Month of Prayer and Giving Day 13 – Do you only Report the Good News?

Those who read our updates carefully know the answer to that question without asking. Someone once said we report the good, the bad and the ugly. There’s a bit of truth to that. Scripture after all – as well as church history – is chock-full of all the above.

Sometimes, though, we make only oblique reference to an item of bad news due to the pastoral sensitivity of the matter at hand. One example of this would be when I reported the fact late last year that our daughter-in-law, Sydney, had left our son, Regan. I did so in very discrete terms for though I desired for people to pray for them, it was not my desire – then or now – to make a private family matter a topic for idle speculation or conversation.

It is right, though, for you to know that continued prayer is needed and desired. Sydney has sadly not returned and all avenues for seeking her return have effectively been closed. Regan – with the support of the church members – has continued serving in Angel – joined by two external elders, assisted by a deacon, and supported by a number of visiting preachers – throughout this process. The Lord has graciously blessed the church with a remarkable degree of unity. It, however, has been a time of great personal and congregational pain.

Will you continue to pray for repentance and reconciliation? Will you ask the Lord to bring Sydney back to a covenant relationship with her husband and the church? Will you pray for the church to have much wisdom as they make decisions regarding Regan’s future service in the coming weeks? Will you pray that this bad situation will yet prove to be a means of bringing greater glory to God and further blessing to His church meeting at Angel?

Barry King