Paroikos

One of the lesser but nevertheless important blessings of visiting the pastors in the BELC personally has been that Dave and I have been able to update our records and check the reports given, sometimes a year or two ago, against the reality of the situations in the different districts. The district chairmen are only allowed a certain number of pastors to be included in their district meetings. This is done because monetarily we can only support so many men. As it is then when one pastor leaves our fellowship for some reason he is quickly replaced by another who wishes to receive the training that we offer and join us in true doctrinal oneness. As we visit the pastors of the various districts we often end up in the following conversation: Read the rest of this entry »

John 7:37-38
³⁷ On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Philippians 3:8
⁸ Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

The Evangelicals and Baptists make a mistake when they criticize Lutherans for looking back upon our baptism as a source of comfort; for surely in baptism we find the promise of the Lord and the promises of the Lord wherever they are found are our only sources of comfort. Lutherans however make a mistake when they look “back” upon their baptism. To every Christian whatever is past is past and does not matter, except that one great past at the foot of which we weep in both sorrow and joy. Read the rest of this entry »

Another thing that has been brought into sharp relief as we tour around the villages and churches is the incredible honor and glory that God and true Christians give to women as compared to the attitude of the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are just a few pictures of pastors, churches, children and places that Dave and I have encountered on our rounds of Pastoral Visitations. To read about these visits see the post two down from here “Observations of Visitations” - Matt

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As I mentioned a few weeks ago Dave and I have been spending a fair amount of time attempting to visit the pastors in the BELC. We have had a number of different objectives, wishing to get to know them, giving them an opportunity to meet us on a more personal basis, seeking to find out what we can about their day to day life etc. This has certainly been a wonderful opportunity for us and I wanted to share some of the exciting things I have seen on these trips, though not all at once. I plan on posting observations on one topic today and then other topics in the future Read the rest of this entry »

Pictures from the hill country of southern India

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I forgot. I wanted to share with you also this picture of D. Paul, the BELC president and MLBS teacher, along with his family.