Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | March 9, 2010

Caring for Katy 2010

On Sunday, March 7, Kingsland Baptist Church closed its doors — not forever, just for the day. Instead of meeting for church, we sent almost 2,000 of our members into our community to be the church. Our folks engaged in fifty-eight service initiatives that touched the lives of many people and charitable organizations in need. This was our third annual Caring for Katy day. I had the wonderful privilege of visiting several of our groups and meeting many of the beneficiaries of our acts of kindness. Here is my list of the top ten cool things about Caring for Katy.

10. We worked together. | We engaged in and completed fifty-eight service initiatives on Sunday. That’s more work than one person can possibly do in a single day. However, by working together, we addressed multiple needs and touched many lives throughout our community.

9. We got our hands dirty. | In order to meet needs throughout our community, we had to leave the church building. We became the hands and feet of Jesus throughout Katy. Adults and children used their hands to plant flowers, pick up garbage, spread mulch, work on homes, and do a multitude of other tasks — including hugging lots of grateful recipients of our acts of kindness.

8. We lived our purpose. | Kingsland’s purpose is to love God, love people, and equip the generations. That’s exactly what we did this past Sunday. We demonstrated God’s love to the people of our community in tangible and practical ways and also invested in our kids by setting an example of selfless service. That’s the kind of thing that will touch the future as our kids grow up to be adults and parents who love God, love people, and equip the generations.

7. We built community. | We encourage every member of Kingsland to be a part of a small group and we work really hard to build community. This past Sunday we built community while serving the people of our community. Those who normally sit together in Bible study and worship worked shoulder to shoulder to care for those in need. Caring for Katy strengthened the bonds between those who are members of our small groups.

6. We encouraged our kids. | One of the best things about Caring for Katy is that it allows parents and kids to work together. This past Sunday our families made special memories as they served others. Our kids learned that loving and serving others is important and must be a part of who we are as followers of Christ. Serving others is a great way to raise kids that are less self-absorbed and more mindful of those around them.

5. We met practical needs. | Many people in our community are suffering because they have lost their jobs, are battling illness, or have suffered other unexpected setbacks. Our practical acts of kindness reminded many people that they matter to God and are not forgotten. Our small groups did a great job of talking to people in need and arranging to meet those needs. For those we helped, Caring for Katy is the closest thing to Ty Pennington hopping off a bus with his Extreme Makeover crew that they will ever experience. Their gratitude expressed through smiles, hugs, and tears are the very best Hallmark cards we could ever hope to receive.

4. We inspired people. | I received a phone call yesterday from an elderly lady who lives in one of Katy’s assisted living communities. She called to thank us for the small group that visited with her and other residents and provided lunch for everyone in the complex. She said that in all of her years she had never known of a church to close its doors on a Sunday in order to care for the people of their community. “I am proud of the people of Kingsland,” she said, “and I am going to tell everybody about how your kindness touched me.”

3. We caused others to think about God. | One of the coolest things that happened at many of our work sites was the curiosity of neighbors. Many neighbors approached our folks to ask what they were doing and why. This gave us an opportunity to talk about what it means to love God and love people. Many who never attend any church on Sunday saw a living sermon in their own neighborhoods. And, that’s a good thing.

2. We will continue to help people. | Our folks made some very meaningful connections with others in our community. Many of our small groups will continue to serve the people they assisted on Sunday throughout the coming year. They will continue to care for widows and single moms and others who have ongoing needs. They will continue to be Jesus with skin on and to do for others what Jesus would do.

1. God was glorified. | The very best thing about Caring for Katy is that God was glorified. Jesus said, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). The common response from those who saw as well as those who benefited from our many good works was the same — “Thank God” or “God is good” or “Praise the Lord.” Our desire is to continue to glorify His name as we care for the people of our community through unconditional acts of love and kindness.

• • • • •

PS | Special thanks to Jon Davis, our Missions Ministry Associate, for serving as the point man for this year’s Caring for Katy day. Great job of coordinating a million details, Jon.

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Posted in Caring for Katy, Local Missions Initiatives

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | March 6, 2010

Jesus with Skin On

I recently saw a sign outside of a church in our community that caught my attention. The message on the sign announced the Pastor’s current sermon series — “Who is Jesus?” As I continued down the road, I thought about the question on the sign. While the question is relevant, I wondered if non-church-goers would actually attend that church in order to hear the answer to the question. Would they be more likely to stay home and Google the answer or would they actually attend one of the church’s services to hear the answer? My guess is that folks are more likely to stay home and even less likely to Google the answer.

When one of our small groups assisted a single mom in our community with some practical needs, her neighbor saw the activity and walked across the street. He asked one of our volunteers what we were doing. The volunteer explained that the single mom was in the midst of some tough times and did not have the funds to make some necessary house repairs. The man looked toward our Go Beyond project van and asked if the volunteers were members of Kingsland Baptist Church. “Yes,” replied our volunteer, “we are all members and are here to demonstrate God’s love to this woman by meeting some of her needs.” The man scratched his head and replied, “I am not a Christian and have never had a desire to go to any church. I never realized that Christianity was about stuff like this — helping those in need. But, if that is what Christianity is about, then I am certainly interested in learning more about Jesus.” That man’s interest in learning about Jesus was awakened when Jesus turned up in his neighborhood in the guise of two-dozen volunteers.

Sunday, March 7, is Kingsland’s third annual Caring for Katy day. We will close the doors to the church on Sunday and send two-thousand of our members into the community to be Jesus with skin on. Our small groups will bless residents of Katy through fifty-eight service projects. These practical acts of kindness will touch the guys who sell newspapers on street corners, nursing home residents, widows and single moms, families in need, local churches and assistance ministries, and more. We will invest over $100,000.00 in meeting needs on March 7. We are doing all of this because we love God and love people. We believe that many folks in our community are longing for help and hungry for hope. And, we want to help. No strings attached.

A couple hundred Kingsland members were out in the community today, getting a head start on their projects. One group is doing home repairs for a woman with two small children whose husband was recently deployed to Afghanistan. The group serving at her home is installing a new fence, painting the interior of her home, providing a new freezer, and more. This young woman was so overjoyed that she contacted her husband via Skype. She walked around holding the camera on her computer so that her husband could see what was happening. He too, was overcome with joy and gratitude. We are grateful for the opportunity to bless this family and the many others whom we will serve on Sunday. Our hope is that folks in our community will be prompted to glorify God (Matt. 5:16) because Jesus with skin on turned up to help in their neighborhood.

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Posted in Caring for Katy, Local Missions Initiatives

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | March 4, 2010

The Son of the Martyr

The seventh chapter of Acts records the account of the death of Stephen, an early Christian stoned to death by an angry mob. Just before he died, Stephen “gazed into heaven” and saw “Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). The Bible makes it clear that after completing His redemptive work and returning to heaven, Jesus “sat” at the right hand of the heavenly Father. However, when Stephen died, Luke recorded that Jesus was “standing” — perhaps to welcome Stephen, the first of many martyrs, home.

Martyrdom is not a thing of the past. Since the time of Stephen, many faithful Christ-followers have paid the ultimate price for their devotion to Christ. More Christians were martyred in the twentieth century than in the previous nineteen centuries combined. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and the more recently published Jesus Freaks record the moving accounts of these individuals of whom the world was not worthy (Heb. 11:38). By some estimates, 100 million Christians around the world are currently suffering some form of persecution for their faith — from abuse, imprisonment, and hostilities to death.

Bill Hyde

While visiting Cambodia last year, I met Steve Hyde. Steve is the Director of Asia for Jesus, a dynamic ministry that is sowing seeds of life throughout the land of Pol Pot’s former killing fields. But, Steve is also the son of a martyr. Steve’s father, Bill, was martyred on March 4, 2003. Bill and his wife Lyn served as Southern Baptist missionaries in Davao City on the southern island of Mindanao. They trained national Christians to plant churches in remote Muslim villages. Over their years of service among Muslims, Bill received many death threats. However, these threats did not deter him from traveling to and working in some of the most dangerous places in the Philippines.

Seven years ago today, Bill went to the small airport outside of Davao City to pick up fellow missionaries who were returning from Manila. While at the airport, members of one of Mindanao’s Muslim rebel groups detonated a bomb hidden in an unattended bag. The explosion injured more than one hundred fifty Filipinos and killed twenty-one people – including Bill Hyde. The news devastated Steve. At his father’s funeral in Iowa, Steve spoke about avenging his father’s death, but not in the way in which you might expect. This is what Steve said at his Dad’s funeral service:

“I will avenge my father’s death, but not like the plans of the Evil One. To kill and destroy is easy, but to love your enemy is God’s command. The plans of Jesus are peace and love through the forgiveness of sins. I will go and bring Jesus throughout this evil world and take the light of Jesus into the darkness. Please, all of you whose lives were touched by my father, who were motivated and encouraged by him in church planting, evangelism and the Kingdom of God — please join me in avenging my father’s death. Let us together go into every dark area, those hard to go places, those places that bring fear just by mention of their name. Go, as my father went. My Dad will not be the last martyr, but in the end the Lord Jesus Christ will have the victory. Take the light into the darkness with me.”

After his father’s death, God spoke these words to Steve’s heart: “Son of the martyr, you will follow in your father’s footsteps to bring glory to Me. You are to bring Christ’s love and peace and show sinful people the way to salvation from their sin.” Steve has remained faithful to that call. He and his family returned to the site of the explosion and placed a wreath there. The banner on the wreath said: “From the Bill Hyde family and Americans who love Filipinos and know they are worth dying for.”

Those who sought to silence Bill Hyde’s voice unwittingly amplified it. The men who came to Christ under his ministry continue to plant more than three-hundred churches per year. And, through the outreach of these churches, thousands of people have heard and responded to the message of Jesus Christ every year since Bill’s death. Tertullian was right, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” As for the son of the martyr, God continues to use him to reach thousands throughout Southeast Asia with the love of Jesus Christ.

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Posted in Cambodia, Persecution of Christians

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | March 1, 2010

Building for the Future

   On the afternoon of November 6, 2009, my friend Doyle Lowry and I were privileged to take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for Kingsland’s Diane Patterson Boarding School for Boys in Orissa, India. Several of our boys and local Christian leaders assembled under gray skies with clouds pregnant with rain. I talked to the boys about Diane Patterson for whom the school is named. Diane had served as a missionary in India for two years and lost her life in a tragic auto accident in Houston. This school is dedicated to Diane’s memory and to fulfilling Kingsland’s purpose of loving God, loving people, and equipping the generations.

   In January of this year, we started construction of our campus. I am encouraged by the progress. The first building on our master plan is the kitchen building. Until we open our campus, we will use this building to store our building supplies. Once our boys move to the site, our cooks will prepare all of the meals in this new kitchen building. It’s a vast improvement over the tiny hut where meals are currently prepared.

   Located near the kitchen is our new water-well. The water-well diggers have been working daily to dig this fifteen-foot diameter well. This is hard work. The diggers are working with hand tools and using baskets to haul away the dirt. Once it is completed,  the walls of the well will be lined with rocks. This water-well will keep our campus supplied with fresh drinking water as well as water for bathing and for the irrigation of our garden.

   Last week our contractor started work to prepare the site for the dormitory that will house our boys. This five-thousand-plus square-foot building will house our one-hundred boys. For the first time in their lives, each of our boys will have a bed and a place to store his possessions. Once we complete the building we will add computer stations loaded with educational software and provide a small library of books for the boys.

   Thank you, Kingsland, for your prayers and financial gifts to our boys’ school. Your gifts will ensure that our boys receive a good education and are equipped to understand what they believe and why. We are committed to helping these boys become godly men, strong leaders, and faithful fathers. The Diane Patterson School is just one more way that we are working to fulfill our purpose of loving God, loving people, and equipping the generations. We are building for the future.

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Posted in India

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | February 27, 2010

Counting the Cost

   I first heard the song “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” soon after I became a Christian at the height of the Jesus Movement in 1973. As a young believer, I loved the theme of the song — count the cost of following Jesus and don’t turn back! Honestly though, other than being called names, my friends and I did not experience the kind of pressure that would make us think of turning back from our commitment to follow Jesus. The biggest threat we faced in those years was being called “Jesus Freaks,” a pejorative term we gladly embraced. As one friend put it, “Just worry when they stop calling you a Jesus Freak.”

   On my first trip to India in November 1998 I was surprised to hear believers in a remote Kui village singing “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.” I was even more surprised to learn that the song had actually originated in India. The Kui are no strangers to persecution or to pressure to renounce their faith. Located in the heart of Orissa, the state with the worst record of persecution of Christians in recent years, the Kui have suffered much at the hands of Hindu persecutors. Soon after I returned home, Hindu extremists in Orissa burned to death Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons, Timothy (age 7) and Phillip (age 10). Graham and his sons paid the ultimate price for following Jesus and did not turn back, even in the face of death.

   Counting the cost is something that people who live in restricted and closed countries must consider before they choose to follow Jesus. They know that the decision to follow Him can be a dangerous thing to do. I was reminded of the risk others face when they follow Jesus in an e-mail I received from a friend who works among Muslims in South Asia. Her account of a baptism service in a remote location illustrates what it means to count the cost of following Jesus.

“Where are we going?” I said to myself in the crowded backseat. We had driven 30 minutes and were heading out into the hills as the sun set pink and purple over the glimmering city. But now it was getting darker, and the paved road soon turned into dirt, and then finally we were weaving our way through indiscernible rocky paths in a riverbed with no river in sight. “There it is,” someone said. The shallow clean water was shining in the moonlight, with just enough light for the eight of us to see each other’s faces.

The quiet intimacy of this moment enraptured me as we huddled together with the church’s pastor and his teenage children. The pastor looked passionately into each of their eyes and asked them once again, “No one is pressuring you to do this? You are taking this step of faith of your own free will? Do you believe Jesus Christ was crucified, dead, and was buried and rose again on the third day and is coming again? Are you choosing to make him the consuming Love of your life?” I was already crying—there was such a holiness that I can’t even describe.  I was hugging the pastor’s daughter tightly to keep her warm, while we watched her brother. But, soon I let go and she waded to her father already standing in the river. With her father and his partner on both of sides of her raising their hands, she prayed out loud in her own language, and I trembled. Then … there she went … under the water … dead to the old and alive to the new forever. She came up shivering and glowing.

The children’s mother was not with us. She had left that same morning for the village after hardening her heart and declaring that she would never accept this new religion.  Two days before she had threatened her daughter by saying, “If you get baptized, I’ll shoot you.”  As we left that night, the stars were shining overhead and there was not a hint of regret on the young girl’s face. She whispered, “When I came up out of the water, I saw the clearest vision of Jesus right before me staring with eyes of love.”

   I am inspired by stories like this. They remind me that I have no reason to be ashamed of my faith or to hide my light under a basket. Choosing to follow Jesus is the most important decision I have ever made. I am determined to follow Him to the end, no matter what.

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Posted in Persecution of Christians

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | February 25, 2010

Deliver Us from Evil

   The Lord’s Prayer, also called the Model Prayer, is one of the best-known prayers in the Bible (Matt. 6:9-13). I memorized this prayer when I was a young boy attending a parochial school in San Antonio, Texas. This past weekend, I was reminded of one of the most important parts of that prayer — “deliver us from evil” or “deliver us from the evil one” (Matt. 6:13). With more than 27 million people trapped in some form of slavery today, the cry for deliverance from evil is one that ascends to heaven every minute of the day. Those of us who live in the relative safety of the West do not fully understand what it means to weep or to long for deliverance from evil. However, those who are enslaved and forced to do awful things in the obscurity of filthy places think about deliverance every day.

   This past weekend, I received word that sixty young girls who were caught in the web of the commercial sex trade in South Asia were rescued by champions of justice. I met with several of my friends last week to pray for this rescue operation. We prayed for the safety of those who would be involved in this dangerous rescue initiative. We also prayed that, through their efforts, God would deliver sixty young girls from evil. When we learned that two previous rescue attempts had to be aborted because someone had tipped off the brothel owners, we prayed with even greater urgency. And, we continued to intercede for the sixty young girls whom we have never met but whose lives matter.

   I am relieved that because of the bold initiative of some unnamed champions of justice, sixty girls have been delivered from evil and transferred to places of safety — places where they will receive the specialized care they need and deserve to put the pieces of their lives back together. When Paul described salvation to the church at Colossae (1:13-14), he described God as a rescuer: “For He delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus came and stormed the dark domain of the evil one, delivered us, and transferred us to His own kingdom — a place where we have the remarkable opportunity to become new creatures. He delivered us from evil.

   Those of us who have been delivered from evil have a responsibility to pray for, to support, and to participate in initiatives that set free the captives and the downtrodden. Our prayers and actions must harmonize with the prayers and needs of those crying out for deliverance. I was especially moved by the report of one of the persons involved in the rescue initiative in South Asia. Here is what this champion wrote in an e-mail. Her words breathe life into what otherwise would be a statistic or a headline: Sixty Girls Rescued from Brothels. My friend wrote these words:

Before I left today, I spent some time with one particular girl who was sobbing bitterly. Through her tears she said that she did not have a mother, was deserted by a husband when she was pregnant, gave birth to a baby boy who is now nine, and has been working to support her son and father from a very small age. She is new to the trade and had been left here by some pimp. She kept repeating “Nobody loves me” and “That is why I ended up here. If someone had cared about me I would not have ended up here.” She said that even when her brother died she did not cry like this. Her tears were of relief and joy at being rescued but also shame and guilt for what she had been through. I am so glad that I had an opportunity to tell her that God loves her and that is how we came to find her. Her answer was, “I have called out to God so many times but he let me remain there.” I am happy that we get to be God’s hands and feet and be a part of this girl’s rejoicing.

   The young lady mentioned in this e-mail is one of sixty who was delivered from evil a few days ago. She is extremely fortunate. Her words remind me that deliverance from evil happens one person at a time. And, each person delivered from evil has a story to tell. However, as my friend suggests in her e-mail, deliverance may not happen unless we are willing to be God’s hands and feet. We must be willing to storm dark places to rescue the oppressed and bring them into the security of God’s love and hope. We must not forget the millions who are being held against their will in dark places around the world. We can help bring deliverance to them by praying for and financially supporting the work of those who champion justice. As a Christ-follower, I am determined to do just that.

• • • • •

PS | Read about “Just Change” — a simple and practical way my friends and I are supporting justice initiatives. And, take a look at and subscribe to Kingsland’s new Kingsland Justice Blog.

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Posted in Justice

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | February 23, 2010

Steps Toward Nineveh

Reflections on Jonah 2:8-9

In the disquieting solitude of the inside of the fish, Jonah looked to God for deliverance. He declared that there is one God who is the only source of help and salvation (Jonah 2:9). Those who worship idols rather than God, said Jonah, forfeit the grace that could be theirs (Jonah 2:8). Idols are worthless and incapable of offering their misguided worshipers any assistance, as the Tarshish-bound sailors had discovered in the midst of the storm (Jonah 1:5-6). God alone is worthy of our adoration and devotion. He alone can save and deliver.

Over the years, I have visited temples around the world where I have observed people bowing before and appealing to idols for help. My heart is always saddened by these scenes of people trusting in unresponsive idols. Today, millions of people in our world look to idols of various kinds for help and salvation. These misguided worshipers offer their allegiance to gods that can neither hear their desperate cries nor respond to their acts of devotion. Unless someone tells them about the living God, they will never experience the transforming power of His love and grace.

Jonah’s brief and harrowing experience inside the fish had positive results. The stubborn prophet came to terms with the foolishness of trying to run away from God. Jonah also praised God for delivering him from a watery grave and pledged to serve God (Jonah 2:9). After spending “three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17) inside the fish, Jonah, by the grace of God, found himself on dry land (Jonah 2:10). He was finally ready to do what God had asked Him to do. The once prodigal prophet then took his first steps toward Nineveh, a city in the opposite direction from Tarshish!

Like Jonah, we too must be willing to run with God on mission. God desires to accomplish His purposes through people like you and me. The task of sharing the gospel with our world and of addressing the practical needs of suffering humanity is too great for any one person. But, we must not underestimate what God can do through each of us when we commit ourselves to sacrificially serve Him in whatever way He directs. Perhaps you have wondered how God can possibly use you to serve Him. Why not take your first steps with God on mission and discover what He can accomplish through you. Your involvement can make a difference. Somewhere in the world today, someone is desperately waiting for you to obey God’s call to go to Nineveh.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you take your first steps toward Nineveh:

Turn Loose of anything that hinders you from going to the place where God is calling you.

Turn Back to God if you have previously run from His call.

Turn Down any excuses to evade your responsibility to share Christ’s love with the world.

Turn Away from selfish pursuits and indulgences. Consider sacrificially investing more of your resources in initiatives that address the needs of the least of these, the suffering, the oppressed, and those who need to hear the gospel.

Turn Around and look at the multitudes of people in our world. Consider the needs of those who have yet to hear the life-changing message of the gospel, who are victims of injustice, or who are neglected and overlooked.

Turn Up the volume on the evening news. Listen to reports from other parts of the world to learn about people groups, about the least of these, and about the abused and oppressed.

Turn Over a new leaf. Consider how God can use you to reach out and make a difference in the lives of others.

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Posted in Bible Study

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | February 21, 2010

Mercy Runs Deep

Reflections on Jonah 1:17–2:1-7

God uses ordinary people like you and me to show His love and to share His message. On my first visit to India in 1998, I saw a poor woman sitting beside the road in a remote village. As I passed by I noticed that she did not have any feet. I have often thought about that woman through the years. To me, she represents those who do not have access to the message about Jesus. Who will take the gospel to them? Since she is unable to walk, who will walk to villages like hers to share the good news (see Rom. 10:15)? Unless we are willing to heed God’s call to go to the nations, many will never have an opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel. We must not run away from our responsibility to take God’s message to the millions of unreached and unengaged people groups in our world.

Jonah, like the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11-32), realized that running away is both costly and foolish. Jonah had endangered the lives of the sailors on the ship, the lives of the Ninevites waiting to hear God’s message, and his own life. As a result, Jonah found himself in distress (Jonah 2:2), or in a tight spot, inside a great fish. Jonah therefore did what people often do when they find themselves in a tight spot — he prayed to God. Jonah prayed from inside the fish (Jonah 1:1). No place is amiss for prayer. As believers, we have access to God through prayer from any spot on earth.

   Jonah had time to reconsider God’s call while inside the fish. He realized that God, not the sailors, had hurled him into the deep (Jonah 2:3). God was indeed serious about wanting him to deliver His message to the Ninevites. In the dark belly of the fish, Jonah came to grips with his dangerous predicament (Jonah 2:4-5). He turned to God in repentance and discovered that God’s mercy runs deep. God delivered Jonah (Jonah 2:6-7) and returned him to a place of usefulness in His service.

I spoke with a missionary while in Asia who shared with me how he had heard God’s call to join Him on mission when he was a young man. His heart was stirred by the thought of people who had never had the opportunity to hear about Jesus. He knew God wanted him to take His message to such people. However, for many years he avoided taking the steps to serve as a vocational missionary. Finally, he prayerfully heeded God’s call and is now effectively sharing the gospel with unreached people groups throughout Asia. He too discovered that God’s mercy runs deep and that God can still open doors of opportunity for service.

God is indeed doing extraordinary things through ordinary people all over our world. Never before have so many avenues for serving others been available for people like you and me. Like the missionary I met in Asia, perhaps you have heard but not yet responded to God’s call to join Him on mission. Or, perhaps you have overlooked opportunities to share and show God’s love in your own community. It’s not too late to serve Him. Turn to God today and discover that His mercy runs deep and that He can still open doors of opportunity for you to serve Him. Determine to join God on mission and to allow Him to use you in whatever way He chooses.

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Posted in Bible Study

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | February 19, 2010

Run with God

Reflections on Jonah 1:11-16

Jonah probably did not realize the events that his disobedience would set in motion. As the sea grew increasingly more turbulent, the terrified sailors asked Jonah what they should do “to make the sea calm down” (Jonah 1:11). The sailors wanted Jonah to instruct them about the correct ways to appease his deity. They did not want to do anything to make matters worse. Jonah told the sailors to throw him into the sea (Jonah 1:12). However, the sailors tried unsuccessfully “to row back to land” (Jonah 1:13). Ironically, the heathen sailors made a greater effort to help Jonah than Jonah had made to help the heathen.

The sailors were reluctant to throw Jonah into the sea. As a last resort, they asked God to not consider their action as willful murder (Jonah 1:14) and “threw” Jonah “overboard” (Jonah 1:15). Immediately the “raging sea grew calm” (Jonah 1:15), showing the sailors that “the Lord, the God of heaven” (Jonah 1:9) really had control of the sea. This dramatic display of power led the sailors to offer a “sacrifice to the Lord” and make “vows to Him” (Jonah 1:16).

Jonah, to his credit, was willing to take responsibility for his failure to respond obediently to God’s call. We too, must take responsibility for any lack of involvement in missions and for failing to live incarnationally — to be Jesus with skin on. Our failure to respond obediently to God’s call has eternal consequences. Ask a career missionary to envision what his absence from the field would mean to the people he serves. Ask a short-term volunteer to tell you what her unwillingness to go might have meant to the people she touched with the gospel. Ask the people who pray to tell you of how doors opened by prayer might have remained closed had they not remained on their knees. Ask the people who give to tell you of needs and resources that would have remained unmet had they withheld their gifts. Ask the volunteers who teach children and students about missions to tell you of those who might not have responded to God’s call to serve had they evaded their responsibility to teach.

We must realize that we owe Christ to all people (see Rom. 1:14) — from our own homes to the ends of the earth. We did not receive the gospel for our sole possession. The gospel concerns every one of the 5.6 billion people on our planet. Therefore, we must pass it on to those who have never heard it (Mark 16:15). Those of us who live in the comfort and security of the center must take God’s message to the millions of unreached people living on the edge. The greatest crime we can commit against unreached peoples is to withhold the gospel from them. We must not run away from our responsibility to share the gospel. Instead, we must run with God on mission. So, if you have a ticket to Tarshish — tear it up! Don’t run from God. Instead run with God and live adventurously for Him.

Don’t Shut Your Eyes | Ask God to help you see beyond the comfort of your home and the walls of your church. Learn about an unreached people group in need of the gospel.

Don’t Close Your Mind | Ask God to speak to you about how you can fulfill your responsibility to share the gospel with all peoples. Be open to praying, giving, and going beyond.

Don’t Cover Your Ears | Ask God to help you hear the cries of those in need of help (Acts 16:9). Listen carefully to reports on the news about the plight of people in your own community and in other parts of the world.

Don’t Turn Your Back | Ask God to help you respond to the needs of others in practical ways. Set aside a day for fasting and give the money you save on that meal to help others and to support those who take the gospel to difficult places.

Don’t Harden Your Heart | Ask God to soften your heart to love Him and to love those still waiting to hear the gospel.

Don’t Run Away | Ask God to help you consider how you can take part in local missions initiatives, serve as a short-term volunteer on a mission trip, or perhaps pursue a career in missions.

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Posted in Bible Study

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | February 17, 2010

Asleep with the Truth

Reflections on Jonah 1:3-10

Jonah heard God’s call but responded by running in the opposite direction from Nineveh. He did not want to deliver God’s message nor did he want God to show mercy to the notoriously cruel Assyrians. Jonah therefore “went down” to the coastal city of “Joppa” and boarded a ship bound for “Tarshish” (Jonah 1:3) — a city at the southern tip of Spain. God however, did not allow Jonah to run away from his responsibility. Instead, He “sent a great wind” (Jonah 1:4) to intercept the Tarshish-bound ship (see Ps. 135:7 and 104:4). The sailors, probably Phoenicians, became frightened by the “violent storm” (Jonah 1:4). Each sailor “cried to his own god” and then “threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship” (Jonah 1:5). The sailors hoped their prayers combined with practical action would save them from the storm.

Jonah did not hear the panicked cries of the sailors on the upper deck of the ship because he was sound asleep “below deck.” Sadly, God’s only representative aboard the ship was sleeping while others cried out in vain to their false gods for salvation. Today, multiplied millions of people are crying out in vain to impotent gods for salvation. Moreover, millions of people in our world speak a language with no Scripture — not even one book of the Bible in their language. Imagine being a member of one of the people groups that doesn’t have a written copy of God’s universally relevant message. We must not sleep in self-security while so many people have little or no access to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jonah was roused from his sleep by the captain of the ship (Jonah 1:6). The sailors, fearing greatly for their lives, determined by “lots” (see Prov. 16:33) that Jonah was responsible for their “calamity” (Jonah 1:7). They asked Jonah a series of questions (Jonah 1:8). Jonah identified himself as a “Hebrew” (Jonah 1:9), the term by which Israelites were known to foreigners. He told the sailors everything that had taken place between him and the Lord (Jonah 1:10).

Running away from God’s call is tragic and foolish. Like Jonah, believers hurt themselves and others when they disobey God’s call. Some believers run from specific missionary callings. Still others refuse to run with God on mission. Evading our responsibility to share the gospel has tragic consequences. Today, three of every four persons in the world have not accepted Christ as Savior. One of the three unsaved has never even had the opportunity to hear about Him. Every hour, 1,400 people die without ever having heard about Jesus Christ. I am thankful that the person who shared the gospel with me did not evade his responsibility. We must do no less. We must hear and heed God’s persistent call to join Him on mission. What we do with the truth of the gospel is a matter of life and death for those still waiting to hear. So, don’t run away from God and don’t fall asleep with the truth.

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