Great News From Blythewood Baptist Church
I got off the phone with pastor Horst Trojahn and had a fit.
The missions conference was a sweet touch of revival from Sunday thru Wednesday. God moved in a way that only God can move. I love it when there is no way man can take credit for how God works. After the church service Wednesday night, the pastor was at the church till around 10:30 p.m. People were talking with the pastor about how to get involved in missions. He said that half the church wants to go to the field and visit!
Please pray for Pastor Trojahn and the wonderful people of Blythewood Baptit Church.
May God bless you as you serve Him.
Bro. Tony
The Biblical Perspective
As the news of our new president became known last night, there were various reactions. This morning I read a blog by Austin Gardner that I thought tremendous. I think it will help all Christians who read it.
Some things I know about our new president!
Last night Barak Obama was elected president of the United States. There are several things you should know about this election as God’s people.
Psa 75:6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
Psa 75:7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
It is God that puts up and puts down. I must trust that God has chosen Barak Obama to be the president of our country now!
Pro 8:15 By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.
Pro 8:16 By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.
In our desire to think that we make many of these decisions I think it is wise to remember all of these verses from Scripture.
Dan 2:20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
Dan 2:21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
So I recognize that God is of greater power than the people and not only that I recognize that He has the heart of the king in His hand and will do through the president what He pleases.
Pro 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
I know that God can work in the king’s heart and place thoughts there:
Ezr 7:27 Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem:
I recognize my need to honor the authorities that God has placed over me and to pray for them. I hope you will do the same. Please remember that to obey is better than to sacrifice–in other words God prefers that you obey Him even to the worship that you could give Him.
Rom 13:1-8 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
I hope you will commit to pray for our president and all other authorities in positions of leadership above us. We can disagree with their policies but I think Biblically should respect their position. We should honor them. We ought not get into bad attitude bashings of our leaders.
1Ti 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
1Ti 2:2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
Be careful of the attitude that you have.
2Pe 2:10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
Let us put the ignorant who would talk bad about us as God’s people to silence. Do not have a bad attitude. Do not go around talking trash because your candidate didn’t win. Do not show disrespect for the president just because he wasn’t your choice.
1Pe 2:13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
1Pe 2:14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
1Pe 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
So let’s sum it all up:
God has placed Barak Obama in this position as our president!
God is still in charge and we can rest assured that He will accomplish His purposes under Barak Obama!
I need to honor and respect the authorities that God has placed over me.
I do not want to allow any kind of bad attitude or actions to ruin my testimony before those that do not know God personally.
I need to pray for all the authorities that God has placed over me.
I can disagree with policies and principles but ought not to get into personalities.
I know that God is at work to bring great honor and glory to Himself and I anxiously await what He has planned!
May God bless and use you greatly for God’s glory!
Bro. Tony
Blythewood Baptist Church
What a joy it has been to be with Pastor Horst Trojahn and the people of Blythewood Baptist Church here in Blythewood, SC. Bro. Horst has a wife, Joy and two teens, Heather and Nathan. What a fine family and great friends!
This church is growing and has a tremendous heart for missions. I praise God for their receptiveness and anticipate God doing great things through this conference. Please keep them in your prayers that God would work through them to reach the world with the gospel of Christ.
May God bless you greatly.
Bro. Tony
Good News!
Last night my sister tried to get in contact with me but by the time I could call her back, she was in bed. Tonight around 9:00 p.m. she called and we had an opportunity to talk.
Michelle, my sister, and I have always picked at and made fun of each other. She deserved it and I am pretty good at it! God has blessed us with a good relationship. Few things she has ever said has brought tears to my eyes but tonight she melted me down. She let me know that for 18 years she has been a good church member, deacon’s wife, and sunday school teacher, but knew something was not right. Saturday, while on a retreat, God dealt with her again and she got SAVED!
The joy and excitement in her voice were so beautiful and real. She said, “I never knew what peace I could have!” The she said, “I agape love you Tony.” and I said, “I agape love you too sis.” What a Savior!
Just wanted to share some good news,
Bro. Tony
My heart is so full I am about to die down here in Florida.
Eliminating Foolishness
I thought the following very good in evaluating our sermons and presentations. If you can not be honest with them, your wife will!
The beginning of excellence is the elimination of foolishness. You can ramp up your speaking performance by analyzing your last presentation with these seven questions:
- Did I stick to my allotted time? (As a missionary, whatever time the pastor gives you, take a little less!)
- Did I develop and present purposefully? (Do you have passion and urgency? )
- Was I thoroughly prepared? (Were you looking for nails or driving one home?)
- Did I capture attention at the very beginning? (How many seconds passed between your introduction and actual speaking? Many times our beginning is the sound of silence…not good.)
- Did I positively influence listeners? (Were they ready to love God more, serve more, and go to the field with you?)
- Was I appropriately entertaining, or at least not boring? (We do not seek to entertain but you can ask yourself, or someone who will be honest, are you boring?)
- Did I end only once? (o.k. I am leaving the computer to get some tissue, my nose is bleeding!)
Celebration Baptist Church
What a wonderful time we have had here in West Chester, OH preaching this week. Pastor Rick Groover and the people of Celebration Baptist Church have been so gracious. Tonight we met outside a Mexican restaurant for services and a meal. It was different and powerful. The food was some of the best Mexican food I have had anywhere and the service was refreshing. God gave us great liberty as we preached on Psalm 115.
Please pray for a young couple that have been coming to the services that need to be saved. The young lady is Tiffany and the young man is Victor. Victor is from Peru so God gave us a neat open door to speak to him about the Lord.
Tomorrow night will be our last service and I will drive home Friday. Thank you for praying.
Bro. Tony
Great Way To Witness
As I travel, I try to listen and learn. One of the things that I love, is to learn new ways to approach people with the Gospel of Christ. While with Pastor Rick Groover, I heard him use the following line that you may want to use or tweak to use in your own witnessing.
The question used to start the conversation was, “Do you know one of the first things I am going to do when I get to heaven? I am going to look and see if you are there.”
It was very effective and even got a smile from the person being witnessed to with her exclaiming, “How sweet!” You talk about knocking the walls down! Just a nugget that may help you along the way.
God bless you as you witness today.
Bro. Tony
Celebration Baptist Church - West Chester, OH
I started preaching for Pastor Rick Groover and the Celebration Baptist Church here in West Chester, OH yesterday and what a fine meeting we had. This is a new church plant that is growing and has a heart for service and the world. Please keep them in your prayers that the good hand of God would continue to be upon them.
They are in need of several things that I would ask you to keep your eye out for.
1. a Baptistry - they are seeing souls saved and need a portable, fiberglass baptistry. they are currently in a store front setting and need a new place but are having to borrow another churches baptistry.
2. a 15 passenger van - they are also in need of a church van. they are limited with who they can pick up and where they can go.
Please be in prayer about these things. If you can help it would be greatly appreciated!
Bro. Tony
Beware and Be Careful
Whether a pastor, missionary or evangelist, there are extreme pressures that must be endured. Notice the following stats. Brethren, we need to pray for one another, be accountable and take heed lest we also fall. I thought it sad the number NOT having daily devotions. May the power of God rest upon you and your ministry.
From our recent research we did to retest our data, 1050 pastors were surveyed from two pastor’s conferences held in Orange County and Pasadena, Ca—416 in 2005, and 634 in 2006 (I conducted a similar study for the Fuller Institute in the late 80s with a much greater sampling).
- Of the one thousand fifty (1,050 or 100%) pastors we surveyed, every one of them had a close associate or seminary buddy who had left the ministry because of burnout, conflict in their church, or from a moral failure.
- Nine hundred forty-eight (948 or 90%) of pastors stated they are frequently fatigued, and worn out on a weekly and even daily basis (did not say burned out).
- Nine hundred thirty-five, (935 or 89%) of the pastors we surveyed also considered leaving the ministry at one time. Five hundred ninety, (590 or 57%) said they would leave if they had a better place to go—including secular work.
- Eighty- one percent (81%) of the pastors said there was no regular discipleship program or effective effort of mentoring their people or teaching them to deepen their Christian formation at their church (remember these are the Reformed and Evangelical—not the mainline pastors!). (This is Key)
- Eight hundred eight (808 or 77%) of the pastors we surveyed felt they did not have a good marriage!
- Seven hundred ninety (790 or 75%) of the pastors we surveyed felt they were unqualified and/or poorly trained by their seminaries to lead and manage the church or to counsel others. This left them disheartened in their ability to pastor.
- Seven hundred fifty-six (756 or 72%) of the pastors we surveyed stated that they only studied the Bible when they were preparing for sermons or lessons. This left only 38% who read the Bible for devotions and personal study.
- Eight hundred two (802 or 71%) of pastors stated they were burned out, and they battle depression beyond fatigue on a weekly and even a daily basis.
- Three hundred ninety-nine (399 or 38%) of pastors said they were divorced or currently in a divorce process.
- Three hundred fifteen (315 or 30%) said they had either been in an ongoing affair or a one-time sexual encounter with a parishioner.
- Two hundred seventy (270 or 26%) of pastors said they regularly had personal devotions and felt they were adequately fed spirituality. (This is Key).
- Two hundred forty-one (241 or 23%) of the pastors we surveyed said they felt happy and content on a regular basis with who they are in Christ, in their church, and in their home!