JOE AND ANN BROTHERS:
SERVANTS: HOLY AND ACCEPTABLE TO GOD

Joe and Ann Brothers
love and serve
their Lord Jesus
in a manner that
always points their
family and friends and
others to Him. PTL!

Romans 12:1-2 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers,
by the mercies of God,
to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual worship..
But be not conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing you may discern
what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect.

LEADERS AND SERVANTS,  WHOLLY GOD’S

You cannot help but notice their
steady faithfulness over the years,
servants surrendered so totally
they do as fully as Jesus did
loving acts which lift other
people up to see the light
so bright and beautiful
in the perfect love of God.

When love is required they
sacrifice their own will
and do just as their Savior
did laying down their lives
to lift up others when all
seems hopelessly dark
and they feel blind needing
the light only Jesus brings.

When truth is required they
hold nothing back but speak
it as straight as their Savior
did for they love too much
to let others fall down into
the Enemy’s traps—yet they
never let compassion fail
but take sweet redemption’s trail.

When called upon to sacrifice
they follow their Shepherd’s
faithful steps toward His Cross
where His blood was shed,
for surrender marks every
word they say and every
thing they do for His Love
to live even as Jesus lived.

Always throughout the
years of their marriage
Joe and Ann have been
faithful to joyfully point
others to Jesus.

When I look at the lives of Joe and Ann Brothers, I have to wonder who it was who invested so much early in their lives to bring forth such godly, humble, hard-working, gifted and in all ways beautiful servants of their Lord. I leave it to our Lord to reward these mentoring souls for introducing to Joe and Ann during their early years faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. All of us who know them, all of us who have been blessed by them, all of us who praise God so much for the manner in which He illuminates their lives of service and devoted love; praise Him for Joe and Ann and their beautiful lives.

Ann was actually a Preacher’s Kid who moved around quite a bit during her early years, so it is not surprising that she found faith in Christ at a young age, while Joe did so as a teenager. They actually lived in the same East Gadsden neighborhood, near East Walnut Baptist Church, where Ann’s Dad served as Pastor. They actually met through Ann’s older sister, Faye. Their interest in each other grew so strong Joe was known to travel thirteen hours from his Marine Base to East Gadsden to visit Ann on the weekends. They spent their early married years on Paris Island until Joe  finished his time with the Marines, and they moved back to Gadsden. They both soon got involved in the ministries of East Walnut. Joe served by teaching the youth, working with R.A.’s and coaching softball. Ann also worked with the Acteens, while they both played a lot of church league softball. Jill, their daughter, remembers endless weekends of softball tournaments and hotels as a wonderfully fun family time.

Joe has always packed
his life with seeking
to live all of the adventures God has
for him and others.

Now, Joe has been working with R.A.’s for over fifty years  both on the local and the state level. Having always loved the outdoors, he builds hiking and camping into his ministry. That is how Camp Monsoon actually began. When the family moved to Glencoe, they became a part of of First Baptist Church, Glencoe. They soon got involved in the youth work, and of course, Joe joined in the work with the R.A.’s, while Ann became a part of leading the Acteens. Joe continued taking R.A.’s on camping trips, and Jill, their daughter, made it clear that girls enjoyed camping also. So, Joe started father-daughter campouts, but even so, Jill pushed for more—the full-fledged campout experience.

Joe is always imagining
new activities which
give the campers
unforgettable memories
pointing them always
to the goodness and
the faithfulness of Jesus.

So, as loving and wise fathers do, Joe agreed to do campouts for both boys and girls. This big campout has always taken place during the spring break for schools in late March or early April, a normally rainy time of year. Still, rains or monsoons have never stopped the enthusiastic campers. No camp was ever cancelled due to rain—only COVID’s first year and enforced restrictions managed to do that. On occasion the camp had to begin at the church and later move to the destination. Now Camp Monsoon is a deeply loved tradition for many families in Glencoe. Now the large groups of youth and children are divided into high school teams led by Juniors and Seniors, and younger teams composed of middle schoolers and elementary aged kids, monitored by adults. During the camps the youth and children are constantly involved in one game or another. Usually there is a morning hike; during which the campers use maps and compasses to complete assigned tasks. After lunch the campers complete a challenging obstacle course. Then there is a “fear factor” meal later in the evening. Campers eat well,  being served hot breakfasts, lunches and even steaks on Friday night. The logistics for giving families such a terrific gospel-centric experience requires year-round planning and the help of large numbers of adults—all united together to provide the students a thrilling encounter filled with fun, faith, and Jesus.

Now, just pause a moment with me and think about the imagination and commitment it takes to pull off such a powerful ministry event. Mind-blowing, isn’t it? Such is what Joe and Ann and their depth of commitment to loving people and sharing the gospel. accomplish. Along with their family and their faith family they demonstrate to the camping families and especially students, just how exciting and powerful the Christian life can become.

Joe and Ann definitely
know how to have fun;
and all the shouting and
laughing and competing
illustrate for all involved
the wonderful joy
of knowing Jesus.

Now, add to this deeply held passion for youth and children, a similar commitment to every ministry of the Church Faith Family. This is why you see Joe when there are building needs at the Church. This is why you see Ann when there is a meal to be served or a shower to be arranged. This is why you see them active in Life Groups and in D-Life Groups. This is why Joe serves faithfully as a Deacon. This is why Ann constantly assists with our Day School ministry. AND it quickly becomes clear as you get to know them better; they take it all in stride, and do not consider their lives to be an anything extraordinary. For both of them, Christians follow Christ; they love as He loves, they serve as He serves, they encourage as He encourages, and they enjoy life just as He did while He was on earth and now that He is in Heaven.

Wherever you find
Joe and Ann they
are busy loving on
family and friends.

When confusion arises, they seek truth, they unite rather than divide, and they help others to focus on God’s Way ahead as His Will is discovered and followed. They handle crises with deep faith and prayer and dependence on their Father in Heaven’s provision. As their son, Matt, suffered through a period of peril and suffering due to kidney failure; Joe and Ann honestly suffered with him and called upon their church’s faith family to join them and uphold them in prayer. When crises came, they heroically walked side-by-side with Matt and again called the Faith Family to prayer. When disappointments and delays arose, they honestly shared and called the Faith Family to prayer. And when God ultimately brought Matt the kidney he required (from a true Christian brother/friend) Joe and Ann led the Faith Family in rejoicing with Matt and glorifying God. Now that is a living witness.

While we were on the mission field, I truly admired Joe and Ann for all of the above, and for their full and loving support for us and our children. I will never forget how Ann provided day care for John David as a young toddler, along with a few others, in their home. One day he somehow got his head stuck between posts on their stairs, and, of course, Joe came along to rescue him and the day. And again when John David was at Jacksonville State, Joe became a father figure, a source of encouragement and godly advice when, John David needed it most. We remain eternally grateful.

One member of our Faith Family, Jim Runner, says; “I realized quickly as a young teenager that Joe had a God-given love for young people. He was my RA leader at East Walnut Baptist Church, where he put so much into teaching us to be Ambassadors for Christ. When I needed him most, he was always there. He continues to show his Christian love for me, and naturally, I feel the same about him.”

Somehow both Joe and Ann found time to work at “normal” jobs;  he for 35 years at Bell South, now AT&T; and Ann in childcare—in her at home day care for 20 years and as a substitute teacher at the Church Day School for 15 years. I know that their strong Christian testimonies have told many tales  of God’s loving power on those jobs throughout those years. When God so fills lives with His Power, He is glorified, they find joy, and others are richly blessed. Amen!

Mrs. Betty Woodward
A Godly Wife and Mother
A Faithful Witness For
Her Lord Jesus
Mrs. Betty Woodward
One Among The Faithful
Among The Greatest Generation:
IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS

Psalm 78:4 ESV

We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.

STEADFAST FAITHFULNESS

Steadfast faithfulness day-by-day
in the face of overwhelming trials
reveal great strength in hearts and minds
of those who serve the Lord with all
the gifts He has given by His grace
in the midst of His mercies deep
as with their hands and by their words
they testify to our Lord and the joy
He bestows to those Jesus gathers
by His perfect Love to Himself and leads
as He demonstrates salvation true
in this world which needs Him more than
all the earthly powers hold—by God’s
glory He bestows on such special souls
a heritage both deep and rich to pass
around for the blessing of His very own.

The World War II generation is often called the Greatest Generation. This is, in part, because they endured a catastrophic war and then successfully took on the task of rebuilding and recovering from the widespread devastation of that war. This was my parents’ generation, and I when I look back on my years growing up in the fifties and sixties, I recall many outstanding examples of men and women who stood strong, worked hard, and served faithfully  both their families and their communities. They did so within the context of their deeply held faith lived out in strong and growing churches. These people found deep reservoirs of incredible strength to achieve amazing things through their day-to-day dependence on Jesus as their Savior and their Lord. In the midst of family, work and all of the activities those entailed; they found their foundation in their church. For them, Sundays centered on Sunday School and worship, and in the evenings, Training Union (discipleship training) and Evening Worship. Many of these same families attended Prayer Meeting on Wednesdays, along with G.A.’s for girls, R.A.’s for boys, and Sunbeams for younger children—all of these providing missions education.  Women often participated actively in WMU circles (women’s small groups focusing on Bible Study enriched with missions studies and fervent prayer and missions actions projects). Many of these men gathered for Brotherhood, also focused on Biblically based mission study and mission projects. Family life and church life were deeply intertwined as these faithful men and women found strength and direction for their lives.

At First Baptist Glencoe, where I grew up there were plenty of families who lived out their faith in this manner. I think of families like the Culbersons, the Starnes, the Owens, the Hales, the Whaleys, the Woodwards, and so many more. They all have lived out mighty testimonies of faith. In her own unique way I see Mrs. Betty Woodward as a clear example of one who has lived out an exemplary life as a strong Christian woman  building within her family a great heritage passed down from the Greatest Generation.

Howard and Betty Woodward
An American Soldier
And His British Bride
United In Chirst

She was born as Betty Clabburn on October 3, 1927 in Norwich, England. She had one older brother, Cecil, who served in the British Royal Air Force. During World War II she was working in the city library, and was having to deal with nightly bombing raids, black outs and severe rationing. At her church she met an American soldier, Howard Woodward, from Glencoe. They fell in love and got engaged to be married. His mother actually sent Betty’s gown and the bridesmaids’ dresses from the United States. During his time deployed to Egypt Howard bought almonds to be used in their wedding cake. They married on May 28, 1945. When the war ended, Howard was shipped back to the States as a soldier, so Betty followed alone on a civilian ship, leaving all of her family and friends behind. Howard and his Dad built the house where Betty still lives today. They lived in Glencoe all of these years except for a brief time in Miami, Florida.

Betty and Her Children
Judy, Roy,
Penny, Sally

Both Howard and Betty were involved in the Church throughout their marriage. She sang in the choir, helped with the youth, and taught Sunday School for over fifty years. She also helped with the WMU and G.A.’s., and Vacation Bible School. They had four children; Sally, Judy, Roy and Penny. They were married 61 years until he passed away in 2007. Betty now has nine grandchildren and twenty-five great grandchildren. For many years Betty volunteered at the Glencoe Senior Center, as she put it, “ . . . helping to feed the old people.” Obviously, she has a sly, subtle sense of humor. Betty turned 97 on October 3.

In addition to raising their children and serving faithfully in Church, Betty went to work in 1968. She retired in 1992. In the meantime she remained deeply devoted to her family and her church. Her Sunday School class loved her deeply because she obviously loved the Lord, His Word and certainly each of those she taught. She ministered to them both as individuals and as a class, as a faithful disciple in her Lord’s service.

Speaking of a Heritage:
Four Children
Nine Grandchildren
25 Great Gradchildren

In 2009 two of Betty’s daughters, Sally and Penny, and a granddaughter, Randa, took her back to England for her first visit back home. She found her hometown pretty much unchanged. So, she was able to show them around. They visited the church where she and Howard had been married, the same jewelry store where Howard had bought her wedding ring, and her old home where they had met. What a beautiful opportunity to share her own heritage!

You see what I mean. There is something special about our parents’ World War II generation, who have been called the Greatest Generation for many reasons. Basically, Betty, Harold and so many like them, loved and served God, loved and cared sacrificially for their children—and they persevered in the face of mighty challenges—in the strength of their Lord Jesus—and so, accomplished much for HIs glory throughout their lives. And Betty, bless her heart,  because she has so richly blessed our own, continues faithfully walking on. We are blessed to know her and follow in her path of faithfulness and love.

Those of us raised by Betty’s generation have been richly blessed and challenged to have followed in their footsteps. May God continue to richly reward them for all He has accomplished in our lives and in the lives of our own children and grandchildren through them. Truly He led them, and truly they followed Him faithfully to persevere and preserve so much of what is dear to us still in this life. Truly they have clearly set out the way to follow our Lord Jesus as they did, in spite of challenges that arise, as God continues to build His eternal and Hs holy kingdom.

Blessed By God
Blessed In Faithfulness
Blessed Through Service
Blessed In Love

IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS!!!
From Winter to Spring,
From Summer to Fall—
it’s ALL ABOUT JESUS!!!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 ESV

For everything there is a season,
and a time for every matter under heaven; .
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant,
and a time to pluck up what is planted; . . .

When I look around me these October days in Alabama, I long for the changing of the leaves from bright green to oranges and reds of various hues. I certainly enjoy the beautiful mums painted in a rainbow of colors, and the pumpkins in orange, and the gourds in their oranges and greens and whites. Oh, I can’t leave out the bright blue skies highlighting all of these other beautiful colors. Yet, even amidst all of this beauty, I do so anticipate the changing of the leaves from their summertime green to their autumn’s more colorful show. Isn’t it just like God to keep us looking forward to the fresh sense of change He brings into our lives—keeping our hearts always looking forward to His revelation of His perfection and, of course, His Love. As month passes into month and each season yields to another, I am reminded, every day has its own unique ups and downs; every week has its highs and its lows; every month’s moons and our moods both wax and wane; and every year brings all its challenges and its victories and all of its in-betweens. Surely our God remains in charge. Surely He holds everything in His hands. Surely He continues working for His glory, which is always for our ultimate good. Praise His Holy Name!

How can you not love
a tree-lined autumn road
all colored and shadowed
golden, orange and glorious?

Or what about a road
aglow, all glistening white
and silver and oh, so bright
hardly a shadow in sight?

…and then there’s a road
all cloistered over with
such spectacular pink
you find it hard to think!

Wow! There’s nothing like
finding a road in the heat
shadowed by majestic trees
so you can just catch a breeze!

Genesis 8:22 ESV

While the earth remains,
seed time and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night,
shall not cease.

In the midst of constant change it is such a blessing to know that God has set the pattern, and He is still very much involved in using His plan to bless this world for the sake of His glory, and for the purpose of His bringing more and more and more of His children back to Him through the beautiful Gospel truth of Jesus offering redemption through His life, His teaching, His calling, His healing, His dying and His resurrection. Then there is the Presence of HIs Holy Spirit indwelling His children, inspiring and guiding and directing their living out this Gospel Truth everyday, and everywhere and in every way possible, so that God’s Church continues to grow from strength to strength until New Heaven and New Earth are permanently established.

Bridges are so powerful
a parable, a symbol
of Jesus our Savior
becoming our way
back to our Father
and our God.

…and the beautiful red cardinal
is such a powerful picture
of God’s using nature
to remind us of His
ever present, perfect love.

Hallelujah! It seems like
all of God’s springtime
wonders point us to the
glory of Jesus and His
victorious resurrection.

Then there are those
amazing, splendid
summertime suns—
God reigns, Praise His Holy Name!

Psalm 74:17 ESV

You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you have made summer and winter.

I admit it! There are chilly autumn mornings while I am walking when I long for the energizing summer sun. And there are certainly cold and wet winter evenings when there are no colors to be seen when I long for beautiful autumn evenings as the sun sets as golden as the leaves on the ground. Then there are those days in spring when admittedly golden pollen frustrates me as it coats our cars once again. And whew! Those summer afternoons and evenings can sap all of my energy for living. However, those tend to be momentary frustrations, and some time in God’s Word or with family and church family help me laugh through the inconveniences and recognize how beautifully God has designed every season for His good purpose and for our joy. Focusing on His glory sure does take care of my too often self-centered gripes and complaints. The beauties all around me constantly remind me He IS Good.

The glory and goodness
of God shines so
beautifully bright when
all the trees seem to compete
to see whose leaves can
show off their joy in Him
most spectacularly.

There is something about
starlight reflecting on a winter night
which splendidly shines
God’s own glory just right.

How beautifully nature sings
in the springtime the glories of God
putting on shows with beauties
His work in Creation bestows.

And then there’s His blinding sun
mesmerizing our eyes.
illuminating the skies
with His most glorious fire.

Jeremiah 8:7

Even the stork in the heavens
knows her times,
and the turtledove, swallow, and crane
keep the time of their coming,
but my people know not
the rules of the LORD.

Perhaps the birds of the air more clearly than most of God’s Creatures mark the passing glories of the seasons. Perhaps we should take note how they glorify their Maker as they fit so majestically in His patterns for them. Perhaps we have lessons to learn as we waste so much of our time battling against God’s eternal and perfect time line. Perhaps we need to each contemplate His Will more purposefully and seek Him more diligently as we trust in Him and follow His Will.

Imagine how birds in the autumn
must stop on a stem and just stare
at all of the glory surrounding
the leaves all around them so fair.

Now winter birds have the
rare privilege of adding some glory
to all of the glistening white—
such a spectacular sight.

Well, what could be brighter
or better in the midst of
spring flowers
than brilliant yellow—a sight
that seems just about right?

Maybe it takes a bright red
to be noticed amidst all of the colors
of summer washed over, of course,
by the scorching, though glorious sun.

Psalm 104:19 ESV

He made the moon to mark the seasons;
the sun knows its time for setting.

Well God does set his moon in the nights of the seasons to keep us on track according to His eternal plan, to include order and patterns as each year begins, then rushes right on through to the end. And in HIs power and His wisdom each day the sun rises again to remind us His Ways are dependable, and His Truth is supernatural and His Life is eternal. As the moon rises and sets, and the sun also rises and sets, our God accomplishes Hs Good Will. Through faith in Jesus we can truly enjoy the Ride. “Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8) (ESV)

A harvest moon rising
highlights the glories
even deep into the night
of God’s wonderful story.

Oh, wow! Look at that moon!
Sitting there in a deep blue sky,
brightening the night
though the air is so cold.

The sun on his way down
after blessing the blooming
of all the flowers appearing
to welcome our Lord’s resurrection.

And in the summer time
the sun going down
with another hallelujah
for one more day blessed.

AND SO THESE ARE THE SEASONS

And so these are the seasons,
autumn, then winter,
spring time, then summer,
all in praise to the Maker
of all of the glories
so coloring our world
with so much beauty
reflecting His goodness,
His love and His mercy,
His grace and His care,
His tending His own
like a good Shepherd,
His healing His own
like a good Doctor,
His teaching His own
like a good Master,
His welcoming His own
like  a good Father
His giving His life
like a good Savior.

Every season a masterpiece
declaring God’s Glory in Creation
and His Loving Gospel Plan
overflowing from His faithful Heart.
IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS!!!

Rev. Dr. Isaiah Okanlawon is proving the truth of Jesus’ Parable of the Sower as his faithful life continues to bring in a more than hundredfold harvest.
Praise God!

Sowing Seed In Rich Soil:
IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS:
ISAIAH OKANLAWON, D.MIN

SOWING SEED MAY SEEM A HUMBLE TASK

Matthew 13:8 ESV
Other seed fell on good soil
and produced grain,
some a hundredfold,
some sixty, some thirty.

Just sowing seed may seem a humble task
out in the fields on a sunny day
while others are sipping lemonade
as they choose an easy game to play.

And then there’s this problem; some seed
may fall and die on hardened ground,
others might land among the stones,
and still others among the thorns.

Still, here is this Good News, praise the Lord!
Some seeds will land on good soil, sound,
and yield a crop abundant and rich,
some thirty, sixty, a hundred fold.

So sowing may seem a thankless task,
leaving to chance the fate of the seed,
but in the end the harvest is sure
with faithful workers richly blessed.

And the Kingdom of God on earth
grows and grows and grows
as redeemed souls go to the fields
and join God’s harvesting force.

Baptist High School Students spend six years exploring all that God has for their future in finding Jesus as Savior and in discovering the calling He has for their lives.

Baptist High School states it’s mission this way: To serve and glorify God through the provision of Christian education in order to produce Christ-dominated, highly intellectual servant-leaders who can take the light and life and hope of Jesus Christ to Nigeria, Africa and the world.  Having operated since 1961, several thousand students have gone out into the world to fulfill this worthy Gospel-centric goal. This week I want to focus on one of those students who has, like so many other through the years, proved to have rich and fertile soil in his soul, so that God is reaping through him and his faithfulness, much more than a hundred fold harvest. Praise the Lord!

Isaiah Okanlawon moved with his parents from Mubi to Jos in 1970. There he had the opportunity to attend Baptist High School. During his second year in the school he gave his life to Christ. He then had the privilege of joining the first discipleship group led by Rev. Philip Wilson. Isaiah also became one of the original Torchbearers drama group, and shared with his fellow members through dramas and skits the Gospel in many different settings. As an excellent and exemplary  student, he was selected by the BHS staff to serve as the Games Prefect, the student leader responsible for working under the P.E. Teacher to supervise all students in their daily sports time. No doubt, Isaiah’s heart and mind were already open to God’s planting Gospel Seed deep in his life to produce a bountiful harvest.

Life at Baptist High School centers on the beautiful Chapel
and the powerful gospel-centered worship
and preaching students and staff experience there.

Isaiah then went on to attend the University of Ilorin, where he earned a B.Sc in Industrial Engineering. He also earned a Post Graduate Diploma and an M.Sc in Chemical Engineering at the University of Benin.. It was during this time that he met his wife, Foluke, at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ife. They have been married now for 29 years, and have three children, one of whom is married. Later he earned an M.Div at the Nigerian Baptist Seminary and a D. Min at the Providence Theological Seminary in Manitoba, Canada.   After graduating from the University of Ilorin he began working in the petroleum industry. After beginning his career in Nigeria, h eventually moved to Canada to continue his engineering profession. During his university  and seminary studies God captivated his heart with a love for missions and spreading the Gospel throughout the world.

God has certainly blessed Isaiah and Foluke, his wife, with Toluwalogo, Fiyinfoluwa, and Fopefolua, along with their daughter-in-law, Chidimma.

Isaiah is currently working as a consultant in the oil and gas industry, specifically  with a deep water well delivery project in off shore Nigeria as the Well Operations Superintendent. But he has been doing so much more than that. He has served as the Discipleship Ministry Coordinator for New Revelations Baptist Church in Ikeja, Lagos, Director of Worship for the Full Gospel Men’s Fellowship In Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and as House Church Pastor of Divine Grace Baptist Church in Woji, Part Harcourt and has often led conferences on the central role of true worship in the Church.

Fifteen years ago Isaiah was inspired by God to found the Praise of His Glory Ministry (PHGM). He serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees and as the International President. He oversees the activities of the organization in both Canada and the United States. He is also a bi-vocational minister who serves as a resource person related to worship and renewal with the Church. Whew! Such a busy man, being used mightily and widely for his training, his gifting, and most of all his zeal and love for the Lord. When you speak with him, you notice the urgency he senses deep in his heart for getting the Gospel where lack of resources have hindered people from hearing the Good News of Jesus.

His group supports more than 125 missionaries, most of them being indigenous African missionaries. They also provide educational opportunities for the children of these missionaries. They fund boreholes to provide clean water in remote communities in West Africa. They give assistance in building church buildings, school buildings and mission houses. They work with the Christian Refuge for Children Foundation in Jos, Nigeria. This refuge serves children who have lost at least one parent to terrorist groups in Nigeria. The PHGM pays the salary for the 37 staff and teachers at this crucial mnistsry. They also provide medical programs in communities where Christians are a small minority. They are obviously working in the Lord’s harvest field.

The PHGM group sponsors outreach to those
who have a desperate need for Gospel witness,

Isaiah’s message to us as believers is a challenge to us to make sure we are faithfully using the resources God has provided to support such work as his group is doing.  Such support enables laborers to enter the harvest field in difficult and remote places. In Isaiah’s life and ministry we see God’s Gospel plan coming full circle as his life is so much ALL ABOUT JESUS that we are seeing (Praise be to God!) much more than a hundred fold harvest of those seeds planted in the rich soil of his heart and soul so many years ago at Baptist High School, Jos.

This leaves us with this question: Since God’s people have planted so lovingly God’s seed in your heart; just how much of a harvest is the Lord seeing from you in His harvest fields?

www.praiseofhisglory.net

IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS:
FAITHFUL LIVES
TEACHING AND TRAINING OTHERS

Coach Lyle Darnell and
Mrs. Lou Darnell have
lived faithful lives
inspiring and challenging who-knows-how-many
young people to understand
IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS.

Colossians 3:17 ESV

And whatever you do,
in word or deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.

How Do You Recognize Greatness?

How do you recognize greatness?
How do you look at a life well-lived
and measure the good they have
done and  have said
and measure the impact they’ve had?
How do you logically pause
and decide? Do you listen
to those who know them?
Do you ask some of the players
he coached? Do you ask some of the
the students she taught?
Do you consider
the achievements they’ve made, what games
and championships they have won?
Do you look at the careers of
students they taught?
Possibly, possibly
not; perhaps there’s a measure
that goes deeper, that’s better by
far—what has our Lord
done in their hearts and their lives? How
has His Spirit changed people for
the growth of God’s Kingdom
triumphant?
Great people will give you this answer:
”Don’t look at me, look at Jesus.”
Don’t give me your thanks,
just praise Jesus.”

With a long-time, faithful
marriage and a lifetime
filled with serving students,
maintaining a clear and
consistent Christian witness—
that is a definition for greatness!

Where do I begin talking about life-long servants in God’s Kingdom who continue to encourage and uplift God’s people when many folks might be content to sit back and take it easy after giving multiple decades of outstanding service in coaching and teaching? Let me first of all share with you what Jan Bailey, one of the Darnell’s daughters,  said to me as she kindly shared  lots of detailed information about her parents for this post. She  made it clear  that for her Dad the number of victories and championships related to his coaching career, take second place to his desire to be recognized for his Christian character exemplified throughout his many years devoted to coaching. For Coach and Mrs. Darnell, life has clearly been ALL ABOUT JESUS.

I really enjoy coming into our church for morning worship after Sunday School classes. Almost every Sunday I see Mrs. Darnell making the rounds among those gathering for the service, loving on everyone she talks to, smiling and laughing and asking about family members—in a word, mothering and lifting up as many folks as she can get to—she almost always ends up having to return to her seat as the worship team begins the first praise song. These days, Coach Darnell welcomes folks who approach him from all over the sanctuary to greet him and receive his thumbs up, his smile, his good and hearty words of encouragement, along with good-natured jokes about some of those who have been coached by him. As you can see, both Darnells know how to make every person feel valued and appreciated.

Coach and Mrs. Darnell
always enjoy time with
their family.

Now, all of us who know them definitely admire their successful coaching career. Any coach worth his title will agree, coaching is family business. The whole family gets caught up with the intensity of the mania that is high school football in Alabama. Having won a state championship, county titles and who-knows how many games over the years, Coach and Mrs. Darnell deserve a lot of respect. Over the years, I understand from Jan and Kelly, their daughters, who supported the cause as cheerleaders at Glencoe; that coaching took the family from Glencoe as an assistant coach, to Clay County High school, to Hanceville, to Emma Samson, to Siluria, and finally back to Glencoe as Head Coach in 1968. Coach and Mrs. Darnell decided to make Glencoe the home where they would plant their family, so that both Jan and Kelly were able to graduate there. After that, Coach Darnell continued his renowned coaching career at other north Alabama schools.

A distinguished looking couple
reflect a devoted and
distinguished career.

For years, Mrs Darnell served as  the director of the upper elementary school-age children in Sunday School. She has also served as chairperson of the Benevolence Committee, and even now still continues her personal ministry of visitation and encouragement. While my own mother spent several years in assisted living, Mrs. Darnell was one of her most frequent and certainly one of her favorite visitors. I still remember being asked by the Darnells to teach a sixth-grade boys class in Sunday School while I was a senior at Glencoe. This proved to be a great opportunity for me as I was exploring God’s call on my life as a teacher.

Coach Darnell’s arrival at Glencoe continued and developed a desire on the part of the entire school community to work toward excellence in football, in all sports, in band and in every aspect of the school. His high expectations and his insistence on discipline and effort influenced all of us as students to seek the very best, and never to settle for anything less—and as he lived, himself, to do so with clear Christian character. I am reminded of Colossians 3:17 (ESV):

And whatever you do,
in word or deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Coach Darnell led by his own example, and demanded from his teams, and from all of us students, that we work for excellence in all we did, and to do so in a manner that reflected well on our Lord Jesus.

Always teaching!
Always coaching!

He and Mrs. Darnell’s daughters, Jan and Kelly,  testify that former players and students continue to express their gratitude for all that Coach and Mrs. Darnell did for them as they coached and taught and encouraged and demanded the best from them. What a powerful way to invest their lives in focusing on solid achievements in a godly manner. Jan expressed it this way; “Dad has always said that he loved winning and wanted all of his players to be successful, but his priority for them was that they would become known as good Christian people.” I believe, along with many, many people, that both Coach and Mrs. Darnell, have been successful. I do not hesitate to declare that in the eyes of those who know them best, they are truly godly people who have the joy of knowing, themselves, God’s Grace, for they have given Him glory through their lives  definitely characterized by greatness.

Dependable! That’s the perfect word for Coach Lyle and Mrs. Lou Darnell. Everyone  in our church and throughout our Glencoe community find a sense of encouragement in knowing how they just keep on keeping on living out their lives faithfully as their testimony to the goodness of God in the person of Christ. Join me in praising God for such lives.

IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS!!!

THE GLORY OF GOD IN A HUMMINGBIRD:
IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS

(This post is dedicated to Janet Acton,
the most miraculous
hummingbird whisperer I know.)

There is no more
mesmerizing creatures among God’s work
than the amazing
hummingbird.

MATTHEW 6:26 ESV

Look at the birds of the air;
they neither sow nor reap
nor gather into barns,
and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?

”AND NOW, LITLLE HUMMINGBIRD . . .”

”And now, take form, tiny, little hummingbird . . .”
God must have grinned, then smiled
as He added a whimsical touch
to all the birds which filled the air,
declaring for all the angels who applauded
His intention for yet
another creature to fly through
the air, speeding from blossom to blossom,
faster than birds so much larger,
occasionally stopping
to hover in the air, able to zoom
east, west north or south; . . .
a perpetual intimidator
determined to find
and secure the energy
it needs to keep flying . . .
flawlessly engineered by its Master
Designer, able to fly
by itself greater distances
than others would dare to attempt—
perfectly fitted by God for its place
in His grand design for
Creation—just one more testimony
to God’s delight in perfection.

All the beauty of nature all around me has always spoken powerfully as a testimony to God’s creative power , His authority and most surely, His Love.  As I am blessed in this way, I certainly know that I am not alone. David in the Psalms writes beautifully of the splendor of God’s Creation. I imagine we all have particular beauties in nature which touch us most deeply. For me a walk on the beach in the night with the moon and stars shining overhead, and the waves majestically breaking upon the shore—well, in such moments God truly inspires me as I consider His greatness. Standing on top of a mountain top, or on the edge of a deep and grandiose valley or canyon—again I find myself awe-stricken before such a mighty testament to God’s greatness. Gazing in the delighted face of a beautiful young child—I just have to praise God for such unmitigated joy. Or looking into the glimmering, almost mischievous eyes of a wise, older saint—that assures me God is good and treasures His people. Well, I could continue—but I won’t -here’s the point—even in its fallen state, all of nature testifies to a God who loves and creates beauty straight  from His heart.

Hummingbirds have to eat
every fifteen minutes
to keep their high
metabolism fueled.

Now that I call myself retired, I can spend more time among the colorful flowers in our yard—and that makes me very, very happy;  for each flower reveals one more particular and precious piece of God’s glory. I thrill to the sight of butterflies dancing in the air from blossom to blossom, enjoying God’s generous banquet for their continuous  and sumptuous feeding. However, these past few weeks I have been absolutely enthralled by the hummingbirds buzzing and darting across our lawn, from flower to flower and from feeder to feeder, unintentionally showing off an array of miraculous traits which express in a hurry God’s glory.

As I finish up my Quiet Time on our deck each morning, I find great joy in watching the hummingbirds competing for the nectar available in our backyard feeder. On occasion, during the summer, they have buzzed up into my face as if to get a closer look at this weird giant in their very own flower garden. Just this week I was watering flower beds while one humming bird was hopping from one blossom to another, seeming to enjoy a shower in the hot afternoon. But the highlight of my summer came as I went out front one morning to see five hummingbirds at our feeder on the front porch, four of them feeding at once, while the other waited impatiently for its turn.

The hummingbird’s tiny, yet elegant form, the complexity of God’s design for this small bit of His creation, the quickness of its dazzling maneuvers, the strength of its wings and its seemingly fragile yet indomitable body—all give brilliant testimony to our Maker’s artistic hand. When we understand how He spoke and each creature was formed, I can just imagine the grin on His face and the twinkle in His eye when he said, “, . . . and now, take form, my own little hummingbird.”

What a mighty God we serve,
who takes time to perfect
the form of the beautiful
yet powerful hummingbird.

Obviously God had a tiny bird in mind, and yet a tiny bird with such incredible abilities and habits. A hummingbird weighs as little as 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. Look at those wings which beat faster than any person could actually  count. Notice how one moment, it may hover almost in your face, yet in the very next instant, disappear way up into the largest tree in the yard. Also, when you look at its beak extended for consuming the nectar of life it must have almost constantly to live. Hummingbirds are faster, smaller, able to change directions, able to eat more, able to fly  further—definitely one of a kind among the birds of the air.

It would take quite a team of engineers to design and develop a production process to manufacture such a creature as the hummingbird. Obviously only our great God could work such a creative miracle. The wings have to be light and oh, so strong. The beak has to be strong and long—able to reach into flowers and into feeders to siphon up the nectar of life. They can do that 13 times per second. Those same wings have to be so strong to carry the hummingbird thousands of miles as they migrate from place to place. Some travel over 2000 miles twice a year. And proportionally, the hummingbird has a giant brain—has to have such a complex brain to perform all of the intricate function required for such a life. Studies have revealed hummingbirds can not only remember their migratory routes from year to year, but even recall every flower they have visited, and even recognize certain people.

Next time a hummingbird buzzes right up into your face
just realize his brain is
about twice the size of
yours in proportion to your own—
he is just sizing you up!

No predator can fly so fast as the hummingbird. Just watch a pair of hummingbirds race to and from a feeder, and your own mind will be spinning. This allows the hummingbird the ability to eat bugs and drink nectar, which, in turn, builds up their strength for the complexities of the tasks they perform each day. Hummingbirds were definitely never designed for being caught.

About the length of a finger, hummingbirds possess such strength as would make a bear proud. Using their tiny wings, they travel enormous distances to keep themselves in warm climates. Throughout their day they are constantly flying, seeking nourishment to keep their enormously needy heart pumping and providing energy. A hummingbird’s heart beats 225 times a minute at rest, but more than 1200 times a minute in flight. They have been clocked at 30 miles per hour in flight. They do rest, however, by going into torpor, or into a very deep sleep.

The female lays two eggs
in a tiny nest. Once hatched, the hummingbirds
leave the nest in a
mere three weeks.

Imagine this tiny mother
adding to her constant
hunting and feeding,
gathering enough for
her two nestlings.

Above all, I think I admire most about the hummingbird, their uniqueness in the ordering of God’s world. They are incredibly tiny. And yet, they are amazingly active and strong. They go their own way, living and feeding and thriving alone. They eat more continuously than almost any other creature. In creating the hummingbird, God has demonstrated His attention to detail, to His delight in beauty, to His determination to provide His creatures with all they need to thrive. Although among the tiniest of beasts, hummingbirds are among the mightiest in revealing God’s loving care and His attentiveness in the process of creation.

As Jesus says, God’s care for His creatures is a powerful example of His care for us. He definitely cares for the hummingbird and gives plentiful provision for its care. He cares for us and provides for our own care. We must trust Him and praise Him and serve Him. After all, when it comes to life: IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS. Ask the next hummingbird you can catch!

Psalm 8:1 ESV
“Oh, Lord, our Lord
how majestic is your name
throughout the earth!”

CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH
LUDOWICI, GEORGIA:
TRULY “A LITTLE CORNER OF HEAVEN”
IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS

Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV

And let us consider how to stir up
one another to love and good works,
not neglecting to meet together,
as is the habit of some,
but encouraging one another,
and all the more
as you see the Day drawing near.

A LITTLE CORNER OF HEAVEN

In this way too often rough and tumble world
where people are always getting trampled
as they daily run all the races
life so often demands from us as
we find ourselves back at the starting line
again and again;
we all need those who will stand up and cheer us
on with all the Love of Christ and the
power of the Holy Spirit
inspiring us with with hope and
and joy and the energy
we need to win in Him
who is our God and more than all we ever need
for every race we have to run for Him
as He strengthens and upholds
us every step we take around the
track as He declares His glory
for His holy Kingdom
while every runner truly competing for Him
discovers His power driving them towards
His victory lap when His prizes
all are won and where He welcomes
them, every single one at last
Home forever with Him.

Sometimes our lives do seem like a race that never ends. I remember vividly how overwhelmed I felt, after graduating from university with a teaching degree in English. After spending a wonderful, hectic ten weeks of one more summer missions adventure with the Etowah Baptist Association, I drove the longest trip of my life from northeast Alabama down to extreme southeast Georgia, to Ludowici,
where I had been hired to teach high school English. In my well-used Chevy I drove with many of my few belongings, while my parents drove with me in their car and the remainder of my worldly goods. As it turns out, the only option for a place to live, ended up being one room, sharing a bath with occasional overnight guests in the house of Mrs. Howard,  a true matriarch of the town, Ludowici. Believe it or not, in that room, there was a baby bed where I could stack some of my stuff. Needless to say, as I prepared to begin my first teaching assignment, I was overwhelmed.

My first day at school one of the lunchroom ladies shooed me away from the teacher’s line, assuming I was some smart-alek, new student trying to fool them into giving me extra food. To me the students appeared like giants, rough-and-tumble wilderness dwellers (for Ludowici was surrounded on all sides by tall pine forests and swamps), who (boys and girls alike) as it turned out, hunted  deer, wild pigs, and other critters who ran in those woods.Yes, I felt very much intimidated. Still in the classroom things went reasonably well for a brand new teacher among some very grown up students.

Sometimes the smallest
churches have the
biggest hearts.

Obviously, I needed Christian brothers and sisters. I needed a church family. I needed a church home. I had a fellow English teacher, Faye Harper, who invited me to her church, Calvary Baptist. So I went, and i immediately felt like I was home. The people gathered me in as if I were some far-fetched distant cousin from Alabama. They really made me feel welcome from that very first Sunday. Fay played the piano; she really played beautifully. Visiting with these friendly folks before and after Sunday School, and then after worship, seemed like getting to know family I had never met before. It was a small church with a great big heart. On the church’s outdoor sign, I read, “Calvary Baptist Church: Just A Little Corner of Heaven.” The folks in that church fully lived out that beautiful reality. As a homesick, inexperienced teacher, God gave me people who would treat me like family and so help me handle all of the challenges living and teaching in Ludowici would bring my way.

Before I knew it, as I joined the church, Mrs. Mary Howard, the youth Sunday School teacher, invited me to join her as her assistant. Now Mrs. Howard was a great role model and always taught a lesson that reached both the youth and myself with great Bible truths for living. She also generously gave me opportunities to teach, often enough to keep me on my toes. She just as kindly encouraged me, as I got to know her big family, two of whom were students at Long County High School, where I was teaching. The youth were as welcoming and friendly as were their families.

Carolyn Mock, her husband, Norman, and their Son, Andy;
took time to love me and my
young teacher colleagues
in the name of Jesus.

Speaking of families, Norman and Carolyn Mock, and their son, Andy went way, way beyond the second mile to make me feel welcome. They actually welcomed me as if I were an older son. We did a lot of teasing and laughing together. We ate together. We certainly worshipped and prayed together, because for the Mock family, life centered on their faith and living it out in joyful, hard-working, yet always celebratory living. Norman worked for the Georgia Highway Department, Carolyn worked as Church Secretary for the First Baptist Church, and Andy enjoyed the typical school boy life filled with sports, friends, church activities and studies as time allowed. They always made me feel at home. Carolyn had a particular interest in WMU, like my own mother, and so that resonated in my heart in the process of being called into missions. Norman served as a deacon and gave strong leadership within Calvary church, always focusing on Scripture and doing things the Lord’s Way.

Holy hospitality characterized the entire church. They welcomed all of us “foreign” teachers with open arms. They welcomed families from deep inside the forests. They welcomed military families associated with Fort Stewart located in the next town on the road to Savannah. In fact, Mr. Harley Freeman often took a teacher friend of mine, Felicia Butler, and I on an old bus way outside of town to visit families, to offer to pick up their children for Church on Sundays. Everyone who showed up at Calvary felt a genuine, a loving welcome. What an inspiration! What a an example to follow.

It seems that Calvary continues
to be filled up with really
friendly people.

In fact, Calvary Church so welcomed me, and I grew so quickly into feeling at home,  that it was after a Week of Prayer for International Missions in early December, 1974, when I received a clear call to surrender my life for missions service. I had been challenged by the prayer program, and afterward  as I drove outside Ludowici on a star-lit night made even brighter by a full moon, and as I looked into the heavens, God’s Spirit spoke to me. Basically He said, “Mike, take a look back over your life. Notice the people. Notice the experiences. Remember the teaching God’s men and women have proclaimed about my love for all  the all the world. Notice, it all makes sense—I have been preparing you to take my Good News in Jesus which has so blessed you—to people who have not yet heard how much I love them. So, what are you going to do?” For me it all fit together so beautifully. God had always been preparing me so thoroughly for His Call. I was filled with joy as I said say yes to His Call.

Calvary BaptistChurch became for me “the little corner of Heaven”
I needed to hear and respond to
God’s Call into missions.

Thank God for Calvary Church and its loving, caring ways—its simple offer to welcome me into their church family, for encouragement, spiritual challenge, glorious fellowship, and opportunities to grow through service. All the precious time I spent at Calvary, I really did feel like I was very much at home, spiritually freed up to hear God’s Word, carefully consider His call on my life, and respond. I will always treasure my time at Calvary where I was extremely blessed to enjoy their loving, “little corner of Heaven.”

IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS;
A WONDERFUL SAVIOR
FOR BEAUTIFUL WOMEN

Luke 24: 1-12 ESV

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn,
they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
but when they went in they did not find
the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were perplexed about this, behold,
two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground,
the men said to them,
”Why do you seek the living among the dead?
He is not here, but has risen.
Remember how he told, while he was in Galilee,
that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men
and be delivered into the hands of sinful men
and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
And they remembered his words,
and returning from the tomb they told all these these things
to the eleven and to all the rest.
Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and
Mary the mother of James and the other women with them
who told these things to the apostles,
but these words seemed to them an idle tale,
and they did not believe them.
But Peter rose and ran to the tomb;
stooping and and looking in,
he saw the cloths by themselves;
and he went home marveling at what had happened.

Beautiful Women

Beautiful women glow from their hearts
wholly surrendered to their Lord Jesus
just like these brave women
up early and seeking
some loving service they could perform
for Him whose life had compelled them to
follow and learn from His
miraculous teaching:
they had pondered His glorious presence,
wondered at His powerful healings,
admired His incredible
and His holy nature;
and still there are noble women
seeking to serve Him  who is their Lord and
their Redeemer as He
makes them so much like Him—
loving and giving and serving
and healing,  using compassion ever
blessing, forgiving;
these are the most beautiful of
women as they build up His own Kingdom
reaching out into this world,
giving as they’ve been given.

The Love Of Jesus
Makes Every Woman
Beautiful

From even before the beginnings of the Church after the life, death, burial, resurrection, appearances, and ascension of our Lord Jesus, women have played a foundational and  crucial role in serving Jesus and building His Church. Just look at the life and work of any local church and you will find strong and faithful women serving, strengthening and undergirding the life and witness of God’s people. (Of course, you will also find strong and faithful men also serving, but this week I have stories to tell about heroically faithful women.) In the churches which have blessed me throughout my lifetime, I have found, without exception that women often take on a hefty share of the opportunities available for those who would serve the Lord.

As Becky and I worked for many years in Africa among Nigerian and Nigerien Christians, we could not help but be impressed by the women of those African churches who  mentored and prepared us as they contributed mightily to the life and service of our various faith families. In both Nigeria and Niger strong women’s groups provided stirring, joyful and worshipful music accompanied by enthusiastic dancing—making every Sunday service or special gathering an exhilarating  expression of love and worship for our Lord Jesus. In our smaller church, Goudel Baptist, in Niger, three older women set the tone in glorifying the Lord through their always welcoming presence, and in their mighty, fervent prayers. The women’s group led the way in mission outreach, traveling together outside Niamey, the capital city, to minister and witness to various unreached people groups. The women’s choir also joined other groups in presenting public concerts as a means to share the Gospel in a heavily non-Christian nation. In the life of this wonderful church, the women served as a foundation and as a source of joy, energy and zeal for sharing the Gospel of Jesus.

There is always
joy in Jesus.

In Nigeria women in the churches worked just as faithfully; in worship, in prayer, in teaching the children and youth, and in missions outreach. The Nigerian Baptist Convention’s Women’s Missionary Union involved huge numbers of women throughout the country in praying for missions, giving to missions and going to join in missions work in Nigeria and in other neighboring  counties. The beauty of these Nigerien  and Nigerian women’s faithful service is that they were following in the footsteps of women in the Bible  and also  in the beautiful footsteps of the missionary women who had mentored them.

Here is the message for us: Jesus clearly honored and upheld women throughout His ministry, and in return they faithfully followed, learned from Him and chose Him as their Lord and Savior. Throughout our ministry in Africa, we both  found ourselves inspired and challenged and mentored by missionary women doing a wide variety of service in Jesus’ Name. We certainly learned from women who were teaching, counseling, writing, publishing, doctoring, nursing, advising churches, leading at the Convention, Conference and Association level. In general we admired them as they witnessed tirelessly through their personal, family and professional lives. Indeed, there were large areas of Nigeria where the only missionaries present were women. So, they gladly did what needed to be done

to win people to Jesus, to meet the the needs of people in Jesus’ Name. This has been true  throughout our Baptist missionary  presence in Nigeria for almost 175 years. Praise the Lord. Let me mention just a handful of the remarkable ladies we were blessed to know as they did everything imaginable to introduce people to the overwhelming Love of God in Jesus.

Women in West Africa, like women everywhere,
search for meaning as they live out often difficult lives filled with hard labor.

Emogene Harris

At one point in our lives in Nigeria, our family traveled a long day’s journey from Jos down into the East to Enugu, to see the dentist. There we stayed with Emogene  Harris, who served as the Missionary Advisor to Baptist Churches in that area of the country. Now, Emogene, from MIssissippi, always behaved as a traditional, a charming southern lady; and yet she worked harder than most men, and served those churches and their pastors faithfully, never drawing attention to herself, but always building faith among the people and their leaders—pointing them again and again to Christ. Emogene so obviously loved her Lord Jesus, and so obviously loved all people—her life of love became a powerful testimony to the Christ she served. She trained and taught with the best of them. She had the strength and the faith to keep these she loved so deeply, on track and moving in the right direction to build the Kingdom of our Lord. She certainly led by example, never gave anything less than her best to win people to the Lord, to disciple them, and to encourage them as they joined and served alongside her. And the glory of it is, Emogene was only one among a large group of women who served so faithfully in places no one else was willing or able to go.

Dr. Martha Haygood
Jackie Legg

Over the years we met many outstanding missionary doctors and nurses. Dr. Martha Hagood, had come from long years of service in Japan to serve in Nigeria at the Eku Baptist Hospital. A tiny woman, she had a huge heart, a powerful personality, and excellent skills as an ob-gyn doctor. Her determination and will served her Lord and her patients well, as she gave each patient every bit of the medical skill she had developed, along with hearty, faithful prayers—and the results—many, many miracles of healing to the glory and in the name of Jesus. Also serving at Eku for many years as a Nursing Instructor, Jackie Legg, nursed and taught with the best of them. She also served and loved the Lord with extraordinary passion, leading her deep into the power of prayer and spiritual growth in the Lord. As a result, He glorified Himself as she prayed, taught Scripture, counseled and led people to spiritual breakthroughs in a mighty, mighty way. She and her husband, Gene, became loving spiritual mentors to many Nigerians and also, many missionaries and MK’s.

Medical missions involves the service of many dedicated doctors and nurses as they minster in Jesus’ Name.

Bettye Ann McQueen

Bettye Ann McQueen loved and ministered to who knows how many Nigerian university students throughout her many years in Nigeria—and as the Lord willed, during a time when the Holy Spirit was pouring out His Spirit in a remarkable way in the lives of university students throughout the country. At ABU in Zaria and as the Baptist Student Fellowship leader for the Nigerian Baptist Convention in Ibadan, Bettye Ann discipled students and developed deeply spiritual study materials for them as the Lord captured their hearts and minds and molded them for dynamic Christian leadership the exercise even now, giving direction and purpose for Christian outreach and missions in Nigeria and throughout the world.

Dale Moore
Roberta Fine

Becky had the privilege of getting to know two extraordinary women during her two years of missionary service in Port Harcourt. Dale Moore  oversaw the Baptist Churches in the large and important city of Port Harcourt. Like Emogene Harris, Dale became a shepherdess to the shepherds of many churches, small, medium, and large. She mentored, discipled, advised and prayed with these pastors and other Christian leaders throughout this oil rich city. She also mothered and mentored young  Journeymen missionaries like Becky. Roberta Fine served with her husband Earl, as they ministered up and down the coastal rivers, often traveling by boat to remote villages to evangelize and establish churches among the many tribal groups of that region. Like Dale, she also mentored and mothered Becky and other missionary journeymen. Like Dale, she was an ever faithful witness for her Lord  Jesus.

For women there is joy in worshipping and serving their Lord Jesus.

Sherry Woods

Sherry Woods originally traveled to Nigeria to serve with the WMU of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, to assist in their youth programs. After spending her first term of service working with them out of the Ibadan WMU, Nigerian Baptist Convention  headquarters, she spent some time in the U.S, helping to care for her ailing father, while receiving further training for counseling. Then she came to Jos as the Guidance Counselor at Hillcrest School, an international school which met the educational needs of missionary children from all over the world. Sherry strongly impacted many, many MK’s for Christ, even as she gave excellent educational counseling and preparation for their future lives. She also trained other women and older students for mentoring young women in their faith walk. She particularly loved participating in an effective prison ministry, also in Jos. In all of this Sherry LOVED people, LOVED making people relax and have fun,  and LOVED discipling people, leading  Masterlife and Experiencing God groups. She even led all of us Baptist missionaries in Jos together as we studied Experiencing God. And she became the best of all aunts to every single one of the Baptist MK’s in Jos, hosting sleep-overs, birthday parties and all kinds of fun extravaganzas for every MK lucky enough to call their her Aunt Sherry.

Angel Oswood

In her quiet, consistent manner, Angel Oswood has fulfilled many of these same roles as a missionary over the years, She has played the role of mission aunt well, and has faithfully mentored and encouraged Nigerian Christians. But her love has always been teaching the Bible in schools where pastors and their wives are trained for ministry. And she has always put in countless hours of preparation and planning so that the Holy Spirit has been able to use her teaching and her mentoring to train godly and faithful pastors and wives and missionaries to serve in some very tough places as they have established and strengthened churches among the unreached peoples of Nigeria.

You know, I have to say it again: IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS. It‘s all about His holy love which draws women and men to Him, eager to receive and return that love in repentance and in their commitment to Him of everything He has made them to be. The New Testament gives us such beautiful stories of lives changed for the better forever, changed so much as His Holy Spirit enabled them to mirror that love gloriously, Then others were drawn, not to them but to this Jesus who  was their Savior, their Shepherd and their Lord. Join me in praising His Holy Name for these and multitudes of missionary women who have devoted themselves to His service and His glory, much to the joy of those  who like us have been privileged to experience His power to redeem through their beautiful lives.

African Christian women share their joy
in Jesus as they lead worship times
in their churches.

AN APOLOGY

I must apologize to the dozens of missionary women who so inspired our lives while we served in Africa. There are too many to name in this post; but not only for our lives, but  for those of countless others who have been truly blessed and inspired for service as they  so lovingly and tirelessly worked for our Lord Jesus. He knows your names. He knows your hearts. He knows the impact you each have made for His Kingdom. I know you are blessed in Him. We are eternally grateful for how beautifully He blessed us through each of you.

Acts 1:8 ESV
“But you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem and in all Judea
and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

“Come, follow me, and
I will make you fishers
of men.”

Matthew 4:18-20 ESV

While walking by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw two brothers,
Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother,
casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
And he said to them,
”Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Immediately they left left their nets and followed him.

God’s People:
Part Two

In the history of this world
God has always
been calling
and gathering His people.

Among the maidens
of Israel
God chose one
and Mary obeyed.

Even though he
failed his Lord
God called and
Peter obeyed.

On his way
to do his worst
God struck Saul,
then he obeyed.

Almost unkown
Priscilla and
Aquila answered
true to God’s Call.

All alone, his
brothers all gone,
God called John
and he obeyed.

His eternal Call,
”Come, follow me.”
So, blessed are 
all who obey.

Mary called to do the impossible by the
Holy One of Israel
for all the world,
for love, obeyed.

Luke 1:35-38 ESV

And the angel answered her,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born
will be called holy—the Son of God.
And behold, your relative Elizabeth
in her old age has conceived a son,
and this is the sixth month
with her who was called barren.
For nothing will be impossible with God.”
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord;
let it be to me according to your word.”

When Jesus calls, we will most often be amazed. We will be startled. We never seem to expect His call. When Jesus calls, we will hear what seems impossible. We know our limits, but so does He, and as it turns out, He knows our potential in His hands much better than do we. He knows His plan, and how He chooses to fit us into His plan. He has plans which far exceed our imagination. He has plans far more wonderful than we can comprehend. All of this points us to absolute faith in Him and to complete trust in Him. After all, “ . . . nothing is impossible with God.” And our response? May it ever be as believing, as simple, as faithful as dear young Mary; “ . . . I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” How can we fail to be challenged by such full faith? How can we fail to follow this example in responding faithfully to the call of God in our lives? How could we ever imagine refusing such a powerful and such a splendid call?

Simon Peter learned
how to be a fisher for men from
his Lord Jesus.

John 21:15-17 ESV

When they had finished breakfast,
Jesus said to Simon Peter,
’Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
He said to him,
“Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He said to him a second time,
”Simon, do you love me?”
”Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was grieved because
he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?”
and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything;
you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

Peter had come a long way. He had answered the Lord Jesus’ initial call to follow Him and to fish for men. He had daily experienced the power of His Master’s Presence in his own life. He had recognized himself being transformed into a better, a more godly man. He had in a moment of divine inspiration exclaimed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Yet he had failed His Lord when he, Peter, was most needed. He had denied His Lord Jesus three times. He believed he did not deserve to follow His perfect Lord, He, Peter, was just like any other fisherman, He was just a sinful man. And now, Jesus had found him once again. And now, Jesus had given him and his friends a miraculous catch of fish again. And now, Jesus was asking, “Simon, do you love me?” Not once but three times. And each time Peter, broken-hearted confessed, “I love you.” Jesus followed each painful confession with His command: “Feed my sheep.”  Jesus was asking Peter to do the impossible, not that he could, on his own, do so. Jesus was asking Peter to answer again this call in faith and obedience. Jesus was asking Peter to turn away from himself, and to turn in faith to Jesus. Jesus called. Peter answered. And the rest is a rich part of the glory of the glorious beginnings of the Church of God accomplished by Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and by the called who answered with Peter,  “Lord, I love you.” Today the call is for you and for me.  Jesus asks you, “Do you love me?” Will you respond, “Yes, I love you.” Jesus responds, “Feed my sheep.”

Saul/Paul came to love
and serve Jesus as
totally as he had opposed Him after
meeting Him on
the Damascus Road.

Acts 9:3-5 ESV

As he journeyed he came near Damascus,
and suddenly a light shone around him from Heaven.
Then he fell to the ground,
and heard a voice saying to him,
”Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
And he said, “Who are you, Lord?”
Then the Lord said,
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Jesus often calls the least likely people to use in His most amazing work as He builds His Church. Certainly, no one in the early Church was looking to Saul for anything but opposition and persecution. Here was a man who had declared absolute war upon the new believers. He was on his way to Damascus to do battle against the believers there. Then he met Jesus. That changed everything forever. That turned his life upside-down. Then Jesus used him to turn the world upside down. Indeed, Jesus used him to turn the Church upside down as Christianity exploded beyond the Jews and began to grow among the Gentiles all around the world. How blind Saul had been before he met Jesus. How ignorantly he had opposed those who loved the One, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Jewish Scriptures had foretold. How sadly Saul had missed the central message of redemption through God’s Love in the Scriptures he so revered. Jesus stopped the mistaken Saul in his tracks. He blinded him. He humbled him. Then He redeemed him to live a long, difficult, yet triumphant life in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus he had so forcefully opposed. Meeting with Jesus made all the difference in Saul who became Paul through his faith and powerful witness. Truly for Paul, it was ALL ABOUT JESUS.

Paul and Aquila and Priscilla shared their tent-making trade, and
there love for sharing
the Good News of Jesus
with all people.

Acts 18:18, 26 ESV

After this, Paul stayed many days longer
and then took leave of the brothers
and set sail for Syria,
and with him Priscilla and Aquila.

He (Apollos) began to speak boldly
in the synagogue,
but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him,
they took him aside
and explained to him
the way of God more accurately.

Priscilla and Aquila loyally supported Paul’s ministry for their Lord Jesus as they worked alongside him at his tent-making occupation, and as he taught them the Jesus Way, which they-in-turn taught to others. As he invested his faith and life in them, they invested their lives and their faith in others. Imagine the hours of laboring on a tent the three spent discussing the Gospel and power of Jesus to save all who turned to Him. Imagine how Paul tried out his best Spirit-inspired arguments for the faith to the open and eager hearts of Priscilla and Aquila. And imagine how they stopped often in the midst of their busy days of labor to pray over a present challenge or a saint in need or for a seeker being drawn near to God. It seems clear that God brought Paul into Aquila and Priscilla’s lives to encourage and strengthen them in their faith, and to equip them for  the work of accurately teaching and sharing the Good News with others.  And just as importantly, he brought them to Paul as co-laborers who could listen supportively, and so, learn and share with others the powerful truths he taught them. What a beautiful thing God accomplishes as He brings fellowship and unity among believers so that they become Holy Spirit partners in extending and strengthening the Kingdom. Every Pastor, every Christian leader, needs a Holy-Spirit called and driven team, who provide the loving care and support required  for the encouragement and accountability they need. Priscilla and Aquila serve as clear role models for such  supportive saints.

John, after a lifetime of serving His Lord Jesus,
receives the Revelation
as a final written word to the early Church.

Revelation 1:1-3

The revelation from Jesus Christ,
which God gave him to show to his servants
what soon must take place.
He made it known by sending
his angel to his servant John,
who testifies to everything he saw—
that is, the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

In God’s perfect Will He preserved the life of the Apostle John for one climactic, monumental task as he neared the end of his amazing life here on this earth. He had endured while his fellow disciples had died  since those wonderful three years when they had accompanied and had learned to love and serve their Lord Jesus—only to see him crucified, to be buried and to be gloriously resurrected—changing all their lives forever. We remember it was John who stood by the Cross with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and received and honored His beloved Lord’s  dying call to care for her. Over the interceding years, John had served—as did his fellow disciples and other faithful followers of their Lord Jesus—proclaiming the Gospel, winning people to Jesus, and experiencing the birth of Christ’s Church. Now, as an old, old man, John found himself uncomfortably alone on Patmos, an island prison. It was here that Jesus appeared to him, and gave him a unique opportunity to both see and hear glories in Heaven—and to witness amazing things to come—as God moved history toward His conclusion, and the beginnings of New Heaven and New Earth. God needed a witness to the Church and to the World for His final Plan. John’s heart and mind had been prepared, and he obediently penned the powerful and beautiful, the inspiring and troubling book of Revelation. In the course of the Apostle John’s life, God called him to many tasks, and each one prepared him for the next, as John obeyed. Here is the challenge to us, no matter our age: God continually calls us throughout our lives  for tasks to undertake for His Kingdom. Each time we obey, He builds our faith, and prepares us for further service until we are Home with Him.

God is never done with us because our lives are truly and fully ALL ABOUT JESUS and His Call for us to become His disciples. He calls us to repentance. He calls us into redemption. He calls us as He remakes us more-and-more in His image. He calls us to declare His glory. He calls us to tell us His story. He calls us to speak His glorious gospel truth to those who have never heard. He calls us to speak again and again of His glorious gospel truth until they fully hear, receive His call to salvation and obey. How privileged we are to stand upon the shoulders of those who have faithfully heard and obeyed His call throughout the magnificent story of Christ’s Church now growing ever more triumphant upon the earth in anticipation of His glorious return.

“Come, follow me, and
I will make you fishers
of men.”

GOD’S CHOSEN FOR HIS PURPOSE:
ALL ABOUT JESUS

1 Peter 2:9-10 ESV

But you are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people for his own possession,
that you may proclaim
the excellencies of him
who called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light.
Once you were not a people,
but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.

God’s People:
Part One

In the history of this world
God has always
been calling and
gathering His people.

From Abram’s own nation
and his people
and their lifeless gods
God called Abraham.

Among the brothers of Israel
and their evil
and their confusion
God called Joseph.

Out of the river rescued
and raised Egypt’s
pampered Prince
God called Moses.

Out of pagan Moab
and as a widow
following a widow
God called Ruth.

Out of the fields as
a shepherd
the least and the youngest
God called David.

Never the obvious
nor the predictable
for His servants
God called His faithful.

God calls His children to become His servants, based upon an obedient, faith relationship with Him, trusting in His Word, His Power and His Loving plan of redemption. God does not call us because of who we are, but because of who He is. God calls us for His glory, and as we answer in obedience and faith, He develops eternal purpose and joy in our hearts. As we take a look at some of the called, this week and next, we will observe over and over again how great God is, and how beautifully He uses a wide variety of people to declare His glory. We will marvel at how God takes humble lives and uses those lives to illustrate His incredible power to redeem and overcome darkness with His triumphant light. We will rejoice with each of these saints when in the end there lives truly became ALL ABOUT HIM.

Abram/Abraham
became God’s Chosen
as he obediently
followed God toward
what would become
the Promised Land
of Israel and the
birthplace of the Messiah.

Genesis 12:1-3 ESV

Now the Lord said to Abram,
”Go from your county and your kindred
and your father’s house
to the land I will show you.
And I will make you a great nation,
and I will bless you
and make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and him who dishonors you I will curse,
and in you all the families
of the earth shall be blessed.”

God’s call always demands obedience step-by-step into new spaces and among new situations and new faces. For Abram this meant leaving his father and his people and the only land he had ever known, and setting out in a direction he had never explored. Abram faithfully did so for a lifetime of learning how God would strengthen and develop his character until the uncertain Abram became the faithful man, Abraham, who would become the father of Isaac, Jacob/Israel, and eventually the nation of Israel. Along the way Abram and his wife, Sarah, would often struggle as they faced doubts and tremendous challenges. Even after the long-delayed birth of their only son, Isaac, God tested Abraham by asking him to offer this only son as a sacrifice. Abraham obeyed, and God, Himself intervened, and provided the sacrifice, as He confirmed His blessing on Abraham and though him, all the people of the world. What a beautiful foreshadowing of God providing our perfect sacrifice in Jesus.

Joseph, though favored by his father, Israel, became hated by his
brothers; and yet he persisted in serving God
and became God’s man
to deliver Egypt and
his father and his brothers who would
become the beginnings
for God’s creation of
Israel, God’s Chosen People.

Genesis 50:19-21 ESV

But Joseph said to them,
“Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?
As for you, you meant evil against me,
but God meant it for good,
to bring it about that many people
should be kept alive, as they are today.

Early in his life, Joseph lived as a favorite of his father among many brothers. God favored him with visions which pointed to a glorious future, and infuriated his brothers. Given the opportunity, they got revenge and sold him into slavery, breaking their father’s heart by telling him Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. Sold to Potiphar, a powerful Egyptian soldier, Joseph served so faithfully, he earned a place in charge of his master’s household. Then, Potiphar’s wife failed in her scheme to undermine Joseph’s morality, and lied so that he was imprisoned. In prison Joseph remained faithful and became a blessing to all of those in prison. Though it seemed there was no hope for Joseph, God still had a glorious plan for this faithful man. He gifted Joseph with the understanding of dreams, and used that gift to lift him up to become  a savior to Egypt in a time of terrible famine. Then, God used Joseph’s faithfulness to save his father and his brothers—and the future Israel, and the future Messiah. Though the world brought much evil against Joseph, God brought overpowering grace. May we live by faith like Joseph did for people’s good and never for revenge. Like Abraham, Joseph’s life points to Jesus and His  even more perfect life.

Moses might have been raised as a prince in the Pharoah’s own family, but God called and used him for a higher purpose, the
exodus of the great multitude who would form the beginnings of God’s own chosen nation, Israel.

Exodus 14:15-18 ESV
The LORD said to Moses,
”Why do you cry to me?
Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand
over the sea and divide it,
that the people of Israel
may go through on dry ground.
And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians
so that they shall go in after them,
and I will get glory over Pharaoh
and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD,
when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots and horsemen.”

Moses was miraculously saved from death while still an infant, his mother placed him in a basket in the Nile. Then he was found and raised in the  midst of the power and splendor of the household of Pharaoh’s own daughter. And yet in his heart he knew he was a Hebrew, those people who were treated as despised slaves by the Egyptians. In a fit of anger he killed an Egyptian overseer, and fled for his life into the dessert. After spending forty years as a shepherd, God miraculously called him through the burning bush, to return to Egypt and free his people. Moses obeyed, God worked mighty miracles, and the children of Israel were freed, then delivered as the sea was parted. In the process of establishing the nation of Israel God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, provided miraculously for the Israelites in the wilderness, and eventually, even after their disobedience, led them through Joshua, Moses’s God-chosen successor, into the Promised Land. In the life of Moses we see how God calls His own to obedience and faith, even in the face of opposition and unfaithfulness, among those we live and serve. In his own way, Moses serves as a good, but imperfect precursor of Jesus’ perfect obedience.

Ruth found herself without a husband
and without a home,
but she chose to
accompany Naomi
and honor her as a
mother—and in doing so
she found God and
a new husband and
blessings beyond imagination.

Ruth 1:15-18 ESV

And she said, “See, your sister-in-law
has gone back to her people
and her gods;
return after your sister-in-law.”
But Ruth said,
”Do not urge me to leave you
or to return from following you.
For where you go I will go,
and where you lodge I will lodge.
Your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.
Where you die I will die,
and there I will be buried.
May the Lord do so to me and more
also if anything but death parts me from you.”

Ruth of Moab enjoyed a good life with her Jewish husband and his family. They had fled Israel during a time of famine. Then her father-in-law, her husband and his brother all died. Now the women were left with nothing. Naomi decided to head home to Bethlehem, advising her daughters-in-law to go back to their own families. Ruth refused, but professed a love for Naomi and her people and her God. In doing so, she was fulfilling God’s call on her life. She labored hard in the fields outside Bethlehem to provide for Naomi and herself. She was chosen by God to become the grandmother of David, Israel’s great King, and to become an ancestor of God’s great Messiah, Jesus, the King of Kings. God still calls us and puts us in times and places and among people so that we, too, can be gloriously used by Him as He continues to bless this world with redemption miracles among every people.

David, a mere shepherd boy,
had already been anointed as God’s chosen king when he
heroically and faithfully
killed Goliath for the glory of God with a sling and a stone.

I Samuel 17:43-47 ESV

And the Philistine said to David,
“Am I a god that you come to me with sticks?”
And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
The Philistine said to David,
”Come to me, and I will give your flesh
to the birds of the air
and to the beasts of the field.”
Then David said to the Philistine,
”You come to me with a sword
and a spear and a javelin,
but I come to you
in the name of the Lord of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel,
whom you have defied.
This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand,
and I will strike you down and cut off your head.
And I will give the dead bodies
of the host of the Philistines
this day to the birds of the air
and to the beasts of the earth,
that all the earth may know
that there is a God in Israel,
and that all this assembly may know
that the Lord saves not with sword and spear.
For the battle is the Lord’s,
and he will give you into our hand.”

God calls his people, not because they are mighty and great, but because in their humility and obedience and faith, He intends to establish His glory through them. Like David, we do not have so much to offer God, but He has everything to offer us—the joy we find in obeying Him when He accomplishes mighty feats in spite of our weakness, and because of His strength. In this world, every one of us as His people will face our own Goliaths, but like David, we do not need to be afraid, as long as we put our trust in our great God. In Him, mighty giants will fall one-after-one as God’s eternal Kingdom is established. David, like Jesus, faced mighty opposition to himself and his service for God. Throughout our ups and our downs, our successes and our failures, God will accomplish His purpose, as we continue seeking Him and His Way and His Glory above our own. In reality, without Him, there is no glory, but in Him, there is deep, deep abiding joy in always serving Him and in always pointing people to Him.

And so, we see God’s power and His glory and His love, all calling to those who will answer Him in faith and obedience. We see in Abraham, in Joseph, in Moses, in Ruth and in David such people. We see in their lives God accomplishing mighty miracles which reveal His glory in this world where He really is the only answer to all the turmoil we face. We also are called to follow God, and as we do, He will accomplish His Purpose for us and through us. What an honor to be called by our great God! What an opportunity to turn and follow Him! What joy He has for us as we like these, His faithful people, answer His Call and follow Him. Like Jesus, our Savior, we can be used in His timeless plan to offer redemption to all of human kind. And so, life really can be and should be, ALL ABOUT JESUS.

LOOK FOR MORE BIBLE “HEROES” NEXT WEEK.