~The Mission Foundation~: 2017

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Prayers Needed for Miss Brittney Boudreaux, daughter of Senator Gerald Boudreaux and his wife Carlos

PRAYERS ARE NEEDED FOR BRITTNEY BOUDREAUX: On Friday morning at 7:00 am at MD Anderson, our brother Gerald Boudreaux's 28 year-old daughter Brittney, for whom we have been praying for months, will be having a tumor removed from one of her breasts. This will be followed by 8 weeks of radiation at the end of which she will have another surgery. Gerald wanted to be sure that all of you, whom he lovingly called "our legislative family," to know how much he and his wife Carlos, and Brittney, Whittney (Brittney's twin), and Halie (25) appreciate all of your prayers.

Friday, June 30, 2017

"WINNERS AND LOSERS" (1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10)

“Winners and Losers”

(Scripture Readings: 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10)

June 30, 2017

Greetings, brothers and sisters! During the final week of the second Special Session of the Louisiana Legislature, I gave the following message entitled “Winners and Losers” (with only slight changes here):

There is no other foundation but Christ. (vs. 11) The foundation is eternal life in Christ. What is eternal life? Our Savior prayed, “And this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3). To have eternal life is to have a never-ending, love relationship with God, and it is only through trusting in the sacrificial death of Christ for us that we can have this life. Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.”

But we are to be wise in the way that we build upon that foundation. (vs. 12 – recognizing primary ref. to doctrinal teaching) Every day you and I are building with either “gold, silver, precious stones” or “wood, hay, and straw.” Moment by moment, we are thinking, speaking, and acting in one of two ways: either in ways that are of supreme and permanent value to God or in ways that are worthless in His sight and will be destroyed by Him.

What characterizes those thoughts, words, and actions that God values? Faith and love. Faith is expressed through continual prayer and conscious submission of oneself to God: ^“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) And the Apostle Paul says, “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23) Love is a profound spirit of giving and forgiving in relating to others: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

One day God will “reveal” the value of our words and actions as He will test them “by fire,” i.e., by His divine judgment. (vs. 13) The Apostle Paul seeks to prepare us for that day, saying, “For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)

Our Lord’s examination will lead to either rewards or loss of rewards. (vs. 14-15) The Apostle says, “If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” Jesus says: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”

A legislative session has just ended. There has been and will be much talk and many articles written about winners and losers. But who will the real winners and losers be? The winners will be the ones who, hour by hour, laid up much reward in heaven by thinking, speaking, and acting in faith and love. And the losers will be those who focused on themselves: the ones who placed their confidence in themselves and sought their own glory and did not walk, step by step, in love for all of the people in our city, our state, our nation, and our world. The word for this godly love “agape” was well translated “charity” in some of the older translations because this kind of love gives and forgives. Merriam-Webster defines “charity” as “love for others” and as “the giving of aid to the needy.” It also includes this definition: “kindliness in judging others,” and offers this quote by Mark Twain in A Connecticut Yankee: “I pray you mercy of my fault, and that ye will of your kindness and your charity forgive it.”

If we are honest, we all realize that there have been days on which, in varying degrees, we have lost our opportunities to live in faith and love: our works were “wood, hay, and straw.” So what do we do? We confess our failures, and we experience God’s forgiveness. We also give thanks to Him for every moment that, by His grace, we truly won the day, laying up “gold, silver, and precious stones” in heaven. Then we resolve to lay hold of today and tomorrow with all of our hearts, thinking, speaking, and acting with true faith in God and sincere love for all people, especially those most in need. Jesus says, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.” (Rev. 22:12)

THANK YOU so much for your financial support and for your prayers for us! We are very grateful!

In the love of our Savior,

Rod and Bec