God still restores

Meredith Flynn —  October 22, 2012

HEARTLAND | From Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor,

He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;

To grant to those who mourn in Zion – to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

That they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. (Isaiah 61:1-4)

Isaiah is speaking to the people of Israel, who God promised to restore after years of captivity. Our situation isn’t the same, but His character is. The same God who promised to restore them, promises to restore us, too, to trade our heart of stone for a heart of flesh and a new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26).

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Mission Illinois: More than a meeting theme

Meredith Flynn —  October 18, 2012

COMMENTARY | Nate Adams

When hundreds of churches convene next month for the IBSA Annual Meeting in Decatur, we will assemble under the theme “Mission Illinois.” For me, however, it’s more than a meeting theme. In the days ahead, I hope the mantra of Mission Illinois will begin to represent a fresh new vision of why we as churches choose to cooperate, and how we measure our effectiveness as a state association.

For several years now, we as the churches and leaders of IBSA have focused our energies on four key priorities: strengthening churches, starting churches, sending Christians into their Acts 1:8 mission fields, and stimulating stewardship among churches so we can do our part with other Southern Baptists to fund the larger missions efforts of the SBC.

Our goals within those key priorities have been aggressive, and we haven’t always attained them. But for the most part we are training more leaders with fewer staff, starting a steady number of new churches with lower national funding, and directly assisting more churches in their evangelism and missions efforts in spite of higher travel costs and a challenging economy.

But we as an association of churches still long to see increases in indicators such as baptisms, worship and Bible study participation, and the net number of IBSA churches – all of which have remained relatively flat over the past few years. We don’t care about numbers for numbers’ sake, but because they are indicators of missional advance, church health, and Kingdom expansion. We want to see lostness decrease and the accessibility of Bible-believing churches increase.

So I’ve been asking myself, and would invite you to ask with me, what might need to change? How might we adjust our efforts in this mission we call Illinois?

I don’t claim to have it figured out yet, or that I can do it alone. More often than not, I feel like our blind dog Willy that I described in the last issue. In fact, our mission here in Illinois is partly what I had in mind when I wrote, “There are times when it seems that I just can’t see things, or can’t see where things are going, with the clarity or certainty I would like. Things in my family, my work, my church, things in Baptist life, things in our nation, things on the world scene – all seem to be less predictable, less comfortable than in the past.”

That certainly is an environment where faith and dependence on God for vision are desperately needed, as Willy’s situation illustrates. And so I have not been hasty to propose a new mission statement or declare a new direction. I’m praying and thinking, listening and observing, drafting and revising, waiting and praying. And I invite you to join me, and to e-mail, write or call with your thoughts or ideas.

In the next couple of issues, I’m going to share a little more of what I think “Mission Illinois” might mean as a vision for our future as IBSA churches. On one hand, it’s hard for me to imagine that strengthening churches and starting churches and sending Christians on mission, and stimulating faithful stewardship among churches will not still be primary priorities. On the other hand, I can’t help but believe that God wants to do more through our cooperation than we are currently experiencing.

So please join me in prayer and creative thinking as we approach this year’s IBSA Annual Meeting. For us as Illinois Baptists, Mission Illinois must be more than an annual meeting theme. It must become a rallying cry for reinvigorated, purposeful cooperation that actually impacts the lostness of our Illinois mission field.

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Chicago church takes a stand against neighborhood violence

Meredith Flynn —  October 16, 2012

THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

Pastor Larry Trotter has done four funerals in recent months for victims of gun violence. In his neighborhood on Chicago’s south side, the streets can be very dangerous, especially after this summer, which saw a dramatic increase in the city’s homicide rate.

That’s why Trotter and his congregation from Sweet Holy Spirit Church took to the streets September 30, marching through their neighborhood chanting, “Stop the violence,” and “Save our children.” Almost 200 people participated in the anti-violence rally and march.

“I know that this won’t stop everything, but I want people to grab the passion,” Trotter said, according to Associated Press reports. “If we all join together, we can make an impact.”

According to Chicago police, almost 400 people have been killed this year, and the homicide rate is up 31 percent over last year. Since the extremely violent 1990s, crime has decreased in Chicago, but the recent rise in violence shows there’s much room for improvement.

“The city has gone wild. It’s no longer just gang killing, it’s random killing,” Trotter said. “We have to try and channel that energy and put it in another direction.”

Or march it in another direction. And hopefully it will benefit the generation currently growing up in an environment that can be very frightening. Brandy Lewis was one of the participants in Sweet Holy Spirit’s march. As a mother and someone who works with youth everyday, Lewis told the Chicago Tribune the community has a responsibility to its youngest members to end the violence.

“We’re out here trying to bring attention to our neighborhood that we have to do something to keep our kids alive.”

And prayer plays a key role, Trotter said according to the Tribune. “The message is ‘Stop the violence,’ but the spiritual message is that we’re praying for the … violence to cease.”

-With information from Associated Press, Christian Post, and Chicago Tribune

Other news from Baptist Press:

Allen elected president of Midwestern Seminary
In a 29-2 vote, Jason K. Allen was elected by Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees as the school’s fifth president. The vote took place October 15 during the trustees’ bi-annual meeting in Kansas City, Mo. Allen, 35, comes to Midwestern from Louisville, Ky., where he served as vice president for institutional advancement at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and as executive director of the Southern Seminary Foundation. He had concurrently served as senior pastor of Carlisle Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville. Read more at BPNews.net.

A win for pro-life pharmacists
An Illinois appeals court has granted a victory to pro-life pharmacists who object to providing drugs that can cause abortions. Pharmacy owners Luke Vander Bleek and Glenn Kosirog challenged a 2005 rule mandating pharmacists fill all prescriptions, including those for Plan B and other “morning-after” pills. In September, the Illinois Fourth District Court upheld a lower court injunction that blocked the state from enforcing the rule.

ERLC pres. search goes online
The SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission has launched a website to aid in identifying a new president for the agency following the October 2013 retirment of Richard Land. At erlc.com/presidentialsearch, potential candidates can view a list of attributes ERLC trustees are seeking, and a prayer guide for the committee’s work. The site also is the only way by which interest in the ERLC presidency can be communicated to the trustee search committee, who will accept curriculum vitae from prospective candidates through Oct. 31. Read more.

Missionary kid shares childhood through children’s book
Valerie Elliot Shephard, the only child of missionaries Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, has written a children’s book about her early life in the Ecuadorian jungle where her mother told a tribe about Jesus after they had killed her father. Shephard was only 10 months old when her father was killed; she and her mother remained in the jungle several years until many in the tribe accepted Christ and abandoned their savage ways. The October release of “Pilipinto’s Happiness: The Jungle Childhood of Valerie Elliot” coincides with the 85th anniversary of Jim Elliot’s birth. Pilipinto, meaning “butterfly,” was the Indians’ nickname for the girl.

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Adoniram Judson and an unlikely missionary

Meredith Flynn —  October 15, 2012

Editor’s note: This year marks the 200th anniversary of Adoniram Judson’s historic missionary journey. This column, which first appeared on Baptist Press, is adapted from the introduction of a new book about Judson’s life.

HEARTLAND | Paige Patterson

My appreciation for the life of Adoniram Judson began in 1957 when my dad, a missionary-hearted pastor, placed a book in my hands and urged that I read it carefully.

Courtney Anderson’s biography of Judson, “To the Golden Shore,” wrapped its tentacles around this red-haired young teen’s heart, mind and soul. And to this day, I read it often, unable to shirk the adventure, the love, the risk, the suffering, the faith and the courage that leap from every page.

I was an unlikely missions candidate. A puckish prankster almost from the womb, not much in the world seemed very serious to me. I roamed the woods without my parents’ knowledge or permission by the time I was 10, caught sunning cottonmouths with my bare hands and hunted with a contraband .22 pump rifle which no one knew I had.

Because I had a better than average awareness of my capacity for sin, my conversion to Christ at age 9 was vivid. With it came a commitment to the ministry which I grasped fully. Conversion healed immediately the more gross of my sinful impulses, but I fear that the prankishness and love for exploration and adventure were only exacerbated.

The sometimes stodgy Adoniram had another side to him, I learned. He loved to laugh and could evidently spin a yarn or two himself. And, as I read the pages of “To the Golden Shore,” two different but not at all contradictory notions were stoked into a raging fire.

First, the desire to see the world, to embark on a great adventure gripped my soul. And to attempt this journey bearing the Gospel as the sole solution to the agonies of life only made such an enterprise seem more essential.

More important, if the Judsons could sacrifice akin to the sufferings of Christ (Colossians 1:24), then it dawned on me that lost people must really matter. Clearly for all the tragedy that engulfed them, the Judsons believed the lost of Burma and the saving message of Christ were more important than all else in life.

Though I envy those called of God to permanent mission assignments, the Lord never led me to those. Rather, for the last 37 years I have followed what I believe to be the leadership of the Spirit of God to train missionaries and mission-hearted pastors so that no one is left without an opportunity to know of the Savior who could save even a freckled-faced, red-headed, hot-blooded prankster. At every juncture, the impact of Adoniram Judson has played a major role in my life’s work.

Paige Patterson is president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Read his full column at BPNews.net.

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If Protestants aren’t the majority, should we worry?

Meredith Flynn —  October 11, 2012

COMMENTARY | Immediately after the Pew Forum released new findings about the current state of American Protestantism, writers and thinkers took to their blogs to warn us not to put too much stock in the so-called shift, at least not for the reasons we might think.

“…Many will likely trumpet this as a huge shift. It’s not. This is simply the natural progression of what is taking place in our context,” said LifeWay’s Ed Stetzer of the research, which states that for the first time in history, Protestants are not a majority in the United States. Rather, the 48% that claim to be Protestants are a plurality at the top of a list of choices that also includes Catholic (22%), Mormon (2%), Orthodox (2%) and “Other Faith” (6%). That means nearly 20% of Americans aren’t affiliated with any faith, the highest percentage ever in Pew Center polling.

“A big part of what is happening is that the ‘Nominals’…are shifting and becoming the ‘Nones,'” Stetzer wrote. “This makes sense, as the cultural currency (in other words, the value a society places on identifying as a Christian) is decreasing. And thus, we see a movement away from Christian identity as a cultural value.”

Stetzer identifies these three main points from the research:

1. “On a growing basis, identifying oneself as a Christian is not a means to societal advancement but can actually be a means to societal rejection.”

2. What he calls the “squishy middle,” or nominalism, is going away. Southern Seminary’s Russell Moore also blogged about this following the Pew Center’s research. “Most of the old-line Protestant denominations are captive to every theological fad that has blown through their divinity schools in the past thirty years-from crypto-Marxist liberation ideologies to sexual identity politics to a neo-pagan vision of God—complete with gender neutralized liturgies.

“What we should pay attention to instead may be the fresh wind of orthodox Christianity whistling through the leaves-especially throughout the third world, and in some unlikely places in North America, as well. Sometimes animists, Buddhists, and body-pierced Starbucks employees are more fertile ground for the gospel than the confirmed Episcopalian at the helm of the Rotary Club.”

3. “It is still a vast overstatement to see this as a collapse of the Christian faith in North America,” Stetzer wrote. “The reality is that evangelicals have been relatively steady as a percent of the population over the last few years, however there is still great cause for concern here – and for action.”

That action must take shape as a willingness to seize opportunities explain exactly what a Christian is, Stetzer said. “…As society moves away from Christian identification, let’s meet them on the road and say, ‘We did not believe in that expression of Christianity anyway. Let me tell you about Jesus and how he changes everything.'”

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NAMB trustees meet in Chicago for ‘Send’ launch

Meredith Flynn —  October 9, 2012

THE BRIEFING | Posted by Meredith Flynn

Targeting 163 new church plants in Chicagoland over the next five years, the Send North America planting strategy for Illinois’ largest metropolitan area launched Oct. 7-8 with a prayer gathering of local church leaders and a meeting of North American Mission Board trustees.

This visit by NAMB trustees marks the importance of Chicago in the Southern Baptist Convention’s plans to reach the central United States with the Gospel. “With nearly 9 million people in the Chicago metro area, it is our largest, most influential city in the Midwest,” said Steve Davis, NAMB’s vice president for the Midwest region. “The task of penetrating the lostness and conserving the harvest through church planting is enormous.”

Davis joined NAMB President Kevin Ezell, the trustees, leaders from the Illinois Baptist State Association, and a host of missionary planters and local pastors when the Send plans for Chicagoland were presented October 8.

Send North America is NAMB’s strategy to help churches and individuals become active in all regions of North America to lead people to faith in Jesus Christ and start new churches. Chicago is one of 30 highly influential urban centers throughout North America that NAMB is focusing the attention of Southern Baptists on through Send.

With 8.7 million people in the 10 Illinois counties surrounding the city, Chicago is behind only New York City and Los Angeles as the largest Send North America cities.

“Few cities have more impact than Chicago,” said Van Kicklighter, associate executive director for missions and church planting at IBSA. “This is certainly true for Illinois but equally true of Chicago’s impact nationally as well as globally.  Chicago is a wonderful place for Southern Baptists to cover with their intercessory prayer, engage with church partnerships, and spread their missionary wings by sending people who will plant their lives here for the sake of the Gospel.”

For more information on Send North America: Chicago, read the current issue of the Illinois Baptist online, or visit namb.net/Chicago.

Eric Reed is editorial consultant for Illinois Baptist media and reported this story with additional information from Tobin Perry of the North American Mission Board.

In other news:

Six-year-old Texan partners with IBSA for ministry in Haiti
IBSA’s Missions Team recently received a check for $516.20 from an unlikely source: 6-year-old Mackenzie Howell, a Texan who has been burdened for Haiti since she first learned of the devastating earthquake that rocked the country in 2010. “She was deeply touched and wanted to do something for the kids who, in her words, ‘lost their moms, their dads, their schools and their homes,’” wrote Mackenzie’s mom Allison Howell in a letter to IBSA. Mackenzie’s donation will be used to help purchase school supplies or books for children who wouldn’t have them otherwise. And the gift may also help a local Haitian church point people to the Gospel. The full story is on page 8 of the newest edition of the Illinois Baptist. Read it here.

Survey: Pastors reject pulpit endorsements
Nearly 90 percent of pastors believe they should not endorse candidates for public office from the pulpit, according to a survey by LifeWay Research. That marks an increase since 2010, when a similar LifeWay survey found 84% of pastors believed they shouldn’t endorse candidates from the pulpit. The new findings, released Oct. 1, also revealed that 44 percent of pastors personally endorsed candidates, but did so outside of their church role. Read more at Baptist Press.

Cooperative Program ends year 3% above budget; downturn may be reversing
The Cooperative Program ended its fiscal year 3 percent over budget and at 99.41 percent of last year’s contributions. Church giving hopefully has dipped as low as it will from the U.S. economic downturn and may be ready to stabilize or climb, Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President Frank Page said. “We finished 3 percent ahead of our budgeted goal and only slightly under last year’s CP total. This is hallelujah territory! To God be the glory.” Read the full story at Baptist Press.

Tyndale files suit against abortion mandate
Bible and Christian book publisher Tyndale House has filed suit against the Obama administration’s abortion/contraceptive mandate, asserting it is an unconstitutional violation of religious liberty to force the publisher to pay for drugs that violate its faith tenets. The mandate requires employers – with few exceptions – to carry employee health insurance plans that cover contraceptives and drugs that can cause chemical abortions. At least 30 lawsuits have been filed against the mandate. Go to BPNews.net for more.

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Praying for church revival

Meredith Flynn —  October 8, 2012

HEARTLAND | Meredith Flynn

Editor’s note: Southern Baptists have been called to pray for 40 days or 40 hours prior to this fall’s election through the 40/40 Vigil. Today’s Heartland post is from Day (or Hour) 13. Go to 4040prayer.com to read more prayer prompts and to find out how to join the vigil.

Scripture for reflection and preparation

“In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.” John 1:1, 3

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.” Romans 3:23-25

“But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:5-6

REVIVAL ROOTED IN GOD – Revival begins when God’s people turn back to God.

PREPARATION

  • Praise God for who He is
  • Confess your sinfulness and need for cleansing
  • Allow His Spirit to draw you near
  • Listen as He speaks to you

ASK GOD TO…

  • Choose to send revival at this time
  • Help Christians regain their understanding of His holiness
  • Convict Christians that they are to be completely dependent on Him
  • Restore in Christians an understanding of the destructive power of sin
  • Remind Christians of His great love for them
  • Remind Christians of His great sacrifice on their behalf through Jesus
  • Raise up Spirit-filled leaders to call the church to holiness

THANKSGIVING

  • Thank God for hearing you
  • Trust that God is at work to accomplish His will
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Why God doesn’t tell us everything

Meredith Flynn —  October 4, 2012

Editor’s note: Trevin Wax is managing editor for LifeWay’s “The Gospel Project.” This column is excerpted from Baptist Press.

COMMENTARY | Trevin Wax

It’s Wednesday night, and I’m helping our kids get their shoes on, jackets on, and Bibles ready as we’re about to rush to church. I hustle them out the door, tell my wife we’re waiting for her in the car, and then load them into the van.

Along the way, I tell Timothy (our 7-year-old): “Watch out for the puddle in the driveway. Zip up your jacket. Open the door for your sister.” He gives me the exasperated look that smacks of a bad attitude, and I ask him what his problem is.

He lets me know: “People tell me what to do all day long. Before school. During school. At lunch. During class. When I get home. I just get tired of everyone else being in charge.”

“So you want to be in charge?” I ask him.

“Yes. I want to be in charge and make my own decisions,” he tells me.

Thinking this might be a good time to wax philosophical, I say, “Well, son, that day is coming. But right now, other people are in charge, and the reason we’re in charge is because God has told us to be. God wants us to do our best to help shape you into the kind of person who can make wise, God-honoring choices on your own.”

He nods. He knows.

But I keep going.

“One day, you’ll leave home. You’ll go off to college, and no one is going to be telling you what to do every day. You’ll be on your own, making decisions. And I want you to be ready for that day.”

At this, the weariness of the day overcomes Timothy, and the vision of such independence overwhelms him. He wails. Big tears coming down.

“That makes me so sad! I don’t want to leave home!” He is hysterical. “Why do you say that? I don’t want to think about that.”

I sigh, put my hand to my head, and try not to smile. So much for waxing philosophical. Now, it’s time to reassure him.

“Timothy, that day is far away, and by the time you get there – trust me – you’ll want to be on your own, making those kinds of choices.” He is comforted. Crisis averted. I make a mental note: “Don’t bring up college again.”

Afterward, my wife and I were talking about that conversation, laughing about how the thought of independence overwhelmed our son. As adults, we can look ahead to his future and can envision him as an independent young man, mature in his faith, making wise choices.

As a child, our son wants to get there, but he can’t imagine what that would be like. The very thought of being an adult scares him. There are too many unknown variables.

And then, I realize why God doesn’t tell us everything about our future. He lays out the vision of who we will be – people walking in a manner worthy of Christ, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. But He doesn’t tell us everything this journey will entail. He doesn’t tell us everything we will accomplish along the way.

Sometimes I’ve wondered why God doesn’t reveal the specific plan He has for all of our lives. Now, I realize it’s a good thing He doesn’t.  We’d wonder how in the world He will manage to make us resemble Christ in so many surprising ways.

And the thought of the suffering, pain and responsibility it will take to get us there – to form us into that kind of person … well, if college is enough to overwhelm a 7-year-old, then maybe the specifics of how we will become more like Christ over a lifetime would be too much to handle.

Better instead to listen to the loving voice of our Father, who seals us with His Spirit and promises to renew our humanity day by day as He remakes us into the image of His Son.

Better instead to take our baby steps as we wobble down the journey of life, basking in our Father’s good pleasure, trusting in His Son’s sacrifice when we fall, and leaning on the power of the Spirit to pick us back up again and to help us continue the walk.

God gives us the big picture of our future. And it’s glorious!

But He chooses not to fill in all the details for us. And that’s a good thing.

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At church’s ‘Great Debate,’ speakers tackle one-issue voting

Meredith Flynn —  October 2, 2012

THE BRIEFING | Posted by Meredith Flynn

It wasn’t a typical Sunday night at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Decatur. While Tabernacle Pastor Wes Feltner did occupy the worship center platform, he was joined by four panelists to whom he served as moderator.

Billed as the “Great Debate: Faith and Politics 2012,” the panelist were there to discuss, “How high the wall? Faith, Politics and the Public Square.”

One-issue voting proved to be a hot topic among the panelists, who came from a variety of perspectives.

“It’s not wrong, but I do have concerns with it,” said Shaun Lewis, who ministers to Illinois lawmakers through the Capitol Commission. “The problem being one issue voting tends to define the church by that one issue and it does a lot of damage to the image of the church. It shifts the identity of the church to elevating one issue more than it should be.”

Chad Brand, a professor of theology at Southern Seminary, added, “There are many issues we ought to be concerned about. We cannot help ourselves from reacting to certain issues. The church is gifted with diverse people. We can’t let ourselves be driven by gay rights and abortion. We must recognize there are other issues.”

James Estep, a dean at Lincoln Christian College and Seminary in Lincoln, Ill., said one solution is to train young thinkers to look critically at the issues. “It is essential to have a strong education system so you have intelligent voters to make informed decisions,” he said. “That one issue, 10, 20 years later might not be an important issue anymore.”

Reported by Lisa Sergent, contributing editor of the Illinois Baptist. Look for the full story in the October 8 issue, or read it online here.

In other news:

Gender-specific events banned by school district
A school district in Cranston, Rhode Island, has banned father-daughter dances and mother-son baseball outings, which are gender-specific and could be interpreted as going against state law. The decision came in response to a complaint from the ACLU on behalf of a single mother whose daughter could not attend a father-daughter dance because she did not have a father in her life. According to the Providence Journal, the Cranston School Committee soon will consider a resolution asking lawmakers to modify state law to preserve the father-daughter dances. Read more at BPNews.net.

Mohler on ‘Jesus’ wife’ claim
Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said a small fragment of papyrus said to mention Jesus’ “wife” is “sensationalism masquerading as scholarship.” After Harvard professor Karen King announced in mid-September the discovery of the tiny (smaller than a business card) document, Mohler blogged about the real meaning of the supposed discovery. “…Do not miss what all this really represents – an effort to replace biblical Christianity with an entirely new faith.” Read Mohler’s full blog post here.

Pakistani Christians victimized
As many as 600 families were forced to evacuate their neighborhood after a 14-year-old girl in Pakistan was accused of blasphemy. Rimsha Masih has since been released on bail and Khalid Chisti, the Muslim cleric who accused her, was arrested when witnesses alleged he framed the girl. Chisti reportedly had earlier called for the massacre of Christians in the neighborhood. The displaced families were assisted by Baptist Global Response partners, who helped by providing meals and praying with them. Read the full story at BPNews.net.

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Blind faith

Lisa Misner —  October 1, 2012

HEARTLAND | Nate Adams

About a month ago, our family dog Willy went blind. When we adopted him from the shelter as a puppy, we knew he might have some health issues. During his first check-up, the veterinarian said it looked like he was made up of spare parts. For one thing, his eyes didn’t quite match, and it turns out one of them probably never did work. So when the retina detached from his good eye last month, he was left in the dark. 

This actually happened the same week that we took our youngest son Ethan off to college. So it was already a pretty emotional time for my wife Beth. I thought I was helping by suggesting that we return the dog to the shelter. I know better now.

So because of my wife’s compassionate heart, we are now learning to be masters to a blind dog. Let me share with you a little of what we’re learning.

First, unless everything remains pretty much the same, Willy has to bump into things and learn by trial and error. The only time he seems to be able to avoid this discomfort is when we’re clearly guiding him with our voices, or with a leash. 

Willy still loves going on long walks, even without his sight. Yet somewhat surprisingly, he still sometimes disobeys our voice, or pulls the other way on the leash. It’s almost as if he feels he knows better than those of us with greater intelligence, and sight. 

Sometimes God allows us to learn from our mistakes and develop our spiritual senses.

Willy’s other senses, like smell and hearing and touch, have become much more important to all of us. Because he no longer sees things the way they truly are, he has to sense things in a less than perfect way, or rely on the voice commands of those of us who can see. 

Willy always enjoyed being around us, but now more than ever he wants to be near us. Whenever he is awake he wants to be where he can hear us. And when he can hear us, he wants to come close to feel our touch. That’s when he seems completely at peace. In fact, the only time I’ve really heard him whine or complain since losing his sight is when he thinks we’ve left him alone.

I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose sight so suddenly and completely. Or maybe I can. Maybe you can too.

There are times when it seems that I just can’t see things, or can’t see where things are going, with the clarity or certainty I would like. Things in my family, my work, my church, things in Baptist life, things in our nation, things on the world scene – all seem to be less predictable, less comfortable than in the past. 

In times like these, we can all learn some things from a blind dog. Our loving Master knows and sees everything perfectly. It’s silly for us to pull in different directions than He is leading, or to move contrary to His word, or His Spirit’s voice. Yet sometimes He will allow us to bump around on our own, to learn from our mistakes and develop our own spiritual senses more.

As we walk with Him by faith, we learn that none of the discomforts of change or uncertainty need threaten us, if we persistently pursue His voice, His touch, and His presence. That’s when we experience peace, even if the entire world seems to be rearranging the furniture of our lives. 

I would never have wished blindness on our dog, and sometimes it is frustrating to be his master. Yet there is a new closeness in our relationship that did not exist before. Through his blindness, Willy is learning how deeply and desperately he needs a loving master to navigate the unprecedented changes of his life. And his blind faith is inspiring me to do the same. 

Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association. Respond to his column at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org.

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