Welcome 

From Your Director of Missions

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. Proverbs 16:33 ESV

This has certainly been a strange couple of months. It seems that fear has gripped our nation and we have lost our sense of direction. Pastors have had to make decisions over the last several weeks that most of us could have never imagined. This wonderful country of freedom to worship when and wherever we please was placed in lockdown.

pastor has made some very hard decisions and will continue to make even harder decisions over the next several months. prayer for him should be constant and unwavering.

Having said this, I would like to share a few thoughts about the future. As many of you already know I have decided to retire from this position as Director of Missions of the
Le Flore Baptist Association. The timing is right for Vicky and I to finish our work here and I am excited to see what God has in store for us in the future. Enough about that, let’s look forward to the future of God’s kingdom.

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, it seems that fear has gripped our nation and we have lost our sense of direction. I don’t want to come down on either side of the issue of “to quarantine or not to quarantine.” I believe our churches have shown that we are resilient and that you can’t quarantine Christ. The church is alive right now in America more than I have seen in a number of years.

We argue about our freedoms and whether or not we are losing ground to a government that would like to make all of our decisions for us. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in what this country is founded upon and I love our freedom. We have enjoyed a great run and I certainly don’t want it to stop now.

However, I have witnessed first hand what it is like to be in a country where your freedom to worship is opposed by the government. In those countries the cause of Christ seems to thrive. It seems that the countries most hostile to the one true God are the countries where God is at work the most.

So, let me ask you a soul searching question. Would you be willing to give up your freedoms here if it meant Christianity would flourish and the cause of Christ would expand? If you knew that the loss of your freedoms would mean more people would come to know the Savior, would you be willing to let it all go for the sake of Christ?

Have we lost our sense of direction? Is it about freedom to worship or is it about winning souls to Christ for eternity? Are we trying to control the outcome through distancing ourselves from others and keeping our hands clean when God tells us in His word that only He controls the outcome?

I am not promoting going against the government rules that have been laid down. But somewhere in all of this we need to put the brakes on with our need to try and control the situation ourselves and acknowledge the only one that really controls the outcome is God.

I’m not happy with our loss of the freedoms we have enjoyed for so long. I am not happy with not being able to come together in worship. But what we are going through right now is a result of what God is allowing us to go through.

Proverbs 16:33 is a great word from God about who He is and what He does. At the beginning of this article I showed it to you from the English Standard Version. Now look at it from the Contmepory English Version, “We make our own decisions, but the LORD alone determines what happens.”

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

I Love You All,

Neil O’Donnell