. . . And Some Make Their Whole (Beautiful) Lives All About Jesus

Psalm 149:4 ESV
For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.

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Often saints so obedient and trusting
walk through steady lives of serving,
focusing all of their attention
on Him, their Lord and their Master.

Becky’s parents exemplify God’s people at their best—humbly living out in service to others their praise to God.

If you walk where they daily walked before you
you  will see lives all around you
blessed and redeemed by their Savior
loving as He loved before them.

The world never knows much about
them for people seek after
those whom we view as our leaders
striving for honor and glory.

God welcomes the humble and faithful
who serve Him and seek for His glory
and worship by loving all people
praising sweet Jesus as Savior.

In our boisterous world of over-hyped media and all kinds of voices screaming for attention, I thank God for quiet, solid Christians who faithfully live out their faith day-to-day, always pointing people in need to Jesus. These wonderful people live out the Beatitudes before the world, and in doing so, bring Him glory as His Kingdom steadily grows from strength to strength. The Gospel is all about touching lives one-by-one with the Gospel while “little Christs” simply live out among those all around them the beauty and the power and healing love of Jesus who reigns in their hearts.

I thank God for the many who have loved me even so and blessed my life. Today I am thinking of two of the most blessed Beatitude-type people I know; Rev. and Mrs. William Girdler. Actually, I  call them Brent and Joyce Girdler, and I am blessed to have them as my parents-in-law, or “in-love” as many would say. They have, for as long as I have known them, loved Becky and me, their family, and pretty much the whole world, much like Jesus does.

They continue to live remarkable lives together, now in their sixty-sixth year of marriage. Over those years they have raised my wife, Becky and her sisters, Jeanette and Debbie. They have done so as they answered God’s Call into ministry, attended Clear Creek Bible College, pastored churches in Kentucky and Indiana, and worked careers; he in a grocery company’s warehouse, and she in a school cafeteria.

Always, they have remained faithful to God’s calling to parenthood, to ministry and to continuously bearing witness to Jesus and how He makes all the difference through the ups-and-downs of raising a family and pastoring together.

Today, they have six grandsons, one granddaughter, and thirteen great-grandchildren. Through the years the Girdlers have supported their daughters as they in turn established families and careers—always ready to jump into action when one family or the other needed childcare, transportation, shopping assistance; the thousand things parents do out of genuine and lifelong love.

I speak from mine and Becky’s experience while we served together as missionaries in Nigeria and Niger in Africa for over thirty-five years. They drove with Becky’s sister Jeanette, and her husband, Keith, over five hours to pick us up in Chicago, and bring us home to welcome our daughter, Rachel, on our first trip home to visit family, when she was a mere five-months old. Then Becky’s other sister, Debbie, traveled with their parents to Nigeria, to welcome John David in person, just a few weeks after he was born. They literally brought a baby bed full of clothes and diapers for both John David and his toddler sister. There were times throughout our children’s growing up years when Becky’s parents literally provided the clothes on our children’s backs.

All of this took place as they faithfully served pioneer churches in Indiana while  Brent worked night shifts at the warehouse. Such churches met the spiritual needs of countless families and proclaimed the Gospel in places where far too few were available to proclaim the hope of Christ in the midst of challenging places for doing so.

I can always sense the power of the Holy Spirit in his pastor’s heart through Brent’s prayers. I cannot count the times my heart has been moved deeply by the deep and humble, eloquent, and fervent prayers he prays. I have been inspired, encouraged and challenged as I have experienced his prayers in the midst of hectic days with family, ministry, and work. Both Brent and Joyce purposefully find  time every busy day to turn aside for their devotional times with God. Together they are such a beautiful example for all of us blessed to be in their family.

Over and over again I have watched as they silently gave a gift to someone in need, practicing what Jesus taught in “ . . . doing for the least of these.” (Matthew 25:40) They certainly have spent their lives well, returning to God their loving and humble service. I would certainly say they have made their whole (beautiful) lives all about Jesus. All of us who are part of both their family and their faith family are incredibly blessed to know them. Praise His Holy Name!

THE VERY BEST LIVES ARE ALL ABOUT JESUS

John1:14 ESV

 “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”

April 1, 2024

Sweet Jesus’ Smile

Praise God for those
who in their hearts
trust Jesus so
their every word,
their deeds, their thoughts,
their obedience
to His Word
work in their hearts
and with their hands
and with their feet,
but most of all
upon their face,
their eyes aglow
with glory from
His glows, showing
forth with fire and
light for all the
world darkened so,
then most of all
a brilliant smile
which warms and shines
for it reflects
sweet Jesus’ own.

Yes, the very best lives are all about Jesus. How could we who experience Jesus’ Resurrection Power in our daily lives fail to give Him glory. Like Mary Magdalene, we must declare with victorious joy,  “He is Risen!”  In my own Christian life I have been challenged and inspired by the lives of totally surrendered believers, whose lives declare day-to-day the glory of living with Jesus as their Savior and their Shepherd.

Pastor Haggai accomplished much in the Lord’s Kingdom, but lived his life humbly, always pointing people to Christ, not himself.

As I settled into life in Nigeria, I faced many surprises, most of them pleasant. I had never in my life met such exuberant friendliness in so many people. I had never run into such a hunger for learning, and in particular, for learning and living out the Word of God. I had never met people who so naturally honored God and desired to serve Him. In reality I also had to face some big adjustments, but those were mostly physical, and God gave grace, and triumphed over them all.

Many of my most pleasant surprises came in the person of Nigerian Christians who both challenged and inspired me in their Christ-likeness, in their joy  in Christ, and in their daily strength in the face of difficult circumstances. From the first time I met him, Pastor Haggai impressed me. When I encountered him in class for the first time,  I was surprised to see a grown man among these fourth-year English students. No one had actually told me how Baptist High School allowed Pastor School graduates to earn a diploma as a means of improving their credentials in the national pay table.

Needless to say, I was impressed with this influential local Christian leader, willing to put on his school uniform five days a week and to write sentences on the board and take quizzes just like his younger classmates. The more I got to know him, the more impressed I became. He almost always wore a great big smile. In a culture which emphasized respect for position, age and leadership, Pastor Haggai cheerfully stepped down into the role of a student, and always did his best. He daily reminded me of Jesus, who stepped down  from Heaven to become like one of us, so he could clearly demonstrate the godly life among us.

After years of faithfully serving  a growing Tudan Wada Church, which also developed a strong English section, Pastor Haggai gracefully stepped down and moved back to his own village, where he served as  their Pastor until his retirement. His leadership there came at a crucial time in the midst of ethnic and religious persecution of his people. God had this strong, humble leader in the right place at just the right time.

I have to mention Pastor Haggai’s providential combination of excellence in pastoral service along with his humble, congenial spirit which encouraged people to heed his Biblical preaching, teaching and mentoring. And to top it off, he had the biggest, the broadest and most genuine of smiles. God’s Love shone clearly in that smile.

Now, his daughter serves as Vice-Principal at Baptist Hgh School, Jos. She and her husband minister actively, carrying on, and extending the impact of his life of humble service. They bring faith, love and hope into the midst of some of the neediest around them, following in Pastor Haggai’s footsteps, just as he so faithfully followed Jesus.

How powerfully, how beautifully Jesus shines through the lives of people like Pastor Haggai. Even as such people smile Jesus shines.

If you haven not read It’s All About Jesus, you can order it in printed or digital form from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Christian Books.com and Westbow Press.com. This book contains inspiring  stories about the wonderful Christian people I met in Nigeria and Niger.

THEN, IT’S ALL ABOUT GOD’S PEOPLE

John 3:16

For God so loved the world
that He gave His only Son
that whoever believes in Him
should not perish
but have everlasting life.

Koininia communities
gather God’s children beloved
together as He chooses, calling
His own for His eternal glory
and their day-to-day good
in the midst of their joys
and in all of their worries—
with complementary gifts
and compensatory strengths
his family emerges
for the telling and living
of His own merciful story.

Just like these beautiful springtime daffodils lining the pathway, God lines up Christian mentors and friends to encourage and strengthen us.

In my life it is all about Jesus. He owns me for He came from Heaven to seek all sinners. He lived out His life in a difficult time in the midst of Rome’s tyrannical rule. He walked many a mile on rugged roads and slept many a night on the hard, stony ground. He prayed through many a night, seeking the Father’s strength and direction for yet another tough day, living out God’s Will to provide salvation for anyone who chooses to believe in Jesus as their Savior.

I have been blessed from the very beginning of my life to be surrounded by God’s People in both my family and in my church. My parents and my grandparents daily lived out their own faith in Christ as they raised my brother, my sisters and myself in a home where we were taught to love God and each other. We were involved in Bible Study, worship, children’s and youth activities where Christian adults loved and nurtured us in the faith.

Since deciding to follow Jesus, I have constantly been shepherded by Christian mentors and leaders. I could name Sunday School teachers, Training Union leaders, R.A. leaders, and several of my school teachers. Then, there have been a long series of faithful Christian servants, who have exemplified for me the Christian way as they challenged me to discover how rich and adventuresome is life sold out completely to Jesus. They literally challenged me to recognize that life is more about God’s glory than my sense of self-satisfaction.

My college Pastor, my Summer Missions Director, Christian families in Ludowici and then in St. Marys, Georgia; all pushed me to go deeper, ever deeper as I trusted  more in God and less in me. In Ludowici God gave me a clear call into missions service. In my mind He reviewed for me how He had been working through Jesus, the Holy Spirit and His People to prepare me for His Purpose in missions. Then He continued to put me among people who nurtured me and blessed me—always with the love of Christ—as He prepared me for my thirty-seven years in Nigeria and Niger.

I have always loved being among a people united by the love of Christ, and excited about doing service for His Kingdom together. So, one of the biggest challenges of my life over time has been having to say good-byes. I got so attached to the wonderful faith family at First Baptist, St. Marys, God had to raise up a fellow youth minister and a deeply faithful Christian family to ask me His own question: “So, Mike, just what are you doing about God’s call on your life for missions?” So, before I knew it, events moved along quickly and I found myself living out God’s perfect plan for me at Baptist High School in Jos, Nigeria.

From beginning to end, God’s road which took me to the place He made and redeemed me for was crowded with wonderful family, friends, teachers, mentors, pastors—and most of all the loving Presence, Persistence and Patience of my Savior and Shepherd, Jesus. As I said, it is and has been all about Jesus, and praise be to God, His People.

In future posts I will be highlighting how beautifully God has used some of these people as His tools to mold and shape me, to make me all His, all for His glory.

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome. My name is Mike Stonecypher, author of It’s All About Jesus. I’m so happy to have you as a visitor to my blog about my new book. This project is very special to me, and I hope to share some of that excitement with you here.

I’ll be using this blog to interact with you about It’s All About Jesus, expanding on some of the topics in it and blogging on some of the ideas related to my book. This is a great place for you to get to know me, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you, too. What did you think of It’s All About Jesus? What questions do you have for me? How do you relate to my book?

I’ll be returning here frequently with new posts and responses to feedback from you. Until next time, tell me a little bit about yourself.