Her Name Shall be Called...

This past Sunday I preached a message from Psalm 139:13-16 titled “The Truth of Life” as part of our Celebration of Life day. Given the sermon topic, I was able to share ultrasound pictures of our daughter with the congregation. The first picture was our little girl at 8 weeks. Just a little bundle cradled in the womb but already the heartbeat is clearly visible. The second picture was a 3D ultrasound at 18 weeks. You can see amazing detail of her cute little face. (she must take after her daddy!) Seriously, her mother!!!!

It was at this point that I announced to our church family the name Summer and I had chosen for her. I’d like to share it with all of you as well.

Names are important. They remain with you through life. They can be a great guidance through life. I am named after both of my grandfathers. My name, therefore, means a lot to me.

Our daughter’s name is....

Alethia Elisabeth Owens.

(uh-lay-thE-uh) Alethia is a greek word meaning "truth." As in John 14:6 where Jesus said, "I am the way, the alethia, and the life." Our prayer for her is that she would grow to know, love, and share the Truth, Jesus Christ!

Elisabeth (spelled with a "s" instead of a "z" because that's the way Elisabeth Elliot spells her name) Elisabeth Elliot has been an inspiration for missions and for discipleship to so many. Her courage to reach the tribe that martyred her husband is the kind of fearless zeal for Christ we hope to see in our children. Our goal is to expose our children to many heroes of the faith in order to encourage them to pursue their greatest joy, Christ!

Of course, you know where "Owens" comes from.

Alethia Elisabeth Owens. We'll get to meet her in person some time around the first of May!!

We Had a Good Run (1997-2012); Closing Down Search And See

Our move across country brought about a number of changes in our lives. We found ourselves in a new state, a new community, a new home, a new ministry, a new church, etc. In addition, a change was needed with Search And See in order for us to continue. Since our move from Kentucky to California, we have maintained an office in Kentucky. We have discovered that it is much too difficult to manage. We needed someone to handle our financial bookkeeping and ministry-related tasks near us in the Fresno/Clovis area. After much prayer, advertising, making personal contacts, and receiving a few notes of interest, we have reached a point of decision.

It is time to bring Search And See Ministries to a close. The Lord did not bring someone to us for this position, I simply do not have the time to devote the needed attention, and in order to run efficiently, this position is necessary. With these things in mind, it seems clear that the Lord has directed the Board and I to this decision.

First, let me say how I praise the Lord for the years and the opportunities He has given us. We have always been a very small-scale ministry, and yet the Lord has given us such large opportunities and open doors! It is simply amazing to see how over the past 14 years, Search And See touched so many lives, both in the US and across the world. To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Second, I wish to express my deepest gratitude for you, our friends. There is no doubt in my mind, we were given some of the most dependable and faithful financial sponsors and prayer warriors of any ministry on earth. You stood by us through the lean times. You enabled us to reach so many fruitful, God-sized goals. I will always be indebted to you for such sincere and sacrificial support. You have laid up much treasure in heaven through Search And See, and I rejoice with much joy!

Third, you can rest assured that my passions in ministry will continue, just in other avenues. I will continue to pursue missions and overseas partnerships, now through my church instead of through Search And See. I will continue to send forth the proclamation of the Word throughout the world via the internet. I will continue to write books. I will continue to blog and develop resources for evangelism and discipleship. The work will continue for the glory of God. 

Fourth, I am pleased to tell you that you may continue to sponsor the ministries for which God has led you through Search And See on your own. In fact, I encourage you to do so. Just because our ministry is unable to continue does not mean that our friends in India, Kenya, and Myanmar no longer need friends in the US to stand with them. So I urge you to prayerfully consider continuing your support to them on your own instead of through Search And See. Each of them are certainly worthy of your continued support.

*If you support orphans or pastors in India, you can begin sending your support to Hopegivers International. You can donate online at www.hopegivers.org or you can mail your support to PO Box 8808, Columbus, GA 31908.

*If you support Pastor John or the other pastors of Kenya, you can wire your support via Western Union to John Unzieni Musiikhu. Then, send Pastor John an email containing the MTCN from your Western Union receipt, along with the $ amount that you sent and the purpose for which you sent it. You can email Pastor John at searchandseeministrieskenya@yahoo.com.

*If you would like to support Pastor Joseph and the students and orphans in Myanmar, you can wire money via Western Union to INDIA to Joseph Bawi Ceu, then email Pastor Joseph with the MTCN from your Western Union receipt, the $ amount, and the purpose for which you sent it. You can email Pastor Joseph at emmanuelministries2012@gmail.com.

Finally, I fully believe when God closes a door, He opens another one. Since He has led us to close Search And See, I can only conclude that He has other plans which will bring about our stated mission to the praise of His glorious grace. “Taking the message of Christ to the ends of the earth” will be accomplished as He promised in His Word.

From this point forward, we ask that you no longer send any funds to Search And See as we are closing down our offices. All monies we hold at this point will be distributed according to their designation. You will receive a year-end donation statement for 2011 and a donation statement for any monies received in 2012. PLEASE KEEP THE 2012 RECEIPT FOR YOUR TAX RETURNS NEXT YEAR AS OUR OFFICE WILL NO LONGER EXIST.

Please stay in touch with us through our sermons, blogs, and tweets found at: www.sermonaudio.com/searchandsee, searchandsee.blogspot.com, and @searchandsee. These titles will change in the future, but will be announced ahead of time so that you can find us. You can also stay in touch through our church’s website, www.clovisevfree.org.

To God Alone Be the Glory!

Wil Owens

President

Search And See

Book Review: Bringing the Gospel Home

Bringing the Gospel Home: Witnessing to Family Members, Close Friends, and Others Who Know You Well. By Randy Newman. Wheaton: Crossway, 2011.

I don't know of any Christian who hasn't struggled with this issue, and I don't know of any better resource on this issue!

When it comes to witnessing to family members and close friends, Christians generally either clam up and never really witness at all or go to the other extreme and come across with a holier-than-thou attitude. Newman's book brings much balance, encouragement, and insight to the discussion.

Other books on evangelism can tend to be legalistic or manipulative in tone. Bringing the Gospel Home acknowledges the struggles and failures of witnessing at all, much less to family and friends. Newman's tone is encouraging. He grounds the discussion in Scripture, provides tools and suggestions, and then gives examples of those who have put these tools into practice.

Two important strengths: sound theology and insightful advice. The topic of evangelism naturally leans toward practical application. However, sound, biblical theology must inform our practice, and Newman provides a great balance. As far as advice, there is not a single chapter that is not helpful. Personally, learning to patient and consistent, allowing God to move upon hearts and open discussion, and learning how to respond in ways that invite conversation instead of closing a door were all valuable.

I found myself more confident in building relationships and initiating possible future evangelistic opportunities while reading through the book. In fact, my wife and I actually followed through with engaging a family in our neighborhood before I finished the book.

It will not only equip and encourage you in a most difficult area, but it will move you to begin, for some, maybe to begin again. I highly recommend Bringing the Gospel Home to every believer.

The Ultimate Purpose of Mathematics

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “...He has put eternity into man’s heart...”

There’s something about us that just knows there is more to this life than this life. We have a divine, inherent fingerprint, if you will. Something lies beyond us. There is something more than us that makes “us” valuable. Even the diehard atheist will entertain speculations at times because, well, he just can’t help himself! He can deny God but he can’t erase the fingerprint. 

Eternity is there, and we are on our way, each day, breath by breath, to entering into it. That can be a very fearful, daunting thought. Eternity for the believer is going to be everlasting bliss in the presence of God! Amazing. We get the “bliss” part and the “presence of God” part. It’s the “everlasting” part that, while we affirm it to be true, is still very far beyond us, very far beyond our reach. We believe in eternity; we just can’t grasp it. We can’t fathom endlessness. We have only known, tasted, touched, felt, seen that which had a beginning, and to accompany its start, had an ending as well. So eternity is part of our faith statement. We believe, based surely and certainly upon revelation, that we will live forever with the Lord because Christ has purchased our salvation. After death, we will not be dead. After death, we will never know death again. We believe it. We just can’t grasp it because we can’t comprehend it.

That is not to say God hasn’t left us with ways to comprehend eternity, for indeed He has. He has not only placed eternity within us, but He has also placed it right before us, right before our eyes. We deal with eternity every day in the form of an everyday application. God has pictured eternity for us through numbers, through mathematics.

Just think. The addition of numbers never, (did you catch that?), never comes to an end! Mathematics is eternal. Now I don’t know who’s adding the latest numbers but I’m sure through technology and the endless pursuit of useless information, someone, somewhere keeps adding “1” to an ever-growing number. Maybe they have reached 1 hundred, cazillion, dubillion, a billion by now. I don’t know. The point is whatever number man has reached at this point in time, there is ALWAYS room for 1 more number! Numbers never end! Mathematics is eternal.

So right there, right in front of us, with what we use every single day, is a picture of eternity. At least now we have some kind of way to wrap our minds around the ability to have the quality of being endless.

And when we are glorified in the presence of God, we will be endless, eternal, forevermore. There will ALWAYS be room for 1 more year! Numbers NEVER end, and neither do we.

Here’s another thought. Numbers go both ways. Numbers can go on for eternity in the negative realm. Ever wonder how God could “be” but never have a “be”ginning? Maybe we can understand something that never has an ending, but what do you do with something that never had a beginning? In other words, what do you do with God?

Well, He has given us numbers, mathematics, to help fathom His eternality. Numbers can go in reverse and never reach the starting number. They just keep going. There is ALWAYS room for 1 more negative number. In the same way, there has ALWAYS been room for God. He has no beginning, no starting point. He has always been and He will always be!

I suggest that the ultimate purpose of mathematics is not to keep financial order, not to increase scientific discovery (although both of those are wonderful gifts of mathematics), etc., etc. The ultimate purpose of mathematics is the glory of God, for as numbers are endless, so God has given us a means to fathom His boundless existence and our unending existence. Mathematics picture eternity. Mathematics is for the glory of God!

39 Years and Holding!....or Clinging?

Last week I turned 39 years old. My wife so lovingly reminded me, “This is the last year you will be in the 30s!” Yikes. 

When you say, I’m “x” number of years old and “holding,” exactly what are you holding? Of course, we all know what that means. It expresses what we come to realize more and more the older we become. Time really does fly, and try as you may, you can’t slow it down. You can’t “hold” time. You can’t “hold” days, months, years. They whiz by. They come. They go. And they are usually in a hurry!

I’m old enough now to be well aware of my own mortality, so when I say “holding” I’m not being delusional. In truth, I’m not referring to time at all. When I say that I am now 39 and holding, I’m holding on to something far more precious and lasting than time on earth.

What am I holding? At 39, I’m holding onto 39 years jammed packed with GRACE! For 39 years the Lord has been overwhelming in His kindness, mercy, goodness, and grace toward me in Christ.

There has not been one single day of my life that I received what I deserved (mercy)! On the other hand, there has not been a single day of my life that I did not receive far more than I deserve (grace)! Life has been good because God is good. I’ve lived. I’ve breathed. I’ve loved. I’ve hurt. I’ve grown. I’ve been kept. I’ve been helped. I’ve been, and I’ve been for 39 years!

The most surprising of all the events in my life, surpassing the unexplainable good gifts and common grace, is that God, in sovereign, holy salvation, opened my eyes to behold His Son, wakened my dead heart out of my sin, and granted me faith to believe and repentance to turn. In short, He lavished me with saving grace, does so each day, and will continue to do so forevermore.

Because of Christ’s work on my behalf and God’s application of His work to me, now there will NEVER be a single day of my everlasting life that I will receive what I deserve, and there will NEVER be a single day of my everlasting life that I will not receive more than I deserve.

39 years and holding...onto 39 years of grace. 

Still better, 39 years and clinging...to Christ!

Book Review: Just Do Something

Just Do Something. By Kevin DeYoung. Chicago: Moody, 2009.

The subtitle to DeYoung’s book is classic: “How to make a decision without dreams, visions, fleeces, impressions, open doors, random Bible verses, casting lots, liver shivers, writing in the sky, etc.” DeYoung makes sure the reader gets the point!

Just Do Something is a call to trust and obey instead of wasting time, being anxious, and/or becoming paralyzed by trying to discover some mysterious, hidden word from God that directly answers such questions as where to live, what job to take, where to go to college, etc.

DeYoung explains that the “will” of God usually fits into one of three categories. First, there is the hidden will of God that refers to His sovereign rule of the universe. We do not always understand or perceive God’s providence over His creation, but we know that He is working all things to His glory and the good of His people. Second, there is the revealed will of God that is the Scripture. In God’s Word we find His will for our lives and our salvation. Third, there is the “will” of God, by which we mean, “What does God want me to do in this particular situation?” What is His will for my life in regards to....?

The Bible is clear that God’s will is our sanctification (1 Thess 4:3, 5:16-18). DeYoung exhorts his readers not to get bogged down in trying to “discover” God’s hidden plan for going Route A or Route B. God is not keeping His will “fuzzy” so that we remain confused and stagnant, never really growing in our faith or maturing in our walk with Him. Rather, He has given us guidelines in His Word on how to approach these decisions in life. We are to walk in wisdom; we are to do something.

Through Scripture, godly counsel, and prayer, we should move forward in decision-making and living, seeking to glorify the Lord with our lives. In addition, DeYoung encourages men not to get caught up in today’s trend of delayed adolescence. His wise advice: get a job and get married. Essentially, grow up.

I really appreciate DeYoung’s work. Many believers fall into this way of thinking because they sincerely are concerned with pleasing the Lord. Many may use this as more of an excuse for their lax approach to faith. Either way, Just Do Something helps clear the fog. God’s purpose for us is that we may glorify Him. It’s not that He doesn’t care where we work. Rather, He is far more concerned with how we work. That’s the major issue with finding God’s will for our lives.

Whether you eat or drink, or go to college, get married, buy a home, settle on a vocation, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). Just do something. One of my favorite lines from the book is on page 42. DeYoung concludes the chapter, “So we can stop pleading with God to show us the future, and start living and obeying like we are confident that He holds the future.” Amen.

Great resource for High School and College students and the rest of us who are “stuck” in a crossroads or decision.

Recommendation for 2012 Bible Reading

Are you planning to read through the Bible in 2012? If not, I encourage you to prayerfully consider doing so. What a thrill to take in all of God’s written revelation to us over the course of a year.

In addition, I would highly recommend to you the ESV Study Bible. For 2011 I have been reading through this Bible, following the reading plan found in the Appendices. I have read through the Bible each year since I was 15, but I have actually never read through a study Bible before. It was very informative, encouraging everyday, and challenging some days, but it has been a blessing to me.

I have found the articles, book intros, genre intros, study notes, maps, diagrams, all to be very well-balanced, evangelical scholarship. If you read through this study Bible, taking in all of the helps offered, you will have essentially taken a seminary-level course in Biblical Theology, especially the articles found in the front, middle, and back of the Bible. The notes are very helpful as well. The hard, controversial passages are dealt with fairly and with quality biblical reasoning. 

Don’t let all this talk of theology and seminary scare you away though. All of the helps are accessible to the lay reader. It’s an excellent study for those with biblical knowledge, and I would also suggest it’s an excellent resource for the new believer who is hungry to digest as much about the Bible as possible.

Whether you choose to read a study Bible or not, let us plan now to spend 2012 with God in His precious Word!