What’s in the back of your Bible?

One of our textbooks from college days was Your Mind Matters by John Stott.  A short book, but good nonetheless.  On page 55, in the last paragraph of the chapter called “The Mind in the Christian Life” Stott writes this,

I myself have a growing burden that God will call out more men for this teaching ministry today; that he will call men with alert minds, biblical convictions and an aptitude for teaching; that he will set them in the great capital cities and university cities of the world; that there, like Paul in Tyrannus’s hall in Ephesus, they will exercise a thoughtful, systematic teaching ministry, expounding the ancient Scriptures and relating them to the modern world; and that such a faithful ministry under the good hand of God will not only lead their own congregation up to Christian maturity but will also through the visitors who come briefly under its influence spread its blessing far and wide.

That quote strikes a deep chord somewhere in my being, and always has, and so I filled up the one blank page inside the back cover of my Bible with it.  And ironically, or not, it is right next to the last map which happens to be the missionary journeys of Paul.

Spearfish reminds me of Ephesus.  While not a capital city, it is a university city (ok, big South Dakota town), and it functions as a geographic and economic center for a big, multi-state area.  Hmm.

Currently Amy and I are praying that God will raise up a church that looks like what Stott writes about, a church that focuses on three things in particular: expository preaching (and teaching), genuine fellowship of believers, and real evangelism of the lost.  A church that doesn’t need a unique vision or mission statement because God has already provided that in Scripture (Colossians 1:28-29, for example).  And personally we wouldn’t mind if that church was baptistic without necessarily being Baptist, unashamedly Calvinistic (Reformed in soteriology), complementarian when it comes to how men and women relate to the church and each other, and led, not ruled, by a group of elders who happen to be men.

Why are we praying this?  Because frankly there isn’t one in this town.  And the spiritual vacuum is almost tangible, you can just about feel it.