Strengthening the Weak Protects the Strong.

“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” 

1 Corinthians 12:27

Recently we went to Felsenmeer, in the Odenwald.  It’s an amazing spot!  Large boulders seem to cascade down the side of a steep hill like a stone waterfall frozen in time.  Thousands of people go each year to climb the stones, or walk the trails along side.  Carol and I went with a couple of our university students to spend a sunny day enjoying God’s creation.

I had only climbed be a dozen or so of the large stones, when, as I pushed off with my leg to propel myself up to the next level, I heard a loud “pop” and felt a searing pain in my left knee. I thought I could wait a few moments and “shake it off,” continuing up the hill; but alas, I had to very slowly make my way down the hill along the side trail. My climbing for the day was over.

The trouble was – my left knee had been my “good knee” for years!  My right knee had been week and painful since a sports injury in the 1970’s.  I thought that I could overcome the weakness in that bad knee by putting the hard work on the good knee. In the end, the good knee was left injured and the whole body suffered.

Paul tells us that the church is like a body. Each member is meant to do its part. Sometimes there are members of the body that bear scars from old wounds, or are weak due to lack of use. Far too often, rather than working with the weak to strengthen and mature them, we simply put additional strain and tension on the stronger and healthier parts of the body. Sadly, this can lead to new strains, and fresh wounds. 

Ministry leaders need to be constantly searching for those who are weak and sidelined by pain; working with them to get them moving again, building strength and finding purpose within the body. Members who find themselves timid and resistant to ministry because of old pain or fear of injury, need to recognize their important role in the body, and do their part. They will not only be strengthened themselves, they will prevent others from injury, and strengthen the entire body!

Discontentment Says Something about You, Not Your Circumstances

This post by Philip Graham Ryken is adapted from the ESV Men's Devotional Bible.  From: Crossway

Grumble, Grumble

In Exodus 15, the Israelites camped by the springs of Elim for several weeks, lingering under the palm trees and taking long drinks of cool water. Then it was time to move on. They were on a spiritual journey—a pilgrimage that reveals the pattern of the Christian life.

The spiritual geography of Israel's exodus from Egypt can be mapped onto the experience of our own souls. Although there are times of refreshing, usually they do not last for long. Soon it is time to head back into the desert, which is a place of testing and spiritual growth.

The Israelites headed deeper into the wilderness. Soon they were tired and hungry, and once again they started to complain. Whining was Israel's besetting sin. It started when Moses first went to Pharaoh and people complained that he was making their job harder instead of easier (Ex. 5:21). They grumbled at the Red Sea, where they accused Moses of bringing them out into the desert to die. The grumbling continued more or less for 40 years, as they became a nation of malcontents.

Discontent With God

Our own complaints are not caused by our outward circumstances; rather, they reveal the inward condition of our hearts. Really, the Israelites had nothing to complain about. They were not running out of food, but were confusing what they wanted with what they needed. This is often the source of our discontent: thinking that our "greeds" are really our needs.

The Israelites also exaggerated the advantages of their former situation. "Remember the good old days?" They said. Looking back with longing on their time in Egypt, they imagined themselves bellying up to Pharaoh's buffet. Yet it is doubtful that, as slaves, they were ever treated so lavishly.

Israel's attitude is a warning against the great sin of complaining. Although they complained to Moses, they were really grumbling against God. By saying that it would have been better for God to let them die back in Egypt, they were really saying that they wished they had never been saved.

We need to be honest about the fact that all of our dissatisfaction is discontent with God. Usually we take out our frustrations on someone else. But God knows that when we grumble, we are finding fault with him. A complaining spirit indicates a problem in our relationship with God.

The irony, of course, is that God always gives us exactly what we need. For the Israelites, this meant manna in the wilderness. For us it means the true Bread of Life, Jesus Christ.

Philip Graham Ryken (DPhil, University of Oxford) is the eighth president of Wheaton College.

https://www.crossway.org/blog/2016/05/

Summer 2016 Update

Summer 2016

Carol with Sammy and quilt she made for her.

It has been one of the most demanding seasons of our time in Europe, and our communication to you has suffered as a result. We’re sorry this update is so late in coming! There has been a lot of activity in both our personal lives and in the ministry – we’ll try to give you a brief but full update.

Personal News: On 3 February at 7:00pm, our first grand-daughter, Samantha Rodman Marsh, was born.  She weighed 9 lbs., 7 oz. and was 19 inches long. She joins her big brother Levi, who was just 2 weeks shy of his first birthday.  Rachel and Andrew are understandably thrilled, as are we!  We had a chance to be at their home in Annapolis, Maryland, in May for a visit. At that time, Nicole and Eric, with their boys, Asher and Cayden, came to join us from New York; and John and his girlfriend Kefei came from Arizona for a full-family gathering!  It was the first time for everyone to be together!

Bob & Samantha

Just after Samantha was born, we received word that Bob’s dad was ill. He contracted a bad cold that developed into pneumonia, which severely weekend his heart.  Multiple body systems began to be strained, and fail. When told that he was not going to recover, and that he had only a few days to two weeks to live, he paused for just a moment, then said, “Well, ‘To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord!’ We should celebrate!”

We flew to West Virginia on 15 February, and were with dad and mom through dad’s last days on this earth.  He was in great spirits when we arrived, making jokes, sitting in his chair, and resting on his hospital bed in the living room of their apartment. But by Wednesday, he began to slip into more of a semi-conscious state, and in the early hours of Friday morning, 19 February, he went home to be with Jesus. Even in his semi-conscious state he quoted a verse of Scripture: “Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord…”  What a testimony! We are blessed to know dad is in heaven with Jesus!

Prayer Calendar:

June 7-10 – Feasibility Study Munich

July 4-14 – In New York to care for grandsons while Nicole & Eric minister in St. Louis.

July 17 – Visit and speak at church plant in Toulouse, France.

August 26-28 – Darmstadt church retreat in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse.

October 22-30 – IBC Annual Meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Summer 2016 Ministry Update

Blake Nobles

Ministry: In January we welcomed Blake Nobles to Darmstadt. Blake is finishing his Masters of Divinity degree at Truett Seminary in Waco, Texas. He came to complete his final requirement for the degree – a six-month ministry internship. While here in Darmstadt, Blake has been working to firm up our ministry to Young Adults in the area – university students and young adults just entering the workplace.  It has been a great learning experience for us as church leaders as much as for Blake!  He’s made good progress in establishing the ministry, and developing leadership to continue when his time is completed in June.

In March we attended the annual Ministry Leadership Conference of the IBC in Malta. The meeting was filled with great teaching, fellowship and encouraging connections with other pastors and ministry leaders from around the world. The meetings were followed by the first Multiply Conference, a two day focus on church planting in the IBC. Bob lead a discussion outlining the growing opportunity to reach the world by planting English-language churches in global cities.  We had a great time visiting the beautiful sites around the island that was first evangelized by the Apostle Paul when he was shipwrecked there. It is, to this day, the most Christian nation in Europe!

Blue Grotto, Malta

St Paul's Bonfire Chapel in Malta

Hong Kong

In April, Carol remained in the US to spend additional time with the grandchildren, while Bob flew to Hong Kong to attend the Global Church for a Global World conference. The conference brought international church leaders from around the world to learn about networking and ministry opportunities as we seek to fulfill the great commission together! 

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong with Os Guinness & the IBC Team

In May, we completed a Feasibility Study of Mannheim, a large city just 45 minutes from Darmstadt. This city looks like a great opportunity for a sister-church to the Darmstadt work. In June we will do a study of Munich, and later this year in Strasbourg, France. Please pray with us about these opportunities!

Feasibility Study Team - Mannheim

Financial Update:

Financial Update:  We have entered our fifth year on the mission field, and there has been some attrition in our support over the years. About 60% of our monthly support is being met from our supporters back home. The church in Darmstadt has stepped up to meet the need, so far. That is good, but as the deficit grows, and as we face the loss of some critical members in the church due to graduation or new work assignment, the situation can quickly grow critical. Will you consider joining us in our efforts to reach the English-speaking International Community of Darmstadt, Central Europe and the world? Please pray for God’s provision for us, and for His guidance for you and your family.

Here’s How to Support our work:

By Check

Make checks payable to: Converge

In the memo line of the check, please note account # 133261.   Send checks to:

Converge Worldwide Attn: J. LoGalbo

2002 S. Arlington Heights Rd.

Arlington Heights, IL 60005

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Automatic Withdrawal

Set up an automatic withdrawal from your checking account for contributions.  Here’s how:

Contact Jennifer LoGalbo

Telephone: 1-800-323-4215

Email: Jennifer.LoGalbo@converge.org

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EASY Web-based support! Go to:

www.convergeworldwide.org/give/133261 to set up a one- time, or ongoing support from your debit or credit card.

Update: Mannheim, Germany Feasibility Study

Team Mannheim: Blake, Kim, Susanne, Bob & Carol,
Nathan and Jeremy

Thanks for your prayers for us last week as we traveled to Mannheim. With help from church leaders from Darmstadt, Ramstein and Frankfurt Oberursel, we had a very productive and exciting experience! 

In reviewing the overall results of the Feasibility Study, the single word that comes to mind most is “positive.” It seemed that each of the meetings had a positive tone. The people we talked to from the various student ministries, Studenten für Christus, Student Misison Deutschland, Katholischen Hochschulgemeinde, and the Stadtmission Mannheim were all very positive.

We met with pastors Andale Weber from Haus des Herrn, and Pastor Walter Clark from Rhine River Baptist, who were also generally positive, but seasoned with the recognition that the work is difficult and the commitments must be long-term and enduring through the difficult times that will inevitably be faced. We heard more than once of previous efforts to begin new works in the city that had failed to gain a foothold.

During our time in Mannheim, we were not able to include input from the professional/business side of the expatriate community. We simply were unable to make the vital connections necessary and set up appointments. We are going to follow up with supplemental visits to connect with the international business community. Some of those meetings will be through new leads we discovered last week, others will be "cold calls" to places of business and industry. If you know someone in Mannheim who works for SAP, John Deere, BASF Chemicals, Roche Pharmaceuticals, or another international company, please pass that information along!  This certainly needs to be completed and entered into the mix as we consider future steps in the city.

Our final evaluation after last week's visit gave the city a green light, but we recognize that this is only a preliminary result. The addition of information from the professional realm will certainly provide further insight, and may alter the conclusions.

One conclusion that seems evident is that it will not be possible for us (Bob & Carol) to do this new plant in Mannheim while still fully engaged in Darmstadt. We will need to seek a new church planter, or an associate to help in Darmstadt to free us for Mannheim.

Thanks for your prayers for us!