As professional football gets closer to opening Lord willing all rods lead to Tampa for the SBO ’21 Feb. 4 – 7!
Pray about joining the team in Tampa for 4 days of fellowship, teaching and long days of ministry. The present details are here: SBO ’21 .
To prepare pray about participating in the SFOI 1000 Football Program which is a commitment to preach at the home games of the local pro or college team in your area. Details and team listing: SFOI 1000 .
Mark Yoho of Fourth Watch Ministries Teaching on Living United. To Subscribe to Mark’s channel: Fourth Watch .
We may never even get the opportunity to eat meat offered to idols, but a lot of things hinge on this test case: Is it permissible to eat the meat offered to idols or not?
he Corinthians wrote to Paul, their apostle and pastor, to ask him about some questions they had. These were things about which there was disagreement or, at least, uncertainty in the church of Corinth. Having received the Gospel, they needed guidance about the nature of Christian freedom amidst the challenges they were encountering in familial and social settings. Not surprisingly, their questions have retained relevance. Each generation of Christian finds themselves asking related questions about freedom and the ethic of the Kingdom of God. Revisiting Saint Paul’s divinely inspired response exhibits the space in which the Gospel and the Third Use of the Law overlap in cases of conscience.
However, one Corinthian issue may not seem terribly relevant anymore. But this impression would be mistaken. It is the question of whether a Christian may eat meat previously offered to an idol. In discussions with Christians from distant cultures, the question is a live one.
The inquiry is basically this: Suppose the Jones family invites you to dinner. Just as they are serving up the main course you say, “That looks like a lovely steak, Mrs. Jones.” “Best sirloin,” she replies, “I couldn’t usually get it, but there’s just been a big sacrifice to the god Jupiter, so there was meat in the market — not too expensive either.” Now, you believe in religious freedom, but you are a Christian. Should you share in this meat which has been offered to an idol?
Now, this question is brought up elsewhere in 1 Corinthians. In chapter 8, Paul started with these words: “Now concerning food offered to idols….” But what the parishioners in Corinth wanted to know is, “Can we eat the meat or not?” The Apostle, however, did not give them a clear answer. Instead, Paul started talking about some deeper questions, about freedom and conscience, about sensitivity to another person’s beliefs and understanding, about the dangers of a little knowledge, and the love that builds people up. This is the nature of an apostle so intoxicated with the spirit of God that he cannot walk a straight line but explores every byway on his route before getting to the point. By now, he has been wandering for three chapters. In other words, Paul explores and probes the implications of the Gospel where the Law used to strictly and narrowly apply.
Paul explores and probes the implications of the Gospel where the Law used to strictly and narrowly apply.
Chapter 10, then, is the conclusion of his great meandering answer. Here we finally get his response to, “Is it permissible to eat the meat offered to idols or not? Yes or no?”
A lot hinges on this question. We may never even get the opportunity to eat meat offered to idols. But it is the principle that is important. Other questions cause disagreements or uncertainty among Christians today. For example, is it okay to drink a glass of wine? Or two glasses, or four? You may wonder if it is okay to buy a lottery ticket or bet on a horse race. Is it alright to take a day off work when I have got a bit of a sniffle, and the duvet is inviting? Does it matter if my child attends the school assembly when they are celebrating Transgender? Can I go to the supermarket and do my shopping on Good Friday? Do I set a placard of my political affiliation on the front lawn? A lot of things hinge on this test case: Is it permissible to eat the meat offered to idols or not?
And the answer is…. the answer is the Corinthians are asking the wrong question. They (and we) are asking “Is it lawful?” That is the wrong question because the answer resounds clearly in Scripture: Everything is lawful because you are free of the Law. That is exactly what Paul writes: “All things are lawful for me” ( 1 Corinthians 6:12 ). He writes it twice in the same verse. Because the Corinthians had difficulty getting their heads around it, he says it again in chapter 10: “All things are lawful.” In fact, he again says it twice in the same verse — four times in total.
Consequently, the Corinthians (and we today) have a great gift, the gift of freedom. “For freedom, Christ has set us free,” Saint Paul says in Galatians 5:1 . It is a great gift because it means Christians are free from the curse of the Law and the punishment of disobedience, that is, the coercion of both which motivates one out of fear. So, fear is driven out and its place is overtaken by love. As 1 John 4:18-19 says: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because He first loved us.” What Paul attempts here is to alert the Corinthians that there abides in them now a different motivation, a different spirit, a renewed heart capable of divine love by way of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Dictatorial obedience to the Law (yes or no scenarios) does little toward the cultivation of wisdom. However, exercising the freedom to love in every way entails the cultivation of wisdom.
Fear is driven out and its place is overtaken by love.
So, we have the great gift of freedom. But it is not the only gift. We also have the gift of conscience, and we have the gift of love. Rather than a law, let us take these gifts to the table at the Jones’ house. Now, I am not going to ask if I am allowed to eat it. That is simple: Yes, I am allowed. All things are lawful. It is, after all just a piece of meat, the same as any other, nothing different about it, even if some bogus theology was uttered over it at a pagan temple. I am not going to ask if I am allowed to eat it, that is the wrong question.
But am I going to eat it? Conscience come out. Love show yourself. Here is the issue. Across the table is another fellow, we will call him Smith. Smith is a new Christian. To be honest, he has not even read 1 Corinthians yet. He knows Jesus. He loves Jesus. But he does not know all about freedom in Christ at the moment. Now, suppose I eat the meat. It looks and smells delicious and I am perfectly at liberty to eat it — that is my prerogative. Still, if I do, what about Smith? Will he understand? Will he maybe think I am saying I agree with offerings to idols? Might he even think I especially want to take part in the dish to be involved with the sacrifice to Jupiter? Conscience, what do you say? And conscience defers to love, so what do you say?
“Mrs. Jones, that does look delicious, but I’ll pass if you don’t mind. Just the roast potatoes and Brussel sprouts for me.” An awkward moment, perhaps. But you will explain it all to Jones when an opportunity arises.
Saint Paul does not bind the Christian mind. He does not dictate to Christian conscience. As a matter of fact, the decision could go the other way. Sometimes a conscience driven by love leads Paul himself to assert himself. By the time he has finished writing to the Corinthians that much will be patently obvious. Let us suppose things unfolded a bit differently at the Jones’ house.
S uppose someone, maybe even Smith himself, had taken a stand and said you may not eat the meat because it was contaminated by being offered to an idol. Your conscience must defer to love again. But this time love regards a different concern. Can I let everyone see me endorsing this misunderstanding, this denial of the freedom Christ has won for us? No, if I refuse the meat, I become enslaved to a man-made law. That may lead people away from the Gospel. They might think I regard the idol as a real force. I cannot do that. “So, thank you very much, Mrs. Jones. I’ll have a large portion, please.”
Love is the real answer lurking behind every ethical or moral issue Paul tackles.
The apostle refuses to instruct on the matter. He does not give a law. Rather, there is something far better. It is a gift. We have, in Christ, the gift of freedom and the blessing of conscience, and the example of love lived out for us in Jesus Christ. Of course, it would be easier if Paul would just give a yes or no. But his answer to the question of eating meat offered to idols is “love.” It is the real answer lurking behind every ethical or moral issue he tackles. “Owe no one anything,” he wrote to the Romans, “except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the Law.” “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word,” he told the Galatians, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (5:14). “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (10:31). He concludes by saying: “Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the Church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me as I am of Christ” ( 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1 ).
Rev. John J. Bombaro, Ph.D. (King’s College, University of London) is a missionary of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, serving as the Assistant Director of Theological Education at the Luther Academy, Rīga, Latvia.
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Adoniram and Ann Judson had the distinction of being America’s first foreign missionaries. Adoniram Judson was the son of an austere Congregational minister. Adoniram learned to read by age three. From the beginning it was clear that he was destined for an exceptional life.
Conversion
When he entered Brown University on Rhode Island, he became enchanted with Deism and unbelief and slipped into a restless life. After graduation he wrote for the stage in New York. Then he chose to head West for the frontier. En route, at an Inn, he listened all night to a man dying in the next room. In the morning he was shocked to learn that the deceased man was one of his closest companions at college, an outspoken unbeliever who had opposed the Gospel of Christ vehemently. Adoniram knew that Jacob Eames was lost, but he also recognised that the same was true of himself. The West lost its allure, he turned his horse around and enrolled at a Theological Seminary. He was converted to Christ there, in 1808.
Called
The conviction grew that he was called to be a Missionary to Burma, but there were no missionary societies in America yet. So Adoniram travelled to England to consult with the London Missionary Society.
Captured
His voyage by sea involved being captured by a French warship and imprisoned in France. Adoniram showed the kind of ingenuity which was to characterise his whole missionary life, by escaping from this French prison and making his way back to America, arriving 8 months after he had left. Despite opposition from family and friends, Adoniram lost no time in making preparations.
Courtship
Adoniram courted Ann Hasseltine who was generally accepted as “the most beautiful girl in Bradford, Massachusetts.” His letter to her father is a classic: “I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter, whether you can consent to her departure to a heathen land, and her subjection to the hardships and suffering of a missionary life? Whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India, to every kind of want and distress, to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death?” John Hasseltine consented and Adoniram married Ann Hasseltine.
Commissioned
They were consecrated for missionary service the day after their wedding, and within 2 weeks they were sailing for India – sent out by the newly formed American Board of Commission for Foreign Missionaries.
Conflict
Adoniram and Ann spent much of their honeymoon arguing – about baptism. By the time they had reached Calcutta, Ann had also come to agree with the Baptist position and they sent a resignation letter back to the Mission Board that had just sent them out! They then convinced the Baptists to adopt them with the formation of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society.
Carey
En-route to Burma, the Judsons visited William Carey – the Father of Modern Missions – in India. There they were baptised by immersion, by Carey’s co-worker, William Ward.
Tragedy
En-route by ship to Rangoon, their first child was stillborn during the voyage. In July 1813, the Judsons reached Rangoon. Their hearts sank at the sights and the smells of the place. Burma was a resistant Buddhist nation, under a cruel and despotic king, who viciously opposed their work. The Judson’s 7-month old son died.
Tribulation
Adoniram was struck by fever, which left him close to death. One missionary excursion dragged into a nightmare that lasted 7 months, much of it afflicted by fever. Back in Rangoon, Ann was subjected to severe harassment and withstood a devastating plague of cholera which swept the city.
Perseverance
The Judsons used a Zayat (a shelter) to provide rest for travellers, where discussions took place. It was at this Zayat in June 1819 that the Judsons were blessed, after 7 years of labour, with the first Burmese convert, Maung Nau.
Resistance
At one point, Adoniram Judson sought an audience with the Emperor, to present the Gospel to him. His attempt was abruptly dismissed by the Emperor. The Judsons battled discouragement and ill health.
Reinforcements
At one point Ann had to be sent back to America to recover from a debilitating fever. She returned with more missionary volunteers.
Torture
In 1824, war broke out between Great Britain and Burma. Although Judson was an American, he was accused of being an English spy and incarcerated in “Death Prison” for 18 months. Adoniram was mistreated and tortured by the Burmese, confined with 50 others in the most atrocious conditions, filth and squalor. At night his feet were tied to a bamboo pole, which was raised above his head so that he was forced to sleep, if at all, with only his head and shoulders on the ground.
Degradation
On the first occasion that Ann was allowed to visit her husband, eight months after his arrest, she carried their new born daughter, Maria. Ann was shocked that her normally fastidious, neat and presentable husband was in such a degrading state, having to crawl towards her in a condition that she was not even able to describe.
Devastation
When the British were able to free Adoniram, he was hit with another devastating blow, his beloved wife Ann had died. Six months later, their 2-year-old daughter, Maria, was buried alongside her mother. Adoniram sunk into extreme depression, and for a time, the work of the Gospel in Burma came to a halt.
Success
Inspired by the steadfastness of the Judsons, new Missionaries from America began arriving. More and more Burmese were converted to Christ. In one year, 200 converts were baptised. In 1832, Judson’s translation of the New Testament was completed, followed in 1834 by the Old Testament.
Progress
Adoniram then married Sarah Boardman, the widow of a missionary colleague. He worked at revising his translation of The Bible, alongside instructing native preachers and Evangelists. When his work on The Bible was finally done, he turned his attention to a Burmese dictionary.
Disaster
As Sarah’s health deteriorated, Adoniram accompanied her by sea back to America for recuperation, but she died en-route and was buried on the Island of St. Helena in August 1845. Then the news reached him that their 1½-year-old son, Charles, had died a month before his mother.
America
Although by now, he could barely whisper, large crowds gathered to hear him speak in America. When he returned to Burma, he took his third wife, Emily Chubbuck, with him. Emily generated some controversy as she was half his age and a writer of popular stories. Nevertheless, there was no doubt that she was a dedicated Christian and devoted to the Mission.
Karen for Christ
By 1849, the English-Burmese Dictionary had been completed. By the time Adoniram died in 1850, he had established 63 Churches amongst the Karen tribe. Over 100 000 Karen people had been baptised. Before he died, Adoniram declared: “When Christ calls me home, I shall go with the gladness of a boy, bounding away from his school.” All Judson’s 5 surviving children grew up to distinguish themselves in Christian service. The Karen people in Burma have remained steadfast in their Christian Faith despite severe persecution, an island of Christianity in a sea of Buddhism.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the Faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7
Dr. Peter Hammond
This article was adapted from a chapter of The Greatest Century of Missions book (224 pages with 200 photographs, pictures, charts and maps), available from: Christian Liberty Books, PO Box 358 Howard Place 7450 Cape Town South Africa Tel: 021-689-7478, Fax: 086-551-7490, Email: admin@christianlibertybooks.co.za , Website: www.christianlibertybooks.co.za .
From Curt Snead: Chaplain to the Columbia, SC Police Department and REF Evangelist .
June and July have truly been one of the most tiring and trying time that our police officers have faced in recent memory. Not only has there been much criticism directed at them but they have been called on time and time again to provide the needed traffic control and security for the very protests that were aimed at them. Again, I want to say how proud of this police department I am for how they have dealt with these challenges. One example of this is pictured below. During one peaceful protest at our headquarters building, I was able to witness a great discussion happen between several of our officers and these folks from our community. Not only was the initial conversation so good, but all of them met again to continue the conversation they started at one of the protests. This picture should serve as a reminder that all is not hopeless during this time. Be thankful that there are efforts like these to foster unity and reconciliation in these terribly divided times.
The other big thing that happened recently that added to the difficulties that the Department has faced was the loss of one of our own to Covid-19. Bob Hall was a supervisor of mine once and a friend ever since. It was such an honor to be involved in helping to plan and officiate his memorial service. The gospel was read and presented and God was glorified before many. I was sad to lose a friend, but so glad to see the Scriptures and the Gospel so clearly proclaimed.
I wanted to take time to celebrate efforts that I’ve seen in our area that have been encouraging to our officers. There has been such huge response from people in our community to these times to show support of our officers, and most I’ve seen have been from the Church. One of our supporters, Glassie Ladies in West Columbia, bought four boxes of donuts for our North Region officers for one of their 5 am roll calls. Another friend of the ministry helped us with a donation of Keurig K cups for our coffee ministry. Churches have also stepped up like in this picture below. Grace Life Church on Clemson Rd . went to each of our Regions with gifts and notes of appreciation. This was on top of a generous donation that Grace Life Church made to our Bible campaign! Several officers even mentioned these gifts to me as reminders that most people in our city support our police officers and how encouraging that was. Much thanks to Grace Life and others who have tangibly loved on our officers in the name of Jesus!
Prayer Requests
“Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once send Me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled?” Matthew 26:52-54
I must admit that I have really been disheartened by the state of our culture and nation since the beginning of 2020. Division, anger, and mistrust seem to have become the “modus operandi” of way too many in our country. It seems we may be losing our concern to love our neighbor and instead being driven by defending our rights against the threats we perceive coming from others. It seems to me that many care more about protecting their vision of what America should be rather than caring for the hurting, broken and lost neighbors that God has put right in front of us. I grieve over the state of our society because these attitudes are hurting us all and particularly our police officers who do not have the luxury of picking sides in these ideological battles. Who, nonetheless, have to be on the front lines of all the pain and division those battles cause.
The passage above has served as a good reminder to me recently, and I hope it is a reminder for you too. In our passage above Jesus was being betrayed, unjustly arrested, and abandoned by His friends. The one act of hope in this situation was Peter pulling his sword to defend Jesus from this injustice. But Jesus rebukes him and says something that rocks me. Jesus clearly tells those around Him that He could easily call legions of angels to defend Him in that moment, but that wasn’t the way. You see justice would have come if Jesus asked for those angels and it would have been righteous justice, but if justice had come, then mercy would not have come.
In this moment, Jesus had a real choice. If He chose justice, we never could have been saved, but, if Jesus chose mercy, His people would all have life and peace in His name. Heaven and Hell were bound up in this decision for you and me and I’m thankful that Jesus chose mercy over justice. I’m thankful that He laid down His utter right to defend Himself that I might have salvation. I worship Him because He chose injustice for Himself so that He could free me from the just punishment and wrath of God that I deserved.
Reading this passage then compels me to ask myself, “What kind of person ought I to be?” As one who has received mercy rather than justice, should I be such a fierce advocate for my “rights”? How can I be so quick to demand justice for those who I think are wrong when I have been shown such mercy? How can I be anything but merciful and kind to my neighbors when Jesus has been and continues to be so merciful and kind to me?
I think the Church can shine in difficult times like this. We shine in showing and displaying and proclaiming the mercy and kindness of Jesus in His Gospel. We shine by loving our neighbors as we have ourselves been loved in Christ. We shine by laying down our rights and lives, not by fighting to protect them. Our Gospel witness is compelling when choose to lay down what we think is rightfully ours for the sake of our neighbor. Church, now is our time to shine, now is our time to show the hope of Jesus that can shine so brightly in such dark times.
Would you join me in praying these things for the peace and welfare of our city and nation? Remember, we will find our own welfare in the welfare of the city and nation where God has sent us to dwell (Jeremiah 29:7).
– Please pray for our police officers in Columbia SC and all around our nation. God has raised these men and women up as His servants to do His work for our good (Romans 13:1-5) Pray that God would assist them in this vital function for our communities and nation. Pray that as He does, He also reveals Himself and His Gospel to many, that they may know the God who has called them into His service.
– Please pray for the peace of our communities and nation. Pray that God would use His people to be agents of peace and reconciliation through the love and words of Christ. Pray that the Church would be mighty in her ministry of reconciliation as we all have been reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:18)
– Lastly, please pray for our national and local leaders. Everyone one of them from the President to our local mayors and police chiefs, need the wisdom of God. Pray that God would cause our leaders to be unified even when they disagree on policy. Pray for humility and kind words to rule as they grapple with these difficult days and the decisions they require.
Check out our website at Reconcilethecity.org and be sure to share us with your friends and family who may be interested in our ministry
At midnight in Sydney as the year 2000 and the new millennium began, the word Eternity lit up on the Harbour Bridge.The back story is the personal story of Arthur Stace. Born in poverty to alcoholic parents, he had little education and became a petty criminal, an alcoholic and homeless. In the aftermath of World War II, he joined the lines outside St Barnabas’ Broadway, an Anglican Church in Sydney that provided food and shelter for the homeless. However, to get a meal involved first hearing a sermon! Stace turned to Jesus Christ.One night, at another church, he heard a sermon on Isaiah 57:15 : For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits Eternity , whose name is Holy;… “I wish that I could sound or shout Eternity to everyone in the streets of Sydney,” the preacher said. “We’ve all got to meet it. Where will you spend Eternity ?” Taking up the challenge, the almost illiterate Arthur Stace, started chalking Eternity, in a distinctive copperplate script, on the streets of Downtown Sydney.
Over 35 years he chalked it 500,000 times. Eternity became the mystery and the fascination of Sydney.And how important this word is for our world today – a world challenged by a pandemic with its drastic health, social and economic consequences. Eternity opens up a new way of looking at life.
New life . In his Letter to the Colossians, chapter 3:1 Paul the Apostle writes: So if you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. In Colossians 1 and 2 Paul tells us that with the coming of Jesus Christ the new age of God’s kingdom has dawned. This new age co-exists with the old which the New Testament refers to as the world. For the present a door is open, allowing people to pass from the old age to the new. In Colossians 1:13 he puts it this way: God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves…When we come to our senses and turn to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, our whole relationship with God changes. In Colossians 2:20 Paul speaks of everyone who turns to Christ as dying with him. Now in Colossians 3, he says: So if you have been raised with Christ…
New perspective . While physically we are still in the old world, God’s people now move in the sphere of resurrection life. And Paul wants the light of this sphere of eternity, to fall on everything we say and do. ‘Live,’ he says, ‘as though you belong, not on the earth, but in heaven.’Now, it’s natural to let the concerns of this world dominate our hearts. But Paul urges everyone who has this new life in the Lord Jesus, to see the challenges and troubles of life through the lens of their new resurrected and eternal life.Because Jesus Christ is at the right hand of God, he sits on the throne of holiness and great power. No longer should we feel that we are helpless victims of a troubled world with all its faults and failures, disease and death. And when we truly see that life now is fleeting, we will experience a greater joy and peace as we center our lives more and more on the Lord Jesus.Paul develops this: For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God, he says in verse 3. From God’s perspective, everyone who lives without him is dead. We may be healthy and enjoying life, but as far as God is concerned, we are dead. However, when we truly turn to Jesus Christ, God raises us up to a new life with Christ.For the present others only see our physical bodies. The reality of our new and eternal life is hidden. Indeed, because those around us cannot see, let alone understand the life we now have, there will be misunderstanding, mockery and even anger at the lifestyle changes they observe. But, because our faith is grounded in the God who keeps his promises, what is now hidden will one day be disclosed. Everyone will see it. Paul puts it this way in verse 4: When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
In today’s world of scientific progressivism, the idea of Christ bursting through the skies in a blazing display of power and glory, seems pure science fiction. But the Bible leaves us in no doubt. From cover to cover it tells us that the world is going somewhere and that the final outcome will be the return of God’s king.Do you realize that it is only some twenty-eight life spans ago – a life span being 70 years – since the events of the death and resurrection of God’s Son? During the course of his public life Jesus had predicted these events. He also spoke of his return. In the same way that his death and resurrection were fulfilled, is it not conceivable that his third prediction will also take place?And when he returns, what a day that will be! This present age will be seen for what it is – passing. And the pure joy and glory of God’s people will be manifest for what it is, an experience of life in all its fullness, for all eternity.
Eternity awakens our minds to see life now through the longer lens of a time without end – of God’s country.It is nothing short of a miracle that Arthur Stace’s one-word sermon on New Year’s Eve of the new millennium was seen by an estimated four billion people around the world. In this troubled world, let’s live in the light of eternity and the return of God’s King.
A Prayer : O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: do not leave us desolate, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to where our Savior Christ has gone before, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for evermore. Amen.
Receive Word on Wednesday (c) John G. Mason – www.anglicanconnection.com
Mark Yoho of Fourth Watch Ministry teaching on prayer.
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Centre for Religious Expression – Spring Newsletter
David Robert an evangelist in the greater New Orleans area sent CRE’s Spring Newsletter. Here’s what David said: “The Center for Religious Expression, who defends the rights of evangelists, has a new newsletter. We are indebted to CRE for helping to open the doors for us at Nicholls State in Thibodaux.”
Click the button below to read the Newsletter.
FREDERICK WILLIAM BAEDEKER – MISSIONARY TO RUSSIA
Frederick William Baedeker – Missionary to Russia
Over half of F.W. Baedeker’s life had passed before he became a Christian. His early years were spent in business, the army and in much traveling.
Transformed by Christ
In 1866, in his early forties, he became a Christian. “I went into the meeting a proud rebellious infidel and came out a humble believing disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Along with his remarkable spiritual transformation came a corresponding improvement in his health. His previous ill health had led many people to predict an early grave for him. But now, from his conversion, he began to undertake such strenuous journeys that would have depleted the energy of much younger and healthier men.
Consecrated and Commissioned
In Bristol, George Müller (who provided – by faith – food and housing to thousands of orphans) laid hands on him and “separated him to the special ministry to the banished brethren.” Like Baedeker, Müller was also German born.
Russia for Christ
In 1877, he left his home in England and moved with his wife and adopted daughter to Russia. His pattern was to approach the governor of a city and introduce himself as an evangelist from England, who would like to hold meetings in his town. “If you will arrange for a meeting in your drawing room, I am willing to conduct it and deliver an address.” This novel approach was generally greeted positively by the officials.
Innovative
Nor did he allow obstacles to prevent him from proclaiming the Gospel. On one occasion, when he was forbidden to preach because it was an illegal activity, he asked if he might lecture instead and was given permission. Posters were printed advertising his lecture. The subject was “Sin and Salvation”! These tactics he repeated all over Russia and was heard by many thousands. Baedecker had a deep yearning to compensate for the lost time and wasted opportunities of the early part of his life.
A Time of Trouble
The Czar was assassinated by terrorists. The Russian Orthodox Church was firmly in the grip of the State, and evangelicals, such as Baptists, were being stamped out and banished to Siberia. Baedecker felt an irresistible call to minister to these persecuted believers, exiles and prisoners in Siberia.
From Sea to Sea
In 1890, he travelled across the full length of Russia, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. His mammoth journey began at St. Petersburg. Then to Moscow, to Perm, and crossing the Ural Mountains to Tobolsk down to Tomsk, along the Chinese border, all the way to the island of Sakhalin, which harboured “the most hardened cut-throats of the most remorseless penal settlement” of them all. Baedeker wrote: “To visit the prisons and to minister to the poor souls who are under the awful power of sin and darkness, is better to me than angels’ food.”
Remember the Prisoners
In four months he had covered 7000 miles, distributed 12 000 copies of Scriptures and preached to 40 000 prisoners. Any injustice he encountered was brought to the notice of the prison governor, and more than one sufferer had cause to thank God for his keen eye and courage.
Respected in all Circles
Baedecker moved as freely amongst the rich nobles, barons and counts, as he did amongst the prisoners and exiles. Amongst others, Baedecker had fellowship with Count Leo Tolstoy, Baroness von Wrede, (a most committed worker amongst the prisoners), the Queen of Sweden and Princess Lieven in St. Petersburg. Dr. Baedecker was vigorously involved in supporting the work of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Evangelical Alliance and the Protestant Alliance.
Redeeming the Time
Even in the last year of his life, at age 83, he made four missionary trips to the Continent. After recognising how much of his life had been wasted, he refused to compound the error by spending yet more time in regretting that loss. Instead, he determined that what remained to him of his life should be spent in seeking to fulfil the Great Commission of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
“Woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel!” 1 Corinthians 9:16
Dr. Peter Hammond
Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480
Email: mission@frontline.org.za This article was adapted from the first chapter of The Greatest Century of Missions book (224 pages with 200 photographs, pictures, charts and maps), available from: Christian Liberty Books, PO Box 358 Howard Place 7450 Cape Town South Africa Tel: 021-689-7478, Fax: 086-551-7490, Email: admin@christianlibertybooks.co.za , Website: www.christianlibertybooks.co.za .
See also:
The Greatest Century of Missions
The Greatest Century of Reformation
Victorious Christians – Who Changed the World
How the Greatest Century of Missions was Derailed into the Worst Century of Persecution
Meet: Scott Smith & Schoolmaster Ministries
Scott Smith is a longtime open air preacher. He specializes in campus and abortion preaching. He’s taught at the Super Bowl Outreach, joined SFOI in the UK and various US events. If you want to learn to open air preach Scott does a wonderful job, Scott’s bio: Scott Smith . Contact Scot t. Scott’s Training videos: A Call To Arms .
SFOI ARCHIVE