June 2023 Mind of the Missionary

“’These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.’” (Acts 17:6b, ESV)

It’s that time of the year when our PBA and local church mission teams leave out to reach outside of Pickens County to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Of course, this is nothing new. Missions is in the DNA of the Pickens Baptist Association. All you need to do is walk into the fellowship hall and see all the different curios full of donated items from those Pickens Countians who have served overseas. This doesn’t even count the number of stateside mission trips that the PBA and PBA churches have sponsored. The Associational office has notebooks full of pictures of PBA trips to Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, Vermont, Michigan, Alaska, and other states. In other words, the Pickens Baptist Association has gone as Jesus commanded to disciple others.

In Acts 17, Paul and Silas went to the Jewish synagogue in Thessalonica and began proclaiming about Jesus being the Messiah. This upset the many of the Jewish leaders who used “some bad characters” to form a mob and start a riot (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?). These men couldn’t find Paul and Silas, but they did drag Jason before the Thessalonican leaders where they made this amazing statement of the world being turned upside down.

As our teams to Brazil, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Honduras, and Montana leave, may this same statement be said of them. May our presence in these parts of the US and the world make such an impact that the world is turned upside down.

I, also, want our PBA churches to turn Pickens County upside down. Most of you will be doing this through your VBSs, homecomings, and revivals during the summer. Brothers and sisters, be intentional! Don’t just do a VBS or a homecoming, or a revival because “we’ve always done it that way”. Do them for the purpose of reaching the unchurched, the unevangelized, and the unsaved with the message of Jesus Christ! Be a World Changer!

My desire as your Associational Missionary is for the Pickens Baptist Association to be a beacon of light in the darkness of our county as well as in the world.  We can be world changers if our ministries and missions are Jesus-focused and not church-focused. When we allow Him to lead our VBSs, our revivals, and our homecomings, they will be more than we could ever imagine.

 

Until Next Month,

Bro. Lyle