What a day! That is about all I know ow to say. I slept about 9 hours last and woke fairly rested though I am tired again.

This morning I taught the pastors and students for 4 hours as missionary Keith Shumaker translated. Then tonight before church I taught the staff for about 40 minutes.

Then Chris Fies preached the evening service. It was wonderful. Brother Keith translated.

The best part of the day was when we had prayer meeting after the service. Voices were lifted to God in prayer in at least 3 languages.

The man behind me kept saying oui or yes as his wife prayed for at least 5 minutes. Then he began to pray. He prayed much longer than her and with much heart and passion.

The same was happening all over the room. It was beautiful beyond description. I know the heart of the Lord Jesus was greatly blessed. It touched me greatly. I wish you could have been here.

These people have little to nothing but they know God. They are sweet and wonderful people.

I dreamed of people all over the world doing the same, lifting up the name Jesus in prayer. I asked God to send missionaries all over the world to teach others about Jesus.

I prayed that you, my reader, would give your life to take the gospel to another part of the world. I thought of how I wish that I could go. I wish I could be divided into a 1,000 pieces and go all over the world.

I want to preach more, start more churches, send more missionaries. I want to see God raise up men to go the villages and take the gospel.

I can never quit going to the field. I must keep a heart for so many that have not heard. I beg God to touch you so that you will do more and more for Him!

So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
—1 Corinthians 3:7–8

Dear Lord, I refuse henceforth to compete with any of Thy servants. They have congregations larger than mine. So be it. I rejoice in their success.

They have greater gifts. Very well. That is not in their power nor in mine. I am humbly grateful for their greater gifts and my smaller ones. I only pray that I may use to Thy glory such modest gifts as I possess.

I will not compare myself with any, nor try to build up my self-esteem by noting where I may excel one or another in Thy holy work. I herewith make a blanket disavowal of all intrinsic worth. I am but an unprofitable servant.

I gladly go to the foot of the class and own myself the least of Thy people. If I err in my self judgment and actually underestimate myself I do not want to know it. I purpose to pray for others and to rejoice in their prosperity as if it were my own.

And indeed it is my own if it is Thine own, for what is Thine is mine, and while one plants and another waters it is Thou alone that giveth the increase.”

Amen.

Tozer, A. W. (2001). Tozer on Christian leadership : A 366-day devotional. Camp Hill, PA.: WingSpread.

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Please forgive me for more sporadic posting over the next few days. Chris Fies and I left from the house at 8:40 on Monday morning traveling to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Africa.

We are on a trip for Voice in the Villages, a ministry of Vision Baptist Church and missions to the unreached tribes and villages of Burkina Faso.

We left Atlanta just a few minutes late on Delta headed to Washington DC. We left there for Paris, France over an hour late due to having to de ice the plane. It was cold and snowing pretty good.

We have now landed in Paris. It has been one of those good flights where God in His mercy and kindness gave me 4 full seats to lie down in and sleep most of the night. It is 12:27 am in the USA as I write this but it is 6:27 AM here.

Our next flight leaves at about 11 am and will have one stop I believe before getting to Burkina Faso in the late afternoon. We are excited to see what God can do through us to reach into places that hear little of the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

I hope you will pray for us during this days. Pastor Derik Lawrence will also be joining us and I am looking forward to all that God is going to do!

More to follow when we get to Burkina Faso.

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.… They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
—Romans 3:10, 12

The crowds-at-any-price mania has taken a firm grip on American Christianity and is the motivating power back of a shockingly high percentage of all religious activity.…
Our constant effort should be to reach as many persons as possible with the Christian message, and for that reason numbers are critically important.

But our first responsibility is not to make converts but to uphold the honor of God in a world given over to the glory of fallen man. No matter how many persons we touch with the gospel we have failed unless, along with the message of invitation, we have boldly declared the exceeding sinfulness of man and the transcendent holiness of the Most High God. They who degrade or compromise the truth in order to reach larger numbers, dishonor God and deeply injure the souls of men.

The temptation to modify the teachings of Christ with the hope that larger numbers may “accept” Him is cruelly strong in this day of speed, size, noise and crowds. But if we know what is good for us, we’ll resist it with every power at our command.

Lord, give me a deep, unshakable commitment “to uphold the honor of God in a world given over to the glory of fallen men”—whether I achieve crowds and success or not. Amen.

Tozer, A. W. (2001). Tozer on Christian leadership : A 366-day devotional. Camp Hill, PA.: WingSpread.

Check out bcwe.org