‘Jehovah Nissi’

LUBBOCK, Texas — As the world rallies to its banners — red vs. blue, nation vs. nation, team vs. team — Trey Morgan keeps a banner of his own in his office.

It’s shaped like a Bible.

The Bible belonged to his father, who died from cancer when Morgan was young.

It’s full of notes and highlights from his father’s journey to faith. Morgan’s mother sent it with his cousin, Stan, when he served in Vietnam. Then she gave it to Morgan as he went to study ministry at Sunset International Bible Institute. Morgan sent it with one of his sons who served in Afghanistan. 

“Every time I see this when I walk in my office, I am reminded that God is faithful,” said Morgan, newly named minister for the Sunset Church of Christ, during the institute’s annual Vision Workshop. About 550 Christians from around the world attended.

During a “Generation U” lecture, students listen to minister Billy McGuiggan speak on God’s sovereignty during the era of the Israelite kings.

Morgan shared the story of God’s victory over the Amalekites in Exodus 17. The Israelites prevailed only as Moses kept his arms raised, so Aaron and Hur held up his arms when Moses got tired. After the victory, Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah Nissi, “The Lord is my Banner.”

“We need to celebrate God’s victories with banners,” Morgan said, adding that the Amalekite story shows that God never intended for his children to be “a bunch of Lone Rangers” but to work as a team.

Anya Aaron, 13, signs “How Great is Our God” during the workshop. Her American Sign Language teacher is Rebecca Shelt of the Sunset church.

Banners were easy to find during the three-day event. During a Friday morning ceremony, students in the institute’s Adventures in Missions program carried flags from around the world, many representing nations where Sunset has sent church-planting teams and established satellite campuses.

In the U.S., Democrats and Republicans are ready to go to war, said keynoter Willie Williams, minister for the North Colony Church of Christ in the Dallas suburbs. Christians should have that same, fiery intensity, he said, but directed in a way that changes communities for good and lets the world know whose banner they carry.

“We’ve got work to do,” Williams said. “And the devil will try to get you to be quiet. But I don’t want to go to another funeral, and I don’t want to see another family, and I’m tired of coming into contact with people who don’t know how great our God is.”

Zane Perkins, right, of Sunset prays for minister Dan Winkler before Winkler speaks on “Living Transformed Lives” at the Sunset Vision Workshop.

See more videos of keynotes and classes from the 2024 Sunset Vision Workshop at workshop.sunset.bible.

Dan Chambers, pulpit minister for the Concord Road Church of Christ in Brentwood, Tenn., teaches on myths about Churches of Christ.

Filed under: Adventures in Missions christians and politics church and politics domestic missions faith and politics International Jehovah Nissi Missions Names of God National Partners Sunset International Sunset International Bible Institute Sunset Vision Workshop The Lord is my banner Top Stories