Sum mer 2014
Godliness with Contentment —the Way of Great Gain
by Dr. Bud Steadman
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et’s face it—too many “Christians” in our nation have bought into the American dream. While TV evangelists are well-known for their “healthand-wealth” gospel, local church pastors, church members and even missionaries are not exempt from the effects of the “good news of materialism,” teaching that if one is right with God, each of his desires will be met by the deity of prosperity. In times of economic challenge, it is easy for us to equate financial provision with the blessing of God. When the missionary has adequate support, we say that God is blessing him. When the church offerings are coming in on budget, we state that the Lord is at work. Coupled with a materialistic mindset among many of God’s people is the fear factor of unbelief—Christians are afraid their American dream is not being realized, so they begin cutting back on their spiritual commitments, especially in the area of financial giving to God’s work.
In my Scripture memorization plan, I was recently reminded that such a materialistic mindset was totally foreign to the Apostle Paul, who warned a young pastor in I Timothy 6 of the dangers of the love of money and the pitfalls of trusting uncertain riches. Nestled in Paul’s admonition to Timothy is a wonderful life principle which should guide the heart of every child of God—“godliness with contentment is great gain” (I Timothy 6:6). In our consumer society, great gain equals material possessions. God values things quite differently; so should we. What does it mean to couple godliness with contentment? Consider for a moment what it does not mean. Godliness with contentment is not rolling over and passively surrendering to some impersonal fate. We have responsibilities in life to fulfill; we are created by God to be active, not passive. For example, if I need to find a doctor to treat a family member’s medical problem, or if I need to take action to provide care for my aging parents, I have a responsibility to do so. Failure to fulfill God-given obligations is simply neglect. Godliness with contentment is not a lack of passion. Some people have little trouble surrendering certain things to God, because they are not passionate about those things. I have never had trouble giving up Brussels sprouts. But I
had difficulty giving up a parent to death. We, as believers, are to have passion for spiritual success in our personal ministries. A preacher who becomes “content” with a lack of spiritual fruit and does not cry to God with a desire for greater results in the lives of his people may be a man who, in reality, has no passion for souls.
In This
What then is godliness with contentment? It is surrendering Issue to God that which is important in life as you faithfully carry out your God-given responsibilities and then confidently trust Him, through the adequate resources of His grace, to bring to pass that which He desires for you. Consider, for a moment, a man who has a financial bill coming due. If he does not have adequate resources in the bank with which to pay his bill, he will be anxious as the due date approaches. If, however, he has Motivated by Christ’s adequate resources, he will not worry, but rather be confident Love of his future ability to meet the payment. Often, we live our day-to-day lives with anxiety, not coupling godliness with Meet BWM’s Newest contentment, because we doubt whether God has adequate Missionaries resources to meet our life’s needs. In Philippians 4, Paul names three wonderful resources of God’s grace that we need to focus upon if we would know the gain of godly contentment.
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THE OPPORTUNITY OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE (Philippians 4:10) “Providence” comes from two Latin words, “pro” meaning “before” and “video” meaning “to see.” It means that God sees what needs to be done ahead of time and arranges circumstances and situations for the fulfilling of His purposes. In His providence, God had caused the church at Philippi to have a revived concern about Paul’s needs. That renewed interest came at the very time Paul needed their love the most. They had been concerned before, but lacked the opportunity to help—God’s timing was perfect. To be truly content, we must understand that our lives are not a series of accidents, but a series of appointments made for us by God. As we view God’s providential working in the past, it should encourage present and future faith, enabling us to have a growing confidence in God’s control and contentment throughout life’s circumstances. THE INTENSITY OF GOD’S POWER (Philippians 4:11–13) Paul is quick to point out that his happiness does not depend upon his circumstances, but upon an adequate resource—the Continued on page 3.
3 Mission Matters Now In Heaven Godliness with Contentment (cont.)
4 Itineraries Ready to Go. Gone!
Motivated by Christ’s Love by Dr. David Canedy
“For the love of Christ constraineth us” (2 Corinthians 5:14).
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n 2 Corinthians 4 and 5, Paul reveals several motivators for his life and ministry, especially in times of trial: 1) his heart’s daily renewal by the Spirit of God through the Word of God (4:16), 2) his purposeful focus on the eternal, rather than the temporal (4:18), 3) his faith and confidence in the resurrection promises of Jesus Christ (5:1-8), 4) the Judgment Seat of Christ (5:10), 5) the love of Christ (5:14), and finally, 6) our calling as ambassadors of Jesus Christ (5:20). Our theme and focus for the 2014 Orientation Seminar was “The love of Christ constraineth us” from verse 14. As Paul went through many trials in his life and ministry, so will every believer and certainly, every missionary! Trials have a way of testing and sorting out our motives. If self, flesh or temporal things are any part of our motive in serving Christ, it will quickly be revealed during trials. That revelation will force a choice: either get our motives right or quit pretending to be serving Christ. Ultimately, only Christ can properly
motivate, empower and enable us to serve Him. All other motivations will fail us. One of the key motivators in ministry is the love of Christ. Does 2 Corinthians 5:14 speak of Christ’s love for us or our love for Christ? It is crucial to understand that it is Christ’s love for us that constrains us to serve Him, not our “great love” for Him. We too must love Christ, and that love will draw us to serve Him. But our love for Him may fail, as did Peter’s when he denied Christ the night after boasting of loving Christ so much that he would die for him. When our love fails, it is Christ’s undying love for us that motivates us back to service or to continue in service. Throughout the week of Orientation training, April 20-25, at Camp Joy in Whitewater, Wisconsin, we were challenged from God’s Word about the love of Christ motivating, yea, constraining us to serve our Lord. What else can we do, when we properly understand the love of Christ for us? After
Peter’s denial, he was ready to quit and go fishing. Jesus lovingly sought after Peter. Jesus confronted him with the question, “Lovest thou me more than these?” Peter had to admit his love for Christ was not what it ought to be. However, Christ’s love for Peter motivated him to yield to the Lord and give his life to “feed my lambs,” “tend my sheep” and “feed my sheep.” These are the basics of ministry: win souls and disciple young believers, pastor God’s flock and feed the sheep on the Word of God. It was definitely Christ’s love for Peter, not Peter’s love for Christ, that motivated Peter to serve! We praise the Lord for over 20 missionaries trained at this year’s Orientation. Each is learning of Christ’s love as the foundational motivation for his missionary service. Pray that the Lord will keep their hearts filled with, and in tune to, His love as they face the challenges of deputation and eventually, service on the field.
Meet BWM’s Newest Missionaries Branden and Laura Bowen (Ghana, Africa)
Branden and Laura Bowen are graduates of Grace Baptist Bible College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Their sending church is Maranatha Baptist Church, also located in Winston-Salem. Branden grew up in the hot desert climate of Phoenix, Arizona, while Laura grew up on a dairy farm in rural Moscow, Virginia. Both surrendered to full-time mission work while in their freshman year of college. While praying about going to Uganda, God redirected Branden’s path to Ghana, West Africa. They are a genuine, sincere young couple that have given themselves to serve in this challenging country. They are actively involved in outreach and discipleship in their local church.
Greg and Amanda Little (Saint Lucia)
Greg and Amanda Little are natives of Canada. They met while attending Faithway Baptist College of Canada. It was during a mission trip together to Newfoundland that their hearts were knit together, and they were married three years later. Presently, Greg is the assistant pastor of Sackville Independent Baptist Church in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. This church is also their sending church. The Littles have three children: a five-year-old daughter, sons who are three and two, and one child on the way. The Lord used the deputation ministry of one of our BWM missionaries, Craig and LeAnna Comstock, to confirm their call to the mission field. Greg and Amanda have a burden to reach the lost of St. Lucia.
Nathanael and Linette Steinbart (Kenya, Africa)
Nathanael and Linette Steinbart both grew up in Christian homes and are graduates of Baptist College of Ministry in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Nathanael also received his Master of Divinity degree from Maranatha Baptist University, where his father is currently on the faculty. Their sending church is Martinsville Baptist Tabernacle in Martinsville, Indiana. They have a little girl, who was just born in December. Their burden is to plant churches in Kenya. They plan to begin by teaming with the Halsteads, who are veteran BWM missionaries. The Halsteads are very excited to have them coming to serve!
Mission Matters: Those Who Should Not Give M
by Dr. Bud Steadman
y wife and I recently took a trip to Haiti to minister alongside our BWM missionaries serving in that needy country. While there, we were confronted afresh with the depth of human need and the importance of godly missionaries biblically serving Christ in establishing local churches.
In historic humanitarian tragedies, such as the 2010 Haitian earthquake, our nation has consistently demonstrated an outpouring of benevolence. While this is commendable, the reality is that most benevolent giving is motivated by the emotions of the moment. Statistics prove that the further people become removed from such a tragedy, the less interest they have in being willing to help those who have been displaced. In speaking recently with a fellow Christian concerning a “natural disaster,” he stated very wisely, “Now is the time for the church to shine.” Yes, believers who know Jesus Christ and have the proper biblical motivation for benevolence should seriously consider aiding in the material needs of those suffering calamity. Such giving must not be limited, however, to meeting material or financial needs. Far more importantly, believers must get the Gospel to those who have the greatest need, the need of a Savior. While in Haiti, we observed the balance of our BWM missionaries as they sought to make a priority of biblical evangelism, discipleship and church planting in the midst
of caring for human needs. Giving to such servants of Christ who have been called by God is one of the greatest opportunities that we, as believers, have to see the work of our Lord advancing around the world.
A Bible scholar of the past said that there were several people who should not give to the work of God. He listed seven groups: • Those who believe in “every man for himself.” • Those who believe that Christ made a mistake when He said, “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15). • Those who regret that missionaries ever came to our ancestors. • Those who believe that the Gospel will not save anybody. • Those who do not want a share in the final victory. • Those who believe they are not accountable to anybody for the trust they enjoy. • Those who are prepared to accept the final sentence from our Lord, “Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me” (Matthew 25:45).
Godliness with Contentment (cont.) sufficient power of Jesus Christ, Who strengthened him. Godliness with contentment is not complacency, nor a false peace based upon escape from life’s battles. It is, rather, an abiding peace and confidence in God’s power in the midst of battle. But how do we gain such confidence in His power and strength? Paul makes it clear that this confidence is “learned by experience.” Paul’s spiritual contentment was not something he had immediately after he was saved. He had to go through many difficult trials to learn how to be content. Paul further states that this contentment does not come independently. “Instructed” means “initiated into the secret,” a word used for pagan religious ceremonies in the imparting of “inner secrets.” Paul was initiated into godly con-
tentment by walking personally with Jesus Christ. Finally, the apostle makes it clear that learning of the sufficient power of God does not come easily. In poverty, Paul has to learn how to be abased. In prosperity, he has to learn how to abound. Both equally require the grace of God. This was Paul’s testimony—the sufficient power of God can make you content in any circumstance if you will walk with Christ and learn of Him. Draw upon His unfailing resources! THE STABILITY OF GOD’S PROMISE (Philippians 4:14-20) We understand that Paul’s financial need was met by the church, but he saw the meeting of that need from a dual perspective: while it was from a human source, it was truly from the heavenly storehouse. His trust was not in the Philippian church, but in
Let’s not be one of those who does not give, but rather, let us sacrificially seek to use God’s gifts entrusted to us for the furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Why not prayerfully consider taking on a BWM missionary today or increasing your present support of one of these choice servants of our Lord?
Now In Heaven Dr. Charles Warren Johnston (Emeritus Board Member) passed away at age 76 on June 1, 2014. He pastored several churches over the course of his 40-plus years of full-time ministry. He served on the Board of Trustees of BWM from 1980 until 2007, when he retired to emeritus status. During his years on the Board, he served as Chairman of the Nominating Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee. “By making much of Christ in his preaching and service to others, Dr. Johnston strived to live out the command of his favorite verse, John 3:30, ‘He must increase, but I must decrease.’ And he did so with wit, wisdom and an always amiable demeanor.”1 1
Full obituary available online.
the Lord Himself and His unchanging promise of provision. Therefore, he could also boldly say to the believers at Philippi, “But my God shall supply all your need.” Godly contentment lies not in the prospects of the moment, but rather in the promises of God. Whatever life brings to you—personally, to your family or ministry—are you confidently trusting God through the adequate resources of His grace to bring to pass that which He desires for you? Are you resting in His providence, His power and His promise? To do so is godliness with contentment, the way of great gain!
Itineraries
Ready to Go
Steve Anderson
Pat Delaney
Jesse Garza
July 1–Dec. 2
September 3
July 15–31
South Africa/Cameroon/Kenya
Desert Gateway Baptist Church, Gilbert, AZ
Mexico
Kevin Brosnan
September 4
Uruguay/Argentina
August 8-10
Faith Baptist Church, Cottonwood, AZ
First Baptist Church, Watseka, IL
September 10–29 Albania/Russia/Hungary
David Canedy July 6 Grace Baptist Church, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
July 9 Meadowlands Baptist Church, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
July 13 Emmanuel Baptist Church, Three Hills, Alberta, Canada
September 10–14
September 7 Living Waters Baptist Church, Camp Verde, AZ
September 10–14 Northland Baptist Church, Flagstaff, AZ
September 21 Maranatha Baptist Church, Peoria, AZ
September 28 Desert Hills Baptist Church, Buckeye, AZ (a.m. service)
September 28 Elliot Road Baptist Church, Gilbert, AZ (p.m. service)
Temple Baptist Church, Asheville, NC
August 25–September 16
Bud Steadman July 17–20 Heritage Baptist Church, Traverse City, MI
July 22 Bible Baptist Church, Matthews, NC
August 10 Greenvale Baptist Church, Gray, TN
August 24–27 Vandalia Baptist Church, Greensboro, NC
September 14–17 Victory Baptist Church, Jacksonville, FL
September 18–19 Board Meeting— Bob Jones University, Greenville, SC
September 22–26 Clearwater Christian College, Clearwater, FL
These missionaries have almost reached 100% support. They are READY TO GO! Perhaps the Lord of the Harvest will enable you or your church to help get them to their fields of service. Contact them today! Aquila Darimani (Ghana) 77% adarimani@baptistworldmission.org Jonathan and Micki Rehfeldt (Uruguay) 94% jrehfeldt@baptistworldmission.org Joey and Jenny Tacon (Italy) 91% jtacon@baptistworldmission.org
Gone!
Dan and Dee Kowach (South Korea) have reached 100% support and arrived in South Korea on June 6, 2014! Please pray for them as they settle in a new culture and ministry. Jim and Myra Wright (Furlough Replacement) also reached the 100% support mark and are currently doing a furlough replacement in Cameroon. Please pray for them as they travel extensively in their ministry.
September 28 Refuge Baptist Church, Cumming, GA
Schedule an Administrator or Director at Your Church! BWM administrators and directors offer a wonderful blend of passionate preaching and current field experiences. Please contact the mission if you would like to schedule any of these men for your next conference.
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