tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22575956.post115572540474477521..comments2023-06-02T05:56:55.748-05:00Comments on Love Each Stone: Life-changing Experiences with Operation MobilizationDavid Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11701934251748260267noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22575956.post-36923490918425602922008-07-20T23:41:00.000-05:002008-07-20T23:41:00.000-05:00Shirley,Yes, I remember your parents. The New Zeal...Shirley,<BR/><BR/>Yes, I remember your parents. The New Zealand part was throwing me off. I assume you have since relocated there. How old were you back in '84 - '86?David Rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11701934251748260267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22575956.post-5933066551398649602008-07-20T20:56:00.000-05:002008-07-20T20:56:00.000-05:00OK, it's over a year late... better late than neve...OK, it's over a year late... better late than never!! My parents are George and Carolyn Booth - Zimbabwe / South Africa. My dad was chief mate and captain over the years we were on Doulos. Remember them?Shirley Șerbanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00268283135463936748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22575956.post-68553589281973650242007-04-05T04:19:00.000-05:002007-04-05T04:19:00.000-05:00Shirley,Great to hear from you! I notice on your p...Shirley,<BR/><BR/>Great to hear from you! I notice on your profile you are from New Zealand. When you say you were on the Doulos as a kid, does that mean you were on the ship with your parents? Are you free to say who they are? I imagine I would remember them.David Rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11701934251748260267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22575956.post-25829721043968383242007-04-05T00:31:00.000-05:002007-04-05T00:31:00.000-05:00Greetings from another ex-Douloi - I think I was o...Greetings from another ex-Douloi - I think I was on board with you when I was a kid!! Came across this post very randomly, but it brings great memories. Having gone back to the ship and now working with OM elsewhere, one of my favourite things is the lack of denomination labels in the movement. Some of my closest friends and colleagues over the years are people who I STILL have no idea which kind of church they go to. And others, when I find out, are totally opposite to what I expected! Oh that inter-mission and church 'competition' would cease as we all worship the Living God as one body!Shirley Șerbanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00268283135463936748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22575956.post-1155839502779830332006-08-17T13:31:00.000-05:002006-08-17T13:31:00.000-05:00David, I have the privilege of working with one o...David, I have the privilege of working with one of your old shipmates from your years on Doulos that also now serves with the IMB. A great man with a good head on his shoulders. He has a great breadth of experience due to things like you say you learned with OM. It is great to have him seeing Hindus come to Christ and starting churches -- especially since before he became a Christian (and before he served with OM of course) he used to follow a Hindu guru. Jeff are you out there listening?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22575956.post-1155812024812676222006-08-17T05:53:00.000-05:002006-08-17T05:53:00.000-05:00Bart,I think your questions are great questions, w...Bart,<BR/><BR/>I think your questions are great questions, which I do not believe have set Yes/No answers. I am hoping to do my best at giving some thoughtful reflection to these issues in future posts.David Rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11701934251748260267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22575956.post-1155791307515029952006-08-17T00:08:00.000-05:002006-08-17T00:08:00.000-05:00The Missionary's Predestined Purpose“Now the Lord ...The Missionary's Predestined Purpose<BR/><BR/>“Now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant …” (Isaiah 49:5).<BR/><BR/>The first thing that happens after we recognize our election by God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our preconceived ideas, our narrow-minded thinking, and all of our other allegiances—we are turned solely into servants of God's own purpose. The entire human race was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Sin has diverted the human race onto another course, but it has not altered God’s purpose to the slightest degree. And when we are born again we are brought into the realization of God's great purpose for the human race, namely, that He created us for Himself. This realization of our election by God is the most joyful on earth, and we must learn to rely on this tremendous creative purpose of God. The first thing God will do is force the interests of the whole world through the channel of our hearts. The love of God, and even His very nature, is introduced into us. And we see the nature of Almighty God purely focused in John 3:16—“For God so loved the world … .”<BR/><BR/>We must continually keep our soul open to the fact of God's creative purpose, and never confuse or cloud it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to force our intentions aside no matter how much it may hurt. A missionary is created for the purpose of being God's servant, one in whom God is glorified. Once we realize that it is through the salvation of Jesus Christ that we are made perfectly fit for the purpose of God, we will understand why Jesus Christ is so strict and relentless in His demands. He demands absolute righteousness from His servants, because He has put into them the very nature of God.<BR/><BR/>Beware lest you forget God’s purpose for your life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22575956.post-1155786208975884312006-08-16T22:43:00.000-05:002006-08-16T22:43:00.000-05:00David,Thanks for sharing with us the work that is ...David,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for sharing with us the work that is being done for GOD"S KINGDOM.<BR/><BR/>Isn't it Great working with all Brothers and Sisters in CHRIST to THE GLORY of GOD. <BR/><BR/>It is HIS KINGDOM we are working for. <BR/><BR/>Some people have their shades on and don't want our Missionaries working with fellow Christians that are not Baptist. <BR/><BR/>My Son and Daughter in-law met in the Missions Field out in the rough.<BR/><BR/>A Brother in CHRISTWayne Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14218244632682134340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22575956.post-1155781197232352372006-08-16T21:19:00.000-05:002006-08-16T21:19:00.000-05:00I've spent my most of my adult life working for/in...I've spent my most of my adult life working for/in non-denominational, para-church ministries: sometimes I'm just amazed at the attitudes of fellow SBCers.<BR/><BR/>It reminds me of the old joke about the angel showing the newcomer around heaven. When they get to a section of heaven with "Quiet" signs posted all around, the angel explains, "This is where the Southern Baptists are... they think they're the only ones up here."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22575956.post-1155759246849706932006-08-16T15:14:00.000-05:002006-08-16T15:14:00.000-05:00Thanks, David, for a powerful testimony that has l...Thanks, David, for a powerful testimony that has led me only to appreciate you more as a brother.<BR/><BR/>Certainly, I think it would be difficult to find very many people in the SBC whose life has not been touched in some powerful way by the ministry of other Christians (whether it be YWAM, James Dobson, or John MacArthur). Your point that God is at work in other Christian groups, even in ways that impact Baptists, is a valid one, and one that reminds us of the age of Edwards and Whitefield.<BR/><BR/>Forgive me for noting that one might affirm the freedom of Christians of all convictions to be at work in the Great Commission (and indeed might offer benediciton to such as these) while still defending the freedom and propriety of some distinctively Baptist witness in the world. Unlike the age of Landmarkism, today's situation does not (as far as I can observe) involve anyone calling into question the validity or worth of efforts by non-Baptists to spread the gospel.<BR/><BR/>Rather, the question (I think) is whether it is wrong for Southern Baptists to join with one another in a distinctively Baptist way to contribute to that task, even if that effort requires some level of distance from those who do not share our ecclesiological convictions in order to protect the distinctiveness of our work.<BR/><BR/>Is offering blessing to their work really mutually exclusive to maintaining the distinctives of our own work?Bart Barberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14021102240441576393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22575956.post-1155750202105039992006-08-16T12:43:00.000-05:002006-08-16T12:43:00.000-05:00Thanks David for this post!One of our most wonderf...Thanks David for this post!<BR/><BR/>One of our most wonderful experiences was fellowshipping and worshipping with Christians from many different backgrounds at The Cove a few years ago. And in one of South America's least reached areas we enjoyed working together with missys from different countries. Just yesterday I enjoyed two cups of coffee and two hours of conversation with one of our GCC partners. Never the less I still am happy about my strong Baptist identity.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22575956.post-1155748380636587882006-08-16T12:13:00.000-05:002006-08-16T12:13:00.000-05:00Having grown up in an Independant Baptist group I ...Having grown up in an Independant Baptist group I carry a lot of baggage. I'm quite the "recovering Pharisee". But I am recovering.<BR/><BR/>In the last few years my eyes have been opened to the greater Evangelical world of God's saints.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your post.James Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00748728650999497693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22575956.post-1155743088668123992006-08-16T10:44:00.000-05:002006-08-16T10:44:00.000-05:00What an interesting report. What you write helps e...What an interesting report. What you write helps explain a lot of the strong GCC position you have written about over the past months. I too grew up in a cross-cultural evangelical world going to school in Quito, Ecuador at a school for missionary children. There we were all mixed together on a daily basis from all over the evangelical spectrum. One learns to love and appreciate the beauty of the multi-colored and diverse Body of Christ. <BR/><BR/>Two of my classmates at the Alliance Academy in Quito went on to work with OM, David Greenlee and "Corky" Gundlach, Jr. both good friends of mine. I've never seen them since graduation, but have heard reports of their lives and ministries over the years.J. Guy Musehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17751691713410311094noreply@blogger.com