Headquarter Happenings

“What doest thou here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:9

In the initial stages of Elijah’s trek south, the Lord does not give us much of a window into his mind. Like so many events in his life, this one begins abruptly and with little explanation. In short, he receives a threat from Jezebel and hightails it out of the northern valley of Megiddo.

By the time he had stopped running, he was on the other side of the country, though he did make a few stops along the way.

First, when he arrived at the southern city of Beersheba, he got rid of his servant. We don’t know any more about his thoughts until after he had walked alone for an entire day into the desert and sat down under a rough, broom-like tree. There, presumably exhausted, he voiced some of his frustration.

“I’ve been a miserable failure,” he said to God, “just like those who’ve gone before me!”

He then promptly fell asleep until woken up by an angel who gave him water and some kind of remarkable cake. With this nourishment he received strength to walk no less than 40 days, to Mount Horeb, wherever that was.

Again he went to sleep, this time in a cave. And when he woke up, he heard the question, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

And then more of his thinking surfaces.

“I have served you faithfully and all for nothing. Not only that, but I am the last prophet, and our enemies are now trying to kill me too.”

At this point, anybody reading the story for the first time should be in some kind of shock.

What in the world had happened to Elijah?

Where was the great man of faith, so strong and bold? What had happened to the one who looked like he would charge the fiery gates of evil with a squirt gun? Never before had he shown such weakness, not at least on the pages of Scripture.

But alas, the truth was bound to come out sooner or later. He too had selfish, sinful passions, and a tendency to be governed by them, like every other human being.

By working back through the scenes of his life we can figure out some of the reasons for his sour attitude. And hopefully, by paying attention and applying what we learn, we can avoid this particular phase of his life.

It appears that Elijah had conjured up some pretty over-sized expectations that set him up for a nasty and painful spiritual fall. Notice a few of them, and how easily we could have come to the same conclusions, if we had been in his sandals.

He obviously thought the Mount Carmel victory would be a definitive spiritual turning point for Israel. He was wrong. He apparently expected the opposition to suddenly melt away. And again he was wrong. He also must have thought his ministry would be appreciated by his countrymen. He was again wrong. And then he panicked, thinking Jezabel would be able to kill him.

Wrong again.

But how easy it is to criticize him from our comfortable Bible reading chairs. It seems so clear to us, doesn’t it? He should have known better! He should have used simple logic. How on earth could he possibly doubt God’s protection and provision after the crows, the brook, the widow, the bin and jar, the altar, the firebomb, the tiny cloud, etc. etc. etc…

His depression just doesn’t seem to make sense.

And that’s exactly the point.

Many times depression doesn’t make sense, except to us. Inside our little thinking bubble we can come to many erroneous expectations that seem right. But they aren’t.

We may think life is going to be more pleasant than it turns out to be. But then our job, our health, our mate, our ministry, our friends, our position, one after another come in less than what our private chart predicted.

Then some painful surprise blows into our world, the entire castle of dreams comes crashing down, and our outlook takes a nosedive.

For some reason, and against all Biblical teaching, we let our expectations become unrealistic, and God lets a dose of reality jolt us back into what life often is like on a sin cursed earth.

The unbeliever, who does not know God, or understand His ways, or grasp why anything is like it is, at least has that as an excuse. But we who know the Lord should not fall into this kind of trap.

He has lovingly warned us in the Scriptures that we can expect life to be full of challenges, often very surprising and sometimes unpleasant.

Dear Father, help me walk realistically today. May I face the battles you send by faith, without worrying about tomorrow’s, for which You have not yet offered grace. Amen.

Executive Board Member, Dr. Gene Krachenfels, travelled to Lebanon to speak in the seminary. John O’Malley asked Brother Krachenfels to share with us his experiences and testimony of what God is doing in this region.

Bible Baptist Seminary, Lebanon
July 10-15, 2016

This year’s Pastors’ Conference in Beirut, Lebanon was a tremendous meeting. Pastors and church members alike from Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, and Germany were in attendance for this week of preaching and teaching. “Al-hamdu lillah” (The praise is God’s) was a commonly heard phrase throughout the conference as attendees were challenged to serve the Lord in a variety of ways. With nearly 150 in attendance, Pastor Milad Khaled and Brother Edgar Feghaly did a great job coordinating this event. Setting and adjusting the speaking schedule, transporting speakers and guests to and from the conference center, interpreting each of the lectures and services, distributing teaching materials, along with a wide variety of administrative details, all came together perfectly.

The meeting’s four speakers were assigned subjects intended to encourage and instruct those present. Edgar Feghaly taught about the fallacies of the Watchtower Society and Jehovah’s Witnesses, Dr. Jerry Scheidbach (Lighthouse Baptist Church, Santa Maria, CA) addressed the importance of Prayer and Fasting, Dr. Ray Shutt (Church of the Open Door, Westminster, MD) went through a Soul-Winning and Discipleship course, and I reviewed the history and errors of Reformed Theology and Calvinism. To complete each day’s lectures, Dr. Norris Belcher (pastor of the Church of the Open Door, Westminster, MD) preached uplifting and convicting messages that were greatly used of God.

This year’s meeting for the Bible Baptist Seminary was held at the Beit El Safa Conference Center in the mountains north of Beirut. Far removed from the city, its quiet setting allowed attendees to concentrate on studying God’s Word, fellowshipping with those of like precious faith, and having their spiritual batteries recharged.

Getting to know these pastors, hearing their testimonies, and learning about their ministries was both challenging and convicting. The difficulties and dangers these men face on a daily basis are very real, yet they continue to faithfully serve the Lord. The Apostle Paul reminded Timothy, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Any believer who is living for the Lord experiences trials, difficulties, and opposition along the way, but when resistance becomes more than verbal it takes on a whole new meaning. It was a privilege to meet and to be with these dear saints, most of which we will not see again this side of glory. But what a joy to know that one day we, with all of the saints of God, will gather from lands near and far at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and worship Him Who is worthy to receive all glory and honor and power.

God is working mightily through these men and others like them as they preach the Gospel of Christ to those who are diametrically opposed to this wonderful message of salvation. Please remember to pray for them as they tirelessly labor in the Middle East in the face of the daily threat of persecution. Also continue to pray for Brother Edgar Feghaly as he works to aid these brethren in their work and to provide them with sound Biblical training that they may commit to others that which they have received.