Big Tree Baptist - April Baptism (video)

This last Sunday was special. Our ministry partner (Dan Jalowiec) preached a great message about King David and the impact of trying to hide our sin. Powerful! There was a great response concerning this message as well as an overall excitement for the things of God. Just "feels" like the Lord is working in and among the people. Praise the LORD!

After the service we prepared ourselves for the announced Baptism. For the last couple weeks we have been talking about church membership and during that talk we discussed Baptism. That led to a discussion about those that had not yet been baptized. I was surprised! After I taught about biblical baptism, I asked for people to tell about their salvation and when they received Christ... out of the 16 that wanted to be baptized, probably 13 of them had been saved in the last few months! Amen! That is exciting news. We are always glad to have mature Christians come from elsewhere to be a part of our church but there is a true excitement when people are being transformed as a part of the work the Lord is doing here!! 

I put together a video of the baptism - it is a bit raw and probably close to 15 minutes (slow internet doesn't allow for large file uploads). I was not able to pan the shore so everyone could be seen but I think you can hear from the singing that a size-able crowd has come to be a part of this celebration and act of faith! 

Time is Now!?

We have been working at a new church plant near the Malongwe Village for roughly 1 1/2 years. Every week we are there teaching on Wednesday and Sunday opening the Scripture and compelling people to a place of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. We try to teach theologically sound messages that ground the believer and at the same time practical message that encourage a life of faithful action.

For many months we have had people from nearby villages come and ask us to visit their villages with the hopes that we would start a church there. Although we are greatly encouraged by such outreach we have wanted to be careful not to spread ourselves to thin leaving our initial work at Big Tree Baptist immature and unable to move forward Scripturally. 

For the last few weeks people from our church plant have actually been going to other villages to pass out tracts, sing, or do church skits and afterwards someone will preach a short message and invite people to church. We did not push people to do this work of evangelism nor give them different ideas on how to go about it and yet they are moving forward to reach their neighbors with the Gospel. 

There is a part of me that is thrilled and there is a part of me that is nervous! Thrilled that our church people want to GO and Reach people with the Gospel and use their skills and abilities for the sake of Christ. Nervous that their understanding is yet limited and there could be a danger of preaching a false gospel or misleading people down the wrong path. However, the thrilled part of me wants to believe that maybe the Time is NOW and we should step up our individual discipleship and training so these men can adequately preach and declare God's word. Exciting times. Please join us in prayer as we seek to see these villages come to Christ and receive salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. 

Hidden knowledge

This morning I was continuing my read through the book of Joshua. I must admit, I was not overly focused and felt a bit distracted, but this one verse did stick out in my mind:

Joshua 8:35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.

It impressed me that Joshua took the time to read "all" the words that Moses had commanded. I cannot imagine this was a simple task or accomplished in a matter of a few minutes... but, nonetheless, Joshua set his mind to do it, and do it he did! It certainly was designed to have an impact on everyone that was listening. This was not an exercise in futility but truly had the expectation of greater understanding and therefore greater purpose and focus. This was not just an exercise for the leaders but for the men, women, children, and even those outside the Jewish realm.

Well, I moved on from there and started my day which included taking care of weekly household issues as well as make a payment on our auto insurance. While at the Insurance office, I met up with a man that I had not known before (Brian). Brian is very intelligent and in fact spent 4 years in South Africa studying theology with the intent of coming back to Zambia and helping his fellow pastors grow in maturity and understanding. 

I began to ask him about theology and doctrines that he may have studied - he confessed that during those 4 years, there was not much study about doctrine but more study on the practical side of Christianity. Oh, ok. I then began to question him about different theological books he may have read while studying... I was quite astonished at his reply. He said, "If you want to hide knowledge from a black man, just write it down". Wow! I dont know that this sentiment is true for only African men but maybe all of us are guilty of this principle. 

If we would just open the Book, I am sure ALL of us would benefit from a vast amount of wisdom. Truth is... the Truth is sitting right before us, we just dont take the time to read/search it out. Certainly made me want to spend some more time reading today. 

Road less traveled

While visiting a new church plant area with Todd Beaman, he showed me the local river amd informed me how many trucks will eventually come through the area. I was a bit shocked since the water level was still a bit high and the gradient on the banks was a bit steep. On top of that the "roads" were pretty well eroded but in zambia bad roads never seem to deter people.

King Saul

Today Dan Jalowiec preached from Samuel about the life of King Saul. It was a great reminder and great message about the choices we all make.

After the service we visited a family from our church with a sick child. We sang a song and prayed over the child. 

From there we drove to see the chief to discuss some future projects.  I was able to pray with him after our meeting and truly commit him into the hands of the Lord. 

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