This Month's Focus

Fall has arrived and cooler weather is here. As the weather changes, we are reminded that Christ does not. He is the only constant solid ground that we can count on. This month at WBC, we want to once again highlight how we can center ourselves on Christ instead of the ever-changing culture around us. As we seek to center ourselves on Christ, we do not want to become a subculture that has pushed away from the world so far that we live in a bubble. The goal is to create a Christ-centered culture for us and the world around us. This month, you will read some thoughts on how we can better create Christ-centered culture. As the book of Colossians says, Christ is to become first place in everything, and this includes our culture. It is up to us, the body of Christ, to allow Christ to dwell in us through the power of the Holy Spirit to impact our lives and the world around us.


"Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him. He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him. He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross—through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

- Colossians 1:15-20 and 3:16-17

Ministry Partner of the Month: The Newports

Prayer Requests:

1. Our transition and adjustment to Greece amidst the extremes of the Greek world right now.

2. New good friends for Abigail and Rebekah here in Athens.Huge request!!

3. Provision for the needs of our college students in the states (Kaziah and Jonah) + Josiah now married & working.

4. Syrian refugee population rising rapidly here. Government officials are expecting close to a million possible soon ... Hellenic Ministry is expending their work to the Syrians but the needs are massive.

5. Brad will join the work among the Syrians next week (as many know French too). Pray for the refugees’ time in the Bible Studies and hearing the Word proclaimed.

6. Friday night the 20th we are hosting another Syrian night with a big meal and activities at our refugee center in order to bless them and proclaim the gospel as they find themselves in a very difficult place.

7. Pray as Jamie, Abby & Beka volunteer at the women and children’s refugee center each Friday working directly with the women & many children!

8. Jamie will also run the homeschooling for Abby & Beka during the week.

9. Pray for Isaiah as he works very hard to complete his senior year in the French national school here in Athens.

10. Pray for all the Afgani, Iranian, Iraqi, Algerian, Syrian men, women & children here. Pray that their hearts would be receptive to Word of God. That the Spirit would lead them to faith. That they would then be scattered to all Europe to build the kingdom & make disciples.

11. We too are here illegally but under advisement from both missions to do so (long story - such is the case for all new missionaries here in Greece). Pray that we can maneuver rightly through the Greek world as daily there is often a requirement to visit the police station or government office etc.

12. Tuition for Isaiah’s next two semesters. Ask for provision (1660 Euros each).

13. Hellenic Ministries recently brought on a believing Syrian/Greek couple who have the hearts of disciple-makers to help connect us all to the Syrian world growing rapidly here. They need additional support - pray for this to come quickly (Brad will be working directly with this couple in their work among the S. refugees).

14. Our monthly support. We are at 88% of our budget pledged. Ask for both individuals and churches to become new partners.

15. We have several other needs beyond our budget we are trusting the Lord for. Thank you for praying for us! We need to find cheap, beat-up used car, find funding to pay for the girls to learn Greek, Isaiah’s next 2 tuition bills etc ...

Honduras: Short Term Mission Trip Update by Bruce Zimmerman

I had the privilege of going on a mission trip to Honduras this last summer. It was the second time I have been to Honduras on a missions trip to spread the gospel. While some of the 16 on the mission team were on their first mission trip ever, it was great to have along veteran mission trippers, like Eddie and Rebecca Martinez who were on their 9th trip to Honduras. Members of this team represented 6 different churches from Ennis, Gordon, Waxahachie, and Lubbock.

The flight to San Pedro Sula, Honduras takes just a few hours. Once arriving in Honduras we rented 4-wheel drive pick-up trucks and headed down the Honduran highway southward for another 3.5 hours to the city of Gracias where we found our hotel for the week of ministry. The hotel would serve as our base for the week. The hotel is a compound of cottages surrounding a beautiful courtyard of tropical flowers and plants. Each of the cottages has its own porch with a hammock swing. We were served delicious breakfasts and dinners every day at the hotel.

The mission trip combined both evangelism and construction work as we worked under the direction of the local missionary, Shannon. Each morning we would take a 1.5 hour ride up mountainous roads to get to a small city — San Isidro and work alongside pastor Manuel in reaching his mountain city for Christ. The construction project consisted of putting a skin of concrete on the inside of the church building to help it last longer. The church building is made out of mud bricks, and a skin of concrete on the outside and inside of the building not only makes it look better, but makes the building last longer.

While some of the North American team worked on pastor Manuel’s church building, others would go out visiting door-to-door sharing the gospel message of Jesus with others. The people of San Isidro are coffee farmers who live off of the land and what they can grow for themselves. They raise chickens, grow bananas, squash, beans, corn and coffee. They were supposed to be in the “rainy season” of this rain forest habitat, but they had not had any rain for two months. They live in mud brick homes with dirt floors, without any running water or electricity. We went each day in the mornings and afternoons learning about their lives, sharing our testimonies of what God had done in our lives through the gospel and praying for their needs. Though the Hondurans have very little in possessions, they are rich in hospitality. Not a single time did someone turn us away from their doors, but instead would welcome us into their homes, and we would begin conversations with them through translators. At each home we would invite the Lenca Indians to come to an evening worship service at pastor Manuel’s church.

Most nights the building was packed to standing room only. Two of the nights, all of the North Americans had to leave the church building to make room for Hondurans who were anxious to come and worship God and hear from the North Americans who had come to their village. Eddie and Rebecca led the worship time each night with the guitar. The believers are enthusiastic in their worship of the Lord.

Most nights the preaching was done by Bert Sigala, a nephew of the Martinez’s who pastors a Hispanic congregation in Ennis. He connected beautifully with the people as he preached from Hosea and the gospels. It was obvious to see their interest in the things he was preaching about from the Word. Each night many decisions were made and people were coming forward for prayer. Many are sick and without medical care. We prayed for many who were sick.

Each night the service had a time for people to share testimonies of the Lord’s working in their lives. The testimony time gave opportunities for our team members to tell their story of conversion and God’s help in them through difficult times. The Hondurans would also share testimonies of salvation and of healing. Many had testimonies of God’s gracious healing upon them.

One woman brought her baby boy up after the Wednesday evening service, asking people to pray for the baby. The baby had been sick for two weeks with high fever from pneumonia. Team members gathered around the baby and mother and asked for a miraculous healing. The very next night the mother came to the service to give praise to the Lord. The baby, who had been very “hot” the night before and lethargic, was raised up in her arms smiling at the congregation. The mother praised God for healing her baby of the high fever the night before.

One of the things that stood out to me was their grateful hearts. When they prayed, I could not understand them, but one thing I could hear over and over from their mouths was, “Gracias Padre!” (Thank you Father!) They had so little of the possessions and amenities of life, yet they were filled with gratitude in their worship of the Lord.

On Saturday there was some time for shopping in the local markets and then back up the mountain to another house church in which to minister. I was privileged to preach that night through a translator as people packed out the room once again and filled it to overflowing!

Thanks for your prayers for this trip. We sensed God at work throughout the week. Plans are to return next year to another village and spread the good news of the gospel with Hondurans again. Would you like to go on next year’s trip? We would like to take at least 10 people from WBC for the trip. Contact Eddie Martinez (edmart458@yahoo.com) for more information and to stay informed of the necessary steps to make the trip. We had teenagers singles, married couples, and families on this trip.

Shades of Gray

How much is too much when it comes to consuming culture?
by Brett McCracken
Published in Relevant Magazine


Two Christians walk into a bar. One of them passes out tracts with hopes of saving some heathens from hell-bound paths to certain ruin. The other sits at the bar and orders a beer, with hopes of drinking the night—and a week full of sorrows—away. The former believes “secular” culture (bars, movies, basically anything that can’t be purchased at Hobby Lobby) is evil and to be avoided. The latter doesn’t believe in the “sacred/secular” distinction at all, seeing everything in culture as fair game for the Christian (as much as it is for anyone else).

When it comes to how we engage and consume culture, Christians far too often have defaulted to one of these two extreme approaches. You’re likely familiar with both of them.

The Legalists are the Christians who see culture mostly in terms of liability: how it can damage us, taint our witness, lead us down a slippery slope. This mentality leads to the boycotting of Spongebob Squarepants, the picketing of Martin Scorsese films, the ritual burning of Led Zeppelin records at youth camp (the horror!). It’s the approach that claims Harry Potter is Wiccan propaganda, Million Dollar Baby is a defense of euthanasia and P.O.D.’s version of “Bullet the Blue Sky” is OK for Christian radio but U2’s version is not. It’s a philosophy of strict separation, wherein “Christian” labeled alternatives (Amish romance novels) are harmless but everything else (non-Amish romance novels) is worldly and dangerous.

The Libertines are the Christians who were either raised by Legalists or used to be one, and thus are now pushing as far away from that attitude as they can, often in as conspicuous a manner as possible. They are the Christians who intentionally subvert “evangelical morals” by holding Bible studies in brewery taprooms or dropping the F-word frequently on their Christian college campus. They smoke (cloves, hookah, pipes, cigars, Parliaments, even pot), drink (usually craft beer), and celebrate the TV-MA shock value of shows like Girls and Game of Thrones. Theirs is a philosophy of no separation. They have purged their vocabulary of words like “worldliness,” “holiness” or “secular,” opting to approach the realm of culture with an arms-wide-open acceptance of anything and everything that brings pleasure or entertainment.

Among the many things the divergent paths of the Legalists and Libertines demonstrate is this unfortunate fact: Christians have a hard time with nuance. Gray areas are not our strong suit. This is unfortunate because while there are some clear-cut do’s and don’ts in Scripture, there are many areas where it’s just not very black and white.

Culture, and what we partake or abstain from within culture, is one such gray area. There aren’t easy answers in the Bible about whether this or that HBO show is OK to watch or whether it’s appropriate for Christians to enjoy the music of Tyler, the Creator. Scripture contains no comprehensive list of acceptable films, books or websites. Contrary to what some Christians maintain, the Bible neither endorses nor forbids many things that we wish it were more clear about.

But the ambiguity of a “Christian” approach to culture should not lead us to throw up our hands and default to the easier, black-and-white positions described above. Rather, it should beckon us to go deeper, to ask questions, to truly wrestle with what it means to be a Christian consumer of culture.

Five Questions for the Discerning Consumer
For Christians interested in consuming culture in the thoughtful, edifying and ultimately God-glorifying middle ground between extreme legalism and extreme libertinism, the following questions may help. Before you buy a new album, movie ticket, magazine or any other of the thousands of cultural items we regularly consume, consider asking yourself these questions:

1. Does it point me toward God? Every moment of our lives should be an opportunity to worship God. In whatever we eat, drink, watch, play or listen to, we should strive to do it to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). It doesn’t have to be “churchy” to be worship and it doesn’t have to be a praise song to be God-honoring, but given all the things we could spend our time enjoying or consuming, why not choose that which points us toward God? Often, this simply requires a shift in our thinking—to start approaching cultural consumption actively rather than passively, seeking out the goodness and truth within it rather than taking it at face value. When we start looking at culture in a deeper way, the bounds of what can facilitate our worship are greatly expanded.

2. Would Jesus consume it? OK, I know the WWJD thing is overplayed, but if, as Christians, we are called to follow after Christ and “be imitators” (Ephesians 5:1) of Him, then it’s an appropriate question to ask. And it’s not just about whether we can envision Jesus putting on headphones and enjoying the music of Radiohead (though I think He might), as much as whether we would feel ashamed if Jesus took a gander at our iTunes libraries. After all, our ears, eyes and bodies are not our own. They were bought at a price. They belong to Jesus. We are called to be “living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God,” not conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1–2). Would Jesus recognize that transformation in the media we choose to consume?

3. What would my community say? Discernment in our cultural habits should include a consideration of those around us. We don’t want to offend them with things we are free to consume, but which might befrustrating stumbling blocks to them. Also, it’s just a wise thing to consider the counsel of others rather than relying solely on one’s own judgment. As Proverbs 18:2 says, “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.” We shouldn’t isolate ourselves and privilege our own opinions about things. If others around us have thoughts about why something is or is not appropriate, maybe we should listen.

4. Is it good quality? If we’re going to be spending money, time and energy listening to music, watching a movie or consuming some other item in culture, why not focus on the highest quality we can find? Sure, there’s a time and a place for “escapist” fare, but a diet of 100 percent Katy Perry and Jerry Bruckheimer does not do a body good. A key aspect of a healthy Christian consumption is the ability to recognize and then support the most excellent and creative content we can find, however subjective such determinations might be. Discernment is not just about avoiding too many F-words or overly nihilistic themes. It’s also about avoiding the trite, cheap and clichéd and instead seeking out the best.

5. Is it edifying? This sounds like something Focus on the Family might ask. But it’s a solid question. Paul tells Christians to rid themselves of “anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips” (Colossians 3:8), which isn’t to say we should avoid any media that depicts such things, just that we should beware of such influences tarnishing our character and eroding our witness as God’s chosen people. We are to set our hearts and minds “on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:1–2), and to dwell on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). If we can’t find any of those redeemable attributes in the culture we are consuming, we should question whether it’s worthwhile.


You Are What You Consume
Ultimately, the question of what you consume in culture, and how you go about it, says a lot about what you value and the type of person you want to be. Do you want to be the person who is always pushing the boundaries, consuming culture recklessly and rebelliously without ever engaging it on a deep level? Do you want to be the person who legalistically avoids all culture out of fear or apathy, refusing to dig into the trenches of discernment and, as a result, misses out on the goodness, truth and beauty that can be found? Or, do you want to be someone who is caught up in the desire to be more Christ-like, to know Him more, to testify to His glory through the manner in which you engage the culture in His world?

As a people charged with the task of being salt and light (Matthew 5:13–16), a “royal priesthood” called out of darkness and into light (1 Peter 2:9), Christians must consider how our consumer choices contribute or detract from this vocation. What is communicated about our identity and values via our consumer behavior? If a Christian is seen at church one minute and seen throwing money away at a casino or guzzling cheap beer at a kegger the next, what does that communicate?

On the other hand, if we consume culture in a thoughtful, healthy manner, we both reflect the grandeur of God’s creation back to Him in worship and to the world around us as witness.

The manner in which Christians engage culture is too important to get wrong. It’s lamentable that throughout so much of Christian history, we haveapproached it so simplistically, and often in reaction to whatever end of the spectrum the previous generation favored.

When God created culture, He said it was “very good.” Yet the fall of man complicated things, making culture a realm that is as full of the bad, false and ugly as it is of the good, true and beautiful. Still, there are vestiges of “very good” everywhere, and it behooves Christians to work to discern, discover and champion it whenever they can.

I once heard the Eastern Orthodox bishop Kallistos Ware define the Christian as “the one who, wherever he looks, sees Christ everywhere.” I don’t think he meant the Christian sees Jesus’ face on tortillas. Rather, I think the bishop was getting at the same thing C.S. Lewis was expressing when he famously said “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” It’s what Abraham Kuyper was getting at when he said “there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’” It’s the idea that Christ illuminates and animates all things; that our enjoyment of culture is both justified and amplified by His Incarnation.

It’s the reason there is so much at stake in this question of how we consume culture. It’s a way for us to seek and honor our Creator, even while we enjoy His creation. It’s a statement to the world that yes, Christians care about culture. We care about it so much, in fact, that we’re not going to just consume it recklessly or indiscriminately, or to prove a point.Rather, we will consume culture carefully, thoughtfully, joyfully and worshipfully. Which is to say: Christianly.

Christ at the Center of Worship

The Church at Clarendon is a 104-year-old Baptist congregation in the Washington, D.C. area. In 1959, the congregation had a membership of 1,660; in 2002 its membership stood at 477, and it had no pastoral staff. The next year, the church added a contemporary worship service.

Last Sunday, they tried something even newer: this service was led by a “disc jockey.” DJ Hans Solo is an active leader in Andy Stanley’s Northpoint Church and a musician and producer in the Atlanta area. He led what Clarendon called “Church Remixed,” as his technology replaced the church’s usual eight-piece band and singers. The one-time event made the Washington Post.

Reaction was mixed. According to the Post, many of the church’s members are under 30 and “seemed excited by seeing something new.” A 23-year-old who teaches preschool at the church said, “It was much more upbeat,” and called the service “awesome.” An 81-year-old member said she’s not comfortable with clapping after songs, since it felt too much like a performance. But she did tell the reporter, “I like the music more than I did last year.”

Richard Niebuhr’s classic Christ and Culture describes five ways Christians relate to society:

• “Christ against culture” (no engagement with each other)
• “Christ of culture” (the church adopts what the culture embraces)
• “Christ above culture” (following Jesus on Sunday and cultural norms on Monday)
• “Christ and culture in paradox” (using culture to advance the church)
• “Christ transforming culture” (leading culture to adopt holistic biblical values)

The last is consistent with Jesus’ assertion that Christians are the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-16) — both seek to change what they contact. So we must engage the culture to transform the culture. But how much is too much?

Did the Church at Clarendon remove distractions to worship or create them? Does contemporary music and technology enable people to encounter God, or does it draw them from Him? Can traditional worship with its choirs, solos and instrumental music elevate performance over personal worship as well?

Here at WBC, the style of the music is less important that whether or not the order of worship is centered on Jesus Christ. The style of the music is secondary. First of all, the order of worship should be centered on the gospel story of Jesus. This means that we actually go through the story of the gospel in the order in which we worship. Music styles are then funneled through this order of worship. We choose the styles of music that will be the most edifying for our current congregation. We also consider those who we may want to reach out to in our worship music but sense the primary goal of worship is edification and not evangelism (1 Corinthians 14); this is a much lower priority. In all the creative approaches to worship and the heated debates of worship styles, one very important thing to remember is to keep Christ at the center.

This Month's Focus

School is back in session, and your fall schedule is probably going strong. As you go from place to place this fall, we thought it would be a good idea to provide you with some wisdom for creating a Christ-centered culture for your life. We hope you live each day of your life with Christ at the center of your day and the activities you do. We also hope that you seek to carry Christ’s love in the life you live so that others may join you in living with Christ.

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. - Matthew 5:13-14

Ministry Partner of the Month: Kate Van Wynan

Prayer requests: 

1. Pray for Jordan Roberts and Kate as they prepare for their upcoming wedding. Pray for God’s wisdom and the Holy Spirit’s inspiration in planning a wedding that honors Christ, shows and speaks the Gospel.

2. Pray for a good transition into our marriage, a strong beginning, firmly founded in the Word, setting good patterns for our life together.

3. Pray for safe travels after the wedding for a honeymoon out West and visit to Kate’s family.

4. Pray for the right place to live in the Philadelphia area, as we move to be close to Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS), where Jordan will begin full-time studies in January. We hope to move right into a place in that region after we are married.

5. Pray for the right jobs - full-time for Kate, part-time for Jordan in the Philadelphia area. We need work that ‘pays the bills,’ but Kate would love work that she loves, as well!

6. Pray for God’s guidance regarding church life, friendships, family relationships, work schedules, how often to travel back and forth to the Bronx (a 2-hour drive)... how we should ‘set up’ our life together at this time.

7. Pray for faith that God will provide, and joy in our salvation and our Savior. Pray for hearts submitted to God’s will and God’s way.

8. Pray for Kate’s New York City employers, for whom she has done childcare work for several years now – that they would meet other Christians and that God would call them to Himself.

9. Pray for the ESL classes that will continue in The Bronx, and for the several women who are new members of our church who will be taking Kate’s place! Pray for them as they enter a new realm of ministry. Pray for Kate as she ‘passes the baton.’

10. Pray for our ESL students - pray for more to come, if God wills, and pray for those who continue with us and see our class as a second family. Pray for God’s work in every heart.

11. Pray for the Dhaurali family, the Nepali family with whom Kate has been close in the Bronx. Pray for their salvation, and ongoing contact.

12. Pray for studies and scholarships: Pray for Jordan as he begins studies toward an M.Div. degree at Westminster Theological Seminary. Pray for perseverance, dedication, joy, God’s Spirit to empower and encourage him.

13. Pray for wisdom for Kate as she hopes to take a class or two in Biblical Counseling through WTS.

14. Pray for the Bronx Household of Faith (www.bhof.org), our church, for inspections and certificates in order to be able to move into our new church building and pray for God’s timing in this as we also are part of the legal battle to keep churches able to rent space in public schools on weekends. Pray for victory in that case!

15. Pray for Hope Academy of the Bronx (www.bhof.org/hopeacademy), the small, innovative school for struggling students that our church desires to start in our new building. Pray for the right teachers and for funds from consistent, caring donors.

16. Pray for God’s vision to be our vision, for our lives and for our church family.