The New Man for Newman was coming! In a way, I saw myself as a contemporary of John the Baptist. Am I not Billy the Baptist…preaching, teaching, and baptising in the Pilbara Wilderness of Western Australia? Am I not preparing the way for the one who was chosen by the Lord to succeed me at Newman? (Matthew, Chapter 3.)

In March, immediately after I received an invitation from Newman Church leadership to return to help them search for a permanent, long-term pastor to lead them, the name of someone I had known for over 20 years came to mind. That someone lived with his family at Wales, UK. After some time, I contacted my friend at Wales and made him aware of this ministry opening. And, after discussion and prayer, he and his wife said ‘yes’ to expressing interest in the position. With gladness I notified Newman leadership.

However, on July 30 one other expression of interest was received from a pastor at Perth (1,177.5 km south-west of Newman)! From that time, the process for determining ‘the’ man for Newman was underway. Now, this is where the plot thickened for me. I knew my friend in Wales as well as I knew my own son. He’s a man I would gladly adopt into my family at the blink of an eye. I was confident that the Newman church family would find him and his family easy to love, and in time would forget me (He must become greater and greater and I must become less and less – John 3:30). However, I knew very little of the applicant from Perth.

Now here was a test for me, and a possible new learning opportunity! I had to be careful to involve myself in the selection process in such a way that did not obstruct God from choosing His man. Would I offer biased counsel to the leadership of Newman or would my input be balanced and objective? My actions and presence came under tight scrutiny from God. My actions and inner motivation had to be 100% squeaky-clean or else I would be guilty of sabotaging the divine selection process. If NCBC truly desired the right outcome, we, the leadership, had to stay out of God’s way! Yes, this is easier said than done.

When the Prophet Samuel arrived at the house of Jesse to anoint God’s choice of His new man to replace Saul as King of Israel, God said to him, “Don’t judge by appearance or height… The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). A pastor’s profile of any candidate is no match for God’s Sovereign choice. The New Man for Newman Community Baptist Church had to be God’s man! (Continued next week.)

Best wishes

Bill Joukhadar