FWBIM Blog

Panama: Longevity and Success

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Earlier this month, I joined believers in Panama in celebrating 50 years of Free Will Baptist ministry in their country. Fifty years at any task implies longevity and commitment. However, just because one has been at a task for 50 years does not necessaril...

Baseball, Uruguay, and Heroes

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

I was just 10 years old and had fallen in love with the game of baseball. Hours of my time were occupied playing the great American game with friends in cow pastures or any vacant lot large enough to set up a diamond. If no one wanted to play, I would thro...

I Am Resolved

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

On New Year's Day in Africa, many kids would come up to us, hold out their little hands, and say, “Bonne Annee tee ba boo (Good Year white person).” This expression was actually a mixture of two languages—French and Djoula (jula)—which are often stirred in...

Memories

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

This morning, Sunday, December 18, 2011, I stood in line at the airport in Marseilles, France, to check in for my flight back to the U.S. I was leaving behind 4 years of ministry in Aix-en-Provence. Lynette was not with me due to her health. I was all alon...

Echoes and Reflections

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

I am in Aix-en-Provence, France, closing down our apartment and leaving the mission field as a missionary. After over 35 years of on-field service in Africa and France, I am—officially—no longer a field missionary. That is difficult for me to even write. I...

Change of Plans

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Most of the time, when missionaries return to the States they have a pretty good idea of the date and time they will return to their ministry overseas. As that time nears, an overwhelming excitement stirs in missionary hearts. They are going home! For that...

Reflecting on the 40 Days

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Ever wonder how Jesus felt at the end of His 40-day fast? Did He think, “Whew, I am glad that is over"? I really don't think so. I lean more to the possibility that He was pulled by a deep desire to continue. What changes did He experience in His relations...

Death of a Saint

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

My heart grieves that Pastor Alexander Vervay passed away this morning. He was one of the senior pastors among our Baptist Union partners in Tajikistan. He pastored the mother church in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and had multiple responsibilities on a national ...

God Gives the Increase

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Preaching in the markets, a central gathering place for the African people, was one of the most productive methods of evangelism we used in Africa. Often, we spoke to the same people repeatedly, because they frequented the same market each week. As we jour...

Reaching the Unreached

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

When we come face to face with the imbalance of needs vs. help in some areas of the world, we cannot help but be moved. What do I mean? The most blatant example, to me, is seen in the realities of the block of 50+ countries known as the 1040 Win...

God's Call

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Several years ago, at the National Association, a pastor asked to speak with me. We found a little corner and sat down for a chat. He soon asked a very interesting question: "Why do you think young men and women are not being called into the ministry like ...

Light in the Darkness

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

One of our favorite ministries in Africa was going to villages at night to preach and teach. One particular pitch-black night (I couldn’t see my hand a mere six inches in front of my face), Lynette and I went out to a village about five miles from our home...

Boldness

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Acts 4:23-33 is perhaps one of the most concise stories of the immediate results of prayer. The prevailing religious authorities ordered a couple of the Apostles to cease preaching the gospel. After being released, Peter and John went to the other believer...

The Persecuted Church

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Traveling in restricted or creative access countries gives one a perspective of ministry that cannot be found where true freedom of religion exists. I have been privileged to meet pastors and leaders of churches that face the risk of closure every day. Men...

How About You?

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

When God has a task to do, He reaches down and taps one of His people on the shoulder and asks, “How about you?" Throughout the ages men and women of God have responded affirmatively to His calling. Some find themselves just a few miles from their birthpla...

The Battlefield

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Each day, and several times each day, I pray for one particular soldier serving on the front lines in Afghanistan. He serves with a unit known as E.O.D. (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) or the bomb squad. He is now on his fourth tour of duty in that area of ...

Fighting on Our Knees

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Often, when pastors and leaders are under attack, they tend to keep it to themselves. I am convinced that we as leaders know it is happening, but are not inclined to admit it, face it, and deal with it. We simply do not want to appear weak or incapable of ...

Sacrifice

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

By Lynette Morgan We are on Day 26 of our 40 Days of Fasting and Prayer. I have no idea of how many in our midst have taken this call seriously. I am afraid. I think we are at a critical point. We are at a critical point in the world. We are ...

Interdependence

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

One of the greatest temptations westerners face is pouring millions of dollars into overseas ministries with little or no follow up or accountability. Some interesting, and even heated, discussions have been had about how much subsidization western churche...

Working Arm-in-Arm

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

There are certain preachers you anticipate hearing. Brother Larry Powell is one of those men of God whom I love to hear speak. The factor that comes to the forefront is his innate ability to say so much in that short time. A noticeable addition to his abil...

Help, Hope, and Healing

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

The Hanna Project (THP) is a non-government organization (NGO) with the objective of taking help, hope, and healing to those in need around the world. THP has taken teams of volunteers into nine different countries and has carried out some impressive p...

Working Together

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Partnerships with other evangelical groups offer us the opportunity to maximize our resources by working alongside our extended family in Christ to fulfill His Great Commission. In 2002, God provided a golden opportunity for Free Will Baptists. Throu...

Pray for Internationals

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

What a wonderful experience it is to gather with believers from different countries around the world! Every three years, representatives from countries where Free Will Baptist missionaries work come together for the International Fellowship of Free Will Ba...

Follow the Leader?

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Generally speaking, we find it easy to “follow the leader” if we have confidence in him or her. Confidence is an earned value given to those who act in an exemplary manner. While one cannot demand that others have confidence in him, one can live in such ...

Practice Encouragement

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Have you ever walked up to someone in your church and told them how much you appreciate them? Maybe, specified what you admire in them? I don't know about you, but I sort of like words of encouragement and affirmation. Several years ago Neil Gilliland,...

How Intentional Are You?

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

It seems fairly logical to say that if Christians do not share their faith, who will? We can safely assume that the norm will not be unbelievers leading unbelievers to Christ. According to a Barna research report, 41% of people who call themselves Chri...

Say What?

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

I’ve had the opportunity to serve as the Missionary in Residence (MIR) at FWBBC several times. Being in the classroom with the students is truly my first love in ministry. One of my major roles was teaching missions courses. A course I taught several times...

We're Taking the Challenge!

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

After a study of fasting in Scripture and many devotional books, I was impressed with the idea that fasting is giving up something in order to give more to God. I was shocked to learn how much the prophets, apostles, and our Lord resorted to fasting as a m...

The Lost Around Us

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

While Lynette and I were in church one Sunday, the congregation joyfully sang one of those glorious songs about going to heaven and being with God. Lynette reached over, took my hand, and whispered, "Don't you wish He would come back right now?" I responde...

Our Heart's Desire

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

We have a friend in France who accepted the Lord just over a year ago. In the days and months since her conversion, she has learned and experienced the joy of walking with the Lord. Her daily dependence on Him has been simply amazing. As she has followed t...

Pray for Those You Love

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Several years ago I attended a conference where the subject for the plenary sessions was prayer. The president of a well-known college was the main speaker. I will never forget what he said about prayer on his campus. He stated that every student on campus...

More than a Ritual

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Our years in Africa exposed us to a culture riddled with ceremony and ritual. Entrenched in their actions was the belief that if one simply did the right thing in the right way the spirits would smile favorably upon them. In some religions, fasting is...

Are You One of the 300?

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Fasting is a Christian discipline that raises many questions. Questions like why, how, and how long. It would be pretentious of me to speak too authoritatively on any of these questions. I can say, though, without reserve, that I believe fasting and prayer...

Join the Journey

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Both the Old and New Testaments present us with examples of dedicated times of fasting and prayer. This appears to be an appropriate moment in our history to do just that. Often, in the Scriptures, when God’s people or their leaders found themselves fa...

A Road Not Traveled

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Lynette and I have just begun a journey down a road we have never traveled. I was asked by the Free Will Baptist International Missions Board to take the role as general director of the Mission, and I accepted this challenge. In essence, we have been aske...

Riding the Rollercoaster

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMT

“You tend to overestimate what you can accomplish in one year; but you underestimate what you can do in five years—if you really focus.” I don’t know who first said this or even where I first heard it. I know it has been true at International Missions. ...

The Younger Generation

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT

I don’t know when it happened. I’m not even sure when it first dawned on me, but I am coming to terms with being viewed by younger guys as an older minister. Granted, many preachers are older than me, but more and more are younger. The same is true with mi...

Faith and Fear

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Did you hear what the president said regarding the nation’s economic crisis? “Values have shrunken to fantastic levels;…our ability to pay has fallen;… the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone. More important, a host of unempl...

Filling the Empty Spaces

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Do you hate conflict? Do your insides get all tangled up in knots when you see someone you think is mad at you? Have you been wounded deeply by words spoken in anger? Do you regret the relationship damage you’ve done to other people – those you’re supposed...

One Weekend

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMT

My wife, Sheila, and I had been married less than a year when we found ourselves as parents of eight children. That’s right…eight. We had joined the staff at the Free Will Baptist Home for Children in East Tennessee as house parents. As newlyweds wit...

Restoration of Creativity

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Creativity pours from God in multiple ways—from creation past to daily displays of wonder in nature and humankind. Created in His image, human beings have been endowed with a good measure of the same creativity. The arts, like all cultural endeavors, are a...

Get Off the Sidewalk

Tue, 27 May 2008 05:00:00 GMT

The house I grew up in was probably less than 500 square feet. It was so small we had to go outside to just change our minds. From the back door of our little gray-shingled house were four steps that emptied onto a little sidewalk that inched its way past...

Unity in Diversity

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:00:00 GMT

I’ve been serving at the mission for a little over 14 months. The learning curve has been, and still is, rather steep. My wife Jena and I are still adjusting to the change in the rhythm of our lives. At the risk of sounding self-serving, I don’t think the ...

Warts and All

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Our old friend was sick…very sick. To say, he was an old friend is anemic; he was our confidant and mentor. Even more, our old friend Dan Cronk was our hero. And now he was very sick. We knew the time for him to transition from the temporal to the etern...

What matters most...?

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 05:00:00 GMT

As the air is turning cooler (finally!) and we are adjusting our schedules to get my son to and from basketball practices and games, I am reminded of my younger years growing up in Indiana where we lived for winter because winter meant basketball. Hoosier...

On A Winter's Morning

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:33:26 GMT

I love the early mornings. I think better. And it seems the Lord speaks to me more clearly at 5:30 a.m. than He does the rest of the day. It was a cold morning in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the Lord spoke. I wrote what I heard and I am still trying to li...

Trust

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 15:04:35 GMT

My predecessor at IM worked under the title “director of public relations.” When I took the job, we changed the moniker to “director of communications.” Over the last couple of years, I’ve come to the conclusion the name should be changed to “director of t...

Brazil...

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:27:39 GMT

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Brazil for some meetings with our Latin America regional missionaries. The meetings we had were very productive and we traveled to visit several of the mission works in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Following a...

Just Another Prayer Meeting

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 19:39:36 GMT

It was just another prayer meeting with the usual number of attendees. Our Wednesday night prayer meetings at New Hope are held in a Sunday school classroom so that the choir can practice in the sanctuary. Many years ago, we changed our Wednesday eveni...

Lessons from Alan

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 20:21:04 GMT

My wife Jennifer and I have two children, 13-year-old Austin and 10-year-old Alan. Austin is a great kid: very intelligent, athletic, and quite the typical 13-year-old middle-schooler in many ways. Alan is anything but typical. We learned Al...