Don’t Be Afraid
Recent happenings at the Baptist Home have induced concern among its residents and their families. Perhaps you are asking, “What should we do now? “
The Baptist Home has seen dark days before. In his book, The Story of the Baptist Home Continued, 2003 to 2013, Jim Nelson---one of our current Outbackers---tells of the Home’s earliest days. There were times when having enough food for the residents was in doubt. Food was garnered from donors and arrived in baskets and barrels on trains and wagons. In 1935, the Home was sold in forfeiture. Robert Barger, an Episcopalian, bought the Home with its 175 acres including its $200,000 facilities at a sheriff’s auction for $131. Subsequently, Mr. Barger sold the Home, for the price of $1 to a new board that was to continue its ministry.
I first learned of the Home and its ministry when we moved to Sikeston in 1967. Observing the ministry of the Home for these 57 years and comparing it to its earliest days, I conclude I have witnessed the Home’s golden years.
Recently, however, the Home has encountered new, complicated, and expensive snares. In II Corinthians 12:9, God tells us, “My power is made perfect in weakness.” Commenting on that scripture, Andrew Murray wrote, “There is no truth more generally misunderstood and abused. God’s thoughts are heaven-high above man’s thoughts.”
The Liberty Grove Baptist Church in Jackson, Tennessee was voting on the construction of a new building. Their present facilities had long been inadequate and by some calculations unsafe. A lady who apparently assumed they were the best givers in church said, “We cannot do this. We will never be able to pay for it.” Another lady said, “I’ll tell you what we can do; we do what we want to do.” With a standing vote, the church voted to move forward. The following week a deacon and I demolished the front section of the sanctuary so we could not go back.
Fast forward a couple of years---we learned that a widow in our church who passed away had left her home and farm to the church. At the time the church voted to build, no one in the congregation knew of this bequest; but God knew it. The church was built, completed, and paid for in less than five years.
Remember the scripture above, “God’s power is made perfect in weakness.” Then, do not be afraid. God is in charge.
