American Missionaries Killed by Haitian Gangs
Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker identified Natalie Lloyd as his daughter in a social media post where he said he and his family were heartbroken and needed prayer. “They went to Heaven together,” he said of his daughter and her husband.
The Oklahoma-based missionary organization Missions in Haiti Inc. early Friday morning said that gang members killed two of its members, Davy and Natalie Lloyd. Another man, identified by his first name of Jude, also died, the organization said. Other individuals and ministry organizations identified Jude as an assistant to the organization in Haiti.
What happened?
Hours earlier on Thursday night, Missions in Haiti had posted on social media requesting prayers after it said the Lloyds and Jude were involved in an altercation with gang members. The organization said at least one person in the group had holed up in a house and connected with other ministry leaders via Starlink phone. Ministry leaders at the time were working their connections to get the police to the scene or to possibly pay gang members to leave, according to the social media post.
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When Discouragement Strikes
Sometimes, when we ruminate on things in our own mind, we make them much bigger than they are in reality. Often, what is needed is to stop dwelling on things. Instead, we need to get out of our heads and focus on something else altogether. Go and visit someone, read something, watch TV, go out, whatever. But stop dwelling on things for a bit, focus on something altogether different, and see if there isn’t some fresh perspective to have in the morning.
Discouragement is a strange beast, isn’t it? It can strike when there is really nothing to be discouraged about at all. Things might be going really well but, one thing, and discouragement sets in. Sometimes it is that one things catches us off guard. We might cope quite well with a series of difficulties, but a discouragement coming out of the blue when things are going pretty well can really hit us. As I say, it’s a strange old beast.
So what do you do when you get discouraged? Certainly, there are things we shouldn’t do. It’s all too easy to turn to things that won’t really help.
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A Bright Light in the Midst of Devastation
As life does move on to the next day, days, week, and weeks, may we stop long enough to be encouraged. We can be encouraged by the general kindness of those around us. We can also be very encouraged by the love and tenderheartedness of those who are in the body of Christ and have experienced truly the love of Christ. Both of these things – bright lights in the midst of devastation.
As the news broke of all the thousands of people affected by the tornadoes that ravaged through Kentucky on Friday night and Saturday morning, we began to grasp the devastation of the evening. Just days before Christmas, the celebrations in many towns throughout Kentucky have turned from holiday preparation to absolute terror, grief, and, for some, survival. As a native of Kentucky and with family living in and around multiple towns effected by the storm, this storm seems especially personal. As it came through southwest Missouri on its way over to Kentucky, both a wedding I attended and my home went through tornado warnings on the same night. However, in God’s providence, southwest Missouri escaped the destruction that happened in Kentucky. As a personal observation, I want to take a moment to be grateful for a bright light in the midst of devastation. In fact, although they are connected with each other, let me mention two bright lights.
General KindnessThe people in urban areas, towns, and communities of the United States do their best in the midst of crisis. First responders specifically and initially risked their lives to begin seeking to save others’ lives. But, as you know, it did not stop there. Hundreds of people went into action to help their neighbors. Some were seeking to rescue others, some restoring power, some collecting belongings, and others collecting and delivering supplies to help those in need. In this moment, politics are set aside at the neighbor and community level. It does not matter the person’s religion, race, social status, favorite sports team, or political bent; in this moment, all are people. Mankind helping mankind. Each person seeking to do what he or she can to lessen the impact of the storms on others around them.
This general kindness shines as a bright light in the midst of devastation. After the storm, even before daylight, the communities begin to crawl with individuals who are more fortunate than another related to storm damage begin to move toward others with help, relief, and general kindness. People literally doing whatever they can to help another. A bright light indeed! -
Ancient Promises
Written by R. C. Sproul |
Monday, August 1, 2022
Indeed, in the Pentateuch, the entire New Testament is concealed, yet the revelation therein opens a gateway for us to understand all of the rest of the revelation that God provides from Joshua through Revelation. In our day the covenantal structure of redemption is often obscured. What should be plain by even a cursory reading of the Pentateuch is passed off into darkness and replaced by some other structure or framework invented by human speculation. The covenant structure of redemption does not end in the fifth book of the Pentateuch. It continues throughout the Old Testament.
“The new is in the old concealed; the old is in the new revealed.” This famous statement by Augustine expresses the remarkable way in which the two testaments of the Bible are so closely interrelated with each other. The key to understanding the New Testament in its fullest is to see in it the fulfillment of those things that were revealed in the background of the Old Testament. The Old Testament points forward in time, preparing God’s people for the work of Christ in the New Testament.
The history of redemption began with creation itself. The book of Genesis, the first book of the Pentateuch, starts with the beginning, or the “genesis,” of the universe as expressed in the revelation of God’s mighty work of creation. The creation of the universe culminated in the narrative of the creation of humanity. This was followed very shortly by humanity’s cataclysmic plunge into ruin as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve. From the third chapter of Genesis through the end of the Bible, the rest of the narrative history is the history of God’s work of redeeming a fallen humanity. Genesis shows that the same God who is the God of creation is also the God of our redemption.
The book of Genesis gives us an overview of the patriarchal period and the covenants that God made with them. They form the foundation for everything that follows in redemptive history. Beginning with Noah and moving toward Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the sons of Jacob, the story unfolds God’s consistent pattern of redemption, which looks ahead for centuries, as God’s people awaited the ultimate fulfillment of the patriarchal promises. These promises were fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus.
The book of Genesis ends with the children of Israel migrating into Egypt to be rescued by the intervention of Joseph, who ruled as the nation’s prime minister. Exodus opens with the scene having changed from one of benevolent circumstances under Joseph to one of dire circumstances, as the immigrant nation of Israel had been enslaved by Pharaoh. The stirring account in Exodus is the Old Testament, watershed work of divine redemption. It sets forth for us the narrative of the divine rescue of the slaves held captive in Egypt. The captives were redeemed by the triumph of God and His mercy over the strongest military force of this world embodied in Pharaoh and his army. It points forward to an even greater liberation by a greater Mediator from slavery to sin.
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