The CBE Scroll

Comment by jlp

August 13, 2009 @ 8:46 am

Gladys Aylward is a role model for both girls and boys.

Comment by Wayne P.

August 15, 2009 @ 1:43 pm

Patti R., whom I met at the CBE conference last month, pointed out to me what I’d overlooked (being a man, I suppose) as many times as I’d read John 20. The risen Lord waited until after Peter and John left the empty tomb and then appeared to Mary Magdalene, whom He then sent as the first witness of the resurrection to tell the other disciples.

It seems that the idea that a woman could be a witness – even to men – originated with the risen Lord Himself!

Comment by jlp

August 15, 2009 @ 10:13 pm

Thanks for sharing that, Wayne. I never thought of that.

Comment by Frank

August 18, 2009 @ 11:14 am

Over the years, not only the passage that Mimi expounds in her posting, 2 Cor. 12:9-10, but also John 6:8-11 and 1 Cor. 1:26-31, have been a source of encouragement and inspiration to me as I have struggled to understand and fulfill my own vocation and calling to be a servant of Christ like Barnabas, my NT hero and role model. Here’s my story in a nutshell, as they say:

I came from what they used to call a lower middle-class working family, and for a long time, I was a skinny and sickly kid due to asthama, who also had a speech impediment. So I often was bullied by bigger and stronger kids in grade school. And in the Baptist church where I was saved and grew up, some of the upper class members looked down on me and my family. My mom once told me that the pastor of our church, after I had spent a few years at Prairie Bible Institute and had done well there, said to her once he was surprised at my achievement; he hadn’t thought I would amount to much of anything. And then, after leaving the US Air Force and going to a Bible college in Colorado to earn a degree in pastoral theology, I had a respected teacher sit me down one day and basically tell me that though I was intellectually bright and of a strong moral character, I simply did not have what it took to be a preacher and pastor. And after dumping this on me, he sent me off without any indication of what he thought I could be and do for the Lord.

For a time, I wondered if God really cared about me and had any plans for me. But what I discovered, as I gave the Lord all that I was and had to offer him, was that he delights in taking what others may consider a nobody and making them into a somebody for his kingdom, much to the surprise of their former detractors. I also discovered that however insignificant the world might regard you and your gifts, the Lord Jesus, if you truly and wholly give him all that you are and have, will both bless you and make you a blessing to others in ways that will astound you.

So I would say to anyone who might be discouraged as they seek to fulfill their vocation and calling for the Lord, remember others may consider you a nobody, but he considers you a VIP in his kingdom. And though they may look down on your gifts and abilities, if you give Jesus all that you are and have, he will bless you and use you in ways that will astound and silence your detractors. I truly believe this.

Comment by jlp

August 18, 2009 @ 5:58 pm

You made a good point, Frank. People probably thought Gladys Aylward was a nobody also. God sees what we really are, humans only see what our limited human view allows us to see.

Comment by joanne

August 20, 2009 @ 7:20 pm

very encouraging post. God is way bigger than i know.

Comment by Deborah

September 26, 2009 @ 3:29 pm

Frank, love your story (though not the pain), thanks!

And I loved Mimi’s recap on Ms. Aylward as well.

I also think there are unique leadership gifts that are developed in the crucible of being shoved beneath and rejection. These are in the area of diplomacy (therefore, could be some of women’s greatest displayed leadership giftings even as it was a great revealed gifting for African Americans in the civil rights era). Diplomacy is one of the most useful and needful leadership giftings for large-scope leaders.