A Mighty Fortress is OUR GOD

A Mighty Fortress is our God

1.     A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;

Our helper He, amid the flood, of mortal ills prevailing:

For still our ancient foe, doth seek to work us woe;

His craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate,

On earth is not his equal. 

2.     Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;

Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God's own choosing:

You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;

Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,

And He must win the battle. 

3.     And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God has willed, His truth to triumph through us:

The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him

His rage we can endure, behold, his doom is sure,

One little word shall fell him. 

4.     That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, is with us

The Spirit and the gifts are ours, through Him who with us sideth:

Let goods and family go, this mortal life also;

The body they may kill: God's truth abideth still,

His kingdom is forever. 

This old faithful hymn rings true for us. It reminds us of its source in Psalm 46:10-11:

“Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

People Stories - Denis

We met Denis from Uganda in the airplane on our way back to Guangzhou from Nairobi. As I heard his story, his testimony, and his dreams, never have I met a more brilliant young man of his age.

Mark sat next to Denis on the plane and they talked for hours getting to know each other. Denis was heading to Shanghai while we were heading back to Beijing. After about three days, Denis discovered he had some free time so he came to visit us and we learned more about his life.

Some life stories are just meant to be told.

Denis was born in 1993, the fifth of six children from a Catholic background. After he turned five, his parents divorced.  As a result, he and his next older sister, a year old than he, lived together for two years, struggling to survive. Eventually the parents were forced back together, by whom he didn't say, in order to provide for the children. However, the father proved to be a drunkard and a womanizer so he didn't provide a loving, stable home environment.

In 2009, the family experienced a traumatic home invasion in which injured Denis, a sister, and his mother. Denis received four gunshot wounds, one in each leg, one arm, and his back. He showed us the entry and exit wounds that led to a long year's recovery process. At the time he thought he might never walk again. However, the Lord used this experience to bring Denis to Himself. Denis remembers thinking that many people who get shot once don't live yet he was still alive after four shots therefore God must have a reason for him to live.

God showed himself real to Denis in many aspects of his life, from providing financially for high school, to providing jobs for university.

Fast forward to why he flew to Shanghai. During his university years he developed a honey processing business which expanded to need a particular packing machine made in China. He had come to complete the machine's purchase and learn how to use it.

Denis displays an incredible passion for the Lord, for righteousness, and for the Ugandan people. He is working to develop an industry that he hopes will eventually employ 15-20% of Ugandans by processing and selling honey around the world. He also dreams of becoming president of Uganda some day, maybe in about 20 years or so but to do that he must first help the Ugandan economy and its people.

When I see his godly passion, love for the Lord, and brilliant mind, I sometimes forget he just turned 24 years old.

May God grant him ability to serve and glorify Him by doing righteousness for his country.

People Stories - Peter

We met Peter about one week after the Lord had saved him in November 2016. Since that time we have spent lots of time together; he has consistently come to our Guys’ Night; and we have connected with his pastor. When I think of how he has grown and changed, I say WOW! God really does transform people and make them new creatures. Although we didn’t know him as a nonchristian, he has shared some about his past. He often tells us about his family life and how the brokenness of his parents’ divorce affects him. When he spends the night with us on Guys’ Night (he lives far away), we always have thoughtful discussions about how to apply biblical principles to his life and problems.

Recently we talked about how, knowingly or not, he will carry attitudes from his current relationships with his parents into a future marriage. We could see that he had never thought about that before. So then how does the gospel change our relationships, or our thinking about relationships, toward our nonchristian family members? Only God can change relationships, but we can use principles from God’s Word to change our thinking about our relationships. God calls us to focus our thinking on thoughts that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable. “If there is anything worthy of praise, think on these things” (Phil. 4:8). We talked about how love is a commitment. Yes, true, but what does that mean toward people who are difficult to love or who treat you like an enemy? How can he show love by committing to do the highest good for his parents? Difficult questions without easy answers.

Please pray for Peter as he navigates difficult relationships and seeks to apply gospel wisdom to them.

He makes all things new

Revelation 21:4-6 (ESV)

⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

⁵ And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

As I pondered what to write at the beginning of this new year 2018, God brought these verses to mind. He reminds us that He makes all things new. The old year is gone. The new year has come. What will this new year hold? How will the blank squares on the new calendar fill up? What life stories will be written this year?

I thank God that He makes all things new. He takes our old ways, our old hearts, and our old desires and transforms them into something that brings Him glory. But what does that look like? Who does He transform?

Of the many things that we do in Beijing, we love spending time with people - getting to know them, hearing their stories, and encouraging them to walk with the Lord. Because so many ex-pats stay in Beijing for a short time, we take the perspective of sowing gospel seeds with the prayer that God will eventually grow a gospel plant in each person’s life. In addition to people who attend Beijing Baptist Church, we seek to plant gospel seeds in the lives of nonchristians that God brings across our paths. As we reflect over the last few years, we think of the people with whom we built friendships in their times of need, walked beside them, shared the good news with them, loved them, and then they moved on.

Will you pray with us that God will transform our non-believing friends with the good news of Jesus? Would you pray that the gospel seeds that we and others sow will bring lasting gospel fruit? For security reasons, I will not name our friends but please pray for S, F, K, J, S, D, L, M, B, F, M, C, A, M, A, Gs, QJ, LR, Fs. Although many of these friends have returned to their home countries, pray that God will remind them of our conversations and bring other Christians to point them to Jesus.


May 2018 be the year that God makes all things new by transforming lives for His glory.

Azungu - white face in Kenya

外国人 wàiguórén

Azungu

It’s always the same. We don’t fit in. We don’t look like the local culture.

As white faces in an Asian world, we get called ‘foreigner’ all the time, especially by young children. We accept that we don’t look like the community around us so we play a game with children. We say “不是, 我们不是外国人。我们是美国人。No, we aren’t foreigners. We’re Americans.” In Chinese the words rhyme so it’s a fun game. Usually the children look stunned that we understand what they said and could respond. The adults always chuckle so we have fun with it.

In Kenya, we received the same reception but the word is azungu. Everywhere we traveled, we heard azungu and children appeared out of nowhere and ran to the car to shake our hands and see us.

And yet people are the same the world over. People, children and adults alike, appreciate a “hello” and “how are you?” and a handshake.

Recently Mark and I adventured to a remote village in southwestern Kenya to meet a pastor that he gotten to know via Skype and email and conduct a three-day pastors’ conference. In addition, we worshiped with two village churches then had the pastoral training from Tuesday through Thursday. On the way, we also met up with local pastors about whom our friend Bob Selph told us just a few days before we left for the trip.

Mark, and a new friend Naptally, taught these spiritually hungry men the following topics:

·   Why another partnership?

·   Exploring the nature of true gospel fellowship

·   A vision for theological/pastoral training

·   The incomparable Scriptures

·   What is the gospel?

·   Nine Marks of a Healthy Church

·   Where do we go from here?

In addition to teaching, Mark got to know the African pastors (one man traveled six days from southern Tanzania). The heart these men have for Jesus Christ, his message, and his people encouraged and strengthened us in so many ways. These men love Jesus and give sacrificially of their lives for their church and their community. One pastor even told us that each day after Mark and I left for the hotel (1¾ hours away), the men gathered together to discuss what they learned and how to apply it to their churches. They initiated that on their own! He relayed that all the attendees believe their lives and their churches will never be the same after what they've learned. Most of them had never heard such solid teaching from the Bible like they heard this week. Praise God!! They hunger for solid Bible teaching. When Mark put out the vision for a long term certificate level program, they got excited.

Additionally, two women traveled to the conference while other local women came and went as they had time. Local women from the village also sacrificed their time to cook for the conference attendees. Although we might consider the conditions a bit primitive, they served with joy and laughter.

Please pray for wisdom as we seek to develop long-term theological training for these hungry pastors so that they can bring solid biblical teaching to their congregations.

2 Timothy 2:2 What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 

We saw people walking along every road, even in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.

Azungu! Azungu!

A representative road - half of our trip to the village looked like this road.

Beautiful mountainside scenery - cultivated tea, maize, and sugar cane farms

One of the church's we visited

The people from Nyamarambe village church

a roadside market of second-hand goods

First day of conference

Pastor Napthally teaching - a last minute blessing

Pastor John translating

tea break

the food tent 

Cooking lunch

  

Receiving Table Talk booklets donated by Ligonier Ministries

Planting a tree representing gospel seeds for future growth

Cheryl's typical attire for the week

Conference attendees and local folks

A beautiful sunset to close a wonderful week

People Stories - Irene

Meet Irene, a fashion designer, from the Netherlands. We first met Irene when she came to BBC in the spring of 2017.

Sometimes at the beginning of a service Mark will ask newcomers to stand up and state their name as a way of introduction. Irene boldly offered, "I'm Irene from the Netherlands. I'm Catholic but thinking about being a Baptist." Wow, what an introduction.

Shortly after that she joined us for our annual church retreat. Since then Irene has faithfully and consistently placed herself under the teaching of God's Word.

This past Saturday we had the privilege of spending several hours with Irene, enjoying a sumptuous lunch and lovely conversation. She told us about her spiritual journey from the age of eighteen through spiritism, sorcery, secular psychology, hypnotherapy, witchcraft, occult, and New Age. Through all this, she was a spiritual seeker, looking for truth, but didn't know light from darkness. Even in the midst of such spiritual darkness, God showed her glimpses of light and used various personal experiences to draw her to himself.

In early 2017, Irene placed her faith in Jesus, the light of the world. During a trip to Israel this past summer, she was baptized in the Jordan River, following the example of her Lord Jesus. She is currently pursuing BBC membership.

What a delight to watch Irene hunger and thirst for God's righteousness. She's learning so much from God's Word and from his people.

Pray for Irene as she grows in her understanding of God's Word and how his Word should affect her thinking and her life. Pray that the God of light will shine in her and eradicate the remaining vestiges of Satan and darkness.

Pray for China

Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 

1 Timothy 2:1-3 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior.

Would you please pray for China’s governing authorities as they meet to conduct their party meetings within these next few weeks?

Please pray that they would make and enforce laws that would do good for their country and for their people.

Pray that God will give them wisdom from on high so that all people “may lead a peaceful and quiet life."