Hey friends, 

            Currently, I am reading an autobiography of Hudson Taylor who was a missionary to China. I am already being challenged in a lot of ways in my own Christian walk.

 

            He tells the story of something that happened to him shortly before leaving for China.

           

            He worked for a doctor and one of his duties was to…

 

“daily to dress the foot of a patient suffering from senile gangrene. The disease commenced, as usual, insidiously, and the patient had little idea that he was a doomed man, and probably had not long to live.”

 

            He became deeply concerned for the man’s soul as the patient was an angry and committed atheist who would yell at anyone who shared the gospel with him. Taylor kept praying and serving and looking for an opportunity to share his faith.

 

            After some time of caring for the man, he softened towards Taylor. Taylor felt that the opportunity to share had come. As soon as he told the man about God’s love, the man turned his back on him. This happened again and again. Finally, Taylor was ready to give up. This is how he described it:

 

            “One day, after dressing his limb and washing my hands, instead of returning to the bedside to speak to him, I went to the door, and stood hesitating for a few moments with the thought in my mind, ‘Ephraim is joined to his idols; let him alone.’ I looked at the man and saw his surprise, as it was the first time since speaking to him that I had attempted to leave without going up to his bedside to say a few words for my Master.”

 

            With tears in his eyes, Taylor rushed to the man’s bedside and asked if he could pray for him. The man said yes and gave his life to the Lord within a few days.

 

            Taylor’s concluding remarks in the chapter were:

 

“Perhaps if there were more of that intense distress for souls that leads to tears, we should more frequently see the results we desire. Sometimes it may be that while we are complaining of the hardness of the hearts of those we are seeking to benefit, the hardness of our own hearts, and our own feeble apprehension of the solemn reality of eternal things, may be the true cause of our want of success.”

 

Wow! That’s a powerful insight.

 

May God break our hearts with what breaks His heart.

 

This Sunday will be the fourth in our five-part series on the book of 1 Peter called “Exiles’ Handbook”

 

This may be the toughest one yet as we are going to be talking about how we, as exiles, as citizens of another country, are supposed to respond to the pagan society in which we live. I have so appreciated your willingness to take this teaching in and I pray that it will continue to transform our lives.

 

This Sunday evening will be a baptism service and I am really excited about that. If you want to get baptized, please let me or the church office know.

 

I hope you have a great weekend and enjoy the cold and the snow.

 

I love being your pastor.

 

Pastor Tim