A
daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and
exhortation.
Tuesday,
September 28,
2021
Mission
church on water
(Click on photo for larger image)
(Click on photo for larger image)
"All
Over The World"
Note: Our
message is a little longer due to some illustrations.
Scroll down to "Great Commission" graphic for brief
exposition challenge.
Listen to this message on your audio player.
“And this
Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world
as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come”
(Matthew 24:14). “All over the world this Gospel is
bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among
you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace
in all its truth” (Colossians 1:6).
How does your
church building look? For many of us the answer would
actually be pretty much the same. Some are larger, some are
smaller. But here in the states they are generally nice
buildings with interior plumbing and comfortable seating,
classes and offices. Most people arrive in cars and park in
a paved parking lot.
I saw our lead
photo in a mission magazine and it reminds me of how church
buildings look different in other parts of the world. Click
on the photo or here to enlarge. It's a tiny one room
church built on the water with a preacher seen in the
center. It looks like people are arriving in a boat or maybe
their listening from the outside, kind of like the drive-in
services many churches had early in the covid era.
One of my
memorable preaching recollections was in a church like this
sans the water. It was in a small city named Fusagasugá in
Colombia, South America. As I recall people walked to the
service and it was just a one room building with hard
benches for seating. I preached through an interpreter, a
missionary named Myrna Wilkins, and the congregation seemed
pleasantly receptive, perhaps intrigued by the tall man from
the states. At the conclusion I will never forget the
national pastor said, "perfecto", although the message was
hardly perfect!
In Bible
College in the seventies we sang a song we haven't heard for
years but did find a YouTube version to share (see below for
link).
All over the
world the Spirit is moving
All over the world as the prophets said it would be
All over the world there's a mighty revelation
Of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea
All over the world as the prophets said it would be
All over the world there's a mighty revelation
Of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea
Today we will share a story that Myrna shared with us that illustrates another way church "buildings" look different. A time when an airplane was used in preaching the Gospel, with the pulpit being in the air!
For many years
aviation has been a great aid to missions. Of course we are
now able to get mission workers to the field much faster.
Also consider how many have been on short-term mission
trips, a concept virtually impossible when it took several
weeks to travel to and from distant mission fields.
But small
planes are also used to reach the most remote parts of the
world using jungle landing strips with organizations such as
Mission Aviation Fellowship, JAARS and others. Each August
we have a special weekend here in Lancaster County featuring
mission aviation. Many years ago I attended this and had a
ride in a plane that could take off and land (STOL) on very
short runways.
We believe Myrna's story will encourage readers today and remind us that indeed, in our own lifetime, the Gospel of the kingdom is being preached all over the world.
We believe Myrna's story will encourage readers today and remind us that indeed, in our own lifetime, the Gospel of the kingdom is being preached all over the world.
Of course
some of the most remarkable stories come from the mission
field and this story tells the amazing way the Cuna tribe
who live in the San Blas Islands (location on Google map) off the
coast of Panama in the Caribbean first
heard the gospel message.
Morris, a
young boy from the Cuna tribe, moved to Costa Rica and was
evangelized as he lived along the Caribbean coast. As an
adult he felt called to take the Gospel to his own tribe,
the Cuna people, and he used a rather creative means.
He met missionary pilot Mike Hines, who had a slow flying Helio Courrier airplane fitted with a 7,600 watt loud speaker system capable of being heard from the air as the plane circled above. The plane flew out over the islands and, as it did so, Morris preached the Gospel in his native tongue to the tribes people below. There was a cloud cover so the natives could not see the plane, but only heard his voice.
He met missionary pilot Mike Hines, who had a slow flying Helio Courrier airplane fitted with a 7,600 watt loud speaker system capable of being heard from the air as the plane circled above. The plane flew out over the islands and, as it did so, Morris preached the Gospel in his native tongue to the tribes people below. There was a cloud cover so the natives could not see the plane, but only heard his voice.
Afterwards the
clouds lifted and Morris directed the people below, “If
you would like to believe in Jesus Christ wave a white
cloth or flash a mirror to indicate your faith.” As the
plane flew over, scores of the natives waved cloths in the
air and flashed mirrors upwards! It would be some time
later that Morris learned that the people of his native
land had a long standing legend that one day they would
hear a message and it would be delivered to them from a
voice in the sky!
Morris later went to the islands and developed churches among the people. Myrna met him in 1980 at a Bible School in Colombia and she heard the story first hand from him.
Morris later went to the islands and developed churches among the people. Myrna met him in 1980 at a Bible School in Colombia and she heard the story first hand from him.
Indeed this Gospel has been preached
since our Lord Jesus Christ gave the great commission just
prior to His ascension to heaven and is
being preached today. He said, “And
this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole
world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will
come” (Matthew 24:14).The apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians some 30 years later, “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth” (Colossians 1:6). Today may this Gospel also bear fruit and grow in each of our lives. May we also see it reproduced and growing in those to whom we minister and through all who serve him all over the world by so many different means!
Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, we are grateful for the
various means and the variety of people to whom You
choose to deliver the life-changing Gospel message
that gives us a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. As we have been
tremendously blessed in receiving this gift of
eternal life, stir us to action in reaching others
with the same message of salvation so that they are
snatched from the fire, bearing fruit and growing as
we journey together here below. Bless our
missionaries who use unconventional means to present
the Gospel and protect them from enemy warfare. We
do pray for our many brothers and sisters who are
jailed, persecuted, and separated from family
because they stand for Christ. Keep us strong in our
spiritual walk as we experience growing ridicule and
the passage of laws that mock our faith and strip us
of our Christian freedoms. In the name of Jesus we
pray. Amen.Personal
note:
I have
been interested in aviation practically all my life.
I grew up near an Air Force base south of Kansas
City (Richards-Gebaur) and our school had many base
kids. I have an odd interest of chronicling every
airport I have flown in and out of which now totals
51. About 30 years ago I was a Civil Air Patrol
Chaplain and recall some flying lessons as I sat in
the back seat listening in when a junior pilot was
being trained in instrument rating. I got an
interesting spiritual lesson from that experience I
share here.
My most memorable flight took
place in a P-51 Mustang, a WW2 era
fighter plane. Bob Walker, my cousin's husband, was
an avid pilot and as a high schooler I was visiting
my cousins in Tulsa (a year before I met Brooksyne)
when he offered to take me for a ride in his P-51
(photo to right). I excitedly agreed. The P-51 was
the last of the prop fighters prior to the jet age
and is a very powerful plane.
Bob (photo to left) handed me a helmet and
a barf bag, sternly informing me if I messed up I
cleaned up. (I didn't need the bag!) What an
experience it was including sharp turns and a low
roll over Tulsa. I peered down and spotted my family
waving up to me, and most thrilling was a high speed
pass over the airfield in which he piloted the plane
at full throttle buzzing the airfield just over the
runway before shooting practically straight up. I
experienced the most G's ever in my life to this
day. Afterwards he told me he could have done more
such as flying upside down but didn't want to scare
me.Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"All
Over The World The Spirit Is Moving"
Video
This
colorful cacophony of steel is "art" work
outside the Penn State Health Children's
Hospital.
Personal
update: Yesterday Brooksyne had day
surgery at the Hershey Medical Center. The
surgeon reported to me that it went well. We
arrived home after 9 last night and she is
recovering and seems much more chipper this
morning, although she will be at a slow pace for
the next six weeks.
Send
a message to Stephen
& Brooksyne
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Weber".Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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