FIRST LIGHT

A NEWSLETTER OF FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
110 SYDENHAM STREET KINGSTON , ON K7L 3H5

(613) 548-7116
fbckgstn@kingston.net
December 2008

Oct 03, Nov 03, Dec 03, April 04, May 04, Oct 04, Dec 04, April 05, Sept 05, Oct 05, Nov 05,
April 06, Oct 06, Dec 06, April 07, Aug 07, Dec 07, Mar 08, Nov 08, Dec 08,

Dear Friends,

I recently received a communication indicating that the economic downturn is having its effects on other related Christian organizations.  The full fallout of this has yet to be seen.  Many of you have probably suffered significant effects on your investments either in your retirement or in preparation for it.  Yet as we come to the end of 2008, we must remember at the very least in prayer those serving the Lord in other parts of the Christ’s kingdom.  I think of Kathryn Chen serving over in Nantes, France this year for Campus for Christ.  I think of Elie and Marielle Haddad in Beirut, Lebanon with Canadian Baptist Ministries.  I think of David and Cathy Phillips also with CBM serving in another Middle Eastern country.  I think of the Deane and Mari Clark spending their first Christmas in Thailand together (though Deane lived there in his youth).  I think of Geoff and Esther Beatty serving in Senegal with SIM.  All of them are in challenging circumstances.

I think of the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec as it prepares to enter into a new era following Ken Bellous’ excellent leadership over the last eleven plus years.  I am delighted that we are planning to give the BCOQ a modest increase in our budget next year.  Remember, we dropped the amount we were giving them when we called Joshua Mutter to serve with us.  Keep the BCOQ in prayer.

I think of McMaster Divinity School where Josh is currently studying.  It is a privilege for me to sit on the Board of Trustees there.  Future Christian leaders are being developed there.  I often marvel at the spirit of the students whenever our Board has lunch with them.  I have a nephew scheduled to graduate from there this spring.  I am pleased to see the spiritual growth in him.  Remember both the faculty and students of MacDiv.

I think of many places around the world where Christians are being persecuted.  Last Sunday, I mentioned Jos, Nigeria where Muslims are attacking Christians with incredible force.  We have also been praying for the region of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Below I have copied a news item from the Baptist World Alliance about Christian persecution in India where the oppressors seem to be Hindu extremists.  The case involving the Baptist pastor in Azerbaijan is at this point unresolved.  Please continue to keep all these in prayer.

Today, the Bank of Canada is warning that many Canadian households face foreclosures as a result of consumer and mortgage debt.  Remember our nation during this economic downturn. 

But in spite of all these concerns, we have one very special reason for praise during this Advent season.  Christmas is a time to focus on the birth of our Saviour, Jesus.  It is a time to recognize that God is with us.  That is the meaning of the term Emmanuel. 

I heard the story of this evangelist from the southern US.  He once told a friend, “I hate Christmas.  I seldom have invitations to conduct evangelistic services during the Advent season.  Churches and people are so busy with other things that they don’t think of evangelism.  That is why I don’t like Christmas.”  Strong words!   In fact, they are tragic because Christmas is about good news.  The Saviour came, after all, “to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). 

In the midst of all the pre-Christmas stress, let us not miss out on the evangelistic comfort that Isaiah, the most evangelistic of all the prophets, speaks repeatedly.  Think of Isaiah 40:1-2:

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.  Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that, she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”

For Isaiah, the Messiah’s coming means comfort.  First, there is comfort because sin is forgiven.  Christmas means very little without the cross and resurrection of Jesus.  A baby was born in Bethlehem.  Wonderful!  Babies are born in Bethlehem most days.  This baby was different because He came to die for our sins and rise again.  Let us not forget the cross at Christmas!

There is comfort, too, because our strong deliverer has come.  Those who trust Jesus “will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting” (Isaiah 45:17).  What a comfort Christmas is!

There is also comfort because He came, and still comes, with a gentle heart.  Isaiah 40:11 speaks so powerfully:  He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.  He did not come to scorn us or destroy us with harsh words but to gather us as lambs in His arms.  There is the evangelistic comfort of Christmas again.   

Finally, there is comfort because in the mad current of the pre-Christmas rush the Creator of the universe has come to encourage us to wait patiently on Him.  Look at the words of Isaiah 40:28-31:

Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Take comfort this Christmas.  Cheer up, dear friends and allow the good news of the season to permeate your life.

On behalf of Anne-Marie, as well as myself, be assured of our prayers and love.

In His Service,

 

(Rev.) Kevin Smith
       

Anti-Christian violence spreads in India

Baptist leaders in the southern state of Karnataka in India have informed the Baptist World Alliance that persecution is on the rise in that state.

A Baptist leader informed the BWA by telephone on November 21 of the attacks, and requested prayer for those facing persecution. In an email dated October 31, another Baptist leader stated, “We are busy visiting churches that were attacked in recent times in our state,” and “we strongly feel that God’s people are uniting in prayers for peace and protection.”

Anti-Christian violence has increased significantly in India. The latest wave of violence began after the murder of a charismatic Hindu leader on August 23 in Orissa state in eastern India. Radical Hindus blame Christians for the killing, even though a militant Maoist group claimed responsibility. The violence, which sparked several persecutory actions in Orissa, has since spread to other Indian states, including Karnataka.

More than 60 Christians in India have been killed and another 50,000 left homeless by the violence, mostly in Orissa.

An Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) story on November 18 reported that a Baptist ministerial student was arrested after being beaten by Hindu extremists in Karnataka. The minister in training was conducting a worship service in a house church when the worship was disrupted by the Hindu extremists. The principal of the Baptist Bible College that the student attends had also been arrested. Both were charged with “malicious acts to outrage religious feelings and punishment for criminal intimidation” while the student also faced a charge of “forceful conversion.”

EFI reported on November 17 about the arrest of another pastor in Karnataka. “Hindu extremists (of the) Vishwa Hindu Parishad accused a pastor of ‘forced’ conversion, beat him up, and also verbally abused Christian women on November 9.” The same report stated that another Christian in Karnataka was arrested on November 4 on charges of forced conversion.

Anti-Christian violence has also been experienced in Maharashtra, a state on the western coast of India, where, on November 15, a mob of 20 Hindu radicals vandalized a church, stripped and beat the pastor, and left him unconscious. Christians at the church were accused of distributing gospel tracts, but EFI reported that they were handing out flyers for a peace conference instead.

Other Indian states where anti-Christian violence has been reported include Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand.

(November 21, 2008)


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