A Moment with Pastor Fred

In Acts 13 the church at Antioch gave of their best for the kingdom. The church gave up Barnabas and Paul for the spread of the gospel. I am sure it had an impact on that specific local church losing two gifted teachers. Berean Baptist in Livonia will be giving up one of their own to come here. Anthony Lange is one of a few former elders and pastors Berean has lost over the years. Josh Waltz, Gabe Reed, and Jeff McKeever pastor churches today. Eventually, Anthony will join our pastors here. What a tremendous loss Berean has made for the kingdom.  

As I reflected on Berean’s sacrifice, I thought back to the summer internship program we offered here many years ago. We created opportunities for our own young men who indicated a call to ministry to serve over the summer. There was a financial sacrifice to this for we paid them. Someone asked at the time, “What is the benefit of doing this? What will we get out of it?”  I answered, “Well, we’ll receive blessing over the months they’re here, but the long-term investment will be beyond our comprehension.” Scott Allison served three summers. He now pastors a church in northeastern PA.  One summer Josh and Carisa Bell lived with Susan and me as he served as our intern. Today they serve in Senegal. One summer David Froman was our worship intern – today he serves as our worship director. And most recently, our loss of Kevin Finkenbinder to pastor Faith Bible Church.

May we like Antioch and Berean continue to desire to be a church that invests in kingdom priorities. May we always look beyond the temporal to the eternal. Jesus said he can transform a cup of cold water given in his name with eternal significance. Berean Baptist loves the Langes. It will be hard for them to say good-bye to them, but their sacrificial loss will be our gain.