Logos Ministries Newsletter

Things We Don't Seem to Take Seriously
Part VII

DOES TRAGEDY EQUAL OPPORTUNITY?

We need to think about the way we pray. This is especially true when it comes to situations that involve hardship and/or opposition. In many instances, situations of this sort elicit prayers which petition God to end such discomfort. Are we indicating, by the point of our prayer that the Christian life should be void of pain? I am afraid that in some instances that is exactly the motivation. We might even at the same time criticize those who preach about a kind of Christian life that is necessarily economically lucrative, popular, painless and trouble free. Try finding those conditions in the lives of “faith’s hall of fame” which is listed in Hebrews chapter eleven. The truth is that Jesus promised just the opposite. He said that if the enemy persecuted Him, they would not deal more kindly with His disciples. This was Jesus’ intent when he admonished His followers to take up their cross, daily.

Believers enter into the experience of opposition in a variety of ways. Some enter into an experience of opposition and simply hold their breath waiting for it to go away. When that experience is over, they are not really better servants of God for having suffered. Their walk with God appears to be no better because they endured the pain.

There are hosts of biblical examples that give us wise counsel in dealing with adversity. We would like to look at some of these to see what wise counsel they offer.

After God delivered Israel at the Red Sea, Moses and the sons of Israel sang a song of thanksgiving to God. (Ex. 15:1) By verse 24 of the same chapter, these same people were grumbling because they had no water. The miracle of God’s deliverance at the Red Sea (Ex 14) left no apparent impression on these people. They only knew that they were thirsty and God had not provided for their need.

They had apparently learned nothing by the miracle that God performed on their behalf in 14:11. The people spoke with sharp sarcasm against Moses saying, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?” God had provided a great miracle on Israel’s behalf on this occasion and all they could remember was that they were thirsty. In chapter 15, the people needed water and the only source they could see was very bitter. They grumbled again, “The people grumbled at Moses saying, ‘What shall we drink?’” (15:24) God provided again for their need at Elim. Between 14:1 and 15:23, Israel had learned nothing about God. In 16:3, Israel said, “Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat.” In both these instances, Israel faced hardship, focused exclusively upon it and learned nothing about their God and the way He provided for their needs.

In Numbers chapters 12 and 13, at God’s command, Moses sent 12 spies into the land of promise to spy out the land. All 12 spies saw the same things. Ten of these spies reported their fears of the size of the people and the extent of the defenses of their cities. Caleb and Joshua, however, having seen the same things, urged the people to go into the land because they were well able to conquer the land God had promised Israel. The ten spies had forgotten what God did in Egypt, at the Red Sea and in providing food and water for the great host of people and animals. Upon hearing the report, the people cried out, “would that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would that we had died in the wilderness.” All 12 spies saw the power and size of the people in the land. Ten of the spies, however, did not consider their experience of the changeless power of God in providing for His people and faithfully protecting them from their enemies. The result of this is that Israel spent 40 years wandering around in the wilderness because they could not place their trust in God to see them through the difficulties they saw in the form of the people in the land.

There are times when we see tragedies that are not tragedies at all. You may remember the story of the healing of the demoniac at Gadara. For years, he had lived in the exile of the caves. Jesus healed him and he was as harmless and sane as anyone else. In deep gratitude, he wanted to accompany Jesus, but to his surprise, Jesus refused. Jesus rather instructed him to tell everyone in the area what had happened. He did it! When Jesus returned he was met by an overwhelming crowd to whom the healed man had witnessed. This new believer turned his tragedy into an opportunity of obedience.

Peter was confronted about his relationship with Jesus and he failed to witness. He denied knowing his master. However on Pentecost, Peter was again confronted by an aroused opposition. He faced the threat; witnessed to the truth and was the agent through whom God drew 3,000 people to Himself. We all fail on occasion, but that is not the end of the story. God will again place us in a position to confront what could be tragedy and devastation in order to grow by trusting Him to make a victory out of an apparent defeat. The difference usually becomes obvious to the extent we are able to remember how powerful God is and then to act upon that awareness. God loves the opportunity to turn the tragedies of life into opportunities for observable growth and witness.

God bless you each one,

Bill Cooper

Several of you have used the first volume of the study of I Samuel chapters 1 – 15. You also have asked when the second volume would be available. Volume 2 is now ready and available for your use. This 220-page book, like the other, studies we have prepared, is done in the Inductive Bible Study method. It is presented in a three ring binder so that you can choose to either study the author’s research or do your own study and then compare it with the text of this book. The prices are the same as all the other studies - $12.00. See the attached order form.

Bill has completed the research and initial writing of a book containing an Inductive study of the epistle of James. The initial format of this work was for teaching. This needs to be reformatted for publication. It will have to go through a careful proof reading process before it can be presented for printing. This book should be available in the early fall season. We will keep you posted concerning its progress.

As people in other countries become aware of the book “DID YOU KNOW THIS?! – they begin asking questions about how it could be secured in their own language. This has also happened in Haiti. In the area where the seminary is located, there is a young man who is particularly adept in languages. Some folks near the seminary have hired this young man to translate the book into Creole, the language of the people there. His translation of the book is being checked by an American missionary who has served in Haiti for over 40 years.

The translation is about 50% complete at this time. We hope to have the book ready for printing by the end of 2005. In mid-March we checked with an Evangelical press in Port Au Prince about the feasibility of having the book printed in Haiti rather than having it printed in the U. S. and transported to Haiti at substantial expense. Shortly, we will know what their response is. Pray with us that this will become available soon so that it can be shared with Haitian pastors and laity at minimal cost and in many cases free.

This book also is being translated into Korean, but we have had no recent report on the progress of this work.

Each summer since 1980, Bill has traveled to Northwestern University in Evanston, IL to teach in the Course of Study School at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. This week he received an email indicating that because of the low enrollment they will not be able to have the class that he has taught all these years. This has been a wonderful opportunity to teach and serve some of the lay pastors in the church. It has been a great gift to Bill.

On April 2, the Board of Logos Ministries meets for their semi-annual meeting. They will be working on several new issues that need attention. We would appreciate your prayers for the board and your continued prayers for Logos Ministries.

As you probably know, Bill serves as the Director of the Emmaus Biblical Seminary in Vaudreuil, Haiti. This is a four year degree program that started three years ago and will graduate its first class in June 2006. The seminary is under the auspices of OMS International, a missionary sending agency headquartered in Greenwood, Indiana. The seminary does not have enough living space for all the students and they do not own the property on which their present facility is located.

They are committed to building a new seminary complex on a piece of land that they own. It is a very expensive project and it is very important that it be finished in time for the school year to start in September 2006. Please pray that God will provide the necessary funds. The entire complex will be built by volunteer labor, people coming from the U. S. and Canada at their own expense to assist in the construction of the buildings. When this project is complete, it will provide the necessary space for 72 students. We are already at 48 students with another class of students due to arrive in September of this year.

There is a lot of work that falls to the Bill, as the director, in a project such as this. We would appreciate your prayers that Bill will be able to do all the things required of him as the director and still keep up with his writing schedule.