Judges 19:1-21 begins with the familiar phrase that we find in this book; “In those days, when there was no king in Israel…”. This phrase is repeated in chapters 17:6 and 21:25. Nothing rings of loyalty to the Lord in this account even when the Levite said, “I am going to the house of the Lord’ (18). There is no record of worship or honor given to God. Sadly, this story reveals the true moral condition of the nation, but also continues to reveal a sad period in Israel’s history.
What is heaven recording about the history of the church? Would it be recorded that we just went to the church building but there was no genuine worship? Were we more interested in being appeased or entertained rather than listening to what God wanted to teach us? Like the Levite in this passage, do we condone immorality instead of raising God’s standard of righteousness? Let us examine our hearts and see what lies at the foundation of our relationship with God. Will we come to Him dragging the trends of our culture? Peter has some wise words that we need to heed. “As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy”” (1 Peter 1:15–16).
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One of the exciting features of this ministry is watching God work! We have often made the statement that we want to discover where God is at work and then join Him in what He is doing. The example below is precisely what we are watching. This news comes from a dear brother in S. E. Asia who has translated our training materials and used them to train others “By the grace of Jesus Christ, I had the opportunity to train 11 young people. Most of them were drug addicts before they came to know Jesus Christ. After they received Jesus, they decided to change their wicked ways and turn to the Lord. I am happy to train these young people with God’s Plan for His Disciples.” Take a moment to pray for these young people that God will take what they have learned, become well established in the gospel, and then pass it on to others. On this trip to Bangladesh, Tim and James will follow up previous introductions and training by presenting GPHD Certificates to young men in Dhaka (6/12). After this, they will have a very busy schedule. Please be in prayer for each of these events.
We are asking you to pray for this most important visit. The potential is greater than we can imagine, and from other experiences in this region of the world, we are confident Gid is going to work for the advancement of the gospel. Twice in Judges the expression is used, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (17:6; 21:25). That is a perfect description of the conditions. God was not king to Israel which meant that His Word and their relationship with Him held no authority over them. They did whatever their will dictated.
It was no wonder that Micah (the judge God raised up) encouraged his mother to make an idol. The worship of God was dead because leadership was spiritually dead and insensitive to what was due Israel’s real king. This condition was made worse by Micah employing a man from the tribe of Levi to act as their priest who had no active faith and living relationship with the God of Israel. How careful we must be to maintain a vital, living fellowship with the Lord so that we protect our hearts from chasing ‘foreign gods’ and doing our will and not His. When fellowship with the true God and King becomes weak and inactive, we soon become seduced into accepting other things and people as a substitute for the living God. When Satan suggested that Jesus worship him, Jesus made a very clear and final reply. “And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve’”” (Luke 4:8). Are we as clear as Jesus was in His response to Satan? In Thailand, Tim and Tom met with leaders from the Karen Baptist Church to introduce God's Plan for His Disciples and God's Plan for Young Disciples. These were great opportunities to join our Lord at work and plant His Seed into fertile hungry disciples. As a result of this visit, there is a good possibility that both books will be translated into Karen and Thai. The history of God’s work with the Karen people makes this a special opportunity to establish (or reestablish) these believers in the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word.
A return visit is planned for September which will include Laos where the Lao God's Plan for His Disciples has already been translated and printed. It is our plan to take as many Lao Bibles as possible for those who do not have one. Let us know if you are interested in helping meet this need. Imagine getting the most valuable resource into the hands of Christians who have no Bible. The previous trip to Bangladesh in January laid the groundwork for this next trip. These connections opened doors for more introductions and training. We are very blessed that God has allowed us to be part of this movement. On this trip to Bangladesh, Tim and James will follow up previous introductions and training by presenting GPHD Certificates to young men in Dhaka (6/12). After this, they will have a very busy schedule. Please be in prayer for each of these events.
Thank you for taking an interest in this work and joining us in prayer. We will also rejoice together as we watch the Holy Spirit perform His special work with these precious people. There are some vital lessons to learn from Judges 16:1-22. Those who are called by God to serve Him, His people, and become a powerful witness to the world, little realize that there are principles of leadership that must govern our lives if we are to be effective. Here are some critical points we can learn from Samson for our day.
If these points are not followed, our mission for God will not achieve His purpose and we will miss the joy of giving Him glory through our work and lives. Years ago, a training work started in this Asian country with some who seemed interested in getting a biblical foundation for their ministry. As we have found elsewhere, it is difficult to fit old traditions into a biblical model. As time went by, we discovered that God was not working through our material. Were we discouraged? It is more important for us to put our energies where God is at work.
Just a few weeks ago, Tim and Tom traveled to S. E. Asia to encourage and introduce God's Plan for Young Disciples (GPYD). This had been translated and formatted just in time for both books (Teacher’s Edition and Young Disciples Workbook) to be printed before their visit. We are so thankful that about six or seven years ago, the Lord put us in contact with a businessman who wanted to take our training material and teach it to many churches he knew. This work has expanded through the training of 115 groups of leaders. All these groups of local leaders who were trained with GPHD and GPHC, now have opportunities to launch biblical teaching to children and young people through GPYD so they will become strong leaders in God’s Word. The potential for impacting the next generation is only known to God. Please pray with us that God will expand His work for His glory in this S. E. Asian nation. Tom and Tim held two introductions to the Khmer God's Plan for His Disciples. These included trainings in two provinces; Chhouk, Kampot and Prey Khrakh, Prey Veng, Cambodia. The introductions were well received and our “Timothy” in Phnom Penh is planning to translate God’s Plan for His Church into Khmer. Based on conversations with the translator, there are countless opportunities in Cambodia to establish believers and the Church on a biblical foundation. This is a wonderful opportunity but needs wisdom and discernment. The EMS country leader here left a great career in Nigeria as an engineer to face many challenges as a missionary in Ghana. His faithfulness was seen in the number of leaders who came to the training. Around 40 attended four days of leadership development. Please pray for God’s provisions and grace as these leaders move forward in planting new churches. Several young people participated in the training. Please pray that God would strengthen these and raise up the next generation of leaders in Ghana. (Randy)
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen!” Eph.3:20-21 |
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