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