The Faculty and Staff – Elementary, High School and College

Whenever we engage with people of other cultures, we are usually concerned about bridging cultural gaps and being appropriate and applicable in our host culture.  We know that this is necessary in order to build relationships and to be effective in whatever our endeavor.  However, there are some things that transcend cultural boundaries and differences.  These are universal to the human experience and heart/mind.  I have been reminded of this very graphically while here in the Philippines.

Success and Acualization

As I have worked with the pastors and deacons, the faculty and staff and the college and seminary students, I have seen very clearly that all of them have the desire to be successful in what they are doing.  Whether they are leading a church, earning a degree or teaching students, they want to do well…they want to be successful.  This is not only, of course, the human desire, it is a biblical principle as well.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.  Colossians 3:23

Self-actualization is merely a fancy term which means “the motive to realize one’s full potential.”  This is a part of the human needs identified by psychologist when one comes to the point of finding a place to fulfill their purpose.  We know that purpose is ultimately identified through our relationship with Jesus Christ, but it is very basic to our humanness.  We all want to be satisfied with our life and work so that we believe we are doing our best and meeting our potential.  Obviously, there may be some individual exceptions, but generally this is the case.

The people with whom I am working here in Mindanao have a keen desire to do a good job…fulfill their potential.  That is refreshing to see among the body of Christ in all cultures.  It is especially exciting and humbling to see in a culture where the resources may be less than what one has come to take for granted in his own culture.  I commend my Filipino brothers and sisters for their drive to grow and equip themselves to do their best and bring glory to the Lord.

Some of the Female College Students

Be a Resource

My coming to the Philippines has merely been to be a resource to help the workers here fulfill the potential I just described above.  I am not an expert.  I have learned a few things through education and experience and it has been my privilege and pleasure to share those things with my new friends here.  What a blessing…and indeed how humbling it is for me.  They have treated me like royalty (which I don’t deserve) and I am deeply humbled and gratified by their loving response.  My prayer is that the things I shared with them will continue to equip and assist them in bringing glory to our Lord and help people grow, find eternal life and fulfill their potential as well.

The lesson for all of us is this:  People around us have this same basic desire to fulfill their potential and do well at what they a attempt to do.  Let’s all recognize our opportunity to be a resource to each one who comes into our realm of influence.  People appreciate an honest interest and desire from others to “pour into their lives.”  You can be that resource.  Whether it be your skill of teaching, your ability to counsel, your skill at cooking, a talent for music, your love for reading, your work with your hands…in these and thousands of other ways you can come alongside someone to be a resource that will lift them up and help them fulfill their potential…all for God’s glory.

When you do this…and do it in the name of Jesus, you are fulfilling your potential as a follower of Christ…the cycle continues.

Some of the Male College Students

Sitting here at the airport…all checked in and waiting to board my flight. This last week has been a whirlwind making sure all my bases are covered in the ministry at home and preparing for the work I’ll be doing over the next couple of weeks. It’s exciting. It’s an opportunity I don’t take lightly. I’m thankful God has opened this door and that I have the privilege of playing a small part in the equipping of believers and workers in the Kingdom on the other side of the world. Thank you, God.

Thankful

God has given me this opportunity but there are many others who have made, and are making, it possible to do this.  Many have told me they have been, and will continue to pray for me and this work.  Many have given financially to support and participate in this mission.  Thank you to friends, fellow church members, relatives, the church from my hometown and those who believe in what I’m doing in this endeavor.  I’m also thankful for the sacrifice of my wife who hates being at home alone for extended periods of time.  Although she does not like to see me leave on these trips, she wholeheartedly supports me and gives of herself to make it possible.  Thank you Sweetheart!

Tasks

You can read about the overall scope of this mission here, if you haven’t been in the loop so far.  Specifically, this time I will be focusing on training.  I’m privileged to have the opportunity to be involved in the following tasks.  As you read this, perhaps you can pray more specifically about the work I’ll be doing over the next 15 days.

Topic/Focus                                                                          Group

Best Counseling Practices for Crisis Intervention                Pastors and deacons serving as pastors

Best Counseling Practices for Crisis Intervention                Faculty and Staff – GBBC and School

Counseling Older Congregants                                                 Young Pastors

P.L.A.C.E. Assessment and Coaching                                      Junior and Senior College Students

Teacher In-service                                                                       Faculty GBBC School

Thanks

Thank you in advance for your prayers.  I ask that you seek God to give me wisdom in the material I present, the ability to discern needs on the fly, the discernment to make cross-cultural application and relevance and strength and stamina physically and emotionally.  Your partnership is not taken lightly and you will share in the blessing of knowing Kingdom impact is being made.

My Friend and I on Easter Sunday

I wonder what he thought as he watched us laugh and joke…as he saw us go about our days as though there was not a care in the world?  As I looked into his eyes, I saw a depth of concern and burden that disclosed a faith that knows what it means to put one’s life on the line for following Christ.  Don’t get me wrong, my new friend could laugh and smile…and he did often.  However, he was never so serious as when he worshiped or spoke of his faith…he was never so passionate as when he challenged us to be bold in our faith as well.

You see, I don’t know what it is like to live in a country where it is illegal to be a Christian.  I don’t know how it would feel to be arrested and thrown into jail because I declared that I follow Christ.  But my friend (We will call him Mohammed) does.  He lives in a city with a Christian population of only .0048%.  He was the first one in his city to come to faith in Christ.  As an influential person in his community, he has a tremendous opportunity to make a difference for the kingdom in a nation where doing so could land him in jail…or worse…before an executioner.  Mohammed lives daily with the knowledge that he and his family could be the target of militants who would be praised by their extremist leaders if they eliminated them from the community.  However, God has placed Mohammed in a very strategic position to be used to bring the gospel to this very closed society.  We (our church) have been placed in a very strategic position to partner with him and the other Followers there to infuse this Muslim nation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

How small our world has become, that I would have the privilege to sit in a living room in Russellville, AR with a brother from the other side of the world and talk about how we can help him bring the light of Jesus to a very dark place.  As I realize the shrinking size of our globe in our day of communication and travel, I am also struck by how we are such light years apart when it comes to how we live our lives as Followers of Jesus.  Mohammed took several opportunities, in addressing our faith community here, to challenge us to be bold and courageous in our witness and spreading of the gospel.  He pointed out to us the evident shift our western culture is taking and how we must not allow our passion for sharing Christ to subside and continue to decline.  The bottom line…speak of your faith, share your faith, love people like Jesus does and stand boldly in the truth.  It is a matter of eternal proportion.

I have to be honest…I felt challenged in knowing what he has to risk to follow Christ.  I felt foolish for letting myself get focused on things that aren’t important at times.  I was challenged to live with greater passion…not just for my sake, but for the sake of those I know, and will come to know, who need to hear about Jesus.  I think about people I know, like and love who need Jesus…with whom I have spoken of Him, but not with the passion and desire that signifies how critical the matter is.  I want that to change.

It is a small world any more…in a few weeks, for instance, I will be traveling halfway around the world to help equip workers to be effective in ministry of the gospel and kingdom.  Three or four decades ago, that would have been the work of only a few missionaries.  Now, in our shrinking world, anyone can go do that.  However, more importantly, I want to see the spiritual gap close, not just the geographical one.  I want to live with a passion and urgency about Jesus that characterizes my brothers and sisters who have to risk everything daily just to follow Him.  That is what the first-century church had to do…that is what generations of other believers have had to do ever since.  Why should I be any different?  Why should I allow the ease of my culture lull me to sleep and make me impotent in making an eternal impact upon people?  I shouldn’t and, with God’s continued work in me, I won’t.

How has God been challenging you recently in your walk with Him?

Here are the words I read from my devotion on the night I was stranded in Guam:

STRIVE TO TRUST ME in more and more areas of your life. Anything that tends to make you anxious is a growth opportunity. Instead of running away from these challenges, embrace them, eager to gain all the blessings I have hidden in the difficulties. If you believe that I am sovereign over every aspect of your life, it is possible to trust Me in all situations. Don’t waste energy regretting the way things are or thinking about what might have been. Start at the present moment—accepting things exactly as they are— and search for My way in the midst of those circumstances.

From Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young

Coincidence?  No…not at all.  God’s Word and His timing are prefect.  He speaks in ways that we need to hear at the time we need to hear them.  I’m reminded of this over and over again.  Perhaps one of the things He is teaching me on this journey to the other side of the world is that truth…and that I need to trust Him more completely.  I don’t do that very well sometimes.

May my faith be as the psalmists:

But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.

Psalm 52:8

]]> http://www.randykinnick.com/the-right-timing-strive-to-trust-me/feed/ 2 http://www.randykinnick.com/the-right-timing-strive-to-trust-me/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/randykinnick/uspX/~3/zuCdC99VhCo/ http://www.randykinnick.com/its-not-just-words/#comments Tue, 22 Jan 2013 23:48:58 +0000 Randy Kinnick http://www.randykinnick.com/?p=1759

The view from my hotel room this morning.

In my last post, I made a statement about the uncertainty of tomorrow and the certainty of God’s plan.  I said, “However, here is the one thing that I know for sure…anything that is a question mark to me is an exclamation mark to God!”  Now, I get to put those words to the test.  Last night as I was presenting my credentials for boarding the plane from Guam to Manila, the airline employee asked me to step aside and have another employee assist me.  I wasn’t sure what the problem was, but I had a bad feeling about it.  As I listened to the explanation of the problem I watched two of our team members stand at the boarding doorway to see what was going to happen.

You see, the very polite and courteous United Airlines employee explained to me that the Philippines has a very strict law requiring that visitors to their country have a minimum 180-day “cushion” between the visit dates and the expiration date on the passport.  That’s six months.  My passport expires in May.  That means I have only five months.  As she explained that I would not be boarding the plane that evening, I stepped over to the awaiting team members and told them I would not be on this flight.  I said I will join you as soon as I can.

After a lot of waiting to have my luggage retrieved from the plane, completing customs forms, and obtaining Bureau of Immigration phone numbers, I found a taxi and made my way to the nearest hotel.  It was a little funny, I said to the taxi driver, “Just take me to the nearest hotel.”  He said, “Which hotel?”  I replied, “I don’t know, I’ve never been here before and I plan on only staying one night.”  He smiled and took me to a small, locally-owned hotel, pointing out with a chuckle that it was conveniently located across the street from McDonald’s.  So…I had a good night’s sleep (which the other team members would not have been able to enjoy) and this morning the sun is shining brightly as the locals go about their daily routine on this Wednesday morning.  And that reminds me that my situation is just as routine and normal as theirs…in God’s plan.  He wasn’t taken by surprise by this turn of events.  He has had this in His plan all along.  There is a reason I’m in Guam this morning…maybe He will reveal this to me before the day is over.  Either way, I’m trying to have the eyes of the Spirit to see what that looks like…to be available to let Him work through me where I am…not by coincidence, but by design.  Therefore, as I stated yesterday, I get to prove that “anything that is a question mark to me is an exclamation mark to God!”

Thank you to all who are praying in this.  Please ask God to reveal exactly what He wants me to do and how He wants me to respond to this opportunity.  May He get the glory from whatever the outcome is.

I’m sitting here in the airport in San Francisco awaiting our plane.  Today we fly to Honolulu, to Guam, to Manila (where we have about an 8-hour layover), then on to Davao City.  I’m excited!  I’ve met four of our team, all from Missouri.  My roommate last night was a 22-year-old guy who is embarking on his first mission trip.  I know what these two weeks will entail…and I don’t.  I know sort of what we will be doing, but there is still much that is unknown.  Actually most of it is unknown…people I’ve never met before, places I’ve never been before, situations I’ve never encountered before and lives I’ve never touched before.  I’m the adventurous sort, so these unknowns don’t really concern me.  I love to face new challenges and experience new things.  I suppose there is a little bit of anxiety about what I will have to address in the ministry I’ll be doing.  There is a little bit of concern about how I will interface with a different culture.  However, here is the one thing that I know for sure…anything that is a question mark to me is an exclamation mark to God!  He has already gone before us.  He has already ordained our work and purpose.  He has already made the path straight before us.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not upon your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.  Proverbs 3:5-6

So…my expectation is in what He will do.  My desire is for His plans to be brought to fruition.  My glory is in Him, and Him alone!  May He be glorified and His will be done.  And…may lives be impacted for eternity.

Read more about it here.

I would like to invite you to learn more about this mission by visiting my Mission Philippines page and reading how you can partner with me.

I’m not like my friend, Allen, who is a baseball FANATIC!    He loves the game, follows the game, is a die-hard Royals fan and can quote the stats and give you the latest update on who’s ahead in the pennant race.  I’m not that kind of baseball fan…but I do like the game.  I especially like to watch the game live.  Although I haven’t traveled widely to the baseball parks and stadiums around the country, I’ve watched “America’s Pastime ” at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City and Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles.  One ballpark I’ve visited a few times that is most nostalgic, however, is Wrigley Field in Chicago.  It is truly an experience to take the El from downtown to the stadium, watch the street drummers playing for the crowd in front of the statue of Harry Caray, and then to find your seat and watch the game in that old ballpark.

There is a problem we experienced on one occasion, however, on our visit to an afternoon game.  We had gotten tickets for what is called “obstructed view seats.”  You see, the design of the old ballpark is such that the supports for the upper seating deck are scattered throughout the lower deck seating so that certain seats have a very poor view of the field.  It’s amazing how easy it is to lose the ball from sight when it passes behind one of those posts.  It sort of messes up one’s perspective on the play.  As a matter of fact, after a while, we found some empty seats and were able to relocate to a better position so that we could better enjoy the game…perspective and view makes all the difference.  After all, who doesn’t like having the “best seats in the house?”

It’s All About Perspective

In this, the third in a series of posts exploring the stripped-down version of my faith, I am considering how perspective has everything to do with how I view God and myself (and circumstances).  You can find the other posts in this series here and here.

Just as having the best seats in the house have a very positive impact upon our ability to enjoy a sporting event, having “the best seats in the house” for understanding this faith thing would be nice as well.  The problem is, more often than not, we are “sitting behind the post” in life and can’t see all the playing field.  We often “lose sight of the ball” and are not sure what the next play will be…or should be.

I remember watching my first game at the old Busch Stadium in St. Louis.  We had seats in the nose-bleed section.  We were so far up that the players looked like little ants on a green, diamond-shaped welcome mat.  However, even if I couldn’t read the numbers on the jerseys, I could certainly see all the action.  There was not an obstructed view to anything on the field.  That was a nice perspective.  That is more like the perspective God has on everything.  It is (should I say?) NEVER the perspective I have on things.

I’ve always been annoyed by people who jump to conclusions in situations where they don’t have all the information.  By assuming certain things, they are making a hasty judgment call on someone’s character, motives or intelligence because they haven’t bothered to get all the facts.  As a result, things get messed up…they become confused.  The situation may worsen and people may be hurt.  We do this too, with God sometimes, when we fail to realize that we don’t have all the information.  If we’re honest with ourselves, we would have to admit, in those circumstances, we don’t have the proper perspective to make a judgment…to come to a definite conclusion.  Our perspective is skewed.

As humans…humans who have been marred by the corruption of the fall from perfection that God created…we have the “built-in” tendency toward self worship.  We want to be our own gods…to rule our own destinies.  This is the twisted part of who we are that ultimately leads us to develop conclusions about life and death, the here and now, and the here-after.  We are, by (fallen) nature, very self-centered.  Even if we are followers of Jesus, that tendency is still there, fighting against the work of God’s Spirit that dwells within us.  If we are not careful, that self-centeredness will direct our thinking and we’ll live as if our limited perspective is a “birds-eye view,” when, in reality, we’re sitting behind a post.

I know it sounds so trite and cliche’, but the Bible does tell us that we don’t know it all…we can’t see things from a perfect perspective.

1 Corinthians 13:12

Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now.

Isaiah 55:8-9

“My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

Can I Switch Seats?

So what’s a person to do?  If I can’t trust that my view is complete or giving me the right perspective, how do I deal with this?  Can I switch seats…can I obtain the “best seat in the house?”  The answer is yes and no.  There is a seat that is the “best seat in the house” available to each of those who follow Christ.

Ephesians 2:4-6

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, 5 that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms — all because we are one with Christ Jesus.

So you see…you are in the “best seat in the house!”  You and I are seated with Jesus in the heavenly realm.  The fact that we are “in Him” means that we are seated with Him.  “But,” you say, “I’m not literally sitting in that seat.  I can’t see things the way He sees them.”  You’re right from a physical sense, but you’re wrong from a spiritual sense.  You and I can see things with our eyes of faith that cause us to understand, discern and accept that which can often be confusing.

I have ridden trains a few times in my life…from an old steam engine pulling us on an excursion through the mountains of southwest Virginia to the high-speed trains in France traveling at 200 mph.  Either way, there was one thing I had to realize in the seat I occupied.  I didn’t have the same view as the engineer.  There were times when the train would be taking a long curve that I could see far ahead and knew exactly what the next half mile would entail.  However, there were other times when I could see only what was visible out the side window of my passenger car.  Add to that, the speed of the “bullet train,” and things can look pretty blurry whooshing by.  It was at those times I had to trust the engineer.  In an airplane, I have to trust the pilot.  In life, I have to trust my Savior.  I’m sitting with Him…I have to trust that He sees and knows all, and has my life in His hands.

There is really no other comfort, confidence or compulsion to rest in peace, even when life is falling apart all around me.  In the Ephesian passage quoted for you above, it is significant that the concept is couched within the context of love…the love that God has for us.  He is rich in mercy and he has loved us so much…we can trust Him.  That’s the bottom line.  We can trust anyone who loves us because we know…well, they love us.  God has proven that and so we can trust Him.  In addition, we know He sees all.  He has the perfect perspective.  So, when I’m sitting behind “the post” in life…which is where I spend most of my time…I can be confident that God sees perfectly and has me in His hands…giving me the play-by-play as I need it.  That really is the best seat in the house!

Hope you have a  wonderful Mother’s Day, Mom!

In the last post, I introduced the thing with which I am wrestling these days.  It is not a life or death struggle…one that will either result in my fully embracing faith or chucking it for something else.  However, for someone reading this, it may be that kind of struggle.  It is for that reason, that I am endeavoring to be totally honest with my thoughts, questions, conflicts and seeking.

Have you ever doubted?  I mean…has the thought ever passed through your mind, what if all this stuff I believe is just a fairytale?  Now I know that sounds pretty strange, perhaps, coming from a pastor, but I’m just trying to be real here, right?  I once heard a minister/college professor/leader state that he’d never doubted anything about God, the Bible and his faith.  I thought…good for you…I think you’re the exception, not the rule.  I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve had those thoughts go through my mind.  The good thing for me (perhaps) is that those thoughts never lingered there for long and it has never cropped up very often.  I can’t say that it isn’t for lack of having my world rocked.  That is usually when we get those doubts and ask the questions this series is asking, right?  I mean…my world was rocked as a new believer when my parents divorced when I was 12, my world was rocked when I witnessed my grandfather’s death in a very volatile and disturbing circumstance, my world was rocked in trying to figure out relationships in college, my world was rocked when learning to be a husband that knew how to be a husband, my world was rocked when having to face some addictive behaviors, my world was rocked while trying to come to terms with some very deep and personal issues that are too difficult to share here.  So the circumstances have been available to cause me to seriously question…”Why me God?,” or to say, “If God is love then why…?”–you get the picture.

Why I’ve Never Let Go

I suppose I’m aware that I have never seriously considered abandoning faith and doing my own thing, mostly because of God’s faithfulness more than my own.  Even as I write this, I sense that I’m sounding pretty “crazy” to those who are in the faith and not struggling right now in any way.  It’s okay…believe me…I’m good.  These thoughts are not indications that I am considering my options or that I’m weighing the pros and cons to make a decision.  These are the thoughts of someone who has already done that for the sake of faith, not for the sake of staying or leaving.  But…these are thoughts I think a lot of people wrestle with and sometimes lose in the battle…or at least with which they falter and stumble through life.  I want to share some of the things that God has shown, and is showing me, as I continue this journey.  He’s still doing that…thankfully.

Jesus Won’t Let Go of Me

Now I know that sounds pretty Calvinistic to my Arminian friends.  But…it’s in the Bible and it doesn’t have to be strictly one or the other of those theological views that capitalizes on it.  For my readers who have no idea what that just meant…don’t sweat it…it doesn’t matter.

The point is this…one of the reasons I’ve never let go of faith is because Jesus has never let go of me.  Even if I had ever really wanted to jump ship and run, He would pursue me like the “Hound of Heaven” wherever I was headed.  Now He still has given me a free will and I could, if I’m determined to do so, abandon Him completely, denounce my faith and head off into the darkness…but it wouldn’t be without a fight…a Holy Spirit fight, that is.  I’m reminded of the words of the Apostle Paul (my emphasis added):

Philippians 3:12

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

2 Timothy 1:12

For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

I Have No Place Else to Go

Now I know that sounds pretty negative.  It’s like, “Okay, well I guess I’ll stay with Jesus ’cause there’s no better party in town.”  No…that’s not it.  It is the reality that as I look around and I see what everyone else has to offer, nothing else satisfies…or even makes sense.

In the Gospel of John, we have the record of Jesus teaching and sharing some really hard sayings about what it meant to follow Him.  It says that many of His disciples left and followed Him no more because they didn’t like what they were hearing…it was too “in your face.”  Upon seeing this happen, Jesus turned to his twelve closest disciples and asked…

John 6:67-69

…”Do you also want to go away?” 68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Peter, in his peterish kind of way, spoke for the group and said a mouthful.  In essence he was saying, “Where else can we go?  You’re the only one who has what we need.”  He also stated a very important fact…they had come to “believe and know.”  That’s where I am.  In spite of the circumstances of life, whether I can answer all the questions or not, I have come to “believe and know” that Jesus is who He says He is and that has come through three things:

1. The convincing power of God’s Spirit
2. The door of my faith to allow Him in
3. The experience I’ve had with Him

Take Heart

So…maybe your world is being rocked.  Perhaps you are weary in the grind and feel like giving up would be easier than keeping this whole faith thing going.  I simply say to you, “Take heart.”  As one traveler to another, I’ve been there and I know it’s tough, but I also know that the One who has redeemed you is also the One who is faithful to keep you and He has the words of eternal life.  No one else out there can do for  you what He is doing for you…even if you don’t get your questions answered.

Many times, as we read the story of Jesus in the gospels, we find Him coming on the scene and speaking the words, “Do not fear.”  I think, if you will listen closely enough, you will hear Him speak those words to you as well…and that will get you through the night.