The Aaron and Hur Society

Posted on May 15, 2012 by admin

In a speech in 1941 at Harrow School for Boys, Britain’s Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, exhorted the students, “Never give in – never, never, never!”

Such was the resolve of the great World War II leader. But across the world today there are thousands of battle-weary pastors – frontline shepherds – who are ready to throw in the towel. Assaults of the devil, sniping from critics, discouragement, and physical, emotional and spiritual depletion are the constant “thorns in the flesh” many pastors endure. These pressures plus the relentless economic challenges in developing nations have brought many of God’s servants to the end of their rope.

In Global Advance’s Frontline Shepherds Conferences over the last few years we’ve noted that between 10 and 20 percent of the pastors attending our training events arrive in a “crisis of calling.” Many have said in so many words, “If God doesn’t meet me at this Global Advance event, I’m leaving the ministry.”

In our recent outreaches in Africa over 100 pastors indicated they were going back to their churches with fresh fire and fresh resolve to stay in ministry and be more fruitful than ever – even though they had come to the conference planning to quit! Not only did they receive a vision in their hearts and tools in their hands – God met them and renewed their commitment to their call. Think of the exponential, positive impact of just one pastor’s ministry that is rescued!

In early America “Aaron and Hur Societies” sprung up across New England. These prayer bands resolved to pray fervently for pastors, lifting up their hands through prayer, just as Aaron and Hur strengthened Moses, causing God’s people to prevail (Ex. 17:10-13). It is no coincidence that soon after this concentrated prayer for pastors, God brought the Great Awakening.

Let’s form new Aaron and Hur Societies! Join with others to pray for your pastor. And through your prayers, lift up the weary hands of God’s servant-leaders on the frontlines of the Gospel’s advance around the world. Your prayers will make all the difference. God’s people and His purposes will prevail.

The Core of Our Hope

Posted on April 5, 2012 by admin

by David Shibley

Throughout this Holy Week Christians around the world remember the price and the power that secured our peace with God.

The core of the Gospel is the cross and the resurrection. Paul wrote that he preached “as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4 NIV).

Hope itself was literally reborn through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Without the cross our status was this: “having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). But the cross changes everything! “Now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13).

The culmination of Christ’s saving activity is His resurrection. By receiving Him our coming resurrection is tied to His completed resurrection. Because I live,” Jesus said, “you will live also” (Jn. 14:19).

Christ is risen – and with His triumph over sin and death hope bursts through all of our pain.

Because of Christ’s death and resurrection we have:

Hope of a home in heaven. “I go to prepare a place for you. . . . I will come again and receive you to Myself” (Jn. 14:3).
Hope for a glorified body fit for eternity. He “will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body” (Phil. 3:21).
Hope that we will be reunited with loved ones already with the Lord. “The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we ho are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:16-17).
Hope for the unrivaled reign of Jesus Christ over all the earth. “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15).

On Good Friday, remember and worship. Jesus took your sins on Himself! On Resurrection Sunday, remember and rejoice. Jesus broke the chains of death! “Christ in you, bringing with Him the hope of all the glorious things to come” (Col. 1:27, Phillips).

Because He lives

I can face tomorrow

Because He lives

All fear is gone

Because I know He holds the future

And life is worth the living

Just because He lives

(Bill Gaither)

Thank you for your faithful partnership with Global Advance through your prayers and gifts. Because of your generosity Global Advance will bring encouragement, effective training and much-needed resources to hundreds of frontline leaders in India, Senegal, Kenya, and Cameroon.

Resurrection Reflections

Posted on March 28, 2012 by admin

In this Holy Week, followers of Jesus around the world will recall His atoning death and triumphant resurrection. It is this almighty “one-two punch” that has dealt a death blow to death itself. Ours is no solemn wake. This is a celebration – a “preview party” of Resurrection Day!

The world is wracked with pessimism and fear but those who have tapped in to Christ’s death and resurrection are teeming with hope. “Our Savior Jesus Christ has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10). Jesus promised, “Because I live, you will live also” (Jn. 14:19). Just look at how Jesus is honored in a single verse (Rev. 1:5):

Firstborn from the dead
Ruler of the kings of the earth
The One who freed us from sin by His blood

Peter wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pe. 1:3-4 NASB). The intent of the original Greek reads more like this: “Impelled by His abundant mercy. . . .” God’s very nature moved Him to redemptive action on our behalf. We have been born again into a living, active hope.

Because we are anchored in Jesus we live in hope and we die in hope. This is the Good News we are privileged to proclaim around the world. Thank you for partnering with us through your prayers and financial gifts as we present the crucified, risen Jesus to the nations.

This week – remember and rejoice!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!

Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!

Christ has burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!

Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!

Dying once our souls to save, Alleluia!

Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!

Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!

Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!

Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

(Charles Wesley, 1739)

From India’s Coral Strands

Posted on March 14, 2012 by admin

Report on Recent Ministry in India

by David Shibley

If you take the Great Commission seriously you must take India seriously.

I’ve been to over sixty countries and no nation pulls at me like India. With its over one billion people, this ancient land of contrasts is an emerging economic superpower and one of the poorest nations on earth. India is a nuclear power where cattle roam the streets; a democracy that has consistently denied basic human rights to millions of its citizens.

There’s good historical evidence that, after experiencing firsthand Christ’s resurrection, the apostle Thomas risked his life to plant the gospel in India. Eventually he was martyred in the city now known as Chennai. The litany of missionaries who gave their hearts and lives to India comprise a spiritual ring of honor. Among the notables: William Carey, Amy Carmichael, E. Stanley Jones, Mother Teresa, Mark Buntain and P. J. Titus.

Thomas saw significant success for the Gospel among the cultured and wealthy. But with the advent of British and American missionaries in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Christian message went almost exclusively to the lower classes. Despite heroic mission efforts, most estimates of the number of Christians in India has remained at only around three percent.

But something amazing has happened in the last twenty years. Massive evangelistic crusades have witnessed millions of Indians turning to Christ. When I first went to India in 1981, there were no more than a handful of churches of 1000 people. Today they are multiplying rapidly. In some states of India, the population is overwhelmingly Christian. And behind the scenes, knowledgeable Indian missiologists believe that the percentage of evangelical Christians in India may now be as high as ten percent.

Recently Nashville Pastor Dale Evrist and I had the privilege of equipping hundreds of India’s great church leaders. Our first stop was a one-day seminar with 120 of the denominational and network leaders of northern India. Northern India is home to the largest cluster of peoples yet unreached with the Gospel. These church leaders are literally on the frontlines of the church’s advance in northern India. They are the ones best positioned to take the light and life of Jesus to these unreached peoples.

Frankly, I know of nothing more strategic in missions than equipping close-proximity indigenous leaders to reach the unreached of this area. Northern India is certainly one of the most Gospel-needy areas in the world. Your prayers and financial partnership made it possible for us to encourage, train and resource these strategic frontline leaders. Further, we will soon send another Global Advance team to bring further training. These victories for the Gospel are possible because of faithful partners like you.

Then Pastor Evrist and I joined others in equipping hundreds of pastoral leaders at the Frontline Shepherds Conference held on the campus of COTR Theological Seminary in the State of Andhra Pradesh. In addition to the pastors attending, many alumni and current students were equipped at this conference to help fulfill Christ’s Great Commission. The response was wonderful as many pastors took up the challenge to plant churches in unreached areas.

I was also privileged to give the commencement address to the thirtieth graduating class of COTR Theological Seminary. In 1981 the late Dr. P. J. Titus and I took a fact-finding trip to India to find suitable land for a new Bible college. That was my first trip to this amazing nation; I have since been to India 33 times. And that small plot of land that was purchased has flourished into one of the finest theological training centers in the nation.

How grateful I am that the Lord has allowed me to see how a small seed planted three decades ago literally has borne 100-fold fruit for Christ and His kingdom. I was deeply moved to hear the testimonies of graduates. One graduate from the northeast India state of Nagaland reported that since graduation he has planted over 600 churches – and 100 of these have 1000 people or more!

The “Macedonian call” of areas that need the Gospel of Jesus Christ continues to reverberate today. An old missions hymn, written in 1819, still beckons us as Christ’s followers in the 21^st century to take His light and life to those who have never heard. The language may be archaic, but the vision pulsates with contemporary challenge to you and me:

From Greenland’s icy mountains, from India’s coral strands;

Where Africa’s sunny fountains roll down their golden sand,

From many an ancient river, from many a palmy plain

They call us to deliver their land from error’s chain.

Shall we, whose souls are lighted with wisdom from on high,

Shall we to those benighted the lamp of life deny?

Salvation! O salvation! The joyful sound proclaim

Till Earth’s remotest nation has learned Messiah’s Name.

Serving Those Who Serve Him

Posted on February 16, 2012 by admin

SERVING THOSE WHO SERVE HIM

David Shibley

For 21 years it has been our high privilege to honor, affirm, and resource the Gospel’s hidden heroes – those on the frontlines of the church’s global advance.

I’ve eaten in the hut-home of an African pastor, with the family goat as the main dish (the only dish). I’ve wept with displaced pastors in India whose homes or churches had been destroyed by crazed religious radicals. I’ve received the Lord’s Supper with humble believers in Russia. I’ve met in secret with house church leaders who had all been jailed (some had been tortured) for their faith in Christ and their unrelenting evangelism. These experiences of identification with the church in the Majority World have impacted me profoundly.

Recently I’ve been moved again by Jesus’ amazing servant-leadership in washing His disciples’ feet (Jn. 13:5). There was no awkwardness for Jesus, the creator of the universe and the dispenser of the very breath the disciples breathed, to voluntarily humble Himself and do a slave’s job. Such a scene leaves us speechless – until we pause to remember God’s amazing grace and astounding love. Jesus was washing the feet of men He knew would desert Him, be turncoats from their commitment to Him, and even deny Him.

Why?

The answer is in the verses just preceding Jesus’ amazing act of servanthood. The Bible tells us

Jesus knew the Father had given all things into His hands. In other words, Jesus understood His authority. As ruler of the universe there would not be – there could not be – anything demeaning in this great act of humility.
He knew He came from God. He understood His identity. He knew He was, as the old theologians said, “very God of very God.” As God in human flesh, His touch and ministry to the disciples would mark them forever.
He knew He was going to God. He understood His destiny. He knew the Father had appointed a day when all the world would be judged by Him (see Acts 17:31).

As the almighty Son of God nothing could demean nor diminish His glory. In taking a towel and stooping to wipe the grime from His followers’ calloused, stinking feet, He forever dignified and sanctified voluntary acts of service. That is why Paul said we are to assume the same attitude He had: “[Jesus] made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant . . . He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7-8).

This month Global Advance teams will touch, teach, laugh with, pray with, and cry with Christ’s servants in very difficult areas where the Gospel is maligned and the Lord is dishonored. But the reason our hands can touch their hands is because your hands of partnership make these connections possible. On behalf of these unsung heroes who carry the light into the darkness, thank you for partnering with us to serve, bless, and equip these servant-leaders for their high calling.

Tribute to Hassan Khalibwa

Posted on February 3, 2012 by admin

Tribute to Hassan Khalibwa

“The death of His faithful ones is valuable in the Lord’s sight” (Psa. 116:15, HCSB).

We are saddened to announce the death of our friend and co-worker, Hassan Khalibwa of Nairobi, Kenya, as the result of a brain hemorrhage.

Born August 16, 1965, Pastor Hassan went to be with the Lord January 2, 2012. As a new believer, Hassan and his wife, Mary, met David and Jennifer Hatley, missionaries to Kenya in 1993. Beginning his service at Langata Church on the Rock playing the guitar and helping lead worship, his quest for biblical knowledge and continued spiritual growth eventually led to his ordination to Gospel ministry. In the late 1990s he was ordained as senior pastor of the church. In 2002 Pastor Hassan was appointed General Overseer for all Africa Churches on the Rock, a position he held until his death.

With David Hatley, Pastor Hassan was instrumental in planting hundreds of churches across East Africa. He was a pivotal part of strategic outreaches to the unreached of the area and helped coordinate many of Global Advance’s Frontline Shepherds Conferences.

Global Advance president, Jonathan Shibley, and founder, David Shibley, issued the following statement: “Pastor Hassan Khalibwa was a great man of God and an outstanding leader of the African church. He was a great help to us and contributed profoundly to the success of Global Advance’s Frontline Shepherds Conferences in East Africa. His gracious demeanor, his deep strength, his wisdom and anointing – these Christ-like characteristics will always be remembered. What a great legacy he has left us.”

David Shibley added, “Death will be swallowed up in victory. Pastor Hassan’s life is a very precious seed that has been sown; his life and ministry will produce a great harvest.”

Please pray for David and Jennifer Hatley in the loss of their co-worker and friend. Pray especially for God’s peace and comfort to rest with Pastor Hassan’s wife, Mary, and with their children, Edwin, Emmanuel, and Ruth. We are asking God to raise up many great men like Pastor Hassan to further the advance of the Gospel throughout that region.

Compounded Interest

Posted on January 23, 2012 by admin

Last night Naomi and I were privileged to take part in the 25^th Anniversary celebration at Southwest Harvest Church in Duncanville, Texas. For the past quarter century this church has been led by founding pastor Sonny Conatser and his wife Susan.

Sonny and Susan have been great friends to us for over 30 years. They are models of faithfulness. Thank you, Sonny and Susan, for your faithfulness to Jesus, to each other, to the call of God on your lives and to the vision we all embraced long ago.

Sonny and Susan’s son, Christian, is a very capable fourth generation preacher. (Christian and his wife, Lisa, have just had their first child. Please pray for baby Moses as he is struggling with a serious heart defect.)

The story of God’s faithfulness traces far back. Sonny’s dad, Howard Conatser, was a leader among Baptists in the charismatic renewal of the 1970s. Howard’s father was a Baptist church planter in the hills of Virginia and Tennessee. It is a rare, beautiful thing to see this succession of four generations of Gospel preachers. It’s sort of a spiritual “compounded interest” as the blessings of the Gospel have reverberated now through five generations.

Andrew Murray wrote that humility is the “mother virtue.” Missionary statesman John R. Mott believed the greatest virtue is loyalty. Sonny and Susan, you model them both. Naomi and I are honored to call you our friends and co-workers in His harvest.

THE SEAMLESS TRANSITION

Posted on November 28, 2011 by admin

Thoughts on Thanksgiving and the Advent Season

Last Sunday, November 27, was the beginning of the Advent season in the Christian calendar. It is a time of expectancy as we prepare our hearts to celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world.

Here in America the Advent season comes on the heels of Thanksgiving. Coupled together, for me, this is indeed the most wonderful time of the year. Giving thanks to our Father God for all His goodness is the perfect prelude to a meditative season on the greatest of all miracles – the Incarnation. The miracle of our redemption, the miracle of His resurrection, the coming miracle of our resurrection – all of these are realities that are predicated on history’s greatest miracle: God became a man.

Interestingly, the Apostle Paul taught that the first step away from God is ingratitude. “Although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him” (Ro. 1:21, ESV). But the benefits of a thankful heart are not just spiritual. Recent research shows that being thankful can help reduce high blood pressure. Renowned psychiatrist Karl Menninger observed that perennially grateful people are seldom mentally ill.

Thanksgiving seamlessly transitions into the Advent season. There could be no better heart preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth than intentional, wide-ranging gratitude. And as we remember all God’s boundless blessings, let’s never forget His Gift that surpasses all others. “Thank God for the gift of His Son – a gift too wonderful for words!” (2 Cor. 9:15 NLT).

THANKSGIVING MESSAGE

Posted on November 21, 2011 by admin

Are you struggling to be thankful as you come to the end of a tough year? Then the story of Martin Rinkart will lift your heart.

Rinkart was a Lutheran pastor who ministered in Eilenburg, Saxony during the Thirty Years’ War (1618 – 1648). This devastating conflict ravaged entire regions, caused unrelenting famine, and bankrupted most of the combatant powers. Malnutrition and pandemic threatened almost all of Europe.

Eilenburg saw a steady stream of refugees pour into the city for three decades, overwhelming the city’s meager resources. Eight hundred homes in Eilenburg were destroyed in the fighting. The pastors of the city were under enormous strain, conducting multiple funerals daily while trying to minister to survivors. The Year of the Great Pestilence (1637) saw every pastor in the city except Rinkart succumb to the horrific conditions. As the sole surviving clergyman in Eilenburg, it fell upon Rinkart to conduct funeral services for up to 50 people per day. In May of that terrible year, Rinkart’s own wife died.

Rinkart lived in a world palled by death and despair. Yet his faith in Christ held firm. He did not give in to bitterness. Even after living through three hellish decades he never lost his confidence in the goodness and faithfulness of God.

Pastor Rinkart could identify with Job. After losing his family, his health, his money and his position in society, Job still declared His trust in God: “Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15, HCSB). Martin Rinkart profoundly understood Jeremiah’s unflinching faith. Looking on a scene of collapsed hopes and a privileged nation that now lay pillaged, Jeremiah still declared, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22-24, ESV).

How did Pastor Rinkart keep his faith and his sanity? He refused to be defined by his circumstances. He determined to focus, not on his circumstances, but on the unchanging character of a merciful God. If we drop anchor on any “rock” that can potentially be removed, we will be insecure and prone to self-debilitating bitterness. But if we anchor on the Rock of Christ Jesus, our moorings will hold fast (see Matt. 7:24-27).

Set against the bleak backdrop of a protracted war, economic collapse, and his own city’s devastation, Martin Rinkart penned these words for his children as a prayer of thanksgiving:

Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices
Who wondrous things has done, in Whom His world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still are ours today.

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed
And free us from all ills in this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given,
The Son and Him Who reigns with Them in highest heaven* –
The one eternal God Whom earth and heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

No matter how difficult things may be for you right now, look up and remember: “His mercy endures forever.” Now thank we all our God.

*”Him Who reigns with Them in highest heaven” is a reference to the Holy Spirit

THE DAY THAT CHANGED THE CHURCH

Posted on September 13, 2011 by admin

Thoughts on the Aftermath of 9/11

This week we commemorate a week that changed your life, and mine. On September 11, 2001, life got more fragile. Worldviews were altered. Innocence was lost. The terrorists who carried out these atrocities were driven – not by money or fame – but by a destructive belief system. Don’t ever think personal theology doesn’t have public consequences.

Three measurable realities for the church worldwide are rooted in the fallout from 9/11:

• In the ensuing decade persecution against Christians has intensified.
• The 9/11 attacks fomented a deep-seated malcontentedness in millions of Muslims.
• The 9/11 attacks have made the church more missional.

Added to these realities, I’m thinking especially this week about two other effects from 9/11:

• Every day of peace and freedom is a priceless gift. We do not have the promise of tomorrow – but we do have today. This day’s twenty-four hour treasure should be infused with urgency in advancing the cause of Christ, His Kingdom, and His Great Commission. Jesus reminds us, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (Jn. 9:4). Any church today that is not seriously committed to helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist.

• God’s love must motivate our actions. We must juxtapose our message – the gospel – in dramatic contrast to the pernicious message of religious terrorists. The enmity between a holy God and rebellious humanity ended when the wrath of God against sin was poured out on His Son on the Cross. God loves people. He sacrificed His only Son for us – when we were thoroughly helpless to meet the demands of His righteousness. Now, love drives us to get this Good News to everyone, everywhere (2 Cor. 5:14).

Ideologies that are weak at their core often resort to violence for their propagation. Seventy years ago the dogma that threatened the world was fascism. Just three decades ago the dogma that threatened the world was communism. These ideologies failed because their weak core eventually imploded. Current anti-Christian ideologies will fail too, and for the same reason. Ultimately, truth triumphs.

In a prayer vigil the day after the 9/11 attacks Lloyd Ogilvie, then-chaplain of the U. S. Senate, quoted the following verse. As you process how to bring glory to Jesus in the post-9/11 era, remember and rejoice: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth” (Ps. 46:10).

Adapted from “The Day That Changed the Church” by David Shibley which appears in the September issue of Charisma magazine. Used by permission. To access the entire article online go to www.charismamag.com, and write “David Shibley” in the search bar at the top. Then click on the article.