Drawing Near

I have just returned from a study leave which has been fruitful and productive. In 2015, the Elders of FBCG granted me an annual study leave which includes five Sundays in the summer to advance our ministry in ways that I could not while on my regular pastoral schedule.  Since 2000, FBCG has sent me on over thirty-five international trips. Most of these trips have been to East Asia where I serve as the coordinator for Advance International (www.2advance.org). Over this time, we have developed a foundational theological education for pastors and teachers who have little access to pastoral training.

The Lord has blessed these years with over 2,000 students enrolled in our program, and we have seen 1,000 graduates as of October 2024. Each graduate has completed eight courses and earned the Biblical Ministry certificate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary/Leavell College.

This summer I was back in Japan where we have a new Advance center and during this time I taught an Expository Preaching Seminar in two venues in Tokyo. The four-hour seminar walked through a basic homiletical plan for pastors and Bible teachers to consider in the sermon-building process. The response was incredible, and the fellowship was sweet.

Our daughter, Lydia, and her husband David serve in Japan, and we had the joy of being there for the birth of their fourth child, Gabriel James. Gwynne and I are praising God from whom all blessings flow.

We return home with many memories of God’s faithfulness and pray that our feet will be beautiful in the advance of the gospel from Ascension parish to the ends of the earth. (Rom. 10:14-15). 

REMINDERS OF REPENTANCE

As I work through the jet lag of international travel, I want to share a short post I’m calling “Reminders of Repentance.” 

This time of year my thoughts are taken to the words found in Jeremiah 8:20:  “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” These words were spoken by the people of Judah in a moment of anguish. It was a proverb expressing that their God-given opportunity to repent was now over. It was a statement of great despair and loss.

When August departs and summer’s close is in sight, this statement speaks to a major theme in Scripture, namely, that “men and women everywhere need to repent before God and receive His grace and mercy for their sins” (Acts 17:30).  Repentance is often cast in a negative light. It is one of those words that is categorized as “preachy” or “confrontive.” However, my survey of Scripture has revealed that repentance is a beautiful, hope-giving response to God.  To repent means that we change our mind concerning our sin and attitudes toward God which leads to a turn from our present path to one of obedience and faith in Him. Through repentance, we begin to love what Christ loves and hate what He hates.

Repentance is a gift of God and not something we manage on our terms. The people in Jeremiah’s day mourned the missed window that led to the nation’s calamity. Repentance and faith in Christ are the proper response to the gospel, and we should not be surprised that we find this message from Moses to the prophets, to John the Baptist, to the apostles, and to Jesus Christ Himself.

Jesus’ public ministry was introduced with a call to repent as He declared, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Jesus often preached repentance, a need to turn from our sins and to walk in the obedience of faith.

On one occasion Jesus was told about a group of “Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices” (Lk 13:1).  We are not sure of the historical reference this account describes, but we do know that Pilate was brutal and calculating in his treatment of those under his rule. Jesus’ response to this atrocity was startling, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Lk. 13:2-3).

From our perspective, Jesus’ message of repentance could seem cold. However, the takeaway here is that with every atrocity we are reminded that we live in a fallen, groaning creation in which life is uncertain. Every vicious act, every ugly expression is to be processed as a call to repent, to turn from our sins by acknowledging them and confessing them to God, and then to move forward with a heart to honor God. 

Jesus followed with another story about the tower of Siloam falling and killing eighteen people. With the same emphasis, Jesus asked His hearers, “Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Lk 13:4-5). With every news cycle we hear of some disaster, some calamity in this world that should be a reminder of how our lives are vapors—here for a moment and then gone. With every sorrow, every pain may we be reminded that there is relief, comfort, and salvation in Jesus Christ. The world’s remedies never satisfy the needs of the human heart.

So, at the close of this summer, may the gracious call of God be heard to turn from sin as a part of being a lifelong repenter, and may we rest in the grace that is found in Jesus Christ.

“Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” ~Romans 2:4