Time Travel

My son, Anthony, asked me a very interesting question recently. He asked, if we were able to travel through time, would I be more interested in traveling forward or backward in time? I have to admit that my first thought was to travel to the future and see what things were yet to be invented. But as I thought about the question more, I began to think of the potential problems with traveling to the future. What if I picked a time when some great natural disaster was in progress or a time when a war was raging? I even thought, what if I managed to transport myself into the tribulation.

I quickly decided that it would be much safer to travel into the past. At least there, I had a general idea of what would be going on when I arrived. I could think of time periods to avoid and others that I would find amazing to witness first hand. Many possibilities raced through my mind. The signing of the Declaration of Independence. The first flight at Kitty Hawk. The birth of Christ. That really got me thinking. Wouldn't it be incredible to go back and be a witness to the miracles of Christ.

As I considered this possibility more and more, I began to realize that even though I am not able to travel through time, I am able to witness the miracles of Christ. The change in someone's life when they accept Christ as Saviour. The power of prayer. Even the miraculous recovery that God allowed me to make after suffering a massive stroke and several seizures. Not everyone gets the opportunity to witness something like that. But do we all have the opportunity to witness a miracle of Christ? I believe the answer is yes. Let me explain.

One of the fantastic miracles of scripture is the feeding of the five thousand. Christ was able to take five loaves and two fishes, an adequate but not extravagant lunch for a boy, and feed five thousand men and have significant amounts left over. So am I saying that this same thing is occurring today? I think that in a slightly different way it is.

How many of you have the financial ability to fully support a missionary family? I am talking about a monthly commitment of $3000 to $4500 or more. I am sure that there are some out there, but I do not know them. There are people being called into the full time service of Christ for both foreign and home missions on an almost daily basis. Could you support them all?

I believe that the same miraculous power that Christ displayed when He was given full control of that young boy's lunch can be applied to missions' support today. Take that little extra that you have every month and turn it over to God. Let him show you how to apply it, but give Him full control. Maybe you do not have any extra each month. Maybe God just wants you to show that you trust Him by asking Him in prayer an amount that He would like you to give on a one-time basis. Follow His direction and give. Let Him be responsible for the miracle both to provide the funds for the gift and to expand that gift to fill the need. Our God is not slack. He will provide both for you and for the missionary that He directs you to give to. Do not think that He will either ask for too much or too little. He will provide if you think the amount He wants is large and He will increase to fill the need if He only asks for a little.

Just think about that for a moment. We do have the opportunity to be a first hand witness to a miracle of Christ. Let's get involved in a little time travel right now.

Mark White

On the edge...

II Timothy 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

The Lord has put BYM on the cutting edge of a great movement. Children’s work in fundamental Baptist churches is on the rise. There is a renewed interest in reaching kids in an effective way before they turn to unreachable teens. The task of imbedding the truths of the Word of God in the hearts of our children is a serious responsibility. Sunday school lessons haphazardly prepared, flippant attitudes toward children’s programs, delegating youth work to the least prepared is becoming a thing of the past. There is a new generation on the rise that is taking children’s work seriously. Diligent teachers are looking for resources, innovative ideas and most of all techniques that work. Churches are undertaking earnest goals and are determined to find what works. BYM workers are in churches across the country working with hundreds of teachers. They are gleaning and then refining the best practices that are yielding the best results. But unlike the many who learn great methods and just use them with just their own local church, BYM is learning and then replicating itself in institute style training at the National Training Center in Sinclair, Wyoming, and in hands-on seminar style training in local churches across North America.

Please pray for the Baptist Youth Mission that we could meet the demand of this new movement. Effective workers and adequate resources are needed but most of all, pray that the Holy Spirit will anoint the trainers as they sharpen those who are on the cutting edge.

— Mike Holmes, Director

The Roof Needs Help!!

Click to help keep the Parco dry.

PARCO UPDATE: Winter Weather

The month of January has been one of a lot of snow. Keeping these nice new large sidewalks shoveled is a real job. Some of is can be done by Mr. Mike and his snowplow, but much of it is a hands-on job. The extreme cold caught up to us recently as several pipes froze in the Parco. With some of the maintenance staff out of town at the time, some of the staff was out of water for a few days.

Missionary Moment: Duane and Char Anderson

Thanks to Byron and Kay Nelson (Char's brother and sister-in-law), I was able to travel with them back to Wisconsin to visit with my dad who relocated into the nursing home. Mom is able to walk over everyday and see him.

- Duane Anderson, Facility Manager

Internet Dangers - Part 3 of 3

Internet Dangers Awareness

by Tim Demoret

Biblical Steps to Good Surfing: God does not view the Internet any differently than anything else man does. All of his rules apply both online and offline. We can take steps to protect ourselves and those for whom we are responsible.

Step one: Have a clear, Biblical definition of right and wrong. Most of the “questionable” activity would stop if people believed that God punishes those who break his rules (a.k.a. The Ten Commandments-Exodus 20). However, even many of those that claim to believe in God have convinced themselves and many others that certain thoughts, words, and actions are somehow excusable. They are living the lie that Isaiah talks about in Isaiah 5:18-20 “Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

Step Two: Make a plan to avoid sin. Limit online activity by limiting the time you spend and the places you visit. Always have a purpose for being online: it is easy to be distracted down the path of sin when you don't know where you are going.

Step Three: Open Accountability. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12) Be aware that no one is immune from sin. When you enter into something such as the Internet, your exposure to sin greatly increase. The best method of accountability is to regularly humble yourself to people in authority over you and show them your online activities. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16)

Internet Dangers - Part 2 of 3

Internet Dangers Awareness

by Tim Demoret

The Social Networking Trend: What happens when people get together in an unsupervised environment, believe they have a certain level of anonymity, and are encouraged to share all that is in their hearts? Naturally, they will once again prove that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked...” (Jeremiah 17:9) This can be easily illustrated on the currently most popular website for teens and twenty-somethings: myspace.com. With literally millions of people a day browsing and “commenting” on the pages of myspace.com, people are overwhelmingly displaying their infatuation with sin.

There are three “big” issues that surface as a result of this social networking trend. Two are identified by parents, school, and even the major news media. The third is ignored by everyone except the Bible. First, it is a concern of many parents and school officials that sites such as myspace.com allow kids to be “too explicit” (Adults question MySpace's safety, USATODAY.com). This is seen in the vast amounts of pornography and foul language as well as the predominance of Satan-driven music culture. Second, there is a great deal of concern about the amount of personal information many of the young people put online. This information, including personal pictures, addresses, phone numbers, schedules, etc., is becoming an ever increasing target for sexual predators. Third, and the point that you won't hear from secular sources, is the division that the a separate “Youth Culture” causes in our families, churches, and country. 2 Timothy 2:22 warns about “youthful lusts.” The time of youth is a time of learning the principles of right and wrong. The longer we allow young people the “right” to decide for for themselves what is right or wrong without the guidance of authoritative “Truth”, the more sinful the “Youth Culture” will become. The more the youth becomes trapped in sin, the more they will resist authority and live in rebellion. Social Networking has been upheld as a way for kids to interact and develop who they are by comparing themselves to their peers (Experts discuss MySpace issues, Sarah H. Wright, Massachusetts Institute of Technology-web.mit.edu). Biblically, we are to compare ourselves to God, not each other (2 Corinthians 10:12-13).