2014 - Thankful to Be in our Lord's Service

Bec and Rod at Top of the Louisiana State Capitol
During 2014 Session of the Legislature

2014 Session of Louisiana Legislature

Grateful for the Privilege of being a Contributing Author
 to this work, which was edited by Chuck Garriott

Langham Preaching - TANZANIA
Rev. Elkana Gonda (Country Coordinator), RW,
and Rev. Tony Swanson, long-time African Inland Mission leader
in Tanzania, who has handled all of the administration
for our seminars since 2006 

Monday Morning for Men

The Design and Distortion of Manhood, Part 2

Genesis, Chapters 1-3

(Based on Robert Lewis’ Quest for Authentic Manhood)

Today we are going to turn to Genesis again and give more thought to God’s design of manhood.  Man was wired to lead.  Then came that devastating distortion of manhood in the Garden of Eden. 

But before we talk about male leadership, we must be very clear about one thing:   Male domination is a personal moral failure; it is not a teaching of the Bible.  So what does the Bible teach? 

God makes it clear that his original design for the man was for leadership.  Turn to Genesis 2.

• Man was created first, and God had a purpose in doing this.  Genesis 2:7 “The Lord formed the man . . . .”  Genesis 2:22 “Then the Lord made a woman from the rib He had taken from the man.”  By this order of creation, God was indicating to the man and the woman that the man would be the leader.  For implications of this, see 1 Timothy 2:12 where the Apostle Paul says, “But I do not allow a woman to teach a man or exercise authority over a man but to remain silent.”  Why?  In the very next verse, vs. 13, Paul says, “For it was the man who was created first and then the women.”  Divine Order is the reason that women should not be in positions where they teach or exercise authority over men. 
• Before Eve was created, God gave His spoken Word to the man.   Genesis 2:15-17
• When God created the woman, he called her “helper.”  Genesis 2:18, 20
• The man (ish) named his helper, saying, “She shall be called woman (ishah).”  Genesis 2:23 Naming indicates having authority over.  Examples:  The man named the animals (Gen. 2:19-20);

God renamed men and women in the Bible, thereby indicating that they would continue their lives under His authority:  Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel, and Simon to Peter. 

·          The man is to be the initiator in the establishment of the marriage relationship.  “. . . a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife.”  This role of initiator is the one for which he has been wired by God.  The woman is wired for the man to take initiative in his relationship with her.  When it is the woman who is the initiator, we have a reversal, an attempt to re-wire the marriage. 

The man’s passivity allowed for the tragic reversal that led to a distortion of his role and disaster for all human beings.  Turn to Genesis 3. 

• Satan says that God is a liar:  “You surely shall not die.”  (Genesis 3:4)
• Satan says that God is not good:  “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  (Genesis 3:5)
• The man is passive.  He does NOTHING!  He apparently is standing right there listening to the dialogue between his wife and the DEVIL! 
• God holds the man accountable. Gen. 3:8-9
• The man paints himself as a VICTIM!  “The woman you put here with me” Genesis 3:11-12

                  “Sometimes it’s 

lonely out front.”

(These are the words that my wife 

Becky Wood once said to me as she reflected on

all the years that I had sought to carry out my calling as the leader of our family. 

 She has passed these words on to her sons, and with her glad permission,

I continue to pass them onto husbands everywhere. – RW)

• Adam’s curse is based on the reversal of God’s created order:  “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree . . .”   Genesis 3:17-19
• It was the failure of the man that brought about the fall of man.  Romans 5:19 says, “. . . through the disobedience of one man many were made sinners.”
• But Romans 5:19 also says, “. . . through the obedience of the one man (Jesus) the many will be made righteous.”

One final note from Genesis:  After the fall, in Genesis 3:20, we see that Adam renamed his wife, Eve, mother of the living.  What is the significance of this?  Our sin against God has not brought about the rescinding of our call to leadership.  It is true that we do it imperfectly.  But we can look to Him for His abundant grace, and we can lovingly lead our wives and children.  

AMAZINGLY TRANSFORMED YOUNG WOMEN. . . 

Rescued From Human Trafficking

Father Jeff Bayhi at St. Peter's Square:  Father Jeff has always ministered among the "least 

of these."  For seven years, he served the poorest of the poor with Mother Teresa in Calcutta.

Currently he is the pastor of a large parish in Zachary, LA and is a chaplain at Angola State Prison

where he spends many hours with inmates each week.    

    

Sister Eugenia Bonetti oversees a worldwide effort against 

human trafficking.  Sister Eugenia received the International

Women of Courage Award in 2007.  This award was established

in that year by U.S. Secretrary of State Condoleezza Rice on

International Women's Day and is presented annually.  It was 

our privilege to be with Sister Eugenia and her colleagues.  

Bobby Gaston, Ph. D. (LA Sheriff's Association), Senator Ronnie Johns, Australian Ambassador to the Vatican John McCarthy, Colonel Mike Edmonson (LA State Police), Fr. Jeff Bayhi, and myself

                    Bec and Sister Eugenia in a meeting at the Vatican

     Col. Mike holding  a child of one of the 

     young women at a safehouse 

Dear friends,

It’s great to be home for a few days.  Bec and I have just returned from our mission to Rome concerning human trafficking, and this Thursday, October 30^th, we will be leaving for Tanzania where I will be leading a conference with the national leaders of the Expository Preaching Movement of Tanzania (Langham Preaching), which we first established in 2005.

The days between this international travel have been quite full, speaking to men – The Gathering of Men here in Baton Rouge as well as Monday Morning for Men in Ruston – and other opportunities in ministry, including work with members of two pastor search committees (Presbyterian and Baptist) in their efforts to establish links to candidates for those pastorates.  I am very grateful to our Lord for the privilege He continues to give me to serve alongside brothers and sisters from all denominations. 

AMAZING TRANSFORMATION OF YOUNG WOMEN:  As I mentioned in last month’s letter, Bec and I were invited by Fr. Jeff Bayhi to go to Rome to meet with Sister Eugenia Bonetti and Vatican officials concerning the possibility of establishing a safehouse here in the Baton Rouge area.  Also in the group were Senator Ronnie Johns, Col. Mike Edmonson (Superintendent of the State Police) and his wife Suzanne, Bobby Gaston (LA Sheriff’s Association) and his wife Suzan Gaston, Ph.D. ( Program Coordinator of a special outreach for youth at LSU’s College of Education) who for many years has been involved in work with “at risk” children.    

Our time in Italy was extremely profitable.  In addition to other privileges and opportunities, our group’s dinner guests on our first night there were John McCarthy, Australian Ambassador to the Vatican, and his wife Christine.  John has been assigned by the Pope to serve as his liaison with all those who are involved in the global effort to eradicate human trafficking.  John and Christine were very warmly engaging people, and John was keenly focused on each question or suggestion that came from our group.  This was the start of a blessed week which was highlighted by our experiences in the safehouses with the Sisters and the women (and in some cases their children) who have been rescued and wonderfully transformed.  These young women, who were from Eastern Europe and West Africa, were strikingly happy and outgoing – absolutely delightful to be around.  I was utterly amazed at the extent of their transformation.  In one city, we visited their fabric shop where they employed their new skills as seamstresses.  They were confident and very much enjoying their work.  There was never a hint of the horrible brokenness they had once known.  I found myself thinking, “I would that all Christians would have such lovely countenances.” 

I’ll briefly share only one story.  A young Nigerian woman had been one of seven girls who had been told that they were being sponsored to attend university in Europe.  It is easy to imagine how happy these young girls must have been as they said their goodbyes to their parents and siblings and friends and boarded the plane together.  But when they arrived in Europe, they stepped off into the clutches of the evil men who were waiting to drag them away into a nightmare whose horrors I will only describe in a few words:  stripped, evaluated, sold, sold again, sexually used over and over and over again every day, day after day.  But then, while out on the street, one of these girls saw Sister Rita.   As she told us her story, she said, “I saw God.”  Sister Rita reached out, took her hand, and brought her into the “family” where she came under the loving care of the nuns who have given all that they are to girls like this one.

Under Father Jeff’s guidance, further steps are now being taken to see a work developed here in Baton Rouge for girls 17 and under.  It is hoped that by next April everything will be in place and that Sister Eugenia and some of her colleagues will visit our city in support of this work.  I should point out that these Sisters made it very clear that they are respectful of the religious affiliations of all of the girls whom they serve.  So please pray for the involvement of all denominations here in our city.  Also, please pray for the little girls and teenagers who are being abused even at this moment, as I close this letter. 

                                                                                    In our Savior’s love,

                                                                                    Rod and Bec

FINANCIAL SUPPORT:  We are in the final quarter of the year.  We would be very grateful for any support that you might provide for our work.   It is much needed.   

FINANCIAL SUPPORT:  We are in the final quarter of the year.  We would be very grateful for any support that you might provide for our work.   It is much needed.   

          Meeting at the Vatican

               Bec and Sister Eugenia

     Australian Ambassador John McCarthy

             Rod and Senator Ronnie Johns

Senator Ronnie Johns, Bobby Gaston Ph.D., Sister Eugenia, and 

Suzan Gaston, Ph.D., in meeting at the Vatican

Senator Ronnie Johns offers appreciative and supportive words to the sisters 

Col. Mike Edmonson listening to Sister Eugenia 

as she addresses our group from Louisiana 

                                 Sister Rita, a woman of great strength, courage, and 

                                 lovingkindness who established the very first of the

                                 safehouses in Italy about twenty years ago

                                                 Sister Eugenia and Bec

Sister Eugenia and Sister Monica (far right)

with two of the sisters at one of the safehouses

we visited                                                          

Col. Mike Edmonson and his wife Suzanne

Wednesday Papal Audience at St. Peter's Square

 

The ADVOCATE, article by Mark Hunter, "Leaving Politics at the Capitol Door"

The

ADVOCATE

• BATON ROUGE
• NEW ORLEANS
• ACADIANA

Leaving politics at the Capitol door

State Legislature’s spiritual leader contributes essay to ‘Rulers: Gospel and Government,’ a new book on faith and politics

BY MARK H. HUNTER| SPECIAL TO THE ADVOCATE                            Aug. 26, 2014                                                                                                       

The Rev. Dr. Rodney Wood was driving through Baton Rouge on a hunting trip with two of his sons in January 1993, when, he says, God quietly spoke to him about his next step in ministry.

He had just finished a seven-year pastorate at Trinity Church in Covington.

“As we passed by the Capitol, suddenly I sensed that God was speaking to my heart, calling me to Baton Rouge and to service in the Capitol,” writes the 63-year-old Wood in a newly published book on faith and politics.

Wood describes how he and his wife, Becky, entered a quiet Capitol rotunda on Saturday, Jan. 23, 1993, and after praying for Divine guidance, “these words of instruction came clearly to my mind; ‘Just pray. Don’t be intrusive. Don’t try to position yourself. Never look at a person’s station in life. And serve whomever I put before you.’ ”

That experience began two decades of nondenominational ministry that includes: praying for — and with — elected lawmakers and nonelected state employees working inside the Capitol, leading a weekly “Legislators’ Bible Study Prayer Breakfast,” during the session and just being available to anyone in spiritual need.

“As a body, our legislators are a group of men and women who are really seeking as best they understand it to do what is right,” Wood said in an interview. A prayer breakfast group is very diverse — racially, politically and denominationally, Wood said, with Catholics and Protestants gathering to “experience a beautiful unity in Christ.”

“They definitely leave politics at the door,” Wood said. “It is an extremely warm fellowship. They really care about one another.”

The new book, “Rulers: Gospel and Government,” is a collection of 10 essays by eight authors and edited by Charles M. Garriott, founder and director of Ministry to State, headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is scheduled for release Sept. 5.

The book’s theme is “a paradigm shift in which Christians must not try to better our nation by merely advocating certain policies, but instead by supporting, praying for, ministering to, and encouraging our nation’s leaders,” according to a news release. “Real change and improvement will happen when rulers carry a biblical mindset, godly perspective, and righteous pursuits into their offices.”

Even the idea of Ministry to State is incongruent to “politics as usual,” writes Joni Eareckson Tada in the book’s introduction. “It builds relationships not to receive something, gain favor, push an agenda, glad-hand or seek a vote; rather it is about giving. And caring about individuals who know what it feels like to be used.”

Rev. Wood is not a part of Ministry to State — his ministry is called The Mission Foundation — but the intent is similar, and he also strives to build relationships and care for individuals.

During a recent visit through the Capitol hallways, his “relational ministry” is obvious when he greets many of the security guards and office workers by name.

“He is a very personable man,” said state Senate Sergeant-At-Arms John Keller. “He does a lot of brotherhood with individuals as well as groups. And I cherish his friendship.”

State Sen. Sharon Weston Broome, D-Baton Rouge, called Wood’s ministry “a blessing” and adds that she also cherishes their friendship.

“What I appreciate about Brother Rodney is his Christ-like character,” Broome said. “And what I appreciate as well is, he doesn’t get involved in the politics of what is going on here and therein lies his effectiveness with legislators across party lines.”

“The Legislature is built on relationships and for those of us who share the same faith and spiritual goals, it firms up our relationships with one another,” Broome said. “Even though we may disagree on some issues, there is still that spiritual glue that brings us together.”

Garriott said he invited Wood’s contribution because of their longstanding friendship.

“I have been impressed with Rodney’s willingness to serve out of his love for those who are elected,” Garriott wrote in an email. “He is intent on honoring his Lord.”

Wood’s foundation, goes beyond the Capitol. He leads “The Gathering of Men,” a nondenominational men’s ministry and teaches in seminaries, Bible colleges and preaching seminars several times a year in foreign countries such as Albania,Ghana, Croatia, Tanzania and Peru.

Louisiana roots

A son of Louisiana with deep family roots — a great-great-great grandfather fought with Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans — Wood has been married to Rebecca “Becky” Hunter Wood for 42 years, and they have three grown sons, Jake, Jim and John, all physicians, and nine grandchildren.

He grew up in Washington Parish, hunting and fishing and playing football and trumpet brass instruments in the band at Franklinton High School, graduating in 1968. He accepted Christ as his savior at the age of 10 but later drifted from his faith.

“By the end of my junior year at LSU, I was far, far away from fellowship with God, and I knew that I was in great need of spiritual help,” he said.

Wood had played freshman football and was friends with wide receiver Andy Hamilton.

“Andy told me if I would give control of my life to Christ, he would change my desires,“ Wood said. “That was an amazing thought, to think that God would do things to me, that he would actually change me.”

That summer, he was working on a construction crew building power line towers in Virginia.

“One afternoon I was sitting on a piece of steel working. God suddenly spoke to my heart and said, ‘If you go another step in the direction in which you are going, you are headed for destruction.’ It wasn’t audible,” Wood said, “but I knew that I had to change my direction right then!”

Hamilton had meanwhile signed him up for a Campus Crusade Conference in Texas.

“On the first morning of that conference, on Aug. 9, 1971, I bowed my head and asked the Lord Jesus to take control of my life,” Wood said. “He heard my prayer, and He began to change my life. I’m almost 64 years old, and I’m still asking Him to please change me.”

While attending an LSU Campus Crusade meeting later that fall he met the beautiful blonde girl from Texas City, Texas, who would become his wife.Wood graduated from LSU in 1972 with a degree in business administration and got married on Aug. 19. They just celebrated their 42nd anniversary.

He sold insurance in Ruston for nine years while building a student ministry called “The Fellowship at LA Tech.”

In 1984, he and his growing family moved to England, where he spent a year studying at The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity with the late theology scholar John Stott.

Ordained at The Chapel on Campus in 1987, Wood received a doctor of ministry degree from Reformed Theological Seminary in 1995 and served as pastor of Trinity Church inCovington until his call to minister to legislators.

His favorite Bible verse is Matthew 9:2, where Jesus says to the paralytic man: “Take heart my son. Your sins are forgiven,” Wood quotes. “If I could have only one verse in all of Scripture it would be that one. That is the verse that is most dear to me.”

A central theme of his ministry can be summed up with two words — differences and distances.

“We can have differences in the way we see things, but our differences should not lead to distances,” Wood said. “We need to draw even more closely to one another. That is how the world will know that we belong to Jesus, that our differences don’t lead to distances.”

http://theadvocate.com/features/faith/9995846-123/leaving-politics-at-the-capitol

Dr Rodney Wood, The Gathering of Men, Introduction to Manhood series

THE GATHERING OF MEN LUNCHEON, THURSDAYS, JOINT EFFORT WITH TWO OTHER GROUPS!

This fall I will be teaching "The Quest for Authentic Manhood", a series that was developed by my long-time friend Robert Lewis, who is originally from Ruston, LA where my family and I lived many years ago.  

Many of you will know about Robert and his ministry in Little Rock.  It was while serving as a pastor that Robert became deeply concerned that men (including himself) were in need of a more Biblical understanding of what it means to be a man.  That led to the creation of Men's Fraternity.  

Having begun with 30 men in Little Rock in 1990, Men's Fraternity now reaches men all over the U.S.  and all over the world!  There are now about 20,000 groups of men who are using the material developed by Dr. Lewis.  

Back in the 90's, I contacted Robert and asked his permission to teach "The Quest for Authentic Manhood" here in Baton Rouge at The Gathering of Men Luncheon.  Soon crowds, sometimes in excess of 200 men, were coming to our weekly meeting to hear what our Lord says about what it means to truly be a man.  

I'm very much looking forward to teaching on this subject again.  All men are invited to join us each Thursday at noon at First Baptist Church for The Gathering of Men Luncheon.  We meet in the fellowship hall where a great meal is served.  The cost of lunch is $7.00.  No registration is required. However, it would be very helpful if you would email a confirmation of your plans (or even hopes) to attend. Please email me at rodwoodmission@gmail.com  Thanks!  

I will introduce the series on Thursday, August 21st, and the first lesson of the series will begin on THURSDAY, AUGUST 28th. 

Also, if you are not able to join us at lunch on Thursdays, there are two other groups with whom we are united in this effort.  On Thursday mornings, at 6:30 a.m., men will be meeting in the reception room of the sanctuary building at First Presbyterian Church.  To join this group, please email Barry Phillips at barry@fpcbr.org   On Friday mornings, at 6:00 a.m., Pete Adams will be leading a group in the Lamar Building, 5321 Corporate Blvd.   You can contact Pete at pete@ldaa.org   

Pete, Barry, and I are praying that one of these three times will fit well in your schedule.

Would you please forward this information to men here in Baton Rouge and in the surrounding area?  Also, please consider sharing this with men who serve as pastors here in our city.  And I hope you might think of men whom you might personally invite, or possibly bring with you!

Please take a moment to pray for the men of our city.  I am praying for all of you who receive this letter, as I close.      

Your brother,

Rodney

Rev. Dr. Rodney Wood

1975 Myrtledale Ave.

Baton Rouge, LA 70808

225-266-8520

Our Father's Loud Singing

Dear friends,

This morning I’d like to ask you to please take a moment to meditate on a verse of Holy Scripture with which you are possibly very familiar.  Through His prophet Zephaniah, our Lord assures us of His great delight in us, which is difficult for us to fathom at times, and of His unwavering devotion to us, although we know that our devotion to Him wanes more often than we’d like to admit.  Let’s listen to these words together as deeply as we can.   

          The Lord your God is in your midst,

               a Mighty One who will save;

          He will rejoice over you with gladness;

               He will quiet you by His love;

          He will exult over you with loud singing.  (Zephaniah 3:17)

As I sit here at my desk writing this letter, I am listening to happy Celtic music, which I greatly enjoy.  But the happiness in the sounds of these dear Irish musicians in no way compares to the gladness in the grand Voice of our Father Who is rejoicing over you and me right now with “loud singing”! 

Please stop, and listen.  You may have to be still for a little while in order to block out all of the interfering sounds.  But do please listen.

I have just now reached and turned off the happy sounds of the flutes, whistles, strings, bodhrans, bones, and Irish voices.  Now I only hear the heavy rainfall outside my window.  It’s like the sound of a thousand maracas.  The usual Louisiana rolling, booming tympanies and sharply crashing cymbals are not there.  Only the shakers.  Only the steady sheets of shishing and shushing.  Normal neighborhood noises are completely and pleasantly obscured.  The morning rain seems to provide the perfect percussion backdrop for the singularly beautiful Voice of the Soloist – the One Who is singing about me and to me.  

Yet I find myself in great need of God’s help as I try to harness my listening powers to hear that lovely Voice.  Is it because I’m not adequately convinced of the magnitude of my Father’s delight in me, even me with all of my faults?  Or is it possibly because I just don’t listen often enough and well enough to have developed a stronger attunedness to His Voice?  Or is it because much of the time I have listened only for thoughts – just thoughts – from Him (the reception of which is of course a great blessing) and have not allowed my soul to regularly hear Him joyfully singing fortissimo of His fatherly affection for me.

As I have been trying to express my thoughts and feelings to you, I have been reminded that, by the grace granted through our Savior, you and I are now among those who can live as “seeing Him Who is unseen” (Hebrews. 11:27).  So also we can live as hearing the “loud singing” of Him Who is inaudible to us. God has called you and me to hear and see Him Who is soundless and invisible.  We see Him with the eyes of our hearts.  We hear Him with the ears of our souls.              

So, brothers and sisters, let’s pray for one another!  Let’s ask God to help us to hear His “loud singing” over you and me! 

Sitting under His songs with you,

Rod and Bec

The "One Another" Fellowship - The Spurs of Louisiana

July 1, 2014

Lobbyist and Long-Time Friend Scott Kirkpatrick (at left)
House of Representatives Gallery

Senator Robert Adley and Senate President John Alario

Rep. Frank Hoffman and House Speaker Chuck Kleckley

Dear friends,

I must begin with that which ranks among our happiest family news items in many years.  Jim and Amelia and their children, Josiah, Rebecca Blythe, and Luke, and John and Kelly and their children, Lucy Bea and John Isaac, have moved to Louisiana and are getting settled into their homes here in Baton Rouge!   Jake and Ashley and their children, Elizabeth, Mary Page, Jacob Myles, Jr. (Myles), and Norah Catherine, live in Ruston, as many of you know.  At last, at last, they’re all back home! 

On June 2^nd, the Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature was adjourned.  If you’re a basketball enthusiast, then you’ll understand what I mean when I say that it seemed to me that our legislature worked together much like the San Antonio Spurs.  If you didn’t see the Spurs in the NBA Finals, you missed something of beauty.  Bec and I enjoyed every minute of the last game together. 

The post-game was as good as the game.  In fact, it was the post-game that revealed the foundation of the beauty that was displayed during the game.   I was riveted to the screen as Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, and Tony Parker were clinging to one another’s necks for long periods of time, speaking words into one another’s ears that were meant for no one else to hear.  I was watching with no small wonderment as the other team members were enjoying not just the moment but one another.  It was then that I said, “Bec, look!  Look at Coach Popovich!  Look where he is!”  When the interviewing of the team began, he was in the far back and a little to the left.  He was almost out of view.  He never came to the front.  He never spoke.  There he stood in a quiet happiness for the men, most of them very young, whom he had enjoyed guiding into the pleasure of working in true togetherness!  As I sat there, I thought of Coach Vince Lombardi who said this:

Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about.  They didn’t do it for individual glory.  They did it because they loved one another.

At our final meeting of the Louisiana Legislators’ Bible Study / Prayer Breakfast, on Tuesday morning, May 27^th, my message was entitled “The ‘One Another’ Fellowship”.   Near the beginning of that Scriptural meditation with our legislators, I said this to our brothers and sisters who serve us: 

It is as all of you live in “The ‘One Another’ Fellowship” that you will be most effective in coming to right understandings of what is truly good for our people as well as the accomplishment of that good.  Furthermore, it is it as you live together in that “oneanotherness” that your own lives will be immeasurably enriched. 

Watching Senate President John Alario and House Speaker Chuck Kleckley and their combined teams of 144 members throughout this session was a delight.  Regardless of whether you, the readers of this letter, agree with the various decisions that our legislature made, and regardless of whether you are aware of certain tensions in some relationships, I want you to know that I am giving thanks to God, even now as I write this letter, for the beauty of togetherness that I saw among these men and women. 

Now what about you? What about your family?  What about your Church?  I am including with this letter my notes (below) from that Tuesday morning with the legislators.  Please carefully and prayerfully ponder each of the “one another” commandments and consider your own manner of relating to your family and your fellow church members.  Let’s all take a moment to pray that our Lord will help us to live in the beauty of “The One Another Fellowship”.   Hebrews 10 says, “And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds.”

Thank you again for your prayers.  Also, thank you for your financial support.  

In the love of the Savior,

  

Rod and Bec

Louisiana Legislators’ Bible Study / Prayer Breakfast

“The ‘One Another’ Fellowship”

Dr. Rodney Wood

One of the cities in which Paul served the Church was Ephesus.  He did pastoral ministry there for three years.  During those years, Paul led the elders in doing much good for the people, and when his days of service in that city were completed, he called the elders together and gave them his farewell address.  And the Scripture says that when he had said his last words, “he knelt down and prayed with them all, and they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul and repeatedly kissed him.”  (Acts 20:17-38; See verse 36-37) 

Paul had lived with these servants of the Church in the “one another” fellowship, and although he had to leave them, the fellowship was unending. 

It is as all of you live in “The ‘One Another’ Fellowship” that you will be most effective in coming to right understandings of what is truly good for our people as well as the accomplishment of that good.  Furthermore, it is it as you live together in that “oneanotherness” that your own lives will be immeasurably enriched. 

“The ‘One Another’ Fellowship” lives according to the “one another” commandments given to us by the Apostles:

“For this is the message you heard from the beginning:  We should love one another.”  (1 John 3:11)

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Eph. 4:32)

“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” (Romans 12:10)

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” (Hebrews 10:24)

“Greet one another with a holy kiss.” (2 Corinthians 13:12)

“Bear with one another.”  (Colossians 3:13)

“Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as you also are doing.” (1 Thess. 5:11)

“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” (Galatians 5:13)

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another.”  (1 Peter 4:10)

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”  (James 5:16)

• Love one another.  Every other “one another” command is a manifestation of this one. 
• Be kind to one another.   Literally, be “usefully good” to one another.  Be pleasant, gentle.
• Be tenderhearted toward one another.   Have deep inner feelings of mercy, of compassion.  These are feelings that are experienced deeply within us.  Literally, in our belly. 
• Forgive one another.  Literally, exercise grace, freely show favor.
• Be devoted to one another.   Give yourselves fully to one another.  Be completely and unconditionally committed to one another.    
• Have brotherly (sisterly) affection for one another.  God has called you to have family feelings toward one another. 
• Openly express your affection with godly gestures as you greet one another. 
• Honor one another.  Esteem one another.
• Stir one another up (Provoke one another!) to love and the good works that show that love. 
• Bear  with one another.  Be patient with one another.  Be enduring in love. 
• Encourage one another.  Pour courage and expectation into one another.
• Build one another up.  Say and do things that cause your colleague to grow in godly character.   
• Serve one another.  “Wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14)
• Confess your sins to one another.  Admit your failings to one another.   
• PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER.  “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.” (1 Samuel 12:23)  “God instituted prayer in order to lend His creatures the dignity of causality.” (Blaise Pascal, 17^th century French physicist)  God allows us to come to Him with our requests for one another, and He responds according to His wisdom and goodness!

One day you will leave this place in which you now serve.  You will give your final address to your colleagues and then say your goodbyes to all of the staff as you walk out of this building.  When that day comes, who will you embrace?  With whom will you shed a tear?  Will you be one who has lived and therefore will always live in the incomparable effectiveness and happiness of “The ‘One Another’ Fellowship”?