twitter name as @dadofspeckids. He has participated in music ministries in churches by singing in ensemble groups to lead worship. Dora Perry, CPO and Network Coordinator, World Prayr:
“Reconnecting a broken world to me means to bring the hurting and the lost into the Light of Jesus. Revealing to them that there is a Savior who loves them unconditionally very much, and Who wants to forgive them of their past and give them an eternal future with Him. I am the person responsible for building that connection process. I look for ministries, churches, and organizations around the world that we can connect these precious lost sheep to that need Jesus in their lives.”
Dora Perry started in a stock brokerage in the cage at the age of 18 where she eventually advanced to Trade Controller. As a Broker/Owner of her own Real Estate Co. she was associated with a company that worked for several major banks completing Broker Price Opinions. She was ranked 1ST in Indiana and 5TH in the Nation in this area of her business. She a wife and a mother of seven. She has one granddaughter and a God-grandson. She is also a sponsor at Network Goodness, which is a company whose goal is to help end world hunger by feeding the starving children worldwide. A voice for the persecuted Christians and a prayer warrior. Gary Patton, COO and Director of the World Prayr e-store:
“I think Paul said it best in Colossians 2:19 He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow”.
I, like so many people in this world today are struggling, not because of the physical world, God’s wonderful creation, but because of the spiritual ruler of this world, Satan.
Fortunately my Heavenly Father did not leave me to wander this modern day wilderness, he sent His people to lead me back to Him (note the word “back”). We are all His, always have been, it just takes someone or something to remind us of the love that God has for us….ALL OF US. I want to help remind people of this love and my position within World Prayr is both to assist and empower the people called by God to this Ministry to achieve His purpose.
I invite you to read Colossians 2 in it’s entirety and think of me whilst you do.
God loves you so much that He gave His only Son that we may be re-connected to Him.”
Dr. David Alan BlackDavid Alan Black
Known for his love for New Testament Greek and passion for teaching, Dave Black is a husband, father, professor, author, preacher, lecturer, web journalist, and (above all) a sinner saved by God’s sovereign grace.
Dave is a political iconoclast who takes his constitutional ideals seriously. He is also committed to challenging the church to return to the simple patterns of Scripture.
Dave Black holds a doctorate in theology from the University of Basel in Switzerland and has taught New Testament and Greek for over 30 years. He is also the editor of the popular website, Dave Black Online. He has published over 20 books, including The Myth of Adolescence, Interpreting the New Testament, It’s Still Greek to Me, and Why Four Gospels? He and his wife live on a 123-acre working farm in southern Virginia and are self-supporting missionaries to Ethiopia, which they visit twice each year. Ephesians 4 speaks of God’s appointments to pastors, prophets, apostles, evangelists, and teachers. It does not mention “missionaries”. Did God leave this appointment out?
Reader, you are correct that English translations of the New Testament do not contain the word “missionary.” However, the Greek word apostolos can have that meaning in certain contexts. For example, in Philippians 2:25 Epaphroditus, who represented the Philippian church to Paul in prison, is called an apostolos. Here the term clearly refers to someone who is sent out from a local congregation on a mission trip, in this case to minister to Paul’s needs while he was in prison. A modern example might be the missionaries Becky and I take with us to Ethiopia. Each of them represents their own local church in America. They must be approved by the church leadership, they must be appointed by them to serve, and they must be held up in prayer while they are gone. When they return from their trip they must report to their churches what God is doing in Ethiopia. Our goal in taking such “apostles” with us is to deepen relationships between local churches in America and local churches in Ethiopia.
Notice that I did not refer to our team members as “professional” missionaries or “paid” missionaries. In the New Testament, Paul worked hard to support himself when he could, so as not to be a burden on others. One does not have to be on the staff of a missions organization to be a missionary. In fact, if I understand the Great Commission correctly, every follower of Jesus is to be His personal representative (i.e., apostolos) on this earth!
Youth GatherTimothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected theses and so have shipwrecked their faith. 1 Timothy 1:18-19 (NIV) Erin McClellan, youth director, wife, and mother, has a heart for the young people that she has been charged to pastor. Like most who are in youth ministry, she must work with little financial support and leftover space and resources. BSP asked Erin to share her heart about the ministry she has been given.
The focus for the young people that I work with may not fit in any stereotype you know. My group of young people, by and large, do not come from “church-going” families. I do not have the luxury of many years of Sunday School exposure when it comes to Bible study and lessons. With Bible study, I am simply trying to find stories or passages that introduce who God is, his attributes, as well as his love and plan for salvation. I do not focus lessons on outward things such as dress, music styles, or even profanity. I would rather spend the short time we have together focusing on what they should do, rather than what they should not do.
I have found that if I can get a young person to love God, family, friends, and even strangers I won’t have problems with theft, fighting, or a plethora of bad deeds. If I can show them the importance of speaking kindly to one another, there won’t be the need to teach about profanity. I have such a short period of time with my kids, that I don’t want to draw so much attention to trivial stuff – If they get the important stuff in first, the rest will follow naturally.
The tools that I use to gain that focus are absolutely anything that will reach my young people. We play games of all sorts, videos, music, acting things out, and field trips. One of my favorites is to use a completely secular movie and then ask them to explain to me how all or any part of the movie relates to God, Jesus, or church. It makes them think and I am frequently surprised by the answers.
For example, two weeks ago I took them to see “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.” When I asked what symbolism they saw, I got answers about how it seemed the Greeks made their gods very human-like with fighting, sex, anger, hatred, and selfishness. Also, how real hell seemed and how the main character was Jesus-like in his quest to redeem his mother. I feel that if they can learn to look for God or examples of God in everyday situations and circumstances, they’ll be far more likely to hear Him when He speaks or notice where He might be working.
Parents, church leaders, and those who are ‘older’ in their faith are so important to these young adults as they grow up. The bottom line is: Love them. Period. It is the hardest thing to do and the only thing that will bring real results.
More than once I have heard negativity from people in my own church and other churches as they complain how kids today are so much more disrespectful and heathenistic. Perhaps that is true. Yet, my thoughts are always: “well, how much time did you spend on your face before God praying and interceding for them, body, mind and soul, before you came to me?” “Why is it that you haven’t come to me before and asked how you can be involved with sports or discipleship or Bible study or prayer?” The painful and incredibly harsh sounding answer is: they don’t really love them. If I truly love someone, I will be willing to spend time with them, pray for them, sacrificing my time and money to make sure they grow up to be Godly men and women.
Editor’s Table
More prophets – More pastors – More evangelists – More teachers – More apostles? Paul says that God gave us these to build His kingdom (Ephesians 4). He also said that we have been given gifts to help each other; these gifts are not just for ourselves (Romans 12). I believe that one of the gifts we most need in abundance is encouragement. If our time in the world (job, relationships, every day stresses like finances) doesn’t beat us up enough, we also receive plenty of bruises and verbal flogging within the church. Yes, within the church! If you are puzzled by my statement, maybe you have never been the chairperson of a committee, organized an event, been a Sunday School teacher, or noticed the fatigue in your pastor or the worship leader. Where is Barnabas?
We first hear about Barnabas (originally Joseph) in Acts 4 when his name change is clarified as ‘the Encourager’ as he brings the offering of the proceeds from the field he sold. His free offering is set in direct contrast to the manipulative, partial-offering of Ananias and Sapphira. Barnabas is then portrayed as the ‘other half’ of the team for the very volatile and high-energy Paul. It is Barnabas who connects the man who was Saul the persecutor to the disciples in Jerusalem who are understandably wary of bringing Paul into that inner circle of the Church’s leadership. Given Paul’s personality I believe it is reasonable to assume that it is Barnabas who takes care of the details that will implement the visions that Paul has been given for the various churches. I can see Barnabas meeting with the workers in the church and showing them how to set up widow and orphan care and encouraging the worship leaders to bring together all the pieces on Sabbath. And when Paul hears of dissension in the church they left flourishing three months ago, it is Barnabas who is used to sift through the emotions and hear the truth of the choices that each fellowship has made as they move through growing pains.
We need encouragers who will listen to God’s Spirit that inspires a note to a struggling member in the Body. We need encouragers who will speak the truth of God in a committee, bringing the focus to God’s plan of serving others, especially unbelievers, new believers, children, and those in His focused mission of a given church. We need encouragers who will inspire and empower others to be involved in the ministry of Christ, not just pew sitters. We need encouragers who will send that card, that email, that text message to workers, those seen and those behind the scenes, who need that “’Way to go!”, “Thank you!”, and “We so appreciate you!”. It is Living Water from the well of God. The thirsty workers may have allowed themselves to become so busy that they do not even realize that they are dehydrated!
An encourager who greatly impacted my life and many, many in our church was Janet, a senior citizen who told me that she sometimes felt that she wasn’t doing enough for Jesus since her health had declined and she spent a great deal of her time caring for her husband who had Alzheimer’s. She did not realize the HUGE impact her well-timed notes. Her notes would arrive so timely, usually not because of any significant thing that I had done but because she felt the “nudge of God” (her words) to write a note to encourage. When she died a few years ago, the gathering to celebrate her life filled a sanctuary with an infinite number of stories about Janet’s notes. I will even go out on a spiritual limb and say that her notes made as significant an impact on God’s Kingdom as any prophecy that has been spoken.
Have you felt the “nudge of God” this week? Have you taken the time to notice someone’s weary eyes or slumped shoulders? In this day of texting, email, ecards, Twitter, Facebook, and Skype, we all have many, even convenient, ways to send a word of encouragement. The Kingdom multiplication of those few minutes to receive that “nudge” and obediently respond would be … Let’s do it and see what happens!
Ethiopian People Greeting the MissionariesBSP: When and how did you initially become connected with the people of Ethiopia?
BeckyLynn: Very shortly after my birth 🙂 Before I was walking, my parents loaded me and some large metal barrels with our stuff onto a freighter in New York, bound for Yemen, and then from there to Ethiopia by airplane. Until I was almost 11 years old, Ethiopia was the only home I knew. Half of that time was spent in boarding school far from my parents “down-country”; the other half was spent on the mission station, squatting in the huts eating roasted corn called “kolo”, helping the Ethiopian children herd their goats, etc. It was a very special upbringing, full of unique challenges, but also wonderful blessing.
We left Ethiopia on an emergent basis, with only 3 days’ notice. We thought my mother was dying of a brain cancer. Parting with Ethiopia was very traumatic for me. I planned to return as a nurse, so got my bachelor’s degree in nursing. But then God appointed me to be a wife to Dave….so all those preparations were abandoned, and for the next 28 years Ethiopia remained only in my heart.
Dave Black and Ethiopian Baby
In 2004 I took Dave back to Ethiopia to visit my home sites, “so that he’d understand me” 🙂 The second night we were there he plopped his head on the pillow & said, “I love these people so much it hurts!” It was then we knew that God had a work for us to do there. Since then we’ve spent on average 3 months of the year in Ethiopia.
BSP: What is the vision God has given you for His mission in Ethiopia?
BeckyLynn: The work He’s appointed us in this section of His vineyard is simple: help the local Ethiopian churches in Burji, Alaba & Gondar. Burji consists of 33 local churches in the Burji District, far to the south, almost to the Kenya border. No one wants to go to Burji because it is so isolated & it is surrounded by an aggressive warring tribe. It was one of my childhood mission stations, but since 1975 no one has helped these churches. When we visited in 2004, the church elders were pleading with us, “Don’t forget us.” Alaba is an area of Ethiopia that is easily accessible, but it has an almost 100% aggressive Muslim population; persecution of Christians is active. Hence, many are afraid to venture into the Alaba area. In both Burji & Alaba, God has removed all fear from us. We are the only “faranjis” (white-faced foreigners) you will find there. And I cannot tell you how much it means to these dear brothers & sisters in the Lord that we have come to share their burdens! The fellowship we have with them is extremely sweet. The plea from the Gondar churches was for financial assistance in funding evangelists into
Village Comes to Greet BeckyLynn
areas of Ethiopia completely devoid of any believers. This area of Ethiopia is almost exclusively Ethiopian Orthodox; the people are bound up in a religion that is a mixture of superstition, traditions, OT Law and NT Gospel. They are so strongly bound to this religion that they will actively persecute (on order of their priests) anyone who presents the pure, simple Gospel of Jesus’ faith alone. In fact, there is an organization within the church that targets any who forsake the traditions of the church; persecution is far worse than any Muslim’s persecution in Alaba. Because of cultural issues & Ethiopia’s history, only people from the Gondar region can gain a hearing of the Gospel from the people of Gondar. So our evangelists are largely “under cover”; God has blessed this work, and now 3 new local churches have been planted in this spiritually-hard area!
The Clinic in Burji
How do we help these Ethiopia churches? We listen to the church leaders and then pray about what they have said. As the Spirit impresses us, we present to the church leaders a plan of action. They then pray about it..and the Spirit gives us unity in the work. Because each area is different, the help given has been different. For example, in Burji we’ve distributed thousands of Bibles, hundreds of reading glasses, established a medical clinic, established solar-powered loudspeakers & lights in rural churches, helped with buildings for Bible school & church, etc. In Alaba, the great need has been for rural church buildings, charity for the persecuted believers, and Bible teaching. In Gondar, the great need has been salary supplement & assistance with evangelists.
The Work is fairly fluid. Once an engineer asked me, “What is your 5- and 10-year ministry plan?” “Simple, ” I replied…”It’s the same as our 1-year and 1-day plan: to be obedient.” God knows what He is doing in His Work. He knows the future. And when it is time, He will show us our role in His plan. It is too easy to organize the Spirit right out of the Work. We guard ourselves against that.
BSP: How do you raise money?
BeckyLynn: We don’t! (Gotcha, didn’t I :)) Seriously though, we don’t. We do not set targets or goals. We don’t have a budget. We don’t look under every bush or behind every church door for what might be there for the work in Ethiopia. Charity/Church/Mission fund raising has become a huge professional enterprise; whole organizations exist solely to raise funds for other organizations! And they are always doing studies to try to figure out how to be more successful at transferring funds from someone’s pocket to theirs! We don’t participate in any of that.
Dave Preaching — Translator to Dave's right, James, was later martyred
God has promised to care for His own. He has clearly said “don’t worry about it!” So we don’t. And when the Evil One starts insinuating that our Lord is not going to be faithful, the Spirit quietly asks “Has there ever been a time when the money you needed for the Work I’ve appointed was not there?”
When we started this appointment in 2004, it was only Dave & me; we set aside all of my income as a nurse for the Lord’s church in Ethiopia. Someone heard what we were doing, and accused us of being selfish by not letting others know about it. So we began to share the work appointed to us, and God began to bring partners. We simply tell the story of His glory in Ethiopia, and the Spirit appoints laborers, just like He did with us.
The work changes each year; it is dynamic. We don’t have a “program” that we try to sell the Ethiopian churches. We listen to them, we pray about what they have said, we seek His appointment, we plan with the Ethiopia leaders under His guidance….then we communicate that plan/vision/issue to whoever wants to listen…and somehow God creatively sends the things needed for the Work.
One thing we feel strongly about….that is, to try to replicate the ministry of Paul and Jesus. As it pertains to administrative expenses and personal expenses in the work, the Apostle Paul discusses this very plainly in I Corinthians 8-9. In short, he says that as a minister of the Gospel, he has the right to take from the kitty for his personal needs. But in exercising that right, he exposes the Work to the Evil One. He names specifically 4 areas of vulnerability resulting from the exercise of that right: 1) He is tempted to become a servant of those who pay him; their wishes might supersede the Spirit’s prompting; 2) People might accuse him, rightly or wrongly, of doing Gospel work for financial reward; 3) His own motive can become muddied; how does he know for sure that he is not doing the work for its salary or other perks; and 4) receiving support from the kitty tends to blur his vision of the ministry; he will always be thinking of whether the kitty is large enough for his needs, plus that work. Paul’s own testimony was that he “worked day & night” to supply the needs of himself & those with him. It was a costly decision he made is forgoing his right to support.
So, for ourselves, because of these dangers, we have covenanted before the Lord not to take one penny from donations for our own personal needs (our airfare, our in-country expenses, our clothes, immunizations, etc.). Furthermore, we willingly & joyfully pay all administrative expenses (wire fees, speaking costs, printing, phone charges, etc). In this manner, the Evil One has less “ammunition” against us and the Gospel Work, and 100% of the funds sent by partners goes to the Ethiopian churches. (This has always been our policy; it continued in this way even when I retired from my nursing job 3 years ago.)
BSP: How do you bring together team members?
BeckyLynn: It’s funny that you ask this question. We’re getting ready to take the largest group to Ethiopia we’ve taken, and I’ve been asking myself for the past 6 months at least “Lord, how do You bring the Team together?” In the book of Acts, we find such phrases as “it seemed good to us” or “the Spirit led us”….God is certainly a God of order, but He is not a God that is rigid, lifeless, predictable. Part of His glory is creativity. And He delights to do things in a way that floors us!
“The Team” spans the whole continent. Some of the Team goes physically to Ethiopia; our next batch of people is going for the month of July…23 people from the Roxboro/Durham/Wake Forest region of North Carolina. The team after that will probably be from churches in Texas. (Those going are always sent as representatives of churches who have partnered with the Ethiopian churches.) Some of the Team contributes their skills to the work…technical advice in solar power, making recordings, computer expertise, financial management expertise, sewing skills, etc. Some of the Team contributes Prayer…on their knees daily, faithfully struggling for our evangelists, or the clinic staff, or any number of issues that arise; this is probably the hardest & most necessary work of all! Without prayer, there is no power; without power, there is no Kingdom. And finally, some of the Team contributes financial resources…money. Many members of the Team are doing more than one job. The point is that none is more important than the other, no contribution is too small, and all contributions are God-appointed for that individual or church, for that time period, and for that purpose.
“Are you on vacation?” A million responses flew through my mind the first time I was asked while on a road trip for the Lord. The simple answer, “Why, yes. And what a great vacation it has been!” Christmas at Radio City Music Hall
I never knew how important places were to God until the Holy Spirit started taking me to some really strange places! GPS? Unless you are talking about “God’s Positioning System”, you won’t find anything more than an interstate level map in the car and a Frommer’s book in the carry-on! The buildings and things He’s revealed in those places and the people who have been encountered–no travel agent can plan a better trip than Him! Availability, not ability, is the key to traveling with God. With Him as the pilot, you will go farther and longer than you ever dreamed. Remember lesson one: Loosen His Spirit wherever you go. Sometimes that’s all He needs someone to do.
In 2006, my daughter and I took our first trip to NYC and spent the week of Thanksgiving amongst millions of other travelers on the island of Manhattan. A decision was made to see and do all the “touristy” things in that large city, which included taking in some sort of show. My daughter, Lindsey, loves Christmas; so, I decided to take us to the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. While viewing that truly spectacular event, in the most amazingly-designed building, it became apparent that a form of the Gospel of Jesus Christ’s love was being told through a vehicle that any person could understand–seeds of truth were being planted in that building, through that show. Whoever wrote that play must have known Him. A gentle loosing of His spirit inside of a most beautiful place, over a truthful thing–He can handle the rest on His own.
Our tickets included a back-stage tour. We were able to walk through all parts of that building, seeing old things, hearing stories, seeing places that famous people had been–secular and Christian artists had/have/will perform inside one of the most interesting places I have ever had the privilege to pray in. No one else knew I was praying, nor did they need to–that’s one cool thing about prophetic intercession.
One of the last things we did in Radio City Music Hall was to meet one of the Rockettes. She was a beautiful and lovely young woman. It was this experience that helped me realize that God’s people are everywhere. We have no idea the prayers that go up to Him, from what place they go up, or the reasons or hearts behind them.
That trip taught the lesson that place, things, and people are the reasons that prophetic intercession is important to God. Carry Him with you and let Him go into everywhere place you go, and signs and wonders are sure to follow–whether WE see them or not. Knowing His heart and seeing things with His eyes can change the world. Try it the next time you’re out and about on your everyday errands or family vacation. After all, isn’t that where THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD?
Come! NOW is the time! Broken Vessels 1997
It is my prayer that this area of the webzine will primarily be created and written by the age group for which it is intended. I invite youth and young adult leaders and peers to bring devotions and articles that will minister to each other.
When I was a teen, the Sunday School teachers that I had taught, year after year, the Ten Commandments. It seemed like they thought if they drilled the words of those ten commands into our heads then we wouldn’t disobey them. Questions about how we were to walk out that ‘holiness’ in our day-to-day lives were not welcome. They did not know how to answer the question. Bible study was not a part of the class. We were just to do what we were told. (more…)
1 Timothy 4 is referenced many times when speaking to the youth. We, in the Church, talk about growing up our young people, but do we really do it? What are your thoughts about this chapter and Paul and Timothy’s example?
