A couple weeks ago, Pastor Caleb and I, along with our wives, traveled up to Cornerstone Baptist Church in Roseville, Michigan. We had been invited by my former youth pastor, Patrick  McGoldrick (under whom Pastor Caleb served as an intern before coming to Grace.) Patrick was preaching that Sunday morning. It is likely to be the last time that he’ll ever publicly proclaim God’s Word from the pulpit.

I write this because Patrick was diagnosed last fall with ALS – commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. And the effects of the disease continue to impair his ability to live life normally – and will eventually take his life.

I don’t have time in this small article to recount Patrick’s influence on my life (though I’d love to tell you more about it sometime in person!). But in sum, what I’d share is that Patrick took an immature eighth grader and allowed me to live life beside him, minister with him, fail miserably at times, and yet he encouraged me to continue on in my journey. He gave me my first opportunity to teach and then preach on missions trips; he gave me opportunities to lead others. He lived a life consistent with Scripture, loving his wife, loving his two kids, Paige and Parker, and loving the church.

Saturday night while we were in Michigan, there was a gathering of former interns and others close to the McGoldrick family. The house was packed with people who had been touched by Patrick at some point in his 19 years of full time ministry. During this gathering, God allowed Jaime and me to see the ripple effects of a life lived discipling others.

One of the greatest evidences of Patrick’s disease is his declining ability to speak clearly. This was one of the reasons he was asked to preach at that time. On Sunday morning, preaching from Proverbs 3:5-6 (below), he asked the congregation the question, “Who do you trust?” While preaching he shared his testimony, how God had rescued him, and the journey he had gone on.

At the conclusion of the sermon, Patrick acknowledged that the disease which was impairing his body would eventually take his life – perhaps soon. But Patrick stated something his senior pastor had said to him months before:

“A shorter road with Jesus Christ is infinitely greater than a longer road without him.”

I trust as I write this that together each of us shares the road with our Savior. However hard your journey might be today, be encouraged you do not travel alone. Trust our Lord who directs our paths!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”

Pastor Jonathan

This year marks an even century since the publishing of Roland Allen’s Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? In case you missed it, this small book has been one of the most influential books in the history of modern missions, and continues to be read and debated by missionaries and missions scholars around the world. Not bad for a dead Anglican priest. Of course he wasn’t dead when he wrote the book, but he did predict that he would be dead before the book would be appreciated. And he was right.

Today most people have probably never heard of Roland Allen and his little book, but you can’t even begin to talk about missions without using concepts that trace back to his Missionary Methods. Church growth, training local leaders, the role of the Holy Spirit in missions – these and many other ideas have their roots in Allen’s solidly Biblical writing. The recent meeting of the Evangelical Missiological Society heard a whole day of papers responding to and applying Allen’s ideas.

I took my copy of Missionary Methods with me to Upper Volta years ago. By the time the country’s name changed to Burkina Faso the extreme heat and dry air caused the fragile paperback to fall apart. To my delight I discovered a bookbinder there in the African Savanna who put a nice new hard cover on my pile of loose pages. I still have it here in my office back in Illinois, and I suspect that my copy is not the only one that fell apart while being carried around the world and back.

Are you tempted to add Allen to your summer reading list? Here is some good news: you can now put Allen’s Missionary Methods on your Kindle for as little as 99 cents (at Amazon). Or find it free online at http://www.gospeltruth.net/miss_methods.htm.

The theme was “Never underestimate the power of the Gospel.”  Most sessions began with a testimony from ‘ordinary’ men and women whose lives had been radically transformed by the Good News of Jesus. One man started this way: “My grandmother was a prostitute, my mother was a drug addict and my father was an alcoholic. I grew up listening to my drunken father beat my mother. By the age of 14, I was living on the streets and by 17, I was in prison.” He went on to share how he came to faith in Christ through the fearless witness of a believer who poured God’s love into his life.

A second person was on the opposite end of the spectrum. He was a good person, upper-middle class, became a lawyer and worked for influential people in Washington DC. His goal was to become rich and powerful. But one day, God’s spirit convicted him of the emptiness and selfishness of his life. “I had made a commitment to God at some point in my life, but I do not think I was a Christian because my sin didn’t bother me and Jesus was not precious to me.” He too encountered the genuine life transforming power of the Gospel and redirected his life and goals at that point.

A third person came to faith this way. He was in the locker room getting ready for a game and a team mate walked up to him and said “Hi, I’m ‘John’, I am a Christian and I want to tell you about it. When will we get together so I can tell you my story?”  Not, ‘May I,’ or ‘Would you like to’ but ‘When?’ As a result of that next meeting, where a teammate shared his story of faith in the Lord, this person accepted Christ as his Savior.

Here’s a great quote to give us hope and courage in this task of articulating the Good News to others:  “The seeds you sow may lie dormant under the ground until you do too – before they sprout and produce fruit.”

Don’t give up. Never underestimate the power of the Gospel. Have you been praying for a child who has lost their way? Don’t underestimate the power of the gospel. Are you sharing your faith to unreceptive ears at work? Never underestimate the gospel. Be ready to articulate it slowly and clearly. Look for opportunities to open people’s eyes to their spiritual need. Redirect your fear of people’s reactions to the goal of God’s glory. Place your confidence in the power of God’s word, not the way you present it. “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16; NLT)

Pastor Tim Bertsche

You have heard the expression that some of the best things happen right in our own backyard. Well, the public evening sessions of the conference are just that – right in our own sanctuary with some of the best speakers in evangelical circles. And there’s no admission charge for the evening sessions! I encourage you to consider attending each evening, if possible.

The speakers for the 7:00 p.m. sessions are D. A. Carson (Monday, Tuesday) and Duane Litfin (Wednesday). Dr. Carson is a Research Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is also the son of a small-town pastor and has authored many books. Dr. Litfin is President Emeritus of Wheaton College, former small-town pastor, former professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, and a skilled author. Some of you may remember when he spoke at Grace when we were in our former facility. I assure you that you will profit from the ministry of both of these servants of God. Don’t let the opportunity slip by.

Included among the volumes of books that

D. A.  Carson has written is a biography about his father.  In the introduction to Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson, Dr. Carson wrote:

Some pastors, mightily endowed by God, are remarkable gifts to the church. . . . We thank God for such Christian leaders from the past and pray for the current ones. . . . Most of us, however, serve in more modest patches. . . . Most of us – let us be frank – are ordinary pastors. Dad was one of them. This little book is a modest attempt to let the voice and ministry of one ordinary pastor be heard, for such servants have much to teach us.

Let us be frank. Most of us, whether pastors or not, are ordinary people who serve an extraordinary God. Our temptation is to believe that God is looking for only extraordinarily gifted people to serve him, while the rest of us don’t count for much. If that is your thinking, let me challenge you to consider that God more often than not uses very ordinary people. There are more of us “ordinaries” in God’s family than there are “extraordinaries.” The extraordinary people are incapable of accomplishing everything that needs to be done in the work of the Lord. Don’t let the fact that you might be one of those ordinary people hold you back from wholeheartedly serving the Lord.

Hoping to see you at the conference!

~ Pastor Doug ~

The Corinthians had a tradition that Jesus himself had set up called the Lord’s Supper. Paul, in his first letter to them, gave them a stern reprimand about their misuse of the tradition and a reminder what it should look like.  One of the culminating verses is 1 Corinthians 11:26, which says,

²⁶ For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.

As we are approaching Easter consider what special remembrance you have set up as a family to point to the grace given through Christ.  The death and resurrection is what gives us hope as believers.  Romans 6:8-11 summarizes nicely why Good Friday and Easter are a celebration:

⁸ And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. ⁹ We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. ¹⁰ When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. ¹¹ So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

Setting aside Communion/The Lord’s Supper or for that matter even Good Friday and Easter, I believe the crux of the matter is this:  What do I prioritize for my family to remember?  Do our traditions point to Jesus?

I’d challenge you to look at your favorite traditions and put them through the filter of how they point to Jesus.  I don’t think it’s ever too late to start, so be encouraged!  Yet, remember, especially parents of little ones, your family traditions do matter.  If you don’t already do something special for Easter, let this year be the first with a tradition worth keeping.

While in Asia I heard Mongolians call Jesus the Khan of Khans—a direct challenge to worldly rulers of considerable power and fame. Ever heard of Genghis Khan? Kublai Khan? They weren’t even in the same class as the Khan of Khans. Of course if people start openly saying this in some parts of Mongolia, the local authorities start getting nervous. Which still does not keep the followers of Jesus quiet.

Does this title still carry as much power for American Christians today? Does anyone get nervous if we say Jesus is our Lord of Lords, our King of Kings? Or has it just become religious talk, as safe on the street as it is in the church?

In years gone by, the master of a castle had the highest authority, including the all important matter of distributing his subjects’ daily bread. So he had the title “loaf ward.” Over time this respected position slurred into “loaf ward” and so our modern word “lord.” If someone was your lord, you looked to them to provide for your daily needs, even your daily bread. “The Lord’s Prayer” for daily bread was a prayer to our great Provider. If you called Jesus your Lord of Lords, it was clear that your castle lord was not in the same class as Jesus.

This may seem irrelevant, but I think it is safe to say that the 2012 electoral process is going to get a lot more press than Palm Sunday will. We are watching the messy election machine at work, and in a few months we will narrow down a whole field of candidates for the position of national executive. We don’t call him a Lord, we don’t call him a King, and it won’t make anyone nervous if we celebrate Palm Sunday by calling Jesus our King of all Kings and Lord of all Lords. The secret police won’t be taking pictures if we praise Jesus using language that is reserved for Caesar. We are more likely as a society to look at economic statistics for our daily bread.

I don’t mean to be disrespectful when I say that I’m glad there is a King of Kings above the name-calling and mud-slinging electoral process in our nation. I’m glad there is a Lord of Lords to whom I look for guidance and provision for my deepest needs. Palm Sunday should have a little extra oomph in an election year. With other followers of Jesus around the world, we shouldn’t keep quiet about our conviction that no king or khan or loaf ward or president is in the same class as our Jesus. If you try to keep us quiet, even the pavement will burst into cheers.

Come to think of it, maybe we should all carry palm leaves with us when we vote, not just when we celebrate Palm Sunday.

– Pastor Dan

According to this study, our theological beliefs, our understanding and values about God and faith in him, are being formed in childhood- prior to age 13. This has great significance for the importance of Christian Education in the church and in the home.  Sunday school, VBS, and mid-week children’s programs can play a vital role in forming our children’s earliest beliefs in God, His word and our responsibilities to him. But family devotions, bible reading and bedtime stories also play a huge role, contributing directly to the foundational understanding of faith in God in their earliest years.  We have both the opportunity and responsibility as Christian parents and leaders to pass on to the next generation our faith in and knowledge about our God. But the window of opportunity, according to Barna, may be limited.

Judges 2:10 tells us that after Joshua and his generation died, “another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” How did this happen?  Joshua’s generation was committed to the Lord and served him faithfully. For some reason, this knowledge and devotion was not successfully transmitted to the next generation.  Perhaps the elders communicated God’s laws and decrees but not the faith sustaining passion of a personal relationship with their God.  Maybe they began to skip story time, dedicated moments each week where the stories of God’s saving power and mercy were repeated to their children. We know that the Israelites did not destroy all the Canaanite peoples in the land.  The Israelites began to intermingle with the Canaanite people and eventually adopted their beliefs and served their Gods.

There are many different voices in “our land” today calling out for our children’s attention, offering seemingly good things and short term solutions.  If we are not proactively engaged in the formation of our children’s theological understanding at an early age, we risk losing them to the influences surrounding us.

In Deut 6:1-9, Moses clearly commands us to be actively involved in the biblical education of our children. We must repeatedly impress upon them God’s commands and precepts- talking about them in daily life situations. We must use both formal and informal times, teachable moments reminding them of right values and truths. We must bind them on our foreheads, an appeal to place them at the forefront of our thinking and decision making; we must tie them as symbols on our hand, let them be a guide to all we do. We need to communicate to our children our personal loving passion for our Lord. They must see that this is what motivates our desire to obey Him. Obedience becomes dreary ritual or rote repetition if it doesn’t spring out of gratitude and devotion for a loving and merciful God who has done great things for us.

Parents, I encourage you to find and make time for ‘teachable moments’ in your children’s lives. Model for them the reality of life under the Lordship of Christ in all you do and say. Carve out a time when you can read to them the Biblical stories of faith that teach both knowledge about God and his way- and also creates a passion in your children to make Him Lord and Master of their lives.

Pastor Tim Bertsche

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:10

HOLD THE PHONE!  The rest of the beatitudes are okay – uncomfortable, but okay. It’s true; most of my friends don’t associate happiness with poverty, crying, gentleness, mercy, starvation, purity and peacemaking. Those things aren’t supa’ fly to be sure, but now we’re talking about being persecuted – made fun of, mistreated, abused and possibly killed!  I’m no linguist, but there is nothing “blessed” about any of those words!

Our culture’s idea of happiness – or blessing – is COMPLETELY different from the happiness that Jesus describes. Self-indulgence, self-esteem, self-sufficiency, self-advancement, self-actualization and self-fulfillment – these are the traits we are taught to value and pursue in order to achieve happiness in this world.

Contrary to our culture, Jesus says happy people understand their own emptiness and need, rather than their own self-sufficiency. They are people who forgive freely because they are well acquainted with their own desperate need for forgiveness. They are people who are broken over all sin and strive to help others make peace with God rather than contribute to the chaos around them. They are people who are not confident in their own abilities, but fully aware of their desperate inability. These people are self-sacrificing – not self-indulgent; they are humble not arrogant; they are gentle – not harsh; merciful – not begrudging; peaceful – not angry; righteous – not scumbags. These people are BLESSED!

A pastor named John Piper calls this “Christian hedonism.”  Basically, since we are created by God, in the image of God to reflect God – we are most happy when God is most glorified. We are made to reflect God; so, the more accurately we reflect who He is and what He is like, the happier we are.

In every culture and in every life stage, a truly happy life – as prescribed and described by Jesus – will confront and conflict with all other meaningless attempts at lasting happiness. To the degree you look like Jesus, is the degree to which you will suffer. But, in the middle of that suffering, you will find great and lasting happiness in knowing that Jesus has considered you worthy to bear His name, suffer as He suffered, teach as He taught, and ultimately, to enjoy the same joy that He experiences now, and promises to those who serve Him as Friend, Lord, Savior, God and King (Acts 5:41, 1 Peter 2:21).

Beginning with Abel in Genesis 4 and stretching all the way into 2012 – every generation of people who have ever loved, worshiped and served the one true God of the Bible have been ridiculed, mocked, oppressed, beat up, arrested and killed (Hebrews 11). Consider the words of Jesus: “All men will hate you because of me…A servant is not above his master” (Matthew 10:22-24). Be careful. Before you claim to follow Jesus, make no mistake, this is really a war and there are only two sides. “Choose today whom you will serve…” but as for me, I love, serve and worship King Jesus (Joshua 24:15). You pick.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – Matthew 5:10-12

– Pastor Caleb

Sometimes in the church growth movement, people have been seen as quantities instead of entities created in the image of God. “Success” is measured by how many people attend a church service and by what percent of growth is seen from year to year. If we are not careful, we can add to the loneliness of people in the church by seeing them as quantities only. Counting people is not wrong as long as we understand that people count. The cry of our hearts is to know that our lives count in this world. I wonder if God sees those who worship him as quantities or entities. Actually, I think I know the answer. In Christ, we count to God!