Please join me in praying for Dr. Mohler

I'm taking a break from my dissertation long enough to ask my few readers to pray for our seminary president, Dr. R. Albert Mohler. In chapel today, after a sermon on accepting adversity by Dr. Ware, and once the cameras had been turned off, Dr. Mohler announced to the seminary family that he has a pre-cancerous tumor on his colon. Dr. Tom Schreiner led us in prayer as we laid hands on the Mohler family. Please join me in continued prayer for Dr. Mohler, his family, and our seminary.

Blessings!
-- Todd

p.s. You can read the full story at Baptist Press. Of particular note to my readers is that Dr. Mohler has withdrawn is candidacy for SBC president. I regret that I will not be able to cast my ballot for him this year. Please pray for Convention messengers as they select a president in June.

Living the Missionary Motto

Early in my seminary career, Dr. Mark Terry taught me the missionary motto:

Where He leads me, I will follow;
What He feeds me, I will swallow!

This week, my "friend," colleague, and mentor, Bryan G helped me practice it.


For our Birthdays (we share the same day) the church where we are serving together as co-interim pastors threw us a pot-luck dinner. One group of ladies made Bryan his favorite dish, fish head curry. Not something I would choose for myself, but Hey, he's lived in the Pac Rim for 15 years.



As my Birthday gift to me, Bryan decided that I should share the "delicacy" of the dish, one of the fish eyes. So, before letting everyone eat, I got the special "privilege" of eating the first bite of our potluck --the curry flavored fish eye from this appetizing dish. Bryan ate his first . . .



Then I followed suit.



This of course doesn't make me a TRUE missionary, but in my opinion, it was a brave first step.

I can get the recipe for you if you'd like to try it too :-)

Blessings!
-- Todd

A Driving Conviction about Evangelism: Practical Suggestions (Five Essentials, part 1B)

Passion for missional Christianity comes from the Lord. You cannot create a passion in your church, only God can. For that reason, the primary “methods” for creating this passion in your people are prayer and the Word.

In your personal devotion, pray and ask God to create this passion in His people. Pray for more laborers in His harvest (Matt 9:38). At the same time, be intentional in times of corporate prayer to pray for the lost, to pray for missions, to pray for unreached peoples, to pray that God would give his people a burden for evangelism, to pray that God would raise up more laborers.

Pray and ask God to give YOU a burden for the lost and for his gospel. Pray and ask God for opportunities to evangelize. Pray specifically for lost individuals. Set aside time for personal evangelism. Baptize believers with rejoicing. Allow the church to “catch” your own passion for the gospel.

Make God’s act of redemption through Jesus Christ central to your preaching. Spend more of your sermon and teaching time focusing on the Cross and Resurrection. When preaching on practical issues, make sure to emphasize not only the moral guidelines. Rather, preach Christian living in terms of redemption, putting on the new self. Preach a sermon series on God’s redemptive plan. Demonstrate this redemptive purpose through the entire corpus of Scripture and not just the Great Commission. Show how evangelism and missions is the role of His church.

How do we create a passion in God's people? Continually bring the need for gospel passion to the Lord in prayer. Then, bring that need to the church in your word and witness.