"PEOPLE ASK ME ALL THE TIME" by: Sean Patrick

Because my role at Finish Line Ministries International is diverse, I get asked about it all the time.  Most often the questions are about my public speaking and about our work in southeast Africa.  I thought I might take a few moments today and answer some of these most often asked questions related to our work in Africa. 

Describe your first moments in Africa.

The date was May 7, 2000.  Dave Bogue (FLMI Founder & President), Bill Price (FLMI Board Member), and I had just landed in Malawi.  I had never been to southeast Africa, and to say that I was unsure of what to expect would be an understatement.  It was dark and rainy.  Our 4x4 was fighting to make it up the steep mountainside.  As the truck bounced along the rutted dirt and mud path, I tried putting on a brave face.  After coming to a stopping point, we were told that we had arrived at the conference site.  As we exited the vehicle, we were instructed to make our way down a narrow path.  I remember not being able to see my hand in front of my face.  Anxiety was quickly turning to fear.  With the help of a cloud covered moon, we made our way down the rain soaked path.  Just when I thought I couldn’t take another step, I heard a familiar sound.  The words were unrecognizable, but I knew the tune.  God’s people were singing a song in anticipation of our arrival.  As if on cue, the clouds parted and the moon lit up the sky.  For the first time I could see the terrain, I could see the buildings, and I could see the people.  Little did I know I was standing on a mountainside that would soon become he headquarters for a great movement of God.  

Why did FLM International launch FLM Africa?

A man named Pastor L.S. Kaphesi (a Malawian national) planted 38 churches during the 1980’s and 1990’s.  Over time, doctrinal error had made its way into the life of his churches.  This cut at the heart of all he was trying to accomplish for the Kingdom.  He asked us to come alongside him and begin the process of correcting error and training pastors in accurate Bible doctrine.  The task sounded like something we could do, so we offered our help.  Within a few months, Finish Line Ministries Africa was born.  

Briefly explain the growth of FLM Africa.

In September 2000 FLM Africa was comprised of Pastor Kaphesi’s 38 churches.  10,000 people attended these churches in Malawi and Mozambique.  Today there are 565 churches and more than 80,000 people in three countries (add Zimbabwe).  The Pastors’ Bible School was built in 2004 for the purpose of training young men for the pastorate.  To date 20 of the 28 graduates are serving as pastors in FLMI churches.  Lastly, our Orphanage & Day School which opened its doors in 2001 currently cares for and educates 250 children in Nkolokoti Village, Malawi. 

How do yo explain the growth?

When we partnered with Pastor Kaphesi in 2000, we had nothing to offer him or his churches but Bible teaching and training.  So we gave them what we had.  God did the rest.  As a result, our FLM Africa pastors gained a better understanding of the Bible.  They passed this understanding on to their congregations.  People got saved.  The FLM Africa churches began to grow.  New churches were planted.   Pastors from other churches took notice and expressed their passion for Bible training.  They joined our ranks.  I like to think God honored the purity of Pastor Kaphesi’s request.  He could have asked us for anything.  But he chose to ask us to help him lead his people to a greater understanding of the Bible.  God chose to multiply His Word thousands of times.   

What do you do to oversee FLM Africa?

Every August the FLM Africa Board of Directors meet to cast vision for our ministries in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.  Those ministries include:  The Pastors’ Conference, Orphanage & Day School, Pastors’ Bible School, and Church Planting & Outreach.  In addition they set goals for the FLM Africa’s churches.  I have the privilege of sitting in on this meeting and providing budgetary solutions, as well as signing off on each initiative.   

From there, I work along side our African board to set strategies that will help accomplish their goals.  Often this takes the form of prioritizing projects and assessing progress.  At other times it means helping in a very practical way.  Below are a few of the many “hands on” tasks I work on throughout the year: 

· Select curriculum for the Orphanage & Day School

· Raise financial support for specific projects

· Purchase beans, corn, rice, blankets, Bibles, and bicycles from suppliers in Malawi

· Transfer designated funds from the USA to Malawi

· Outline the agenda and determine training materials for the annual Pastors’ Conference

· Prepare and lead our American ministry team to Malawi

We serve a great God and I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to serve Him here and abroad! 

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"INTEGRITY OF HEART AND LIFE" by: Dr. Ronald Manahan

“Blessed are the Pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)
Serious readers of the Bible know that God is interested in all that we are and have, not just a part of us. God’s goal in our redemption is to transform us in our entirety. He does not want those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior to live a compartmentalized life, a life that erects barriers against the all-encompassing work of God.  In a few words Matthew 5:8 captures powerfully this holistic intent of God. 

Meaning of the Words in the Beatitudes

“Blessed”
This term implies much more than contentment.  Rather, it refers to a joy and elation that is to be envied. God, not things, is the source of this happiness. This joy rests upon a “reversal of all human values;” happiness is no longer attached to possessions, power, and reputation, but to God Himself. He alone is enough. Those whose happiness is grounded upon God alone are to be both congratulated and envied.

“The pure in heart”
The term for “pure” (katharos) in the Greek world was used in a range of ways: “clean” as in clean clothes, “purged” as in an army purged of discontents, or “sifted” as in sifted or winnowed grain that has had the chaff removed. Some think the word “pure” refers to ritual purity, purity in terms of one’s external practice of religion as a means of pleasing God. Old Testament ritual purity is the supposed background for explaining Matthew 5:8 in this way.

However, the use of the word “pure” calls to mind Psalm 24:3-6. This psalm is an entrance psalm, essentially one in which the worshiper faces the question, “What does God require of me in order for me to stand in His presence?” The answer (Psalm 24:4) to the question makes one thing clear. The real concern is about purity of life, not simply about ritual purity. At issue is whether there is integrity and wholeness between one’s outward acts (“clean hands”) and one’s inner being (“a pure heart”). There is to be no dichotomy. Matthew 5:8 calls attention to this same matter of integrity. The concern of the verse is not simply a matter of ritual purity, an outward type of conformity. For this reason the words “in heart” are added to the word “pure.”   Therefore, the expression “the pure in heart” does not focus just on what is internal to the exclusion of the external. Our beatitude emphasizes that the King (Jesus) of the kingdom wants a single-mindedness, a lack of duplicity in His followers. Our Lord desires integrity, a oneness, between the internal and the external.  “Shame, deceit, and moral filth cannot coexist with sincere devotion to Christ.” Matthew’s gospel goes on to say a good deal about these very points.

“For they will see God (hoti autoi ton theon opsontai).” Assuming an Old Testament background as already noted, we know that when Jesus spoke these words, He was not referring to “seeing” (i.e., “going before”) God in the temple. The Old Testament temple was past.

Rather, our Lord says that “seeing” God in the future awaits those whose life is characterized by single-minded integrity. Seeing our Lord is the basis of the “blessed” with which Matthew 5:8 opens. Revelation 22:4 refers to the great event of seeing our Lord. That is our hope. But those who have this hope purify themselves (I John 3:2-3). An increasingly greater level of purity leads to an increasingly clearer vision of who God is even now. As purity is pursued, one is able to see God more and more clearly. But full sight awaits the future.

Applications to My Life
If I am to follow Jesus’ teaching in our beatitude, there are applications I must make. God is concerned about all of my life. God wants wholeness in my life. Compartmentalization breeds hypocrisy and shame and living a lie. Looking good on the outside is not enough. God is looking for an integrity that surges through all of my being.

If I am going to pursue purity in my life, I must take deliberate, aggressive steps to challenge evil in my life. The kind of purity Jesus teaches is so opposite my human nature. He does not want me living like a hypocrite. Yet, as the Bible makes clear, my sinful nature, left alone, bends my whole life toward corruption. Galatians 6:19-21 is sobering:

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissension, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

God wants me to challenge the forces of darkness in my life.

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"GNATS AND CAMELS" by: Jared Keiffer

Matthew 23 captures Jesus laying into the scribes and Pharisees in what is commonly referred to as the "Seven Woes".

Matthew 23: 23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Jesus called them out for minding some minute parts of the law while neglecting the weightier matters of the law. They would measure out their tithe to ensure a perfectly accurate 10%. He paints the picture of a Betty Crocker homemaker leveling off her measuring cup to make sure she has exactly 3/4 cup of flour and no more.

He says that while they strain out the gnats, they swallow a camel!

When these guys would go for a nice Cabernet after dinner, they would strain the wine to get out even the smallest of insects and imperfections. But while paying such attention to the small matter, they completely neglected the giant camel swimming in their vino (Jesus uses this hyperbole). I got a good laugh out of reading this but it really struck me how much I fit the bill when it comes to this woe.

I keep a detailed spreadsheet to capture my exact income, a nice formula to calculate a 10% monthly tithe, and then capture my actual giving to give me my plus/minus tithe for each month. This keeps me checking off "tithe" on my spiritual accomplishments checklist.

But while tracking my tithe so neatly, how many times will I cross the street to avoid the beggar on the corner? "He'll just buy booze anyway" I can easily rationalize to myself. But Jesus says, in

Matthew 25: 44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

Is not this man the least of these? When did I overtake the judgment seat of God to determine if this man was worth a meal and a message of hope?

I think more often than not, I overtake the seat of the Pharisee and fall prey to the same mistakes as they did 2,000 years ago. My prayer and aim is to take the woe and turn my course. Will you stop overlooking the camels as you strain out the gnats in your life as well?


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FLMI Impact Africa 2010