Pray Without Ceasing—Prayer Blog

We have been reflecting on the first Advent, preparing our hearts for the second Advent, and reflecting on 2025. We want the word “purposeful” to describe our 2025. We want to do what we do with purpose.

In our last update, we looked back at 2024 and things for which we are thankful (Top Ten Thankful List). In addition to teaching courses and doing workshops, below are some of our hopes and prayers for 2025:

Africa Theological Seminary Vision Trip: This trip is for those who want to see ATS and the Coxes ministry there. It will take place from March 13 to 28 and cost $3,500 per person. For more information, see www.rpc.bz/2025-ATS-Vision-Trip.pdf

International Council for Evangelical Theological Education Consultation: ATS’s academic dean and Paul have the opportunity to participate in this consultation. It is an excellent opportunity for ATS to have a place at the Evangelical academic table. Pray for the funds so they can attend.

Book on Culture: A book on culture has been in the works for years. We have partnered with another missionary couple and hope to have a manuscript submitted to a publisher in the first half of 2025. Pray for the writing and editing.

ATS (Adult) Book Project: ATS has engaged in a process with an organization that provides theology books for pastors, Majority World seminaries, and Bible colleges. We are in the process for ATS to receive many new theology books. One of us will make an additional trip to Kenya to help receive the books. Pray for this process.

Texas Supporter Tour: 2025 is the year we will visit supporters in Texas. If you are in Texas and want a visit, let us know. The Texas Supporter Tour dates depend on the arrival of the books mentioned above. We will let you know soon.

Pray that the Lord directs our steps and provides for our needs.

If the Lord is leading you to give, you may do so at:

secure.etransfer.com/ICM/SupporttheCoxes.cfm

Top Ten Thankful List

(The formatting should show the number 10 item in small font and the number 1 item in large font. If it is not formatted this way on your screen, know the list is in reverse order with the most thankful items at the bottom.)

• 10. Opportunity to serve at Africa Theological Seminary.
• 9. Publication of two articles in 2024.
• 8. Opportunity to attend several theological conferences and present a paper at one.
• 7. Opportunities in 2025 (more on that in the future).
• 6. Donna had a wonderful 60th birthday celebration in October.
• 5. The provision of good health.
• 4. Holy, transformational moments in our classes (see Holy Change and Heartfelt Heresy and Holy Change.
• 3. The blessing of children and grandchildren (and having everyone at our home for Thanksgiving).
• 2. 30 years of marriage (this month).
  And the number one thankful item is:
• 1. Great prayer and financial support team.

If the Lord is leading you to give, you may do so at:

https://secure.etransfer.com/ICM/SupporttheCoxes.cfm

In our last blog, we talked about a holy change moment in Paul’s Hermeneutics class and asked you to pray for holy change moments in Donna’s classes. In Donna’s Children’s Ministry class, one of the assignments is for pastors to seek honest feedback from their Sunday School workers. This assignment creates various levels of discussion in class. Some classes, as a whole, have very heartfelt moments of repentance (see our Mar. 25, 2024 blog). This time, the assignment deeply impacted several pastors. Please pray for these pastors. Pray that they, by the grace of God, would implement holy change in the church.

Today (Nov. 16), Donna taught a children’s workshop for over 50 Sunday school teachers. Donna discussed age-appropriate ways to share the Gospel and the ages at which children can understand salvation. God moved incredibly as the attendees realized that children under twelve could understand and respond to the Gospel. Tomorrow, Donna will speak on discipline in two church services. Praise God for moving today during the workshop. Pray that God will edify, enlighten, and encourage his church tomorrow.

Next week, I will attend the Evangelical Theology Society’s Annual Meeting in San Diego. It will be my first time attending. I am usually in Kenya when they have their annual meeting and cannot attend, so I am excited to be able to participate this year. In addition, I am presenting a paper on the Gospel and culture. Pray as I finish preparing for this paper and that my King will be honored with the presentation.

Last week, I finished teaching Hermeneutics (Bible study methods). I emphasize that we are not under the Old Testament law but the New Covenant and grace. Many pastors love to take Old Testament passages and haphazardly apply them in their churches. During this class, there were several powerful moments of honesty and humility. There was a realization of the sacredness of the Scriptures and the difficulty and cost of living, teaching, and preaching them correctly. It felt like something holy, and hard, and wonderful, and scary, and beautiful was happening.

A couple of students from Hermeneutics with Paul

Dallas Theology Seminary (my alma mater) is celebrating its 100th anniversary and is having celebrations in Dallas and throughout the world. They celebrated in Nairobi this week, and I attended. I told Jim, a fellow DTS grad, about the haphazard application of Old Testament passages and the decisive moments in my class. Jim rejoiced at what happened in my class. The haphazard application of Old Testament passages has been on Jim’s heart and mind for some time. During our conversation, Jim came up with the phrase “heartfelt heresy.” Many pastors preach heartfeltly and passionately but entirely misinterpret the Scriptures (especially the Old Testament).

(The use of the word heresy in this phrase is an overstatement. While some of these misinterpretations are heretical, most fall in the erroneous and flawed theology category.)

Pray that something holy, and hard, and wonderful, and scary, and beautiful happens with my Hermeneutics students.

I am currently teaching Major Prophets, and Donna is teaching Child Evangelism, followed by Children’s Ministry. Pray for Donna; back-to-back classes with the Africa Theological Seminary format are exhausting. Pray for moments of holy change as we teach.

Pray that pastors throughout the world move from heartfelt heresy to holy change.

A large portion of our Spring and summer was spent traveling. We set aside the end of August and September to regroup and prepare for our Fall trips. We arrived home from West Africa to find a hot water leak in our foundation. Praise God it did not flood the house and that the plumber had a cancellation and could make the repair quickly. It did result in holes in the walls, replacing a failing hot water heater and an old dishwasher that did not survive the jostling to repair the plumping. In addition, our refrigerator died; we now have a new one.

So, what happened to September? Paul and I have been updating our courses. I have been busy ordering new books and supplies for the children’s ministry courses and library. Paul also peer-reviewed an article for a mission publication. We feel like we blinked, and September was gone.

Paul is flying to Kenya today and taking a long-time friend, Lupe, with him to work on the seminaries’ network. Paul has come down with a cold, which is not ideal for flying! He will also start teaching the day he arrives, which is also not ideal!

I fly out on October 22. Paul and I will overlap in Kenya for about 2 weeks, then he will come home and I will stay until just before Thanksgiving. We will both teach two courses. Paul will be preaching in several of his student’s churches, as well as, giving attention to his many other responsibilities at the seminary. In addition to my classes, I will work in the Children’s Library and present a workshop on biblical (over cultural) discipline of children. Our time in Kenya is always very, very full. Please pray for health and energy!

On a journey through the West African countryside this summer, Paul and I discussed what discipleship is. It is a lifestyle of saying yes to God, making it all about Him and not us, and investing in others. If we teach our students at Africa Theological Seminary the importance of discipleship, we want to ensure it is evident in our lives. Are we in the race of making disciples?

So on this African drive, we asked ourselves about the different areas of our lives, such as Paul’s writing articles and books that are on the horizon, visiting supporters, visiting churches, having people in our home, young people over for meals and discussions around our table, helping with spiritual retreats at the family ranch, parenting, and caring for our mothers. Are we saying yes to God, are we intentionally practicing discipleship, or are we just busy?

As we reflected on this question, God spoke to us through an old friend we had not seen in many years. Sitting around a table in West Africa at a guest house, he said, “You will never know how many lives were changed by your lifestyle. You had people from all walks in your home. You fed them a home-cooked meal, challenged them in intellectual conversation, spurred them into deeper thought, prayed for them, gave them a bed to sleep in, and listened. How often did these people say, ‘I’m not sure why I am telling you this…’ and then share a deep hurt or challenging event. I saw lives change; I changed.”

We often find ourselves putting one foot in front of the other. Our path requires lots of travel: trips to Kenya to teach, trips for meetings, trips to visit supporters and churches, and a trip to West Africa. We pray that we intentionally live a discipleship lifestyle, not just a busy one.

We have been praying and thinking about a vision trip to Kenya for several years, and 2025 is the year. The dates are roughly March 12–26 (these could change by a day or two). The approximate cost will be $3,500 per person. Our good friend Duane Barton, pastor of Calvary Chapel Garland, will co-lead this trip with us. You will spend some time at the seminary, attend Graduation, visit some of the work of our students and graduates, experience Kenya, go on a safari in Masai Mara, and see what God is doing in that part of the world. Space is limited. Please let us know if you are interested in this opportunity.

We are partway through our “Go West” summer. We are in awe of how God has gone before and the opportunities He has brought. There are no words to express our gratitude. We have been in many churches with old and new friends and supporters as we shared, prayed, laughed, and cried (mainly Donna on this one) together. Sadly, Donna‘s much-loved Aunt, whom she helped care for, passed away during this trip, causing Donna to return to Denton a bit earlier than planned. Paul continued the trip solo for several weeks. We are in Denton for a few days before we leave for West Africa.

Our time in Kenya was hectic; it was busier than usual. Paul ended his time there with two back-to-back intensive courses. Since being home, we have been catching up on tasks left undone while in Kenya and planning for the summer.

Paul’s Class

This summer has a “Go West” theme. We will be visiting supporters, churches, family and friends. Please let us know if you are in these areas or somewhere between; we would love to connect.

The Cox family planning.
Guess who sits on which side.

ITINERARY

Southwest
May 11-16 Clovis, New Mexico
May 16-30 Albuquerque, New Mexico
May 30-June 3 Phoenix, Arizona
June 3-9 Bakersfield, California; Las Cruces, New Mexico; El Paso, Texas

Africa
June 24-July 14 West Africa

Northwest
July16-31 Colorado Springs & Denver, Colorado; Jackson Hole, Montana; Clovis, New Mexico

Graduation

Graduation is always a joyous time. It is beautiful to see what God has done in the lives of our students. This year, 53 students graduated. One fun thing about graduation is the bling. Many Africans love bling. During the graduation ceremony, ATS strictly enforces academic regalia (i.e., no bling). However, as soon as the academic recession is over, some families rush to find their respective graduates and start loading them up (see the photo). Praise God with us for what He has done in the lives of our graduates.

Donna’s Class

Donna’s child development class went well. Many Africans have not been exposed to child development. During the class, there were multiple times when students publicly confessed to using inappropriate approaches for the age of the child. Pray for Donna’s students as they incorporate new approaches when they work with children.

I attended the Africa Society for Evangelical Theology conference. Donna nicknamed it the Greek Geeks Gathering, though not everyone there was a Greek Geek. The whole range of disciplines within theology and related fields were represented (Systematic, Biblical, and Historical Theology, New and Old Testament Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, etc.). I had fantastic interactions with some scholars on the Greek text, hence Donna’s nickname.

An African scholar once said: “The church in Africa was a mile long in terms of quantity, but only an inch deep in terms of quality” (Adeyemo, 2006: viii). At the conference, I heard, met, and interacted with Africans who think and write at the deepest theological levels. They are moving the needle in the right direction. I was very encouraged.

Donna’s class started on Monday. She has 17 students, and the class is going well so far. Also on Donna’s agenda for this trip is organizing and cataloging the children’s books.

Praise God with me for the great conference and the African scholars moving the needle in the right direction. Pray for Donna’s class, the children’s book project, and graduation (March 23).

Grace & Peace — Paul

Reference

Adeyemo, Tokunboh. 2006. “General Introduction.” In Africa Bible Commentary, edited by Tokunboh Adeyemo. Nairobi: WordAlive Publishers.