Church Planting Discussion

quote

2008-01-10T08:04:00.000-05:00

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves. When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little. When we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord.”

Sir Francis Drake

I pray that I allow God to work in my life the way He wants and never become to complacent. I want to dream great dreams for Him. I want to get out into the deep. Vision Baptist Church needs people that believe God and will dream as well as does your church.

I invite you to check out Vision News and see the new look. You can also get the latest sermons preached at Vision on a player right on the page

Praying for God to revive His church

2008-01-01T20:34:00.001-05:00

Vision Baptist Church has invited Lou Rossi to come and preach a revival from January 13-17. We are bathing this time in prayer. We need God to do a great work and I ask you to be praying for us. Please come and visit and bring your friends with you. To get the latest updates be sure and check out Vision News regularly.

Here are some great quotes about revival by Stephen Olford. Please pray that God work in our church--Vision Baptist Church and send revival.

Whether it be in the personal life, or in the church life, or on the mission field, we need revival--we need revival urgently--we need revival desperately!

Revival is the manifestation of the glory, power, and blessing of the Son of God among His people.

Revival is ultimately Christ Himself, seen, felt, heard, living, active, moving in and through His body on earth.

Revival is not some emotion or worked-up excitement; it is rather an invasion from heaven which brings to man a conscious awareness of God.

Will you pray 'Revive me!' and then open your being to the Spirit of Revival? Do not rest until you have been restored to the fullness of the blessing that God is waiting to pour out in your life!

Revival is that strange and sovereign work of God in which He visits His own people--restoring, reanimating, and releasing them into the fullness of His blessing.

When God breaks into a life or a community, nothing else matters save the person of Jesus, the glory of Jesus, the name of Jesus.

The Ordinary Pastor

2008-01-01T13:01:00.000-05:00

taken from here

Some pastors, mightily endowed by God, are a remarkable gift to the church. They love their people, they handle Scripture well, they see many conversions, their ministries span generations, they understand their culture yet refuse to be domesticated by it, they are theologically robust and personally disciplined. ... Most of us, however, serve in more modest patches. Most pastors will not regularly preach to thousands, let alone tens of thousands. They will not write influential books, they will not supervise large staffs, and they will never see more than modest growth. They will plug away at their care for the aged, at their visitation, at their counseling, at their Bible studies and preaching. Some will work with so little support that they will prepare their own bulletins. They cannot possibly discern whether the constraints of their own sphere of service owe more to the specific challenges of the local situation or to their own shortcomings. Once in a while they will cast a wistful eye on “successful” ministries. Many of them will attend the conferences sponsored by the revered masters, and come away with a slightly discordant combination of, on the one hand, gratitude and encouragement, and, on the other, jealousy, feelings of inadequacy, and guilt.

Most of us—let us be frank—are ordinary pastors.

Dad was one of them. This little book is a modest attempt to let the voice and ministry of one ordinary pastor be heard, for such servants have much to teach us.

* * *

Tom Carson never rose very far in denominational structures, but hundreds of people ... testify how much he loved them. He never wrote a book, but he loved the Book. He was never wealthy or powerful, but he kept growing as a Christian: yesterday's grace was never enough. He was not a far-sighted visionary, but he looked forward to eternity. He was not a gifted administrator, but there is no text that says “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you are good administrators.” His journals have many, many entries bathed in tears of contrition, but his children and grandchildren remember his laughter. Only rarely did he break through his pattern of reserve and speak deeply and intimately with his children, but he modeled Christian virtues to them. He much preferred to avoid controversy than to stir things up, but his own commitments to historic confessionalism were unyielding, and in ethics he was a man of principle. His own ecclesiastical circles were rather small and narrow, but his reading was correspondingly large and expansive. He was not very good at putting people down, except on his prayer lists.

When he died, there were no crowds outside the hospital, no editorial comments in the papers, no announcements on the television, no mention in Parliament, no attention paid by the nation. In his hospital room there was no one by his bedside. There was only the quiet hiss of oxygen, vainly venting because he had stopped breathing and would never need it again.

But on the other side, all the trumpets sounded. Dad won entrance to the only throne-room that matters, not because he was a good man or a great man—he was, after all, a most ordinary pastor—but because he was a forgiven man. And he heard the voice of him whom he longed to hear saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your Lord.”

Pretty interesting for those of us that will probably never be the pastor of the megachurch or have all the books. Click on the link at the top of the article and read all about it.

Vision Baptist Church
Vision News

Beware of the Bunker Mentality

2007-12-24T10:44:00.000-05:00

I was sitting listening to a missionary speak in our church recently and something very important dawned on me. As he spoke he showed enthusiasm. I have noticed over the years that when we are not at our church, dealing with our problems we are often able to be grateful and enthusiastic.

But then at home when the bombs are bursting in the air and things are going wrong, people are moving on to new towns and jobs and leaving our church, the bills are piling up it is easy to develop a victim attitude.

I was just sitting here thinking about how good God has been to me and then I got an email from a great family in our church that is planning on moving to another part of the state. Every time I hear that I cringe and hurt--I think you know what I mean. I would never hold up there progress and what they believe God's will to be BUT

I will lose them, I will miss them, Our church will suffer and I don't want them to go. It causes me to start thinking that things aren't going good. It doesn't matter if things are going good or not I tend to focus on the bad things--Do you do that?

I develop a Bunker Mentality. I want to retreat where I can't get hurt again. I would rather not risk loving than lose the love or be hurt.

That begins to show in my demeanor and attitude in the pulpit and around people. Then people don't understand what is happening but they know that something makes them uncomfortable.

Do you know what I mean? I want a praise and let's go forward attitude. I hope you do. God is in control. He is going to work things out. Lets serve Him with joy in our hearts.

In the Vision News I have to be positive but sometimes it is hard and I just do not feel like it! Have you ever been there?

Ramblings from North Africa:

2007-12-22T18:17:00.001-05:00

The following comes from an email sent out by project North Africa and Aaron. I want to encourage all of you to get your copy of this book as soon as possible. I have already ordered mine and paid for it over paypal.

One Church-planting team’s first year of minsitry to Muslims
My wife Jillian and I, along with our coworkers Cesar and Mariet Copa from Arequipa, Peru have kept a journal of our experiences over the last year since we arrived in Morocco. This book is unique because it is written from a man AND a woman’s perspective as we ministered to Muslims together.

If you would like your your family and/or your church to know how to better pray for our missions…
If you would like to know what it is like to live and ministry in a Muslim country…
If you would like to know how to witness to the Muslims that you know…
If you know anyone going to minister in Muslim country…

Buy One, GIVE One Free!

For every book YOU buy, we will GIVE a book to a college student. The future of missions lies in the hands of the young people who are preparing themselves in our colleges. Will they consider going to a Muslim country?

It’s up to you!

All profits from the book will go directly into the church planting efforts of Project North Africa!

Order online at our website: www.projectna.com or by mail:
Project North Africa
PO Box 519
Braselton, GA 30517
Checks made payable to “Project North Africa” for $14.95 for the book and $3 for shipping.

Special pricing available for churches or individuals requesting 5 or more books.

This would be the book for you!

Vision Baptist Church
Vision News

Preach Jesus

2007-12-18T07:08:00.000-05:00

You [as preachers] have nothing else to employ as the means of good, except the salvation of Jesus, and there is nothing else worth telling.

I heard of a congregation the other day that was so very small that hardly any one came to listen to the preacher. Instead of blaming himself, and preaching better, the minister said he thought he was not doing much good by sermons and prayer-meetings, and therefore he would found a club, and if the fellows came in, and played draughts, that might do them good. What a lot of that sort of thing is now being tried! We are going to convert souls on a new system,—are we? Are we also to have a substitute for bread?—and healthier drink than pure water? . . .

[T]o hope ever to bring sinners to holiness and heaven by any teaching but that which begins and ends in Jesus Christ is a sheer delusion. None other name is given among men whereby they can be saved. If you have to deal with highly learned and educated people, nothing is so good for them as preaching Jesus Christ; and if the people be ignorant and degraded, nothing is better for them than the preaching of Jesus.

A young man said to another the other day, “I am going down to preach at So-and-so, what sort of people are they there? What kind of doctrine will suit them?” Having heard of the question, I gave this advice,—”You preach Jesus Christ, and that will suit them, I am sure, if they are learned people it will suit them; if they are ignorant it will suit them—God blessing it.”

When the great Biblical critic, Bengel, was dying, he sent for a young theological student, to whom he said, “I am low in spirit; say something good to cheer me.” “My dear Sir,” said the student, “I am so insignificant a person, what can I say to a great man like yourself?” “But if you are a student of theology,” said Bengel, “you ought to have a good word to say to a dying man; pray say it without fear.” “Well, Sir,” said he, “What can I say to you, but that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin?” Bengel said, “Give me your hand, young man; that is the very word I wanted.”

A simple gospel text is the word which every man needs who is in fear of divine wrath, and he may be sitting next to you at this moment, or he is in the same house of business with you, and needs that you should tell him about Christ. Do that, and bless his soul. May you all understand the Scriptures in this way, and may God make you a great blessing to those around you.

Charles Spurgeon

That is what Vision Baptist Church is all about. We preach Jesus service after service, That is what we did in Peru. God blesses the preaching of His World. Keep up with all if going on via Vision News

Are you ready

2007-12-08T09:46:00.001-05:00

Get more information at Vision Baptist Church and stay connected through Vision News

Missionary Agreement Form 14

2007-12-04T09:42:00.000-05:00

There is so much to learn from this agreement and I hope that you will go back to the very first post on this subject and follow all of the notes to really understand better how we can serve God on the mission field of the world.

It becomes us to use all assiduity in explaining and distributing the Divine Word on all occasions, and by every means in our power to excite the attention and the reverence of the natives towards it, as the fountain of eternal truth and the Message of Salvation to men. It is our duty also to distribute, as extensively as possible, the different religious tracts which are published. Considering how much the general diffusion of the knowledge of Christ depends upon a liberal and constant distribution of the Word, and of these tracts, all over the country, we should keep this continually in mind, and watch all opportunities of putting even single tracts into the hands of those persons with whom we occasionally meet. We should endeavour to ascertain where large assemblies of the natives are to be found, that we may attend upon them, and gladden whole villages at once with the tidings of salvation.

What wonderful and powerful truths and a great to do list we find here:

1. We need to give all effort possible to the explaining and distributing of the Divine Word. What are you doing right now to explain the word of God to as many and as many times as you can. What are you doing to get the word of God into their hands. It is alive and powerful. It will do its job.

2. Let's get the Bible to as many people as possible. I am afraid that we do not realize the power of the word. If we but get it to them it will do a work in their lives.

3. Find the crowds and get the Bible to them. Find where the people are--go to them and get the word to them.

At Vision Baptist Church I am motivated to see how to put as much of this as possible to work. Even in America people do not read the Word of God and so much preaching today is philosophy and not Bible. I want to see how I can go about getting the Word into their hearts and lives. Keep up with what God is doing with us over at Vision News.

Missionary Agreement Form 13

2007-12-03T09:29:00.001-05:00

Well I have been in South Africa visiting our missionary Kevin Hall and so I have not been able to keep up with these posts but we are back at it. I truly believe that there is a great deal that can be learned from reading, thinking, and studying what these great men did in the past. All of it might not be relevant to your ministry but it can sure help us to do a better job.

Ninthly. It becomes us also to labour with all our might in forwarding translations of the sacred Scriptures in the languages of Hindoostan. The help which God has afforded us already in this work is a loud call to us to "go forward." So far, therefore, as God has qualified us to learn those languages which are necessary, we consider it our bounden duty to apply with unwearied assiduity in acquiring them. We consider the publication of the Divine Word throughout India as an object which we ought never to give up till accomplished, looking to the Fountain of all knowledge and strength to qualify us for this great work, and to carry us through it to the praise of His Holy Name.

Every missionary better believe in the power of the Word of God. We have nothing else to give them. The last thing that they need is the philosophy of the United States. We obviously even as a culture have not done much to promote the name of Jesus Christ and bring our culture to His feet. The prosperity gospel may work in the USA but it has little chance overseas where poverty and death are so rampant. Let us give them the Word.

I high lighted several things that I certainly hope you notice. They had to learn the language no matter what it cost! Do not settle for a half hearted knowledge of the language. You will be studying and learning until the day you die.

Do all in your power to get the gospel to the world and by that I mean the Word of God. We are to study it, teach it, preach it, live it. The Word of God is our life, it is all we have and all we are.

Vision Baptist Church on the Northside of Atlanta is committed to just this truth. We must preach the Bible, verse by verse. We are loving it! It is amazing how the truths of God's Word are already relevant. As we study the Bible these truths apply right now to our society and where we live.

I invite you to follow Vision News to keep up with what God is doing in our church.

Missionary Agreement Form 12

2007-11-21T06:41:00.000-05:00

Under the divine blessing, if, in the course of a few years, a number of native churches be thus established, from them the word of God may sound out even to the extremities of India, and numbers of preachers being raised up and sent forth, may form a body of native missionaries, inured to the climate, acquainted with the customs, language, modes of speech and reasoning of the inhabitants; able to become perfectly familiar with them, to enter their houses, to live upon their food, to sleep with them, or under a tree; and who may travel from one end of the country to the other almost without any expense. These churches will be in no immediate danger of falling into errors or disorders, because the whole of their affairs will be constantly superintended by a European missionary.

Though I understand the comment and agree to a point I do believe that we need to so deeply train our people that they will be as trustworthy as us. That means that this can not be a work that is done quickly or lightheartedly. We must commit to real personal, life on life, training. I would hope that the day would come in any country that there are enough men and women who have matured sufficiently that they will not need to be supervised by a European nor an American.

Can we trust God to do such a work in their hears as He has done in ours? Could it be that we need to invest more money in getting good study materials into their hands. Maybe we should spend more time and give them real Bible College training. The problem is obvious and easily understood but should have a solution.

The advantages of this plan are so evident, that to carry it into complete effect ought to be our continued concern. That we may discharge the important obligations of watching over these infant churches when formed, and of urging them to maintain a steady discipline, to hold forth the clear and cheering light of evangelical truth in this region and shadow of death, and to walk in all respects as those who have been called out of the darkness into marvellous light, we should continually go to the Source of all grace and strength; for if, to become the shepherd of one church be a most solemn and weighty charge, what must it be to watch over a number of churches just raised from the state of heathenism, and placed at a distance from each other?

No doubt the infant churches will need our care. Let us just not leave it there.

We have thought it our duty not to change the names of native converts, observing from Scripture that the Apostles did not change those of the first Christians turned from heathenism, as the names Epaphroditus, Phoebe, Fortunatus, Sylvanus, Apollos, Hermes, Junia, Narcissus, etc., prove. Almost all these names are derived from those of heathen gods. We think the great object which Divine Providence has in view in causing the Gospel to be promulgated in the world, is not the changing of the names, the dress, the food, and the innocent usages of mankind, but to produce a moral and divine change in the hearts and conduct of men. It would not be right to perpetuate the names of heathen gods amongst Christians, neither is it necessary or prudent to give a new name to every man after his conversion, as hereby the economy of families, neighbourhoods, etc., would be needlessly disturbed. In other respects, we think it our duty to lead our brethren by example, by mild persuasion, and by opening and illuminating their minds in a gradual way rather than use authoritative means. By this they learn to see the evil of a custom, and then to despise and forsake it; whereas in cases wherein force is used, though they may leave off that which is wrong while in our presence, yet not having seen the evil of it, they are in danger of using hypocrisy, and of doing that out of our presence which they dare not do in it.

Let us never strive for the outward changes that so readily make us look like we have accomplished a great deal. Rather let us work to get the gospel into their hearts and for God to make a permanent change in them.

Vision News
Vision Baptist

Missionary Agreement Form 11

2007-11-20T06:28:00.000-05:00

Still further to strengthen the cause of Christ in this country, and, as far as in our power, to give it a permanent establishment, even when the efforts of Europeans may fail, we think it our duty, as soon as possible, to advise the native brethren who may be formed in separate churches, to choose their pastors and deacons from amongst their own countrymen, that the word may be statedly preached, and the ordinances of Christ administered, in each church, by the native minister, as much as possible, without the interference of the missionary of the district, who will constantly superintend their affairs, give them advice in cases of order and discipline, and correct any errors into which they may fall, and who, joying and beholding their order, and their steadfastness of their faith in Christ, may direct his efforts continually to the planting of new churches in other places, and to the spread of the Gospel throughout his district as much as in his power. By this means the unity of the missionary character will be preserved, all the missionaries will still form one body, each one moveable as the good of the cause may require, the different native churches will also naturally learn to care and provide for their ministers, for their church expense, the raising places of worship, etc., and the whole administration will assume a native aspect, by which means the inhabitants will more readily identify the cause as belonging to their own nation, and their prejudices at falling into the hands of Europeans will entirely vanish. It may be hoped too that the pastors of these churches, and the members in general, will feel a new energy in attempting to spread the Gospel, when they shall thus freely enjoy the privileges of the Gospel amongst themselves.

The goal as soon as possible is to form an indigenous church. A church that is self supporting, self governing, and self supporting. That means we must teach them to do all the work and that our goal is to get out of the way.

They should be allowed to choose their pastors and leaders. They will have been taught well how to serve and honor God.

By the way that means that as a missionary you should not own their property nor should the mission. We have criticized very harshly large denominations that have done so in the states and then as independent Baptists go to the field and do what we condemn in the states. We act as though we could never trust them. You are not trusting them you are trusting and commending them to God.

As missionaries our goals are to continue getting new churches started and new men trained for the work there. The longer we tell them what to do and do not allow them to step up the weaker they will become.

Missionaries should not interfere with a church once it has become organized. As long as it is a mission of your church you obviously have some authority but once they are organized you should not undermine the pastor getting involved in telling them what to do.

Let the nationals know that they are our equals in the work of God. For too long the n word of missionary work has been "national". We have treated them too often with disrespect and superiority. God can use them as well as He can use us.

Vision News
Vision Baptist Church

Missionary Agreement Form 10

2007-11-19T12:15:00.000-05:00

Eighthly. Another part of our work is the forming [of] our native brethren to usefulness, fostering every kind of genius, and cherishing every gift and grace in them.

Many people do not currently understand the importance of a Bible College. They can not seem to understand how it relates to church planting but as they said we must do everything possible to get them to know and grow so that they can lead their churches. Probably the most important church planting on any field once the work as been started is the training of the future leaders. If you believe in church planting you have to believe in Bible College support and training.

In this respect we can scarcely be too lavish of our attention to their improvement. It is only by means of native preachers that we can hope for the universal spread of the Gospel throughout this immense continent. Europeans are too few, and their subsistence costs too much, for us ever to hope that they can possibly be the instruments of the universal diffusion of the word amongst so many millions of souls spread over such a large portion of the habitable globe.

They knew that the most important key to getting the gospel to the people was to train their leadership. We will never get enough workers. We must train them in how to lead. We must train the churches in how to follow. We must teach them to give and support their own pastors.

Their incapability of bearing the intense heat of the climate in perpetual itineracies, and the heavy expenses of their journeys, not to say anything of the prejudices of the natives against the very presence of Europeans, and the great difficulty of becoming fluent in their languages, render it absolute duty to cherish native gifts, and to send forth as many native preachers as possible. If the practice of confining the ministry of the word to a single individual in a church be once established amongst us, we despair of the Gospel's ever making much progress in India by our means. Let us therefore use every gift, and continually urge on our native brethren to press upon their countrymen the glorious Gospel of the blessed God.

This is probably one of the mission field's best kept secrets. Many missionaries can't ever master the language. They have a hard time adjusting to the culture. What if we would just learn that our principal ministry is training leaders. Maybe we would accomplish much more.

Vision News

Vision Baptist Church

Missionary Agreement Form 9

2007-11-18T13:40:00.000-05:00

In walking before native converts, much care and circumspection are absolutely necessary. The falls of Christians in Europe have not such a fatal tendency as they must have in this country, because there the word of God always commands more attention than the conduct of the most exalted Christian. But here those around us, in consequence of their little knowledge of the Scriptures, must necessarily take our conduct as a specimen of what Christ looks for in His disciples. They know only the Saviour and His doctrine as they shine forth in us.

Carey and his fellow workers knew that they had to model what they taught. They would be watched very much to see if they taught and preached was also what they practiced. They had to be examples of what Christ was looking for in His disciples

In conversing with the wives of native converts, and leading them on in the ways of Christ, so that they may be an ornament to the Christian cause, and make known the Gospel to the native women, we hope always to have the assistance of the females who have embarked with us in the mission. We see that in primitive times the Apostles were very much assisted in their great work by several pious females. The great value of female help may easily be appreciated if we consider how much the Asiatic women are shut up from the men, and especially from men of another caste. It behoves us, therefore, to afford to our European sisters all possible assistance in acquiring the language, that they may, in every way which Providence may open to them, become instrumental in promoting the salvation of the millions of native women who are in a great measure excluded from all opportunities of hearing the word from the mouths of European missionaries. A European sister may do much for the cause in this respect, by promoting the holiness, and stirring up the zeal, of the female native converts.

They recognized the importance of the help that the ladies could give. It would be impossible many times to reach the women in another culture if it were not for the great work of godly women who surrender to mission work. Notice the words "great value of female help"

A real missionary becomes in a sense a father to his people. If he feels all the anxiety and tender solicitude of a father, all that delight in their welfare and company that a father does in the midst of his children, they will feel all that freedom with, and confidence in him which he can desire. He will be wholly unable to lead them on in a regular and happy manner, unless they can be induced to open their minds to him, and unless a sincere and mutual esteem subsist on both sides

In many ways the missionary is like a father to his people. It is our great privilege to work with these people. We must love them. We must feel for them. God will give their hearts to you if you will but be the father to them that He has called you to be.

Vision News
Vision Baptist Church

Missionary Agreement Form 8

2007-11-17T08:22:00.000-05:00

Seventhly. Another important part of our work is to build up, and watch over, the souls that may be gathered. In this work we shall do well to simplify our first instructions as much as possible, and to press the great principles of the Gospel upon the minds of the converts till they be thoroughly settled and grounded in the foundation of their hope towards God. We must be willing to spend some time with them daily, if possible, in this work. We must have much patience with them, though they may grow very slowly in divine knowledge.

This seventh point is made up of several paragraphs. We will divide it into two posts so you can watch for the next section tomorrow. Notice in this paragraph that they are thinking of how important it is to watch over their new disciples and then to instruct them well. We must start out simply. There is no need to try and impress them with our great knowledge or to use words and ideas that they are not ready for yet. Break it down. Bring them along. They will grow and learn. God will build them.

Notice the importance of spending time with them--even daily. It takes a lot to get them to grow. That is one of the reasons that I personally am not

We ought also to endeavour as much as possible to form them to habits of industry, and assist them in procuring such employments as may be pursued with the least danger of temptations to evil. Here too we shall have occasion to exercise much tenderness and forbearance, knowing that industrious habits are formed with difficulty by all heathen nations. We ought also to remember that these persons have made no common sacrifices in renouncing their connections, their homes, their former situations and means of support, and that it will be very difficult for them to procure employment with heathen masters. In these ircumstances, if we do not sympathize with them in their temporal losses for Christ, we shall be guilty of great cruelty.

They were concerned that they needed to find the right kind of work for their people. They felt like they might not be hard workers on their own. I am not sure how much of this applies today but in certain countries and cultures I am sure that it is still the case.

I do strongly identify with the thought that many of them might loose money, jobs, etc because of their following Jesus Christ. We must sympathize with them. We must hurt with them. We can not be selfish of the great resources that God has placed in our hands.

As we consider it our duty to honour the civil magistrate, and in every state and country to render him the readiest obedience, whether we be persecuted or protected, it becomes us to instruct our native brethren in the same principles. A sense of gratitude too presses this obligation upon us in a peculiar manner in return for the liberal protection we have experienced. It is equally our wisdom and our duty also to show to the civil power, that it has nothing to fear from the progress of Missions, since a real follower of Christ must resist the example of his Great Master, and all the precepts the Bible contains on this subject, before he can become disloyal. Converted heathens, being brought over to the religion of their Christian Governors, if duly instructed, are much more likely to love them, and be united to them, than subjects of a different religion.

As much as possible we must obey and respect the laws of our country. Of course in countries where the law does not allow us to worship and serve God will be responsible to the higher law of God. We still ought never to be disrespectful of their country and they should know that in every way we can we will do what the government expects as long as it does not hinder the free exercise of our faith.

To bear the faults of our native brethren, so as to reprove them with tenderness, and set them right in the necessity of a holy conversation, is a very necessary duty. We should remember the gross darkness in which they were so lately involved, having never had any just and adequate ideas of the evil of sin, or its consequences. We should also recollect how backward human nature is in forming spiritual ideas, and entering upon a holy self-denying conversation. We ought not, therefore, even after many falls, to give up and cast away a relapsed convert while he manifests the least inclination to be washed from his filthiness.

What a wonderful paragraph. They are to be dealt with in tenderness. They have not heard of the truth. It is all new to them. We are to not just throw them away. We are to seek out and see what can be done to love them and help them continue to come back and serve God until they reach maturity.

I strongly believe that there are no "no deposit, no return" people. Invest in them. Love them. Continue to help them until they become all that God meant for them to be.

Vision News
Vision Baptist Church

Missionary Agreement Form 7

2007-11-17T08:15:00.000-05:00

Sixthly. It is absolutely necessary that the natives should have an entire confidence in us, and feel quite at home in our company. To gain this confidence we must on all occasions be willing to hear their complaints; we must give them the kindest advice, and we must decide upon everything brought before us in the most open, upright and impartial manner. We ought to be easy of access, to condescend to them as much as possible, and on all occasions to treat them as our equals. All passionate behaviour will sink our characters exceedingly in their estimation. All force, and everything haughty, reserved and forbidding, it becomes us ever to shun with the greatest care. We can never make sacrifices too great, when the eternal salvation of souls is the object, except, indeed, we sacrifice the commands of Christ.

What a powerful paragraph. Notice the bold print. They must feel comfortable around us. They have to feel at home with us. We must be careful that what we do is adapt to their country and their culture.

We must be careful to always give them good advice. We should never be condescending. We should never act as though our country or our ways of doing things are better unless it is a Biblical precept.

They must be treated as equals. I do not know how many times over the years I heard that discussed by Peruvian believers. Many times we are quite rude to them.

I hope that each of these paragraphs will sink in and God will use them to help us all to reach people better and to be more successful at getting the gospel to our people.

Vision News
Vision Baptist Church

Missionary Agreement Form 6

2007-11-14T20:44:00.000-05:00

Fifthly. In preaching to the heathen, we must keep to the example of Paul, and make the greatest subject of our preaching, Christ Crucified. It would be very easy for a missionary to preach nothing but truths, and that for many years together, without any well-grounded hope of becoming useful to one soul. The doctrine of Christ's expiatory death and all-sufficient merits has been, and must ever remain, the grand mean of conversion. This doctrine, and others immediately connected with it, have constantly nourished and sanctified the church. Oh, that these glorious truths may ever be the joy and strength of our own souls, and then they will not fail to become the matter of our conversation to others. It was the proclaiming of these doctrines that made the Reformation from Popery in the time of Luther spread with such rapidity. It was these truths that filled the sermons of the modern Apostles, Whitefield, Wesley, etc., when the light of the Gospel which had been held up with such glorious effects by the Puritans was almost extinguished in England. It is a well-known fact that the most successful missionaries in the world at the present day make the atonement of Christ their continued theme. We mean the Moravians. They attribute all their success to the preaching of the death of our Saviour. So far as our experience goes in this work, we must freely acknowledge, that every Hindoo among us who has been gained to Christ, has been won by the astonishing and all-constraining love exhibited in our Redeemer's propitiatory death. O then may we resolve to know nothing among Hindoos and Mussulmans but Christ and Him crucified.

What a message for us to remember! We can do a lot of self help messages but what they did is that Jesus died and rose again to save us from our sins. We must preach that He died in the place of sinners.

We live in a day where the major talk is preaching self help messages but we must preach gospel messges.

Vision News

Missionary Agreement Form 5

2007-11-14T09:35:00.000-05:00

Fourthly. It becomes us to watch all opportunities of doing good. A missionary would be highly culpable if he contented himself with preaching two or three times a week to those persons whom he might be able to get together into a place of worship. To carry on conversations with the natives almost every hour in the day, to go from village to village, from market to market, from one assembly to another, to talk to servants, labourers, etc., as often as opportunity offers, and to be instant in season and out of season — this is the life to which we are called in this country. We are apt to relax in these active exertions, especially in a warm climate; but we shall do well always to fix it in our minds, that life is short, that all around us are perishing, and that we incur a dreadful woe if we proclaim not the glad tidings of salvation.

Let us try to find ways to do good! I think that is a great comment. I was also impressed that they were going to look for ways to get out and talk to people as much as possible. They would not settle for preaching 2 or 3 times a week they wanted to be out in the community reaching people with the message of Jesus Christ.

This helps me where I am as a pastor right now in Vision. I need to be in touch with people. I need to be sharing the gospel message. I need to find more ways to get into my community. I hope you will pray for me as I seek out more ways to reach people.

Thank you all for your reading and especially those of you that are taking the time to make comments. I would love to hear your opinions.

Vision News

Missionary Agreement Form 4

2007-11-13T19:07:00.000-05:00

Thirdly. It is necessary, in our intercourse with the Hindoos, that, as far as we are able, we abstain from those things which would increase their prejudices against the Gospel. Those parts of English manners which are most offensive to them should be kept out of sight as much as possible.

We should also avoid every degree of cruelty to animals. Nor is it advisable at once to attack their prejudices by exhibiting with acrimony the sins of their gods; neither should we upon any account do violence to their images, nor interrupt their worship.

The real conquests of the Gospel are those of love: "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." In this respect, let us be continually fearful lest one unguarded word, or one unnecessary display of the difference betwixt us, in manners, etc., should set the natives at a greater distance from us.

Paul's readiness to become all things to all men, that he might by any means save some, and his disposition to abstain even from necessary comforts that he might not offend the weak, are circumstances worthy of our particular notice. This line of conduct we may be sure was founded on the wisest principles.

Placed amidst a people very much like the hearers of the Apostle, in many respects, we may now perceive the solid wisdom which guided him as a Missionary. The mild manners of the Moravians, and also of the Quakers towards the North American Indians, have, in many instances, gained the affections and confidence of heathens in a wonderful manner.

He who is too proud to stoop to others, in order to draw them to him, though he may know that they are in many respects inferior to himself, is ill qualified to become a Missionary. The words of a most successful preacher of the Gospel still living, "that he would not care if the people trampled him under their feet, if he might become useful to their souls," are expressive of the very temper we should always cultivate.

What wonderful advice for every soul winner and especially for those that would be committed to cross cultural evangelism! We need to be careful not to do anything that would make the lost dislike even more the gospel message of Jesus Christ. We need to be careful what words we choose to use and what actions we would have.

They were careful to watch their love for animals--based on religion or whatever and not violate that love. They would not go against their gods, their religious services or any other thing. Though they disagreed they did not think that by attacking the false god or making known what they were against was the right way to win people. Often we are more interested in telling people more about what we are against than what we are for!

God will use your expressions of love towards others to draw them. Show them that you care and reach out to them.

Let's lift up Christ. Let's pay whatever price is necessary to tell them of what God through Jesus Christ has done to purchase their salvation. Let us never be too proud to stoop to others in order to draw them to Him.

Vision News

Missionary Agreement Form 3

2007-11-12T09:43:00.000-05:00

Secondly. It is very important that we should gain all the information we can of the snares and delusions in which these heathen are held. By this means we shall be able to converse with them in an intelligible manner. To know their modes of thinking, their habits, their propensities, their antipathies, the way in which they reason about God, sin, holiness, the way of salvation, and a future state, to be aware of the bewitching nature of their idolatrous worship, feasts, songs, etc., is of the highest consequence, if we would gain their attention to our discourse, and would avoid being barbarians to them. This knowledge may be easily obtained by conversing with sensible natives, by reading some parts of their works and by attentively observing their manners and customs.

There is so much to learn from this particular paragraph and part of their plan. I am afraid that the majority of missionaries over look this very essential part of our ministry. We must study their culture. To do cross cultural work you must understand something about the people that you are trying to reach.

Notice that it was their goal to gain all the information possible. That means you need to be reading their books, listening to their stories, asking them questions. Don't just assume you know. Don't just trust books written by others or listen to what the other missionaries have to say. You need all of that but more than that you need to mix and mingle with the people to find out what they are saying, thinking and doing.

How can we converse with them if we do not know what their words mean in their context. We can easily misinterpret what they are doing because we put it into our context and not theirs.

They consider us barbarians according to these three missionaries. We do not know how to act appropriately in their culture.

The kiss on the cheek may seem strange to you and make you feel very uncomfortable because you think of it in your context but in their context it is the warmest way possible of saying that they love and respect you.

Become a student of culture. Learn about your people.

I would love it if some of the missionaries and others reading this would make some comments about these points. You do not have to agree with me. You can make statements or ask questions. Just get involved in the discussion.

Vision News

Missionary Agreement Form 2

2007-11-10T12:04:00.000-05:00

First. In order to be prepared for our great and solemn work, it is absolutely necessary that we set an infinite value upon immortal souls; that we often endeavour to affect our minds with the dreadful loss sustained by an unconverted soul launched into eternity. It becomes us to fix in our minds the awful doctrine of eternal punishment, and to realise frequently the inconceivably awful condition of this vast country, lying in the arms of the wicked one. If we have not this awful sense of the value of souls, it is impossible that we can feel aright in any other part of our work, and in this case it had been better for us to have been in any other situation rather than in that of a Missionary. Oh! may our hearts bleed over these poor idolaters, and may their case lie with continued weight on our minds, that we may resemble that eminent Missionary, who compared the travail of his soul, on account of the spiritual state of those committed to his charge, to the pains of childbirth. But while we thus mourn over their miserable condition, we should not be discouraged, as though their recovery were impossible. He who raised the sottish and brutalised Britons to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, can raise these slaves of superstition, purify their hearts by faith, and make them worshippers of the one God in spirit and in truth. The promises are fully sufficient to remove our doubts, and to make us anticipate that not very distant period when He will famish all the gods of India, and cause these very idolaters to cast their idols to the moles and to the bats, and renounce for ever the work of their own hands.

There is much to learn in their first paragraph. First we must see the value of souls and it must weigh very heavily on us. Our hearts need to break over their lost condition.

Do we really believe in an eternal hell and punishment?

Do our hearts bleed for them?

We should never get to high and mighty thinking of ourselves as superior because as he said about the Britons if it were not for the grace and work of the Lord Jesus we would be in just as bad a condition.

God's promises are sufficient. Let us go forward knowing that He will work it out and souls will be saved.

Vision News

Missionary agreement Form

2007-11-10T11:51:00.000-05:00

By William Carey, Joshua Marshman, and William Ward

I am going to give several days of information and ideas based on this document that these men wrote and signed publicly. I believe that they speak volumes to us today.

The Redeemer, in planting us in this heathen nation, rather than in any other, has imposed upon us the cultivation of peculiar qualifications. We are firmly persuaded that Paul might plant and Apollos water, in vain, in any part of the world, did not God give the increase. We are sure that only those who are ordained to eternal life will believe, and that God alone can add to the church such as shall be saved. Nevertheless we cannot but observe with admiration that Paul, the great champion for the glorious doctrines of free and sovereign grace, was the most conspicuous for his personal zeal in the work of persuading men to be reconciled to God. In this respect he is a noble example for our imitation. Our Lord intimated to those of His Apostles who were fishermen, that He would make them fishers of men, intimating that in all weathers, and amidst every disappointment, they were to aim at drawing men to the shores of eternal life. Solomon says, "He that winneth souls is wise," implying, no doubt, that the work of gaining over men to the side of God, was to be done by winning methods, and that it required the greatest wisdom to do it with success. Upon these points, we think it right to fix our serious and abiding attention.

As they began their work they made deliberate efforts to cultivate the qualities that they would need to win men and women to Jesus Christ. They knew that to work cross culturally that they would have to learn many things.

I am afraid that many times our missionaries desire to take not only the Bible to their new place of work but also their culture. I would challenge you to lend your ear over the next few days and really think about what you are doing to reach souls for the cause and the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Notice also that they felt that winning souls should be done with winning methods. They were Calvinists. They believed that God was going to save who He was going to save period yet they worked at learning and cultivating winning ways to reach people.

How does this apply to you and the place you live and work? How could you better prepare yourself to reach souls? Do you think that maybe you should sit down and write out or at least think through what you can do to be more effective where you are? Write your comments!

Vision News

Come to the Summit

2007-11-10T10:21:00.000-05:00

Learn more about the Summit

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Interesting article

2007-10-23T06:25:00.001-05:00

I just read from another blog that I am subscribed to a very interesting post. The http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifquestion has to do with Mission Agencies and Field Councils. It also has to do with the amount of input that comes from the local church. It is trying to see what happens in terms of the Bible and not common practice.

Vision News

Closed country discussion

2007-10-20T09:15:00.000-05:00

I received the following question some time ago and just have been covered up and unable to answer this. I will leave this here and hope that some of you give your opinions. I am really very busy getting ready for tomorrow right now and may not give my comments until Monday but this is a discussion that really needs to be thought through. Comment and be a blessing to your brother!

Say a missionary goes to learn the language of a "closed" country and then
before getting much accomplished gets kicked out of the country. Was the
risk worth it, time, and money worth it? Or is it a waste of the churches
money to send missionaries where missionaries aren't welcome. Maybe it's a
loaded question but I think about as we have moved two families into a
Muslim country and are planning on moving many more.

Vision News

If

2007-10-20T06:56:00.000-05:00

If you can trust when everyone about you Is doubting Him, proclaiming Him untrue;

If you can hope in Christ, tho' all forsake you And say 'tis not the thing for you to do;

If you can wait on God, nor wish to hurry, Or, being greatly used, keep humble still;

Or If you're tested, still refuse to worry, And so remain within His sovereign will;

If you can say, 'tis well, when sorrow greets you, And death has taken those you hold most dear;

if you can smile when adverse trials meet you, And be content e'en tho' your lot be drear;

If you can be reviled and never murmur, Or being tempted, not give way to sin;

If you fight for right and stand the firmer, Or lose the battle when you ought to win---

If you can really long for His appearing, And therefore set your heart on things above;

If you can speak for Christ in spite of sneering, Or to the most unlovely one show love;

If you can hear the call of God to labour, And answer, "Yes" in yieldness and trust, And go to tell the story of the Saviour To souls in darkness o'er the desert dust;

If you can pray when Satan's darts are strongest, And take the road of faith instead of sight; Or walk with God, e'en tho' His way be longest, And swerve not to the left nor to the right;

If you desire Himself alone to fill you, For Him alone you care to live and be;

Then 'tis not you, but CHRIST Who dwelleth in And that, 0 child of God, Is victory!

Vision News

How many meetings?

2007-10-18T14:25:00.000-05:00

I got the following in an email but thought it would be good if we could get all of you to give opinions on the question. No rudeness allowed. Just click on comment and begin commenting. I will do the same. These are questions that we are faced with and should get an answer to:

it says "And daily in the temple, and in every house,
they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."

I was wondering did they do this daily because;

1. it was tradition to be in the temple daily

2. were they meeting in certain houses every day,or

3. meeting every day, but in different houses

4. did they do it every day because of transportation for example, cell type meetings for each area so that everyone could at least have a meeting once a week?

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The ball is in your court

2007-10-16T08:11:00.000-05:00

Now we have been going through this for days. You might think that the person you are dealing with will never do so much. I have found over the years that they will if they truly love God and want to do right. They will especially do it if you love them and they are sure that you are doing it all for their best and their good. They want to know if you love them and really believe in them.

Now what do you do if the person is not willing to follow through? Well what I do is explain to them the phrase, the ball is in your court! That means that I love you and I want to help you. I came to you. Now I will help you and continue helping you if you really want help to serve and honor God.

I tell them that they can be stronger than ever if they allow God to take this failure and turn it into a victory. I tell them that I will be there for them but they must do their part. I explain that I can not make them do right. It has to first be a work of God in their heart and secondly something that they truly want.

I will go after them over and over until they reject me but if they refuse to follow through on the discipline then that means that I did not throw them out but that they threw themselves out.

The ball is in your court. Will you respond and do what God wants you to do?

I meet with them time and time again. Actually after their sin we may be closer to each other than we have ever been before.

Are you willing to love them when they do not deserve to be loved? Are you willing to go after the lost sheep and bring them back to the fold?

I am more than willing to try and answer your questions if you will just write me.

Vision News

Passages to renew our minds

2007-10-15T08:04:00.000-05:00

Here is a list of passages that I feel are simply essential to help someone that has fallen. Do not be legalistic about it but help them through the process. I will explain in another post what to do if someone refuses to follow these steps.

James 1:21--the basis for the whole process

Romans 12:2 another base verse

Philippians 4:8 Control your thoughts

Romans 5:20 No matter how much I fail him he has more grace than I have sin

Psalms 32--David confesses his sin under inspiration of the Spirit and so we know this is a good passage to learn the heart of a forgiven one when he confesses.

Psalms 51 is the most obvious passage

Romans 6, 7, 8 this will take a long time but that is fine. As long as their heart and mind is consumed with the Scripture they will not be going back to sin. I think it was D L Moody that said that sin will keep you from the book or the book will keep you from sin.

Ephesians 4:17-31 Tells you what to replace your sin with

Colossians 3:1:17 Tells you how to live the new life you are called to

I would then have them to memorize any particular passage that might deal with their sin in particular.

This is by no means exhaustive so do not stop here but it is a good start.

Vision News

News of Victory

Church Planting Intern

2007-10-14T22:40:00.000-05:00

Here is Chris Gardner talking to the students of Pensacola about the possibility of being a church planting intern in Peru.

Vision News

News of Victory

Our Generation Summit

2007-10-12T10:58:00.000-05:00

Get this widget!

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Renewing our minds

2007-10-11T07:54:00.000-05:00

I ask the people I work with who have fallen to memorize Scripture. We then get together regularly to discuss it. They not only memorize the Scripture but look up every word in the dictionary to see what it means. They meditate on how it applied to their circumstance etc. They will say these verses to me and discuss them with me so that I know that they are penetrating their hearts.

By the way--when they confessed their sin they resigned from all of their positions in the church but I did not have them make a public detailed confession of their sin. We do not want to glorify their sin nor do we want to have it published in Gath--I know you are wondering where that came from so check out this passage.

2Sa 1:20 Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

The sin will need to confessed publicly if it was a public sin and can be confessed privately if it was a private sin I think. But there is no call to get the news out as much as you can because all you are doing is causing the lost world to rejoice in the failure of another of God's servants. Obviously I am not talking about someone who has committed a crime because then we would be bound to take it to the appropriate authorities. I am talking about the gossip factor that we so often seem to want to get caught up in.

If you spread it they will simply praise their false god.

Jdg 16:23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
Jdg 16:24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.

So he will resign voluntarily, Lord willing. There will be an appropriate confession but it is best to leave the public confession as generic as possible--after all our goal is not to embarrass our brother but to restore him.

Once he has written out his testimony, looked up all the verses that deal with his sin, and learned what to do not to follow the same path again we will being engrafting the word.

Vision News

Actual steps to restoration

2007-10-10T07:46:00.000-05:00

With all the background study in mind I think that you will understand what I consider to be the very important steps to restoration

1. The person needs to take the time to write out their testimony of failure in detail. Not to have a record of proof against them but rather to study and think about what caused or led to their failure. David did not fall into sin with Bathsheba in one swift move but rather there were a series of failures that we can clearly see that led to his failure.

If we know the steps that led to his failure we could as they say "nip it in the bud". When we see the steps that lead to failure we stop it long before it becomes a strong temptation.

That means what happened first, did he slack up on his Bible reading and prayer time? Did he hold some bitterness in his heart? What steps led him down the path of destruction?

2. I would have him go through the Bible and write down and study every verse that applies to his sin in particular. He needs the mind of God on his sin. What would the Bible say about what He has done. If he can see what God thinks about the particular sin maybe he can develop a hatred for the sin that will cause him not to fall into the same sin again.

3. Now we will begin the Bible study but before we do let me remind you that you will be expected to spend a great deal of time with this person. He needs love, comfort and friendship right now. He feels like a failure. He feels like no one loves or respects him now. You must practice "life on life" discipleship. It is more than a lesson it is a life. He must know that he has been received like the prodigal son was received when he returned home.

More next post--please feel free to post your opinions and questions and I will answer the appropriate ones.

Vision News

Replacement 2

2007-10-09T07:38:00.000-05:00

All of these posts are leading up to the real set of steps but I think that this background will help you to understand the way to go about really restoring someone to useful fulfilling service after getting the background and heart of the study.

Two of the passages of Scripture that we will have them learn and memorize will be included in this post but I want you to see once again the idea in the Scriptures of replacing your old ways with new ways.

I will only choose a few samplings of the verses so that you get the point and then we will move on to the steps of how to restore a man:

Eph 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

Put away lying and speak truth is an example of the replacement. Our goal is not that he quit speaking but that he speak rightly.

Eph 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Better that he labor to give to others than that he steal to keep for himself. He has replaced the old way with a new way.

Rather than take the time to show you all of Colossians 3 suffice it to say that you will find the same truth repeated over and over in that chapter also. Put off, put on, Mortify, live.

We must help them have a reason to live. Every desire we have Satan would pervert from the original purpose that God has for it. We must have them think on these things-- what is right etc. Philippians 4:8

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Replacement

2007-10-08T07:32:00.000-05:00

If we get them to quit sinning and do not fill the void left from where the sin was they will very likely fall back into the sin again. Often we will pull away from one that is falling into sin and that will cause him to lose his godly friends and have no where to go when he decides to get right with God.

We have already been given plenty of instruction on what to do to avoid this problem.

Now consider what happens if you do not replace the sin with something right and holy.

Mat 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.

We preach what we can't or shouldn't do and are known more for what we don't do than what we do and so we get him cleaned up but

Mat 12:44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.

We gave temporary relief but did not give him a higher cause to live for and to. We got rid of the old spirit but did not replace it with the Holy Spirit. We got rid of the old thoughts but did not fill his heart and mind with the new thoughts.

Mat 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

How many times have we left them worse off after our help than they were before. Our harshness and yelling at them about their sin did not help. They needed rather to fill their heart with something that could make a difference. A new way of thinking and living--the Word of God.

Vision News

Steps to restoration

2007-10-05T07:18:00.000-05:00

Once our brother has confessed his sin then we know that we must take steps to restore him or her. To restore someone I think that we need to learn several basic truths about the spiritual life.

It is the word of God that can save us or change and transform us so we will want to work at getting the word of God into their hearts.

Jas 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Notice that the first step is the confessing and forsaking of sin. Once confessed and forsaken if we do not take some definite steps it will only be a matter of time before the believer falls into the same sin.

He must receive the word with meekness or humility. He must engraft it into his heart, mind and life.

The word of God in his life will totally change him.

They need to be transformed by the renewing of their minds which takes place by us filling our minds and hearts with the word of God

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

The way we clean up the church and God's people is through the application of the word of God. I am not sure that this makes sense to you but to me it is not optional.

I am a strong believer in the memorization and meditation on the word of God and that through this it will change our lives.

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Wake up Call!

2007-10-04T08:40:00.000-05:00

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Consider yourself

2007-10-04T07:07:00.000-05:00

Just remember when dealing with anyone about their sin that you would be wise to consider yourself and to treat your brother like you would like to be treated if it were you. He is not the only one that is going to fall into sin.

Pro 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

It is easy to see the sin in my brother's life and desire to punish him but it is not God's will. I must remember that I might fall and though I haven't fallen in the same sin or to the same extent I must remember that I could fall also.

Pro 24:17 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:

We are not to rejoice when our enemy falls much less when our brother falls. I am afraid that so many of us are desiring to stand by and say if he had done what I said then he wouldn't have fallen. We must be careful to not almost get happy to see someone fall into sin.

The first that most clearly teaches this truth is

Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

Ye which are spiritual restore! Do we? Notice that we are to consider ourself lest we be tempted. It will happen sooner or later. The forgiven forgive.

I wanted to set the ground rules before we started into our discussion of how to deal with a brother that has fallen.

There are to be several witnesses.

We do not believe gossip.

We consider ourselves and the way that we would want to be treated.

We seek to restore them

We will forgive, comfort and confirm our love to them once they get right.

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The Summit

2007-10-03T13:13:00.000-05:00

Click here for more information

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Restoration is the goal

2007-10-03T06:46:00.000-05:00

Please remember at all times that restoration is our goal and we are never desirous of punishing our brother. That is the work of God.

First mention of church discipline shows that the goal is to be restoration.

Mat 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

The real goal was never to kick someone out of the church though that has often become the perspective today. Our goal is to see our brother serve God with all of his heart.

The following passage speaks of a brother that has been disciplined by the church and I believe it may be the man from I Corinthians 5 who was found in a horrible sin of incest. But notice that the desire was to see him get back into fellowship. I have highlighted several words that I think are very important.

2Co 2:6 Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.

He had not gotten right until it escalated to the point that the whole church was involved. That would not eat with him or fellowship with him. They had prayed that God would turn him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. I Corinthians 5

2Co 2:7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.

Now they are told to forgive him and to comfort him lest he be swallowed up of overmuch sorrow. That has happened to many of our members and friends. We have been so harsh that they are lost to other churches or even the world. They realized their sin but found no forgiveness or comfort from the church and their brothers.

2Co 2:8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.

Paul said that they now needed to confirm their love to him. He has confessed and forsaken his sin. He needs to know that he is forgiven and that you have comforted him that fell into sin but more than that you must make sure he knows that he is loved. Confirm your love to him.

2Co 2:9 For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things.

Paul didn't leave it as optional but rather said that it was something he was commanding them to do-they were to be obedient. They were to prove that they would follow his leadership.

2Co 2:10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;
2Co 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

The biggest key is that Satan will get an advantage if we are not careful. We can be too hard on sin and have often been too hard. Sin must be dealt with but we must not have the attitude of hurting our brother.

Vision News

The Summit

2007-10-02T19:51:00.000-05:00

One of the most exciting missionaries in the world today is a friend of ours that works in Northern Africa. He and his wife are learning Arabic. They are living in hostile circumstances, with intense pressure from Muslims to convert to Islam. Rather than get converted to Christ the Muslims are trying to convert the missionaries.

Their son has been know to wake up in his bed at 4:30 AM when he hears the call to prayer and cry and be afraid of what they are trying to do to him.

It is a beautiful country and they are beautiful people but without a doubt this young couple are living what only the missionary heroes of the past have lived.

They have seen people saved. They have been involved in preaching and teaching the people about Jesus. It is against the law yet they boldly proclaim the name of Jesus. They are heroes and you will get your chance to not only meet them and get to talk to them but you can ask questions and learn what it is like to go behind the closed doors of Muslim countries.

I want to invite you to go to their blogs and read stories that will thrill you and your family for the honor and glory of Christ. His blog is Ramblings in North Africa!. Her blog is Lady Ramblings.

You can get more information about the summit by clicking here.

Click around on the page and learn all that you can. Plan to be with us. We will have a wonderful time in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge but more than that you will spend time with God’s heroes.

Vision News

Be sure to get involved in the discussion

2007-10-02T17:18:00.001-05:00

ON the post that begins this current discussion you will find a comment and my answer. I would like to ask you to get involved as soon as you can and ask questions or lend an ear.

The comments will have good information in them to I am sure.

Click here to go to the start of the discussion and then click on the word comments and you can read them and my responses.

Vision News

questions and comments please

2007-10-02T08:19:00.000-05:00

Well I just finished the next two weeks of posts for this blog on this very important subject. I want to invite you to ask questions and make comments. I will do my best to answer any that I can.

I truly love people and want to help them. This is the plan that we followed in Peru.

This is in my opinion true Church Discipline. If possible you want to take care of it long before it gets to the church and to gain our brother. If it can not be taken care of before then that will just be a painful procedure that we are bound to follow but.

Let's go love our people and see what we can do to help them.

If you think that you might like to follow this discussion and get it in your email be sure and click on the following link:

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Biblical plan for restoration

2007-10-02T06:36:00.000-05:00

I would like to share some ideas about how to deal with sin and failure in the lives of our church members and especially leadership that might at least give you something to think about.

This is assuming that the person that you are dealing with has acknowledged their sin and desires to get right with God. I do think that I will start with what I would do along the way to even get them to that point.

1. First do not believe what people tell you about another preacher, leader, or Christian. You will soon find out that it is easy to accuse another brother and we were instructed to not receive an accusation against a brother without witnesses

1Ti 5:19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.

That not only applies to elders, pastors, or leaders but to all people:

Deu 17:6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

Deu 19:15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

Remember that there can be false witnesses also.

Deu 19:18 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;
Deu 19:19 Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.

Step one is to be sure that you have really investigated to find out if the brother is guilty.

I suggest that rather than accusing or seeming that you want to harm your brother that you go to him and that you ask him what he has to say about the accusations that you have heard. The conversation would be as kind and as pleasant as it could be because our goal is to always restore our brother.

Ask him like this; I have heard some things that concern me and I wanted to ask you to help me understand and know the truth about this things.

If he denies it then you probe further and further until you have an idea about the truth.

If he does not confess and you do have witnesses then you will have to bring them out but it would be much better if the Holy Spirit would convict him and cause him to recognize his sin and to get it right as soon as possible.

Vision News

Amusing the crowds!

2007-10-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

'I fear there are some who preach with the view of amusing men, and as long as people can be gathered in crowds, and their ears can be tickled, and they can retire pleased with what they have heard, the orator is content, and folds his hands, and goes back self-satisfied. But Paul did not lay himself out to please the public and collect the crowd. If he did not save them he felt that it was of no avail to interest them. Unless the truth had pierced their hearts, affected their lives, and made new men of them, Paul would have gone home crying, "Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"...

Now observe, brethren, if I, or you, or any of us, or all of us, shall have spent our lives merely in amusing men, or educating men, or moralizing men, when we shall come to give our account at the last great day we shall be in a very sorry condition, and we shall have but a very sorry record to render; for of what avail will it be to a man to be educated when he comes to be damned? Of what service will it be to him to have been amused when the trumpet sounds, and heaven and earth are shaking, and the pit opens wide her jaws of fire and swallows up the soul unsaved? Of what avail even to have moralized a man if still he is on the left hand of the judge, and if still, "Depart, ye cursed," shall be his portion?'" ["Soul Saving Our One Business," The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 25 (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1879), 674-76.]

Vision News

Church Planter 3

2007-09-29T18:17:00.000-05:00

Please note that the notes on this blog are for the church planter in the USA or on the foreign mission field. Though there are major differences between starting a church on the mission field and in the USA the basic areas are all the same.

The work load is going to be very similar. The disciplined missionary will be a real church planter. It can be easy when you are a missionary to settle for doing less because your support comes in whether the church grows or not but you will certainly not want to do that.

No matter where you are you will have to work like your life depends on it. Get a schedule and a plan and work them. The process is your responsibility and the product is God's. You do what you are supposed to and trust God for the results.

Numbers should never be the goal of your ministry. They will simply be the result.

Vision News

The Church Planter 2

2007-09-23T22:39:00.000-05:00

Church planting is about a man! Literally God always uses a man. Elmer Towns said; “"A great church is always caused, it never just happens." “One of the greatest tasks a man can do today is start a church.’

Throughout Bible history every time God wanted to do something He raised up a man. When Cornelius wanted to be saved the angels weren’t even allowed to share the gospel with him rather God said send for a man. That is God’s way and so when He wants to reach people He calls men to start new churches.

The modern day Biblical hero in many ways is the church planter. He dares to do what very few will ever do. He knows that starting a church is one of the most important jobs he could ever be called to do. He is willing to risk it all to start a church.

There are several questions you need to ask yourself:

Have you learned the basic steps of Christianity?
Do you have the physical endurance to visit hour after hour, pray, study, preach, counsel?
Do you have the emotional endurance to not crack up when your young converts deny the faith?
Are you willing to study and learn the thousand things you will need to know to build a church?
Are you wiling to be so hard headed that you will say that you will not give up no matter the cost?

Vision News
I like Mike

Great Quote

2007-09-23T06:15:00.000-05:00

One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.
- Marie Curie

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The Church Planter 1

2007-09-21T22:01:00.000-05:00

At least for a while I want to discuss church planting with you. I hope that you will post a comment to discuss or question things or you can email me at gardner @ bcwe.org and I will post your question and answers.

I do not consider myself an expert church planter though I have been planting churches now for over 29 years. I have read lots of books and want to share with you what I have found and start a lively discussion with you if you are interested.

Church planting starts with the church planter. Elmer Towns said: “The man who desires to build a church is usually motivated by the ‘impossible dream’ and he must accomplish the ‘unperformable task.’”

The quote really is very true! To be a successful church planter you will have to know that God placed a bucket load of desire in your heart. What you seek to do is outside the realm of human power. A human being can put together a group of people, a crowd but not a church. He might form a congregation but not a New Testament Church. Only the Lord Jesus and His power can equip you to do what God wants done. It will be far more than just finding a way to get people to come.

It is impossible and unperformable because it is against human nature to truly love God and begin to allow Him to live in and through us. You will have to have Holy Spirit power to get the job done. Towns also stated in the same chapter; “God must perform a miracle each time a new church comes into existence.”

Questions to be answered

Do you know what you are getting yourself into!
How have you prepared yourself for this kind of work—ministry related experience?
Do you have a solid understanding of the Biblical doctrine of the church?

Vision News

quote

2007-09-13T12:11:00.001-05:00

Be on time. Being late means either it's not important to you or you can't be relied upon. Tony Dungy

Vision News

Boy this one sums it up

2007-09-12T06:47:00.000-05:00

Well on Vision News I gave an idea about how to get your staff to work and then this morning I came across this blog and web site. You are not going to believe it. If you as a pastor or missionary are doing this then --oh well!!

watch the video

Vision News

regret

2007-09-12T06:12:00.000-05:00

Vision News

Remember September 11, 2001

2007-09-10T17:42:00.001-05:00

Vision News

Here is a must read for all Pastors and Missionaries!

2007-09-08T06:40:00.001-05:00

I want to challenge you to go to a Outreach Magazine article to see the results of some surveys about why people have left church and how to get them back.

Many of the results were very surprising to me and I believe that they will be to you also. We can make a difference in the lives of people for the cause of God and right. You will not want to miss this article.

If you are interested you can see how I apply this article to our church at Vision on the Vision News.

I know that you and I both want to reach people with the gospel and we want to impact our world with the good news of Jesus Christ.

So don't miss the article.

Vision News

Here is a must read for all Pastors and Missionaries!

2007-09-08T06:40:00.000-05:00

Check out Tony Howeth's blog

2007-09-06T11:05:00.000-05:00

I really enjoy reading Tony Howeth's blog. It is always a blessing but I really enjoyed the one about Winston Churchhill. I want to challenge you to go read his blog and sign up to get it via email or through your google reader!

Vision News

Who made the blind!

2007-09-05T11:16:00.000-05:00

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quote

2007-09-05T06:20:00.000-05:00

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.
- Sir Francis Bacon

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Worth!?

2007-09-04T06:53:00.001-05:00

J. H. Jowett once said, “The real measure of our wealth is how much we would be worth if we lost all our money.”

Vision News

Hard work!

2007-09-03T09:07:00.001-05:00

I don't think that I could ever say it nearly as well but it impressed me that I need to learn what hard work really is and do it. Read this article and apply it to your work as a missionary. It is from Seth Godwin and you can click here to get the source.

Labor Day

I'm working today. In fact, if I'm conscious, I'm working. That's largely because it doesn't seem like 'work' today. I'd write this blog even if no one read it.

More and more people are lucky enough to have a gig like mine... work you'd do even if you didn't have to, even if you didn't get paid to do it. This is a bigger idea than it seems, because it changes the posture of what you do. Different motivations ought to lead to different results.

My version goes like this: If I'm doing this for fun (and I am) then I might as well doing something remarkable/great/worth doing. Otherwise, why bother?

Here's something I wrote in 2003, shortly before Purple Cow came out. I reference it a lot, I guess I think it's good:

Your great-grandfather knew what it meant to work hard. He hauled hay all day long, making sure that the cows got fed. In Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser writes about a worker who ruptured his vertebrae, wrecked his hands, burned his lungs, and was eventually hit by a train as part of his 15-year career at a slaughterhouse. Now that's hard work.

The meaning of hard work in a manual economy is clear. Without the leverage of machines and organizations, working hard meant producing more. Producing more, of course, was the best way to feed your family.

Those days are long gone. Most of us don't use our bodies as a replacement for a machine -- unless we're paying for the privilege and getting a workout at the gym. These days, 35% of the American workforce sits at a desk. Yes, we sit there a lot of hours, but the only heavy lifting that we're likely to do is restricted to putting a new water bottle on the cooler. So do you still think that you work hard?

You could argue, "Hey, I work weekends and pull all-nighters. I start early and stay late. I'm always on, always connected with a BlackBerry. The FedEx guy knows which hotel to visit when I'm on vacation." Sorry. Even if you're a workaholic, you're not working very hard at all.

Sure, you're working long, but "long" and "hard" are now two different things. In the old days, we could measure how much grain someone harvested or how many pieces of steel he made. Hard work meant more work. But the past doesn't lead to the future. The future is not about time at all. The future is about work that's really and truly hard, not time-consuming. It's about the kind of work that requires us to push ourselves, not just punch the clock. Hard work is where our job security, our financial profit, and our future joy lie.

It's hard work to make difficult emotional decisions, such as quitting a job and setting out on your own. It's hard work to invent a new system, service, or process that's remarkable. It's hard work to tell your boss that he's being intellectually and emotionally lazy. It's easier to stand by and watch the company fade into oblivion. It's hard work to tell senior management to abandon something that it has been doing for a long time in favor of a new and apparently risky alternative. It's hard work to make good decisions with less than all of the data.

Today, working hard is about taking apparent risk. Not a crazy risk like betting the entire company on an untested product. No, an apparent risk: something that the competition (and your coworkers) believe is unsafe but that you realize is far more conservative than sticking with the status quo.

Richard Branson doesn't work more hours than you do. Neither does Steve Ballmer or Carly Fiorina. Robyn Waters, the woman who revolutionized what Target sells -- and helped the company trounce Kmart -- probably worked fewer hours than you do in an average week.

None of the people who are racking up amazing success stories and creating cool stuff are doing it just by working more hours than you are. And I hate to say it, but they're not smarter than you either. They're succeeding by doing hard work.

As the economy plods along, many of us are choosing to take the easy way out. We're going to work for the Man, letting him do the hard work while we work the long hours. We're going back to the future, to a definition of work that embraces the grindstone.

Some people (a precious few, so far) are realizing that this temporary recession is the best opportunity that they've ever had. They're working harder than ever -- mentally -- and taking all sorts of emotional and personal risks that are bound to pay off.

Hard work is about risk. It begins when you deal with the things that you'd rather not deal with: fear of failure, fear of standing out, fear of rejection. Hard work is about training yourself to leap over this barrier, tunnel under that barrier, drive through the other barrier. And, after you've done that, to do it again the next day.

The big insight: The riskier your (smart) coworker's hard work appears to be, the safer it really is. It's the people having difficult conversations, inventing remarkable products, and pushing the envelope (and, perhaps, still going home at 5 PM) who are building a recession-proof future for themselves.

So tomorrow, when you go to work, really sweat. Your time is worth the effort.

Vision News

Earthquake in Ica

2007-09-03T00:04:00.000-05:00

Though you do not understand Spanish I hope that you will take the time to watch what the people from Faith Baptist Church in Arequipa, Peru did to help those that were harmed in Ica.

This is the note that came with the video: 16 people from Faith Baptist Church traveled to the city of Ica taking food and the word of God. On the trip 400 people accepted Christ. Next trip to the city of Pisco.

Vision News

Hate-crimes legislation stirs pulpit and podium

2007-09-02T07:07:00.001-05:00

Read the following article by clicking here

I think that this is far more important than we realize.

Senate-bill controversy centers mostly on gender identity, sexual orientation

By BARBARA KARKABI
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

The current federal hate-crimes law applies only to violence against victims based on race, religion, color or national origin, and only when the victim is attacked while carrying out a federally protected act, such as voting.

• Pending legislation would make it a federal hate crime to attack someone if the crime were motivated by prejudice based on the victim's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

• The Matthew Shepard Act , the popular name for the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007, passed the U.S. House of Representatives 237-180 and is pending in the Senate. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is pushing for action on it this fall.

• Opponents include the Southern Baptist Convention, Vision America and James Dobson, leader and founder of Focus on the Family.

• Supporters include the interfaith Clergy Against Hate, which has gathered signatures from an estimated 1,400 clergy from more than 75 faith traditions. A May Gallup poll found that 68 percent of Americans favor the expansion of the federal hate-crimes law.

Every Thursday like clockwork, the Rev. John Crimmins sits down to write his Sunday sermon.

The senior pastor at Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church feels a moral duty to preach that marriage is between one man and one woman and that homosexual behavior is a sin.

These principles, he says, are clearly stated in the Bible. Just as important, he believes, is his freedom to preach as he sees fit without government interference.

Like many other conservative Christian pastors, Crimmins is concerned about a bill pending in the U.S. Senate that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the criteria for federal hate crimes.

He worries that it could criminalize preaching against issues including homosexuality, same-sex marriage and abortion, and muzzle pastors in the pulpit.

Crimmins and other like-minded pastors agree that anyone assaulting a fellow human being should be punished. But they believe current laws are sufficient.

Vision News

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Missionary Travel?

2007-09-01T07:07:00.000-05:00

Well it just keeps getting better--remember those guys that spent 9 months on a boat to get to the mission field.

Check out the new mode of travel coming your way

Vision News

the technique of modern salesmanship

2007-08-31T19:05:00.000-05:00

In our eagerness to make converts I am afraid we have lately been guilty of using the technique of modern salesmanship, which is of course to present only the desirable qualities in a product and ignore the rest. We go to men and offer them a cozy home on the sunny side of the brae. If they will but accept Christ He will give them peace of mind, solve their problems, prosper their business, protect their families and keep them happy all day long. They believe us and come, and the first cold wind sends them shivering to some counselor to find out what has gone wrong; and that is the last we hear of many of them….

By offering our hearers a sweetness-and-light gospel and promising every taker a place on the sunny side of the brae, we not only cruelly deceive them, we guarantee also a high casualty rate among the converts won on such terms. On certain foreign fields the expression "rice Christians" has been coined to describe those who adopt Christianity for profit. The experienced missionary knows that the convert that must pay a heavy price for his faith in Christ is the one that will persevere to the end. He begins with the wind in his face, and should the storm grow in strength he will not turn back for he has been conditioned to endure it.

By playing down the cost of discipleship we are producing rice Christians by the tens of thousands right here on the North American continent. TIC116-117.

"Lord, I suspect this is getting much worse even since Tozer’s day. In our emphasis on growth and success we may indeed be guilty of producing rice Christians. Deliver us from that error. Amen."

(A.W. Tozer, Tozer on Christian Leadership, August 30)

Vision News

quote

2007-08-31T07:01:00.000-05:00

G. Campbell Morgan told the story of a successful actor named Macready who was approached by a pastor puzzled as to why crowds flocked to hear drama but not to hear sermons. Macready answered, “This is quite simple, I present my fiction as though it were truth; you present your truth as though it were fiction.”

Vision News

Peru Earthquake Tribute in Spanish

2007-08-22T20:00:00.001-05:00

Vision News

Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

2007-08-22T19:07:00.000-05:00

There are some interesting truths Steve Jobs has learned that we should know because the Bible already said it

How to have a passion

2007-08-22T10:27:00.000-05:00

Control your thoughts.

Force yourself to think about people.

Put a globe in your pocket.

You need to work at it.

You need things to remind you about people.

You need to watch people--see their faces.

Fall in love with God.

You will fall in love with people--dirty, rotten people.

The Over Zealous Evangelists

2007-08-19T07:01:00.000-05:00

These humorous videos are made by the guys that are preparing to be missionaries at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Dawsonville, Georgia.

Just in from Peru--The Earthquake

2007-08-19T06:59:00.001-05:00

This came in from Joe Kotvas.

Team:

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are back to normal here at Efata. All services are up and running and the minor damage repaired. However, sadly enough, that is not the case for our neighbors to the south.

Many of you have written and called and asked if there is anything that you can do to help. The answer is YES.

We would like to assist in relief efforts to help those who have lost everything. There are several churches and pastors who no longer have a church or home. Everything was lost. We would like to help them. There are families of members in our church that need help and we are working out a plan to do so.

We need your help! Please, if you can, send a special love offering to help us buy water, food, clothing, and supplies for the victims of this tragedy. We want to help the churches rebuild and we will do all we can. We will be coordinating with other missionaries and churches here in Peru as well to get this relief to those who need it.

We are looking to coordinate bringing three families, relatives of members of our church, with 15 kids who lost their homes and possessions here to stay at Efata until they can stabilize their situation. We would like to provide food, new clothing and personal items to help them begin to rebuild.

If you would like to help, please send the funds to:

Macedonia World Baptist Missions
P.O. Box 519
Braselton, GA 30517.

Designate it “EFATA/Peru Earthquake Relief Fund”.

The account will be set up Monday. The sooner we receive it the sooner we can get the help dispersed.

Thank you so much for your care for us. Please help us care for them.

We do so much together to help one another; let’s again work together to help others that Christ will be glorified.

Call or e-mail me with any questions.

God Bless,

Bro. Joe
(770)530-9410
jkotvas@efata.org

On the Road

2007-08-18T10:30:00.001-05:00

quote

2007-08-13T20:43:00.000-05:00

The world has a standing advertisement over the door of every profession,
every occupation, every calling: "Wanted--A Man."

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Fear

2007-08-13T11:52:00.000-05:00

"These three qualities -- peace, joy, and courage -- are essential to missionary service. Fear is one of the most disintegrating forces in the human personality. It can paralyze a person to the point where he is incapacitated for any kind of constructive work. A timid, joyless, troubled missionary won't last long on the mission field." page 205

from Christian Missions in Biblical Perspective by J Herbert Kane

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Religious fanaticism!

2007-08-13T11:26:00.000-05:00

"In our own day the Christian mission encounters religious intolerance in many parts of the world, but it is found in its most virulent form in Islam--the most fanatical of all religions. As mentioned before, in Islam there is the Law of Apostasy which permits the community to kill any member who defects from the faith. This law goes a long way toward accounting for the paucity of converts from Islam. The law is not always applied, but its very existence acts as a strong deterrent.

In most Muslim countries conversion is an exceedingly dangerous undertaking and only the bravest souls have the requisite courage to face the prospect. Discipleship is so very costly that few are willing to pay the price. A veteran missionary to the Middle East had this to say: 'So confined is the Muslim that in some countries of the Middle East a follower of Islam who changed his religion would in effect be tearing up his birth certificate, citizenship papers, or passport, voting registration, and work permit; and would become like a man without a country.'"

from Christian Missions in Biblical Perspective by J Herbert Kane pages 278-279

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The mission will go on!

2007-08-13T10:25:00.000-05:00

"Dictators come and go, kingdoms rise and fall, civilizations wax and wane; but the worldwide mission of the church will continue to the end of the age in spite of all the vicissitudes of world history. When one door closes, another will open. If Western missionaries become personae non gratae, non-Western missionaries will be raised up to take their place. If all expatriate missionaries are expelled from a given country, there will be the indigenous church to carry on. If the indigenous church is forced underground there will still remain the Spirit of God, who dwells not in temples made with hands but in the hearts of His people. It is one thing to get rid of the visible church, it is quite another to get rid of the Almighty God. Heaven is His throne and earth is His footstool, It is impossible to banish Him from any part of His domain. The Christian mission is here to stay -- until the end of the age, however long that may be." from the Christian Missions in Biblical Perspective by J Herbert Kane page 254

Though we know that the mission will go on we must remember to do God's will in our lives. We must not run from nor shirk our duty to take the gospel to the world. We will be risking our lives, our financial goods, our ministries but the most important thing is that Jesus and His name be magnified and spread all over the world!

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from Asking by Jerold Panas

2007-08-13T08:40:00.000-05:00

"And don't be concerned about not being an expert at this. Keep in mind that the Titanic was built by an expert and Noah's Ark by a rank amateur." page 13

"But your donors run away from 'needs.' they hide from the institution that isn't financially stable. Major donors give to bold, heroic, and audacious programs rather than to needy institutions.

Keep in mind, too. that your organization doesn't have needs. People have needs. Your organization has the answer, the solution to problems and challenges. Don't sell needs--sell your answer, your response, your successful solutions." page 39

I thought these were interesting thoughts and might even help those of you that are on deputation. John Pearson gave me the book to read last night. It is a short book and quick read but has some things that will be interesting for you.

Vision News

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Going into the next towns

2007-08-11T08:31:00.000-05:00

I do not know if you are reading what Ron Maggard has to say but I must tell you that I really enjoy reading his posts. He does a great job and I think is a voice of right and calm in the hurried desire of so many of our people to throw away what God has done in the past to get to what we think we see God doing in so many churches today.

Go read and enjoy.

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The Two Views: “Collective verses Personal”

2007-08-11T06:54:00.000-05:00

The following is an article by Jeremy Hall that I thought was very well done. Read and enjoy.

I was working at Vision Baptist Church’s VBS a few weeks back. We were all continually busy leading children in and out of the auditorium. I noticed on the first night that there was a problem with one of the doors. I chose to ignore it. Second night rolls around and the problem was still there, a little worse; third night the same. Finally on the fourth night the door was stuck in the open position. It would not close. What had happened was the screws on the hinges had backed out. This caused the door to sag to the point that it was sitting on the floor. All week every person who walked through those doors had to notice there was a problem. It wasn’t until I decided to volunteer my time to go to the closet, find a screw driver, and tightened the screws that the problem was fixed. It had to become personal.

I believe most born again Christians who study the word of God come out with a knowledge that everyone in this world needs to hear about Jesus Christ. We have a collective view of world evangelism. Just as everyone who walked through those doors realized they needed to be fixed, we realize that Jesus Christ needs to be preached. The problem lies in the fact that we’ve not personalized it! We’ve not picked up our tools and gone to work! We’re waiting on someone else to do it!

It must be someone else’s job!

Funny thing is we blame God! I hear all the time, “He’s not called me to go.”

The very last words we have recorded from our LORD, Jesus Christ are: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Now of course we know this was spoken to his disciples. Are you a disciple of Christ?

“‘Not called!’ did you say? Not heard the call,’ I think you should say.
Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father’s house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey — and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.”

William Booth

“The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed” Hudson Taylor

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The Summit

2007-08-09T11:11:00.000-05:00

There is always a lot going on at Vision Baptist Church without a doubt! I would also say that much of it revolves around world evangelism or missions. One of the very special things that we do every year is called the Summit. As a team of missionaries we began holding this very special conference to try and inspire and motivate everyone to take the next step in their part of world evangelism.

The Summit has evolved into a meeting that is like a winter retreat for the entire church with a special emphasis on fulfilling God’s will for our life. You can get all the information at this site by simply clicking on these words.

The Our Generation Summit is an annual gathering in Gatlinburg, TN, of Christians with a heart for world missions. Pastors and missionaries, teachers and students, businessmen and families join for three days to address the needs of a world waiting for the Gospel.

Located once again at the beautiful Music Road Hotel in the center of action-packed Pigeon Forge, the OG Summit provides a fantastic venue for any church or youth group seeking an easy-to-organize winter retreat filled with excitement and passion for Christ.

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How to have better press releases

2007-08-07T19:06:00.000-05:00

I think that the following article might help all of us that have to prepare things for others to read presenting our ministries in prayer letters or press releases.

Click here to read the article

Be sure and take the survey to the on the blog here.

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Wanted……..Men!

2007-08-06T12:56:00.000-05:00

There is a story to the effect that a certain missions society in South Africa once wrote to missionary David Livingston: "Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you." Livingston replied: "If you have men who will come ONLY IF THEY KNOW THERE IS GOOD ROAD, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is NO road at all"

Check out the video of Happy Day on Vision News

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Travis Snode

2007-08-04T05:57:00.000-05:00

I do not know if you are keeping up with what God is doing in Travis and Terri Snode's lives but it has been super exciting to see God open doors and work miracles in their lives.

I wanted to invite you to read this latest post and to be praying for them as they try to reach boys and girls and men and women in a country where the gospel has really been slow to move.

God is using Travis and Terri and they have really stepped off into nothing but the grace and faith that the Lord Jesus will bless their work.

Pray for them.

Be sure and read Mark's new blog

2007-08-03T15:09:00.000-05:00

I am very excited about the new blog that Mark Coffey is writing. He is helping men learn what it means to be the second man. Not all men are called to be the senior pastor and some are called to serve in a very unique and often difficult position.

Mark comes at this in a very straightforward way and explains how the first man should treat his second man and then he also is giving points to the second man on how God can use him. I challenge you to subscribe to his blog.

Mark is the director of the Our Generation Training Center and the Administrative Pastor of Vision Baptist Church.

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Fear Freezes

2007-08-03T06:24:00.000-05:00

You do not want to miss the blog "the Gospel in China" and especially the post entitled "We're being watched". Our friend is doing a very good job writing and telling what is happening in China and also teaching us the right way to handle our fears. Read it and put a comment telling him how much you appreciate the stand that he and his wife are taking for Christ.

Also Jason Kenney just entered the blogging world and you will not want to miss what God is doing through thttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifhem at Millions to Tell.

God blessed us at last night with a message on the gift of tongues and by having Robert Canfield become a member of our church. Be sure to stay tuned to the Vision News.

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Blogs that I highly recommend

2007-08-02T10:47:00.001-05:00

Asian Bible Fellowship with Mark Tolson
BCWE Business Review with John Pearson
Chris Gardner
Wayne Cooke
David Gardner
Deputation Tips with Tony Howeth
Gospel in China
Jason Holt
Jeff Bush
Jeremy Hall
Keith Shumaker
Kevin White
Kindhart News
Mark Coffey
Muslim Evangelism with Tyler Masters
North West Baptist
Project North Africa
Ron Maggard
Single Focus
Spanish Vision
Students Ministry Vision
Travis Snode
Vision News
Whitfield Baptist
World Evangelism
World Evangelism News and Help

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Two links to look at

2007-08-02T08:03:00.000-05:00

I want to invite you to look at two very good links that Travis Snode sent me that I believe can help all the missionaries and pastors that read any of my three blogs.

I of course do the vision news and World Evangelism News and Helps as well as this one. I hope that you will subscribe to all three.

The first page that I invite you to look at is about preaching on giving. I think that they answered some real questions that you might have. Check out this page from Generous Giving.

A blog that I read and that I am subscribed to is Ministry Marketing. I know that marketing can have some negative ideas attached but we are all marketing even when we say we do not. I have learned a lot from them and would invite you to read this post.

Feel free to write with your comments or questions at any time to gardner at bcwe.org

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Humorous look at the condition of the church

2007-07-31T20:15:00.000-05:00

This is a very sad but humorous look at what is happening in our churches today. We must take seriously that we are teaching and preaching the gospel--the word of God. We must give them the Bible and now what they want.

quote

2007-07-30T07:46:00.000-05:00

"Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.".

Jason Holt's ministry in Chile

2007-07-29T15:13:00.000-05:00

Leader of Leaders 1

2007-07-29T13:36:00.000-05:00

I. Consider the following weaknesses.

a. The weakness of past missionary work was not leaving an indigenous church!

b. The present day weakness is "one church--one term or more missionaries"

c. Many are asking the question if all the missionary is going to accomplish is one church a few dozen people etc in one term wouldn't it be better to support a national who will work for much less and do about the same amount of work.

d. By the term leader of leaders we mean someone who will find and train others to do the work so that in about the same amount of time he will have several doing the work of planting churches and not just himself.

Check out the good news about today's service at Vision.

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Train or do!

2007-07-28T10:50:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time there was a Little Red Hen who owned a wheat field. "Who will help me harvest the wheat?" she asked.
"Not I. " said the pig. - "I don't know how."
"Not I," said the cow. "I'm too Clumsy."
"Not I," said the dog. "I'm busy with some other things."

So the Little Red Hen did it herself.
"Who will help me grind the wheat into flour?" she asked.
"Not I," said the pig. "That is another vocation in which I'm untrained."
"Not I," said the cow. "You could do it much more efficiently."

"Not I," said the dog. "I'd love to, but I'm involved in some matters of greater urgency. Some other time, perhaps."
So she did it herself.

"Who will help me make some bread?" asked the Little Red Hen.
"Not I,"said the pig. "Nobody ever taught me how."
"Not I," said the cow. "You're more experience and could do it in half the time."
"Not I," said the dog. "I've made some other plans for the afternoon. But I'll help you next time."
So she did it herself.

That evening, when guests arrived for her big dinner party, the Little Red Hen had nothing to serve them except bread. She had been so busy doing work that could have been done by others that she had forgotten to plan a main course, prepare a dessert, or even get out the silverware. The evening was a disaster, and she lived unhappily ever after.

MORAL: A good leader will find a way to involve others to the extent of their ability. To do the job yourself is the chicken way out.

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50 ways to help your church grow

2007-07-24T20:23:00.000-05:00

David Beer in the first chapter says "the potential of the local church, whatever its size, is enormous and unfulfilled." We need to unleash the potential of the church which "implies that its gifts and power lie dormant."

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Forgive and Forget

2007-07-24T11:21:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time in their marriage, my Dad did something really stupid. Mom chewed him out for it. He apologized and they made up. However, from time to time, my mom mentions what he had done.

"Honey," my Dad finally said one day, "why do you keep bringing that up? I thought your policy was 'forgive and forget.'"

"It is," she said. "I just don't want you to forget that I've forgiven and forgotten."

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Leader of Leaders

2007-07-24T07:49:00.000-05:00

World Evangelism faces a definite challenge. The purpose of this study is to show the need for life on life leadership training. Why is this need considered to be so urgent? I ask you to consider the following weaknesses in mission work today.

At best most of our missionaries are able to produce one church in one term. Usually it takes much longer than that. Many are asking the question if all the missionary is going to accomplish is one church a few dozen people etc in one term wouldn't it be better to support a national who will work for much less and do about the same amount of work. By the term leader of leaders we mean someone who will find and train others to do the work so that in about the same amount of time he will have several doing the work of planting churches and not just himself.

Most missionaries are able to start and leave very few indigenous churches during their missionary career. The majority will have to leave their work with a North American missionary when they return to the states on furlough. They can get the people together and have everything that looks like a church but be unable to have trained leadership to carry on the work. It is completely essential to consider the contrast between training leaders and being a regular church planter. Most missionaries go with a pastor mentality instead of a missionary mentality. They want to reproduce what they had in the states but do not know how to go from there to having a national pastor to take the work.

Consider a Church Planter that can plant a church every year. That means knocking on doors, winning enough souls, getting a place to meet, training the people to be faithful, tithe, pray, preach, and all the other things that make up a church, plus find a pastor and leave in 365 days or one year. He would be doing a better job than most any living missionary today. If he could consistently continue this ministry and take care of his family at the same time he would be able to start and leave a total of only 32 churches in a typical missionary lifetime. That means he started planting churches at the age of 25 and continued until 65 taking a furlough every 5 years (4 years on the field and then one on furlough). Consider that--32 churches. If they really become self supporting, self governing, and self propagating he will have been used far beyond what most modern missionaries do. Almost anyone that has any experience on the mission field will realize that this is near to impossible if not totally impossible. For those of you that live in the states show me any church planter in North America that has ever been able to accomplish a similar feat in the States with all the advantages that the North American church has.

Now consider something far more within the realm of reason. What if a missionary could start a church doing all of the above mentioned and leave it with a national pastor every 4 years just before going on furlough. That would mean that he could start 8 churches in the same time period. In a short period of investigation you will find that few men have been able to consistently carry forth this ministry either.

Finally consider the missionary who approaches the ministry with the mentality of training leaders as mentioned in the article above. He too will begin to plant a church but instead of getting bogged down in the day to day operation of pastoring a church he will search out and prayerfully train leaders. What he can accomplish will be unlimited because the difficult part of planting churches is not the getting people together etc but leaving a trained leader that can carry the ministry forward. It only makes sense to train leaders. II Timothy 2:2.

Before leaving this subject consider the greatest missionary who ever lived. Most consider Paul the greatest missionary and without a doubt he was the second greatest but Jesus Christ obviously has to be rated as the greatest. He spent 3.5 years preaching, healing, teaching, ministering, and doing the work and yet when he left his ministry there were only 120 members in His church and that was the first time they had to count the women to get a good attendance. He failed in the big church planting ministry if numbers are your goal but he certainly won out when you consider that he gave his time to the training of 11 men who would shake the entire world in their lifetime. What was his goal--to rapidly plant churches or to train men who could train others to plant churches.

You decide 32 churches, 8 churches, 1 church or train 11 men or as many as you can to reach the greatest unlimited number of churches and souls possible.
To reach the world with the gospel and to change the current problem we face on the mission field we must change our opinions. So many Christian leaders feel without saying tht “no one else can do it as well as I can!” Or maybe they will think that it takes longer to train someone than it does to just do it yourself. Our pride leads us to believe that they will never be able to do it as well as we can.
Another perhaps much more alarming opinion that must be changed is that there are no good nationals or I can’t find any! That will come across as an extremely hard statement but is often heard in some form or the other. Even in America the pastor will be heard to say that the young people of today just aren’t like they used to be. It is so difficult to find any young people that love God or desire to serve Him today.

Opinions must change. God still has thousands who have not bowed the knee to Baal. You are not the only one, the last one, or even one of a few. God has hundreds and thousands of people who desire to do His work. What they need is someone to desire to train them to be a leader of leaders. This process is very costly. It will mean your investing your life in the life of another. We call it life on life discipleship.

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Den of Thieves

2007-07-23T09:49:00.000-05:00

Be sure and read the articles by Ron Maggard called Den of Thieves! He has the courage to say the things that most do not have the courage to say and he says it well. There are two postings so check out part one and then part two and be sure to sign up to get his blog.

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I have no man

2007-07-18T06:28:00.001-05:00

What a thought that you need to read and contemplate as you do missionary work!

I have no man is an article by Ron Maggard. Great stuff, thank you doc.

Happy Birthday Scott Newton

2007-07-16T12:21:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to take a minute to wish a Happy Birthday to Scott Newton. He is a member of Vision Baptist Church and working towards being a missionary to South Africa. We love you Scott and are praying for you.

quote

2007-07-15T21:19:00.000-05:00

Bob Preston send me this quote:

"The recipe for perpetual ignorance is to be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge."

Real Christians are a Different Lot

2007-07-12T07:08:00.001-05:00

I want to be so different!

"A real Christian is an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for one whom he has never seen; talks familiarly every day to someone he cannot see; expects to go to heaven on the virtue of another; empties himself in order to be full; admits he is wrong so he can be declared right; goes down in order to get up; is strongest when he is weakest; richest when he is poorest; and happiest when he feels the worst. He dies so he can live; forsakes in order to have; gives away so he can keep; sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, and knows that which passes knowledge. The man who has met God is not looking for anything; he has found it. He is not searching for light, for upon him the light has already shined. His certainty may seem bigoted, but his assurance is that of one who knows by experience his religion is not hearsay. He is not a copy, not a facsimile. He is an original from the hand of the Holy Spirit." (A.W. Tozer)

On Self Love

2007-07-12T07:02:00.001-05:00

This one sure hit home in a real way!

"The labor of self-love is a heavy one indeed. Think of yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you. As long as you set yourself up as as a little god to which you must be loyal there will be those who will delight to offer affront to your idol. How then can you hope to have inward peace? The heart's fierce effort to protect itself from every slight, to shield its touchy honor from the bad opinion of friend and enemy. will never let the mind have rest" (A.W. Tozer)

Urgent Prayer Request

2007-07-11T18:24:00.000-05:00

Please read Kevin White's blog and pray about helping with this great need.