Danny Kirk

Our hearts are breaking over the tragedy that has fallen to so many people in Joplin, MO. We have a good relationship with the BMAA churches in that area. Pastor Fred Vogel, the Director of Missions for Kansas and Western Missouri has been a good friend of mine and they are strong partners in the mission work in Smithville, MO. Grace Baptist Church, where Bro. Fred serves as pastor, was damaged in the tornado, but the building was still in good enough shape to serve as a relief center to provide food, water, clothing, and medical attention to those in need. I polled our Special Missions Committee and we agreed to send Grace Baptist an offering of $3000 to use in the relief efforts. I know that a number of our pastors and church members traveled to Joplin to help people who have lost so much. Thank you for caring!
In our mid-year meeting, we voted to support church planter Brad Faulk in the State of Washington. Over the next year, our financial support will be $200 per month, when after this time, we will review further action. Below you will find my midyear report to the association:

BMA of Missouri Mission Department
2011 Mid Year Report

The Jones family continues to do a good work in Smithville, MO. A number of families have joined the effort to plant a church in this area. Despite a harsh winter in Kansas City, the attendance continued to grow with a high of 59 on one Sunday and 70 for Easter Sunday. Justin William and his family moved to Smithville in January and have proven themselves to be a great asset to this church planting effort.

We were saddened to hear about the loss of one of our churches. Due to declining numbers, the Northside Baptist Church in St. Charles, MO closed its doors and sold their property. A number of agencies within the BMA of America were beneficiaries of the selling of the property. The remaining church members stipulated that financial gifts be given to state missions, the Missouri Baptist paper, and to the Alive Youth event. We are thankful for their faithfulness through the years and for their loyalty at the end of their ministry.

I have a number of goals that I would like to see accomplish in our State work in the next 12-18 months. Allow me to list them so you can make them a matter of prayer:
1. I desire that 10 of our churches would participate in the Transformation Church survey and assessment so as to better equip them to impact their community for the glory of God.
2. I desire that 5 new efforts at church planting would begin in our state. If this is to happen, it will not be according to our old model of placing a missionary full time on the field. It can happen if a number of our healthy churches will identify an area that can be reached by allowing leaders within their church to begin a home Bible study with the intentional goal of beginning a satellite church which can lead eventually to a new church.
3. I desire that I would be able to visit with 12 churches and three district associations within the BMA of Missouri to promote the cause of mission and church health.
Please join me in prayer for these efforts. Thank you for allowing me to serve you.

Danny Kirk

Click to Download June 2011 Issue

Missions lost a good friend this week…and so did I. Early in the morning hours on October 1, I lost a dear friend due to an unexpected, but fatal heart attack. My wife, Carolyn and I were called to the hospital before midnight and were told that one of my deacons, Mark Scott, had been brought to the ER after collapsing. We waited with two of his sons, his sister and other family members as they prayed and waited the results of a cardiac catheterization procedure to stabilize his heart. The heart doctor returned too soon to tell us that despite their heroic efforts, Mark had gone on to be with his Savior. The immediate deluge of cries and tears were natural as they reflected and amplified the sense of our great loss. At only age 44, Bro. Mark leaves behind three fantastic sons: Josh, John Mark, and Jonah; along with his mother, Faye, and sister Nancy. Pray that God’s peace will stand guard over their hearts.

Bro. Mark is one of those guys who had a sweet, compassionate, and helpful spirit. There was nothing that he would not do for you…you only had to ask and he would say, “Let’s do it!” The thing I will remember most about him was his love for mission work in Haiti and Honduras. Due to Mark’s exuberance and leadership, myself and many of our church members at Lindsay Lane Baptist made our first mission trip to Honduras two years ago. He was our experienced leader on this whole mission trip. He led in the fund raising, in laying out the itinerary, in the food preparation, etc. He did everything but pack our own personal bags, but like a good leader, he told us what to pack. I believe that Bro. Mark was the catalyst that turned a dream of visiting a foreign mission field into a reality for many of us. Without his ministry in our lives, it would still only be a dream. Thank you, Bro. Mark!

The picture on this page is one of Bro. Mark taking a cool drink of water as we dug a trench to lay a water line in the hot 95 degree Honduran heat. I chose this picture because it reflects what Mark was to me. He was a deacon who faithfully supported me, but more importantly, he was that friend who was always a “cool drink of refreshing water” when I needed it. The Bible tells us in Proverbs17:17: “A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity”. That verses just begins to describe my friend, Mark. No matter the need, he was always there, a true friend…and like a brother, you could count on him in hard times!

After learning of his father’s death, Mark’s oldest son, Josh, lamented that he still had so much to learn from his father. Josh, you are not alone…we all had much to learn from your father and our dear brother. Our loss is so great. Yet, we will wait a while and one day in Eternity, we will sit down with Mark and pick up where we left off. Thank God for forever friends!

-Pastor Danny Kirk

This morning we had our weekly MVP (Men Value Prayer) breakfast at church.
There is much talk today in our nation about illegal aliens, border patrols, and immigration enforcement. Soon, many people in the United States of America may have to prove, when asked, that they are a legal citizen or visitor in the “kingdom” of the United States.
What about the Kingdom of God? During the course of our Bible study, we discussed the issue of being a member of God’s Kingdom and a legitimate disciple of Christ. What’s the proof…how do you know for sure? Certainly a list of things that demonstrate genuine proof of citizenship could be many. We talked about one such “proof”.

Our Bible reading for today was John 13:33-35:

“Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:33-35 (NKJV)

When Jesus spoke these words, He knew that within the near hours and weeks, He will have given His life for our sins, risen, and ascended back to His Father. It is a critical time of instruction for His disciples and so this “new commandment” carries a lot of weight and is packed with meaning. The Kingdom of God does not have physical borders to fence-in and identify the children of God. There are not any visas or green cards to prove that we belong to Him. The Bible says, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

For many people, they might list as proof of Kingdom citizenship some of the following: church membership, baptism, charitable giving, church attendance, interest in the Bible, an attempt to live a good upstanding moral life, etc. All of these things are worthy markers of a true citizen of God’s Kingdom, yet there is one thing that trumps them all according to Christ. Do you HAVE LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER? Can others see this love and know that you belong to a different world?
Today, I want to challenge you. Without a doubt, each one of us will face a situation where the “unlovable” people of this world will tempt us to act or respond in a worldly, ungodly fashion. When this happens, show them your citizenship. Don’t insist on your “rights”…but love them like Christ loves them. Why? Because you are a citizen of God’s Kingdom…represent Jesus well!

This year we have had two major projects underway: the church planting effort in Smithville, MO and the church revitalization project at Stony Point Baptist.
Let me begin with the church revitalization project. Our support ends this month toward the salary support for Stony Point Baptist Church because the church feels it has real self support status with their pastor, Claude Evans. I received a letter from the church and it reads as following:

April 28, 2010
Dear Brethren,
Stony Point Missionary Baptist Church wishes to thank the Churches of the BMA of Missouri for the financial support for the past year.
We believe that the time has come for us to assume the full financial responsibility of pastoral support. Your help has enabled us to reach this point much sooner than we could have on our own.
It is our prayer and hope that this program will be the instrument which will allow other churches in the BMA of Missouri to reach full time support for pastors.
We ask that you remember us in prayer as we work in the Master’s vineyard.
In His Service,
Pastor Claude Evans

We rejoice with Pastor Evans and the good people of Stony Point Baptist for God’s blessing upon their ministry here in Mineral Springs.

The North Lake mission project in Smithville, MO continues to be blessed of God. Jamie and Rebekah Jones are doing a great job in reaching out to their community and disciplining the families that God has given them. Our mission advisory committee along with members of the Meramec Association advisory committee made a trip to Smithville this past month. We were impressed with the progress that is being made and were made to realize that this is truly a field ripe unto harvest. Let’s continue to pray for the Jones family as God works through them.

Our finances continue to hold steady. Our average monthly offering since October has been $3173 while our average expenses have been $3913 per month…a $740 deficit. We are appreciative of the special mission offering this year and ask that your church would consider increasing their offering to state missions.

Pastor Evans and the good folks at Stony Point Baptist did a wonderful job hosting the mission symposium and the midyear meeting. During this meeting, the association voted to help out two of our missionaries. A $1000 love offering was given to Missionary Sam Hussier to assist him with personal family/medical expenses. We also approved a $2000 offering to Bro. David Dickson for his work fund. The Mission Symposium offering for State Missions has reached nearly $2600. Thank you for your love and care for missionaries who serve both us in Missouri and for those who serve elsewhere. May God be glorified.

I am looking forward to our annual Mission Symposium at Stony Point Baptist at Potosi on Friday evening, May 14. Pastor Claude Evans and Stoney Point has put together a great program with Bro. Sam Husser, Tony Crocker, and Jamie Jones as some of the evening speakers. On Saturday morning during our semi-annual meeting, we will hear from Missionary David Dickson. I really want to encourage you to attend this meeting. Some have asked me if we need a mission symposium. In recent years we have only had about 30-35 people in attendance at the symposium and it does make you wonder if there is a strong interest. Please consider making a special effort to attend the symposium and the semi-annual meeting for we are spending extra funds in providing traveling expenses for our speakers.

Within the next few weeks, the special missions committee will be visiting with Pastor Claude Evans to evaluate the progress of Stony Point Baptist as they attempt to reach full time pastor support. We will also be traveling to Smithville, MO to visit with church planters, Jamie and Rebekah Jones. You can read his article elsewhere here in the paper and you will find that God is at work in Smithville.

In the first week of May I will be involved in church planting training in Little Rock, AR. I will be teaching some of the DCPI church planting essentials to potential church planters and state mission directors from the BMAA. Pray for a good time of learning and planning to expand our mission endeavors.

I read the sad story the other day of a 26 year old flight attendant who was fired from her job for posing for Playboy Magazine. What was interesting was the reason for doing something that would cost her job. She stated that she had a lung disease that would require surgery and that the outcome was not good. She decided to pose for the magazine so the world would remember her.
The world is filled with people who desperately wish to be remembered. Many are inclined to build monuments to themselves in one way or another. This is why the account of Babel, found in Genesis chapter 11, is so important for us. It exposes the underlying cause for building monuments.
And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:4
What lessons are in this story for us today?
1) Man’s plans will never thwart God’s purposes.
God had commanded mankind to “fill the earth”. Man preferred to cloister rather than to comply with God’s command to spread out. In spite of man’s greatest efforts, God’s purposes prevailed.
2) Unity is not the highest good, but purity and obedience to the Word of God.
At first glance, we may commend the people for wanting to be of one voice and to be together in one place. Unity is a great virtue. Psa 133:1 states, “ BEHOLD, HOW good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity”
This is a good thing, but the Bible also says: in Amo 3:3, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” Ecumenism is the watch word of religion today, but it is a unity at the cost of truth. Some regard unity as a goal worthy of any sacrifice. God does not.
3) The Word of God, and not the works of our hands, is the only thing worthy of our faith.
The men of Babel began to look at work as the cure rather than the curse. They believed that the work of their hands could assure them of some kind of immortality beyond the grave. Here, I suspect, is the driving force behind many workaholic. He cannot ever rest because he (or she) is never certain that a large enough monument has been built. Human endeavor is never satisfying, never fulfilling. Only work which is done for the Lord and in His strength brings lasting satisfaction.
The work of missions and church planting is labor that can bring satisfaction to our hearts for we know it is the great burden of our Lord. When we give of ourselves to the cause of sharing the gospel with the world, we are content with making our Savior famous and the Kingdom of God larger.

In recent days I have been doing some research on the three wise men or magi’s that search for the Christ child that they may worship Him and present gifts. The visit of these mysterious men from ancient Iraq would cause quite a stir in the small hamlet of Bethlehem. Some scholars feel there may have been more than three and these very important and powerful men would have traveled with a huge entourage of hundreds. Perhaps the dark silhouettes, that we often see printed during this season, of three lonely men riding camels really doesn’t capture this momentous event.
The Bible record tells us that these men had three gifts to give: And when they down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh- Matthew 2:11. The gifts had a great deal to say about the Child and about His future ministry. The gold was a fitting gift for a King and the wise men realized that they were standing before royalty, the King of Kings. The frankincense, a wonderful fragrance used for incense points to the priestly and prayerful ministry of Christ. Myrrh was the perfumed resin or sap of a particular tree that was used in ancient times to prepare a body for burial. Of course this gift, given to One so young, prophesized His coming death for the sins of the world.
As I thought about those gifts…really perfect gifts, I realized that they are in a sense Christ’s perfect gifts to us as well. Consider the following three gifts that Christ gives to us:
1. Our lives are always better when we live obediently under the umbrella of the Lordship of Christ.
2. It is a joy to know that we can come boldly before a King who is also our great high priest. How encouraged we can be in this life knowing that Jesus offers intercessory prayers on our behalf.
3. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death…that will never change. But for those of us who believe in the gift of God’s Son, Jesus became our payment for sin.

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. 2 Cor. 9:15

It is Carolyn’s and my wish that you and your family will experience the Christ of Christmas in a very special way this season. We thank you for the generous Christmas offering. May God bless our association in the coming new year!