the Laotian mission and the Gospel...

As many of you know, during my senior year in high school I had the amazing experience of helping out at the Laotian Baptist Church in Spartanburg down near the Deaf and Blind School. To say the least, it was a season of change, and to really be honest, it changed my life forever. And I´m not saying that lightly. I fell in love with the kids, and with Mrs. Tucker, and with Linda who helped there too. Well, there was a pretty big falling out between Mrs. Tucker (the director) and the Baptist network and she ended up leaving. Ever since, the Laotian mission has basically been treading water and, from a heart standpoint (as far as I can judge the heart), is pretty much dead. That leads us to the problem.
One of my good friends Gary (who just happens to be Laotian) and I have both worked at the mission and, if you know either of us, you know that we are both reformed. What does that mean? Well, basically, it means that we trust that salvation is from God from first to last. If that is too vague, I would love to talk with you about the matter. Well, the new guy who works at the mission is named Leroy. I'm going to try and be loving towards him, but I must admit that I struggle to love the guy because of his actions at the mission. He is your typical hyper-conservative Southern Baptist minister. What this means is that every sermon or talk with the kids about the gospel centers, and sometimes only consists of, "you need to ask Jesus into your life." Gary and I, being reformed, have a huge problem with this. We believe it is much more biblical to preach Christ, preach his glory and his attributes and his salvation, which is completely about him bringing His people through life from choosing to glorification, even when they are whores. If you don't believe me, read the Old Testament. I've just recently realized that it is a story with that being the storyline.
Anyway, the Laotian mission is dying at the hands of a weak gospel and Gary and I, but mostly Gary as he still lives in Sprtnbrg, must stand by and watch. Gary has shared many times with me how much he longs for the kids to hear the gospel of a loving God who brings prostitutes from their whoredom and loves them, really loves them (read Jeremiah if you don't believe me on that one). So, Gary just emailed me saying that Leroy basically preached a sermon at Gary, and not to the kids, this past Sunday. In Gary's words, here's what happened, "He [Leroy] said some people ask Jesus into their heads but not into their hearts. He also said some people think that they understand the Bible but they don't. We may never understand the Bible, he says. Basically, he [Leroy] says theology is irrelevant." And here is Gary´s answer to that thinking, "Its sounds very disturbing, I know. We're not going anywhere if we won't come to a conclusion of what the gospel really is. I believe that it's the gospel of grace. " Man, I couldn't agree more. We must not stand for the belief that the study of God is not important. A concrete prayer prayed after a preacher never saved anybody, it was God softening their hearts. I really hope that this is the gospel that will be preached from our churches (and Laotian missions). That God comes to sinners when they have been beaten and left for dead, when they are at emnity with Him, and transforms their standing and lives. If you were "saved" by saying the sinner's prayer or by catechism class and have really been brought from death to life I pray that you will realize that you were saved by grace. Even when you labeled it something else (as I did in the past), it was God taking your cause in hand and promising to carry you through. I pray that the Laotian kids will know this truth. Please pray for them too. In love, Jared.