Our Bible reading for today was John 13:33-35:

“Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:33-35 (NKJV)

When Jesus spoke these words, He knew that within the near hours and weeks, He will have given His life for our sins, risen, and ascended back to His Father. It is a critical time of instruction for His disciples and so this “new commandment” carries a lot of weight and is packed with meaning. The Kingdom of God does not have physical borders to fence-in and identify the children of God. There are not any visas or green cards to prove that we belong to Him. The Bible says, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

For many people, they might list as proof of Kingdom citizenship some of the following: church membership, baptism, charitable giving, church attendance, interest in the Bible, an attempt to live a good upstanding moral life, etc. All of these things are worthy markers of a true citizen of God’s Kingdom, yet there is one thing that trumps them all according to Christ. Do you HAVE LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER? Can others see this love and know that you belong to a different world?
Today, I want to challenge you. Without a doubt, each one of us will face a situation where the “unlovable” people of this world will tempt us to act or respond in a worldly, ungodly fashion. When this happens, show them your citizenship. Don’t insist on your “rights”…but love them like Christ loves them. Why? Because you are a citizen of God’s Kingdom…represent Jesus well!

April 28, 2010
Dear Brethren,
Stony Point Missionary Baptist Church wishes to thank the Churches of the BMA of Missouri for the financial support for the past year.
We believe that the time has come for us to assume the full financial responsibility of pastoral support. Your help has enabled us to reach this point much sooner than we could have on our own.
It is our prayer and hope that this program will be the instrument which will allow other churches in the BMA of Missouri to reach full time support for pastors.
We ask that you remember us in prayer as we work in the Master’s vineyard.
In His Service,
Pastor Claude Evans

We rejoice with Pastor Evans and the good people of Stony Point Baptist for God’s blessing upon their ministry here in Mineral Springs.

The North Lake mission project in Smithville, MO continues to be blessed of God. Jamie and Rebekah Jones are doing a great job in reaching out to their community and disciplining the families that God has given them. Our mission advisory committee along with members of the Meramec Association advisory committee made a trip to Smithville this past month. We were impressed with the progress that is being made and were made to realize that this is truly a field ripe unto harvest. Let’s continue to pray for the Jones family as God works through them.

Our finances continue to hold steady. Our average monthly offering since October has been $3173 while our average expenses have been $3913 per month…a $740 deficit. We are appreciative of the special mission offering this year and ask that your church would consider increasing their offering to state missions.

Pastor Evans and the good folks at Stony Point Baptist did a wonderful job hosting the mission symposium and the midyear meeting. During this meeting, the association voted to help out two of our missionaries. A $1000 love offering was given to Missionary Sam Hussier to assist him with personal family/medical expenses. We also approved a $2000 offering to Bro. David Dickson for his work fund. The Mission Symposium offering for State Missions has reached nearly $2600. Thank you for your love and care for missionaries who serve both us in Missouri and for those who serve elsewhere. May God be glorified.

Within the next few weeks, the special missions committee will be visiting with Pastor Claude Evans to evaluate the progress of Stony Point Baptist as they attempt to reach full time pastor support. We will also be traveling to Smithville, MO to visit with church planters, Jamie and Rebekah Jones. You can read his article elsewhere here in the paper and you will find that God is at work in Smithville.

In the first week of May I will be involved in church planting training in Little Rock, AR. I will be teaching some of the DCPI church planting essentials to potential church planters and state mission directors from the BMAA. Pray for a good time of learning and planning to expand our mission endeavors.

I must sound a warning about our mission offerings. Despite our cut backs in missionary support and Director’s salary, the offerings from our churches are not keeping up with expenses. Please consider increasing your monthly offerings to state missions and giving generously to this year’s mission symposium offering.

As a member of the committee that arranges the annual Men’s Retreat, I am sad to inform you that we have suspended the Men’s Retreat for this year. The attendance of our pastors for this event has dropped off in recent years and the committee has called into question the need for this king of retreat. In addition, we count on the generous support of our state association and the Meramec association to fund this event. In light of the decreasing balances in both mission’s accounts, it is difficult to justify spending this amount of money. We would love to hear your comments concerning the continuation of this event.