"UNFULFILLED LONGINGS"

Dear friend,

Do you have unfulfilled longings in your service to your King? Are there places you have wanted to go? Gifts you have wanted to employ more fully? Exploits for the Kingdom in which you have longed to engage? Stop for a moment. Think about it. What are those “must-do’s” that you carry in your heart?

The Apostle Paul was a man who had many strong desires in his service to the kingdom of his Savior. Whereas he did experience the joy of seeing many of these desires come to fruition, there were some that remained unfulfilled. But he never quit longing and hoping.

Near the beginning of his letter to the Romans, the Apostle says, “I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles” (1:13) Then as he nears the end of his letter, the longing of his heart pours out again: “I have often been hindered from coming to you. But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions [in the east] and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.” He says that he must first fulfill a relief mission for the poor in Jerusalem. Then he adds these words of confident expectation: “I will leave for Spain by way of you. I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.” (15:22-29)

Well, we don’t know for certain that Paul made it to Spain (though the writings of certain early authors claim that he did), but we do know that he made it to Rome. His longing to see the brothers and sisters in Rome and serve them and enjoy their company was fulfilled!

Why was Paul’s desire regarding Rome at last fulfilled? Because of prayer – his prayers and the prayers of the saints in Rome! Paul asked the Roman brethren to pray with him: “I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may by acceptable to the saints, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.” (15:30-32) They all prayed, and God answered!

However, the answer to prayer came in a way that was quite different than that which Paul probably expected. Yes, he arrived in Rome, but it was as a prisoner – a prisoner who had been beaten by an angry mob in Jerusalem, arrested and tried by Roman authorities, and, upon his appeal to Caesar, had been sent on an extremely arduous trip to Rome – a voyage that included shipwreck in the midst of a killer “typhonic” storm whose waves cast Paul and his fellow survivors upon the shores of a small Mediterranean island where they remained for three long months before at last they were able to board another ship. What a difficult and dangerous journey. But Paul had received special words from God!

On the night following his trial before the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, the Roman soldiers had brought him into their barracks for fear that Paul “would be torn to pieces” by the Jews. During that night, Paul received a visit from God: “. . . the Lord stood at his side” and said, "Take courage; for as you have solemnly testified to My cause in Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also.” (Acts 23:11) Later in the midst of the great storm at sea, Paul received more words of reassurance – this time from an angel, who came to him on the ship at night and said, “Do not be afraid, Paul, you must stand before Caesar . . . .” (Acts 27:23)

Paul was confident. He knew that every apparent encumbrance was in fact a steppingstone to Rome! Right now I am trying to see him and think of how he felt as he walked, possibly in chains, up that final stretch of the Appian Way to Rome!

Dear friend, as I close this letter, my prayer is that our Lord will fill your heart with mighty reassurances regarding the desires of your heart in your service to Him and His Church. You may arrive at your points of service in unexpected ways, very possibly through some storms, but He will get you to every place and every work that He has prepared for you. But – if you don’t make it to “Spain”, He has reasons for that too. For now, whatever you do, keep on praying (and asking others to pray) and longing and hoping!

“I have longed for many years . . . I will”

Rod (for Bec and me)

OCTOBER TUESDAYS AT THE CHAPEL IN THE BLUFFS, ST. FRANCISVILLE, LA

On Tuesday, October 4th, at 7:00 p.m., we will begin a four-week series of meetings at The Chapel at The Bluffs.

I am very grateful to our Lord and to Jimmy Kaiser, who extended the invitation, for this opportunity to preach God's Word in West Feliciana Parish. This meeting is for men and women of all denominations. We also want to encourage those who may not have any affiliation with a church to come. Only 22% of those who live in W. Feliciana are associated with a church.

Jimmy is going door to door and inviting every resident of The Bluffs (which is where he lives). Also, an email invitation is going out to every household in Bluffs. We hope that others will take similar initiatives in their neighborhoods there in the parish.

Please pray for this effort. If you live within driving distance, we would love to have you join us each Tuesday night in October.

In the Savior,

Rodney

THE PRIZE

Dear friends,

At the risk of writing what could sound like pure “Granddaddy bragging,” I have something to share that I think is worth the risk.

Yesterday – my 61st birthday – I received something very special in my email. I received a video that I watched with Bec over and over and over again. It was of my almost seven year-old grandson Jacob Myles Wood, Jr. whom we call by his middle name (my mother’s maiden name). The video was particularly captivating because our Myles has seemed to be a bit like the rest of us Wood boys (except for John Boy): We were not blessed with natural foot-speed and had to really work at running. As Myles and I have played football with the boys in his neighborhood, I have watched how hard he has tried, and I’ve seen a bit of exasperation on his face at times. But here is what happened last Saturday.

It was only his second cross country meet, and it was being held at his school – Cedar Creek in Ruston. Grandmomma Bec and I were sitting in rapt attention watching the video, as the first four boys (out of a large pack) came running all alone down the final stretch, having conquered hills, splashed back and forth across the creek, wound their way through North Louisiana hardwoods, and then at last burst into the delight of an open, flat field – the home stretch! And there was our Myles running with all of his heart while his daddy could be heard high above all other sounds cheering him on! As he crossed the finish line, he refused to allow his pace to slacken, although his face was clearly tinged with challenge-wrought redness. But as we re-played the video again and again, we could see the deepest kind of satisfaction flashing a subtle smile through his eyes and cheeks. With his shoulders back, he strode straight ahead through the roped-off lane to be greeted by the meet officials and receive his medal. He had run the mile in eight minutes and twenty seconds! I have to write this again – 8:20! I was so happy for him. If I had been looking at film on a projector, I would have probably burned the film up!

But now – here is the best thing of all. When I talked to Myles last night, he told me what Paul Harvey would have called “the rest of the story.” Myles said that after the race, he noticed a young boy who was crying. He said, "I walked over to him and asked him why he was crying. He said that he had come in last. And I told him, ‘It's ok to come in last, if you did your best and had fun.’ The boy calmed down after that."

I said to him, "Myles, that is the most important thing." "I know, Granddaddy," he replied. I thank God that, by His gracious workings, Myles does know. I pray that he will never forget what he presently understands.



Why am I taking this risk in sharing a personal story about my own grandson with you? Because my sincere hope is that the Lord will help all of us to be ALWAYS looking for the boy who is crying.
There are “boys and girls” of all ages crying all around us because of our sub-human penchant for comparing ourselves with one another and trying to derive a sense of well-being from that comparison. And where do we find ourselves? If the comparison seems to be favorable, we tend to hold our heads high in ugliness – the ugliness of arrogance, of a superiority attitude toward others. At other times, when the comparison does not seem to be favorable, we find ourselves being pressed down into feelings of inferiority, and we begin to struggle with a variety of emotions and attitudes. Some lose their quest for personal excellence because they don’t want to have to face the fact that they don’t “measure up.” Some give up altogether and quit. Others begin to fight in anger to prove to anyone who is looking that they too can be counted among the superior. Oh the sadness that comes from comparison.

Dear friends, the real prize – the only prize that counts – is one that anybody can win, if he is willing. It is the prize that you and every one of your children and grandchildren can win. It is the prize that comes to the one who is willing to run long, to run hard, and to run with ever-increasing happiness before God’s loving eyes – no matter what happens! This prize is for the runner that is focused not on being THE best but on being HIS or HER best!

Every day we must remember: “It's ok to come in last, if you did your best (your very red-faced best) and had fun.” That’s what the King wants of you!

Your friends in the Savior always,

Rod and Bec

The Mission Foundation, August 31, 2011, “A Summer of Farewells” (Wil Mills, Chester Jenkins, and John Stott – a poet, a dairyman, and a theologian – true friends)

Dear friends,

For some of you, and for me, it has been a summer of farewells. It has been a season of difficult good-byes as very dear ones have made the great crossing ahead of us. As these summer days are coming to an end, my mind (and possibly yours) is filled with thoughts of true friendship.

What is a true friend? Well, there are many things that we might say about a friend, but there is one quality that is paramount in my thoughts this afternoon: A friend is one who takes the interests, the desires, and efforts of another very seriously. As I write this letter, I am thinking about three men who extended this true friendship to me (and to many others). I pray that sharing my own experience might possibly allow you and me to swing on the porch a bit and to give thanks to our Lord for recently departed friends, some of whom we knew for many years, others for fleeting but greatly treasured times. Now for the three.




The first was Wil Mills, son of our friends Wilmer and Betsy Mills, who left us to join his Lord at the age of only forty. Wil was a “renaissance man”: He was a widely acclaimed poet, an accomplished artist, a naturalist/woodsman, farmer, sawyer (who ran his own sawmill), woodworker, weaver of white oak baskets (from trees he himself felled), gardener, baker (who baked bread in a wood-fired bread oven he had made himself), guitarist, singer/songwriter, university lecturer (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where, at his request, all of his students called him “Mr. Wil”), and theologian (holding a theological degree). With his own hands, he built his very small but extremely elegant house which was once featured in Southern Living, and along with his wife Kathryn (also a university lecturer) and children Benjamin and Phoebe Agnes, he enjoyed every God-given pleasure both inside and outside that mountain home in Sewanee, Tennessee. Wil lived out his life before God with the beautiful simplicity about which Jesus has spoken to us all. But he also accomplished his final ambition: “I want to die well.” He died with the same grace with which he lived: he enriched us all to the very end. Shortly before his death, God gave me one last visit with Wil. He marshaled all of the strength available to his cancer-ravaged body and made his way to the living room of his parent’s home on the Mills farm near Zachary, LA. Out of desire to express my gratitude for all that he had done for me and for the friendship we had shared, as I sat on the hearth beside his chair, I read two poems that he knew I had been working on during the past couple of years. To my surprise, although he could barely speak, he began offering his customary, extremely helpful words which provided both correction and affirmation – words which I gratefully gathered in, knowing these unexpected gifts would be the last. Then I thanked him and thanked him for the way that he had always taken my efforts in poetry seriously and how his responses had caused me to keep on trying. A few days later, I wrote him a letter and hand-delivered it to the mailbox at the end of the long lane leading to the Mills home. His father later told me that he read my letter to Wil because he had grown too weak to read for himself. Because Wil Mills took my interests, desires, and efforts seriously, a window remained open and then opened even more widely to a world away from which I may have otherwise shrunk from lack of confidence. Thank you, Wil.




The second was my Uncle Chester Jenkins who took an interest in me as a young boy in great need of a man who would be enthusiastic about his efforts in athletics. I realize that games are not among the most important things in life, but at that time, they were very important to a boy who was trying to find his footing without the guidance of a father. I will never forget our Sunday afternoon chats in the dairy barn. I remember one Sunday in particular when Uncle Chester referred to the Friday night football game, saying, “I saw you . . . .” My chest swelled like the figure of the player on the Heisman Trophy! Unlike most of his other nephews (one of which was one of the Chinese Bandits on the LSU 1958 National Championship team), I wasn’t “all” anything except “all out”, but that was enough for him. He got a football scholarship for me to a community college in Mississippi, but I told him that I was planning to attend Louisiana State University where I was going to “walk on” (i.e., play without scholarship) in football. He then, as always, gave his full support to my effort and expressed it meaningfully in a private conversation about which I remained unaware for many years. These football matters represent only a small part of my uncle’s kindness to me. There is of course much more that I could write. But here is how it ended. On Saturday, August 6th, I was doing a little work on the old Wood farm in Franklinton and decided to cross the creek for a visit with my dear uncle whose 87th birthday party I was very sorry to have missed just a few weeks before, and I was heavily burdened about that. As we sat at his kitchen table (with his sister), I told him how sorry I was for my mistake regarding the date of his party. The burden of my guilt began to lift as he cranked up another great round of his often-told but still very much loved stories, and we smiled and laughed until I had to leave. I did not know that this would be our last laughter together. I give thanks to my Lord for a final crossing of the creek to see my Uncle Chester, a man who took my interests, desires, and efforts seriously. I will always hear his usual parting words: “I love you, boy.” Thank you, Uncle Chester.



Birdwatching on the cliffs of Pembrokeshire, near The Hookses, John's coastal hideaway in Wales

Finally, John Stott. It all began in the spring of 1984 when John Stott was willing to engage in correspondence with a young man that he did not know (a young man who actually didn’t know a lot about him either) and to carefully consider the expressed desires of this one who had only a little formal theological training and who had never served or studied outside of certain cultural and geographical boundaries. He allowed me (although non-ordained) to participate in what was then called “the clergy school” at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (of which he was the founder and director) in May of that year. While at that nine-day conference, he invited me not only to attend the London Institute but also to be a part of his tutorial group and to spend individual time with him. (What memorable times those one-to-one breakfasts would be at his flat at 12 Weymouth. Amd most unforgettable of all -- a certain vocation-guiding evening at his little dinner table in early '85.) Soon after receiving John's gracious invitations, I finalized the arrangements to take leave of absence from my work in Ruston, LA, and my family moved to England where the lives of the five of us (Bec, the boys, and me) would be forever changed as over the next twenty-seven years we enjoyed a friendship (and in the latter years co-laborship -- Langham Partnership International) that none of us could have ever anticipated. By the way, some of you good Southerners will be wondering at how I could call him John. Well, I submitted to his desire in that matter (along with the other London Institute students), but I could never bring myself to refrain from saying, "Yes, sir," which brought a smile and an echo from him in the early days of our friendship. Last year I had my final visit with my teacher, mentor, and friend. Among the first things that he said, and with clear disappointment, was “I thought Becky would be with you.” After we talked for a while, he said, ‘Rod, who could have expected all those years ago that we would have enjoyed the friendship that we have had.” Before leaving I asked if I might read a passage of Scripture, and he asked me to choose a text. My mind raced for a choice. I suggested chapter one of Ephesians. I felt a happy relief when, with delight in his voice, he pointed out to me that this was the theme passage for the Third Lausanne Conference to be held later that year in Cape Town, South Africa. When I finished the reading, he asked that I lead us in prayer. After praying I thanked him for all that he had done for me and for our family, and I told him that I loved him. This year, soon after his 90th birthday, I wrote what I knew would be my final letter to him. In view of his extreme frailty, I used only a few words, but I tried to pack in every expression of gratitude that I possibly could, trying to recap twenty-seven years of blessed friendship. I am so glad I wrote that letter. Long ago God introduced our family to a true friend – one who took the interests, desires, and efforts of all five of us very seriously. Thank you, my brother John.

Who are the men and women who have been your true friends? More importantly, how will you and I be true friends to the many, many people all around us who are waiting for someone to take their interests, desires, and efforts seriously? I hope you will stop to pray and ask God to open your eyes to see them and to expend the energy that is necessary to be their true friend.

One other thing – I hope you don’t miss your final letter or your final crossing of the creek (which by our Lord’s grace I didn’t with these three). Lift your pen. Place a call. Take a Sunday afternoon drive.

I give thanks to God for each of you. Go well, dear friends.

In the Savior,


Rod (for Bec and me)

Hope in the Midst of Grief

Dear friends,

In recent days, Bec and I have walked with a number of friends in the sorrow that dying and death brings to our hearts.  This prompted me to preach today at The Gathering from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 on "Our Great Hope in the Midst of Grief."  As I sit here in my study, I am feeling that I should send a few of those thoughts to you. 

If you peruse Paul’s entire letter to the Thessalonians, you will see that he had instructed them about the second coming, and they were indeed eagerly waiting for Jesus.    But they seemed to lack understanding about what would happen to their departed loved ones who had died in Christ.  So Paul gives them words of instruction and encouragement.  From Paul’s teaching we learn some very reassuring things.

Our grieving is legitimate and can even be godly.    Notice that Paul does not tell the Thessalonians that they should not be experiencing deep bereavement.  He is only saying that their grieving should not be like those who don’t have hope.  Sometimes some of you may feel guilty about your sadness:  you almost want to fuss at yourself, and say, “Cheer up!  Where is your faith?”  But, brothers and sisters, bereavement can be a very godly emotion.  In Acts 8:2 we read about the funeral of Stephen, who had been stoned to death for his faith.  It says, “Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.”  How loudly must those men have wailed in their grief!  And in Philippians 2:27, Paul reveals his own personal experience.  He says that his close friend Epaphroditus became ill and almost died.  Paul says, “But God had mercy on him, and . . . me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.”

The agony of death:  it is the pain of parting.  It is the same pain that brought tears to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 when they told Paul goodbye for the last time.  It says, “What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again.” 

Dear friends, it hurts to say “goodbye,” and our Lord understands that.  John 11:35 tells us that Jesus wept with Mary, Martha, and other family members and friends as they were weeping over the death of their dear Lazarus. 

God knows that we grieve deeply because we have loved deeply.  We long for our loved ones.  C. S. Lewis says, “The pain now is part of the happiness then.” 

Mourn deeply, my friends.  But mourn with hope – the hope of our Savior’s return!

Jesus our King “will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God.”  At the sound of Jesus’ voice (John 5:29), our loved ones will rise from their graves!  Then we who “are still alive and are left” will suddenly be “caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air!”

When Paul says we will “meet the Lord”, he is using a Greek term that described “a grand reception in which the leading citizens of a city would go out to meet a visiting dignitary and escort him back on his final stage of his journey.”  (F. F. Bruce)  What a glorious meeting that will be, as we and all of our freshly awakened loved ones gather in the sky with our King.  Paul says, “And so we will be with the Lord forever.” 

Billy Graham once said that every morning his first words are “Lord, could it be today that you are coming?”  How I wish it would be today! 

Weeping and waiting with you,

Rodney  

Transcendence - The Great Hunger of Our Hearts

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Dear friends,

About twenty-seven years ago in London, I heard John Stott speaking about the three quests of modern man: transcendence, significance, and community. During the past few weeks, these hungers of the human heart have been the subject of my teaching at the Louisiana State Capitol and at The Gathering of Men as well as at a men’s conference at Trinity Bible Church in Lafayette. I would like to share a few thoughts about the first of these – transcendence.

Transcendence is that which is beyond – beyond the universe, beyond time and space. Every man knows that there is something beyond this world, that there must be more than that which we can see around us. We’ve always felt some kind of pull to that which is above the clouds and beyond the stars. Our souls have longed for connection to the Unseen. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “God has put eternity in their hearts.”

But Paul says in Romans 1:18-19 that apart from a work of God’s grace, we humans “suppress” what God has put in our hearts. Paul says “that which is known about God is evident within them; for God has made it evident to them.” He goes on to explain in verse 20 that “since the creation of the world” God’s “eternal power and divine nature” have been “clearly seen.” He says that all men “are without excuse.” Every man knows that God exists, and yet, Paul says, “There is none who seeks for God” (Romans 3:11b).

So what happens? God seeks men. He graciously works in their hearts, awakening a desire within us to pursue Him. It is then that, as Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee.” By His grace, our souls are blessed with a restlessness to discover the Transcendent One.

John Stott says that man’s quest for transcendence presents “a great challenge to the quality of our Christian worship. Does it offer people what they are instinctively looking for, which is transcendence, the reality of God? Human beings are spiritual beings, seeking for something transcendent, sacred, beyond our earthly limitations. In Christ there is a connection with the transcendent God, most acutely in the Word preached and Holy Communion of worship.”

When you (and your children and grandchildren) walk into your place of worship, and the pastor presents the invocation (the humble request for the manifestation of God’s presence), is your heart stirred to say, “God is here. The One from beyond is among us!”? Dear friends, this was the experience of the first Christ-followers as they gathered to worship in Jerusalem. Dr. Luke says, “And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe” (Acts 2:43). And in his comments on the primacy of prophesy, Paul speaks of the impact on the unbeliever who is “convicted” and “called to account” and “will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you” (1 Corinthians 14:24-25).

Why will you gather with other believers this Sunday? What are you expecting to happen? Are you expecting the Transcendent One Whom you love to be “among you”? The Apostle Peter speaks of our love and of our rejoicing before Him: “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). When you assemble on the Lord’s Day, are you anticipating that as you listen to the preaching of Holy Scripture, you will hear the Voice of God Himself? And as you come to the Holy Table, is your heart filled with anticipation of the moment when you behold and eat God’s “visible words” (as Augustine and later Calvin called them)? Do you and I enter the doors of our sanctuaries expecting an encounter with the Transcendent Holy Trinity? “Holy Spirit, please help us to experience this joy!”

In the Savior,


Rod and Bec

Pray for Legislators / Draw Near to the Savior this Easter

Dear friends,

The extraordinary session of the Louisiana Legislature ended last Wednesday, April 13th, and the regular session will begin next Monday, April 25th. In 1 Timothy 2:1-2, we hear Paul saying to Timothy, “First of all, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness.”

I hope these words of Paul will move you to pray for our legislators. I would like to make a few suggestions for your consideration regarding your prayers for those who serve in the House of Representatives and the Senate (and others in governmental leadership here in Louisiana or in your state or country):

1. Morning and/or Evening Prayers: Include those in government in your personal morning prayers and/or in your evening prayers with your spouse.

2. Mealtime Prayers: Pray and give thanks for the legislators that represent you by name at mealtime prayers. This will allow your children to participate in this important intercessory ministry.

3. Prayers in Worship on Sunday Mornings: Ask your pastor to include our legislators in the corporate prayers of the church on Sunday mornings. This might be a simple one-line request for certain blessings from the Lord, e.g., wisdom, courage, and strength.

4. Letters to Leaders: Write to your senators and representatives and let them know that you are praying for them. Your children could be involved in this correspondence. The contact information can be obtained from the following websites:

http://senate.legis.state.la.us/Senators/offices.asp
http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/H_Reps_FullInfo.asp

I would suggest that you not send an email. I think it would be far better to send your letter by regular mail.

These are just a few suggestions that easily come to mind. You may have other ways of increasing your involvement in praying for these men and women who serve us. By the way, those representatives and senators who attend our weekly breakfast do pray for you. They share prayer requests each week for those who have special need of prayer. They also pray for God’s guidance in their service at the Capitol on your behalf. It is my joy this afternoon to let you know of their prayers for you and to seek to stir your hearts to more prayer for them.

Tonight Christians all over the world will be giving special remembrance to our Lord’s agony in Gethsemane where He prayed and contemplated the terrors of His sacrificial death for you. Tomorrow men, women, and children will come together in great cathedrals and in tiny chapels to be still and solemnly meditate on our Savior’s crucifixion. Then we will wait . . . until daybreak on the Lord’s Day to declare with joyful hearts that He is risen! I pray, as I close, that in every hour between now and Sunday morning, your heart and mine will be drawn nearer to the One who loved us so much – so very much.

In the Savior,

Rod (for Bec and me)

The Mission Foundation Letter, March 28, 2011

 

Dear brothers and sisters,

Last weekend Bec and I were privileged to lead a marriage conference for Providence Bible Church of Denver (the church that our son Jim and his wife Amelia attend).   On Friday evening, we began the conference by calling everyone to focus on  this:  Marriages that are growing in healthiness and happiness are enjoyed by those men and women who, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, are committing and re-committing themselves to growing in healthiness and happiness as individual disciples of Jesus.  We followed this statement with the following quote from a book that was given to Bec and me when we were first married, The Marriage Affair edited by Rev.  J. Allan Peterson.   Rev. Peterson writes,

        The journey toward a happy marriage is the journey from childishness to maturity, from egocentricity to the commitment of love.  . . . .  Maturity delivers a person from a childish preoccupation with himself and the use of his partner to

        satisfy his own desires and needs.  Maturity gives a person the ability and willingness to act.  The mature one acceptsresponsibility and the consequences of his own decisions.  Such a person is able to take the long look and patiently

        persevere while looking for a way through his present difficulties – not a way out of them. (p. 6, italics mine)

Brothers and sisters, to grow in marriage you must heed Paul’s words to Timothy:  “Give careful attention to yourself” (1 Timothy 4:16).  To put it in the Southern vernacular:  Y’all can’t grow as a couple unless you as individuals “give careful attention” to your own walk with Jesus. 

In Ephesians 5 (well known because of its teaching on marriage), Paul spends the first 21 verses addressing the walk of the individual disciple in his or her devotion to God.  Then in the last 12 verses, he talks about the walk of married disciples in their devotion to one another.  He says that this devotion to one another in marriage portrays the profound mystery of the relationship between Christ and His bride, the Church.  The following is an abbreviated and slightly edited form of our outline of Ephesians 5.  I hope that you will find it helpful in your own mediation on this text. 

I.  God has first called you to walk in devotion to Him.  (Ephesians 5:1-21)

A.  Walk like God your Father.  “Be imitators of God, as beloved children.” (vs 1)

B.  Walk in love.  “Walk in love, just as Christ also loved you.” (vs 2)

C.  Walk in purity and truth.  “Walk as children of light.” (vs. 3-14)

D.  Walk in wisdom.  “. . . walk, not as unwise men, but as wise.”  (vs. 15-17)

                E.  Walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.  “Be filled with the Spirit.”  (vs. 18-20)

F.  Walk in submission to one another, as you reverence Christ.  “Be subject to one another.” (vs. 21)

II.  As His disciple, you are also to walk in daily devotion to your spouse, and thereby portray the

      incomparable beauty of the relationship between Christ and His bride, the Church.  (vs. 22-33)

A.  Wives, you are to portray the loving response of the Church to the leadership of Christ.  (vs. 22-24)

1.  Confidently follow your husband’s leadership, placing your trust in the Lord’s

     work through him.  “Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord.”  (vs. 22)

     Note:  You are no more inferior to your husband than Christ is to His Father.  (1 Cor. 11:3)

                2.  You are to submit to your husband in all areas of life.  “in everything.”  (vs. 24)

B.  Husbands are to portray Christ’s great love for His Church, His Bride.  (vs. 25-31)

                1.  Your love is to be a preserving and protecting love.  “Savior of the body.”  (vs. 23)

                                2.  Your love is to be a sacrificial love.  “gave Himself up for her” (vs. 25)

                                3.  Your love is to be a sanctifying love.  “that He might sanctify her”  (vs. 26-27)

Kent Hughes calls us to ask, “Is my wife more like Christ because she is married to me?  Or is she like Christ in spite of me?  Has she shrunk from His likeness because of me?  Do I sanctify her or hold her back?  Is she a better woman because she is married to me?  Is she a better friend?  A better mother?” 

Robert Lewis says that the husband should be “devoted to the advancement and completion of the beauty of her character.” 

4.  Your love is to be self-love.  “He who loves his wife loves himself.”  (vs. 28-31) 

C.  Because this is such a great mystery that we are depicting – “Christ and the Church”, it must be said

      again: Husbands, love your wives as yourself, and wives respect your husbands.  (vs. 32-33) 

How will you be able to walk in this devotion to God and to one another?  In Luke 11:13, Jesus says, “If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”  Jesus is saying that our Father will “give the experience of the ministry, influence, and blessings of the Holy Spirit” to us, if we will ask.  (Dr. J. I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit, p. 227)

Go well in the Holy Spirit!

 Rod and Bec

Thank You For Praying for the Texas Legislature and Cynthia Wenz

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Dear friends,

Thank you for praying for Cynthia Wenz, her son Roman, and the Texas Legislature. Cynthia and her 14 year-old son did testify, and the House committee members passed the abortion-ultrasound bill. If you would like to follow the progress of this bill in the days ahead, simply search "House Bill 15, Texas, 2011." If you have a moment, you may want to look at the article below.

In the Savior,
Rodney

Texas State House Committee Passes Abortion-Ultrasound Bill
by Steven Ertelt Austin, TX LifeNews.com 2/24/11 12:19 PM

A Texas state House committee on Wednesday approved a bill similar to one the state Senate has already approved that would allow women considering an abortion a chance to see an ultrasound of their unborn child beforehand.

When used in pregnancy centers, ultrasounds have convinced 80 percent or more women to keep their baby as opposed to having an abortion.

Rep. Sid Miller, a Republican from Stephenville who is the author of the House measure, told members of the State Affairs Committee the bill “is about informed consent,” saying, “We want to make sure the best information is available to women.”

Democrats like Rep. Jessica Farrar of Houston panned the bill and said the legislature should not be tackling the issue of abortion when the economy and jobs are what are on the minds of voters.

The committee ultimately voted for the measure 9-3 with all of the Republicans voting for the bill and all of the Democrats voting against it. HB 15, which pro-life groups support, may be debated on the House floor as early as next week.

Under the House bill, women would get a chance to see an ultrasound 24 hours before the abortion and she can decline to view the sonogram, hear a detailed description of fetal development, or listen to the heartbeat of her unborn child. Abortion centers would be required to make these options available to her and give her a chance to sign a waiver saying they did so, which is not normally the case without the legislation.

The Dallas News indicated Dr. Mikeal Love, an Austin obstetrician-gynecologist, testified before the State Affairs Committee that the bill will “improve the quality of care” by making sure a woman has a chance to get more information from a medical professional before making the abortion decision.

“By using an ultrasound, you have a real-time picture that transcends educational levels, language barriers and cultural differences that may exist,” Love said.

But Kelly Hart, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of North Texas opposed the idea. After the vote, Texas Alliance for Life said the House bill “joins SB 16 as the second sonogram bill in play. Thanks to the dedication of pro-life Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston), the bill’s author, the full Senate approved SB 16 last week, also very early in the session.”

“After four hours of incredibly moving and compelling pro-life testimony, the Texas House State Affairs Committee voted out HB 15, a strong sonogram bill,” the group said. “Kudos to committee Chairman Byron Cook (R-Corsicana) for hearing a pro-life bill so early in the session. It may be the very first bill to have been voted out of committee in the House.”

The state Senate voted 21-10 to approve the bill introduce on its side. The bill, passed by the Senate State Affairs Committee 7-2 earlier this month, requires an ultrasound be performed 24 hours before an abortion. The mother must be presented with a sonogram and an audible fetal heartbeat, if detectable, which she can refuse to see or hear. Even if she did, doctors would still have to orally describe the development of the unborn child at the time.

Houston state Sen. Dan Patrick is the main sponsor of the legislation, which enjoys support from pro-life Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. The measure received approval from the state Senate in 2009 but eventually died in the state House as Speaker Joe Strauss was accused of not pushing the bill before time expired on the legislative session.

Patrick opened debate saying the bill is necessary to provide the mother considering an abortion with the information she needs to make a decision. He also rebuffed concerns from the Texas Medical Association which said the measure would somehow intrude on the doctor-patient relationship even though women getting abortions have never met the abortion practitioner before.

“This is the only medical procedure that the goal ends in death. There is no patient relationship between that baby and the doctor,” Patrick said.

Passage comes after Texas Governor Rick Perry said he would grant emergency status to the legislation. Perry announced the fast track status last month during his speech at the March for Life in Austin.

“It’s pretty hard to imagine people of good conscience sitting idly by through this, and in Texas we haven’t,” he said, saying the Supreme Court decision to allow virtually unlimited abortions, Roe v. Wade, is a “tragedy.”

Patrick said too many women are denied information about fetal development because abortion providers “don’t want them to see the sonogram.”

Teresa Sadler, 35, said that while she was a 19-year-old college student in Denton, she had an abortion where her provider turned the sonogram screen away and tried to prevent her from seeing it.

“I was told immediately to lie back down on the table,” she said. A drug was administered and the abortion was completed when she woke up. She said she never saw a doctor.

“I take responsibility for my decision,” said Sadler, who is now a nurse. But she said if she had the chance to see a sonogram and better informed, “I might have made a different decision.”

Please pray for TX Legislature and Cynthia Wentz

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Dear friends, some of you were aware of our missions conference at Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Houston last Sunday and were praying for us. I would like to ask you to pray this morning for a lady named Cynthia Wentz. I hope you don't mind taking a moment to read the introduction to my sermon below. I think it will help you understand what the Lord did in the worship service last Sunday morning.

Introduction

On the final night of the 1971 Campus Crusade Christmas Conference in Dallas, Dr. Bill Bright closed his message with this life-changing challenge: “Will you go anywhere to do anything at any time? If so, I want you to stand up right now.”

I well remember sitting there thinking, “Anywhere? Anything? Anytime? Am I really willing to do that?” It was in that moment that I first heard God calling me to be a “world Christian.”

What is a “World Christian”? The term seems to have been coined by Daniel Fleming in his 1920 book, Marks of a World Christian. But more recently it has been popularized by the writing of well known missiologist, David Bryant. In his book, In the Gap, David says,

World Christians are those for whom for Christ’s global cause has become the integrating, overriding priority for all that life is for them.

(Their) life directions have been solidly transformed by a world vision. (They) want to keep that vision and obey it unhesitatingly.

(They want to) run the race before them setting no limits on how, where, or among whom God will use them.

(They have) made a discovery so important that life can never be the same again.

A world Christian is a man, woman, or young person who, as John Piper says, has reordered his or her life around God's global cause.

Reaching the unreached is the passion of the World Christian. Why? Because he or she views the world in a way that is radically different.

The world Christian sees the world through the lens of the cross. John 3:16 says, “For God SO loved the world” --- He “SO loved the world that He gave (He sacrificed) His one and only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him, whoever trusts in Him for the forgiveness of their sins, should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That’s how much God loves you and me and the people of this planet!

Fix your eyes on the cross, on the crucified Christ, and you will see the millions of men, women, and children whose sins have been nailed to the tree! When we lose our desire to go anywhere anytime to do anything, it’s because we have lost sight of the cross. May the Lord cause you and me to see the people of the world through the lens of the cross!
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After the service, the various missions organizations held "breakout" sessions in meetings rooms throughout the church facility. Below is a a report from Will and Christina Whitaker, who served on the missions committee and who are very dear friends of ours. Will is an attorney in Houston and is the son of Bill and Carol (Howard) Whitaker, alums of LSU who lived in Baton Rouge until recently.
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2-20-11; 3:15 p.m. Christina shares the following story from the Family ministry lunch breakout meeting following the sermon:

Cynthia Wentz, Executive Director of The Source for Women (www.thesourceforwomen.org), told the story of a young woman who became pregnant and chose to have an abortion. Regrettably, abortion had been the answer this young lady had chosen for a prior pregnancy, making that answer all the more routine this time. After the abortion was performed, she saw the physician in follow-up. He stated that something had gone wrong because a heartbeat was detected. The young woman demanded to see the ultrasound. It revealed a perfect fetus, indicating that while one twin had been aborted, the other remained unharmed. Cynthia then disclosed that she was the young lady and that the baby on the screen in the abortion clinic was her son, now fourteen years old.

Cynthia went on to share that earlier this week she had been asked to speak to the Texas House of Representatives in support of new legislation requiring that women be given the opportunity to see an ultrasound within two hours of the abortion procedure and hear a fetal heartbeat, if detectable. Although the opportunity can be declined, physicians would nonetheless be required to describe what they see in the ultrasound, including the development of the body and organs.

Before this morning, Cynthia decided that she would not go to Austin because there was far too much work and activities to keep her busy in Houston. However, the Lord spoke during the service and, on the way to the breakout meeting, she decided that she must “go” because this was her “anywhere”, “anytime”, “anything” calling. Immediately, the women in the room gathered round, laid their hands on Cynthia, and prayed for Cynthia’s mission to the Texas Capital. Cynthia will be there on Wednesday of this week.

Many are fasting and praying for Cynthia as she goes to Austin with her son to tell their story. "Lord we thank you for what you have done, are doing, and will do. Be with Cynthia. Comfort her. Strengthen her. Protect her. Keep Christ crucified on her lips and work in the hearts of the members of House of Representatives. Use Cynthia that she might feel Your joy and be Your instrument to change hearts while removing the stain of abortion from our land."

Please take a moment right now to join Will and many people in Texas in prayer. May many lives be saved from abortion.

In the Savior,

Rodney

In Memory of Phillip Earl Wood - Worship Service at Bethel Baptist Church

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Thank you for praying for us last weekend. The Lord heard your prayers regarding my daddy's funeral.

I believe that Daddy's life was honored and that our Savior was given glory for His great work of salvation in my daddy's life. Dr. Gene Richards and Rev. Denny Brumfield of Franklinton were pastors who knew and loved my daddy. I give thanks to God for the wonderful words they shared in the funeral.

Also, Pop Cooksey and members of the Cooksey Family (Southern Gospel Singers), who had been close friends of Daddy's for 35 years and who had seen the great transforming work of Christ in his life, participated in the service by ministering to us all in song.

Our sons, Jake, Jim, and John played their guitars and mandolin and sang "On Jordan's Stormy Banks."

I was blessed with the privilege of giving the eulogy and felt strengthened by the Lord in doing it.

Thank you again very, very much for your prayers.

Phillip Rodney Wood

My Daddy Is Now With God in Heaven

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As some of you know, I had to leave Tanzania a bit earlier than planned because I received a call that my father's health was in very rapid decline. I would like to thank you for your prayers.

Bec and I left Mbeya in the deep southwest of Tanzania last Friday afternoon and traveled by automobile for a day and a half in order to catch the next available flight out of Dar es Salaam, which was on Sunday morning. Without going into the details, I will only say that I was able to make arrangements with British Airways at Heathrow to get us home earlier than I had previously thought possible. Our original estimated time of arrival at my father's home had been about 10 p.m. on Monday night. However, because of the BA representative's compassionate help, we were able to arrive on Monday afternoon at 1:20 p.m. Every day for four days I had called my daddy and had told him that I was on my way and that I was coming as fast as I possibly could. Before I left for Tanzania in mid-January, he had urged me to go on with my work and had promised me he would be there when I got back. In an extremely faint whisper, he had said, "I'll be here. I may not be able to talk. But I'll be here." So during my four day sprint to his house, he struggled greatly to fulfill his final promise to me. When I walked in the door on Monday, I fell down beside him in tears of joy. My dear Bec kissed and hugged him. He had made it! God had enabled him to wait until we arrived.

I sang and talked and prayed with him over the next several hours there in his bedroom. After some time had passed, I began to feel that he was looking at heavenly realities. I of course could not know for certain, but I began to tell him that I believed that he was seeing things that I could not see. I do think he was. He was very peaceful. Then at about 8:55 p.m. he left us. How thankful I am to the Lord that Bec and I arrived at 1:20 p.m. instead of 10:00 p.m.

Today, as you would expect, my heart is lifted toward heaven in an unusual way, and my thoughts are drawn forward to that which awaits us. I'd like to share some of those thoughts with you.

In a little while, you and I will follow my daddy and all of our other believing loved ones. Yes, we will experience the joy of seeing one another face to face again, and we will marvel at the beauty into which our Savior will have transformed us. But there is something much greater that is awaiting us! Something that will far exceed the joy of our standing face to face with one another! It is that indescribable, infinitely delightful, shoulder to shoulder experience of standing before the One on whose robe and on whose thigh is written the name, "King of Kings and Lord of Lords!"

Yes, I look forward to seeing my mother. Yes, I look forward to seeing my father. I look forward to seeing my daughter Rebecca Elizabeth and my granddaughter Madeleine Grey. But much, much, much more than that, I look forward to standing beside them, as our friend C. S. Lewis says, "looking at the same thing." I look forward to our ears being filled with the sound of "the loud voice of a multitude in heaven", as we all join with them in saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God . . . ." That vast multitude's voice will be "as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, 'Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.'"

There we will stand, you and I, side by side, in the midst of millions upon millions of men and women, clothed in the whitest white linen of righteousness. There we will be, surrounded by the holy angels, the worshiping warriors of heaven, with our eyes fixed on the Great King and our voices raised in highest and loudest praise. What a day that will be!

On Saturday morning at ten o'clock, I will stand before a gathering in a small, white frame church out in the country about two hundred yards from my daddy's house, and I will seek to give words that properly honor his life. But more importantly, I hope to give words that will honor his Savior, who listened to the prayers of many people, some of whom prayed for my daddy for decades. God heard their many prayers (and mine) and saved my daddy from his sins and from the wrath to come. I give praise to our Redeemer!

Thank you again for all of your prayers. I would greatly appreciate your continued prayers, especially for the service this Saturday.

In the grace and mercy of our Savior,

Rodney

The Mission Foundation Letter, January 17, 2011

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Dear friends,

First of all, we want to THANK YOU for your prayers and for your financial support of our ministry. We can never say thank you enough. It is because of your participation with us in Gospel ministry that we are able to do the things that God has called us to do. So once again – Thank you!

TANZANIA: This Thursday, January 20th, Bec and I will leave for Tanzania where we continue to work alongside Tanzanian leaders in the development of a national expository preaching movement. You may remember that it was through the invitation of Rev. Frank Luvanda (Tanzanian pastor and former vice-principal of a Bible college) that in 2005 Dr. Simon Vibert (now vice-principal of Wycliff Hall, Oxford) and I were privileged to work with our Tanzanian brothers in the launching of this effort of Langham Preaching (John Stott Ministries). In 2006 Rev. Tony Swanson (British missionary with African Inland Mission who has served in Tanzania for many years) became involved in the work and has been a great colleague and friend. Because of the outstanding work done by Frank and Tony (both of whom live in Morogoro in central Tanzania), the movement has now spread to every region of the country.

I should also mention that Becky will again have the opportunity to teach women in Tanzania. I am very thankful to our Lord for this open door for her to use her gift.

This year we will be in Mbeya which is in the deep southwestern part of the country. Please pray for our safety in travel. Thanks.

Oxford: This Friday Bec and I will be meeting with Jonathan Lamb, Director of Langham Preaching. We will be discussing the book I have just completed on expository preaching and a number of other things. Also, we will be visiting Simon Vibert at Wycliff Hall and will be staying overnight with him and his wife Carrie and their children. We are very much looking forward to this time in Oxford.

Sheffield: After leaving Oxford, Bec and I will travel up to Sheffield where we will have the opportunity to spend time with our brothers and sisters at Christ Church, Fulwood, the congregation with whom I served as part of the interim pastoral team in 2005. The Thursday Morning Men’s Prayer Breakfast which we launched during that year is still a thriving group, and they continue to focus on praying for men who have not yet come to know Christ. Would you please take a moment to pray for those men?

The Gathering of Men: During my time away, Tyler Lafauci will be teaching at The Gathering of Men luncheon. As some of you know, Tyler has been a faithful servant to the men of our city for many years. Please pray for him.

Missions Conference at Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Houston – February 20th: We are looking forward to being with our dear friends Will and Christina Whitaker who serve on the missions committee of Christ Pres. I hope that those of you who are in Houston might possibly be able to join us.

Thank you again for all that you do to help us. We pray that you will be blessed with clear understandings regarding your service to our King in 2011. We also pray that the Lord will fill you with a love-motivated zeal for the accomplishment of the missions He has for you. Please pray the same for us.

In our merciful and gracious Savior,

Rod and Bec