The Second Best Gift I've Ever Received

The greatest gift of my life has been the gift of Jesus Christ. He saved and transformed me, not because of me and what I did nor because of my merit or goodness, but because of His unyielding love and sacrifice for me. That is a gift without rivals and a gift that can only be given by God Himself.

But second on the list is my precious wife, Gayle. And she too is a gift from God. From a human standpoint our "chance" meeting over 17 years ago was absolutely improbable. But from God's vantage point it was another piece of the puzzle of amazing grace that He was putting together in my life.

I often tell Gayle that I was in love with her from the first week that I met her. And she likewise always says that she was not nearly  that quick on the draw. When we were dating we were separated by almost 200 miles (and as she would say, almost 8 years!), but thankfully with some time (and heavy doses of my charm!) she began to see the light!

We both became Christians about a month before our wedding and the presence of Christ in our marriage has made all of the difference in the world. It has been amazing not just to "grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ" as an individual, but to be able to do so with the one that you walk through life with.

Our life together has not exactly gone as we scripted it in those first few years of marriage, but one of the mind-blowing things about Gayle is that she has always been great with where God has taken our family and our lives. She was okay when we left our "careers," sold our dream home, and took our two-month-old son and moved to Kentucky for me to attend Bible college. She was okay because she trusted God and (for this I am eternally grateful and overwhelmingly amazed) she trusted me. Later, when we moved even father away from family and familiarity to serve in Idaho she was equally happy and content. Very early in our marriage she once told me, "I am okay wherever we are because the Lord will be there and you will be there." She has always just wanted to be where the Lord would have our family be. I have watched her travel this long road to Africa with great joy and thorough resolve as she seeks to serve the unreached peoples there.

Gayle has always been my biggest "fan" and has always supported me in everything. That has been a huge blessing as we have sought to serve the Lord and His church together for the last decade. But she has supported me enough and with such love and thoroughness that she has never shied away from lovingly telling me when I was wrong or when I needed to think more deeply about something. She has consistently mixed overwhelming love with solid truth in our relationship and I am surely a better man because of her.

Indeed, I could go on and on with all of the ways that God has used Gayle to bless me and our family, but all of those roads lead me back to His grace. I am continually reminded of how undeserving I am of all of God's grace. I guess that is the great thing about grace: you get the overwhelming blessing that you do not deserve. And that is exactly what I got 16 years ago when I married Gayle. Happy anniversary Gayle! Thanks for being the second best gift I've ever received!

Without Words Wednesday

 

"After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands" - Revelation 7:9

 

Merci Beaucoup!

Dear Partners in the Gospel,

Excited, thankful, overwhelmed, a little nervous…..those were all of the emotions (and more!) that we experienced last Tuesday evening as we purchased five tickets to Senegal. With the push of a button on our laptop our family took one more step closer to Senegal and spreading the Gospel there. And we could not have done that without you!

Our family is continually amazed at the love, generosity, and faithfulness that we receive from people just like yourself who sacrifice so that the unreached peoples of southern Senegal can have the opportunity to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. You are truly part of a team; not just our team, but a team that the Lord Himself is building of those who have a heart for Him and a heart for  the world. We are filled with more hope than ever that the dream of “all Senegal for Christ” will one day be a reality!

We plan to leave Quebec around December 21 after the children have finished school and start the long journey back to Florida. We hope  to make it back to Florida by Christmas Eve where we will be spending the next month packing, taking care of  last minute business, and saying good-bye to family and  friends. Then, on Tuesday, January 29, our family will board a plane headed for Senegal and our new life there.

Our family sincerely wants to thank you. Thank you for praying for us. Thank you for giving to the Lord for our ministry. Thank you for your love, encouragement, and    sacrifice. And most of all, thank you for your obedience to the Lord Jesus who has called us to this task together as partners in the Gospel.

Just before we pushed the “purchase” button for our tickets we stopped to pray. We thanked the Lord for all that He has done to get us to this point. We asked the Lord for continued strength as the tasks that lie ahead will be difficult. We prayed for the unreached peoples of southern Senegal and the spread of the Gospel there. And as we prayed, we praised the Lord for you. Thank you again for all that you do to bless us and to make it possible for us to serve the Lord Jesus and the peoples of southern Senegal.

With Hope in the Gospel,

The Boyd Family

Romans 15:20

 

Jesus: The Only Hope for the World

I don’t know if I read it, heard it, or thought of it myself, but several years ago on the inside cover of my Bible I wrote the following words: “Jesus is the only hope for the world. He is worthy of me giving my life that the world might know that.” I will occasionally look at those two brief sentences, which summarize much of what the New Testament teaches, and wonder if I am really living out those twin truths. I frequently ask myself if I am truly doing enough so that the world might hear that Jesus is their only hope.

The Bible clearly proclaims that Jesus is the only hope for the world. There is salvation in no other name than His (Acts 4:12). He provides eternal life to those who trust in Him (John 3:16) while those that reject Him stand condemned before God (John 3:18). He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and there is no other access to God, but through Him (John 14:6). Jesus reconciles us to God (Colossians 1:21-22), delivers us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10), takes our sin and credits us with His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21), redeems us and forgives our sins (Ephesians 1:7), and the list could go on and on. Rightly did the Apostle Paul refer to Jesus as “our hope” (1 Timothy 1:1).

Yet we live in a world today where people are without hope or searching for hope in things that cannot truly provide it. In our society secularism, materialism, and practical atheism are rampant, while followers of Jesus Christ hold the answers to the world’s greatest need. And the hope that Jesus Christ brings is a hope that is meant to be shared. As Christians “the love of Christ compels us” to live our lives as “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:14-21). An ambassador is defined as “an authorized representative or messenger.” That is how we are to serve King Jesus as we speak on His behalf to people who do not follow our King.

But to be an ambassador of Christ who is willing to give their life so that the world might hear of their King calls for great sacrifice. Christ’s call to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him (Luke 9:23) is the summons to declare “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). But in the giving of our life to make Christ known to the nations we will find out what it truly means to live (Matthew 10:39).

J. Campbell White, a leader in the Laymen’s Missionary Movement nearly one hundred years ago wrote: “Most men are not satisfied with the permanent output of their lives. Nothing can wholly satisfy the life of Christ within His followers except the adoption of Christ’s purpose toward the world He came to redeem. Fame, pleasure, and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of His eternal plans. The men who are putting everything into Christ’s undertaking are getting out of life its sweetest and most priceless rewards.”

Jesus is the only hope for the world. What will you give so that the world might know that?

Without Words Wednesday

Anyone want to guess what this is a picture of? And look where the cursor is!

What we long to see....

This video is a glimpse into why we are moving to southern Senegal. It is a video I took in November 2009 in a small isolated village called Santiaba. In the video, Abdoulaye explains the Gospel to a group of people who have assembled to listen. This is a Senegalese Christian explaining the Gospel to other Senegalese in their heart language. Take a minute to watch this short video and as you do imagine what it would be like to see this scene replicated hundreds of times throughout the villages of southern Senegal. This is our prayer and we invite you to pray it with us.