Wednesday, February 24, 2011.

Tonight we presented the ministry at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Grand Praire, TX.  Pastor Grice preached on the need to spread the Gospel (1) because we can, (2) becasue we care, and (3) becasue we're commanded.  We are thankful to Lighthouse Baptist Church for their kindness to us in allowing us to stay in their missions house for two weeks.  This weekend we are off to the south of Texas, heading to Houston, for two meetings on Sunday.  More to follow.

What made the church of Antioch such a powerful missions church?

The Rock in Rephidim (Saudi Arabia)

Just as the water gushed out of this rock over 3,400 years ago to meet the thirst of the people of Israel, the church of Antioch (of Syria) in the first century poured out the Gospel by the power and direction of the Holy Spirit through its numerous preachers.  Two of those preachers we know especially well--Barnabas and Paul.

Antioch was certainly not the only church doing missions.  But, they were obviously pleasing to God for He chose to record some of the doings of this church specifically for our instruction.




What made the church of Antioch such a powerful missions church?
1.  Abundant Sowing of the Word of God in the church:  Acts 13:1; 15:35.
2.  Adament Submission to the Holy Spirit:  Acts 13:2-4; 16:6-7.
3.  Ardent Stand for the truth:  Acts 15:1-3.
4.  Absolute Sufficiency in the grace of God:  Acts 13:3; 14:26.
5.  Active Sending of men to preach the Word of God:  Acts 13:2-3; 15:40.

Most churches, because of following a traditional/cultural model of 'church,' cupold with apathy and worldliness, will not achieve the spiritual outout of Antioch.  Only by a practical and determined daily rejection of all the inventions and wisdom of men and, from our hearts, learning and doing of God's Word and joyful submission to the Holy Spirit of God will churches be as fruitful as Antioch.

Sunday, February 20th, 2011.

In Sunday School this morning we had the privilege of presenting the ministry to the folks of Faith Baptist Church of Temple, TX.  Adam, Sandy, and Natalie sang, we showed our video, I gave a overview of the work in Shelburne and our vision for future work.  I then answered questions to numerous good questions.  In the morning church meeting, the Lord was present, Brother Joe preached from 2Corinthians 8 on the grace of giving.  A young man named Jeremy responded to the invitation at the end of the preaching and placed his trust in Christ Jesus to save him from his sin—Hallelujah.  Tonight is a huge night for this church, as they take in their faith promises for missions for 2011.

Sunday evening was the yearly "super bowl" of missions for Faith Baptist Church.  The singing was great and Brother West preached a message entitled, "IN."  He asked...
Are you in missions by giving?
Are you in missions by praying?
Are you in missions by willingness to go?
When did you get in missions?
Why did you get in missions?

The grand finale was the taking up of the faith promises and adding up those promises made between God and each member.  We were honoured that Faith Baptist Church voted to take us on for support--thank you Lord.  We are very excited to partner with this church as we are convinced of their sincerity to pray for us and the church planting work of Chrgoggin Baptist Church in Canada.
Notable quotes:
"A lot of people add to the weight of a church; we need people to add to the strength of a church."--Joe West.
"The greatness of a church is not measured by how many sit in the pews, but by how many have been sent out with the Good News."--unknown.

Saturday, February 19th, 2011.

Tonight is the fourth night of Faith Baptist Church’s missions conference (our third night with them), and after some singing and an introduction by Brother West, we watched a missions film titled ‘Suicide Mountain.’  A true story of how a God lead a Japanese family to His Son, Jesus Christ, to be saved.  After that the people of the church had decorated different stations (like booths) after the following countries:  Canada, Thailand, Chine, USA, and Mexico.  In addition to this someone had researched and cooked foods found in each of the countries and all were able to travel from country to country trying out the foods—an international supper.  All of this is not focused on having fun, although it is fun; but, it is focused on encouraging the members of the church to trust God to provide their needs as they sacrifice to get the Gospel to those that need that ultimate and eternal gift. 

Pastor Mike Lewis, of Faith Baptist Church in Temple, TX.

Friday, February 18th, 2011.

This is our second day at the missions conference at Faith Baptist Church in Temple, TX.  Missionary to Mexico, Brother David West, updated Faith Baptist Church as to how the work in Mexico is going.  David West and his family have been in Mexico nine years.  Brother Joe West (David West’s father) preached a great message on the precious and virtuous church, and from the fact that a church is the bride of Christ he made numerous applications from Proverbs 31, and the virtuous woman.  Here are a few pictures from the missions conference.

Brother Joe West

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

We began our day in Lake Worth, TX packing our trailor and moving out of the missions house that we have for so long been blessed to use.  With prayer we headed south to Temple, TX on I-35.  We arrived at Faith Baptist Church, Pastor Mike Lewis, in the afternoon.  We are staying in a missions house that they own until Monday morning when we pull out for the next meeting.

We have the honour of being here at Faith Baptist Church for their missions conference, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday, inclusive.  These folks are passionate for missions, and they have a self-sacrificing attitude about serving God.

The speaker for this conference is Brother Joe West.  Thursday night Brother West preached about running our race and how utterly incompatable a Christian life of coasting is with Christ Jesus and His Word.  Coasting, meaning moving because of the easy downhill road, you do not have to put any effort into it.  Here is the strong point to this thought:  you can only coast if you are going down hill.  The Christian life is a continual climb and if you are coasting you must be going backwards.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011.

Today we headed into rural Texas to meet with Pastor David Locke and Highland Baptist Church in the community of Victor, close to Dublin, TX.  On the drive to the church through some beautiful rolling country side we passed a row of approximately 10 coyote carcasses that had been impailed on fence posts all in a nice line.  Someone had a profittable day varmit hunting.

We had a profitable and enjoyable day serving the Lord.  We had supper at Pastor Locke's house, Mrs. Locke is a wonderful cook, and enjoyed the company of both the Lockes and the Associate Pastor, Burt Atkins, and his lovely family. 

In the evening meeting the folks of the church were very interested in the work of planting churches in Canada.  Adam ministered in music, we showed our video, I answered questions, and then had a blessed time preaching God's Word.  It was a privilege to meet these people of God and get to know them just a little bit.