TENT REVIVAL

This weekend I’ll be singing with the Inspiration Riders at a tent revival in Athens, TN. Your prayers for this event are requested. Come out and join the fun.

“Unity, Liberty, and Love”

“Unity, Liberty, and Love”
An editorial by Bruce White

Often we Christians disagree about what the Bible means by what it says, as well as about how we should respond to it. That’s only natural. After all, none of us knows the mind of God fully. None of us understands the Gospel perfectly. None of us has all knowledge and understanding. All of us are learning and growing, and we will never understand all things fully this side of Glory. Some things in the Bible are clearly understood, and some are not. Scripture itself tells us that, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” [1 Cor. 13:12] Someday when we meet God “face to face” we will see how wrong we’ve been about many things, and we’ll also see those times when we got it right. Until then we should be humbled in the knowledge that we don’t know everything.

To disagree and debate is normal, and I would even say that it is healthy. A pastor friend once told me, “I’m glad that my congregation doesn’t agree with everything I say. It proves that they are thinking.” I learned a lot from that man, but there is still much that we do not agree on. We debated often, but always with love and respect.

I pray that we as Christians would always feel free to debate, and that we would always do so with love and respect for one another. The give and take of a good debate is a great learning tool that should not be disregarded.

It’s been said about the Christian faith that we should have “unity in the essentials; liberty in the non-essentials, and love in all things." We should always stand together on the clear teachings of Scripture, but please don’t be offended when someone disagrees with you over some doctrine that the Church has been debating for centuries. Defend your beliefs, but don’t vilify one another. None of us are perfect, so allow others the “liberty” to disagree with you. After all, they may be right.

News from Guatemala

Dennis Rice, Vine’s distribution manager in Guatemala, has updated his weblog. Scroll down to “Links” and click on “Vine Guatemala” to read the latest news from the South End of the Pipline.

Guatemala Mission Teams Return

I just learned that the Vine medical team and the Joni and Friends wheelchair distribution team returned home safe and sound from their mission trip to Guatemala. Thanks be to God for a good trip.

Monday Update

No news is good news from the teams in Guatemala.

I’m trying to fight off some kind of respiratory malady that came on me last Friday.

Vine Medical & Joni and Friends Mission Trip

At 6:00AM this morning I delivered about 340 pounds of medical supplies to McGhee Tyson Airport to a group of eager missionaries. As I write this, Vine International’s eleven member medical team is going through the check-in process and are about to embark on the first leg of their mission trip to Guatemala. The team is headed by Vine’s founder, Woody Woodson, and our Medical Director, Dr. Bruce Allsop.

Vine’s medical team will be traveling and working with a wheelchair distribution team from the Knoxville chapter of Joni and Friends. While Joni and Friends sees to the needs of the handicapped, our medical team will see to the needs of the sick, and all will be sharing the loving Gospel of Christ.

Please pray for our combined teams as they work and travel around Guatemala. They will return home on Friday, May 9.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

“Bodega” Bruce White