I have spent 5 years in mission work in the West Indies and South America. I have preached mainly part time for 40 years, much of that time while working with a full time job in Christian education. I am currently at Madison Academy in Huntsville, Alabama and serving as a shepherd at the Monrovia Church of Christ. God has blessed me with a wife and 3 grown children (and their families) who are much more loving than I am!
You probably have heard of John Wycliffe. You could easily argue that Peter Waldo should have that title “morning star of the reformation” one hundred years earlier, but John Wycliffe had more impact than Waldo. Waldo believed much the same as Wycliffe. Born in England, Wycliffe abhorred the corruption in the Roman Catholic church. He taught that Christ, not the pope, is the head of the church. He taught that the Scriptures, not the Catholic church papal decrees and tradition, are the sole authority for faith and practice. He taught that the Catholic church should excommunicate immoral clergymen and give away the church’s excessive wealth and property. He taught against the selling of indulgences and he rejected transubstantiation. He began voicing his teaching at Oxford University where he had taught for many years. He began writing pamphlets in English that a farmer or shopkeeper could read. The common people only had the Latin Vulgate, so Wycliffe translated or was responsible for translating the Bible into Middle English (a version now called the “Wycliffe Bible”) so the common man could read it and decide what it meant instead of relying on the priests. “Wycliffe’s followers were called Lollards because the name, derived from the Dutch word “lollaert” meaning “mumbler,” was used pejoratively by critics to describe their practice of reading scripture and making long prayers.” (AI) His preachers went throughout England carrying copies of his English translation. They were called “Poor Preachers” b/c they dressed in simple clothes and lived with the common people, unlike the Roman priests who lived apart from the people and dressed in clerical garb. He was finally expelled from Oxford and was persecuted by the Catholic church, but the church was afraid to kill him, fearing it. would cause an uprising. He never left the Catholic church; he even died of a fatal stroke while at Mass. But 17 years after his death, anyone preaching Wycliffe’s ideas was punished by death by the Catholic church. In 1415, thirty years after his death, a Catholic council ordered that his books be burned and that his remains be dug up and burned. His ashes were thrown into the River Swift.
We take it for granted that we have so many translations of the Bible into English so we can read it for ourselves and decide what we think it means. It is hard to imagine a time like in the 14th century when there were no Bibles in English. Since the 16th century, there have been around 250 translations into English alone (900 if you count revisions and partials)! The Catholic church actually did its own Douay-Rheims English version of the Bible in 1609, maybe partly as a result of the work of Wycliffe 200 years earlier. That version is older than the famous King James Version of 1611. Both versions used the Latin Vulgate as the main source. Wycliffe’s translation used the Latin Vulgate also.
The original Old Testament books were written in Hebrew mainly and the New Testament in Greek. We don’t have any of the original books of the Bible. Can we trust the English translations that we have? Yes we can. We have over 5,700 complete or partial manuscripts made or translations into other languages from which to come up with an accurate translation that we can trust. The New Testament sources go back to within 100 years of the original New Testament books in many papyri. When we compare the thousands of copies of the New Testament, they are 95 to 99% the same. The errors are typically small copyist errors. The Old Testament books were copied with extreme care for accuracy. The Dead Sea Scrolls (1948) show that the Old Testament was copied accurately over the centuries. For example, the complete copy of Isaiah called the “Great Isaiah Scroll” found in the DSS is 95% the same as the earliest Hebrew copy of Isaiah that we had, which was in 930 AD, over 1,000 years later than the Great Isaiah Scroll which was carbon dated as 125 BC. That shows that the book of Isaiah had been accurately copied for that 1,000 years and gives us confidence that the original book of Isaiah done in 800 BC was copied accurately over the centuries. There are at least portions of all the OT books except Esther in the DSS. So, yes you can trust a good English translation of the Bible. Be careful about paraphrases. There is a lot of debate about which English translation of the Bible is the most accurate. Jesus and the apostles quoted from the Septuagint, which is the translation of the Hebrew OT from Hebrew into Greek, done between the 3rd and 1st century BC. That shows that you can trust a good translation of the original languages even if you know it is not 100% accurate.
I hope this helps us appreciate our Bible translations. More importantly, I hope it encourages us to read and study those translations since we have been blessed with the Bible in our own English language.
Have you ever heard of Peter Waldo? He is the founder of the Waldensians. Born around 1140 AD in Lyons, France, he was a wealthy merchant who became disgusted with the corruption in the Roman Catholic church. He became convinced that the Scriptures, not the Pope or Catholic tradition, are the sole authority for Christians. The Catholics used the Latin Vulgate, which few could understand, and claimed that ordinary Christians would be corrupted if they read the Bible for themselves. He paid to have the Bible translated into the current French language. After reading what Jesus told the rich ruler to do, “to sell what he had and give to the poor”, he sold what he had and lived as a beggar preacher. His followers sold or gave away what they had: they came to be called the “Poor of Lyons”. He believed that the Bible should be preached, even by lay preachers, which was also condemned by the Catholic church. Waldo’s followers, the Waldensians, were persecuted by the Catholic church. The infamous Roman Catholic Inquisition was a special church court established in the 1200’s to inquire about and judge matters of “heresy”. The inquisition lead to fierce persecution of the Waldensians. They lost their property and many were burned at the stake. The Waldensians were numerous in Italy, France, and Switzerland, and then spread throughout Europe.
Here is a list of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church that Waldo and the Waldensians rejected?
They rejected all claims to authority besides Scripture.
They rejected all mediators between God and man, except the man Christ Jesus (though Mary was venerated for quite a while).
They rejected the doctrine that only a priest could hear confession, and argued that all believers were qualified.
They rejected purgatory, and thus rejected indulgences and prayers for the dead.
They believed the only Scripture-sanctioned sacraments were baptism and communion.
They rejected the Church’s emphasis on fast and feast days and eating restrictions.
They rejected the priestly and monastic caste system.
They rejected the veneration of relics, pilgrimages, and the use of holy water.
They rejected the pope’s claim to authority over earthly rulers.
They eventually rejected the apostolic succession of the pope.
You can see why Peter Waldo was considered one of the forerunners of the Protestan Reformation movement of the 1600’s. That list of objection to Catholic doctrine was the same as that of the Protestant Reformation movement. Any Waldensians in the 1600’s eventually joined the Protestant Reformation.
So what do we learn from the story of Peter Waldo? We see how corrupt the Catholic church was. The church tortured and burned heretics. They wouldn’t let common people read the Bible in their language. It is hard for us to imagine that religious environment. We have had freedom of religion so long that we take it for granted. What if you lived back in the 12th century under the tyrannical power of the Catholci church? Would you have the courage to stand up to the church even if it cost you your life?
So, what do you believe? At our Christian school the board came up with a “statement of faith” that the school believed in and practices. It is basic Christian doctrines, similar to those of Peter Waldo. Such a statement of basic beliefs became even more needed as issues like homosexual marriages and gender identity arose in the current culture. In a way, the anti-Christian culture of today is something that we Christians have to stand up to just as Waldo stood up to the Catholic church.. If you proclaim basic fundamentalist Christian teaching on marriage, homosexuality, and. gender you will be mocked. If you stand up for the Bible as the sole authority for doctrines, you will be mocked. Maybe not tortured or burned at the stake, but you will be persecuted and mocked. I hope the example of Peter Waldo will inspired you to have the courage to stand up to today’s anti-Christian culture.
Wouldn’t it be great to talk to Peter Waldo? Maybe one day we can.
Do you have any idea where the New Hebrides islands are? They are in the South Pacific.
The New Hebrides, now known as Vanuatu, consists of roughly 80 islands in the South Pacific. These islands are situated northeast of New Caledonia and southeast of the Solomons. While there are 80-odd islands in total, not all of them are inhabited. Notice the islands of Tanna and Aniwa. They are at the heart of the post today concerning John G. Paton. Born in Scotland in 1824, John married Mary in April, 1858 and 14 days later sailed to the South Pacific and landed on the island of Tanna in November, 1858. They joined a missionary who had been working there for several years. Three months after their arrival, a son, Peter Robert Robson, was born on 12 February 1859. But just 19 days later, Mary died from tropical fever soon to be followed to the grave by the newly born Peter at 36 days of age. The natives on Tanna were cannibals. In 1839 two missionaries had been martyred and eaten by the cannibals in the South Pacific. “After Mary died, John spent nights sleeping on their grave to protect them from the local cannibals. The gravesite is still accessible to this day with a plaque marking the spot, erected in 1996.” (Wikipedia)
John continued alone for 4 years trying to convert the cannibals in spite of the danger he faced from the cannibals. 14 times he was attacked with a fever. He barely escaped the cannibals on many occasions. Later he returned to Scotland to raise money for the work in the New Hebrides and to encourage missionaries to go there. In 1865 he married again to Maggie and they went to another island in the New Hebrides, Aniwa, in 1866. The natives of Aniwa were cannibals also but they were more receptive than those in Tanna. “John learned the language and reduced it to writing. Maggie taught a class of about fifty women and girls who became experts at sewing, singing and plaiting hats, and reading. They trained the teachers, translated and printed and expounded the Scriptures, ministered to the sick and dying, dispensed medicines every day, taught them the use of tools, held worship services every Lord’s Day, built orphanages and took care of many orphans, and sent native teachers to all the villages to preach the gospel. Enduring many years of deprivation, danger from natives and disease, they continued with their work and after 15 years of patient ministry, the entire island of Aniwa professed Christianity. In 1899 Paton saw his Aniwa New Testament printed and the establishment of missionaries on twenty-five of the thirty islands of the New Hebrides.” (Wikipedia) Maggie died in 1905 and John died at the age of 82 in 1907. John spent almost 50 years mission work in Tanna and Aniwa. He was courageous and willing to put his life on the line to propagate the gospel of Jesus.
“In Christianity, an unreached people group refers to an ethnic group without an indigenous, self-propagating Christian church movement. It is estimated that of the 8.08 billion people alive in the world today, 3.42 billion of them live in unreached people groups with little or no access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For every $100,000 a Christian earns, only $107 on average will go to world missions. And roughly 1% of that money will support the 3.1 billion people who live in unreached people groups.” (AI)
I encourage you to pray over this map of unreached people groups worldwide. Churches spend about 75-80 % of the money they collect in contributions on buildings and staff. Churches collect about 75 billion per in contributions but only a small % of that money goes into mission work and a very, very small % of that money goes toward reaching the unreached people groups with the gospel. Fellow Christians, what are we doing? Where do you think Jesus would want all that money spent? Children dying all over the world b/c of unclean water. Families and children in refugee camps trying to escape local warring groups. Famine and flood relief needed. The Bible needs to be translated into all the languages of the world. “As of November 2024 the whole Bible has been translated into 756 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,726 languages, and smaller portions of the Bible have been translated into 1,274 other languages. Thus, at least some portions of the Bible have been translated into 3,756 languages.” (AI) So the translations are there, we just need to print and distribute them to the world.
I hope you at least tithe (give a tenth). I hope you give that tithe to the many organizations that print Bibles, support missionaries, drill wells, provide food for the oppressed and needy worldwide.
The Persians had become the world empire in 539 BC when Cyrus and Darius defeated the Babylonians. The Persians reigned from India to Asia Minor to Egypt. Alexander was born in 356 BC, crowned king of Macedon when he was 20 years old, conquered the Persian Empire in the next 13 years, and died when he was 33 years old of a fever, or maybe poison. He never. lost a battle, even though the Persians usually outnumbered him greatly. He intended to expand his empire through India but his soldiers refused to go any further as most of them had been fighting and away from home for 8 years. When he died, his kingdom was divided among his 4 generals into 4 smaller kingdoms. Two of those kingdoms, the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, controlled the Jews in Palestine for many years until the Maccabean priestly family defeated the Seleucids in 167 BC and Israel became an independent state for about 100 years. The Romans took control of Israel in 63 BC and later appointed Herod as king of the Jews even though he was an Edomite. Herod is the one who, trying to kill the baby Jesus, killed all the babies in Bethlehem. The first 10 kings of Rome were from Julius Caesar (Josephus confirms that by saying that Augustus was the 2nd king) to Vespacian (who began the war with the Jews in 67 AD). The 11 emperor would be Titus who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD (he wasn’t an emperor yet when the destroyed Jerusalem).
What is amazing is that all of these events were predicted by Daniel the prophet. There was King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a statue in Daniel 2. Daniel told the king that the statue represented 4 kingdoms: Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greece, and Rome.
He added that God would set up a 5th kingdom, God’s kingdom, in the days of the 4th kingdom Rome. That 5th kingdom is the one Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mark 1:15) during the reign of the Romans, so it had to be established during Roman rule. It was established, a spiritual kingdom, the church. It was not a physical kingdom like the kingdom of David that would defeat the Romans and make Israel independent again which is what the Jews expected and why they rejected Jesus as the Messiah.
Nebuchadnezzar saw his dream in his 2nd year of his reign, about 603 BC. Daniel had been carried captive into Babylon in the first captivity in 605 BC. That means that Daniel predicted that in about 70 years the Persians would defeat Babylon, which they did. Alexander the Great would defeat the Persians at the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC (after two major battles at Granicus and Issus), so that means that Daniel predicted the fall of Persian about 274 years in the future. Rome took over Israel in 63 BC, so that means that Daniel predicted the Romans coming to power 542 years in the future.
But there’s more. In Daniel 7, Daniel saw a dream during the 1st year of King Belshazzer of Babylon (556 BC) of a lion (Babylon), a bear (Media-Persia), a leopard (Greeks), and an iron beast (Rome) that corresponds to the same 4 kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar’s statue in Daniel 2. The dream even predicts that the iron teeth beast Rome would have 10 horns (the first ten kings of Rome beginning with Julius Caesar), followed by a little horn that would wage war against the saints (the Jews). That little horn was Titus, who would become the 11th king but was not an emperor yet when he destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. So this prophecy in Daniel 7 goes all the way down to 70 AD, which would be 626 years in the future.
But there’s more. In Daniel 8, in the 3rd year of Belshazzer (554 BC), Daniel saw a vision of a ram and a goat. The ram had 2 horns (Media and Persia) and conquered everything. The goat came flying from the west and defeated the ram. The goat had a “prominent horn” between his eyes. But after the prominent horn became great, it was broken and 4 prominent horns came up in its place. Then Daniel actually tells who the ram and the goat are, i.e. the Medo-Persian ram and the Grecian goat. The prominent horn has to be Alexander the Great. The 4 kingdoms that form from the broken prominent horn has to be the division of Alexander’s might empire into 4 smaller kingdoms after his death in 323 BC. The vision, as in Daniel 7, predicts a “little horn” that would claim to be equal to God and would destroy the sanctuary (the temple in Jerusalem). That, as in Daniel 7, would have to be Titus who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. So this propphecy in Daniel 8 goes all the way down to 70 AD which would be 624 years in the future.
But there’s more. In Daniel 9, in the 1st year of Darius the Median king who, along with Cyrus the Persian king, conquered Babylon in 539 BC, the angel Gabriel gave Daniel the 70 weeks prophecy. This prophecy predicts the death of the Messiah after 69 prophetic weeks (i.e. 483 years using “one day equals a year”) which would fit the death of Jesus the Messiah in about 30 AD. It also predicts the destruction of the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the temple), and the “abomination of desolation”, all of which occurred when Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. We know this “abomination of desolation” was 70 AD b/c Jesus said that the fulfillment of the “abomiation of desolatioin which was spoken through Daniel the prophet” (Matthew 24:15) would occur within the generation that he was speaking to (Matthew 24:34). That would have to be 70 AD. So this prophecy in Daniel 9 goes all the way down to Titus in 70 AD which would be 609 years in the future.
But there’s more. In Daniel 11,12 in the first year of Dairus (539 BC), In Daniel 12:11 Daniel predicts that same “abomination of desolation” as in Daniel 9:27 (i.e. the destruction of the temple in 70 AD). He also predicts in 12:1 that the Jews would undergo a time of distress as the nation had never endured, a “shattering of the power of God’s holy people the Jews (12:7), which again Jesus tells us that was fulfilled in the tribulation and suffering that the Jews experienced in the wars of the Jews (67-70 AD). Jesus cited that verse (Daniel 12:1) and said that time of distress would occur with the generation he was speaking to (Matthew 24:34). So another prophecy of Daniel that goes all the way down to 70 AD, some 609 years in the future.
A prophet’s main mission was to speak the word of God to the people, but the confirmation that he was a true prophet was in predicting the future with 100% accuracy, and Daniel did that. You can see why many liberal scholars say that the book of Daniel was written in the 2nd century during the time of the Maccabees (around 167 BC). They do not believe that prophets like Daniel could predict the future like he did. “While the debate continues, the evidence for an early dating of the Book of Daniel (in the 6th century BC) is substantial, particularly when considering its internal consistency, historical accuracy, and linguistic analysis. The discovery of Daniel manuscripts among the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating back to the second century BC, shows the text’s existence well before the period when some scholars suggest it was written.” (AI) The Jews were entrusted by God with collecting the Old Testament inspired writings of the prophets (Romans 3:1-2) and they included the book of Daniel in their OT canon which was completed by 400 BC. The liberal claim that Daniel was written in the Maccabean period is actually refuted by 1 Maccabees which was written during that period. “1 Maccabees 9:27 does mention a period of silence regarding prophets. It states that “there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them“. This phrase is often interpreted as referring to the “four hundred silent years” between the Old Testament and New Testament, a period when, according to this interpretation, there were no new prophetic voices from God.” (AI) So those living during the Maccabean period said there were no new prophets during that period which would refute some prophet other than Daniel writing the book during that period.
“In Isaiah 41:21-23, the Lord challenges false gods to declare the future, showcasing His divine ability to foresee events and bring them to pass, while the idols remain silent and incapable. The Lord essentially demands that the idols demonstrate their power by predicting and fulfilling future events, thus highlighting the true nature of God’s power and the utter weakness of false idols.” (AI) Can you imagine someone today predicting the world powers that will be in the next 600 years? Going back 600 years from today would put us at 1425 AD. The main world powers in the 1400’s were the Ottomon Empire, the Spanish Empire, the Ming Dynasty in China, etc. (not one main empire as Babylon was). Who could have predicted in 1425 AD that in the next 600 years the main world powers would be Portugal, Russia, Germany, the U.S., and Japan?
Also remember that God is active in fulfilling Daniel’s predictions in the book of Daniel His predictions are not just lucky guesses. Yahweh of Israel had an active hand to raising up and removing kings. In Daniel 4:25 “the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.”. In Daniel 2:19 “May the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. 21 It is He who changes the times and the periods; He removes kings and appoints kings”. We are not told how God worked behind the scenes to raise up Cyus, or Alexander, or to put the Romans in power for 500 years, but we believe God providentially made all that happen. Even then, God allowed freedom of choice: not the freedom to choose one’s circumstances but the freed of how to respond to those circumstances.
So we praise God for giving us such great confirmation of His prophets and His word. Even Jesus’s predictions of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD were made 40 years ahead of their fulfillment and confirm that He was a true prophet of God. Many people doubt that the Bible is the word of God, but the fulfillment of prophecy stands as great confirmation of His word. Thank you Holy Spirit who inspired those prophets.
This post honors missionary wives. Mary Moffat was the consummate (perfect or complete in every way) missionary wife of British missionary Robert Moffat. Robert was a gardener but his passion for mission work led him to Africa at the age of 21. Mary’s parents forbade her marriage to Robert, but finally consented and she joined in both in marriage and in his mission work in South Africa in 1816. They would spend 50 years as partners in Kuruman, South Africa trying to bring the Bechuana to Christ. She had come from a well to do family but adjusted to living in a hut with mud walls and floors, hauling water in every day. Living conditions were tough on Mary and Robert. Their “honeymoon” was spent on a 700 mile trip to Kuruman with all their belongings in an ox cart pulled by six spans of oxen that took 7 weeks (she described it as one long picnic). “For the Moffats there were long years of fruitlessness, of reducing an unwritten language, and of translating the Bible into that difficult tongue. Other duties took time from the all-important task of evangelism: planting, building, carrying, creating, butchering, salting, storing, sewing, cobbling, carpentering, blacksmithing, preaching, teaching, exhorting, pacifying, supporting, cleaning, feeding, doctoring, praying, writing, etc.” (from GFA missions) They constantly dealt with natives stealing their possessions. Robert made trips into the interior leaving Mary very fearful due to threats from warring chiefs. It was 7 long years before they made their first Christian convert. ” Robert was an independent individual given to moods, both visionary and of depression. Mary was steady, disciplined, patient, and organized. She had a faith in the future that never wavered. She was always ready to comfort and support Robert. They eventually served for over 52 years with only one furlough during that period of time.
Mary was Robert’s “beloved partner,” a true helpmeet. Their goal was to see the Bechuana come to Christ, a church planted, and the Word of God available in the language of the people. Their love for the national was one, and their arms and home were open to the nationals. Mary was wife, mother, and true missionary. She was a great encourager to Robert in the tedious task of learning the language and translating the Bible, which took many years of plodding word by word, verse by verse. Robert was self-taught in Greek. They were truly one flesh, one mind, and with one purpose—all to the glory of God. Africa became their home.
There were times when Robert was very discouraged and depressed; but Mary, at his side as a true companion and a true partner in the work, saw him through these difficult times (Ephesians 5:31-33). She was a woman of great faith.” (from GFA)
Their oldest daughter married David Livingstone but died of a fever during his trips through Africa. Some of their other children became missionaries. “She and Robert were credited with creating a family of “Moffats” who carried forward the mission work.” (from Wikipedia)
“By degrees, better conditions came. Once Mary Moffat wrote to friends at home for a communion service, because, as she said, she believed that native Christians would yet sit together at the Lord’s table in that land. That time came, and she wrote: “You can hardly conceive how I feel when I sit in the house of God surrounded with the natives. Though my situation may be despicable and mean in the eyes of the world, I feel that an honor has been conferred upon me which the kings of the earth could never have done for me. I am happy, remarkably happy, though my present habitation is a single room with a mud floor and a mud wall. Not only did a native Christian community grow up about them in Kuruman, but through the influence of the native Christians here and the teaching of Moffat on his missionary tours, groups of native Christians may now be found through all that region.” (Jessie Brown Pounds from wholesomewords.org)
Do you see why I called Mary Moffat the “consummate missionary wife”? No doubt her daily life was filled with things like gardening, cooking, cleaning, etc. but she did all that with one purpose in mind: to partner with her husband to spread the gospel to the Bechuana in Kuruman. I encourage you to think about all the duties and chores that you do every single day. You ladies cook, clean, take care of the kids, run errands, shop, maybe work outside the home, wash clothes, etc. You men go to work every day, deal with the stress of providing for the family, fight the traffic coming and going to work, fix things around the house, deal with issues with the kids, watch sports, plan for future financial and health well being for your family, etc. But, men or women, do you do everything with one purpose in mind: to honor God, to save your own children first and then to share the gospel with as many people as you come in contact with? Do you just go through life doing the stuff you have to do or do you do follow Colossians 3:17 “Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”? Notice “whatever you do in word or deed”. That would include all the daily chores and duties that you do.
I am also blessed with a consummate missionary wife. We have partnered in mission work overseas, church work here in the U.S., and over 35 years of Christian education (which I considered to be mission work here in the U.S.). She has been, like Mary, steady, a great mother to our 3 children, a great role model to our 10 grandchildren, never complaining about whatever living conditions we had, always making the best of bad situations, encouraging to me when I get discouraged. When I felt like the Lord was calling us to a mission field overseas or locally in Christian education, she never questioned that calling but joined in. Like Robert, I often was off on my mission trips or duties in Christian education, leaving her to deal with the real issues of raising a family and she did so with great success. We are proud of the faith of our 3 children and the loving Christian homes they have established, and their faith was largely due to their mother’s prayers and faith passed on to them. She would pray every night with them, “God help ___, ___, and ___ grow up to be Christians and marry Christians” (long before they knew what either concept meant), and they did both!
Thanks to all consummate Christian wife partners in life. I can think of several more that I know well. How about you? Do you do all your daily duties and chores to honor God? I thought this was great from AI. “Making secular pursuits holy for God involves seeing all aspects of life, including work and everyday tasks, as opportunities to serve God and glorify him. This means approaching secular activities with diligence, honesty, and a sense of dedication, recognizing that even seemingly mundane tasks can be done for the glory of God.” Try that today as you go through the day. Make every thing you do holy. Think: “how can I make this mundane task become something holy to honor God?”
In my posts I try to gather info and pass it on to you. You can go to different sites and read the original sources that I gather from, but i hope my summaries make it simpler for you. Today, it’s Lottie Moon, missionary to China. Born in 1840, she went to China in 1873 at the age of 32 and spent 39 years there teaching women and girls and sharing the gospel in China. She was one of the first women to earn a master’s degree in the south. She never married (though engaged at one time) but instead dedicated her whole life to serving God. She spoke Latin, Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, and was fluent in reading Hebrew. Instead of pursuing a career in the U.S. she chose to devote her life to sharing the gospel in China. She adopted Chinese dress and customs and identified with the Chinese people. “She took a special interest in Chinese women, establishing schools for girls and working to free them from customs such as foot binding.” (AI) Lottie had several nicknames in China—foreign devil, foreign lady teacher, heavenly book visitor, and the cookie maker. (Lottie baked cookies to win the hearts of the children and families who were frightened of her.)” (AI) She was often persecuted by Chinese who hated foreigners. “Throughout her missionary career, Moon faced plague, famine, revolution, and war. The First Sino-Japanese War (1894), the Boxer Rebellion (1900) and the Chinese Nationalist uprising (which overthrew the Qing Dynasty in 1911) all profoundly affected mission work. Famine and disease took their toll as well.” (from Wikipedia)
She is famous for her letters to southern Baptist Christians begging them to come do mission work in China among the 472 million Chinese living at that time, or send missionaries, or support sending missionaries. She was a realist. She once wrote home to the Foreign Mission Board, “Please say to the [new] missionaries: they are coming to a life of hardship, responsibility and constant self-denial.” “Disease, turmoil and lack of co-workers threatened to undo Lottie’s work. But she gave herself completely to God, helping lay the foundation of what would become the modern Chinese church, one of the fastest-growing Christian movements in the world. Lottie Moon died at 72 — ill and in declining health after decades ministering to her beloved Chinese. But her legacy lives on. And today, when gifts aren’t growing as quickly as the number of workers God is calling to the field, her call for sacrificial giving rings with more urgency than ever.” (from the International Missions Board of the southern Baptist Church) There are now 1.4 billion Chinese. In 1918 the Women’s Missionary Union started the annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international Missions. Lottie died in 1912. “In her final hours, she sang “Jesus Loves Me” with the missionary nurse who accompanied her. Lottie made one final gesture, pushing her fists together in the form of the Chinese greeting.” (AI) Due to declining health and sharing her food with starving Chinese, she weighed 50 pounds when she died. She was a feminist, promoting gender equality. She would have fit in quite well with the modern feminist movement!
I enjoyed learning more about Lottie Moon. I continue to be amazed at foreign missionaries like Lottie who suffered much to do life long mission work in foreign countries. My usual rant: the church in the U.S. should be sending and supporting missionaries to the unreached peoples groups around the world instead of spending 80% of the contributions on staff and buildings. Pray for all the missionaries abroad. In the messages to the 7 churches (Revelation 2,3), a warning is given several times to the churches to get back to their first love, to strengthen the things that remain, to repent of sin and worldliness, to oppose false teaching (like the lGBQT movement that has captured many churches), and to awake from lukewarm complacency. Those warnings would apply to many churches in the U.S.
The book of the prophet Malachi was written around 430 BC. The entire history of the Old Testament is found in the first 17 books: Genesis through Esther. That history ends with the 3rd return of Judah from Babylonian captivity under Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The rest of the 39 books of the OT are writings of David, Solomon, the 5 major prophets, the 12 minor prophets, and the booik of Job. But all these occur chronologically within the time frame of the first 17 books, Genesis through Esther. The only exception to this is the book of Malachi, which some think even Malachi was written just before the return of Nehemiah. Here is a great chart:
“Malachi means “my messenger”. He was a contemporary of Nehemiah. In the last 5 chapters of Nehemiah, the walls are rebuilt but the people are still committing sins that Nehemiah has to address. “None of the prophecies of the glorious kingdom to come have come to pass. Times were hard b/c of drought, famine, and blighted crops. These hardships have been met by sloth, indifference, and spiritual lethargy. The people had been in the land for almost a 100 years, but present circumstances made them apathetic. They doubted the love of God. Since the wicked prospered, they questioned whether there was any profit in walking penitently before God and obeying His commandments. Against such a background the book was written.” (Harper Study Bible intro to Malachi).
Malachi writes in question/answer form. Notice the 8 times that it says: “But or yet you say”.
1:2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” Malachi’s answer:God had shown his love for the descendants of Jacob (Israel) instead of Esau (the Edomites). The Jews would be blessed while the Edomites would be cursed.
1:6 “‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the Lord of armies to you, the priests who despise My name! But you say,‘How have we despised Your name?’ Malachi’s answer: 1:7 You are presenting defiled food upon My altar.”
1:7b But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ Malachi’s answer: By the priests offering blind, sick, or lame animals as sacrifices on the altar of burnt offerings. Malachi then gives a scathing rebuke of the Levitical priests. They had a special covenant with God to instruct the people of the Law and to offer sacrifices, but they had become corrupt. Malachi then asks this follow up question: 2:10 Do we not all have one Father? Is it not one God who has created us? Why do we deal treacherously, each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers? ” Malachi answers his own question: The mistreating of one another among the Jews went back to the sin of taking foreign wives in some way. This could refer to the sin of some charging interest of fellow Jews as condemned by Nehemiah (Nehemiah 5), thus “dealing treacherously against each other”.
2:13 And this is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and sighing, because He no longer gives attention to the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 Yet you say, “For what reason?” (i.e. for what reason does God no longer accept our offerings?) Malachi’s answer: B/c of the practice of divorce among the people. God says, “I hate divorce.” Could that be part of the moral decline in the U.S. also? According to the American Psychological Association, approximately 40-50% of first marriages end in divorce. The divorce rate for second marriages is even higher, with approximately 60-67% of second marriages ending in divorce. The breakdown of the home is then passed on to future generations.
2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” Malachi’s answer: B/c you say, “everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord.” In other words, those who do evil are considered blessed by God with power and money. Malachi then says that in the distant future God will correct this falsehood by bringing His “messenger of the covenant (i.e. Jesus the messenger of the New Covenant” to judge the evil Jews in 70 AD in the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem. The Jews took delight in the expectation of the coming of the Messiah, but they would find out that Jesus the Messiah would not only come to save the penitent Jews but also to judge and destroy the evil Jews in 70 AD. The remnant of the Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah would then be purified and able to offer acceptable offerings to God. They would become new covenant priests offering spiritual, not animal, offerings to God. 1 Peter 2:4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by people, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Those who practice sorcery or adultery or swearing falsely or who oppress the widows or orphans will be judged in the future and no longer will anyone say that those who are evil are blessed by God.
3: 7 “From the days of your fathers you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Malachi doesn’t give an answer to this question, but the answer should be obvious: “repent and keep the laws of the Lord”.
3: 8 “Would anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ Malachi’s answer: B/c you are not tithing (giving a tenth) as you were commanded by God. He challenges them to test God by tithing and then watch the windows of heaven open up to give them overflowing blessings. Is this sin another reason why Americans are making more money than ever and yet falling behind economically? The average American Christian gives around 2.5% of their income to church or charity, and about 5% of Americans regularly tithe, which is giving 10% of their income. However, some studies show that a larger portion of practicing Christians (around 40%) say they tithe at least 10% of their income.
3: 13 “Your words have been arrogant against Me,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ Malachi’s answer: B/c you say that it is pointless to serve God and there is no benefit in obeying Him. Malachi calls this “arrogance” b/c it is challenging God’s promise to bless the righteous, calling God a liar. It might not look like God is blessing the righteous at times, but in the end they will be blessed. The time will come when it is obvious that the righeous will be blessed and the evil will be punished (again referring to 70 AD). “The day is coming” (usually this phrase refers to Messianic times in the future) when the evil will be chaff to be burned. John the Baptist predicted that the Messiah would do this in 70 AD: Matthew 3:11 “As for me, I baptize you [i]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” But the “sun of righteousness” would bless those who fear and obey God with spiritual healing and joy. God would send a forerunner, Elijah, to try to get the evil Jews to repent before the “great and terrible day of the Lord”. Jesus said this prediction of Elijah coming was fulfilled in John the Baptist. Matthew 17:9 When they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.” 10 And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11 And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; 12 but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.” Matthew 11:13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.” This shows that the “great and terrible day of the Lord” in Malachi 4:5 is the judgment day on the Jews in 70 AD. This is one of the many OT predictions for the Messianic times that will be fulfilled spiritually or figuratively and not literally. John the Baptist could come like Elijah trying to get the evil Jews to repent.
Here is a good slide of the 8 questions although it doesn’t match my 8 questions exactly.
Malachi is the last book in the OT and perhaps the last chronological event occurring simultaneously with the 3rd return from exile under Nehemiah.Malachi was the last prophet. His book begins a 400 year period where there were no prophets recognized by the Jews and no inspired writings to be collected in the Hebrew OT canon. 1 Maccabees 9:27 states that “there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them,” suggesting a period of prophetic silence. They are called the “silent years” for this reason, although they are filled with action. During this 400 years Alexander the Great would conquer the Persians just as Daniel predicted in Daniel 2,7, and 8. Alexander’s kingdom would be split among his 4 generals just as Daniel predicted in Daniel 7. Two of those 4 kingdoms that formed from the split would be the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Syria: both would control the Jews in Palestine for long periods of time during the 400 silent years. 1,2 Maccabees in the Apocrypha tells of the Maccabean priestly family who led a rebel uprising that defeated the Syrians and gained independence for Israel for about 100 years. Then in 63 BC the Romans took control of Palestine just as Daniel predicted in Daniel 2,7,and 8. After Malachi, however, there is nothing left for God to predict about the future Messianic times. All the OT predictions about the Messiah and his kingdom had been written by the prophets and collected by the Jews by 400 BC. God is just waiting for the “fulness of times” (Gal 4:4), for the Romans to rise to power, so He can send His son the Messiah to fulfill all OT predictions. It is interesting that the Apocrypha contains 1st and 2nd Esdras (the Greek name for Ezra) which duplicates a lot of the history of the returns, has apocalyptic visions of the end of the world, and answers questions about the suffering of God’s people.Those apocryphal books describe the Messianic expectations that the Jews held during the 400 silent years. That “silence” would be broken by the birth of Jesus beginning with Matthew 1. Unfortunately the Jews expected a Messiah who would restore the physical power of the Jewish kingdom and who would defeat the Romans, but Jesus came to begin a spiritual kingdom, the church. Thus most of the Jews except for a “remnant” rejected Jesus and continued in their evil ways till 70 AD when they would be judged, just as Malachi predicted.
It is an interesting parallel of the “God says but you say” today. God says that homosexuality is a sin, but you (those who reject God’s word) say it is not (many of whom form the liberal churches that have split off for the LGBQT movement). God say that Jesus is His special messenger and Son, but you (the Muslims, unbelieving Jews) say that Jesus was just a prophet or rabbi but not the Son of God. God says that there is only one God, Yahweh, but you (the Hindus) say there are many gods. God says that He created all things through Jesus in the beginning but you (the atheists) say that there is no creator god. God says that the Bible is the Word of God but you (the skeptics and liberals) say that the Bible is just the work of men and is not inspired by God).
I hope that this study in Malachi will edify you. Pray for America. We have lost our Christian foundation. You have to wonder if God will bring judgment on our nation just as He did the Jews in 70 AD. Is there a “great and terrible day of the Lord” awaiting us if we do not repent and return to keeping God’s word?
We just observed another Easter in memory of the resurrection of Jesus. Paul told us that the resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate proof of Christianity. 1 Corinthians 15:14 … if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain. 15 Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ only in this life, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (NASB) Jesus had said that the last and final proof or sign of eternal life through Jesus would be the resurrection of Jesus. Matthew 12:38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign; and so no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as Jonah was in the stomach of the sea monster for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.” (NASB) Paul told the heathen idol worshippers in Athens: Acts 17:31 … He has set a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all people by raising Him from the dead.” In other words, the greatest sign to confirm Jesus as God’s Son and the Savior of the world was his resurrection from the dead. If you can’t believe that really happened, then none of the miracles Jesus did will convince you.
But how do we really know that Jesus was raised from the dead after 3 days in the tomb?Well how do we know than any event really happened in the past? We rely on “credible eyewitness testimony”. How do we know that we actually walked on the moon? Many do not believe that we did. You can understand their skepticism b/c of all the government lies in the past and conspiracy theories that probably are true a lot of the time. So we examine all the evidence, the hundreds of NASA employees who took part in that moon landing. We watch the footage on TV. Yes, the footage could be fake, but it appears to be true. We hear the eyewitness testimony of the 2 men who walked on the moon. We come to the conclusion that we did indeed walk on the moon.
So we examine the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection. Are there a sufficient number of eyewitnesses? The Law required at least 2 or 3 witnesses to confirm an event, but the resurrection of Jesus has many more than that. Paul says that there was a sufficient number. 1 Corinthians 15:3 For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” That is a more than sufficient number of eyewitnesses of the resurrection. Paul even says that most of the 500 that He appeared to were still alive at the time of writing 1 Corinthians. People living at the time that Paul wrote that could actually go talk to those people to decide if they really saw the resurrected Jesus. Some say that those who saw the resurrected Jesus were hallucinating, but 500 people don’t get the same hallucination.
But are those eyewitnesses “credible’, i.e. believable? In a court case, the credibility of the eyewitnesses will be checked out and challenged. What about the eyewitnesses of the resurrection? Were they credible? To determine that, we examine their motives for making up a lie about a resurrection of Jesus if it really didn’t happen. Did the apostles who were the main eyewitnesses of the resurrection gain power or money by lying about seeing Jesus raised? No, they suffered for the rest of their lives b/c they preached the resurrection. They all died martyr’s deaths b/c of their testimony, including John the apostle whom the church father Papias said died at the hands of the Jews just as Jesus predicted would happen to the brothers James and John. No one would die for a lie if they knew it was a lie. Muslim terrorists who kill themselves when they kill others die for a lie, but they believe the lie to be true. Not so with the apostles. Surely one of them would have recanted their testimony of the resurrection if they had just made up the resurrection story, but none did.
What’s even more impressive is the testimony of Paul and James the Lord’s brother. Saul, who later was named Paul, was killing Christians, thinking he was doing God a service. He was rising in power and prestige among the Jewish authorities. What could have changed him to become a believer in Jesus? He saw the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus, and that convinced him that Jesus really was the Son of God. He gained no power or money from converting to Christianity. Instead he lost all power and money. He suffered greatly for the rest of his lie to testify of the resurrected Jesus. He gives his testimony twice, in Acts 22 and 26, as proof that Jesus was raised from the dead. He boldly told King Agrippa: Acts 26:22 So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place, 23 as to whether the Christ was to suffer, and whether, as first from the resurrection of the dead, He would proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.” Then there was James the Lord’s brother who did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God before he saw the resurrected Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:7). So the eyewitnesses of the resurrection were not just 12 apostles who had been with Jesus for 3 years and who might have been part of some conspiracy to make up the story of a resurrection of Jesus. Even Paul and James, who did not want to believe in Jesus, came to believe in Him b/c they actually saw Jesus raised from the dead.
Some say that the disciples stole the body of Jesus from the tomb and then made up a lie that he had been raised? What would they gain from that? Also there were at least 4 Roman guards at the tomb who would be killed if they allowed anyone to steal Jesus’ body. The Jews made up a story that the guards fell asleep and that the disciples stole the body of Jesus. It is obvious that the apostles were too terrified to risk their lives by stealing the body. They went into hiding after Jesus was arrested. It is unbelievable that they would be able to tiptoe past sleeping guards, roll the huge stone away from the tomb, steal the body from the tomb, and tiptoe past the sleeping guards as they carried the body away without waking the guards. Even if they did that, why did the Roman and Jewish authorities not simply go arrest them and find out where they put the stolen body of Jesus? The fact that the enemies of Jesus made up the story about the disciples stealing the body proves that the tomb was indeed empty. That’s a major point. Even the enemies admit that the tomb was empty. So now we must examine their explanation of the empty tomb, and when we do, their story makes no sense.
What about the “swoon theory”? Some say that Jesus “swooned” or faked death in some way. Maybe he was drugged to a very low heart rate, even appearing to be dead. But what about the Romans who crucified him who did not break his legs to hasten his death? They were professional crucifiers who knew when a victim was dead. Plus one put a spear into Jesus side and brought out blood and water. Could Jesus have survived that, along with the scourging, and come out of the tomb after 3 days without any medical help if he was not really dead at all?
Then there’s The Passover Plot, a best selling book by Schonfield, published in 1965. ‘Schonfield’s central idea is that Jesus was a mortal man of intense faith who, reading the many signs and prophecies in existence in old Jewish scripture, decided that he was the Messiah. He then went out of his way to confirm this through enacting the other prophecies that had been made about the Anointed One, the King of the Jews, the Son of David, and the Son of Man, as his many names alternately translate as. Schonfield even posits a theory about Jesus faking his death – timing his crucifixion so that it would last only a short time due to the Sabbath, being administered a narcotic through a sponge dipped in vinegar wine – only for it to be ruined by the famous stab in the side he received from a Roman soldier.” The theory here is that the tinyband of Secret Jesus Conspirators had visited the tomb on Saturday night to help restore Jesus but found him too mortally wounded (from the unexpected Roman spear thrust in his side); so they then got his final instructions before he ‘died’ (a ‘second’ time”). Then they reburied him nearby (in the vegetable garden?) in an unmarked grave (like Moses). Supposedly it was someone else who was seen on Easter Sunday at the tomb, giving rise to the speculation that Jesus had been raised. (by scottmanleyhadley) I was in the 10th grade when this book came out and our preachers were condemning it as blasphemy, which it was. The post resurrection appearances of Jesus is the proof that the book’s premise is false.
One further proof of the resurrection: where did they first start preaching and witnessing to the resurrection? It was in Jerusalem where the resurrection supposedly occurred. You might hear someone say there was a resurrection of a dead person somewhere far off in Africa, but with no verification of that. But this is like a few of us saying that we saw someone raised from the dead 50 days ago just a few miles away from here in a cemetery. People would be able to easily check the veracity of that claim. Just 50 days after the resurrection the apostles are saying they saw Jesus raised from the dead just a short distance away, and thousands accepted that as a true testimony in Acts 2. The enemies said nothing to contradict Peter’s claim in his sermon in Acts 2 that Jesus had been raised from the dead 50 days before that.
Can we be 100% sure that Jesus was raised from the dead? I guess not in one sense. Just like we can’t be 100% sure that we landed on the moon. But it appears that there is more than enough evidence that Jesus was raised from the dead and that our faith is not in vain. More importantly, we can be sure that we receive an eternal immortal body that will live on eternally after we die physically. Jesus said, “he that believes in me will live even if he dies” (John 11:25). The same power that raised Jesus from the dead raises us from the dead spiritually when we become Christians. After our baptism, we receive an immortal spiritual body that will live on after we die.
As i approach the latter years of life, it helps me to review the evidence and proof for the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. I hope it helps you.
John Stam was born in 1907 and Betty Stam was born in 1906. Betty was raised in China by a missionary father. Both attended Moody Bible institute then were married in China in 1933 and began their mission work with China Inland Missions in China in November, 1934 during the Chinese Civil War. One month later they, along with their 3 month old daughter Helen were arrested by Communists for ransom, although the ransom note demanding $20,000 was never delivered. “The Communists knew that John was a Christian missionary and they despised him and his family because of it. They passionately believed in the Marxist teaching, “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the masses.” (from Eugene in BacktoJerusalem.com) They were marched 12 miles, during which in an overnight stay Betty hid baby Helen in a sleeping bag and left her. Later John were beheaded. A Christian shopkeeper was also executed for trying to get the soldiers to not kill the Stams. John Stam wrote a note to the mission authorities of how he and his wife had been captured, then wrote, “Philippians 1:20: ‘May Christ be glorified whether by life or death.'” The note was found after they died. Baby Helen was found by a Chinese pastor in an abandoned house along with $10 (which he and his wife used to buy milk for the baby) and rescued. She was taken to her maternal grandparents who were also missionaries in China, and then was raised by her aunt and uncle in the U.S.
What were you doing when you were 27 or 28 years old? My wife and I would have been about that age when we were finishing up our 2 years mission work in Colombia, South America. It was about that time that some kidnapping of Americans began. Our first child, Nicole, was about 2 years old (she was born whle we were in Trinidad) at that time although I don’t remember being concerned about the kidnappings. But I can’t imagine how the Stams felt during their ordeal. Married a little over a year and with a 3 month old baby, they are kidnapped and face execution. Is God not protecting those sent out to preach the gospel of His Son Jesus? Can you imagine Helen leaving her 3 month old baby girl hidden in a sleeping bag, saying good bye to her not knowing the fate of the child but fairly certain that the child would be killed if she stayed with the Stams. Can you imagine the feelings of the maternal grandparents when baby Helen was brought to them, knowing what happened to their daughter and son in law, knowing that the child would never know her parents? Can you imagine the horror that the kidnapping and murder of the Stams was felt back in the Moody Bible Institute among the former teachers and mentors of the Stams?
“Betty had written this in a journal entry before leaving for China, “I want something really worthwhile to live for. Like most young people, I want to invest this one life of mine as wisely as possible, in the place that yields richest profits to the world and to me … I want it to be God’s choice for me and not my own. There must be no self-interest at all, or I do not believe God can reveal His will clearly … I know very well that I can never realize the richest, most satisfying, life Christ meant for me, if I am not giving my own life unselfishly for others. I want Him to lead, and His Spirit to fill me. And then, only then, will I feel that my life is justifying its existence and realizing the maturity in Him that Christ meant for all men, in all parts of the world.” (From Melissaspoelstraministries )
The sacrifice of the Stams inspired many to go into foreign missions, citing a new generation of young missionaries. 700 young people from Moody Bible Institute and 200 from Wheaton Bible college pledge to follow the Stams example. The murder of the Stams will either inspire you to go all in for Jesus or cause you to have doubts about the existence of God. How can God stand back and allow those murders to happen? In the same way He stood back and allowed evil men to crucify and kill HIs Son on the cross. It is that simple. God knew that He was going to raise Jesus 3 days later, which is why we celebrate Easter Sunday today, April 20, 2025. He knew that He was going to bring John and Betty Stam to glory after their martyrdom. It had to be tough on them and yet joyful as they looked down from heaven and saw their precious baby being taken care of after their death. I believe that faithful saints go straight to heaven and can actually see what is going on down on earth and even feel sorrow or joy. I know there are passages about “no tears in heaven” but those passages usually refer to spiritual joy of Christians on earth.
Hopefully this story will inspire us to pray for and support missionaries who are sharing the gospel all over the world, especially among the unreached peoples groups which make up about 1/3 of the world’s population.
When we were doing mission work in Trinidad and Colombia, S.A., a song resonated with me: Follow Me. The third stanza goes like this:
O, Jesus if I die upon A foreign field someday, ‘Twould be no more than love demands, No less could I repay, “No greater love hath mortal man Than for a friend to die” These are the words He gently spoke to me, “If just a cup of water I place within your hand Then just a cup of water Is all that I demand.” But if by death to living They can Thy glory see, I’ll take my cross and follow close to Thee.
Not that I wanted to do on a foreign field during our 5 years of mission work, but it was a noble thought just in case! Allow me to tell you about Russell and Darlene Diebler. They were married in 1937; Darlene was 12 years younger than Russell. They began their mission work together in Indonesia in 1938. Russell was doing mission work in the interior to unreached people groups. Darlene went to meet him. Darlene, the first woman to enter this remote area, got a glimpse of the Baliem Valley of New Guinea. She could see the people in the valley waving at her. They were as excited to meet her as she was to meet them. Darlene began to run down the mountainside to them shouting at the top of her lungs, “I’m home! I’m home!”
“In the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Darlene and her missionary friends were captured by the Japanese military. The men were the first to be taken and sent to a prison camp. Russell’s parting words to Darlene were, “Remember one thing, dear: God said that He would never leave us nor forsake us.” Darlene had no idea that that would be the last time she would speak to her husband or that she would have to endure horrific things during the next four years before the war ended and she’d be free again. Eventually the women and children were also taken to a different prison camp. Life in the POW camps was dreadful. There was often a meager food supply, and what was given was not enough to sustain the heavy labor the prisoners were expected to carry out. Prisoners were brutally beaten for small infractions, and diseases like dysentery and malaria claimed the lives of many. During Darlene’s imprisonment she tried her best to be a good soldier for the cause of Christ and strived to be an encouragement to the other women and children. She established a practice of reading a portion of God’s Word and praying as a group each night in the barracks where she lived. This helped to keep her barrack a calm center in the eye of the military storm that raged around them.” (Shari House) Russell died in his prison camp in 1943. He could indeed sing that song, “Follow Me” (if I die upon a foreign field some day…) She was tortured and forced to sign a false confession to being a spy and was set to be executed, but a kind officer saved her. She was released from prison camp in 1945 when the Japanese surrendered, emaciated and weighing 80 pounds.
“Bitterness washed over her as large and daunting as the sea that surrounded her. In that moment she told the Lord she would never return to this place that had caused her so much pain. As she reached the flyboat and started to board it, she heard the sweet voices of the natives who had come to know the Lord and who had also shared in the indescribable suffering. They stood on the shoreline waving at her singing the song “God be with you, till we meet again . . .” Eventually Darlene would say of that moment, “Their song released the waters of bitterness that had flooded my soul, and the hurt began to drain from me as my tears flowed in a steady stream. The healing had begun. I knew then that someday, God only knew when, I would come back to these my people and my island home.” (Shari House)
“She met Jerry Rose and the two fell in love and were married on April 4, 1948. In early 1949, Darlene and Jerry returned to the Wissel Lakes, the same area where she and her first husband had started their ministry. For the next 29 years Darlene and Jerry, along with their two sons, served together teaching, preaching, building landing strips, delivering babies, facing headhunters, and leading people to Christ.” (Shari House) They left New Guinea in 1978 and work the next 15 years in Australia with the Aboriginies where they led hundreds to the Lord. They returned to the U.S. in 1993 and she died in 2004 at the age of 86.
I can’t imagine what Russell and Darlene suffered in the prison camps. Paul said 2 Timothy 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.” Russell arrived in eternal glory about 60 years before Darlene arrived, but they are both enjoying eternal bless. Isn’t that what we are living for? Job said, ““Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil.” (Job 14:1, NASB) I’ve never suffered for Christ; have you? How would I handle being in a Japanese prison camp? I am thankful I have never suffered like that b/c I don’t know how I would handle it.
Let us pray for Christians all over the world who are suffering persecution. Voice of the Martyrs tell story after story of such suffering. You can subscribe to receive their free magazine. Are you praying for persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ?
Nicky's Notes 