Munga Baptist Church

Confusion is something that irritates me. This last Sunday I visited a new church that is meeting in a school room...along side 4 other "churches". As the service moved forward the other churches were beating their drums, singing, dancing, and preaching as loud as they possibly could. All of this is quite distracting and I feel brings a bit of confusion to a place that is suppose to bring peace.

I preached a simple message from Colossians 2:10 - "ye are complete in him". It was one of those messages that "I felt" was just not reaching the ears of the listeners. I hated the competition and in my heart just wanted to keep preaching until these people understood the depth of this crucial text. At the end, I sat down and felt somewhat defeated. Glad I had a chance to open God's word but disappointed that I was competing with other "preachers". 

church in classroom

school room "pulpit"

attitude of prayer

Of course, oh me of little faith, the Lord blessed in spite of my poor attitude and many responded to the altar call. Over 10 came forward to make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ truly wanting to be "complete in him" and another 7 or 8 came to ask God to help them with their daily walk of faith. In all, it was wonderful to see the Lord work. When will I learn to simply trust God to do great things!?

First chiChewa Message

This last Sunday I preached my first message in ChiChewa! Wow - what an experience. The message was only 15 or so minutes long but took me 2 weeks to get prepared. Even after 2 weeks I was still struggling! I have put a short clip of the message on the blog for your viewing pleasure. Please continue praying for us as we learn the language and attempt to communicate God's word in the heart language of these people!

Opportunity

I was invited by a friend to preach at his church - I didn't really know much about the church which sometimes makes it difficult to know what to expect. In my personal reading I continue to see the Lord trying to get His people to grow and take steps of faith but in many instances it is like the people just refuse.

I decided to preach a message that hopefully would encourage the church people to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ using the text from Luke 9:23. The Lord really seemed to speak to our hearts and many tears were shed during the service.

It is always wonderful to see God speak to the hearts of people. It is our prayer these people will truly grow and take those steps of faith that will make them true followers of Christ! What about you - are you a faithful follower or a fake follower? This was not a church we would normally go to but the Lord gave opportunity and I believe was glorified through it!