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November 1988 OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FREE WILL BAPTISTS
November 1988
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FREE WILL BAPTISTS
Start¡ng from ScratchBy James Munsey
y'\ ne thing in short supplyI ! among Free WillBaptists is the\t church planter. Starting from
scratch is not easy, but it is one of themost rewarding things in the ministry.I caught the vision for starting churchesfrom my own father, also a Free WillBaptist minister, who started a churchwhen I was still a teenager.
The words of Jesus in Luke 74:28-30are particularly apt for the prospectivechurch planter:
For which of you, intending to build a tower,sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost,whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply,after he hath laid the foundation, and is not ableto finish ¡t, all that behold it begin to mock him,saying, This man began to build, and was not ableto finish.
Counting the cost before starting fromscratch involves developing a workstrategy, accepting a divine calling tostart a new work. the resolve and dedi-cation to see the job through to the end,and the flexibility to adapt to a givensituation.
Starting from scratch is not easy in asociety complicated by building andzoning codes, parking restrictions andmiles of red tape. Without a clearstrategy, one is practically hopeless. Weused a five-point strategy when webegan the Hispanic work in Weslaco.
1. Start a strong local church as a basefor expansion.
2. Build that church in a highly visiblearea of town.
3. Get into a church building as soon aspossible.
4. Develop a nucleus of churches withinthe area, forming a district associa-tion of Free Will Baptist churches.
5. Utilize national workers in Mexico toexpedite expansion there, training asmany young men as possible for theministry.
If one plans to start from scratch andraise funds among Free Will Baptists,there is a fundamental ethical principleto observe. There cannot be privi
without accountability. Strategy shouldbe based on this principle.
This can be best accomplished bygoing through a state home missionsboard or the national Home MissionsDepartment. Joint project workers arethose endorsed by a state home mis-sions board and go out under theadministration of the national HomeMissions Board.
Such a board oversees the work ofthe missionary pastor, giving him direc-tion in his work, and denominationalsanction so funds can be channeled intohis project. It also provides balance, giv-ing assurance to those who support thework that the pastor has reason toremain loyal to Free Will Baptists.
Even with the best strategy, the mis-sionary pastor will fail if he does nothave a divine calling to start a newchurch. The high number of quitters inchurch planting today indicates thatmany people either start a work withminimal commitment or are easilv dis-
couraged by the disappointments thatcome. Or perhaps they have never beencalled. Unless one is specifically led ofthe lord to start a new church. heshould abstain from doing so for hisown good and that of the work.
Almost every month we hear aboutsome missionary pastor who calls itquits, sometimes leaving a work towither and die where he labored foryears. His ministry will no doubt sufferserious setbacks from the failure. Manyeven leave the minishy. It is also discon-certing because the struggling workoften fails at this point, and allthe finan-cial and spiritual effort seem to haveproduced nothing.
Often this tragedy happens becausethe pastor gives in to the cycle of despairin church planting. While the detailsmay vary, the cycle will be somethinglike this:
1. The pastor goes to the field with greatexpectations and a good supportlevel.
2. The first few months produces goodgains. The group may reach 30 to 50attenders or more.
3. Financial support slacks, the worklevels off and then deteriorates as thepastor's confidence wanes. Outsidesupporters lose interest when growthexpectations are not met.
4. The work bottoms out with the pas-tor resigning or performing margin-ally (sometimes for years).
This cycle can be broken if one knowsthe pitfalls beforehand. In fact, it has
been broken more often than not. Onemust know that his work will have itsups and downs. He will suffer some set-backs. His financial support will dwin-dle. His messages willget stale. He willIose his inspiration. His family will some-times be uncooperative and unsym-pathetic. He willbe taken for granted.He may feel his strategy is not working;he may doubt his calling; he may losehis resolve to fight; he may be inflexible.
To get through the cycle of despair,the pastor must have the resolve to gofull circle and start over, if necessary. Heshould say with Paul, *Being confidentof this very thing, that he which hathbegun a good work in you will performit until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philip-pians L:6).
If God has called him, he can suc-ceed. If he is not called, he will mostlikely give in to the cycle of despair.
Starting from scratch requires a cer-tain flexibility to dealwith the unique cir-cumstances one encounters in hischosen field. I have been directlyinvolved in starting several Hispanicchurches and found certain advantageswhich in part explain the relative suc-cess we have seen in our Home Mis-sions works in Mexico and south Tþxas.They include:
1. The generally docile nature of theMexican Christian.
2. The high level of respect given toleaders, especially pastors.
3. The close-knit, extended family thatassures us of several faithful attendersif we win one or both parents.-+
The firsl few months î ¡duce qood resuhs.Altendance may re¿ch 30 - 50 or more.
CYCLE OF DESPAIR IN CHURCH PLANTING
The work bottoms oi¡t with lhe oastoræsigning or perlorming margiñally.
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Contents
November 1988
2 Starllng F¡om ScntchJames Munsey
4 Saved on a Goll CourseBob King
5 Erlefcase.' When Llle's One LongMondayJack Williams
6 fhe Stnngør Among UsLucy Hyman
8 The Vlew lrcm thø TentCarlos Kelsey
9 An Hour ol My ÍlmeAlton Loveless
10 A 'Hungary' Chlld Recelves theBÊad ol LfleMarianne Ennis
12 fhanks lor the Hand!Bob Lewis
14 F¡ee Will Baptlst Newsî¡ont
16 Cu¡rently
17 The Depadment Pages
24 Top ShelîThomas Marberry
25 leen Scene
26 On Llttle LanesDonna Mayo
27 Does Your Church Want Thls Famlly?Pat Creech
28 Grean Íree Blble SludyRobert E. Picirilli
29 Especlally For Young Preache¡sDennis Wiggs
30 ßellgious Communlly News
31 Go VofelMelv¡n Worthington
Edltor-ln-chleli Dr. Melvin WorthingtonEdltor: Jack Will¡amsEdltorlal Agsl¡lanll Marilyn PritchardClrculatlon: Geneva Trotter
Volume )0üV, No. 11
CONTACT (USPS 130-660), publishedmonlhly by the National Association ofFree Will Bapt¡sts. Post Office Box1088, Nashville, Tennessee 37202.Address all correspondence and sub-scriptions to this address. Phone615/361-1010. Subscription rates: 1
year, $9.50; church family plan $8.00per year; church bundle plan $8.50 peryear. Second class postage paid atNashville, Tennessêe. Copyrightprivileges, reserved O, 1988 Memberof the Evangelical Press Association.POSTMASTER: Send address changesto CONIACT, P.O. Box 1088, Nashville,Tennessee 37202.lssN 0573-7796
Saved on a Golf Course
By Bob King
From Scratch . . . (From page 3) |I
4. The generally lower income of the I
Hispanic, meaning he has less mate- |
rial things to hinder his service to i
'Tn" occasional success story keepsI us witnessing, and sometimes the
story is almost sensational. Such wasthe case with the drunkard I led to theLord some years ago.
My son Doug was at home for a visitand we took the opportunity to play acouple rounds of golf at Lakewood GolfCourse. We had just finished the 6thhole and were approaching the tee tothe 7th hole when I heard a man's voicecalling my name, 'Bobby! Bobby King!'I did not see the man, but I told Dougthat it had to be someone who knew mewhen I was a boy, for no one else calledme, "Bobby.'
I turned and looked toward thewooded area nearby and saw a dirty,intoxicated derelict coming out of thewoods. He was one of my old boxingbuddies, Gene Williams. He was in atenible shape and had been drinkinganything he could get his hands on,which at that time was Listerine.
He said, 'Bobby, I need help.' It wasapparent that he needed help, and Ialready knew that one of those alco-holics who stayed in that section haddied there the week before.
The man was not asking for moneybut for spiritual help. We talked a wh¡leand Doug, Gene and I knelt on the 7th
hole to pray. Gene prayed the sinner'sprayer; I prayed, then Doug. The manassured us that everything was all rightand started back toward the woods.
I pleaded with him not to go back butto let me take him home. He said hewould be fine. Doug and I watched himreturn to the woods and wondered if hecould be sincere.
However, two months later, I wasstopped at a traffic light and heard ahorn blowing. I looked around, andmuch to my surprise, I saw Gene witha big smile sitting behind the steeringwheelof a church bus. He had startedto church immediately after he wassaved and had started driving theirchurch bus.
It has been a number of years now,and Gene is still happy and serving the[ord. He not only drives the bus, buthe has a Saturday preaching minishy toalcoholics in a parking lot in downtownCharlotte. He takes every opportunityto give his testimony about hisconversion. (D
ABOUT THE WRITER: Reuerend Bob Krng pos-tors Cmmerton Free Will Baptíst Church, Cmmer-ton, North Corolina.
Reprinted by permission from Tl¡e Witness, July-August-September 1988 issue.
God.5. The high priority given to fellowship
over material prosperity.6. The high proportion of highly re-
sponsive young people (over half thepopulation of Mexico is under theage of 77],.
7. The high level of disaffection with theRoman Catholic Church (85-90 per-cent of Mexico is Catholic).
8. The newness of conservative Protes-tant churches, giving us an edge fordynamic growth.
In south Texas and Mexico. weadapted to the particular socio-religiousclimate to build dynamic churches. Inthe southwest, where the MormonChurch is strong, this would requireanother approach. In New England andthe midwest. one must counter theEuropean brand of Catholicism broughtin by immigrants. In the rural southeastand Appalachia, still another approachmust be used.
Free Will Baptists must start manynew churches in the next few years ifwe ate to fulfill the Great Commission.We must choose men capable of com-pleting the task, and then give them thefinancial and moral help so each pro-ject is a success.
This means helping the pastor get his
nucleus of believers together, his prop-erty and a first stage building. Fromthere the new group has a base fromwhich to grow and has less risk of dis-integrating if hard times come. If we dothis, we will see our denomination growas never before. O
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ABOUT THE WRITER: Reuerend James Mun-sey is míssíonory coordinator for Mexíco lor theHome Missions Department. He lounded'Ièm-plo Free Wíll Baptist Church ín Weslaco, Tèxas,where he and hís wífe Mitze still serue. He is a7987 graduate of Free Wíll Baptist Bible College.
Brlefcase
uesday after Labor Day a repair-man named Joe arrived at ouroffice with a new printer for a
computer that had terminal hiccups. Heno sooner hooked it up when a secre-tary spotted a broken wheel on the newmachine. Joe deflated like a puncturedballoon, then said, "Dont blame me; it'sdouble Monday!"
By that he meant that you can'tescape the dreaded Monday syndromejust by starting the work week on Tues-day. In his mind, Labor Day only servedto double the Monday punch.
We all know how Joe felt. Sometimesit seems that life is one foul-up afteranother. Everything we touch eitherbites or breaks.
Do evll elves plot to strangleyour car's cooling system during 5 p.m.rush-hour traffic on the freeway? Howdo mechanical devices know the abso-lutely worst possible moment to snap,clog or blow a fuse? And if three kidsin the whole grammar school comedown with raging temperatures anddevelop chicken pox, why do two of thethree live at your house?
Before you rent a rubber room,maybe there's a logical answer.
When ltfe tastes bad.Chuck, a detective in a midwestern city,said that fellow officers complained forthree months about the foul tasting cof-fee in their police station. He said thatpolice coffee is notoriously bad at best,but suddenly their bad coffee turned
3When Life's
One Long Mondayawful. They changed brands, changedpots and changed the people brewingit. Nothing worked.
One day the coffee pot quit. Officersstood around grousing to the repairmanabout the bad tasting coffee. "l'm notsurprised your coffee tastes badi hesaid. "Your coffee pot is connected tothe air conditioning drain."
There had been a logical answer forthree months, but since nobodychecked the drain, everybody drankbad coffee. The best coffee in the worldcant overcome bad water. Next time lifetastes bad, check the water connection.
When llfe blows up. Morefrequently than we'd like to admit, lifefalls apart because of our owncarelessness.
Tim, an evangelist, drove to a revivalmeeting in order to save $225 on aplane ticket. A good stewardship move.However, he forgot to check the tiresbefore he left home.
Tim was still a hundred miles from hispreaching appointment when the rightfront tire blew out. Fortunately, hemanaged to contol the skid and no onewas hurt. But the tire's flailing steelbeltbeat $1,000 dents in his car before hecould stop.
Tim's problem? Carelessness. A1O-second tire check could haveprevented $1,000 in damages. Nexttime life blows up, kick the tires beforeblaming a cosmic enemy.
When the horse is dead.Last January I attended a seminar inRochester, N. Y., conducted by man-agement consultant Barbara Abrams. Iwas hying my best to dodge her verbaldarts as she machine-gunned throughthe seven characteristics of aworkaholic.
She said something under point threethat burned both my ears. She gave afail-safe formula for knowing when tobail out of time and energy-consumingprojects: "lf the horse is dead, get off!"
Sometimes we need help locating thedead horses in our lives. Of course. it's
best to dismount just before the horserequires you to cany him. That's whatYvonne did.
Two years ago Yvonne stepped intothe office and called my name. I glancedup just in time to duck. She tossed hersneakers in my waste can and quipped,"They have 1,000 miles on them." Theylooked it.
She'd overcome sentimental attach-ment to a worn out but cherished item.She bought new shoes before her oldones began chewing on her feet. Whenthe load in life gets too heavy to carry,maybe you shouldnt! You may be haul-ing somebody else's dead horse.
When sin wins. The men ofIsrael whipped everything from Egyptto Jericho and had the bad guys peek-ing out from behind rocks. Then unex-plainably, a few toughs from Ai routedthe men of Israel.
The problem wasn't leadership;Joshua was on duty doing his job. Theproblem wasn't lack of courage; 36 menhad died hying.
Some things don't get explained untilGod provides the answer. That was thecase in Joshua 7. Nobody suspectedAchan. Not even godly leadership andthe courage to die for a cause couldovercome unconfessed sin. The pricecame high. The judgment swift, sureand final.
Yes, life often tastes badbecause we're plugged into the draininstead of the fresh water. And thingsfrequently fall apart because we dontpay attention to details. And we usuallyinsist on getting one more mile from adead horse. But sometimes when lifedoesnt work and people get hurt, it'sbecause of something more basic, morecommon and more deadly-sin.
Step boldly into the doubleMonday experiences of life, aware ofthe past but trusting God for the future.Charles Kettering said, "lt doesn't mat-ter if you try and try and try again, andfail. It does matter if you ty and fail, andfail to try again." O
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The Stranget Among UsBy Lucy Hyman
"Bu"nos Díasl Good Morning.
Perhaps you hear this expression on thestreets in your town these days. Day byday the number of btrangers amongusl-Hispanics-is increasing.
A few years ago it was surPrising tosee foreigners on the streets of smalltowns across America. Today ils surpris-ing if you do not see persons of anotherlanguage and culture on the streets inAnytown, USA.
Statistics indicate that 18-20 millionHispanics now live in the U S A. What-ever the present number, by 1996 it willincrease to 23-25 million and to 30-40million by the early 2000's.
While the largest concentrations arein California, New York, Täxas andFlorida, they are scattered over all thestates now. This has been evidenced to
Randall House Publications because oforders received for Spanish literaturefrom just about every state.
A news release from the AmericanBible Society states that 7.7 millionSpanish language scriptures were dis-tributed in the u s A in 1986. Of the 80languages in which the A B S suppliesscriptures to Americans, Spanish rankssecond only to English in volume. Thatsame news release cites that many oflhe 20 million Hispanics living in thiscounhy are Christians. Their Bible Sun-day materials went to over 8,000Hispanic pastors and religious leadersthroughout the United States.
Too many Christians feelthat the mis-sionary call is only for someone goingto a foreign country to win those ofanother language. Since when did Godcall only certain people to witness? Thecommand is for all believers, at homeas well as abroad.
tIn 1984, Dr. Roger Reeds, generaldirector of Randall House Publications,saw the growing need to provide Sun-day School literature for our Spanish-speaking churches and missions. CasaRandall began in 1985, and Sunday
School literature was translated fromEnglish to Spanish. This Spanish liter-ature missionary endeavor is still notself-supporting but sales are increasinggradually.
We hanslated and published the Pre-school two-year cycle which includes ateachet's manual, resource packet, pupilbook, workbook and picture lessoncards. The three-year Junior cycle is fin-ished also. Material for this groupincludes: teacher's manual, show'n tellpacket with teaching pictures and flan-nelgraph figures, pupil book, workbookand memory verse packet.
S,ud,", for three years have beencompleted on the teen and adult seven-year cycle through the Bible. Theundated materials can be used any time.
Look around your town. Do you seethe strangers among you? A pastor'swife from Georgia recently expressedher frustration as she saw daily theHispanics in her town and wanted towitness to them. How she wished shecould communicate with them inSpanish.
A Michigan pastor told of hundredsof migrant workers in his area living inmigrant camps. He felt the need toreach out to them but was unsure howto do so. He felt that summer mission-aries could be used to work in this area,if there were any willing.
few months ago as I read a letterfrom retired missionary Laura Belle Bar-nard, I was made aware that while shemay be physically retired from mission-ary work, she can never retire in herheart and spirit. I sensed the burden andcompassion of her missionary heart.
She was concerned about minister-ing to the migrant population in hertown of Glennville, Ga. Some 1,200people live in five migrant camps; manyare Hispanics. She stated that most ofthem don't speak English. She asked forinput about how they might minister tothem.
Miss Barnard does not speak Span-ish because her mission work was inIndia. But her concern was there andshe got involved because she felt theneed to give them the message of thegospel.
This s¡tuation is not an isolated inci-dent, so I felt led to address the matterof the 'shangers among us' as Miss Bar-nard put it.
First, let me speak to some negativeimpressions that people have.
"They dont speak English and makeno effort to learn.'
'l cant work with them because Idont know Spanish.'
Hispanics were in this country beforeany of us. They want to keep their lan-guage and culture alive. We know, how-ever, that the ch¡ldren attend school andmust learn English. Many Hispanicprofessionals know English perfectly butthey prefer to attend a Spanish-speaking church.
There are ways we can reach out toothers, and everyone speaks the lan-guage of love. Sometimes migrant wor-kers don't know English and dont havea chance to learn. It may be possible fora church group to offer English classesfor them at the church. If they cannotget to the church, the migrant campsusually have some sort of building thatcould be used. The class could be heldthere. That's one way to get acquaintedwith some of the people; when they seeinterest and love manifested thevbecome more confident.
Migrant workers often have fears formany different reasons. Some may behere illegally, or maybe their childrenare working instead of attending school.If you leel led to minister to theirspiritual needs, let the authorities han-dle the other situations. In other words.don't ask questions about their legality.
If no one in the church speaks Span-ish, make inquiries. You may be sur-prised to f ind someone in thecommunity who does. Most schoolshave Spanish teachers willing to help.
Afbout a month after writing to MissBarnard and sending some SpanishSunday School materials, I received athrilling letter.
She helped a group from the com-munity entertain 60 Hispanics at aChristmas party. There were about 35children among them. They gavepresents to the children, and a highschool Spanish teacher read theChristmas story. After some research,they discovered that the wife of a busi-ness man in the community was origi-nally from Mexico and spoke Spanish.She supported the effort with invalua-
ble help. In fact, she made a þiñata'forthe children.
This group worked hard to give agood witness and to show love andfriendship. They felt their effortsproduced a breakthrough with goodresults.
Our Spanish department at RandallHouse has been praying for Miss Bar-nard and the others in their effort toreach out to the Hispanics. You canimagine our joy when she wrote thatfrom those meager beginnings they hada plea for a worship service in Spanishand one man asked how to be bornagain, and his wife asked for a Bible inEnglish. By the way, they were able tohand out New Tästaments in Spanish,courtesy of the Gideons.
Miss Barnard requested prayer thatthey might have a convert, preferablya man and h¡s wife, and she gave us thename of a couple to pray for. A coupleof months later, we received another let-ter with a progress report. Tears filledmy eyes as I read of a couple's conver-sion who had received a New Testa-ment in Spanish and the Bible inEnglish.
The next Sunday this family attendedthe Free Will Baptist church and wereintroduced. Two fine Christian couplesfrom the young married's SunãaySchoolclass took them in hand to shep-herd. How we rejoice because this cou-ple found the Lord through the effortsof concerned Christians like Miss Bar-nard. Only the lord can know theresults.
B""uu." of genuine concern for themigrant community, a group of leadersfrom various churches held a seminaron working with migrants. A retired mis-sionary from Uruguay who currentlyworks among the Hispanics, taught theinteresting and helpful seminar.
From that seminar another meetingwas scheduled to try to take action. Ofcourse, the ideal way would be to finda Hispanic minister or worker willing togo and work among the people so theywould hear the gospel in their own lan-guage. Some people in the communitywho see the need are willing to help,such as a Christian businessman and aretired judge. There will be a way tohelp even without a knowledge ofSpanish.
No* it's easy to look at migrant wor-kers in your area and say, "These are
the lowest class of people and veryundesirable. I don't want to beassociated with them in any way." Jesusdied for them, too, and the invitation isto all. The command to witness is toeveryone.
Often migrant workers are poor. Theyhave no other way to make a livingexcept by working in the fields.
I lived in TÞxas for many years andsaw hundreds of families leave theirhomes and go north to find work. I alsotaught in high schooland worked withstudents from migrant families. Thesestudents are taken out of school beforethe end of the school term in May anddon't return until September andOctober when school is already under-way. This causes most of the studentsto face difficulties in finishing theirschool work, thus often they leel self-conscious and inferior.
Why not take a look around you. Doyou see any of these "strangers among"you?
Remember in the scriptures howJesus talked about giving a cup of coldwater in His name? How about a cupof water for the migrant workers orother Hispanics among us thirsting forthe Water of LiÍe? Jesus said, nl wasthirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I wasa stranger, and ye took me not in:naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, andin prison, and ye visited me not. . . .
When saw we thee . . . and did not min-ister unto thee? .. . Inasmuch as ye didit not to one of the least of these, ye didit not to me.'
There are nshangers among us'thirst-ing for the Water of LiÍe. They are sinsick and prisoners of their sins. We canminister to the lord by ministering tothem.
Miss Barnard closed her letter writtenin December by saying, "Won't it be themost wonderful Christmas card ever. tosee some of these migrants in heavenwhen the book is opened and the rollis called up yonder!'
Pray for the Spanish department ofRandall House. If you can't use theSpanish literature, remember when youorder the English literature you are help-ing make it possible for us to continuepublishing Sunday School literature inSpanish. ç¡ABOUT THE WRITER: Mrs. Lucy Hsman ismanagîng editor of flre Sponish deportment atRandoll House Publícations. She serued seuenyeors os a Free Will Bopris! missionûry to Cubo.
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s a young boy viewing thebeautiful green meadows in thevalley below Gum Spring
Mountain near Sparta, Tènnessee, Ioften heard stories about my grand-father and great-grandfather. Dr. JohnPaul Franklin was educated at a univer-sity and practiced his medical professionin the city. Dr. William Franklin Kelseychose the mountain and probably hadbeen taught by another physician. Hespecialized in the arts of herbs, roots andother medicinal plants. Both men werepractical and knowledgeable in theirchoices of service.
Dr. Franklin's uiew lrom the ualley ofthe mountain was spectacular. Dr. Kel'sey's view lrom the mountain of the val-ley was breathtaking. Who had the bestview? Which doctor gave better serviceto his community? It's a matter ofinterpretation.
The "tentmaker" mÍssionarg uiew is
basically no different from any otherwork of the l¡rd-same obstacles,same opportunities. Perhaps thegreatest obstacle is loneliness. Oneman's vision is often only a dream toanother.
Everyone knows that committees andboards at times move slowly. However,they certainly give encouragement, wis-dom and motivation. They also makereliable prayer warriors. As bad as somethink boards and committees are, theman struggling alone in a strange citywith no resources would loue thatproblem.
A friend told me recently, "l believenew churches should be started by a sis-ter church mothering them." I agreedwith him. Then I asked how manychurches in his area had planted/sup-ported another one in the last 10 years.He answered. "None!'
A Missionan¡ Tentmaker Soeaks Up
Biblical Method
The tentmaker concept of plantingnew churches is another biblicalmethod. Rabbinical students of the lawwere required to learn a trade. Thisallowed them to teach without becom-ing a burden to people.
The Apostle Paulmet expelled Jew-ish refugees from Rome in Corinthwhose names were Aquila and Priscilla.They were of the same trade, that oftent makers. Paul lived with them 18months. They moved with him to Ephe-sus where the church met in the homeof this Christ-loving couple.
Home Missions Proqram
The natíonal Home Missions Tenú-
maker Prograrn has unlimited potential.But let's face the truth. Many who maybe called will not go without supportfrom a mission board.
In today's society, is the "uiew t'romthe tent" realistíc? Yes, the tentmakermethod might be the only way thatchurches in some circumstances canstart. While the obstacles are many, soare the rewards. Depending on hisfocus, the tentmaker sees Christ or thecrisis.
Special Opportunities
The tentmaker has unique opportu-nifies not readily available to others;Contacts! He works at a secular jobwhere the people he meets, sees andtalks to are prospects.
It's easier to win the confidence andtrust of others when they daily see youas a co-worker doing your job well andhonoring Christ. Laboring on the jobwith people every day may equip youto better understand the problems,stress and stark reality faced by a work-ing society. If people find you genuinein your daily life, they more readily openup to you for spiritual help.
Sure, the ultimate goal of the tent-maker is to establish a strong churchand create a full-time pastoral position.This willbenefit allthe people. But thenew church must be fully capable ofimplementing this before assuming thefinancial load. The tentmaker mustteach the new church that the laboreris worthy of his hire. If not, the next pas-tor may starve!
The View from
By Carlos Kelsey
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By the way, God does not requireperfect health for tentmakers. I havebeen hospitalized 50 times, had a dozensurgeries, spent five years in total bedrest, and have an umbrella filter implantin my vena cavia. Sound strange? Whywould God call someone so physicallyweak? Perhaps I Corinthians 7:25-3Igives the answer.
I live in a growing city with no FreeWill Baptist church. That's why I'm here.From my tent, I see potentially changedlives, missionaries, preachers, futureBible College students, full-time Chris-tian workers and dedicated churchmembers. I also see unchurched peo-ple, people with problems, people whoneed help and need a Savior most ofall. My vision is big; my time is short;my help comes from the [ord.
Tentmaker Recoqnition
When tentmakers are not acknowl-edged, it usually results in a lack ofprayer and support and no encourage-ment from others. I call it the'Quiet Rip-ple Syndrome." Little or no informationsurfaces about tentmakers at the local,associational. state or national levels.
It's a sort of undeliberate unrespon-siveness which first begins with pastorsalready overloaded with pastoral prob-lems and a burdened heart for theirchurches. But it affects the congregationas well as the pastors. Every missionarywants to know that others pray for him.Praying for a tentmaker and telling himabout it is like putting a rock in David'ssling as he steps forward to face Goliath.
You may agree with those who think
ABOUT THE WRITER: Reuerend Corlos Kelseywas the lirst minister to launch a work under theHome Míssions Department's "Tèntmoker Pro.grom." He poslors Smyrna Free Will BoptístChurch, Smyrno, Tënnessee, o church he startedin 7985.
the tentmaker has lost all sense of real-ity, that only a miracle can accomplishhis missionary task. You could be right.His vision could become only a pipedream, or you could be wonderfullymistaken! The New Tizstament tent-makers usually built churches in spite ofinadequate funding and local opposi-tion. Tèntmakers don't ask you to paytheir salaries, but they do ask that youhelp pray open the closed doors.
10 Wavs to Help Tentmakers
1. Pray, pray, pray!2. Publicize the tentmaker's needs and
those of his church.3. Print and distribute an information
newsletter for the tentmaker.4. Offer encouragement.5. Get acquainted with him. He can
use an extra friend (You can, too) .
6. Check out the tentmaker. Get re-commendations from those whoknow.
7. Pastor, invite him to speak at yourchurch.
8. Adopt a tentmaker and congrega-tion.
9. A mature church could temporarilylend missionary workers. (Example:three months at a time.)
10. Mission boards and denominationalleaders: Lend your gifted expertise,valuable wisdom and vocal / publi-cized support.
The Riqht Perspective
The rose has its thorn and Christ hadthe Cross. No roses without thorns, noChrist without the Cross. That's the tent-making ministry. The job must be doneregardless of the inconvenience, thesecret fears, the vulnerability of the tent-maker. You see, Philippians 4:13 is justas valid for the tentmaker in Kansas asit was for Paul in Corinth.
It's not wrong for God's people towant padded pews, air conditioning,hymn books and sanctuaries. However,the Great Commission extends beyondthese things.
Where would our great country behad it not been for courageouspioneers? Have I misread Free Will Bap-tist history? Did not the tentmaker playa major role in planting our churches?
We all have places to serve. [¿t uscompliment each other's work while wefaithfully serve God whether in the val-ley or on the mountain-it is all Hiswork. çp
An Hour ofMy Time
By Alton l.oveless
rIn my travels to nearly every state inthe union and to 29 Íoreign countries,I have had many close calls. One suchincident happened at dinner in a Holi-day Inn restaurant in JacksonvilleFlorida.
Sitting alone eating and analyzing theday's work, I was approached by abeautiful lady about 30 years old, welldressed and groomed. Could she be apastor's wife or a Sunday Schoolteacher who knew me since I had donemany teacher training courses in thiscity? I soon learned that she was not.
She slowly pulled back the chair andpolitely sat down. Her first words,accented softly, said, 'Would you like anhour of my time?"
My eyes didn't believe what I had justobserved, and now my ears didn'tbelieve what they had heard. But myheart moved my hands to a gospel tractin my shirt pocket and my lips torespond with, "Only if you give me thefirst hour.' I laid the tract before her.
She took the tract, slowly slid thechair backwards, and sincerely said,"Pardon me, I'm so sorry!"
I was trusting the Holy Spiritto do His work during the firsthour; I'm glad He had already 1:;idone His work in me. (D
ABOUTTHEWRITER: Dr.Alton Loveless serues osexecutive secretory forOhio Free Wíll Bop-
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fmagine a smallfarming communityIoutside Budapest, Hungary, in theearly 1940's where families had lived forgenerations, each father passing hisland down to his children. The peoplewere like a large extended family. Myparents, Anton and Theresia, were wellestablished and l¡ved comfortably.When I was born in January L943, mysister, Martha, was six. Little did we sus-pect that during our generation thingswould change drastically.
When Hungary entered World WarII, the men of our town enlisted leav-ing behind only women, children andold men. We were easy prey for invad-ing Russian troops. They came intramping belongings, ripping tradition-ally worn earrings from girld ears, violat-ing women, stealing and killing. Wehembled with fear.
During this time, Hitler invited any-one of German descent to come to Ger-many. With no knowledge of Hitler'sinhumane deeds, but well aware of Rus-sian behavior, almost everyone in townpacked and went to Germany.
This was a difficult decision for mymother. She longed to stay in Hungary
and wait for my father who had beengone nearly two years. However, shefeared the uncertain future. So weboarded the train to Germany alongwith my grandparents, two aunts andtheir three children.
Meanwhile, unknown to us, my fatherhad been captured by Americans whofreed him at this time. Men travelinghome by tain saw the wa/s devastation,everything charred and broken. Thereseemed to be no hope, no future. Thetip took days with many delays becauseof the war.
During one of those delays myfather's traveling companion, also fromour town, suggested they get out, walkaround and see what was left of whatthey had once loved. My heartbrokenfather stayed on the train.
His friend started looking around. Inan atmosphere of total confusion,crowds of people were coming, going,waiting and searching. He could hardlybelieve his eyes when he suddenlyrecognized a familiar face, a relative. Hepushed through the crowd and asked,"What are you doing here? Where are
you going? Anton and I have beenreleased and are on our way home."
The relative told all that had hap-pened and explained that almost evgry-one was on the way to Germany. Theysqueezed back to my father's train andtold him the news. It was here that mymother, my sister and I were reunitedwith my father. God mercifully anangedthis miracle,. and we boarded theGerman-bound train together.
Iwas three when we arrived in Ger-many, but I remember sleeping on hardfloors with scratchy blankets and wall-to-wall people, waiting in outdoor linesfor soup and bread. Hungarians werenot the only people arriving in Ger-many. The invitation went to all withGerman blood in their veins, no matterhow many generations back. Peoplefrom all over Europe descended onGermany.
The four of us lived in a two-roomsection of a house. A year later, my lit-tle sister, Theresia, was born. Food wasso scarce that my mother had no propernourishment for the newborn. My par-ents went from house to house to Ger-
mans who had cows or goats beggingmilk for the infant. All refused to givea drop of the precious liquid. Conse-quently, Theresia died from starvationfour months later.
Living in Germany was a lesson onappreciating things that cannot bebought or sold: love for one's family,friends. wildflowers and snow. Theseare my happy memories of Germany.On special occasions such as birthdays,we children memorized poems andrecited them as our gift to the personbeing honored.
Tony, our only boy cousin, and a fewyears older than I, entertained us girls.His father was a Russian prisoner ofwar. Tony and I walked regularly to thenext town which had a train station andwaited for his father to arrive. He neverdid.
Our diet consisted mostly of soup,gravy and bread. Fruit was scarce. Butthere were occasions when we had cer-tain fruit. If someone was ill, to the pointof losing his appetite, white grapes weresqueezed out of the food allowance,somehow. Grapes invariably broughtback a desire for food and helped therecovery.tIn late 1950, word spread that anyonedisplaced because of the war was eligi-ble to enter another country, perhapsAustralia, or if very fortunate, America.My father investigated the details. Aftertwo years of interrogations, physicalexaminations, securing a sponsor andmuch anxious waiting, we were readyto journey to a new and strange coun-try. Immigrants again.
By this time, Martha was 15 and I wasnine. The move was difficult for mymother. Although she had her husbandand daughters with her, she was leav-ing her own mother, father and sisterswith the fear that she would never seethem again. We crossed the AtlanticOcean in 11 days on a Navy ship, theGeneral Taylor.
To pass the time, male immigrantspainted and did odd ;obs. It probablyhelped distract them from their awfulsea sickness. The ship's cooks served somuch beautiful food; what a shame wewere so sick we could hardly bear tosmell it, let alone eat it. Finally, wereached our destination. New York.Statue of Liberty! Hope!
Our sponsor in Norfolk, Virginia, wasa Jewish furniture dealer. He arrangedfor us to stay three days in New York,then we went by train to Norfolk. He
rented a furnished downstairs portion ofa house for us on Park Avenue nearwhat's now Norfolk State Universitv.There was even atelephone in our newhome. Never mind that it was discon-nected. We could not speak a word ofEnglish and had no one to call.
We were among the few white fami-lies who lived on that sheet. Martha andI were a curiosity to the black children
because of our language, but theyresponded with such friendliness andgenerosity that my nine-year-old mindperieived the Black race to be verykind, since they so willingly shared theircountry with us.
L̂zompared to an average Americanfamily at that time, we probablyappeared poor. However, in our estima-tion, we were rich. Not because we hada car, a tv or money in the bank, for wehad none. What made us rich was thefact that we had allthe food we couldeat: fruit, meat, bread, vegetables, evensweets! Sickness was no longer arequirement for eating grapes. Neveragain would I hear my mother tell Mar-tha, "The bread is asleepi her wäy ofsaying there was no more.
Our sponsor brought our initial sup-ply of groceries. He and his wife boughtitems that they themselves would enjoy.However, no Hungarian or Germaninstructions came with the food. Con-sequently, if the box or jar did not havea picture giving a clue as to proper use,one might find my mother scrubbing thesink with Jello, while commenting onthe pleasant fragrance of the cleanser.In those days, our favorite entertain-ment was to walk downtown and watchtv through the store window. We did notneed to hear the sound. since we could
not understand the words.Within a few years my parents saved
enough money to buy an old car. Whata luxury. In Germany, the only car intown was driven by the doctor. Wewould travel as far as 20 miles, all theway to Great Bridge. By 1956 we livedin a house which we built. That year mygrandmother came to America andshared Martha's wedding day. There
Never ogoin would I
heor my mother soy,"The breod is osleep:'her woy of soying therewos no rnore.
were difficulties adjusting to Americanways while being reared by Hungarianparents. At times I felt l¡ke a foreigner,an outsider. Many years later I came toknow that we're all foreigners and pil-grims on this earth.
During my childhood, my parentsstressed honesty, family loyalty, com-passion, respect and moral values.While we lived in Germany, we faith-fully attended the Roman CatholicChurch. In America, however, we wentto church irregularly and rarely talkedabout God. He was not part of my lifeor thoughts. By the time I was 25, I hada divorce, two little girls and seriousdoubts about God's existence. After all.(l reasoned) if He were real, He couldhave prevented my mother's recent ill-ness and untimely death.
Tn"n I met Ernest. Although he hadaccepted the Lord as a young boy, hehad drifted from God. St¡ll, he answeredmany of my religious questions. Follow-ing a brief courtship, we married. ThenI began to pray, "God, if You are real,and if You can hear me, then help meto believe in You."
Over the years, we occasionallydropped the girls off and picked themup from Sunday School, but we did not
(continued on page 13)
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What l3 men ftom Oklahoma did ...
Thanhs for the Hand!Aï';iw' 'ì""ü lî,*'1"ff::äthem both in the car and started towardour church with one thought: This iswhat being a home missionory is ollabout.
This day would be like countlessothers, and my time would have to bedivided. Part of the day I would be our
By Bob l,ewis
church's pastor, while the rest of the timeI would spend as general contractor.
We are in that phase of churchgrowth which every church looks for-ward to and dreads-the building pro-gram. Our church, started five years agounder the auspices of the Home Mis-sions Department, is in its second build-ing program in three years. The newbuilding allows room for six additionalclassrooms and a badly needed fellow-ship hall. This second building has beendrastically different from our first. Asincredible as it seems to me as I writethis, what took us six months to do onour new building was accomplished inabout six weeks on the first building.The difference? Thirteen men fromOklahoma!
I was invited to speak in Oklahoma'sannual missions conference in theSouth Grand River Association in thespring of 1985. I had no idea what theLord had in store for our young work.It began when I entered the home ofHoward and Willie Gage to spend theweek.
Though I was meeting them for thefirst time, it didn't take long to sense theirdeep burden for missions. BrotherGage's eyes sparkled as he told me ofthe churches his father started in Okla-homa. He fascinated me for hours withhis own experiences as a missionarybuilder in the Ivory Coast. I must con-fess that as he told of building in Africaselfish thoughts began to enter my
mind. Our church desperately neededto get out of the day care building wewere renting and into our own facilities.
As the days passed, though I saidnothing, I knew that my burden aboutthe need for a building was becomingBrother Gage's burden as well. He wasmy 'chauffeurn for the week, and helistened intently each night as I
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preached and shared the needs of ourwork in Colorado Springs. One rainyafternoon as we sat by the wood stovein his country home, Brother Gagemade a statement I will never forget.'Brother Bob I believe I could get somefellows together to come to Coloradoand build you a church building.'
One Saturday evening three monthslater, 13 men and two women fromOklahoma drove up the h¡ll to ourchurch property. A vision was about tobecome a reality. Our men had beenhard at work preparing for the Okiearrival. The foundation to our buildingwas complete, and part of the exteriorwalls were built and lying on theground. We had wonderful servicestogether on Sunday with a hemendousspirit of expectancy in the air. After whatseemed an eternity of impatient waiting,it was down to tomonow. Tomonow wewould build our church!
As the sun rose Monday morning, weate breakfast together on our propertyand began working. Our commander-in-chief was Howard Gwartney, a pro-fessional contactor who had taken timeoff from a busy schedule to be part ofthis Oklahoma team. He divided us intodifferent crews, and the walls went upquickly. The pre-built roof trusses wereslid into place while another crew fol-lowed to place the plywood decking onthe roof. We would later hear from peo-ple in our community who came homefrom work that Monday shocked to seea church building where there had beennothing when they left that morning.
Over the next few days shingles wereinstalled, inside walls built, electricalconduit placed, and our auditoriumstage and baptistry roughed in. OnWednesday night we had a preciousservice in the new building, sunoundedby the studded walls and open rafters.It was a glorious cathedral in the mindsof our people who had worked so hardto make it possible.
Five days after we started working,the Oklahoma men prepared to leavefor home. Many of us fought back tearsas we shook hands with these new-found friends. One little boy from ourchurch tugged at the pants leg of oneof the men who had spent his onlyweek's vacation putting shingles on ourroof. When the little guy said, "Thankyou for building us a churchi some ofus lost the battle with our tears.
Since our building was built, someexciting things have happened. Howard
Gwartney has been employed by theHome Missions Department to helpnew churches build without hiring alocal general contractor. This savesthousands of dollars. Our Master's MenDepartment now sponsors the 'Master'sHands'project to challenge laymen todo what this group of Oklahoma mendid. Several churches have alreadvbeen built this way.
While a good bit of organization isnecessary to make an old-fashionedbarn raising work these days, it can bea tremendous boost to both the churchand the men who build. Why not con-sider taking some vacation time to useyour talents in the Lord's work?
You need not be a builder. Only twoof the men who helped us had much
Hungary Child. . . (from page 1i)attend. One Sunday, my older daugh-te¡ TÞresa, visited a church with her girl-friend and came to ask, nMama,
are yousaved? Willyou go to heaven?'l tried,with difficulty, to assure her that I would.
Then she asked, 'Why do you dislikegoing to church?" I answered her, "lalready learned all the Bible storieswhen I was a little girl, and now I wantyou to go so you can learn them, too."Foolishly, because I was not familiar withthe Bible, I thought it contained onlystories.
My father, who had surrendered hislife to Christ, was visiting on one occa-sion. In conversation, I said to him, ul
certainly am glad I have daughters,because daughters will raise my grand-children the way I want them to beraised."
My father said, "You would think so,but you are my daughter and you arenot raising my grandchildren the way Iwant them raised . . . you rarely go tochurch with them."
How long had he waited for theappropriate time to make that com-ment? I do not know. I do know thatit had a powerful impact on me. Coin-cidentally, around the same time, oneof Ernest's co-workers suffered a heartattack at work, and Joy's girlfriend losther father through illness. These eventsbrought us to the realization that noneis guaranteed tomorrow.
While the four of us sat on the livingroom floor one Saturday evening, wedecided that the next morning wewould all go to church. No excuses. Nooversleeping. No changing of minds.That was that; we were going.
building experience. Age doesn't mat-ter much either. We had one teenagerwho was a great help and Brother Gageis in his 70's. As a matter of fact, theentire family could be used in manycases. A retired couple could bring atravel trailer and stay for an extendedtime. Even one man who is available tohelp the pastor during the day while themen of the church are working can bea great encouragement.
To the men who were such a bless-ing to us I say one more time, 'Thanksfor the hand!'
ABOUT THE WRITER: Home Missionary BobLeu,is posÍors Haruest F¡ee Will Baptist Church,Colorado Spríngs, Colorado. The 7974 graduateol Free Will Baptíst Bible College preuiouslypostored in Virginia.
The message that Sunday morningwas good. However, the sermon the fol-lowing Sunday seemed directed to mepersonally. For the first time in my lifeI realized that I was a sinner, that thepenalty of sin is hell, that no amount ofgood deeds could make me righteousbefore God, that Jesus Christ paid thepenalty for my sins and He graciouslyoffered me the gift of life.
That Sunday in January 1978, Iacknowledged my sins, asked forgive-ness and allowed Him to take charge ofmy life. Ernest rededicated himself atthe same time. As a result, we and ourmarriage were finally on the right track,and we were on it together.
Thank God for His patience andmercy toward us. Tþresa and Joy by thistime were teenagers. Since I had notgiven them the proper foundation aschildren, it's a miracle that they'vematured into women wh-o love God.This is certainly not because of me, butin spite of me through God's mercy andgrace.
As thankfulas I am to live in this landof liberty, I'm more thankful that I'vebeen liberated from sin. As happy as Iam to be a naturalized citizen of theUnited States, I'm more happy aboutmy Christian citizenship in heaven.
It's been more than 30 years since wewere told, "The bread is asleep," mean-ing there was no more. Now I have theBread of life and will never have to hearthose words again. O
o member ol Great Brídge Free Wíll BaptistChurch, Chesapedke, Virgínia. She teaches anadult Sunday School closs lor singles.
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CONVENTTON STEERINGCOMMITTEE MEETS IN TAMPATAMPA, FL-The Florida SteeringCommittee met September 16 at theTampa Hilton Hotel to make plans tohost the 53rd annual Free Will Baptistnational convention, July 16-20, 1989.Plenary sessions of the National Associ-ation will convene in downtown Tämpaat Curtis Hixon Convention Center.
Executive Secretary Melvin Worth-ington said he blocked more than 1,100rooms in four hotels for delegates,ministers and visitors. The conventionhousing form willbe printed in the April1989 issue of Contact and in statepapers as space is available.
The Florida Steering Committeeincludes:l.eroy Cutler-Chairman ,/ State ModeratorJ. D. No¡ris-Hospitality Committee ChairmanDouglas Carey-Registration Committee
ChairmanElmer Turnbough-Prayer Committee ChairmanRoger Duncan-Ushering Committee Chairman
Diana Bryant, field worker for theFlorida Woman's Auxiliary serves withthe Steering Committee to coordinatewomen's activities. Harvey Hill, Floridapromotional secretary, will oversee thework of the committee and boostnational convention participationthroughout the state.
The Steering Committee personnelmet 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. gatheringinformation, reviewing committeeassignments and touring conventionfacilities. The committee will meet twicein 1989, January and May, to expediteconvention plans.
FREE wlLL BAPîIST BIBLE COLLEGE ENROLIS 286NASHVILLE, TN-Free Will BaptistBible College officials said that prelimi-nary figures indicate an enrollment of286 students from 25 states and five for-eign countries for the fall semester.
Dr. Charles Hampton, registrar, saidthat the enrollment showed an increaseAlabamaArkansasCaliforniaDelawareFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaKansasKentucky
in 12 states, a decrease in 12 states andstayed the same in one state. The num-ber of dormitory students is higher thanlast fall. he noted. The number of for-eign students is also up.
The following states are representedin the student body:
1 South Carolina 15I Tennessee 49
13 Texas 64 Virginia 13
79 West Virginia 5
i Foreign 7
oà (Mexico, Canada, lvory Coast,
i; Panama, Sweden)
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August 29-3t. The speakers wereJoseph Jones, speech teacher; Dr.LaVerne Miley, Bible and scienceteacher; and Neil Gilliland, the college'snew director of recru¡tment. A largenumber of students rededicated theirlives in the opening services and in thefirst Sunday night campus service, Sep-tember 4.
17 Louisiana20 Massachusetts2 Michigan3 Mississippi8 Missouri
14 New Mexico20 New York6 North Carolina2 Ohio
13 Oklahoma
By classes, there are 90 freshmen, 65sophomores, 55 juniors, 56 seniors and20 special students. The number ofmen / women divides perfectly-l.43men. L43 women.
More than 40 percent of the menenrolled this year (61) are ministerialstudents. Another 24 students are pur-suing ministriqs in missions.
Opening services were conducted
r39 STUDENTS ENROLL AT SOUTHEASTENNWENDELL. NC-Southeastern FWBCollege registered 139 students for thefall semester to begin its sixth year ofoperation. Officials said this representsan 8.5 percent increase over last year'senrollment.
The classification breakdownincludes: Freshmen-62, Sopho-mores-34, Juniors-22, Seniors-18,Special-3.
Faculty, staff and students partici-pated in opening services August29-30. President Joseph Angepreached the opening service whichresulted in a number of young peopleresponding to the altar call to rededicatetheir lives.
Dr. lorenza Stox, dean of students,said, "There is an excellent spirit ofenthusiasm and expectancy among stu-dents and staff. The spirit on campusand in the chapel services has beenamong the best we have seen. Students
are excited about the new businessdepartment begun this fall along withteaching proficiencies in high schoolmath, Bible, P. E., history, English andscience in the teacher education depart-ment. Missions professor Joe Haas nowteaches on campus as a full-time profes-sor challenging the hearts of our stu-dents towards missionsl
The annual Southeastern missionsconference will be November 13-15with the following speakers: Rick Bowl-ing, missionary to Uruguay; Tim Hack-ett, missionary to Bloomington, Ind.;Phil Ange, pastor, Jefferson FWBChurch, Sumter, S. C.; Danny Dwyer,professor of pastoral theology, South-eastern FWB College.
Dr. Stox noted, "Our fall session ofGet Acquainted Days willbe November17-19. We encourage young people toattend. For more information, write tous."
17 ATTEND ALABAMA COLLEGEGUIN, Al-Alabama Bible College reg-istered 17 full-time day students for thefall semester, according to PresidentRichard Cordell. The college wasfounded in 1976 as a Bible Institute andassumed collegiate status with full-timeday students in 1982.
Academic Dean Robert Bains said.
"The current school year offers the firstfull four-year bachelor's program in pas-toral training and elementaryeducation."
Alabama Bible College operates as aministry of First Free Will BaptistChurch, Guin, Ala. Dr. Richard Cordellserves as pastor / president.
HILISDALE ENROLTS II7MOORE, OK-A totalof 117 studentsenrolled for the fall semester at HillsdaleFWB College, according to school offi-cials. The number includes 65 fresh-men, 21 sophomores, 14 juniors, 14seniors and four special students.
The students represent 11 states andfour foreign countries: 63 from Okla-homa, 13 from Missouri, 12 from Tizxas,11 from Arkansas. Seventy-one stu-dents live in the college dormitories.
The biblical studies program enrolled45 students. There are 21 business stu-dents, 19 students in general studies, 13students in pre-education, and 31ministerial students (26 percent of thestudent body). Dr. Thomas Marberry,vice president of academic affairs,explains, "We are encouraged by thisfall's enrollment. We have more fresh-men, more freshmen ministerial stu-dents and more dormitory students. Weare looking forward to an excellentyeari
455 ATTEND ARKANSAS STATE ASSOCIATION
CONWAY AR-Moderator CarlCheshier gaveled 455 ministers, dea-cons, delegates and visitors throughthree days of business August 16-18 atthe 91st annual Arkansas State Associ-ation. The session met at Camp Beaver-fork near Conway.
Reverend Ralph Hampton, modera-tor of the National Association of FreeWill Baptists, preached the keynotemessage. Arkansas pastors FrankGregory, Larry Russell and Roy DaleSmith also preached association ser-mons on the "Broadening Our Bound-aries" theme. Preceding the stateassociation, pastors David Williford andloy Counts spoke during the BibleConference at First FWB Church inConway.
Delegates heard reports and adopted
budgets presented by PromotionalDirector David Joslin and by KeithJohnson, manager of the ChristianSupply Store, as well as by CTS Direc-tor Jim Pursell.
Joslin reported that during 1987,Arkansas Free Will Baptists gave$849,000 through state agencies and$290,000 through National Associationministries, plus more than $7,500 toHillsdale FWB College.
In other action delegates establisheda benevolent fund for ordainedministers,/ pastors of the Arkansas StateAssociation. Delegates also adoptedresolutions opposing the film, "The LastTemptation of Christl and the televisionprogram, "Geraldol'
The 1989 session will meet August15-17 at Camp Beaverfork.
ALI'BOARDS CONFERENCE TO MEET IN NASHVILLENASHVILLE, TN--:The biennial FreeWill Baptist All-Boards Conference willmeet December 5-6 at the Days Inn -Executive Center in Nashville. accord-ing to Executive Secretary MelvinWorthington.
Dr. Worthington said he expectsmore than 90 board members from 20states to participate this year. The two-day conference includes five plenary
sessions addressing board members'relationships and responsibilities.
After the five general sessions, thevarious national boards and commis-sions will meet separately to conduct thebusiness of each agency. Dr. Worthing-ton said he expects individual board ses-sions to begin before noon, Tuesday,December 6.
FOREIGN DIISSIONANIES TOSPEAK AT FWBBC
CONFERENCE
NASHVILLE. TN--:Three veteran FreeWill Baptist missionaries will be featuredat Free Will Baptist Bible College's 1988Missionary Conference, November6-1r.
Jim Sturgill will represent Brazil,Sherwood [¿e willreport from the fieldof lvory Coast, and Tom McCulloughwill bring news from France. All threeare FWBBC alumni.
Jimmy Aldridge, Don Sexton andFred Warner are also scheduled tospeak during the conference.
The conference will include 14 serv-ices, beginning Sunday night and run-ning through the chapel hour on Friday.Classes willbe dismissed Tuesday andWednesday so that both days may bedevoted f ully to hearing themissionaries.
Neil Gill¡land, who served in IvoryCoast and joined the college faculty thisfall to teach missions and serve as direc-tor of recruitment, sees an apathytoward world missions among Free WillBaptists. "We are praying that Godthrough this conference will deshoy ourself-centered indifference and createwithin us a passion for world evangeli-zationi he says.
ÏARGET 90 UPDATENASHVILLE, TN-The Tärget 90 Campaign adopted during the 1985 NationalConvention in Nashville, Tènn., completed its th¡rd year. The five-year campaignhas a two-fold thrust: planting 100 new Free Will Baptist churches and increasingnet membership by 50,000.
Statistical data for 1986 - 1988 reflect steady though not spectacular growth.
Baptisms i8f' 'i,ä', i:ttt8 l-:åilMembers Added 72,052 72,134 72,436 36,622Members Lost 7,314 6,581 6,454 20,349
The campaign's three-year net membership goal was 22,500. Actual gains fell6,227 short of the campaign goal with a 16,273 net membership increase. Execu-tive Secretary Melvin Worthington, chairman of the Target 90 Committee said,"We can reach our net membership goal of 50,000. We praise the lord for the24,834 baptisms.'
Statistical data for new churches planted is not available at this time. Plans havebeen implemented to get this data.
The Target 90 Committee urges every Free Will Baptist to get involved in theTarget 90 Campaign by participating, praying and promoting growth for God'sglory among Free Will Baptists.
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Pastor l)avld Archcr reports that 35people visited neighborhoods around FalthFWB Church, Glenpool, OK, andissued 1,200 invitations for the Children'sCrusade. It worked-200 children attendedeach night of the crusade. The children gavea $388 missions offering and 47 childrenresponded to altar invitations.
Members of ilontereg FWB Chu¡ch,ilonterey, TN, honored Pastor Jacl¡Taylor for 2l years of leadership. Tennes-see Governor itclllherter wrote a letter ofappreciation. Pastor Täylor also receivedthree plaques including one presented bystate Senator Tommy Burl¡c. TennesseeExecutive Secretary Ra¡mond Rlggc alsoparticipated in the hibute to Pastor Taylor.
Arlzona youth camp director Bob llre-hcr said that teenagers brought rock musictapes to camp evangelist Hou¡ard Gu¡artneg to be destroyed after Gwartney's mes-sages. Dreher said, "Although the camperswere not supposed to have cassette tapesat camp, the teens voluntarily took their rockmusic tapes to Rev. Gwartney and wantedto deshoy them in response to his messageslAfter youth camp, teens at Flrot FWBChurch, Ihcson, burned several hundreddollars' worth of tapes following Sundayworship sessions.
Pastor Charleo Bcaolø3r reports 16conversions and 16 new members atFrlendshlp FWB Church, fþln City,GA.
Ad¡¡noao state CTS director Jlm Pur-sell told delegates at the Arkansas StateAssociation that 661 campers attended thesummer sessions. Camp officials reportedL3l. conversions and 66 rededicationsamong the campers.
The eighth annual Panllco Assocla-tlon Mini-Conference met September12-13 at Unlon Chapel FWB Church,Chocowlnlty, NC. The conference fea-tured the preaching of North Carolina pas-tor Phll Ange, Alabama home missionaryRlchard Hcndrlx and FWBBC academicdean Robert Plclrtllt.
Members of Peace FIUB Church, Wll-oon, NC, dedicated a $550,000 class-room / activity center, according to PastorGordon Sebastlan. The center added19,000 square feet of floor space to exist-ing buildings. The new facility includes agymnasium, bleacher seating for 250, fouroffices and seven classrooms.
Illlnolo promotional secretary DavtdShoreo and his editorial assistant KclthFlctcher produced a two-page memo topastors and church reporters concerningguidelines for reporting church news. TheAugust memo includes at least eight posi-tive suggestions for church reporters. Goodjob, fellows.
Pastor Rogcr Hanrycll and members ofBcthany FWB Church, BrohenAtrow, OK, celebrated the church's 25thanniversary this fall. Former pastor RayGwattne¡¡ preached the morning message.Other speakers included Roy Blnghamand Erncct Hartloon, Jr.
Pastor Georgc Han c!t, Jr. reports thatafter four years, members of Fell¡cr FWBChurch, Valllant, OK, burned the par-sonage note.
Pastor Claudie Hames reports 13 newmembers at Flrct FWB Church, Bakcro-ñeld, CA.
The seventh annual TennecoeeMactcrb ilen Retreat met September3O-October 1 at Happy Hills Camp nearClarksville, TN.
Arl¡ancao' Northq¡est Acooclatlonsponsored a two-day Church Growth andEvangelism Conference at Flrct FWBChurch, Berr¡¡vlllc. Three Oklahomaministers shared platform duties in the sevenconference sessions: Connie Carll¡er,Wade Jernlgan and Vernon Whale¡¡.
Bob Shocl¡sy, campus pastor at FreeWill Baptist Bible College was the principalspeaker at the Ohlahoma ChrlottanEducatlon Conventlon conducted Sep-tember 9-10 at Laulnwood FWBChurch, Tulsa. The two-day, 2l-sessionconference was sponsored by the OklahomaChristian Education Board. Four simultane-ous sessions as well as general sessionsoccupied attendees. Arkansas pastor DougLittle gave a mini-concert and led aseminar.
Renewed interest in the youth program atNorthslde FWB Chu¡ch, Poca-hontao, AR, resulted in two girls from thechurch attending camp at Camp Beaverforknear Conway. ln addition to increased atten-dance and excitement for the general churchwork, the youth participate in uFun Timennights and other fellowship activities. llel-vin Shelton pastors.
Pastor itelvln Sanford reports thatFirct FWB Church, Scottsmoor, FLneeds a part-time youth minister (startingsalary $150 per week). They plan to expandthe position into a full-time ministry as thechurch grows. Interested persons may con-tact Pastor Sanford at305/269-7542 orbywriting him at P. O. Box72, Scottsmoor, FL32775.
The lllscourl All-Boards Meeting andPreachers / laymeris Seminar met Septem-ber 19-20, according to Executive SecretaryClarence Burton. The seminar includedsix sessions conducted by three Missouriministers-Tlm Eaton, Jlm Shepherd,Joe Braddy.
Bob and Shella Hibbltts direct thenewly-established children's church at Cop-
per Dllneo FWB Church, Frederlcl¡-town, itO. Charlcs Lo,tz pastors.
Arkansas pastor Ben Scott preachedfour messages at the Dllooourl ScnlorAdulto Retreat conducted September27-29 al Stonecroft Conference Center inBranson, MO. The Senior Adult MinistriesBoard sponsored this first-ever retreat forMissouri Free Will Baptists age 55 and older.
Pastor Glen Hood of l}llle Htgh FIUBChurch, Ilcnver, CO, said, 'We praisethe lord for a tremendous Vacation BibleSchooll We were about double what weanticipated.'The VBS enrolled 108 with anaverage attendance of 85 each evening.Lorene Warc directed the school whichresulted in 24 conversions. Pastor Hood saidthis was the first Vacation Bible School con-ducted by the Mile High Church. The $90VBS offering was sent to the RobertBryan account; Bryan is a missionary toIvory Coast. (D
Dircctoty Update
ALABAMADonnie Hussey to Unity Church,
Sylacauga from Shady Grove Church,Adamsville
Anl(AilSASWill Harmon to Oak Park Church, P¡ne
Bluff from Western Hills Church. FortWorth, TX
GEONGTA
Jerome McNease to Christian HillChurch. Abbeville
Robert Stiles to Pine l¿vel Church,Chester
William Sumner to Pþasant Hill Church,Vienna
Gary Page to Bethel Church, Baxley
John R. Amburgey to Bethany Church,Hazlehurst from Pine l¿vel Church,Chester
IIENTUCI(Y
Pete Winstead to Tiinity Church, Bowl-ing Green from CoolSprings Church, Nor-man Park. GA
TENNESSEE
James Caninglon to United Church,Dickson f¡om Mt. Olive Church, Plymouth,NC
OTHEB PERSONNEL
Keith Tallent to Oak Park Church, PineBluff, AR, as minister of music and youth
Alan Thomas to Fìrst Church, MoreheadCity, NC, as minister of youth (D
ASTER'SAN DATE Attaclì
Cubans AmongLifeMembers
T*o Cuban brothers visited theUnited States in August. Mr. Gil-berto Tiiana, president of theCuban Association of Free WillBaptists, and Rev. Roberto Her-nandez, secretary of the Associ-ation visited the United States forabout 20 days. They reported tothe Foreign Missions Board andall furloughing missionaries dur-ing the annual Missions Retreat.
Missionary Walter'Dub- Ellisontranslated for them. Mr. Ti'ianospoke of the way God has con-tinued to bless the work in Cuba.He reported they have an organi-zation for the men of thechurches. The laymen lead serv-ices and speak when the pastorscannot attend services. There are15 churches in Cuba with onlyeight pastors. Some pastors min-ister to two churches. Last yearnearly L00 people were saved inservices.
The men from Cuba sharedtwo praise items. The governmentgave permission to rebuild thechapel on the Cedars of Lebanonschoolproperty. It was built by theWilleys in the 1940's. The newstructure will be named in theirhonor. The other praise item isequally good. Permission wasgiven to reopen the schoolon theproperty. Classes began inOctober.
After their report, Master's MenDirector Jim Vallance presented
both men with HonoraryLifeMember certificates. Accord-ing to Vallance, their names onthe list willbe a constant reminderof the need to pray for ourbrothers and sisters in Cuba.
As Vallance presented the cer-tificates, he read the followingstatement:
"My brothers from Cuba, asdirector of Master's Men, I amhappy to present you a certificate.It proclaims you are a LifeMem-ber of Free Will Baptist Master'sMen.
'l hope this honor will remindyou of your brothers in the UnitedStates who pray for you.
"l wish we could give a certifi-cate to every brother in Cuba. Wecannot. But I hope your name onthis list willbe a challenge to our
men to be more dedicated as liv-ing sacrifices for our Master.
?lease accept this certificate asan honor from our men to indi-cate our desire for fellowship withour brothers and sisters in Cuba.'
Their names with other newadditions bring the list to 242LifeMembe rs, 2l LifeFriends and42 LifeCommitments.
The LifeMember EndowmentTiust is held by the FWB Foun-dation. It now totals nearly$27,000.
Office Relocating ... AgainRandall Publications has been
gracious to provide office space toMaster's Men Department since1975. Due to space allocationswe moved to the top floor inSeptember.
Roberto Hernandez (U and Gílberto Triano accept honorary LífeMembercertifícates from Master's Men Director Jim Vallance.
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Mrü GnnwfDeparlment of Home Missions and Church Extension
of the Nalronal Assoc¡at¡on of Free Will Baplisls
Vote for Home MissionsNovember t ls Electlon Dayl
November 2O is Home Missions SundaytBy Roy Thomas
Horn" Missions is running on a goodplatform in 1988!
A total of L76 churches have beenestablished in the past. At the presenttime, 95 families of missionaries, "tent-makersi and national Mexican pastorsare establishing churches. Thousands ofpeople are now saved and serving theLord because they were won to Christby a home missions church.
Bible College enrollments haveincreased because students came fromchurches started by home missionaries.In fact, every denominational agencyenjoys the support of the churchesbegun by home missionaries.
Men and women in the military havethe blessing of eight full+¡me chaplainsand numerous national guard andreserve chaplains to tell them aboutJesus.
The Church Extension loan Fund(CELF) provides the means for missionchurches to secure property and build-
ings. The Missionary Builder saves mis-sion churches thousands of dollars andhelps erect beautiful buildings in whichto preach the gospel and win souls.
More than 250 RevivalTime Meet-ings on Evangelism and Church Growthhave been conducted by the Home Mis-sions Traveling TÞam.
Roll Call Sunday inspires churches tobreak attendance records and win soulsto Christ each year.
New convert packets, follow-up les-sons, and over 100 other pieces of liter-ature assist churches with winning andtraining converts.
The "Old Time Camp Meeting'onMonday afternoon at the NationalAssociation is an inspiration to hundredsof Free Will Baptists.
The "Available Pastorso and "Availa-ble Churches" lists maintained by theHome Missions Department assistnumerous churches in securing pastors.
Free WillBaptists are able to do more
toward fulfilling the Great Commissionthrough the ministry of the Home Mis-sions Department.
On November 8 Americans will casttheir votes for a president and vice presi-dent to lead our country. On Novem-ber 20 Free Will Baptists will cast theirvotes for home missions by giving spe-cial offerings to enable the departmentto expand its programs and start morechurches.
If God's people stay at home onNovember 8 and donl go to the pollsto stand up for biblical principles, ourcountry could be lost.
ll Frce Will Baptists ignore the votefor home missions on November 20,many precious souls could be lost.
We are calling upon every Free WillBaptist church to receive an offering ofat least $100 and send it for the mis-sionary of their choice or to the GeneralFund. Join me in casting your vote forhome missions. (Di
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lllllWoman's W¡ndow
From My Wndow'We put all the Lespedeza seed in one
hole and went swimming."I remember hearing my pastor say
those words, and I still get that sinkingfeeling in my chest when I recall thestory.
His father left him and his brothers tosow the seed in the cultivated field whilehe went on to another task. The boyswanted to go swimming, but he said,"Not until you have planted the seed.'
The field looked big. It could take allafternoon. Then someone thought ofan easy way. Just dig a hole, put alltheseeds into it, cover them over and goswimming. It didnt take long at all.
We used Lespedeza for feeding thecows in the winter on our farm. Evenas a youngster, I got a sick feeling whenI thought about it.
How could they so lightly disregardthe consequences of their actions?Nobody would even know about theseeds until it was time for them to comeup. Then it would be too late. How dis-appointed the father would be in hissons. And what about the winter foodfor the cows?
Oh, it was easy and painless that day.The summer sun was hot. The swim-ming hole was tempting. After all, theydid plant the seeds.
But eventually the seeds came up.Eventually they had to face the conse-quences. Then one day it was harvest
time and they could reap only what theyhad sown.
Galatians 6:7, "Be not deceived: Godis not mocked: for whatsoever a mansoweth, that shall he also reap.'
Mect Sue Hayes, Bookkeeper"Praise the Lord!" We often hear that
from the bookkeeper's desk in theWNAC office. When we do, we knowher report balances, she has found that59 cents she was off, or some statetreasurer has sent in a report with agood amount for WNAC officeexpense.
Sue has found her lord a "presenthelp in troublel whether it's with thebooks, dealing with the loss of a parent(Her father died April3.), or coping witha sick child.
Sue, born to Betty Jo and the lateHerbert E. Carter in Elizabethton, Tènn.,is the third of five children and the onlygirl.
When Sue was seven, her parentsmoved to Akron, Ohio. She graduatedthere from East Senior High School.
In the fall of 1969 Sue enrolled inFree WillBaptist Bible College as.a busi-ness student.
Then in May 7977, she went to workat Randall House Publications as secre-tary to Harrold Harrison. She spent L0years at Randall House, working mostof the time with Jim Lauthern inprinting.
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on the WorldBy Mary R. Wiseharl
There she met Michael Hayes whocame from Muskogee, Okla., to work atthe publishing house. They married inL972. They have two daughters:Angela Sue and Rachael DeAnne.
Sue attends Fellowship FWB Churchin Antioch, where she is a SundaySchool teacher, assistant clerk, andtreasurer for the Woman's Auxiliary.
After some time spent working for theHome Missions office and in theMaster's Men office, her work at WNACbegan in February 1987. She has atleast two immediate goals for work.One is to have regular monthly reportsfrom state treasurers. The other ismastering bookkeeping on the com-puter with R:Base.
Sue enjoys sewing, bowling andreading. But she especially enjoys find-ing bargains both for WNAC and herfamily.
DataBirth: February 6, 1950Marriage: June 3, L972Daughters: Angela-January
73. 7977Rachael-Februarv
14,7984
Look AheadPrepare now for the pre:Thanksgiving
week of prayer and the Lizzie McAdamsoffering for Home Missions.
Materials are included in the Novem-ber / December issue of Co-Laborermagazine.
Eunlce Edwards FundAugust 31, 1988-$15,648.56
$4,351,44 needed beforeDecember 31
Provlslon Closet NeedsTupperware: cereal bowls, juice tum-
blers, maxi-cake takersDrip coffeemakers like Mr. Coffee(D
Eoard of Retirement
AT YOUR SDfrVICEtlerman L. nerseyDlrector
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B¡bliography
Barkley, Vada L¿e, Suruíue and Thriue After FiÍty-Íiue, Ran-dall House Publishers, Nashville, TN, 1988. Strong tes-timony to the productive potential of senior years.Contains vital information on the aging process and retire-ment considerations.
Crisci, Elizabeth, 15 Fun-filled Programs /or Adults, Stan-dard Publishing, Cincinnati, OH, 1986. Excellent pro-grams including step-by-step instructions for invitations,name tags, decorations, favors, games, songs, refresh-ments and devotions. Special suggestions are includedfor senior adults.
Hauser, L. Roger, Actiuities With Senior Adults, BroadmanPress, Nashville, TN, 1987. A creative and instructiveresource for senior adult leaders. Chapters outline qualifi-cations, responsibilities, guidelines, relationships and eti-quette for the Minister of Senior Adults. Also includedare listings of service opportunities, club programming,activities, cultivating a witness, etc.
Miller, Sarah Walton, Drama lor Senior Adults, BroadmanPress, Nashville, TN, 1978. An 8O-page booklet withseven skits (some serious, some fun), a one-act play, twochoral readings and three monologues (bibl¡cal, a series,fun).
McCormick, Tom and Penny, Nursing Home Minístry, AManual, Ministry Resources Library, Zondervan Publish-ing House, Grand Rapids, Ml. Al?7-page manualin fiveparts for leaders. (1) Orientation, including an outline forBible study, (2) Needs, (3) Visitation, including guidelinesand introducing someone new to visitation, (4) Worshipand evangelism, including conducting Bible studies andinitiating a worship service, (5) Organizing the church for
ministry. In the Appendix is an extensive list of publishersof large-print literature.
Hendrix, John and tæla, Euerybody Ages-Youth Toq Con-vention Press, Nashville, TN. A study in six parts. Throughthe relationship of a youth and a senior adult, you dis-cover the seasons (stages) of life which lead you to under-standing and enrich your relationships with persons of allages.
Gulledge, Jack, The Seníor Years, Getting There-BeíngThere, Convention Press, Nashville, TN. Eight chapterssuitable for individual or group study on such topics as:making financial arrangements, using time, maintaininghealth, dealing with illness and crime, coping with grief,relating to family and friends, pursuing spiritual and socialenrichment, finding fulfilling service, making wills, etc.Suitable for adults of all ages.
Brown, Paul Fremont, From Here To Retirement, WordBook Publishers, Wacq TX, 1988. Fourteen chapters onpre-retirement planning covering the areas in which oneneeds to prepare and plan for a meaningful and abun-dant life in later years. An excellent book for ages 40-65.
Cooper, Owen, Managing Your Money in the Senior Years,Convention Press, Nashville, TN. This eighrchapter bookis suitable for individual or group study and covers suchtopics as attitudes, budgeting, investing, and giving afterdeath.
Maves, Paul 8., A Place Tö Líue In Your Later Years, Augs-burg Publishing House, Minneapolis, MN. A L17-pagebook written for older adults who are faced with decisionsabout housing alternatives. It covers concerns such as:confronting and coping with change, options for hous-ing, nursing and hospice care. O
REP@RT
voice was that of the little boy who saton her lap some L8 years before. Nolonger a babe, he was now a freshmanat Free WillBaptist Bible College andpreparing to go on his first tour. Sheand her husband had been invited tothe dress rehearsal of the EvangelPlayers'tour program for that year.
I had to watch several perform-ances of the program before I saw it all.The tears kept getting in the way. Godhas a wonderful way of sending usdown memory lane.
Gladys Gragg is the wit'e of Reu.Walter Gragg, pastor of Lewisburg(TN) Free Will Baptist Church, andthe mother of Michael Gragg, cur-rently a senior at FWBBC. Mikeserued this summer in luory Coosf osa student missionary and has minis-tered across the denomination withThe Euangel Players and TheEuangels DramaTeam. The GraggsIiue in Noshuille.
Down Memory Laneby Gladys Gragg
Afa young couple with two smallchildren waited expectantly for theevening service to begin. The little girl,6, sat between her parents while thelittle boy, only a few months old, layasleep on his mother's lap.
Voices broke the silence as a groupof young people on tour from Free WillBaptist Bible College, Nashville, Ten-nessee, marched brisklydown the aisle,quoting scriptures. Their voices, soclose, awakened the son and he beganto whimper. Mother drew him near asthe little girlalso snuggled closer. Whatwas all of this?
When the service was over. thewell-presented program had left a last-ing impression on the young couplewith the two children. The college kidsseemed different from any they hadseen. As they had introduced them-selves and told why they had chosen togo to the Bible College for their train-ing, the young mother thought of herown two children. "Lord," she toldHim that night, "l would so like tosomeday see my children serving Youin the way these young people areserving You."
\./nce again she heard the voicesof young people coming down theaisle. It took a few seconds to jar themiddle-aged mother from her daydreaming. As she listened, one voicestood out from all the others and hereyes glistened with tears. That familiar
Meet Leroy Forlines-No one associated with Free Will
Baptist Bible College has touched moreIives or earned a higher reputation forsterling character than Rev. LeroyForlines.
Rev. R. N. Hinnant, who waspreaching a revival meeting at theWinterville (NC) Free Will BaptistChurch in October 7944, probablyhad no inkling that the 17-year-old boywho was saved in that meeting wouldgrow up to have such a tremendousimpact on the course of the denomina-tion.
Mr. Forlines graduated fromFWBBC inl952 and moved to Vir-ginia to pastor the First Free Will BaptistChurch of Newport News. He laterreturned to teach at the college and,for 77 years, served as a student dean.He also earned degrees at WinonaLake School of Theology (M.A.),Northern Baptist Theological Semi-nary (8.D.) and Chicago GraduateSchool of Theology (Th.M.).
He maintainsa fullteaching sched-ule at FWBBC, including classes inSystematic Theology, Biblical Ethics,and, one of his favorites, Understand-ing and Helping People.
But what does such a serious-minded man do in his spare time? Heis currently working on his familygenealogy, but confesses that he alsoenjoys exciting rides at amusementparks!
He and his wife, Faye, have twosons in Christian ministry, John andJames.
His favorite verse is John 8:32,"And ye shall know the truth, andthe truth shall make you t'ree"-afitting verse for a man whose ministryhas been so liberatingl (D
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PULSE ot Free will Boptist Foreign Missions
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f,)ru,r" uoo ror Free w'r oap-I tist women! When it appearsthat no one can motivate people togive sacrificially to evangelize thelost, the women step in and do it.
In this case, missionary appoin-tees Ron and Linda Moore of SouthCarolina were the recipients. And itall happened in marvelous fashion!
When Ron preached at theBeaver Creek District Woman's Aux-iliary in Spartanburg, SC., on March5, he also presented a list of thingsneeded to get him and Linda toIvory Coast. The l¡st included$12,000 in cash.
Gwen Hendrix, president of thedistrict auxiliary, was challenged!During lunch she shared her con-cern with the presidents of the vari-ous local auxiliaries and with thepastors'wives who were present. "lwould like us to do something forRon Moorel she said. "l know that$12,000 is a good sum of money butI know we can do it if you are will-ing.' A pastor's wife spoke up andsaid, "l believe we can do it." ïì¡o orthree other ladies vocally agreed.
In the afternoon business sessionthe women voted to make the entire$12,000 their project. That was astep of faith for the 15 churches inthat district.
Within the next two weeks Gwencalled all of the auxiliaries in theupper part of the Beaver Creek andscheduled a meeting. Seven of thechurches were teptesented at themeeting and ideas were sharedabout how they could raise themoney. Those present made com-mitments of $7,000 that day.
Later Mrs. Hendrix met withwomen of eight auxiliaries from thelower part of Beaver Creek. Their
B,eaver Creeh Women D¡d It!By Don Robíñs
'-¡
Ron and Llnda Moore (Ielt, center) receíue a lorge check trom Beauer Creek DístrlctAuxílíary hæídent Gwen Hendrlx (right, centø) as R. Eugene Waddell, torelgn míssíons gaeraldírector (center), and auxlllary representatlúes look on.
commitment combined with that ofthe upper group totaled $13,000.The ladies also made plans topresent a check for $6,000 to Ronand Linda at a special meeting inAugust.
The women ootcd to møkethe entlrc $72,000 thelr
prcject.
Gathering at the First Free WillBaptist Church in Inman, SC., onAugust 6, the women bubbled withexcitement at what had taken place.
A huge blank check was rolled outand Gwen called all of the BeaverCreek women forward. She askedthem what they thought the total onthe check would be. They agreed itwould be $6,000. But when thetreasurer posted the amount, ittotaled $10,504. An additional offer-ing of $189 made the total over$10,600.
R. Eugene Waddell, generaldirec-tor of foreign missions, and FredWarner, director of church minisbiesfor foreign missions, witnessed thespecial presentation. MissionariesSherwood and Vada l-ee and SouthCarolina's promotional director, Nor-wood Gibson, also graced the meet-ing and rejoiced with the Moores.
"We cannot begin to express ourgratitude to the Beaver Creek Dis-trict Woman's Auxiliaryi said Ron..lt is humbling to know that theyhave this kind of confidence in ourministry. The united effort of so fewauxiliaries to reach such a large goalis an inspiration and example to allof us."
The funds for the project wereraised through various means: spe-cial pledges, walk-a-thons, suppers,pictures, a talent show, etc.
Gwen Hendrix concluded, "l don'tthink I've ever seen anything wherethe Beaver Creek came together inunity as I did over this money. Eventhe preachers seemed proud that wehad taken on this big endeavor."(D
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Herman L. HerseyExecutive Secreta¡r1¡9¿5u¡g¡
FOUnClat¡onHst
Part llHow Do You Earn Money?
A just balance or scales ane the Lordb; all theweíghts of the bog ate Hís work (establíshed on Híseternal princíples)' (Prcaerbs 16:II AMp).
There is far more to steward-ship of possessions than first'/;:'*:::; ";:;::';Í:;""r"u; God hears
appears. Attitude is just the begin- Are you a poor man who oppresses thening' God is also concerned with poor? Íou ut" riù
" r*"àpi"g,'¿ìiving rain-
how you earn incoml 1d s?ln ij:lijiå:i"::ïåi1ijiil'J3;;iååïlpossessions. Here are summaries ;8s.
Stewardship of Possess¡ons
of biblical principles. Test yourearning practices.
God rewards those who deal with a justweight and a lull measure. But, He will notjustify treasures of wíckedness nor ouerlookscant measure and t'alse balances. Usingdifferent weíghts and measures-one lorbuying and another for selling-offendsHim. Prouerbs 11:1; 20:70; Deuteronomy24:13-16.
Are you charging excessive interest toincrease your wealth? You are gathering itfor another who is kind and generous to thepoor. Proverbs 28:8; Ecclesiastes 2:26.
Do you gain financially by withholding justwages from employees? You should weep,for misery and woe are coming. The pay ot'
Are gou seeking a t'ortune by lging? Youare pursuing death. And, such ,reosu¡es djs-appear iike a uapor. Prouerbs 21:6.
Are you tempted to rob the poor and thefatherless because they are helpless? You willsurely come to want. The Lord pleads theircause. He plunders those who plunderthem. Proverbs 22:76, 22, 23;23:10, 11.
ln your haste to gain riches are you chas-ing fontasies and t'ollowing uain persons?Worthless pursuits? You lack judgment andunderstanding. Don't you know that the"get-rich-quíck come to pouertg? But, thehonest worker will haue plenty oJ bread andan abundance o/b/essings. Prouerbs 12:1.7:28:L9-22.
At first, wealth gained hurriedly and dis-honestly appears to be blessed. Beware! It
dwindles away. It ends up in the hands ofthe righteous. Proverbs 20:21.
Wealth earned honestly, little b9 little,increases and is blessed in the end. lt leadsto life. But the income ol the wícked tendsonly to further sín, and leads to puníshmentand deoth. Romons 6:27; Prouerbs 70:16:20:27; I Timothy 6:9-10.
Priceless eternal treasures come to therighteous. Only trouble, vexation and turmoilto the families of those who are greedy forgain. Proverbs 6:16; 15:6,27.
Whoeuer gets wealth dishonestly willleoue his ríches or they will leaue him ín themiddle o/ his dogs. In the end he will be ofool. He is like a partridge who hatches eggsshe d¡d not lay. The eggs are either brokenor stolen. Euen íf the brood ¡s hatched, theyleaue. Jeremiah 17:11.
It is far better to earn little and be in rightstanding with God than to get great richesby unjust and dishonest means. For theinheritance of the righteous is forever.Proverbs 15:16; 16:8; 28:6; Psalm 27:L6.
God's law ot' recompense ís this: Thosewho earn or gather much haue nothing let'touer; those who earn or gather littlelack nothing. All haue their needs met.Exodus 16:18, ll Corinthíons 8;15:Psalm 34:9. o
" . . . lay up for yourselues trcosures ín heaven, where neither moth and rust doth coftupt, and where thieues do not break through nor steal:For where your trcasure is, there will your heort be also" (Matthew 6:20-21).Enclosed is $- as a gift ( )in memory of ( ) in honor of
Acknowledge to
Occasion (if in honor of)
birthday, anniversary, holiday, etc.
Cooperative Plan of Support Endowment-for all national minishi€sForeign Missions Endowmenl-for all foreign missions ministiresMetcalf Memorial Endowment-for Brazil missionsMaster's Men EndowmentFWB Foundation EndowmentOther
A minimum of $100 is required to establish a new endowment.
Clip and mail to: FWB Foundation, P.O. Box 1088, Nashv¡lle,TN 37202.
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John Stott, Inoohsement: Belng aßesponclble Ch¡lr.tlan tn a Non-Ch¡Istfu¡Soclery (Old T¡ppan, Ncu Jcroe¡r: Flen-lng H. Bcvell Conpany, 19t5' 221 pp.,hardb¡cl¡, $13.95).
rdohn Stott, a leading evangelicalthinker of our generation, ¡s committedto maintaining the traditional doctrinesof the Christian fa¡th. In this volume, herepeatedly affirms his commitment toprayer, to the necessity of repentanceand faith, and to the transformingpower of the risen Christ.
Yet, John Stott ¡s also a world Chris-tian. He understands that Christ hascalled us to be both salt and light in theworld. He is convinced that the Chris-tian cannot withdraw into a shell of iso-lation; he must be involved for his owngood and for the good of the world inwhich Christ has called him to minister.
Most Christians would agree thatChrist has called us to be involved inworld affairs, but there is no generalagreement beyond this basic point.Many of us feel a sense of frustration.We wonder how we can make a differ-ence in the world in the name of Christwithout compromising our integrity asbel¡evers.
In this book, Stott suggests howChristians should approach such impor-tant issues as nuclear war, ecology, eco-nomic inequality and human rights. Heanalyzes each issue in a perceptive andinsightful way. He also recognizes thecomplexity of each issue. They are com-plex issues which often defy easy andsimple solutions; all Christians willnotagree on how they should beapproached.
On the issue of economic injustice, allChristians would agree that there is nojustification for the tremendous dispar-ity in economic well-being which existsbetween the developed counhies of thewestern world and the undevelopedcountries of the third world. Yet, Stottrecognizes that the causes of poverty arecomplex. Simply sending large amountsof aid may not provide a long-term solu-tion. Stott's analysis and suggestions canhelp us to have a much better perspec-tive of this complex issue.
Stott argues that the Christian mustavoid two extremes. On one hand. hemust not seek to impose Christian views
and values on others. Laws can nevermake believers out of unbelievers. Onthe other hand, Stott is convinced thatthe Christian cannot adopt a laissez-faire
attitude. He cannot afford to becomealienated and give up. He must find a
middle course. He must seek toinfluence the world in which he lives bypersuasion, argument and influence.
This is an excellent and thought-
provoking book. It is, of course, writtenfrom a British perspective. We under-stand that British laws and haditions aresomewhat different from ours, but thebasic points which Stott makes apply inany country. We are Christians, but wemust live in a non-Christian world. Thatis a difficult task, and we need all thehelp we can get to accomplish it. O
Cooperative Channel ContributionsAugust f988
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Dcolgn.$ 80.72
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6,290.62.00
16,050.796t7.53
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27,0M.99I 1,501. l0
881.618,501.89
193.311,295.3r
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Tot¡ls $84,r81I
DISBURSEMENTS:Executive Office $ 1,129.76Foreign Missions 66,462.42
FWBBC 3.227.76Home Missions 12,061.38Retirement & Insurance 90.24
Master's Men l&.68Commission for
Theologial Integrity 18.61
FWB Foundation 428.07
Historical Commission L6.20
Radio & TV Commission 18.61
Hillsdale FWB College 444.23
Other 219.97
$84,281.93 $115,358.39 $83,744.23 $849,694.31
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$ 1,020.00.00
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Washington Teenclnvolvcd ln Mlcslons
Two teens from New Hope FWBChurch in Kent, Wash., invested theirsummer in missionary activities.
Iæah Plunkett, daughter of PastorLloyd Plunkett, spent two weeks inMexicali, Mexico. Leah, a high schooljunior, joined a group of 40 youth fromher Seattle Christian Schoolfor this mis-sionary endeavor. Bible dishibution wasthe emphasis of the project.
Mark Swensen, currently a highschool senior, spent six weeks on hismissionary project. He was with a groupof 20 þens from across the UnitedStates that ministered in Bolivia, SouthAmerica. They met in Miami for fivedays of instruction and orientation. Theteens traveled with a sponsoring familyunder the auspices of New TiibesMissions.
In Bolivia, they ministered with theBob Garland missionary family. Theonly hansportation into the mission sta-tion was by boat or small airstrip. Themissionary was an amateur radio oper-ator and Mark's youth pastor, Jeff Hal-liburton, was able to make contactduring the missionary project.
The ministry involved hard work ina tropical climate. The teens assisted inbuilding dwellings for the Indian hibesand repaired the airstrip. Mark had the
opportunity to hunt with the nativeIndians.
The living conditions were primitive.The food and climate were drasticallydifferent from Kent. Yet when Markreturned to the states and was askedwhat he had missed most, his responsewas, "l didnt miss a thing."
Not only did Mark have the oppor-tunity to minister during the summer,but he has been greatly challenged tochannel his life into future missionaryservice.
Both L¿ah and Mark had to raisetheir own financial support. Theirchurch and other churches andindividuals assisted them.
Lcadershlp Conference AwardsAt the conclusion of the 1988 Truth
and Peace Youth l¿adership Confer-ence, special awards were given. Thegroup of 50 high school students had
completed a three-week intensive train-ing program, They had started the con-Lerence basically as strangers from 17different states. The conference endedwith a closely knit group of 50 friends.
The youth participants selected theBest All-Around youth. These awardswent to lori McGlone from Huntington,W. Va. and David Outlaw from Nash-ville, Tènn. They were both graduatingseniors and are now enrolled in FreeWill Baptist Bible College. The staffselected the recipients for the Outstand-ing leadership Awards. Michelle Laugh-lin from Cisne, Ill., and Jim Harris fromRowlett, TÞxas, were selected. Michelleis now a high school senior and Jimattends Hillsdale FWB College.
The 1989 edition of luth and Peacewill be July 3-19. Applications andinformation are available by writing:Tiuth and Peace, P. O. Box 17306,Nashville, TN 37217. O
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Mark Sweneon ewinge harnrner in Bolivia.
0ll l¡lTTl¡E l¡ñllESBY DONNA MAYO
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lfr. Lane looked at the big yellowfwlthermometer that had hung onthe back porch of his parents' farm-house since he was a boy.
"One hundred and onel said Mr.Lane wiping his forehead with ahandkerchief.
"l cant remember when we've hadsuch a hot summer," added GrandmaLane, sitting in the swing with Mrs. Laneand Megan shelling beans. Marty andJeff sat on the steps, and Mr. Lane andGrandpa in the big wooden rockers.
"Back in '491 said Grandpa as heslowly rocked back and forth. 'Now thatwas a scorcher. We had 21 days in arow when the temperature went over100:
You were just a little fella', Peterl saidGrandma with a soft smile. "Do youremember that summer?'
"Barelyi answered Mr. Lane. "lremember staying in the swimming holeas much as I could."
The twins' ears perked up. 'Swim-ming hole? What swimming hole?'theyboth asked at once.
"l wanna go swimmingl'said Jeff."Me too," said Marty. "Can we?""Please, Daddy, please," begged
Megan."l'm sorry young 'unsi said Grandpa
Lane, "but that swimming hole is toogrown up. It's like a jungle. The weedsare as tall as I am.'
"We don't carei said Marty. "Please,can we go?"
"Nol said Mrs. Lane firmly. "l'm sureit's snaky down there."
The twins went in the house for somecold watermelon and soon forgot allabout the swimming hole.
Ready and WaitingrnI he next morning Marty and Megan
went into the kitchen for breakfast.Everyone was already seated aroundGrandma's oak table-everyone excepttheir daddy.
"Where's Daddy?' asked Marty."He left early this morningl answered
Mrs. Lane. 'He said he had some workto do. He left this for you.'
Mrs. Lane handed the twins an enve-lope. Megan quickly tore it open.
Dear Marty and Megan,l've gone to get the swimming hole ready for
you. I took Grandpa! tractor and bushhog. l'llmow and then clean around the bank with aweedeater.l dont know how long it will take me,but be ready to go when I get back.
By ready, I mean have on your bathing suitsand do any chores that Grandpa and Grandmahave for you. I'll be back to get ,ou .oontu",
Daddy
"Hooray!'shouted Megan. She wasso excited she barely touched the stackof pancakes and sausages Grandmaheaped on her plate. 'What chores doyou want me to do?'she asked eagerly.Then Megan started to work at oncestripping the beds, gathering the eggs,shucking corn and helping Grandmahang out the laundry.
Then Megan put on her bathing suitand sat down in the porch swing towatch for her daddy.
Marty, on the other hand, took histime and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.Then he sat down in front of the televi-sion set.
"Son, before you go swimming I wantyou to hoe those two rows of beans inthe garden and clean out the horsestallsl said Grandpa.
'Sure, Grandpai answered Marty, nottaking his eyes off the tv. 'Soon as this
show is over.' But when that showended another one started and thenanother.
Megan came in once to remind Martyto get ready, but he didn't even hear her.He was so interested in the tv programsthat he forgot all about the fact that hisdaddy would be returning for him soon.
Ma.ty was finally jarred when heheard the back door slam and his sistershouting, "He's coming! He's coming!Yipee!"
Megan then ran back outside anddown the lane to meet her daddy. Mr.Lane stopped the tractor and Meganclimbed on and rode the rest of the wayback to the farmhouse.
Mr. Lane turned off the noisy engineand asked, 'Where's Marty?'
"He was watching tvi' answeredMegan. nl don't think he's ready."
'We'll seel said Mr. Lane.When Mr. Lane and Megan came in,
Marty was dashing up the steps to findhis bathing suit. His shirt was on the bot-tom step and he was tugging at his beltwhile he ran.
"Whoa, Martyi said Mr. Lane. "Whyaren't you ready?
I d¡dn't know for sure when you werecomingi said Marty. "l figured it wouldtake you a long time to bushhog, so Ithought I would watch a little tv. I guessI lost track of time."
"Have you done your chores forGrandpa?' asked his daddy.
Marty hung his head. "Nq siri heanswered.
"l'm sorry, Son, but you can't goswimmingi said Mr. Lane. Then heturned and went out the door. He andMegan climbed into Grandpa's oldpickup.
Does Your Chu¡ch Want This Famity?
By Pat Creech
new family moved into the city. Afaithful, tithing, church-attending
Free Will Baptist family.The head of the household was
employed by the phone company in amanagerial position. The family boughta home in the neighborhood of the
church. The female of the family hadbeen president of Woman's Auxiliaryand active in the dishict auxiliary. Adultfamily members had taught SundaySchool, worked in children's church andsang in the choir. The family was anx-ious to find a new church and becomeactive in it.
You'd think that any church in thearea would be happy to find a familysuch as this. Yet the family visited achurch of about 150 people for twomonths and only one person said hello.No one asked if the family was new inthe area or looking for a church. No oneasked for an address or called.
Undaunted, the family tithed in thehope that a new name on a check mightalert the heasurer and bring a response.But stillthe church showed no appar-ent interest in the family. Why? Was the
church unfriendly? Were they not inter-ested in visitors or new members?
What was wrong with the family?Why no interest there? You see, thratfamily contained only one membe¡, asingle woman. The church, Iike manyother churches, made the mistake ofoverlooking an eager prospect.
Since I married at the ripe old age of27, I feel I have a pretty good idea ofwhat dedicated Christian singles wantfrom a church. The first thought thatcomes to mind is a singles departmentor a singles Sunday Schoolclass. Whilethose things are nice, theyTe only icingon the cake. Dedicated Christian singlesare not looking for a church that pro-
Marty cried as he watched the truckbounce over the field and disappear intothe woods. Then he went to the barnto get the hoe. After five minutes ofhoeing, Marty's face was red and per-spiration streamed down his face min-gling with his tears. The sun was muchhotter now than it was earlier. If only hehad done his chores then. Marty had aterrible afternoon.
Meanwhile, down at the swimminghole, Mr. Lane and Megan were hav-ing a terrific time. The water waswonderful-so cool and refreshing.They swam and splashed and playedand then ate a delicious picnic lunchthat Grandma had packed for them.
At breakfast the next day Mr. Laneannounced that he was going to town.
When he got back he would take thetwins swimming-if they were ready.You can be sure that Marty didn't wasteanytime getting his chores done thatdaylThen he sat down to watch for hisdaddy's return. O
How lo thl,o ¡tor¡r lllre the occondconlng of Je¡u¡? Hos l,¡ lt d[fe¡-ent? Arc g¡on rcrdy for thc Lordbrcturn? lf you h¡ve nenc¡ actedJcouo to cone lnto yonr hc¡rt ¡ndforglve your olna, you can rlghtnoP.
Ple¡¡e dont be lllc Dta¡ty ¡ndgetlcñ behlnd ghc¡ Jc¡¡r coúG¡to t¡lrc Hlc chlldre¡ to hc¡ccn.
vides the "Dating Gameo atmosphere.They willnot choose a church based onits singles department. A single Chris-tian seeking God's will for his life real-izes that the right mate will not be at thewrong church and will choose a churchaccordingly.
So what does a single person look forin a church? The same things a maniedperson looks for! First, he looks for achurch that teaches the Bible, where hecan worship God in the way he believesis right. He also looks for Christianfellowship.
Like manied people, singles are mostcomfortable with people who have thesame interests. But never make the mis-take of thinking that singles cannot fel-lowship with manied people. They can.
Singles want a church where they canserve. They want to tithe and sing in thechoir or teach Sunday School. Theywant to work a bus route or play thepiano or bring food for a bereavedchurch family. Of course, not every sin-gle willwant to do all those things. Butthen neither will every married person.Singles, like married people, want toserve God the best way they can.
One more thing that singles wantfrom a church is to be treated like anadult. I'll never forget how I felt whenthe church I was attending as a singlewas having an "adult'Christmas party.As people left the church, the pastor'swife shook each member's hand andasked about plans to attend theChristmas party.
When she came to me she said noth-ing, so I inquired why she was not invit-ing me to the Christmas party. Hersurprised reply: "Oh, it's usually onlymarried people."
It's time we realized that mqrried andadult are not synonymous. [¿t's wel-come this growing number into ourfellowship. [¿t's not be guilty of over-Iooking excellent prospects just becausethey come to church alone. OABOUTTHE WRITER: Pot Creech is a memberol Glendole Free W¡,l Baptist Church in MidwestCity, Oklohoma.
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Psalm ll9 (Part Three)
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God's Word:Blessings and Response
f od's Word is pertect,the A to Z of\lHis revealed willfor man. Its per-fections are wonderful and call for man'swhole being to submit. That much wehave seen in the two previous studies.But the psalm does not leave all this ingeneralities. The inspired writer pro-vides rich detail about what God's spo-ken revelation of Himself does for usand how we should respond. Evenwithout comment, the simple list isoverwhelming.I. How God's Word acts on us.
It directs our ways (vv. 5, 35,105, 133).
It delivers us from shame (vv. 6,46l..
It cleanses our way (v. 9).It keeps us from sin (v. 11),
including specific sins like lyingand covetousness (vv. 29,36)-in short, from every evilway (v. 101).
It is the source of spiritual life forus (vv. 77,40,50, 93).
It opens our eyes to wonderfulthings (vv. L8, L291.
It serves as our best counselor (v.
24).It strengthens and fortifies us (v.
28t.It enlarges our hearts (v. 32ì..It gives us understanding (v. 34)
and supernatural wisdom (vv.
98,99).It provides an answer to those
who reproach us for our faith(v. 42).
It is the basis for our hope (vv.
43, 49, r14l.It produces in us a truly "liberated'
walk (v. 45).It comforts us in affliction (vv. 50,
92,1431.It teaches us a song (v. 54).It provides us the fellowship of
faithful companions (vv. 63,74,79).
It reassures us when others lieagainst us (v. 69) or seek todestroy us (v. 95).
It produces a sound and healthyheart within us (v. 80).
It gives light for us to walk by (vv.
105, 130).It causes us to have joy (vv. 111,
L62).It upholds, sustains us (vv. 116,
7L71.It gives us peace (v. 165).
II. How we should respond to theWord of God in light of itsperfections.
We walk in it (v. 1), run the wayof it, go in the path of it (vv.
32, 35'), turn our feet to it (v.
59).We keep it (v. 2), do it (v. 166),
heed it (v. 9), observe it (v. 34).We respect it (vv. 6, 117), con-
sider it (v. 95).We learn it (vv. 7, 71), hide it in
our hearts (v. 11), and so knowit (v. 125).
We declare it (v. 1.3), speak of it(vv. 46,I72).
We rejoice in it (vv. 14, 111),delight in it (vv. L5, 47).
We meditate in it (vv. 15, 48).We long for it, pant for it (vv. 20,
40, 11), seek it (vv. 45, 94),letour eyes fail from looking for it(v. 123).
We stick to it (v. 31).We trust in it (v. 42), believe it (v.
66), hope in it (vv. 43, 49).We lift our hands to it in depen-
dence (v. 48).We love it (vv. 48, 97).We remember it (v. 52), do not
forget it (v. 16).We sing about it (v. 54).We give thanks (v. 62) and praise
(vv. 164, 171) for it.We incline our hearts to it (v.
172).We take it as our heritage (v.
111).We fear it (v. 120), stand in awe
of it (v. 161).We esteem it to be right (v. 128).We choose it (v. 173).
These are two facets of the samebasic truth. When God's Word doessuch things for us we can do nothingelse but respond in such ways. Indeed,when we do not respond thus, theblessings are not truly ours. O
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f1NEWS OF THE
RELIGIOUS
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Ef,¡ANGELTCAL CHUBCH IN CUBAGROWTNG
HAVANA, Cuba (EP)-The evangelicalchurch inCuba is alive but is "waiting for a revivali accord-ing to Rodrigo Zapata, an expert on the LatinAmerican church and a missionary with Herald-ing Christ Jesus'Blessings (HCJB) World Radio.ãpata visited the communist-controlled countryin June.
"The Cuban church is in a period of transitionlhe said. "lt's not dead, it's alive. But it's waiting fora revival. Some believers are fearful of the futurelZapata preached in churches and led Bible studiesfor more than 60 Cuban pastors representingabout 30,000 believers in the country.
There is no organized persecution of the evan-gelical church by the Cuban government, but resis-tance can come in more subtle forms, especiallyfor those outspoken about their faith. For exam-ple, it is difficult for an active Christian to secureand to hold a,iob, according to Zapata, who saidit is "not impossible, but difficult. The Christian hasto be quiet so he won't be betrayed by someoneelse who wants to obtain his job:
In spite of the pressure, there are young, Chris-tian professionals spearheading future growth ofthe evangelical church in Cuba, according toZapata. "The new generation of Christians is ageneration ol university students and profes-sionals, doctors and scientists, cultured peoplewho are very well prepared and who have agreater impact on society."
A number of Christian radio stations broadcastinto Cuba: Family Radio from Florida, lans WorldRadio from Bonaire. and HCJB can be heardclearly throughout the island nation.
When he asked the S0O-member congregationof First Baptist Church in Santiago which of themlistened to HCJB, said ãpata, nearly everyoneraised their hands. He also reported hearing ofa church in the mountains founded by peoplewhen they came to faith through the radio pro-grams of HCJB ten years ago. "Ibday it's a strongchurch and has a pastori said ãpata.
BEYOND BELIEF
ITONE BELIEVE TN CHRIST, BUTFEWER IN CHURCH
WASHINGTON, DC (EP)-Though the nation'schurches are making little progress in attractingnew members, they have a much more receptiveaudience among unchurched Americans thanthey may realize. That's the conclusion of a newthree-volume Gallup Organization survey, "TheUnchurched American.'
According to a story by Rob Wright, the$193,000 project, funded by a consortium of 22
. Catholic and Protestant organizations, updates asimilar Gallup effort of a decade ago, and has"both good and bad news" for the church inAmerica, said pollster George Gallup Jr.
"lt's bad in that there's a lot of untapped ieel-ings out there about Jesus Christl Gallup said,"but by keeping losses down to a minimum andvalues levels up, the churches have beensuccessful."
The survey of 2,556 adults at 300 sites nation-wide found that zl4 percent of America's adults-some 78 million-are "unchurchedi defined in thepoll as neither belonging to a church or visitingone within the last six months except for religiousholidays, weddings and funerals. In 1978 4lpercent-61 million- were unchurched.
Gallup noted that the unchurched are becom-ing increasingly receptive to the message a churchhas to offer, and often stay away for reasons ofconvenience rather than hostility. More effectiveevangelism could make church members of manyof the unchurched, Gallup predicted.
For example, nearly 75 percent of non-churchgoers said they believe Jesus Christ is theSon of God; 77 percent said they pray, and 63percent consider the Bible to be the inspired wordof God; all increases from a decade ago.
Gallup concluded that unchurched people stayunchurched because major denominations lackeffective outreach strategies. "Evangelism shouldbe proposed, not imposed, as someone has saidiGallup added. "These people are ripe for the pick-ing, but it will take new and creative strategies toreach them.'
Only 40 percent of unchurched people saidthey stopped attending a church for reasonsrelated directly to the church, while 58 percentsaid they were open to joining a church if theyfound one that was right. The most common rea-sons given for stopping church attendance weÍemoving to a new community or getting involvedin new activities.
Unchurched people emphasized good youthprograms, personal relationships with clergy andchanges in their family situations as factors that
would lead them to consider rejoining a church.Slill, more than lhree-quarters of the unchurchedsurveyed said they believe a person can be a goodChristian or Jew even without attending churchor synagogue.
'ln many senses, to be American is to be reli-giousi Gallup concluded, noting that U. S. churchattendance dwarfs that in Western Europe. "Weare a remarkably religious nation, at least on thesurface.'
SOVIET CHURCH SELLING B¡BLESMEANT FOR GIFTS TO RUSS¡ANS
MOSCOW U.S.S.R. (EP)-The Soviet govern-ment, which usually highly reshicts Bibles and reli-gious literature entering the country, is reportedlypermitting more Bibles to be brought in by visi-tors as well as allowing outside religious organi-zations to make gifts of thousands of Bibles duringthis millennial year of Christianity in what is nowthe Soviet Union. However, it has been reportedthat the Bibles. wh¡ch were to be distributed freeof charge, are being sold at a high price to Rus-sian Christians.
Thousands of Bibles which were given by theUnited Bible Societies (UBS) to the official All-Union Council of Evangelical Christians-Baptists(AUCECB) of the Soviet Union, have beenoffered to unofficial, unregistered churches at acost of 30 to 35 rubles per copy, equivalent tonearly one week's salary, a source told News Neþwork lnternational.
l¿aders of unregistered Baptist churches inMoscow and Brest said they were offered theBibles at a cost of 30 to 35 rubles, an offer theydeclined because of the expense. Pentecostals inWestern Ukraine said they have been offered theBibles for 35 rubles apiece.
Ulrich Fick, general secretary of UBS, said hehad not heard that the Bibles were being sold inthe Soviet Union. "Our partners in the SovietUnion tell us they are not sold but are offered asgifts.' lndividuals often give money voluntarily inreturn for the Bibles but actual selling of the Bibleswould be in violation of the agreement betweenUBS and AUCECB, Fick explained. 'Our wholeunderstanding is that they do not sell [the Bibles]l
Tourists have reported that they have been per-mitted to carry up to 15 Bibles or religious booksinto the Soviet Union if they tell border officialsthat the literature is intended lor gifts. In the past,few tourists were allowed to enter the counby withBibles and seldom more than three of the sametype.
Tourists suggest that Bibles not be hidden in theluggage but also warned against being too openabout them, saying less attention results insmoother processing. $
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fil'll|Il{>Go Vote!THE SECRETARY SPEAKS
By Melvin Worthington
he American people will elect anew president November 8.Political conventions dominate
newspaper and television reporting dur-ing 1988. Some detest the entireþroc-ess while others delight in it.
What should be thìe Christian's atti-tude? Can a Christian, walking in thewillof God, be involved in the þoliticalprocess? Should Christians use theirinfluence to help elect political teaders?Biblical evidence indicates that believersnot only need to participate in the polit-ical process but that they can rnák" asignificant difference.
The Ordained AuthoritgrHuman government is a diuine insfí-
tutíon. Genesis 9:6 makes it clear thatgovernment was instituted for man'sgood: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood.by man shall his blood be shed. . . . ;
Paul affirms the same truth: "[¿tevery soul be subject unto the higherpowers. For there is no power but ofGod: the powers that be are ordainedof God' (Romans 13:1).
Human government is atso adesígned institution. Whatever may besaid regarding the error and evils in theexercise of government, even at itsworst it is so much better than anarchv.Government preserves the peace andexecutes justice.
L¿nski said, 'One implication is plain;anarchy is not according to the will ofGod. While it has had its theoreticatadvocates it could not be established soas to continue, for it is the abolition ofall governmental authority.'
Human government provides anorderly way of life for mankind andpresents the will of the lord for anordered, peaceful, just and happy soci-
ety. so far as government does not hin- The christian's obligation to humander.one's allegiance and adoration to government includes s-upplicofion. paulGod, obedience to its laws is required. instructs Timothy to piay for ail men
rhe obrigarion Addressed :1,ffit:"ä3ii'"'Jll;ä1J[ï:ilThe Christian's obligation to human the prayer of Christians. They need wis-
government includãs subrnission dom and grace from God to effectively,(Romans 13:1). This submission justly and honestly fulfill their responsi-includes subjection within (attitude) and bilities. They are the ministers of Godwithout (actions). Peterexhortsbelievers for good. Christians can and shouldto submit to every ordinance of man, pray for leaders.
and Paul directs his readers to be sub-ject to civil government. The Opportuni$ Afforded
The christian's obligation to human we can make a difference. The Lordgovernment includes support. Paul expects His people to be activelyinstructs, "For this cause pay ye tribute involved ¡n thá afiairs of civil gou"rn--also: .for they are God's ministers, ment. participating properly *iil n"tpattendìng continually upon this very insure a quiet and leä.eiul úte (l rimo-thing. Render therefore to all their duej: thy 2:l-2)'. christians should be and cantribute to whom tribute is due; custom be good citizens.to whom custom; fear to whom fear; First, we can expand our readinghonour to whom honour' (Romans scope. we can readþertinent informa-73:6-7). tion regarding the isiues, imptications. Government expenses will be and iná¡viduãb seeking public office.incurred both in carrying on of govern- we can be better ¡nforñ-¡åd.ment affairs and in rem-unerating the second, we can exercise our right tolabors of government officials. Hence vote. We can take time to vote. oui votethe need for income through taxes. To is important. If you plan to be awayrefuse to pay our share of taxes is not from home on Ñou"-ber g, vote b!only against the law of the land but absentee ballot. Do not take the right táagainst the law of the lord as well. vote lightly.christ paid taxes! The paying of taxes Th¡rd, we can exemplify responsiblebecomes an act of homage to God, an citizenship. we can set t'he irop", n*ur-act performed in obedience to His will, ple by having the right attitude andand acceptable to Him. action toward civil auihority.
The political process can be a richThe secretar¡/s schedule and rewarding experience. participation
Novcnber 2-4 Florida State Association begins with cheerful submission to civilNovcnber 6.9 Ambassador FWB church l|t:ontu'
continues with careful supportCincinnati, Ohio _. .ivil government, and climaxes with
Novcnber lo-12 Atabama state Associarion |"tå|?lt supplication for governmental
Novembcr 14-16 Tennessee State Association Join me in the politicat process. WeNovenber 17'19 Georgia state Associarion can make a difference. €D
Free Will Baptisrs
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CONTACT
P. O. Box 1088
Nashvlllo, Tennessee 37202
Second class postage paid at Nashville, Tennessee
VOTE FORHOME MISSIONS
1989 Mlsslonary Blrthday Galendar Avallable
The National Association has designated November as INational HomeMissions Monthtt and November 20 as trHome Missions Sunday.r¡ Free WillBaptists are encouraged to give gifts and offerings to support the 56American missionary families and 20 national Mexican pastors servingunder the auspices of the National Home Missions Board.
For each person who sends an offering of $25 or more designated for'rNovember Home Missions Offering,¡t a beautiful 1989 calendar listingbirthdays of all National Home Missionaries will be sent free of charge.Mait your gifts to National Home Missions, P. O. Box 1088, Nashville,TN 37202.
