There are Driven people and there are called people in his terminology. We have seen in a previous post what a driven person is like and how to recognize them in the comment section.
Now comes a comparison between the called and the driven for you to consider:
Driven people often project a bravado of confidence as they forge ahead with their achievement-oriented life life plan. But, often at the moment when it is least expected, adversities and obstructions conspire, and there can be personal collapse.
Called people, on the other hand, possess strength from within, a quality of perseverance and power that are impervious to the blows from without.
Called people understand stewardship. John the Baptist understood that he was only managing something on behalf of the owner. He knew that the crowds were never his. He gladly decreased while Jesus increased.
King Saul, on the other hand, believed that he owned the throne and could do anything with it that he wanted.
When driven people lose things it is a major crisis. When called people lose them, nothing of substance has changed. The private world remains the same, perhaps even stronger.
Called people know exactly who they are. The driven get their identities confused. They are what they do. Sometimes this makes it difficult for the driven to retire or give up their position.
Called people possess an unwavering sense of purpose.
Called people practice unswerving commitment.
A called person, because he is a steward, he knows who he is, because he is purposeful–anticipates the day when it is time to step back and let go.
Driven people have to keep gaining more and more attention, more and more power, more and more material assets. They have to hold on, they cannot let go. Too much of themselves is wound up in what they are doing.
John and Sandy will leave for Peru on Tuesday afternoon. John will be preaching and teaching in Spanish without a translator. That is quite the accomplishment actually.
They will be in Peru for the graduation services of the Peru Bible College. I hope that you will pray for them.
They will also get to visit Andrew and Holly Pearson, their son and daughter in law, who are short term missionaries in Peru out of Vision Baptist Church.
It is time to get involved. The men are already working to get everything ready for our move. You could be a big help right now, patching holes, building walls, moving furniture, painting, cleaning carpet, giving special offerings, etc.
We are on the move. We will soon be in our new location and that is going to be great!
I am reading a book called Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald. This chapter and the point of this chapter hit me pretty hard.
Drivenness is a quality seen in people motivated to make something of themselves for less than the best reasons.
There are lots of driven people doing very good things.
How can you spot a driven person?
A driven person is most often gratified only by accomplishment.
A driven person is preoccupied with the symbols of accomplishment.
A driven person is usually caught in the uncontrolled pursuit of expansion.
Driven people tend to have a limited regard for integrity.
Driven people are not likely to bother themselves with the honing of people skills.
Driven people tend to be highly competitive.
A driven person often possesses a volcanic force of anger which can erupt anytime he senses opposition or disloyalty.
Driven people are usually abnormally busy, are averse to play, and usually avoid spiritual worship.
The author says that King Saul is one of the best examples to typify the driven man.
As I read this it made me realize how much of a worldly attitude I can develop. I do not want to be driven. I want to be spirit led. What do you think?
I love the fact that Tim Tebow is unashamedly a Christian. An ESPN article had the following to say:
The cynical and envious rip him — and rip the media for saying nice things about him, claiming that he is overhyped. (They’ll say that very thing about this column, I’m quite sure.) Some roll their eyes at his unapologetically public Christianity — worn on his sleeve and under his eyes — despite the authenticity that underlies it in word and deed.
Do you realize that you can honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ where you are? I am not a great sports fan. I do not follow sports hardly at all but I cannot help hearing about a young man that is trying to serve God in sports in the best way that he can.
Now for you and your life, did you know that you should go out and be the best you can at whatever you do. Do with all your might what God has put in front of you. Honor God by being the best student, the best employee, the best worker that they have ever seen.
Use your place in life to tell others about Jesus. Live a consistent Christian life.
Not everyone has to be a missionary. I know you will find that hard to believe coming from me, but they don’t! We do all need to live surrendered, God honoring lives. We all need to know that where God put us is where we can make a difference.
What you do might not be as noticeable as Tim Tebow but those around you will know if you are genuine or not.
Do you share your faith? Do you motivate others to want to know God?
Currently Vicente and Gabriella need about $400 a month support. Please pray about helping them. God is greatly using them.
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, November, 2009
Dear Brothers,
I thank God for this privilage to be able to write you and send our greetings hoping that they find you in love and harmony.
Thanks to God He has blessed us in a great way. I must thank you for what you hav edone for us. This month of November in our church we had a campaign on missions. It was a great success. We had Pastor Ake from Ivory Coast preaching. Some made decisions were made in giving and going.
As the week on missions ended, Bro. Mamadou from the church of Missionary Keith Shumaker opened a church at the edge of the city in a district called Sonre. The church was kicked off with a three day evangelistic campaign which was a great success. Many people in this area speak the Moray language. We were able to show the Jesus Film in their language as well as pass out many tracts. Many who had made decisions for missions were able to start with this new church plant. 16 people were saved by the grace of our God.
Concerning us, thanks to God we are improving daily in the language. We have five hours of class per day from Monday to Friday. These last two weeks we have been learning how to witness. We thank you for your prayers in this. The first week of November we were able to move into our new house. God has been tremendesouly good to us. We are very happy and excited in the work in Burkina.
Prayer Requests:
• That God would continue using us
• That we might quickly learn French
• That God might use Bro. Mamadou in the new church
• That my wife’s family might be saved.
• For the Shumaker family, our missionary partners
• That those who accepted Christ this month begin to grow.
I received the following email this morning about the passing of Dr. Dennis Carter. He was the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina. They supported Betty and me for many years as missionaries. Please be in prayer for the family.
We appreciate all the prayers that have gone up on behalf of our Pastor and friend Dr Dennis Carter. He went home to be with the Lord early this morning. HE IS NOW COMPLETELY HEALED.
Mrs Linda Carter and the family have requested that in lieu of flowers please make a contribution to Trinity Baptist Church ear marked MEDICAL FUND, in which all proceeds will go to off set Dr Carter’s medical expenses.
We thank each of you in advance for what you have done by praying and what you will do in the days ahead.
If you have any questions feel free to call me at the number below.
The following article reminds you to pray for people who are presenting the gospel in “creative access” countries.
It also might remind you that we need to be careful to train leaders. Though I love the idea of a large church this church might have reached more people, spread out more, and caused less disturbance to the community if they had been dozens of smaller churches reaching a community.
I hope that you pray about being a leader trainer. It is not about how many you can get to come and hear you preach but by how many you can train to do the job.
Jesus could have had the largest church ever but the way He changed the world was by training 11 men to shake the entire world after He had gone back to Heaven.
These charges are trumped up charges, no doubt! But megachurches cause problems in the community that the people have a problem with, noise, traffic, etc.
At least you could think of planting churches and training leaders!
A Chinese court sentenced the pastor and leaders of a 50,000-member megachurch in northeastern China to prison, rights groups reported Thursday.
Pastor Wang Xiaoguang of Linfen Fushan Church in Linfen, northern Shanxi province received three years for “illegal land occupation” and his wife Yang Rongli received a maximum of seven years for “illegal land occupation” and “assembling a crowd to disrupt public order”, according to ChinaAid Association. Other church leaders received three- to four-and-a-half-year prison sentences.
The sentences are some of the toughest for house church leaders in recent years.
“To punish an innocent house church leader with seven years imprisonment is the most serious sentence since 2004 when the senior Henan house church leader Pastor Zhang Rongliang received a similar length,” said CAA President Bob Fu in a statement. “We strongly condemn these unjust sentences, which are based on trumped-up changes.”
The trial was held at the People’s Court of Raodu district, Linfen City on Wednesday and lasted over 12 hours. Only one family member for each of the accused church leaders was allowed to attend the court hearing. In total, only four family members were at the trial for the five church leaders.
Moreover, the defense lawyers were only allowed to review 50 pages of the “evidence materials” related to the case before the trial. But during the trial, government prosecutors presented more than 1,000 pages of so-called evidence.
The five were convicted of “illegal land occupation” and “assembling a crowd to disrupt public order”.
The trial came after a massive raid by police and hired security guards on Fushan Church in September. During the pre-dawn raid on September 13, reportedly 400 people in police suits raided and destroyed buildings on the Good News Cloth Shoes Factory property, where the Fushan Church is located.
The raid was one of the worst crackdowns against a house church in the past decade, according to CAA.
Men tore at the building’s foundation with shovels as bulldozers worked to level other buildings on the site. Church members sleeping at the construction site of the new church building were reportedly attacked with bricks and other objects, according to CAA. Several members were seriously injured and were sent to the emergency room, and some members were unconscious.
Following the raid, Yang and other church officials attempted to travel to Beijing to protest the destruction of their church to the central government authorities. However, they were arrested and detained during their trip.
During Wednesday’s trial, Yang and Pastor Wang encouraged their son to stand firm in his faith in Christ, according to CAA. The husband and wife team had led the Fushan Church for more than 30 years.
“This case clearly shows the serious deteriorating situation of religious persecution in China,” Fu said. “We call upon the Obama administration and international community to speak up unequivocally in its concern about this case.”
Church Still Works, An In-Depth Study of the Practices and Potential of Twenty-first Century Local Churches
I just finished this book by Paul Chappell and Clayton Reed. I found the book well worth your time to read it.
I read the book because Trent Cornwell encouraged me to do so. I enjoyed the material they gathered from the survey. I got help from the material presented that I could personally apply to our church, Vision Baptist. I was encouraged to see the spirit the book conveyed. There was a spirit of fellowship and working together that can be unusual in books by independent Baptists.
I love the emphasis on discipleship and church planting. We are definitely in a needy time in our country and the world. Maybe one of the most surprising findings was that the USA is now one of the most populous countries in need of evangelism. “Only China, India, and Indonesia have larger non-churched populations!”
Numbers 3:13 Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD. When all the firstborn of Egypt died God set aside for […]
Leviticus 25:35 And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. If your brother gets in trouble you are to help him. It doesn’t matter if he is a stranger or […]
Full time Deputation! It is finally here! We are on full time deputation to start churches in Thailand. We have been preparing for this day for 10 years, and the Lord has faithfully brought it to pass. Our schedule is about to change quite drastically, and we need your prayer that we would be able […]
Tonight will be Vision Baptist’s monthly “Goer /Sender Coalition” service. This is a spectacularly exciting service that you do not want to miss! This service will feature Vision Baptist missionaries, and missionaries in training, all preaching mini messages! Instead of one message, there will be several, shorter messages, and there will also be several inte […]
Leviticus 22:32-33 Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you, That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD. He brought them out of Egypt to be their God. He rescued, […]
