STATE MISSION: “Whoever Has Ears to Hear, Let Them Hear” (Mark 4:9)

         “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?” (I Kings 19:11-13).

In this parable, Jesus contrasted two types of listeners — those who let the Word of God pass through their ears and those who truly listen and seek understanding. But there is a difference between having ears and having “ears to hear.”

      Some hear the Word but do not allow it to take root. Others end up rejecting the Word because of persecution or trials. But, thank God, others hear the Word and open themselves to understand and accept it so that it transforms them. Those who have “ears to hear” allow the Word to bear fruit to the glory of God. It is up to the hearer to decide whether to take the Word seriously. Do you? Only a few are willing — the rest have ears but do not have “ears to hear.”

      Whenever Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” He calls for people to pay careful attention. It’s another way of saying, “Listen up!” But unless they were willing to tune out other distractions and come to Jesus to understand the meaning of His preaching, His words would be only empty stories. They needed more than ears. However smart they were, they needed ears to hear.

      Jesus referred to Isaiah 6, where the Lord showed Isaiah that his message would not be received and that he would preach until the judgment came, which spoke of people who had eyes and ears yet had hardened their hearts and chosen to ignore the Word of the Lord. Jesus’ simple request was to use our God-given faculties (eyes to see, ears to hear) to tune in to His words.

      While the way of God’s truth is not the most convenient or fun path, we can be assured that it is the best one. Like static on an AM radio, can you think of anything in your life that prevents you from really hearing what God has to say to you?

From Our Missionaries

      “A sister in Christ from the Park View told me she reads what I write in the Trumpet every week. Of course, I thanked her for taking the time to tell me this since I have rarely receive this type of feedback. It encourages me to know that other people follow the work we missionaries are doing in our beloved state of Arkansas. Thank you for reading our writing, praying for us and your financial support.

      “At the discipleship meeting with Jefferson, I had the opportunity to review his understanding of the gospel. To my satisfaction and surprise, his answers showed a clear understanding of his faith and relationship with Jesus Christ. I thank God for the life of this young man who has gone through so many difficulties, has now put his faith in Jesus in a genuine way and has shown great interest in growing spiritually.

      “I would appreciate your prayers for Sayra. She spent a week with a lot of pain in her neck and back. She plans to visit the doctor this week.”

 My Tuesday class at the Hispanic Theological Institute is going well, and we are progressing well. Thank God, we are in our third year since we started, and we will soon have our first graduates of the institute. I pray that some of the first graduates will be able to take the classes I am teaching and train the next generation.

      “With the ministry of Novo (novo.org), we continue training online pastors and leaders in Latin America. Every Thursday, we give these trainings to pastors in Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. It is difficult because the Internet in those countries is not the best and sometimes the power goes out. Some use their cell phone data to receive the training.

      “Saturday, we continued the workshop on ‘Masculinity from the Biblical Perspective’ for the men in Ebenezer. We have four more sessions left. While the men were at Chenal meeting, the Women’s Ministry was in our home with their missions’ activities.

      “Sunday was an inspiring service with a good attendance and four visitors. Thank you, brethren, for your support and prayers for us. My weeks are very busy until November with trainings, but I believe it is time to train our people so that, little by little, they can take responsibility in the Lord’s work. To God be the glory!”

      “A lot got done on the building this week — the trim is almost finished, the cabinets and vanities are installed and the plumber came and is already almost finished. They measured for the countertops for the cabinets and vanities, and they will be done soon. We are working on the sound booth, the floor moldings and bathroom stalls have been delivered and the HVAC equipment for the additions have been ordered. We are getting so close that the end is in sight — for the main part of the building, anyway.

      “And as always, we thank you for your prayers and support. When we look back at all the people, churches and local associations that have helped us in so many ways, we are overwhelmed by your love, generosity and faithfulness to God’s work here in Flippin. We are thankful for you all.”

      “Our monthly meeting with ‘Mountain Movers,’ our local middle school’s Christian Council, was great this past week. We were able to reach almost 60 students in the sixth grade. We provided pizza for those students who chose to spend their lunchtime learning about what God can do in their lives. We had more students come this month than our first meeting of the school year. We outgrew the room where we had been meeting and moved to a larger space to accommodate everyone. Seeing these students want to invite friends and grow this ministry is a blessing. We gave out silicone bracelets that had Scripture and uplifting messages on them to all the students who were there to be a visual reminder to them to be followers of Jesus. We were also able to provide Bibles to those who did not own one and needed one. Please pray for these young people as God’s Word touches them and the understanding of the need for a relationship with Christ.”

      “The Springdale Small Group continues to grow and, this week, two new families joined. We spent a very special time praying and studying the Bible. At the end, our sister, Iris, served some very good food. May God bless her for opening her home so the people of Springdale can hear the gospel. The same is true in Pea Ridge, where the three families that meet are taking steps of faith and commitment to the Lord.

      “The Sunday Bible School topic was ‘Is the Bible relevant today?’ It was a time of much participation and learning. We concluded that the Bible is relevant, but it is not popular for this generation that is so far from God.

      “At the end of our service, we delivered the certificates to the three sisters who were baptized last week. We then went to the fellowship room and talked with the five people who visited us.”

      “This week, we connected with our neighbor in a cool way. She sells make-up and does makeovers, so our ladies threw a makeover party. You can probably tell I don’t really know or understand that, but it was cool for the ladies in our Connect Groups to connect with one of our neighbors.”