The Mission Foundation Letter, April 26, 2010

Dear friends,   Since I last wrote to you, the 2010 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature has begun and is in full swing.  Like many states, ours is one in which the leaders have the daunting task of properly allocating limited financial resources to the many needs of our people.  I hope that you will pray for our legislators and for our governor.    It was seventeen years ago that the Lord called me to move to Baton Rouge and, among other things, to minister at the Capitol.  After seven years of ministry, members of the legislature invited me to lead them in a weekly Bible study / prayer breakfast.   I give thanks to God for allowing me this privilege in service.  I also give thanks to Him this morning for all of your prayers which He has gathered into His heart and because of which He has brought forth much good   I have said this before, but I want to say again that Louisiana is blessed to have some very devoted followers of Christ in our halls of government.  These men and women come from many denominational and social backgrounds.  They are Democrats and Republicans.  Their political views may differ, but they share a common commitment to Christ, and their love for one another is apparent to all who know them.  Jesus said that this brotherly/sisterly love would be our mark as His followers:  "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."   While love is the principal insignia that is to adorn every disciple, there is a manifestation of that love that seems to speak most strongly of its reality.  It is when love is demonstrated through courage.    Many of you may know of Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran pastor whose great love compelled him to participate in an attempt to assassinate Adolph Hitler.  Because of this act of courage, our brother Dietrich was hung at the Flossenburg concentration camp only a very short while before the end of World War II.  A few days ago, my friend Ben Jones sent me an article about this brave man who did what he believed to be the right thing.  That article included the following words by Rev. Bonhoeffer:    If we worry about the dangers that beset us, if we gaze at the road instead of at him who goes before, we are already straying from the path.   I believe that Dietrich's words are worthy of our repeated, lingering meditation.  My prayer is that you and I will not worry about dangers, that we will not gaze at the road, but that we will look at Him Who promised that He would always go before us.  Even now, as I close, I pray this prayer for you and me and for our friends in the legislature.  May we not be found "straying from the path!"                                                                            In the Savior,                                                                               Rod (for Bec and me)

 

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