Author: Dr. Greg Savage

I am the senior pastor at First Southern Baptist Church in Salina, KS. I have been married to Heidi for over 35 years. She is a teacher at Starbase, Salina. Our oldest son, Brennan, is married to Kaitlyn; they have two wonderful daughters, Kennady and Blair. Our middle son, Austin, is married to Kellyn. They live in Denton, TX, and are a part of the school system. Our daughter, Hannah, is married to Regent. They live in Davenport, IA, and have a young son, Silas. Our three grandchildren bring Heidi and me great joy. All my kids are Kansas State graduates, as are Kaitlyn and Regent. Kellyn is a Baylor grad, but we don't hold that against her. I am also a Denver Bronco fan, a horrible golfer, an avid reader, and a huge Wildcat fan. I am a graduate of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a DMin in Church Revitalization. More than anything, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. The thoughts expressed are my own. You can also look me up on Goodreads.

Jonah: Fact or Fiction

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It is one of the earliest stories I remember learning.  While running from God, Jonah was swallowed by a whale, or was it a fish?  Either way, it was dark and slimy.  As a 50 some odd adult male, do I still believe in Jonah and his encounter inside a giant fish?   Surely I don’t believe in something so outrageous as that?  Before proceeding, there’s something you need to know about me.  I believe in something even crazier.  I believe a man died for my sin, was buried, and on the third day, He was raised to life.  That’s not all; I also believe He is coming back, now get this, riding a white flying horse (See Revelation 19:11-16). If I believe in the works of Jesus, it’s not hard for me to believe a man was swallowed by a fish.  Is the story of Jonah real and historical?  For me, this is at the heart of inspiration.  Jonah is historical and authentic.  Despite what I believe, there are some who believe Jonah is a myth or an allegory about a prophet swallowed by a fish.  Is Jonah a real and historical character?  Does it even matter?  As you read, you will find the historical reference in scripture confirms it’s historicity, the inspiration of Scripture demands Jonah’s authenticity and the “Sign of Jonah” in Matthew 12 seals the deal.

First, Scripture treats Jonah as a historical figure.  In 2 Kings 14:25, we find this phrase, “in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through the servant Jonah, son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.”  As you can see, the Jonah we find in the book bearing his name, is the same Jonah, son of Amittai, we see in 2 Kings.  Scripture treats Jonah as a real historical prophet just as it does with Elijah and Elisha. The historicity of Jonah is not in question.

Secondly, this is a matter of biblical inspiration.  Can I trust the Bible?  Did God inspire men to write the Bible or was it simply words put down in writing?  When Paul writes, “All Scripture is God-breathed …”(2 Timothy 3:16) “All” means all.  If Scripture talks about a man named Noah who built an ark, it means a man named Noah built an ark.  If a crowd of over 5000 men was fed with five loaves and two fish, a large crowd was filled to the brim with fives loaves and two fish.  If Jonah is simply a legendary tale like King Arthur or Robin Hood, what other parts of scripture might be legendary or fictitious? If all of scripture is trustworthy and accurate, then I can read believing every word as it is, the inspired and infallible word of God.

Finally, in Matthew 12 Jesus clearly and convincingly confirms the historicity of Jonah.  In verses 39-42, Jesus used the men of Nineveh has a group of changed men who would one day stand in judgment of the generation of Jesus’ day. Consider J Silow Baxter’s words, “Will anyone dare to maintain that the Son of God was here teaching that ‘imaginary persons who at the imaginary preaching of an imaginary prophet repented in imagination, shall rise up in that day and condemn the actual impenitence of those, his actual hearers, that the fictitious characters of a parable shall be arraigned at the same bar with the living men of that generation?’” (Explore the Bible Vol 4 page 150).  The words of Christ confirm the story of Jonah is both true and historical.

If Jonah is historical and factual, there is woven through the story of the Bible a beautiful thread of God’s wonderful grace expressed toward humanity. If it is true, God’s grace can reach even me; there is no one beyond the reach of our relentless God.  If it is a mere fable, it is a nice story too fanciful to believe and having about as much significance in my life as Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”  Furthermore, if the book is fiction, the very integrity of inspired Scripture is compromised.  However, the true answer to the authenticity and historicity of the Book of Jonah is both clear and convincing to the thinking mind. Jonah was a true historical figure who was miraculously swallowed by a giant fish and preached the good news to a difficult and dangerous people to the glory of God. So, is it important that Jonah is a real historical figure?  Yes, it is! In fact, it is imperative to my faith.

Miracle on Magnolia

mortgage burning serviceLuke 11:8 “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.”

We still serve a miracle working God.  On May 21, 2017, I stood before the church challenging them to pray a prayer with “shameless audacity.”  I thought I should give them an example of a shameless audacious prayer, so I said, “Let’s pray to have the building paid off by the end of 2018.”  I had just looked to see where our building fund was at the time.  We owed $242,103.18.  Could the church honestly pay off nearly a quarter million dollars in less than two years?  There was no way.  I know since 2007, the church had never paid off that much of the debt in 20 months.  Undaunted, I and others began to pray daily with shameless audacity for God to pay off the building debt by the end of 2018. I knew what was impossible for man was possible for God.

By July, God offered us an opportunity to refinance our loan through the Foundation of the Kansas Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists.  Refinancing immediately took a year off of our five remaining years, thus saving us thousands of dollars.  God began working quickly in this prayer. At the start of 2018, we owed $178,209.22.  I was not too confident but knew if we focused on it we would pay off more in 2018 than we did in 2017. Many faithful prayer warriors persevered in praying with shameless audacity.  Throughout 2018, we saw God do amazing things through His people.  There were many times I simply stood back and laughed.  We continued to see the total shrinking month to month.  You could feel the excitement in our church when we were below $100,000. God was at work.

We continued to pray with shameless audacity.  In our December business meeting, we voted to take General Offering funds at the end of the year to make up any difference.  Oh my goodness, God is going to do this, I thought.   However, deep in my heart, I wanted us to make the final loan payment without having to take any general funds. On December 1, 2018, our balance was $44,369,03.  Could God do this through our church?   We also set a challenging Lottie Moon Christmas Goal of $10,000 (For more about Lottie Moon).  I had told people if they could only give to one or the other, always choose to give to missions.

God worked a miracle through His people.  His people gave over $45,000 to the Building Fund, over $10,000 to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, and over $40,000 to our General Fund. I don’t think there are many churches our size that could accomplish that feat on their own.  Only God could do accomplish this.   We serve a gloriously great God.  In two years, God paid off $266,091.21 through our people.  He alone deserves all the credit. This proves there is nothing God can not do through his people when they are obedient to His call.  

As of January 2, our Building Loan with the Foundation is paid in full. We must now ask, “What’s next?’  Why would God answer such a shameless audacious prayer?  Being debt-free will free up countless resources to help our church have a global gospel impact.  I can’t wait to see what God will do during our next chapter.  Our purpose is not to pay off a building, our purpose as a church is to “Know Christ and Make Him Known.”  God is about to do exceedingly abundantly more than we can imagine.  And like I often tell our church, “I can imagine a lot.”

Join us this Sunday, January 13, 2019, as we celebrate and have a Mortgage Burning Service.  I know many people have faithfully been giving over these 15 years.  Join our celebration. We will begin at 10:30 am.  Stay for our barbecue luncheon after our service.

We are done, but we are not finished.  We have only just begun.  We have freed up thousands of dollars per year for Kingdom growth and gospel impact.  God will do great things.

Many people say God is no longer in the business of doing miracles.  As for me, I’ll choose to disagree with you.  First Southern Baptist Church is a testimony that God is still in the business of making miracles happen. To God be the glory from whom all blessings flow.