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Archives For November 30, 1999

Middle Eastern countries feel ‘crush’ of refugee crisis

Meredith Flynn —  August 7, 2014
Syrian refugees cross the border from Syria to Jordan. IMB photo by Jedediah Smith

Syrian refugees cross the border from Syria to Jordan. IMB photo by Jedediah Smith


NEWS | Ava Thomas & Eden Nelson (Baptist Press)

Aman* used to be a banker in Syria, but that’s a life he can hardly remember anymore.

Now three years on the other side of a harrowing escape from his war-torn homeland, he’s stuck in a bleak job market, washing dishes for 10 hours a day to feed his starving family.

And worst of all, he’s starting to wonder if it’s ever going to end.

It’s an exhausting life for Aman and the 3 million other Syrian refugees who have flooded surrounding countries, Don Alan*, a Christian leader in the region, said.

Think back to a day when you missed a meal, or a night when you weren’t sure you were ever going to get home, Alan said. “Multiply that by 100 or 1,000, and that is a portion of what the Syrian refugee feels.”

Alan hopes Christians in the West will take up the cause of their Syrian brothers and sisters and persist in holding them up.

“Pray that we would not become weary of this crisis,” Alan said. “Some of them have been refugees for more than three years. We must persevere in supporting them.”

Aid funds from government organizations are drying up, he said, and Syria’s neighbors are bending under the burden of refugees spilling over their borders.

Lebanon’s tallies indicate that by year’s end, one third of the tiny country’s population will be refugees from Syria. Ross Mountain, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator, called it an “existential crisis” for Lebanon. More than one million refugees have amplified the country’s water shortage into a serious problem.

Refugees are also straining the country’s economy, accepting jobs for less pay than Lebanese, Mountain said.

To the north of Syria, many Turks are also growing weary of absorbing more and more waves of their neighbors.

Though the Turkish government has extended health care and other continuing aid to Syrian refugees, in a January poll 55% of Turks indicated they would like to see the borders closed to fleeing Syrians. Going further, 30% of those wanted to send back the Syrians already living in Turkey.

“Surrounding countries continue to seek ways to find stability in the midst of such a crush of refugees,” Alan said.

Those countries also face fresh challenges, thanks to the emergence of the Islamic state spanning parts of Syria and Iraq, he said.

The militant group ISIS, which recently declared the Islamic state, is exacerbating the region’s refugee problem at an extraordinary rate through broad violence and religious persecution, Alan said. Iraqis are now joining their Syrian neighbors in pouring over the borders – especially Christians.

In mid-July, ISIS gave thousands of Christians in northern Iraq an ultimatum to leave the region or face execution. As a result, Christians are being forced to leave homes and villages where they have lived for centuries, Alan said.

Thousands have fled, and many people are asking if this signals the end of Christianity in Iraq (see sidebar).

The ramifications of the Middle East’s refugee crisis will be “felt for decades to come,” Alan said. It’s a bleak situation, he said, but he hopes Christians around the globe will pray that in the midst of the darkness God will do “something new in our day.”

“Pray that we would be courageous and bold. The Gospel is one of peace, even in the midst of pain and turmoil,” he said. “Pray that we would respond with open hearts and open hands. There are ways we can help today by giving, praying and speaking of the hurt of those fleeing this conflict.”

When the Bible is so clear about helping the marginalized, Alan said, how can Christians not respond to “one of the greatest crises of our time?”

“The question to you and me is will we catch His vision for what He is doing?” Alan said. “As Jesus reminded us, if we do it to the least, the one most forgotten, then we do it to Him.”

*Name changed

Baptist Global Response is providing food and hygiene kits to refugee families. For more info, go to www.gobgr.org

Ava Thomas and Eden Nelson are writers for the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. Story excerpted from Baptist Press.

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Gospel is shared, received at teen’s funeral

Meredith Flynn —  August 5, 2014

THE BRIEFING | Dozens of people came to faith in Christ at the August 2 funeral for 15-year-old Braxton Caner, according to reports on social media.

“Dozens saved today @ Brax’s funeral. We wanted the Gospel given,” tweeted Braxton’s father, Ergun Caner, president of Brewton-Parker College in Georgia. Caner also re-tweeted a photo of his son’s football teammates kneeling and praying after the service for Braxton, whose death was reported July 29 as a suicide.

On July 30, Ergun Caner wrote, “No words. No sermon. No funny quotes. No answers. No note. Nothing but excruciating pain & the assurance that I’ll see him in Glory.” The next day, he posted a photo of himself baptizing then-6-year-old Braxton.

Pastor Rick Warren, who lost his 27-year-old son to suicide last year, was one of many Christian leaders who reached out to Caner and his wife over Twitter. “I am weeping with you @erguncaner and Jill.”

Read The Christian Post’s report here.

Other news:

The_Briefing‘Third way’ church could be removed from fellowship with Baptist association
The executive board of the Los Angeles Southern Baptist Association has recommended that messengers from New Heart Community Church not be seated at the association’s annual meeting in October. Danny Cortez, pastor of the La Mirada congregation, announced earlier this year that he no longer believes same-sex relationships are sinful. The church voted to become a “third way” church that neither condemns nor affirms homosexuality. Read more at BPNews.net.

Missionary doctor recovering from Ebola virus in U.S.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Aug. 3 that Dr. Kent Brantley is “improving” after contracting the Ebola virus. Brantley, an aid worker in Liberia with Samaritan’s Purse, was flown to Atlanta for treatment Aug. 2. Fellow American Nancy Writebol is expected to join him today. Both doctors contracted the Ebola virus while treating patients in a region where hundreds have died from a recent outbreak. Read more at SamaritansPurse.org.

IMB worker reports on ‘invisible war’ with Ebola
The Southern Baptist International Mission Board says it is monitoring the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and medical coordinators “have been in touch with Southern Baptist missionaries in the region to keep them informed of the changing situation,” Baptist Press reports. The IMB has personnel in Guinea and Liberia, two of the countries affected by the outbreak.

A Christian worker in Liberia shared her account of what it’s like to live in a country where people are fighting an “invisible” enemy like the virus. Read it at BPNews.net.

Praying for peace in Jerusalem
Southern Baptist Convention leader Roger S. Oldham gives several specific ways to pray for the conflict between Israel and Hamas. “On the political front, the ‘peace of Jerusalem’ seems to be an elusive dream,” Oldham wrote. “But on the spiritual front, those who know the Prince of Peace have learned that peace is a gift the Lord gives (John 14:27).”

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Tuesday News Briefing: Tornado survivors share stories, church-goers inflate attendance, and a Baptist raps

Meredith Flynn —  May 20, 2014

Where_Was_God_posterTHE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

Film documents storm recovery
One year after a tornado killed 24 people in Moore, Oklahoma, survivors are sharing their stories in a new documentary film. “Where was God? Stories of Hope After the Storm” was produced and promoted in partnership with several churches and faith-based groups, including the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

“We want to remind people that God is always near, no matter what,” said pastor and executive producer Steven Earp. “There is not a single thing that we could ever go through that our heavenly Father does not understand, and there is not a single dark place that He has not already walked.” Read more at BPNews.net.

Sudanese woman won’t recant, faces death sentence
A Sudanese doctor was sentenced to death after she refused to reject her Christian faith. Meriam Yahia Ibrahim, 27, was convicted of apostasy April 30 and given 15 days to recant. “I am a Christian, and I have never been a Muslim,” she told the judge, according to Morning Star News. Ibrahim, who is due to give birth soon, is married to Daniel Wani, a South Sudanese Christian who also is a U.S. citizen.

Her sentence, set to be carried out two year’s after her child’s birth, is representative of “increasing Islamization” of Sudan sparked by the secession of South Sudan in 2011, Christianity Today reported. Read more at ChristianityToday.com.

Americans inflate church attendance
It’s easier to be honest online, at least about church attendance. A new study by the Public Religion Research Institute found Americans inflate their levels of religious participation, especially when answering questions about it over the phone. For example, 36% of Americans who took PRRI’s telephone survey said they attend services weekly or more, compared to 31% who answered an identical question on a self-administered online survey.

Among white evangelical Protestants, 9% answering over the phone said they seldom or never attend services, while 17% reported the same on the online survey. PRRI reports young adults, Catholics and white mainline Protestants are most likely to over-report their church attendance. Read more at publicreligion.org.

‘Gay Christian’ publisher out of National Religious Broadcasters
WaterBrook Multnomah resigned this month from the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) network over a controversial book published by an affiliated imprint, Convergent Books. “God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships” by Matthew Vines theorizes that Scripture doesn’t condemn monogamous same-sex relationships.

Though WaterBrook Multnomah and Convergent are separate entities with the same leader, employees of both companies are reported to have worked on the book. According to a Christianity Today report, NRB President Jerry Johnson wrote in a letter to his board, “This issue comes down to NRB members producing unbiblical material, regardless of the label under which they do it.”

Baptist history gets hip-hop treatment
“Now this is a story all about how the Baptists became what they are now…” Rapping seminary study Ashley Unzicker took the outline from one of her classes and set it to the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” theme song, creating a 5-minute ode to Baptist history that starts with religious persecution in England, and concludes with the election of Fred Luter as the SBC’s first African American president. Now, that’s fresh. Watch the video on YouTube.

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Pierced, crushed, chastised: Embracing the offense of the cross

Meredith Flynn —  April 14, 2014

COMMENTARY | Jonathan Davis

Jesus_forpage1

WHAT A SAVIOR – “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Sculpture by Libby Morecraft of Harrisburg

Our culture loves blood. The latest vampire novel, graphic movies, every CSI crime drama, the nightly news – they’re all pictures painted in blood. Even the walking dead are promoting a bloody afterlife every Sunday night on cable. But our culture’s bloodthirst is biting into the wrong vein.

As God’s people, we also are to be marked as lovers of blood. Not because of an obsession with gore, but because of the Savior who shed his life’s blood
on our behalf.

Yet, for some reason, we often shy away from the bloody language of the cross. Our culture, so fascinated with blood stories, turns away from the most
important blood lines of all. Talk of the cross is offensive to many, and to bring up the blood as central to faith will bring many conversations to a halt. And
rather than offend, some Christians will stick to the more polite apologetic: Jesus loves you, and has a great plan for your life.

But that’s a bloodless Christianity. And a bloodless Christianity is no Christianity at all.

Flesh and blood isn’t just Easter language; it is Gospel language to be used at all times and in all places. We are to embrace the bloodiness of Scripture, for to do opposite is quite dangerous.

Our bloody theology

The Bible presents us with a robust theology of blood. Because Christ was crucified, we reap a multitude of benefits for His glory and our good.

• We once were people without hope, but have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:12-13).

• In Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins (Romans 3:24-25; Ephesians 1:7).

• We have been justified by Christ’s blood (Romans 5:9).

• We have peace with God by the blood of the cross (Colossians 1:20).

From Adam and Eve’s first sacrifice outside the garden to our High Priest’s completed work, and everywhere in between, the history of God’s people is marked by blood. For several thousand years, it’s the blood of animals, offered as a covering for sins. And finally, it’s the once-and-for-all sacrifice that
washes whiter than snow.

When it comes to salvation, nothing but blood will do.

Maybe the most startling example of flesh and blood language in the Bible is found in John 6. Jesus tells his followers they must eat his flesh and drink his
blood. On the surface, it’s a revolting concept. “Is he advocating cannibalism?” they must be thinking.

Then, at his last meal with the disciples, Jesus enacts the teaching, tying together eternal life with eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Jesus notes that
we are abiding in him when we do so. To commune with Christ is to embrace this bloody language.

Now, it’s not too hard for us to talk about the crucifixion and the blood this time of year, especially in our churches. At Easter, the person and work of Jesus
come to the forefront of our minds, and rightly so. This is the time of year we celebrate Christ’s crucifixion, and it makes sense that flesh and blood speech
is on our lips.

But what concerns me is our post-Easter language, and how we share the Gospel with people who don’t know Christ. Too often, we avoid talking about Christ’s suffering, and in doing so, we drain our faith of its very power.

Power in the blood

The next time you’re on break at the water cooler, try dropping this line from Jesus into the conversation: “Hey, did you know that Jesus said, ‘Unless you
eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.’”

I can hear the crickets chirping.

The Corinthians felt the shame of flesh and blood preaching, and this led them away from boasting in the cross to boasting in worldly wisdom. Preaching
a crucified king sounded so un-wise that they forsook the very message they had heard and believed.

But Paul argues that crucifixion language is the very language the Holy Spirit empowers. He had come to the Corinthian believers in weakness and fear. His speech and message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Corinthians 2:3-4).

We must recover that kind of speech in our churches and as we go out into the world. Sin is serious, so serious that it warrants death. This is why there is
great danger in bloodless Christianity. To remove the bloody language of the cross is to remove man’s only hope of being made right with God.

The Gospel of the cross is the good news that God is holy, you are not, and the necessary sacrifice to make you right with God is found in Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

As believers we have tasted and seen the goodness of salvation applied to our hearts, and our desire is to see the lost know this same salvation. Is talking
about the cross offensive? Yes. Is it difficult to speak? Yes.

But let’s not run from it. Rather, let us press into it, speaking Christ and Him crucified plainly and with conviction, trusting the Holy Spirit to draw the lost to the Father through the Son.

When we do, people will begin to understand there’s power in the blood.

Jonathan Davis pastors Delta Church in Springfield.

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‘Old’ is the new ‘new’

Meredith Flynn —  November 12, 2013

IBSA PASTORS’ CONFERENCE | The annual gathering for Illinois pastors and leaders kicked off this afternoon in Springfield, and beloved hymns have ruled the day so far, with a twist. JourneyWorship, the team from Journey Church in Bourbonnais, led the crowd in “Down at the Cross,” “I’ll Fly Away” and “Victory in Jesus,” complete with thumping percussion and electric guitars.

Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, brought the conference’s first message on “Leading through Disaster.” His voice breaking several times, Kelley shared how he led the seminary in the days and months following Hurricane Katrina. “In a disaster, you always tell the truth. You don’t act like it’s no big deal. You don’t act like it’s going to be easy,” he said.

“You get in touch with who God is, you get in touch with your mission, and you get to work. And with your heart breaking, and with every day a battle, you simply get after it.”

Follow the Pastors’ Conference and IBSA Annual Meeting here and at Facebook.com/IllinoisBaptist.

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Luter shares hope in affliction as someone who’s been there

Meredith Flynn —  June 10, 2013
Fred Luter encourages listeners at the SBC Pastors' Conference in Houston.

Fred Luter encourages listeners at the SBC Pastors’ Conference in Houston.

HOUSTON | “Can I just share my testimony for just a minute?”

Southern Baptist Convention President and New Orleans native Fred Luter drew on his experiences  after Hurricane Katrina to encourage listeners at the SBC Pastors’ Conference June 9.

“One day you can be pastoring thousands and thousands of people, and the next day, you can be without a congregation,” Luter said, alluding to the storm that devastated his city and his church, Franklin Avenue Baptist.

“One day, you’re in a city where everybody knows your name…and the next day, you’re in the city where you’re only known by your FEMA number.”

Luter’s message, from Psalm 34, focused on taking heart when you get to “the other side of ministry,” when afflictions and trials of all kinds threaten to discourage and overwhelm the righteous.

“Every child of God sooner or later in life will face the other side of ministry,” he said.

He spoke like a pastor to the crowd assembled at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center, exhorting them to pay special attention to the word “but” in Psalm 34:19. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

‘That word ‘but’ is a sanctified conjunction,” Luter said to laughter from the audience. “It negates everything that was said before.” He told the crowd that just when it feels like everything is about to go under, “God can put a ‘but’ in your situation.”

He ended his message with an illustration from his favorite movie franchise, James Bond. Animatedly, he described how the super spy manages to get himself out of every scrape he ever gets into. While watching a documentary one day about the making of James Bond movies, Luter said he realized how that was possible: The writers write it that way in the script!

Holding up his Bible and smiling joyously at the crowd, Luter said, “You know how I know you’re going to make it?

“It’s in the script!”

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SBC Calvinism study group releases report

Meredith Flynn —  June 4, 2013

Tuesday_BriefingUrges cooperation, unity around Baptist Faith & Message ahead of meeting in Houston

THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

The advisory committee formed by Southern Baptist Executive Committee President Frank Page to study the divide over Reformed theology in the convention released its final report a week before the SBC was scheduled to hold its annual meeting in Houston.

Page assembled the group last August, after an annual meeting in New Orleans where Reformed theology was a hot-button issue. Much of the conversation then centered on the need to work together despite theological differences; Page wanted the team to help him develop “a strategy whereby people of various theological persuasions can purposely work together in missions and evangelism.”

The group’s 3,200-word statement outlines nine areas of theology that all Southern Baptists can agree on, and then tackles areas of disagreement within those issues. For example:

“We agree that God is absolutely sovereign in initiating salvation, uniting the believer to Himself, and preserving the believer to the end, but we differ as to how God expresses His sovereignty with respect to human freedom,” the report reads.

Pointing to one of the tenets of Reformed theology, the statement continues, “We agree that the Holy Spirit working through the Gospel enables sinners to be saved, but we differ as to whether this grace is resistible or irresistible.”

But those tensions shouldn’t hinder cooperation, according to the advisory committee, which was made up of people from both sides of the theological divide. Rather, “we urge Southern Baptists to grant one another liberty in those areas within The Baptist Faith and Message (BFM) where differences in interpretation cause us to disagree.”

Later in the report, the group points to the BFM, as adopted in 2000, as the confession that “is to serve as the doctrinal basis for our cooperation in Great Commission ministry.”

A report on the group’s work is expected during next week’s annual meeting, which begins June 11. In its closing words, the statement offers a challenge that could be especially important in Houston:

“If we stand together in truth, we can trust one another in truth, even as we experience tension. We can talk like brothers and sisters in Christ, and we can work urgently and eagerly together.”

Read the full report at BPNews.net.

-With reporting by Baptist Press

Other news:

Baptists expected to discuss Boy Scouts at annual meeting
Southern Baptist ethicist Richard Land told CNN there is a “100% chance” there will be a resolution to disaffiliate with Boy Scouts during the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention in Houston. “…And a 100% chance that 99% of people will vote for it,” Land continued. “Southern Baptists are going to be leaving the Boy Scouts en masse.” Boy Scouts of America recently voted to allow gay-identifying youth to be members. As autonomous churches, Southern Baptist congregations can choose their own course of action when it comes to Boy Scouts, but many will likely find it difficult to comply with the new policy, SBC spokesman Sing Oldham told CNN. “With this policy change, the Boy Scouts’ values are contradictory to the basic values of our local churches.” Read more on CNN’s Belief blog.

What does Illinois’ non-action on same-sex marriage mean for the rest of the country?The St. Louis Post-Dispatch asked that question in the wake of Rep. Greg Harris’ refusal to call the same-sex marriage bill for a vote before the Illinois House adjourned its spring session May 31. David Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute, told the paper, “The momentum has been stopped.

“It shows that it’s not as popular with people as the national media is telling us.”

Smith added that the non-action in Illinois could be a “bellwether” for other states, especially those that don’t lean as far to the left. As the Post-Dispatch pointed out, “If gay marriage fails here, how would a state like Missouri ever even flirt with it?” Read the full story here.

One-third of Americans trust God more during suffering
A new study by LifeWay Research found 33% of Americans trust God more during times of suffering that seems unfair. The research, conducted after the devastating May 20 tornado in Moore, Okla., also found 25% of people reported being “confused by God” during such times, and 16% say they “don’t think about God in those situations.” Read more at LifeWayResearch.com.

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A prayer for Newtown

Meredith Flynn —  December 20, 2012

COMMENTARY | Matt Tullos

At Christmastime we read the prophecies of a soon coming King. Coming to give us hope. Coming to give us comfort.

“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly to her and proclaim to her.”

During this holy season we’ve encountered a world filled with terror and mourning. “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

That was the world in which Christ was born. This is the world where He still lives. We are His hands and feet. We are His voice of tenderness. Hands that serve those whose burden defy description. Feet that walk toward the mess and give grace. And a voice to pray.

LET’S PRAY

Father of comfort, Lord of life

Once again, we’ve witnessed the fallen-ness of our world.
The evil that sends kids to coffins and parents into dark tunnels of hopelessness. May we rise up to give hope and peace.

We must confess through tears and moments of disbelief that the battle is not over.
The enemy is not simply a villain of bones and flesh.
It’s the spirit that turns us from joy to hopelessness.
It is a serpent in a garden.
It is a sneering giant.
It is an evil that caused nations to crumble and hearts to grow cold.
It’s the fear of the chaos and heartache untold.

May the brokenness of the world break us.
May the grace of the Lord remake us.

Comfort the community of Sandy Hook Elementary.
We ask your spirit to reside in their homes of unfathomable agony.

Kindle our spirits.
Compel us to pray.
Sing over this weary world.
And may we join in with comfort.
Comfort, comfort your people
In the Name of the Savior who was acquainted with grief.

(Scriptures from Matthew 2:19 and Isaiah 40:1)

 

Matt Tullos is pastor of Bluegrass Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee. This article first appeared on lifeway.com.

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Why do Christians suffer?

Meredith Flynn —  December 6, 2012

Phillips_pullquoteCOMMENTARY | Rob Phillips

Horatio G. Spafford was a prominent attorney in Chicago in the 1800s and a friend of evangelist Dwight L. Moody. While Spafford was both respected and comfortable, he was not free from severe hardship.

First, he lost his 4-year-old son to scarlet fever. Then his real estate investments along Lake Michigan literally went up in flames in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Not long after that, his four daughters drowned in a shipwreck, and his wife Anna survived the ordeal only because the ship’s debris buoyed her as she floated unconscious in the Atlantic Ocean.

Crossing the sea to join his bereaved wife, Spafford was called to the captain’s deck as the ship sailed past the foamy deep where his daughters were lost. The captain informed him that the waters there were three miles deep. Returning to his cabin, Spafford penned these words to the now-famous hymn:

When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul

Why did such tragedy befall this godly man? Spafford may have wondered why, but ultimately he rested in the sovereignty of God.

We can better appreciate God’s sovereignty, even in the darkest nights, by observing 10 reasons we suffer, according to Scripture.

1. We suffer because we sin.
2. We suffer because others sin.
3. We suffer because we live in a sinful and fallen world.
4. We suffer because God allows us to make real choices.
5. We suffer to make us long for eternity.
6. We suffer to keep us from something worse.
7. We suffer to share in the suffering of Christ and be more like Him.
8. We suffer to honor God.
9. We suffer to grow spiritually.
10. We suffer to better anticipate the glories of heaven and the world to come.

Rob Phillips is director of communications for the Missouri Baptist Convention. This column is excerpted from Baptist Press; read the full version at BPNews.net.

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2012 IBSA Pastors’ Conference begins

Meredith Flynn —  November 13, 2012

DECATUR, Ill. | Pastor Wes Feltner of Tabernacle Baptist Church kicked off the annual IBSA Pastors’ Conference with a message from Genesis 50.

“Do you believe in the reality that your life and circumstances of your ministry [are] absolutely working toward a divine purpose that maybe you can’t see right now,” Felter asked the audience of pastors and their families. Teaching on the life of Joseph, who was betrayed by his own family, sold into slavery, and wrongly accused and imprisoned, Feltner exhorted his listeners to remember that ministry brings a mix of blessing and bitterness.

“Church life is a carousel of victory and defeat. That’s Joseph’s life, that is his ministry and I daresay many of us can relate to that.”

But Joseph’s example says we can stay faithful despite the worst persecution and frustration, Feltner said. Here’s what Joseph knew that you and I must know if we’re going to remain sane in this thing called ministry: God always works it for good.”

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