As we enter the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, we give praise and thanks to our heavenly Father for His steadfast love and care for us and those we serve. You have been generous in the past. Thank you! We again ask you to consider a year-end gift to support all that God is accomplishing through IBL.
As we enter the final months of celebrating our twenty-fifth year of ministry, and my first year of leading IBL as President, the words of Paul to the Corinthians are rich with application. First, they are a clear reminder and admonition that all our efforts be built upon the solid foundation of Christ as He is revealed in scripture.
Twenty-five years... WOW! It doesn’t seem possible. During this first quarter century the Lord has taken us through a whirlwind of blessed opportunities to build in the lives of ministry leaders all around the world. It is fitting at this juncture for me to consider how my remaining time in IBL can best be invested.
In 1 Corinthians 16:8-9 Paul informs the Corinthians of his decision to remain for a time at Ephesus, “But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” When Paul arrived in Ephesus, he found approximately twelve disciples.
In preparing our recent issue of our newsletter, Side-by-Side, I had the opportunity to review literally hundreds of photos of IBL’s twenty-five years of ministry to thousands of leaders across the U.S. and around the world (one of my favorites is shown at the left). Since my own personal involvement with IBL dates from 1994— when Russ came to the church I attended in upstate New York to facilitate us in a long-range planning process—many of these photos brought back wonderful personal memories of God’s work in my churches and in the lives of my friends.
