Church Bombings in Nigeria

BAUCHI CITY, Nigeria, January 24 (CDN) — Early morning attacks in Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi state on Sunday (Jan. 22) left at least seven Christians dead and a church building destroyed.

The attack on the Evangelical Church Winning All Church 2, residents of Tafawa Balewa said, was carried out by area Islamic extremists alongside members of the Boko Haram sect, with the church building and surrounding houses bombed.

Bukata Zhadi, secretary of the Christian elders council in Tafawa Balewa, said attacks on Christian communities in the area have been incessant, with Sundays attack  bringing to 10 the number of Christians killed in the last two weeks in Tafawa Balewa”

For the full article go to CompassDirect.org.

Pray:

1. For local church leaders as they attempt to provide both physical and spiritual support for the damaged, injured, and anxious community
2. For local believers to be bold in the face of growing persecution.
3. For government leaders as Islamic extremist seek to impose strict Islamic law on all of Nigeria

In Defense of Systematic Theology…

God certainly sees the truth as a whole, and it is the duty of the theologian to think the truths of God after Him. There should be a constant endeavor to see the truth as God sees it, even though it is perfectly evident that the ideal is beyond the grasp of man in his present condition.

—Louis Berkhof, Introductory Volume to Systematic Theology [orig., 1932], in Systematic Theology: New Combined Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996), p. 15.

No Scar? - Amy Carmichael

No Scar?

Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land;
I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star.
Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers; spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned.
Hast thou no wound?

No wound? No scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And piercèd are the feet that follow Me.
But thine are whole; can he have followed far
Who hast no wound or scar?

BY Amy Carmichael

Missionary to orphans in India.

She suffered much — and bore much eternal fruit.

Back in the 1920s, Amy rescued hundreds of orphaned children — especially little girls that would be dedicated to Hindu gods for use in sexual temple rituals. By God’s wonderful grace, some had miraculously escaped from such pagan slavery and were led to the Irish “mother” who lovingly cared for each child God sent her.  In 1931 she prayed, “God, please do with me whatever you want. Do anything that will help me to serve you better.” That same day, she fell, suffering fractures that would cripple her for the rest of her life.  Not one to be discouraged or bitter when faced with pain or persecution, Amy now had the opportunity to demonstrate God’s faithfulness before a much larger “host” of witnesses. While her growing children had continual freedom to enter her bedroom and share their hearts with their beloved “mother,” she now had the quiet times that allowed her to write books, poems, and letters that were translated and shared around the world.

“For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ,

not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” 

What if Jesus said, “No thanks” when I say to him, “I will follow you wherever you go?”

Reading in Luke 9:57-62 today, I was convicted by Jesus’ response to these three individuals: 

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

This passage of scripture is one of the main travel logs in Luke. The final travel log in fact. We see that at this time Jesus had “set his face to go to Jerusalem” (9:51). This was more than a journey to the cross, rather it was journey that would take him back to his place at the right hand of God. By this time opinions about Jesus were fairly solidified. Whether for him or against him there was no denying the attention that he had garnered in recent months. He was recognizable and was followed by a large crowd of the devoted and the curious. (This picture reminds me of Forest Gump when he runs back and forth across the country and ends up with hundreds of people running with him. VIDEO CLIP)

The last verses of this chapter take place as a part of this cross country trek. The first man comes before the teacher and says, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus’ response is not, “Cool! Glad to have you.” The Son of God knows the hearts of men. What this man had not grasped from Jesus’ ministry was this: if we follow Jesus, we must be willing to live a life of exile with him. After all, we have no guarantee for tomorrow. Why do we surround ourselves with things in an effort to gain a sense of security in our lives. The writer of Hebrews says, “So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach that he endured. For he we have no lasting city, but we seek a city that is to come” (13:12-14). 

The second man in the text is told point blank by Jesus, “Follow me.” What an incredible honor! And yet the man turns down the creator of the universe with an excuse. How often do we append the will of God in our lives with “if…then” statements. Why do we bargain with God when our most righteous acts are filthy rags compared to him. We must be willing to write a blank check with our lives. We know that he only wants the best for us if we can only put our self aside then we can focus on work being done for his glory.

The third man has an understandable response. He just wants to tell everyone goodbye, but of course Jesus knew his heart. In his heart this man had serious doubts and he would constantly be doubting this calling. Jesus tells him that anyone who looks back from his work is not “fit for the kingdom of God.” The plowing illustration was, of course, perfect. See, there is only one way that someone plowing a field is able to keep a straight furrow in his field. He has to fix his eyes on a distant point and keep it there. Mountain bikers know what I’m talking about too. You have to look ahead down the trail, because if you look at that big rock right in front of your tire then you are going to nail it. Paul understood this also, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14 ESV)

As Amanda and I move into the next phase of international church planting, verses like this humble me. I have to strive for righteousness in my life as well as the life of my family. God requires a genuine resolve to go wherever he leads, and he is the only one worthy of our eternal attention.

Oh God, are we only external disciples? 

Do we understand the gravity of “follow me?” 

If we stood right in front of you and said, “I will follow you, Lord,” would you tell us that we were not fit to do the work of your father?

God help our faith and strengthen our resolve so that we may press on to the goal.