Welcome!
Welcome to the current issue of our newsletter. It's been quite awhile since our last issue, so please bear with us while we re-start this worthwhile project. As our mission states, Mustard Seed Ministries is committed to Pointing the World to Jesus Christ. This newsletter will help us fulfill that mission by spreading the Good News through the thoughts of our writers and staff members.
We would like to extend an invitation to you, our faithful readers, to send us pertinent articles that we may use in future newsletters. Much like our devotional ministry, we depend on many people to help lighten our load by active participation. If you would like to help us out, please send your writing to wayne@mustardseedministries.org and it will be directed to the appropriate staff members for review. If we select your article for a future newsletter, you will be notified in advance of its publication.
Pertinent articles would include fact-based stories of your personal experiences. We would especially like to emphasize experiences you may have had anywhere around the world, such as events on mission trips, while studying abroad, while vacationing in faraway lands, or while living in a different culture than that in which you may have grown up. But we also need fact-based stories that you may think to be "too boring" or otherwise not "exotic" enough to be published, as many of our readers live their daily lives in cultures that do not mirror your particular situation.
All in all we hope to show different cultural, but entirely Biblical, perspectives of Christ in the daily lives of believers. So if you are ready to try your hand at writing an article for a future newsletter, please consider sending us one!
Hope - the Essence of Life
Part #1
His eyes opened wide, allowing tears to trace narrow, irregular channels in the dust of his black face.
The plain wooden casket beside his little body contained the silent remains of the only person who had ever really cared for him. On tiptoes, he peered over the edge, probing intensely the still unmoving face as if willing-begging his cold and silent mother to answer the questions that tumbled through his, lonely, terrified heart.
The Bible introduces three issues that have a most profound impact on all of us, faith, hope and love. This article will briefly explore the affect of hope on each of us. It will take several short articles for us to get even the smallest glimmer of this essential element - so stay tuned.
To understand hope, I believe that we must first take a look at the ugly inverse - hopelessness. The young Haitian boy, whose mother’s death started this article, knew a great deal about hopelessness as it coursed through his 5-year-old body and mind. To be left without parents in Haiti is a terrifying situation as you will see as we journey with this Haitian boy at the end of this article and into the following newsletters.
Hopelessness is a brutal uncaring reality. How does Webster define life without hope? "Having no possibility of solution - offering no hope or expectation of improvement." It spreads its bitter poison and pain to all those who are caught in its evil grip. It may be one of the most cruel and painful feelings that the human heart can bear.
Consider the note written by a 16-year-old-girl. It was found near her body. What was she thinking and feeling as she penned these, her final words? Consider the affect her note had on those left behind.
Dear Mother & Dad,
Please forgive me. I have tried to be good to you both. I love you both very much and wanted to get along with you both. I have tried. I have wanted to go out with you and Dad but I was always afraid to ask for I always felt that the answer would be no.
And about Bud, I want to dismiss every idea about him. I don't like him any more than a companion, for a while I thought I did but no more, in fact, I am quite tired of him, as you know, I get tired of everyone after a while.
And mother, I wish that you hadn't called me a liar, and said I was just like Hap. as I'm not. It is just that I am afraid of you both at times, but I love you both very much.
So Long
Your loving daughter
that will always love you
Mary
P.S. Please forgive me. I want you to, and don't think for one minute that I haven't appreciated everything you've done.
This young lady and the young boy in Haiti, Ludget, have something in common: hopelessness. This sensitive young lady took one path to solve the hopelessness that had enveloped and clouded her mind - what path did Ludget, the young Haitian boy, take?
He stayed close to the casket as it was carried to the small, above ground, concrete tomb that would be his mother's final resting place. He watched as they rolled his mother over into a sleeping position, inserted her into the small tomb, and sealed it.
The years had transformed the terrified five-year-old into the handsome, trim young Haitian man sitting across from me. Ludget had blossomed into a quiet, sober young man.
The pleasant breeze, that had journeyed across the lush Haitian valley below from the distant Caribbean, felt refreshing in this mountain top room. The room, attached to the main church area, was made of plain concrete blocks with a bare floor and holes for windows. Plain as it was, it gave us a refuge from the bold Haitian sun.
Ludget stared intently at the floor as his mouth moved, forming silent words. He seemed to be unaware of the noise of the people coming and going, the distant singing, and the muffled voice of a teacher instructing his class.
"When I was very young, when Momma die, I thought there is no hope for me," he finally said, "I even wonder why, I wonder why I did not die in the same hour, the same minute as my Momma."
TO BE CONTINUED
The Importance of a Church
Jesus was not a solo act. One of the first things he did when he started his ministry was find disciples. He mentored and trained these guys to actively go out and spread the gospel. It is important to recognize the dynamic that was in place between Jesus and his disciples because it mirrors us as Christians in the church today. Although Jesus was a moving church, the Bible records many instances where Jesus is teaching foundational lessons to his disciples only as they travel. These followers were not seminary graduates or even
scholarly Pharisees of the time. They were ordinary men trying to figure out what God had in store for them. All the while they are learning, they are also serving with Jesus and spreading a new gospel message to society. In church we share a similar experience by being filled with biblical wisdom on Sunday and Wednesday, and then do our best in the community to be examples of Christian charity.
There are a lot of “believers” today who seem to be churchless. Although America is the land of the free and pilgrims settled the Northeast for religious freedom, it is easy to think of yourself as a “believer” when the president is praying for the troops and the stock market. It even says, "In God we trust” on our money. It is an easy leap to equate American with Christian, but that is a false assumption. It is convenient to take a wide view of Christianity and think anyone who believes has a free ticket to heaven, but Jesus states in the Bible (Matthew) that the wide road leads to destruction and the narrow path leads to heaven, where few will enter. This is where church comes in. Church is not the answer; it’s the avenue. It is the place where you can find the narrow path.
Aside from the obvious sermon on Sunday, church provides many advantages to the Christian. It is a source of positive friends who can provide spiritual support. The church also offers many opportunities to serve the needs of others through organized outreach projects. Finally, there is a whole network in the church ministry that does not involve standing up at the pulpit on Sunday morning. Teaching Sunday school or volunteering time managing the church finances are a few of the ways your talents could be put to work for the Lord.
Church is way more than a biblical “filling station”. It is the source of positive friends, spiritual support, and opportunity to serve. There are lots of churches across this country with empty pews just waiting to be filled with people like you. If you do not have a home church that you attend on a regular basis, please consider the importance of gathering with the saints. Hope to see you in church this week!