God's Plan, Our Purpose - 2025 Missions Theme

Reflections on Missions Month

This past month we were challenged and encouraged as we bore witness to the wondrous ways that our ministry partners have participated in God’s sovereign plan in our city, state, and across the globe. There was also a distinct call to each of us to join in those efforts as we discern the Lord’s plans and purposes for each of us to be on mission with our King. How might the Lord be burdening your heart to participate in His mission?

Here are just some of the ways that the Lord has been stirring the hearts of His people this past month… 

Our Missionary month was extremely heartfelt. Listening to their challenges and acceptance of God’s word and their perseverance to continue their mission was amazing. David and Jordan Fleming were very inspiring. Being in Senegal and having such a great language barrier has to be very hard. While listening to them, their love of our Lord was so apparent. I could tell they will continue to be vigilant and break that barrier. I would love to visit them.
– Sylvia Robbins

January is my time for reflection and renewal. Our Mission Conference opens my eyes to their call and faithful response. The Rockwell presentation stands out as an example of accepting a call and laboring to reach an isolated unreached people. Watching the presentation and experiencing with them the first warming of individuals to the gospel was a confirmation of a faithful servant who have labored for many years in obedience to God’s call.
– Bill Shine

I LOVED the hands-on Eurasia Sports Camp for the kids. We have to grow the next generation.
– Brian Duckworth

There are so many people that are not as fortunate as the US population, or even quite a few of the people within the US. I’m very encouraged by the engagement of our church and the effort we put forth. We cannot support everyone of course, but we are investing our time and resources for what we can do. I so do look forward to this ministry growing inside our church as well as seeing the impact it makes across many borders/lives.
– Bill Lambiase

Throughout Missions Month, as we listened to the stories of missionaries serving in different parts of the world, I was struck by what seemed to me to be overwhelming obstacles (language barriers, different customs, pagan beliefs, etc.) that missionaries face in trying to bring the Gospel to people of a different culture. I confess that I felt much of this effort would not bear any fruit. But last Sunday, when Jordan Fleming pointed out that we may not see fruit of missions work for many years—perhaps not even in our lifetime—I realized that I was looking at missionary work from a human perspective, wanting to see and measure results, and not trusting that God will use the work of those on the mission field to bring forth fruit in due season. This realization has changed my view of missions work.
– Vicki Brewer

I was really challenged by Brad Allison’s message about acknowledging our weakness and relying on God’s strength. His examples from the mission field have stayed with me. 
And the International Potluck dinner was a great time, as always! Love to see our church family come together with our missionaries and get to know a bit about them, the cultures they work in and the challenges and victories they’re seeing. It helps us know how better to pray for and support them.
– Sharon Duckworth

Generosity Season – High School Ministry Fruit

Each year we could highlight many ways God is on the move, in and through Cross Creek Church. I hope you take a few minutes to hear from Katie Newton below, about just one area of the Lord’s work in our midst for 2023. As we ask each household to pray and prepare to present by Nov 12 a “First Fruits” Planned Giving Card for 2024 and our church takes a step of faith to expand our ministries we hope this will encourage all with the fruit from our kingdom investment.

YOUTH

When some of our longstanding youth staff relocated in 2022, we asked the Lord to provide for and even strengthen our reach to the next generation. Our leaders had implemented a “Sustainable Ministry Model” back in 2020 but we still expected our Middle School group might decline and some of our rising High Schoolers would drift away, as is typical. By God’s grace, the opposite happened and both our Middle and High School groups have grown, with 2/3 of the latter being young people who attend without family involvement at our church. Your decision of faith to offer “first fruits” supports the staff God is using to shape young lives for Christ.


Video Transcript: Katie

Hey everyone, I just wanted to take some time and tell you guys about some of the really incredible things the Lord has been doing in our youth group.

Both our middle school and high school groups have grown tremendously over the last year. We have a really big group of girls who have been really incredible in our middle school ministry, and we just had a really big group of ninth grade guys move up to the high school. The Lord has been so faithful in the ways that he has continually brought these students week after week to seek out his gospel, and hang out with one another, and really just fellowship and get to spend that time together.

Our high school group has been going through a testimony study this semester. And it’s been really beautiful to see the ways in which the Lord has pulled bits and pieces of the testimonies that our church members have shared with these students and shown them in, you know, their past and how things have influenced them and how they walk with the Lord. And the students are able to pull things and glean things from that, that they can apply to their own lives, which has been a really cool way to see our students grow and challenge themselves. And we’ve been working with them and talking with students outside of, you know, a regular Wednesday and Sunday night as well, and just challenging them to write their own testimonies. Think about the things that the Lord is doing in their lives and what it looks like when they came to faith. And the Lord has just been working in really incredible ways in that group and we’re so excited and anticipating all the wonderful ways the Lord is going to continue to work in that group throughout the next year.

Generosity Season – Middle School Ministry Fruit

Each year we could highlight many ways God is on the move, in and through Cross Creek Church. I hope you take a few minutes to hear from Laura Dougherty below, about just one area of the Lord’s work in our midst for 2023. As we ask each household to pray and prepare to present by Nov 12 a “First Fruits” Planned Giving Card for 2024 and our church takes a step of faith to expand our ministries we hope this will encourage all with the fruit from our kingdom investment.

YOUTH

When some of our longstanding youth staff relocated in 2022, we asked the Lord to provide for and even strengthen our reach to the next generation. Our leaders had implemented a “Sustainable Ministry Model” back in 2020 but we still expected our Middle School group might decline and some of our rising High Schoolers would drift away, as is typical. By God’s grace, the opposite happened and both our Middle and High School groups have grown, with 2/3 of the latter being young people who attend without family involvement at our church. Your decision of faith to offer “first fruits” supports the staff God is using to shape young lives for Christ


Video Transcript: Laura

When I stepped into middle school ministry at Cross Creek, I wasn’t sure what to expect, because I’ve never taught that age before. But I’ve been so encouraged by how much the Lord is at work among those students in those times Wednesday night and Sunday morning.

On Wednesday nights, we challenged the students to give us questions that they had about the faith and about the Bible. And they really stepped up to the plate and asked good questions like, How do I know that I can trust that God’s word is truly God’s word? And how do I know that we have the right books of the Bible? Another question was, how do I know that God forgives me even if I don’t forgive myself? Those are things that we were discussing with them and they’re engaging, and they’re sharing things that they’re hearing from their friends at school, and it’s been so encouraging.

On Sunday mornings, we’ve been going through Exodus and the students are relating to the struggles that the Israelites face. They’re talking about struggles they have at school and with teachers and sports and different things. And it’s so cool to see them apply with God’s word to their own hearts and to actively engage in that discussion with one another. One student this last Sunday, when when he heard about how God sent Moses to strike the mountain of God to send forth water for the Israelites, he said that so beautiful. It’s just like Christ received the strike from God for our sins, so that we might receive that living water, that salvation from him. So be encouraged that God is really at work in the middle school ministry at Cross Creek Church.

Generosity Season – Awana Ministry Fruit!

Each year we could highlight many ways God is on the move, in and through Cross Creek Church. I hope you take a few minutes to hear from Andy and Anna Jones below, about just one area of the Lord’s work in our midst for 2023. As we ask each household to pray and prepare to present by Nov 12 a “First Fruits” Planned Giving Card for 2024 and our church takes a step of faith to expand our ministries we hope this will encourage all with the fruit from our kingdom investment.

AWANA

Last year we launched this time-tested initiative for children’s discipleship, on Wednesday nights. Thanks to the Lord and His working, through many volunteers and staff, we are reaching 30 children for Christ, including a number whose families do not attend our church regularly. Your generosity propels this equipping and outreach.


Video Transcript:

Andy
Hi, everybody. I’m Andy Jones. And this is my wife Anna. And we have three little girls who are actively involved in the Awana program here at Cross Creek Church. The Lord has really used the Awana program to be a big blessing in all five of our lives.

Anna
Our kids have made some wonderful connections through that program. Every Wednesday night, they are excited to go and they’re learning so much. They have even started memorizing a lot of scripture this year. So that’s really cool to watch.

Andy
Anna and I both grew up going to a private Christian school as kids and we learned a lot about our faith, just in our daily lives at school. So when we made the decision to send our kids to a public school, we knew that we would have to kind of bridge that gap by what we did at home and by making sure we had a church that was actively engaging them in the Word. The Awana program has been a huge part of that for our family.

Anna
It’s really exciting to watch how the Lord is using this program to help our kids grow in their faith.

Quiet path in a forest

Quiet

[Written by William Monroe]

Quiet.

It’s a rare commodity these days. It seems like everything about our lives is not only busy, but noisy. Often, our schedules are just as cluttered as our minds (and that room we let none of our guests see!).

Quiet.

Quiet is important. Jesus often sought out desolate, quiet places to rest and to pray.

Mark 6:30
The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”

Matthew 14:23
And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone…

Mark 1:35
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

When you need rest, do you search for quiet? Do you seek space and time to pray?

Let me be honest first. I don’t. 

I don’t look for quiet when I am overwhelmed, emotionally or physically. I try to fill up that mental space with noise, whether it be music, activity, social media, TV shows, almost anything. 

The most quiet moment I have is every now and then when I force myself to not turn on the radio in the car. When I do this, it takes about 20 minutes of driving in silence for my brain to stop running in circles and for me to start to enjoy the rest that comes with the quiet.

Quiet doesn’t mean blank or boring. It means having space for intentionally directing my brain and heart. It sometimes means having time and space to pray. Sometimes it’s the space I need to be creative. It’s always a time to reset, and always a place to begin.

Quiet.

Of Carrots and Kingdoms

Of Carrots and Kingdoms

[Written by Ben Halbrooks]

A few months ago, I ran in Home Depot to grab the essential materials needed for a new, highly anticipated family project: the Halbrooks Home Vegetable Garden. (We’d taken a vote and narrowed our first crop to lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots.) It was easily my cheapest purchase of the week: 3 seed packets. It felt like buying air.

When I showed our girls, they couldn’t believe how incredibly small the seeds were; I think they thought I got conned, actually. But no, I assured them: See these tiny beads of nothingness? Despite their unimpressive appearance, they contain the mystery of life somewhere deep within – the ability to grow into something amazingly, surprisingly different. Sure, it’ll take soil, water, sunshine, and caretaking – but trust me! I promise.

I think they still thought I got conned.

Nevertheless, we slapped together some raised beds with scrap wood and got to planting. And watering. And w a i t i n g. And more watering.

Truth be told, I’m not much of a gardener – even though Genesis tells me my earliest relatives were, by divine commission. And of course Scripture is full of agricultural illustrations, many from Jesus himself. But after a rogue rabbit ate most of our sprouts, I had the sneaking suspicion I might not be able to prove my 7-year-old doubters wrong after all. The whole enterprise was shaping up to be pretty disappointing.

That put me right in line with what people had to be thinking when they heard Jesus compare the coming kingdom of God – that highly anticipated, eternally powerful and glorious fulfillment of thousands of years of prophecy – with a measly mustard seed, the smallest known seed at the time. A mustard seed – really?

“He said therefore, ‘What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” (Luke 13:18-19)

You can imagine the disciples probably weren’t thrilled with the analogy. Yes, we eventually get to a tree, but what’s the deal with the tiny seed? I mean, we’re staking our lives on this Jesus as the Messiah, and he has to go and make our kingdom sound so… unimpressive. So small. We want greatness!

But this is how the kingdom of God operates – in small, unimpressive, humble, and seemingly insignificant ways. But, rest assured, it’s growing. God’s Word is working (Isa. 55:11, Phil. 1:6). Perhaps invisibly, underground, taking root. Perhaps breaking through the hard soil of our hearts.

Case in point: Think of the ragtag crew of outsiders Jesus ministered to: social outcasts, tax collectors, lepers, paralytics, fishermen, zealots, and more. What a start to a kingdom! Could anyone have guessed it would outlast the mighty Roman Empire, and every kingdom since? Think of your own life. Do you ever doubt God working his kingdom personally in you? Do you continue to struggle with the same old sins? Is it sometimes hard to feel or sense God moving in your heart? Does the movement of the Spirit seem slow at times? Trust Him. He is working. Remember the mustard seed. His kingdom may not seem as impressive as you would expect, but he’s not done. The glory of the living God has come and is making all things new (Rev. 21:5).

As for the Halbrooks Home Vegetable Garden, I’m happy to report the wild rabbit didn’t eat everything. After months of waiting and watering and doubts, we had an enthusiastic carrot harvest, and the girls absolutely couldn’t believe how much those small seeds had grown underground into something amazingly, surprisingly different. It just took us awhile to see it. Guess I didn’t get conned after all.

Community

[Written by William Monroe]

If you listened to my family’s conversations about church throughout the week you’d hear all sorts of things

“Are we going to church?” or “I accidentally left my bag at church.” Or often, “Is it church day?” We use the word “Church” as convenient shorthand for all sorts of things. 

Church is not a building. Church is not a place. Church is not a time of the week. 

The one thing we tend to not use the word “Church” for, is the one thing it definitely is. Church is a community. 

“Bear one another’s burdens,
    and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
– Galatians 6:2 

Communities are built upon connections. These connections aren’t built from nothing. 

“A friend loves at all times,
   
and a brother is born for adversity.“
– Proverbs 17:17

Our culture encourages us to isolate when we are having a tough time. What we learn from the Bible, and from experience in a loving, connected church community is that adversity is precisely when we need our community. It is through adversity that our connections, our community, turns into a family.

Sometimes family (or community) is frustrating. On this side of heaven, we won’t find a perfect community. Life won’t always be easier with a community, but in a loving, connected, church community, it can be richer.

The Monroe family has had a difficult year. I’m not going to go into all the details on here, I’m happy to tell you about it sometime if you want to grab some coffee and catch up. What I will say is that this year has been so much more bearable, and so much better with our connection to a loving, connected, church community.

Personal “Take-Outs” From A Three Day Fast

Personal “Take-Outs” From A Three Day Fast – January 2023

[Written by Dr. Chris Peters]

As I type in these thoughts, I have questioned myself about the propriety of sharing them. After all, Jesus cautions us strenuously in Matthew 6 about fasting so others will see us and even urges specific concealment of our fasting. So it seems a bit wrong to talk to a friend or even family member about my particular fasting, let alone to publish about it.

Matthew 6 and Motives

But, unless I, and others more godly and knowledgeable than me, need correction on the matter, it seems Jesus’s concern was false motives for fasting and helping us protect against pride in religious disciplines. As Piper explains in his book “Hunger for God,” the people of God, both Old Testament and New Testament, participated in corporate fasts together. So each would know generally that others were fasting (Acts 13). More to the point, we would not discourage someone from urging other believers to see the benefits of the spiritual discipline of prayer or the practice of generous giving, which are treated in the same manner in Matthew 6. To the contrary, we expect pastors to lead in prayer, and in giving, and to urge congregations to the benefits of those responses to the Gospel. Yet, we tend to put fasting in another category.

Latent Hypocrisy

At any rate, I’m sure there is always some hypocrisy in me, whether I were to write about more acceptable subjects like prayer, or even giving. Such is the case to some degree with fasting as well, but as far as I’ve searched the matter in my heart, I write this for the benefit of others who are on the journey of fasting or might consider adding this “means of grace” to their spiritual growth pathway. In this manner, hopefully these thoughts are not aimed in the least at me “wanting to be seen by men” and therefore already having my “reward”.

My Fasting Journey

Perhaps it will further help to confess out of the gate that I’m not much of a fasting person. I did not really learn about fasting as a spiritual practice for believers until my college years and I don’t think I practiced it at all until seminary in my mid-twenties, despite several invitations earlier by my church. In seminary, I read Piper’s book and began to fast regularly one day a week, but only for a season of about a year or two. At the same time, only from the encouragement by some ministry partners serving with college students did I try a fast for 3 days (thanks, Jeff McCord). I found that greatly rewarding but when I went on staff for another church in my first ordained role, I don’t believe it was as common a practice for that body of believers, or others around me at the time, and I don’t recall doing much on my own to pursue it.

When my wife and I began praying seriously about a call to plant a church, I believe I pursued some more seasons of three-day fasts, and was likely further encouraged to do so through the prayer emphasis of Al Baker, in his role as Alabama Church Planting Network Coordinator. As our new church began we called for fasting around some key events including capital campaigns, missions endeavors, and other large decisions or special ministries. Perhaps twice a year, we pursue these fasts and have used Donald Whitney’s material on fasting as a guide. I’m thankful for church leaders who have always encouraged this and many times joined in the fast with me.

More recently, my wife and I have been reading Piper’s book together. She has grown tremendously in recent years in a heart for prayer, so it has been good to combine that passion from her with my fasting burden, and have some seasons together as a couple, outside of any called church fast.

Lots to Learn, Maybe a Little to Share

So I would not say I’m much of a fasting person. In that sense, I’m a product of my time and culture where it seems the spiritual practice even among seriously minded Bible-believing Protestant Christians in “the West” is not widely or deeply practiced. So I suspect I may have fasted more than some in our time, but probably greatly less than most serious believers around the world today, or in other branches of Christianity, and certainly throughout Christian history. So hopefully all of that introduction will dissuade any from feeling Matthew 6 is violated by anything I write below, and you will read this as just “one beggar trying to tell other beggars where to find bread.” – pun/metaphor fully intended!

Why at Three-Day Food Fast?

What I found interesting during a recent fast (really 2 ¾ day since it began after dinner Thursday and ended at lunch Sunday) as part of our church Missions Month, was slowing down to follow some of the “seasons” of such a fast – Or as I’ve tried to put in cleverly, the “take-outs” of the fast. I’m sure some key lessons could be gained when participating in just one day of fasting, and I bet there would have been more to share had I carried the fast further. Oh, and when I write of fasting, I’m talking about not eating any solid food and enjoying minimal liquid nourishment – coffee, a little bit of Gatorade in water, maybe some chicken broth. I understand people can fast in other ways, and children or those in poor health may need to modify, but I don’t think we get the full benefit the Lord intends from food fasting, without actually fasting from food.

Although I do not detail it here, prayer and fasting go hand in hand. Maybe I’ll write another blog after my next fast about prayer lessons. A benefit of fasting is the time we all normally spend eating each day can be allocated to special prayer, or prayer walks alone or with others. What I write below are lessons learned, not a full schedule of time spent in the fast.

Beginning the Fast

Every time I have called our church to fast or done any personal fast, I have experienced some kind of discouragement to pursue it as the starting point approached. “Mandatory” life events shift, or some illness comes along, or something, which threatens to derail the plan. I think anyone pursuing any fast should be prepared to encounter some barrier and be prepared to move past it. The devil does not want us to fast, any more than he wants us to pray or give.

My experience has also been that instead of joyfully anticipating how I will grow in the Lord during the fast, I often have a bit of dread as the actual start approaches. At that moment, the benefits of deferred gratification don’t seem at all worth it, the promises of Scripture seem rather irrelevant, and the end of the fast seems a long way off.

Key Take-Outs

Lunchtime First Fast Day

In some ways, this is the toughest “craving” time of the fast because even though energy levels are still good physically and mentally you may feel fine, the body wants its usual intake and it is noticeable. I also think it is pretty common later in the afternoon to feel some headaches.

For me this is the point where I have fresh cognizance of how “programmed” my body is for food intake and the first chance to look to the Lord for help. It is also a chance to remember our various bodily desires do not have to rule us and with God’s help internal drives that seem very strong can be tamed. Many others have written on this topic and how fasting provides a “practice field” for learning through hunger to surrender in many areas – anger, substance addiction, sexual lust, over-eating, worry, and other “impulses” do not have to rule us.

Bedtime First Fast Day

This holds true for the second evening as well, but a new dynamic that the Lord impressed on me recently was compassion for the millions who go to bed hungry all the time and who don’t have an immediate way out of it. This compassionate impulse merged with greater thankfulness for God’s provision – all 48 years of my life, 365 days of the year, I have always had access to however much food I would need, and healthy, safe food. I especially thought of children like the ones I have seen on mission trips to various Third World cities, who must scrape together sustenance and probably have the exact reverse experience I have had…they hardly know one night in 365 days of the year when they do not go to sleep with hunger pains, and have not ability to be confident in future food provision.

Depleted Second Fast Day

One of the reasons I have preferred in recent years to do occasional fasts for 2-3 days rather than more regular one day fasting is the spiritual benefit of what happens after the first day hunger pains fade. Generally by the time a 3 day fast is set to end I am looking forward to eating (see below) but I’m actually not hungry in the typical sense. I guess the way to put it is that by day two, the body is not seeking food to fill the hunger pangs, it is depleted and not maintaining energy or mental focus. At least in my case, on a one day fast, I never reach the point where my stomach is not really seeking food, but on day two and three I’m keenly aware that I am in a weakened state. There is a difference between feeling hungry and experiencing body and brain weakness. One is more in the realm of desire and the other in function or capacity.

When you get very drained going on a short prayer walk with your spouse, or can’t compose a thought for a work task like you would normally, and maybe even get a bit light headed if you bend over to get something or stand up from a chair quickly, you are not “hungry” but rather “depleted.”

I’m sure a lot of spiritual lessons could be taken from this but for me it is typically a time to realize that the only reason I’m alive at all is because God made me and sustained me. He could remove the sunlight and quickly we would all have no life because of no plant food. He could hold back his daily hand of mercy and some illness could not just make the price of eggs go a little high, but wipe out every animal. He could remove the oxygen from the air and our demise would be even faster.

More specifically, you and I can’t accomplish our tasks as mothers and fathers, as students at school, as employees in the workplace, if the physical engine known as our metabolism does not run. And our minds can’t work well either. This is a great reminder, just as a sabbath day each week teaches us that God is ultimate provider, not our ability to work.

And in many ways, this is the most humbling time of the fast, where I sense God is really helping me take a sledge hammer to that core sin that drives all other sin…my pride…self sufficiency…and giving me a special chance to root myself more deeply in core dependency upon Him.

As Christians in a society where our (very beneficial) capitalist system has allowed great material wealth, such that even the moderately poor among us lives like the upper class of old and in a country where our physical protection is secured by the most formidable military might known to man, and at a time when human innovation through technology and medicine allow us knowledge, connection and restoration not even dreamed of in past eras, and where we have rebelliously gone so far as to turn the rainbow symbol of God’s kind mercy for justly deserved flood of judgement into a cultural juggernaut championing human self-re-identification – we need humbling, and we need it badly – if we hope to be lifted up by the Lord.

Eternal Hope and Anticipating the End of the Fast

Regardless of how long a fast that an individual or group might choose, at some point the planned fast concludes. In my recent fast I was intrigued how refreshed I was to hit the afternoon of my second fast day, knowing that I was just one evening and one morning away from enjoying a meal.

In recent years I have had a general deepening focus on the new heavens and the earth. The writings of C.S. Lewis in “The Space Trilogy” and “Great Divorce,” as well as Randy Alcorn’s book, “Heaven,” have blessed greatly. But fasting with an eye toward eternity is a special experience because it reminds us that a key part of the Christian life is the “already and the not yet.” We see close friends in marriage turmoil, we see young people take their own lives and others running to gender modification to find an identity the Lord has already provided, and of course many with chronic pain, and all of us with recurring sin patterns that offend the Lord and affect others but also just leave us discouraged in this life (Romans 7).

Nearing the end of a fast gives fresh perspective on the joy of waiting and the blessing of anticipating. As with other aspects of fasting, we are essentially creating an “artificial” suffering, in which we can strengthen spiritual muscles for daily living and crisis moments. Just as knowing that meal is coming in 18 hours helps empower to the finish line of the fast, so too, the hope we have of heaven in all our spiritual journey.

Thankfulness When the Fast is Complete

In some ways the few moments before one takes a bite of food to end a fast is a mixed bag. Recently, I found I was both absolutely ready to eat and also a bit sad that the season of purposeful personal growth and empowered prayer was ending. I was both thankful for the special connection to the Lord I had received, and for the material provision to refresh my weary body. As a physical being, God designed me to run on food, and to enjoy the tasting of it and fellowship around the table with family or friends. What a joy that He provides something much higher than the enjoyment and provision of food, and He also provides the enjoyment and provision of food!

I hope in some way these “take-outs” from one short season of fasting will bless others as they decide to fast or seek out the Lord in their fast. Perhaps we can inspire one another to move from the most well-fed and least fasting Christians in history, to the most God-fed and more deliberate fasting believers.

A Call to Prayer for the Clearing of Spiritual Fog

A Call to Prayer for the Clearing of Spiritual Fog

[Written by Derek Dougherty]

Six years living overseas as a missionary kid, four short term mission trips as a young adult, ten years of pursuing a call to be a missionary, four years of actively preparing for the mission field, recruiting numerous financial and prayer supporters to join our team, leaving everything behind and moving my family to a distant land, and six months of learning the language and culture had all led to this moment. I was seated across from a young man at the park and I stumbled through my best effort to share the gospel with him in my poor Spanish with the hope that God had already begun a work in his heart to spiritually awaken him to the good news of the gospel. Would he be at all interested in what I had to say? It took me a number of years and many such encounters to fully realize how truly vital the prayers of the saints were for preparing people’s hearts to receive the gospel. The writings of missionary J. O. Fraser helped me come to this realization.

World War I was raging on during the ministry of James Fraser to the Lisu tribes when he wrote to his prayer warriors back home comparing the spiritual state of things there to the war-torn battlefield back home, “We are not dealing with an enemy that fires at the head only – i.e. keeps the mind only in ignorance – but with an enemy who uses GAS ATTACKS which wrap the people round with deadly effect, and yet are impalpable, elusive. What would you think of the folly of the soldier who fired a gun into the gas, to kill it or drive it back? Nor would it be of any more avail to teach or preach to the Lisu here, while they are held back by these invisible forces. Poisonous gas cannot be dispersed, I suppose, in any other way than by wind springing up and dispersing it.” 

Fraser called his prayer warriors to action saying, “For the breath of God can blow away all those miasmic vapours from the atmosphere of a village, in answer to your prayers. We are not fighting against flesh and blood. You deal with the fundamental issues of this Lisu work when you pray against ‘the principalities, the powers, the world-rulers of this darkness, the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenlies’ (Eph. 6:12).”

At another time Fraser wrote, “The men need not be dealt with (it is a heart-breaking job, trying to deal with a Lisu possessed by a spirit of fear) but the powers of darkness need to be fought. I am now setting my face like a flint: if the work seems to fail, then pray; if services etc. fall flat, then pray still more; if months slip by with little or no result, then pray still more and get others to help you.”  

Fraser and his prayer warriors at home labored in prayer for the Lisu, and eventually the “spiritual tide” shifted. Between 1916 and 1917 he baptized 60,000 new Lisu believers.

Brothers and sisters of Cross Creek Church, we have an opportunity to join in the fight and pray for God to lift the spiritual fog in Papua New Guinea, in Peru, in India, in Ukraine, on UAB’s campus and to the uttermost parts of the world. 

Will you join us?

Quotes taken from “Mountain Rain – A Biography of James O. Fraser” by Eileen Fraser Crossman

The Story Does Not Stop Here

[Written by Theodore Woo]

Encouraged Scripture Reading: Luke 2:22-38

Well, I bet those of you who are reading this are still recovering from the food and festivities after spending time with loved ones and friends this past Christmas.

I had a great time this past Christmas, because I was able to finally celebrate the holiday with loved ones that I haven’t seen for awhile, as well as celebrating with new ones. It has been seven years since I was able to do that. Previously, I was living in Taiwan, and I celebrated Christmas over there; although it wasn’t too much of a celebration because I was working long hours at the time. Even though Christmas is recognized as a holiday over there, the atmosphere was just not the same. However, to be fair, I was able to celebrate it with some friends that I made over there, but we did it either a day later or the weekends. During that time, it made me realize how much I took Christmas for granted.

In the U.S., many Americans have gotten to the point where they get bored with Christmas, and have become embittered, because Christmas has been so commercialized. HOWEVER! As a Christian, if there is any encouragement that I can give to y’all, I would tell you that we should always get excited, and pumped up before, during, and after the Christmas celebration.

And here’s why:

If you take the time to read Luke 2:22-38, you would read the excitement, and the joy, that two people had when they saw Jesus after his birth. They both never saw His works, nor His death, but saw Him as an infant presented before God. We read the story of Simeon and Anna, one a priest, and the other a prophetess – both servants of the Lord. Simeon, the priest, was promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he saw the Lord’s Christ. Anna, according to Scripture, just so happened to be at the temple at that very hour when Jesus was presented at the temple. She bore witness to the Christ, gave thanks to God, and shared with everyone what she saw. She could not contain the excitement within her!

If we look at this record from both Simeon the priest and Anna the prophetess, they bore witness of the Savior when he was present with them and were thrilled to share with everyone what they saw, hence recorded in Luke’s gospel. Shouldn’t that be the same way with us?

I know the holiday, Christmas is done and over with, but that doesn’t mean that our excitement of the Christmas spirit should be done away with. In fact, it should continue to burn within us a passion to bear witness for our Savior who is now ruling in heaven, who is watching all over the earth because His kingdom is here, and is continuing to spread because of His word and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let us continue to pray, be in fellowship, and witness to others in our community and all over the world, because the Savior came to earth to save us from the curse of sin. Let us go out and fulfill the Great Commission that our Lord commanded to His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20, ESV).