Have you ever heard something that was really smart but made practical sense? Or have you heard something really simple but knew that it was profound. Wednesday morning at the national meeting of the Baptist Bible Fellowship in Tyler, Texas I heard a mash of both of those in two messages.
Max Kennedy, missionary to Nicaragua, shared practical applications of centrifugal & centripetal force. Then Barry White, not the singer – the pastor of Park Valley Church in Fairfax, Virginia, shared four simple things to be healthy. Science & Simplicity.
SCIENCE & MISSIONS
– Centrifugal & Centripetal Force
According to Max, when you swing a ball on a string two forces act together. As the ball goes around (Centrifugal force) what is actually causing this is your hands are pulling the string to a center axis (Centripetal force). You can’t have Centrifugal movement without Centripetal movement.
The parallel is simple. Missions is the movement. Reaching people around the world for Christ is a force that can be seen. It is like Centrifugal force.
But what causes the movement is another force, the real force. It is the local church pulling toward an axis. As local churches center on worship of God, world outreach moves. And the more intense we center, the faster the outward movement occurs.
There are 3 powerful moves that can occur to maintain and increase missions movement:
- Move toward the center. Our center is Jesus. The command to ‘Go” always follows the command to “Come.” As churches center on Christ and His love for the world, missionaries will be sent to reach our world.
- Move together. It takes coordination to get a ball going around the string. Brain, nerves, muscles, dexterity all work together. As Christians unify, more can be done to reach our world, But when we fuss and fight, we just don’t disagree – it affects our ability to maintain reach others.
- Move to send out. David used these same forces when he used a sling to kill Goliath (1 Samuel 17). These forces are meant to accomplish something. Our goal is to reach our world for Christ. Just prior to killing the giant, David carefully chose five smooth stones. He was particular. Max challenged us to discover 5 of our best church members and pray that God would send one of them to the mission field. And create an atmosphere in our church so these 5 could interact with missionaries and the mission field.
SIMPLE is STRONG
Barry White laid it down. From Philippians 3:12-14 he challenged us to not let the past affect our present. Don’t look back on past failures or successes. Look forward to what God wants to do through us.
The simplest things are actually strong. Strong marriage learn how to love and respect. Raising children is all about discipline and relationship. The Great Commission is simply go and disciple. Four simple things to strengthen to be healthy…
1- Remember time is short.
The more you realize life is a vapor (James 4:14), the more you major on major things. Life is too short to be angry all the time.
2- Love people.
How will we grow if we don’t love people? You’ll never win your enemy to Christ – you have to love them.
People don’t go to church because they are bored and have nothing to do. They go to get answers. There are too many barriers to Christ without us trying to create more. Why are we mean to people? Let’s love them and break down the barriers.
3- People that love Jesus are on the same team.
When John & James wanted to destroy healers who weren’t part of Jesus’ team, He simple said to leave them alone (Mark 9:38-39). It takes all kinds of people to reach all kinds of people. Not everyone will do everything the same. If two people agree on everything, one of them is not necessary.
The things that unite us are greater than the things that divide us.
4- Be authentic.
Real people reach real people. Authenticity is attractive to others and less stressful to live. You will influence people more with your weaknesses than your strengths. Drop your mask. Be real.
You can read more about the 2017 BBFI meeting at BBFI in Tyler, TX 2017.