Trinity Baptist Bullhead FYI

Great Missions Emphasis Sunday with the Cunninghams

2012-01-23T20:40:00.000-08:00

What a great Sunday we had as Art and Debbie Cunningham ministered to us here at Trinity Baptist. Brother Art ministered to us from the Word challenging us about the Great Comission as well as encouraging us to keep strong during the dark times. We were blessed and greatly encouraged in the Lord. God is Good all of the time and knows our needs. We look forward to hearing Dr. Tetreau this Sunday as well.

Using the Bible to Attack Racism and Justify Non-Violent Protest

2012-01-16T12:27:00.000-08:00

Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail is an amazing example of a man using the Bible to point out racism and justify protest against grossly unjust policies. If you haven't ever read through this, perhaps today is good day to. I find it his most inspiring work. Although not all of King's Theology can I agree with-his way of using the Bible to help stop social injustice is excellent in this document.

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

New Info for 2012

2012-01-07T14:13:00.000-08:00

Take a look at the blog for updates. There is a new memory verse for 2012 as well as some updates concerning things happening at Trinity Baptist Church. This Sunday, January 8th we will be listening to one of the great old fashioned preachers of our day, Ron Comfort on video as he preaches on the rapture. Pastor Craig will continue a series about Christ in the Old Testament. On Sunday night we'll be finishing up the Mormon scrapbook. Hope everyone can be there to encourage one another in the Lord.

A New Beginning in 2012

2011-12-31T08:19:00.000-08:00

I really do like New Year's Day. For nothing more than it is a place to start. It is a place to begin something new and put aside the old. We can always justify making a change in our lives on New Year's Day. So, the question for all of us at Trinity Baptist Church is what should be new for us in 2012? I wonder what the Lord has in store for all of us that are striving to do God's will in 2012. Maybe 2012 will bring a new way of reaching out to our community. Perhaps our God will bring people into our midst brothers and sisters in Christ that will inspire us to be stronger in our outreach! Let us pray for power, wisdom, love and growth. Although, I am daily thankful for everyone at TBC and their encouragement and love, I know that our body of believers could do so much more. Paul gives us great inspiration in the book of Philippians for a time like New Year's.
Philippians 3:13-14

13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
So on this New Year's Eve-I challenge my brothers and sisters to "forget the behind, reach forth to what is before and press to the mark." Its God year this 2012. God has been good and we have seen in particular young men and women be drawn to the Saviour in 2011. Let us look to our God for the way in 2012!

How Satan Tried to Steal Christmas

2011-12-25T17:11:00.000-08:00

We all love the holiday classic-"How the Grinch Stole Christmas". I'm talking about the cartoon that I watched as a kid and with my children every year for many years. I'll never forget the low bass singer singing "you're a mean one Mister Grinch." You know the story-he goes to Whoville to steal everything related to the Christmas celebration. In the end he is charmed by Cindy-Lou Who and saves Christmas for all. The Grinch did everything he could to steal away the joy of Christmas for the folks of Whoville. Well, Satan did everything he could to take away the true reason for Christmas. We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Satan tried his best to put up roadblocks to stop the birth and life of the Savior. Today we remembered three obstacles to the life of Christ.

First, the importance of God fulfilling his promise to David that the Messiah would be one of his offspring. Well, Satan caused many of David's offspring to be very wicked, so wicked that the wicked King Coniah was cursed that none of his offspring qualify to be the Messiah. God's plan would make sure that Jesus would be the son of David and that the curse of Coniah would be fulfilled. It happened that Jesus would be in the line of both Mary's lineage and Joseph's. Coniah was promised you will be "childless" for the Messiah of which he was, as Mary's lineage was through David's son Nathan and not the legal line of Solomon. God's plan was preserved as his plan remains true for each and every one of us every day.

Second, Mary was virgin born. To many of the day this was very hard to accept. God did a miracle as Mary was conceived of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 7:14). There must have been rumours of a stoning as that was the punishment for unmarried pregnancies. Joseph was told by God in a dream that this baby was unique and special. He remained true to his betrothed and God's plan was fulfilled. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. Satan's plan was thwarted.

Third, the baby Jesus was saved from a murder by the wicked King Herod. The three Godly wise men refused to give in to Herod and give him details of the whereabouts of the baby Jesus. Joseph reacted quickly to take his family to Egypt to avoid the baby killings that would happen in Bethlehem. Again, God's perfect plan was fulfilled. Satan tried and failed. He tried to stop the redemption plan and failed. He tried every day to distract us from serving our God. He tries to use trials to cause us to doubt. Christian- Satan has already failed. Trust Christ as Savior and let him rule your life. Don't let Satan steal Christmas!

Christmas Carols and the Gospel

2011-12-14T06:05:00.000-08:00

This week our young people at Trinity have Christmas concerts nearly every day. Actually there was one Monday, last night and each week night of the rest of the week. I'll be Christmas caroling with two different clubs here in the next week and our youth group will carol on Monday evening. One could easily tire of hearing Christmas carols. My daughter Jeanette mentioned this very attitude to me this week. But, with a Evangelistic mindset, Christmas is the greatest time for the Gospel. All you have to do is sing (usually) the last verse of our most treasured Christmas Carols. Take Silent Night-
Silent Night, Holy Night, Son of God, loves' pure light. Radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace. Jesus Lord at the birth, Jesus Lord at the birth.

Redeeming grace is the hallmark of the Gospel. Christmas is a great time to comment on this verse and the redeeming grace. This is an easy transition to a Gospel witness of Christ to the unsaved.

Take The First Noel and the last verse:
Then let us all with one accord Sing praises to our heavenly Lord, That hath made heav'n and earth of naught, And with His blood mankind hath bought.
Here we read of God being the creator and His reaching down and shedding his blood to buy back our eternal redemption. Wow! I challenge you to take some time to share the last verse of a Christmas carol to someone this week. It is like a Gospel Tract sent from World and American Cultural History. :)
Tomorow more Gospel Carol Last Verses.

Sunday is Mongolia Day

2011-12-10T07:15:00.000-08:00

This Sunday we are excited to have our missionaries, the Conners,to the land of Mongolia. After serving the Lord nearly 20 years they have retired to Flagstaff, Arizona and are looking forward to new ways of service for God. We hope to continue to be involved in their endeavors whatever they may be. Sunday Brother Dick will be here to preach and encourage us in the Word. We pray that you can be here.

Celebrating the Birth of the King

2011-12-06T22:27:00.000-08:00

Trinity Baptist Church will be celebrating Christmas this year with a special youth program on December 18th and a special Christmas Day Celebration on the 25th. We welcome everyone to come and join us as we celebrate the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our services will begin at 11:00 am each day.

Giving Thanks

2011-11-21T19:53:00.000-08:00

I love Thanksgiving. It is a truly American holiday that emphasizes the importance of our Christian history. It is without dispute that the first Americans were Bible believers and sought to come to America so they could more freely worship the God of the Bible. We look back on the Pilgrims and realize their hard work, sacrifice and commitment to the new life that they had chosen in America. But, they had come because they wanted to more freely worship, so it was all worth it. The Pilgrims relationship with their God was all-important.

The first Thanksgiving was a celebration to God's goodness for helping them to survive. They could have dwelled on the hardships and hard times that they went though, but instead gave thanks to His goodness.

We need to have the same attitude this week. As America gives thanks and celebrates the good things God has given them, so should we give thanks to the God of our salvation and all the good gifts that are from above.

Thanks, Dr. Bob, for the encouraging words

2011-11-11T16:45:00.001-08:00

We were privileged to have Dr. Bob Jones III, from Bob Jones University with us last Monday, November.7th. He was a blessing.

Mrs. Jones also blessed with an encouraging dramatic reading. It challenged the hearts of our young people for mssions.

The music was excellent, the fellowship was great and the preaching was encouraging. One day we are looking forward to seeing some of our young people go on to attend BJU. It is one of a few excellent Christian colleges in our land that takes a stand for Christ and is not ashamed of the Gospel. This Sunday we pray that God would use each one of us to minister to each other. We can encourage one another in the fellowship and just in each other's presence.

Evangelism in the City

2011-11-11T16:42:00.000-08:00

October 21st and 22nd our church had the opportunity to share God's Word with our town. We held an open air booth at the Hardyville Days.

Several of us spent time passing out Gospel Tracks and sharing the Good Test. Many were challenged about their sin problem and exhorted to be made righteous before their God. What a blessing to share the message of Jesus to our City.

Dr. Bob Jones III to speak at Trinity Baptist

2011-11-06T07:42:00.000-08:00

Monday, November 7th, we are excited to have Dr. Bob Jones III with us for a special meeting at 7:00 pm. He will be traveling with Beneth, his wife as well as two musicians who will be blessing us with some excellent special music. This is the second time Dr. Bob will have spoken at our church. The last times was back in the 80's. Dr. Bob has travelled widely and preached in many foreign countries along with most states in the United States. We'll be having a dinner provided by the church at 6:00 pm. We hope everyone will invite their friends to this important event. Our church is located at 1941 Havasupai Dr. Just review the blog to find directions to our church.

Are Christians Arrogant?

2011-09-24T06:53:00.000-07:00

Read this excellent article that answers this important questions for skeptics. Christian shouldn't be arrogant, but we should be confident in truth. We should be thankful for being freed from sin. We should be lovingly sharing the great Gospel that is the only way of salvation.

How can Christians say Jesus is the only way to God?

Isaiah 45:21
"There is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me."
John 14:6
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

How can Christians be so sure they're right and everyone else is wrong? Isn't that arrogant?Logically, it's not possible for all the major world religions to be valid ways to God. As seen in the verses above, Christianity states that the God of the Bible is the only true God and salvation is only possible by accepting Christ as Savior and Lord. Judaism states that the God of the Torah/Old Testament is the only true God, but that Jesus is not the Messiah, putting it directly at odds with Christianity. Jesus either is the Messiah, or he is not. If he is, Judiasm is not a valid way to God; if he is not, Christianity is not a valid way to God. The mutual exclusion only grows when other religions are added: Islam says that Allah is the only true God, and that anyone who says Christ is the Son of God will be condemned (Qur'an, 5:72, 9:30). Furthermore, if religions other than Christianity are valid ways to God, then one of Christianity's basic principles is false; in that case, can it still be said to be a valid, trustworthy religion? (See also 1 Cor 15:14-19.)
No matter what belief system you adopt, you will be saying that your system is right and that the billions of people who don't accept it are wrong. If Islam is correct, the billions of non-Muslims are wrong; if Orthodox Judiasm is correct, the billions of Gentiles are wrong. If it is correct to approve of multiple belief systems because they're all valid ways of acheiving spiritual enlightenment, the billions of Christians, Jews, Muslims and others who belive in exclusive religions are intolerant and therefore wrong.
How can Christians be sure their religion is the right one? Being born into a Christian family or growing up in a Christian community doesn't make one a Christian; culture and ethnicity don't determine one's relationship with God. Instead, people become Christians because they are convinced of the truth of Christianity and/or have had experiences with God - in short, they have good reasons for believing Christianity to be true. (See the testimonies of people who have become Christians.) Also, Christians are not saying that their personal ideas are true, but that the Christian God exists, andhis words are true.
Furthermore, Christianity is unique among religions because it addresses the fact that we can never be good enough to be in the presence of a perfect, holy God. In order to be perfectly good, we would have to be doing good all the time. If we do something wrong, we can't undo it, and we can no longer be considered perfect. Nor can we do more good to make up for our wrongs, for perfection requires doing the most good possible at all times - we can't be more than perfect to make up for when we're less than perfect. Other religions teach that we can somehow do enough good to earn heaven or nirvana, but they don't address the fact that we continually make mistakes. Christianity teaches that our sins were paid for by Jesus' death on the cross, and that by accepting his payment and believing in him we can be forgiven; we don't have to earn our way into heaven, which is a good thing, because we can't do it. Christ is the only way to God, because without the forgiveness that comes through his death and resurrection, there's no way for us to be able to stand before a holy God.
Saying that Christianity is right does not mean that Christians themselves are right about everything, or that they are innately superior to non-Christians. What Christianity teaches is that both Christians and non-Christians "have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23) and need salvation, which comes only by the grace of God, not the individual's actions or merits (Eph 2:8-9, 1 Cor 1:26-31).
Christianity is intolerant of other beliefs
Is refusing to call a belief false always the right thing to do? For instance, is it right to say that racism and Nazism are simply alternate belief systems that we shouldn't pass judgment on, or should we condemn these beliefs as being morally wrong? If someone believes they have the right to rape or kill whomever they please, should we accept their beliefs as an alternate lifestyle, or denounce them? Tolerance is an admirable virtue in many circumstances, but tolerating wrong by refusing to say it's wrong is in itself wrong. If Christianity is true, then there is only one God and salvation comes only through Him, and religions that deny this are not merely alternate forms of spiritual expression, but systems of belief that prevent their adherents from obtaining salvation. If Christ is in fact the only way to God, then to claim that he's not is both false and dangerous. If someone has a fatal disease, telling them that they don't need to seek medical treatment is wrong. If someone can only have salvation by accepting Christ as their Savior, telling them they don't need to accept Christ is even more wrong, no matter how tolerant or well-meaning it may seem to be.
Christianity is exclusive - those outside the church aren't saved
First of all, would a religion that taught that everyone goes to heaven be a good religion? We would all like to think that we and our loved ones will go to heaven. Yet if everyone automatically goes to heaven, this includes evil people as well as good people. Should an unrepentant killer go to heaven? Should someone who enjoys torturing people, or who molests children and feels no guilt, go to heaven? If not, then there are cases when it's morally right for people to be excluded from heaven.
Christianity does not teach that only Christians deserve to go to heaven. Rather, it teaches that no one deserves to go to heaven, because we have all done wrong during our lives (Rom 3:23). We can gain admittance to heaven by repenting of our wrongs, accepting Jesus Christ's death as payment for our wrongs and deciding to follow and worship him as Lord. The principle is that Jesus is the only way to God, not any particular church or denomination (Jn 6:40). Thus, salvation is accessible to everyone and is intended by God for everyone:

Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. (Is 45:22)I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone...This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men. (1 Tim 2:1, 3-6)

(See also Is 49:6, 52:10, Rev 5:9.) Indeed, there are people "from every nation, tribe, people and language" who will be saved (Rev 7:9). Thus, far from being exclusive, Christianity is inclusive. Anyone who chooses to accept Christ as Lord and Savior is a Christian and has equal standing with all other Christians before God.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3:26-28)

from Spurgeon

2011-08-20T21:06:00.001-07:00

"Thy Word"--not that voice in my head--"is truth"

Your weekly dose of Spurgeon
posted by Phil Johnson

The PyroManiacs devote some space each weekend to highlights from The Spurgeon Archive. The following excerpt is from "Our Lord's Prayer for His People's Sanctification," preached on Sunday Morning, 7 March 1886 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London.

"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."—John 17:17.

hat is the truth? There is the point. Is the truth that which I imagine to be revealed to me by some private communication? Am I to fancy that I enjoy some special revelation, and am I to order my life by voices, dreams, and impressions?

Brethren, fall not into this common delusion. God's word to us is in Holy Scripture. All the truth that sanctifies men is in God's Word. Do not listen to those who cry, "Lo here!" and "Lo there!"

I am plucked by the sleeve almost every day by crazy persons and pretenders who have revelations. One man tells me that God has sent a message to me by him; and I reply, "No, sir, the Lord knows where I dwell, and he is so near to me that he would not need to send to me by you."

Another man announces in God's name a dogma which, on the face of it, is a lie against the Holy Ghost. He says the Spirit of God told him so-and-so; but we know that the Holy Ghost never contradicts himself.

If your imaginary revelation is not according to this Word, it has no weight with us; and if it is according to this Word, it is no new thing.

Brethren, this Bible is enough if the Lord does but use it, and quicken it by his Spirit in our hearts. Truth is neither your opinion, nor mine; your message, nor mine. Jesus says, "Thy word is truth." That which sanctifies men is not only truth, but it is the particular truth which is revealed in God's Word—"Thy word is truth."

What a blessing it is that all the truth that is necessary to sanctify us is revealed in the Word of God, so that we have not to expend our energies upon discovering truth, but may, to our far greater profit, use revealed truth for its divine ends and purposes! There will be no more revelations; no more are needed. The canon is fixed and complete, and he that adds to it shall have added to him the plagues that are written in this Book.

What need of more when here is enough for every practical purpose? "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."

Fruit

2011-08-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

God is good all of the time! A missionary friend, Chip Thompson, is always using this phrase in his letters. Sometimes we think its only some of the time. But, God is good all of the time even when we don't understand or like His way. It really is easier to recognize this when God gives fruit to ministry.

This Sunday we will celebrate fruit in the ministry. Two young people have professed their faith in Christ in the last few months and we say "God is good all of the time." It is easy to say that when you see two young persons excited about living for God.

We will be at the river on Sunday night-as two follow the Lord in obedience in Baptism. It is Fruit. Fruit of the ministry makes us say "God is good all of the time."!!!!

Back to School and Back to God

2011-08-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

This is my motto for August at Mohave High and Trinity Baptist Church. I wish all of you could have been in my classroom at 7:45 am on Friday. There was a young man attending, a senior at MHS, name Eric Torres. I knew Eric form his Sophomore year and was always impressed with his respectful and quiet way. On Friday Eric wasn't quiet. I asked him to pray at the end of our meeting. Eric walked to the middle of the classroom and blessed our small group of Christian kids. He prayed out loud to His God with boldness, sincerity and fire. The kids left the meeting with a spring in their step. They were all deeply affected by Eric's power in prayer. Wow! and so was I.. Eric simply prayed to the Lord. His prayer was about blessing our school and asking God to bless the Christians at Mohave.

We are back to school and my prayer for our kids and our adults is that we are back to God. May we continue to be "back to God" throughout this entire year.

Battling for the Gospel

2011-07-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I had a wonderful sense that God and us had some success in the Spiritual battle that we are fighting here in Bullhead City. There were eleven young people in our audience. A couple of those were ones that we had specifically been praying for over the last year or so. But, I shouldn't be surprised. This summer God has been working in our young peoples lives. I observed sincere commitment to Spiritual decisions after our young people returned from Ironwood. The decisions were not earth shattering ones. But our kids were mostly excited about getting serious about studying the Word. Band camp brought an environment to encourage the kids to truly keep those decisions.

Sunday was a great blessing. But, it is one small victory for righteousness. There are many more battles that lie ahead. May all of us, stay on our knees in prayer. May we continue to believe that God will save the ones that we have prayed for. This week pray, brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray that seeds planted will come to a transforming fruition of New Life in Christ.

Ephesians 6:10-12

¹⁰Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Growing in Christ

2011-07-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

2Pe 3:18

But grow in grace, and [in] the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him [be] glory both now and for ever. Amen.

My question for you is are you growing in Chirst? Or are you standing pat. Are you continuing to learn more and more about Jesus every day? We must be continuing on Christ. My reason for posting this is I've been challenged by our young people. We've spent plenty of time and effort making sure that each young person could go to Ironwood camp and then on to music camp. It was such a great blessing to see our kids make decisions for Christ at both camps. I was impressed at the great Godly examples that our kids had in the leaders and counselors of both camps. Our kids saw Christian young people that loved God and were living for Christ. They came back into their Bibles and excited about studying God's Word. What a blessing its been to see God work in young men and women's lives.

Now it is for all of us to make sure we are on a similar path. Are we on the path of growing in Christ? Are we open and willing to let God work in our lives and continue on in Christ? Let us learn and be challenged by the young people this summer and "grow in Christ."

Summertime Visitors: Discipleship and Evangelism

2011-06-21T07:29:00.000-07:00

The past two Sundays at Trinity Baptist we enjoyed two unique out of town visits. It is encouraging to fellowship with believers in other churches that are committed and growing in the Lord. Sunday, June 5th a young man showed up at our door from Gardena, California. From the first word of my sermon I could tell that he was greatly focused in hearing God's Word. After the message, we invited him for dinner. We found this young man (his name is Guy) had been saved only for 1 year. God had reached down and saved him out of a life of sin. Sarah and I were amazed at his love for God's Word and the things of the Lord. In one short year he knew more about the Bible than some believers know after 20 years in Christ. I was challenged at how his church (an Orthodox Presbyterian Church), and his Elder (the one responsible in the church for discipleing Guy) had been so diligent in teaching and bringing Guy to an intimate and vital relationship with Christ. Guy is a testimony to this incredible emphasis on discipleship that this Calvinistic, Presbyterian, but obviously committed group of believers is to not only bringing people to Christ, but teaching them how to live.

Last Sunday we were again encouraged in a different way. Our numbers were down a bit for the Sunday School hour when a visiting group of two families came in right before the Morning Worship. A group of 15 brothers and sisters in Christ walked in our door to nearly double our attendance for the day. These friends were again from Southern California and attended the Pacific Baptist Church of Long Beach. Nearly all of this group, adult and children, were involved in the bus ministry in their neighborhood. Their Pastor, Pastor Esposito is obviously a man who is intensely involved in winning souls. One of the young men is a Loatian-American who was saved in the bus ministry. After he got saved he started attending Pacific Baptist's Christian school where he grew in Christ. Later he brought his sister and brothers along with him to church. They got saved and began attending the Christian school of which he was responsible for helping them financially get through. Now, not only his wife and two children, but all of his younger brothers and sisters are fellowshipping in the church. From this story one can tell that God is doing a great work of evangelism in Long Beach through the brothers and sisters in this church.

After observing our visitors that last two weeks at Trinity, I am challenged on two concepts: Evangelism and Discipleship. These are two words that need to be a part of our mission statement. We need to reach more souls and we need to teach new believers more intensely. How can you, member, friend, concerned one of Trinity Baptist Church help us achieve these two things? May we all this summer be a part of evangelism and discipleship.

Exodus Series

2011-04-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

It has been way to long since I last blogged. . I've (Pastor Craig) been way busy with so many things going on in my life. I need prayer to juggle in a way that is balance for the Lord.

Tomorrow, Sunday, May 1st, we will be continuing our Old Testament series that took us through Exodus 14 last year. We will be looking at the children of Israel in the wilderness. May all of us learn from the mistakes made by these wandering believers.

So Long Dear Friends

2011-03-21T17:40:00.001-07:00

Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD [is] the death of his saints.

This last week we lost two of our most faithful members and friends to their heavenly home. Brother Lee Cooper and Sister Betty Geant both went to meet their Lord. We are saddened at our loss but are joyful that they no longer are suffering and are now in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm so thankful for having known both of these good friends. They were so very faithful to everything we did at our church. There was really no keeping them away from any church service or activity. They never missed anything unless they were "deathly" ill. I really mean that. I know it is a cliché-but these two saints rarely missed church. What an example and an encouragement to all of us.

Brother Lee I have known for at least 20 years. He did so much around the church that we are missing him already. I think I've heard more people say they miss the way he greeted everyone that came in the doors of our church. He was always there with a smile and a strong handshake that just helped to make people feel welcome at Trinity. Of course, none of us can forget the hillbilly jokes that he was always telling. How many of our young people heard "here comes trouble" as Lee greeted them with a twinkle in his eye. He then would laugh and slip a piece of candy in their hand. Lee loved the Word of God and loved to share the Gospel with others. We all will miss this man who served with all of us in the Gospel.

Our dear sister Mrs. Betty Geant I have known since I was around 8 years old. Mrs. Geant's husband, Bill, was my Sunday School teacher when I was a junior aged kid. Bill and Betty served together in any way they could when my dad served at the Riviera Baptist Church. Later, after Brother Bill passed away Betty was a faithful member and prayer warrior at the First Baptist Church and then most recently at our church.

Betty was a faithful friend. She always looked at things with Christ-colored glasses. No matter what trial or tribulation she might be dealing with she trusted Christ to take care of her situation.

We will miss these good friends but know that they are in a much better place.

Glorious Songs of Praise

2011-02-25T22:28:00.000-08:00

Praise the Lord for the great meeting we had on Thursday night as we hosted the Steve Pettit Team. We were blessed to hear the powerful message given in song. Then Brother Steve preached a simple but piercing message of the Gospel of Jesus. Praise the Lord for his work in the life of our church.

Goodbye to our good friend Tammy Kang Hing

2011-02-16T15:51:00.000-08:00

This week I got word that one of our dear friends went home to be with the Lord-Mrs. Tammy Kang Hing. She shared with us some wonderful reflections about her end of life struggle. It blessed my heart and she wanted us to share it. Be blessed by the words of one who had the "hope of heaven."

September 25, 2008

Beloved Family and Friends,

I feel the urge to put some words to paper so here I am on a quiet Thursday night in Shanghai, China. I can feel lumps on the right side of my abdomen when hitherto the tumors have always been in the left hemisphere. Sounds like something out of an “Aliens” movie. Yuk! So the reality is that the cancer seems to be advancing. While I still hope for that longed-for miracle, I acknowledge that God is sovereign and I submit to His perfect will. Amazingly, I’m still enjoying pain-free days. Most mornings I turn on the stereo and just dance. Yeah, dance! While I still have all my faculties together. Might as well.

Zach comes home, jumps on the computer and discovered what I’ve been up to. I overheard him complaining to Anson, “Hey Pa, Mom turns her music on so LOUD when we’re away. What will the neighbors think??” Hey, our neighbors are all teachers and they’re at school like you. That’s how I get away with it, kiddo. Snitch. He wears the computer like an appendage and is constantly on MSN or Facebook. Your kids like that, too? These days he carries a furtive little smile and seems lost in his adolescent world. Who is his latest crush, I wonder. Isaac is still chasing balls. First it’s rugby, then soccer. Now tennis. The quintessential jock. I hear his jazz band is going to Paris in the spring. Paris?! Yes. Drool.

My children I worry not, for I have long ago introduced them to the One who will order their steps (God himself); the Comforter and Counselor who will teach them all things (the Holy Spirit) and the way to salvation (the Lord Jesus Christ). And I know my Lord will continue to show kindness and favor to my children, and my children’s children, for His love endures forever.

And Anson, my beloved Anson. He makes me so happy. When we were newly married, he used to wake me by showering kisses on my face until I squeal. Oh, how wonderful to be a new bride, I thought. I wonder how long this will last. Eighteen years later, he still wakes me with kisses. Do you? Do you still kiss your bride every morning?

We cannot change the hand we’re dealt, but we can decide how we want to play it. I decided I would play mine with positive Hope and gratitude. And truly, when I reflect I’m warmed by how blessed my life has been. So while in quantity I may have been given only a half measure; in quality, I have received more than a full measure. So much more.

The secret to maximizing life? Dare to dream. Then chase those dreams. Take risks. Stake it all on the line if you have to, for you only live once. People have wronged you? Forgive. Forgive again. Forget and move on. Seize the day! Celebrate. Don’t save your best silverware and crystal glasses for “the occasion”. Today IS the Occasion. For there may not be many tomorrows. Take that trip. Buy that designer dress. Take her out to dinner. Regrets? I would worry less. We are not meant to be weighed down by the cares of the world. Learn to cast your cares upon Jesus and live free.

All my life I’ve only known love and acceptance. My childhood was packed with two chief pursuits: fun and mischief. And a gang of eight like-minded girls whose friendships I cherish to this day. We had a blast! Here’s to more reunions! I enjoy a lifestyle that straddles two continents and the best that both have to offer. I remember when we lived in Arizona for two years, we must have visited some twenty national parks. Talk about packing it all in! We hiked, camped, fished. Back in Asia, I would comb beaches on our vacations, lose myself in markets and bazaars and of course, ate and ate as only a Malaysian knows how! I have lived life abundantly. My cup runs over!

But best of all are the friends I met on the way; relationships nurtured, cherished. As Shakespeare once said, “I’m ne’er so blessed as when I count my friends.” Ditto. Testament to that fact is having so many of you vicariously walking my final journey with me. I have never known great sorrow or tragedy. Neither the terrors of war nor disaster. I have held my baby in my arms. I have loved and been loved in return. All my dreams have come true. And then some. Surely goodness and mercy have crowned my days!

So now you see how difficult it is to leave all this behind. For truly I have tasted a slice of heaven even while here on earth. But Jesus said, “ In my Father’s house are many mansions. I have gone to prepare a place for you so that where I am, you will be also.” Me? Mansions? I would have been grateful to be a beggar in heaven! But there’s more. The Bible says that “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has God conceived into the minds of men the things He has planned for those who love Him.” Our minds cannot even begin to fathom how good it is going to get. Be rest assured, I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever!

And what about you? Do YOU know your eternal destiny? It is perhaps the most tragic reality of humanity in that deep in our spirits we so yearn for life to go on forever, yet it cannot. But it does! It DOES! For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Tarry not, for the days are short, the years gone in a flash. I urge you do NOT rest until you find your answer. For God has promised that whosoever seeks Him in earnest will find Him. And in so doing I pray that someday you too can walk the Valley of the Shadow in triumph!

Share this message, for it is my last testimony of God’s enduring love. In closing, I wish to bless each of you with Numbers 6:24. “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face shine upon you. May he turn his face towards you and give you his peace.”

To GOD be all the glory! Till we meet again, shalom.

Tammy

Mary and Judas

2011-02-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

Sunday we were blessed as we looked at one of the faithful servants of the New Testament, Mary of Bethany. Perhaps no other person in the Bible had such a zeal and desire to "know God". This is our theme for 2011. Mary demonstrated a zeal and desire to know God and worship Him. My prayer for the brother and sisters at Trinity Baptist Church is that they also seek to "know God" like Mary did. May we also have the willingness to be sacrificial in our service for Christ. How can you serve our God with the sacrificial like Mary's.

Hard Work!

2011-02-05T22:28:00.000-08:00

This Sunday, February 6th, we'll be looking at the Parable of the Talents. I think it is a perfect message for this week for many of us at Trinity Baptist. Let me explain. On Monday a few of us got word of great musical accomplishments of two of our young men at Trinity Baptist. Andy Dell and Caleb Evins both tried out and made a very prestigious honor band of Northwest Arizona high schools. Andy also made the honor choir. Knowing my son Caleb and Andy as a son in the Lord, I'm aware of one excellent quality of these two young men-they both understand what the word hard work and practice means. When you hear them make music in our worship time-it is because they have put aside other pursuits to practice their instrument. God has given them a natural ability that they have made excellent because of practice. Like the 5 and 2 talents owners they have not squandered the natural ability that has been provided by Almighty God. On the subject of hard work-we had a small but effective group of workers on Saturday to clean up the property. We were blessed by each other in doing our part. Again, we put aside our day to give of ourselves for the Glory of God. Well, I've given away a couple of illustrations for Sunday, but I know most of you probably won't read this until after the worship time on Sunday. May we be "a good and faithful servant" with what God has given us.

Steve Pettit Music and Evangelistic Team here February 24th

2011-01-24T19:55:00.000-08:00

Wow! I feel very honored and excited to announce that the

Steve Pettit Evangelistic team will be with us on February 24th. Their music has encouraged our hearts and been a great resource for our own ministry in song at Trinity Baptist Church. Make plans to be there! Bring your unsaved friends who love music and they will be challenged by the powerful words in song.

Also, check out our new memory verse. Remember with God "All Things

Are Possible"

Goodbye to our 1st Memory Verse

2011-01-24T19:29:00.001-08:00

MEMORY VERSES FOR 2011
WEEK 1-2 JANUARY 5-19

MATTHEW 5:14-16 (KING JAMES VERSION)

14Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

From Centurion to Wild-Man

2011-01-17T20:23:00.000-08:00

Our God is no respecter of person's. The racist Neo-nazi's of this world are blasphemous when they try to use the scripture to justify their revolting position on the separation of the races. Likewise, the high society-type Christians that look down on common-folk believers and future converts, are wrong in their desire to be separate based on class.

We know from Christ's time on this earth that he took the message of His saving power to all people. He intermingled with "sinners" because they were the ones who needed a Savior. We learned this concept from the Lord in Matthew 8. Our Lord healed the Centurion's servant. He had no problem dealing with one of the upper class of Rome, but he also healed the destitute desperate, demoniac who lived in the cemetery of the Gadarenes.

This was our discussion on Sunday-may we remember that our Lord is the Savior--of one of the Centurion (the privileged one) household, but also the wild-man possessed of Satan himself. Let's go out and reach this needy world for Christ.

Follow Bible Characters Throughout the New Testament

2011-01-09T15:05:00.000-08:00

This year I (Pastor Craig) will be putting together a series of messages that follows the key Bible characters throughout the New Testament. This Sunday we started with the contrasting characters of Matthew the Publican/Apostle and Herod, the Great (or you might want to say Terrible). This Sunday we looked at these two government workers. Herod had an interesting background. His family history was related to the Maccabees who were the liberator of Jerusalem from the wicked Greek empire. He did some good things, like rebuild the temple. At times in his life he had an interest in preserving the religious system of the Hebrews. But, in the end he was really all about himself. In looking back you can see that all the good decisions he made were all to build himself up and give fame an fortune to himself. He eliminated nearly every close family member around him. An even more infamous event of Herod was his mission to seek out baby Jesus and have him killed. Thanks to the wisdom of the "wisemen" this never happened. Eventually, in his jealous rage Herod had the young babies of Bethlehem slaughtered. Herod is in sharp contrast to the transformed life of Matthew. His life is not greatly detailed in the scripture. We just know that he was called, he immediately followed, and invited all of his tax collector friends to his house to hear Jesus speak. We don't know for sure but everywhere the Savior went people heard and accepted. I can't imagine anything less happened at Matthew's house. You've got a house right? You've got a changed life in your own redeemed soul, right? May you be like Matthew. Invite your tax collector friends (of course your friends may be teachers (in my case) or some other type of person, and present to them the Savior. Challenging words from the life of Matthew the tax collector turned Apostle.

New Year's Eve-Know God in 2011

2010-12-31T09:20:00.000-08:00

Its New Year's Eve. My prayer for the Trinity Church Family is that they know God in 2011. May your priority be putting Jesus First. Brother Mike reminded me of the "One Way" sign from the 70's. It was a reaction to the two fingers sign of supposed "peace". The anti-war crowd was responding to the unpopular Vietnam War. Their only response was to say "no war". But this movement was largely made up of irresponsible radicals. They had no idea of the true peace that can only be given through the liberating power of Jesus Christ. The year 2011 uses the #1 twice. May we know Christ with double emphasis in 2011. May we know the One Way of not only eternal salvation but of living "In Christ". Our Church family will be reading through the New Testament in 2011. One chapter a day five days a week will get you though all of it. Email the passages every day from this website. http://bibleplan.org/nt/kjv/
Know God-Know the One Way in 2011!!!

The Gospel in Carols

2010-12-26T21:31:00.000-08:00

The after-Christmas day at Trinity Baptist was a great day! God has given us some very good musicians and they ministered excellently! I believe the Gospel could not have been presented more clear than with the wonderful combination of instrumental and choral music. Especially wonderful was the youth choir as they sang "O Little Town of Bethlehem." I closed our service challenging the folks to receive the gift of salvation. Here are the words of the pertinent verse-
"How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in."

My prayer is and I know everyone's prayer for those who were there who have not accepted the gift of the Gospel is that today they might receive Jesus. Christmas time 2010 would be the perfect time for those who have not met the Savior to give in accept the gift of eternal salvation.

Praise the Lord for Christmas 2010-it was a great one of lifting up the name of the One who came as a baby in a manger.

Christmas at Trinity

2010-12-23T00:16:00.000-08:00

Don't miss Christmas at Trinity on Sunday, December 26th at 11:00 am. We are doing some great music including instrumental ensembles and vocal ensembles. We are looking forward to God doing something exciting in the lives of those who attend.

"For unto us a child is born,"

2010-12-20T21:57:00.000-08:00

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

These are wonderful words that Handel uses in the oratorio The Messiah. This is Old Testament prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah. Our Messiah did come. Jesus came into the world as the God-Man the incarnation of God. We've been spending this entire month remembering the coming of the Savior to the world by looking at the words of Handel's Messiah. First we looked at Isaiah 40 and the preparation for the Messiah. We learned that there would be the forerunner in the person of the John the Baptist. He would be there to prepare the way of the Lord. He did this with his message of repentance. Many people heard and responded. He truly did help prepare the way of Jesus. Then, the second message reminded us that Jesus' coming will purify us. Jesus came to save. He was born to die to be the redeemer of our sinful condition. We also were reminded that one day this great Messiah will purify Israel in His second coming. It will be a great day for all believers. Finally, this last Sunday we looked at the Christmas story from Luke 2. We were amazed at the angels song of "Glory to God in the Highest". We saw the example of the Shepherds who went and took the great message that Messiah had come to everyone they knew.

Brother and sisters in Christ may we take the example of the Savior to all around us. May we be like the shepherds and broadcast the gospel message to all those in need of a Savior. This Christmas may the season of the incarnation of God be real in our hearts.

Back to School Series at TrinityBullhead

2010-08-07T17:47:00.000-07:00

This month I'm doing a series of back to school messages. Each message is from a different epistle in the New Testament. Last Sunday I covered Knowing Christ, this week it is Conquering Temptation from James, next week it is Fellowship from John, and the final week is Balance from Peter. Don't miss these exciting messages form God's Word. I believe its really important that all of us are there fellowshipping together with the believers. Young people, be there this Sunday as we are challenged to have Victory over temptation. You'll need this this year!!! See you tomorrow!!!!!

Ironwood Day at Trinity Baptist

2010-07-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

We had a nice day in the morning worship time!!! We had the kids that went to Camp Ironwood this summer sing and share what God did in their lives. They sang some really great songs with powerful messages. God's Spirit was working today as we sang and listened to the Word of God being preached. We are excited about each one of these young people and their growth with God.

Sunday nights are continuing to be a great blessing as we watch the video series "The Truth Project".

One of the great songs we sang today:

Our Eyes Are Upon You by Michael Bryson

Our eyes are upon you, Lord
In your name we have put our trust
Our eyes are upon you, Lord
In your name is everlasting strength
Are you not God in Heaven above?
And in Your hand is there not might and power?
And in Your strength we shall overcome
For You our God will fight for us
Our eyes are upon you Lord
In your name we have put our trust

Ironwood Week

2010-07-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

Last week our kids went to Ironwood. Praise the Lord for some very good decisions. We sent a couple of friends from our Homeschool group and they got saved. We are thankful and excited about those decisions. Brother Dave Young was the preacher for teen camp and was excellent. He really related well to the kids and challenged them to grow in Christ. Kristopher Schaal was the speaker for the Juniors. He did a great job challenging the kids to serve God with their lives. We are praying that each one of these young people will take steps in their life to continue to grow.

Freedom, Communion and Philosophy

2010-06-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

If I could use three words to sum up our Sunday these would be the three words. We looked at the Lord's Supper in Sunday School. Brother Mike challenged us about worshipping the Lord in the communion service. He also compared the Lord's Supper with one of the feasts of Leviticus.

At 11 we continued with our study of Abraham in Genesis. We read of the sin of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar and how they collaborated to create an unholy relationship among each on of them. This sin resulted in one of the most infamous feuds between nations the world has ever known. It is the root of the Arab/Israeli problem. We also read from Galatians how the Lord used the illustration of Hagar and Sarah as a picture of how we can have a freedom in Christ. We can be as one of the offspring of the right relationship between Abraham and Sarah instead of the slave relationship of Abraham and the servant Hagar. In all of this we were encouraged to know that "In Christ" we are able to call our Heavenly Father "Daddy".

In the evening we again were intellectually challenged again by Brother Dell Tacket as to our worldview. We looked at philosophy and how we can't separate this concept from the truths found in God. I wish all of you could be there for this. It would truly challenge your mind and help to strengthen your resolve to be a "stand-up" man or woman for Christ.

Don't miss Sunday's at Trinity. God is working. Please don't miss out.

Truth Project Tour 1

2010-05-31T08:35:00.000-07:00

Veritology--what does this word mean? Well, we found out that Del Tackett created this word for this lesson. Veritas means truth and ology means the study of. This was our first tour. We learned that truth starts with God-everything should filter through God as we study truth. Why did Jesus come to the earth? He came to testify of the truth. These are the questions we answered in our first session in the Truth Project. I was encouraged and reaffirmed in my faith. Jesus is the object of my faith. This is such a firm foundation. I hope all of you will grow and be encouraged in the Lord as you build or reevaluate [or reaffirm] your Christian World-view. Here are some verses to remind ourselves of what we learned. These are from the KJV which I think equally if not more so makes the truth powerful!!
John 18:37 (King James Version)

37Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

2 Thessalonians 2:13But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. 16Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,

John 8:44
44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Colossians 2:2-3

2That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; 3In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge

Do you really believe, that what you believe is really real?

Think on these things!!!!!

Summer Begins!!

2010-05-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

Its the first Sunday of Summer tomorrow. We are continuing our study of Genesis. We have been looking at the life of Abraham. He gives us great lessons in faith and pioneering. At least that is what I've gained. Abraham was always moving out on faith. He lived in tents and moved around to many areas of the Middle East. God had lessons for him to learn from many different places. Abraham also was being trained to be the father of many nations. Tomorrow we'll look at the faith of Abraham. He was like all believers. He had to believe on God for righteousness. Today we trust Christ the only high priest for our righteousness. We cannot rely on some church or man-made system to provide for us a place with God in heaven. Trust Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone. There is no other way.

This summer dedicate yourself to your relationship with Christ. Be challenged in your relationship by being with the believers.

Sunday night we will meet for the "Truth Project" video series, part 1. I hope all of you will be there to be challenged in your Christian world view.

Know What You Believe!!!!

2010-05-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

Christian, know what you believe!! Brothers and sisters in Christ, do you really know what you believe? I've been grappling with this concept as I've seen a supposed Christian sister fall away from the true believing church to Mormonism. It is a startling thing. To follow false prophecy after professing a belief in the Gospel. Brother and sisters study your bibles. Don't take everything for granted. Find the answers on your own first and then seek help for the answers you can't find from an Orthodox Christian Brother or Sister in Christ. There is only one way to heaven and that is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us "I am the way the truth and the life". Here in John 14:6 Jesus makes the way clear and distinct. There is no alternative or additional information on the matter. Those that are not trusting Jesus alone, the God-man, as the perfect sacrifice for their sin, are destined for a terrible place called hell.

Do you know what you believe, Christian? Can you explain the Gospel. Do you know how to explain that men and women come to God by grace through faith alone? Do you embrace the Trinity of God and the Deity of Christ? These are critical truths that determine if your faith is real and truly enduring when judgment comes.

At Trinity Bapitst Bullhead we are dedicating our summer to teaching the TRUTH and knowing how to defend it. We've enlisted Dell Tacket and the "Truth Project" series to help us. Every Sunday night we'll be meeting to consider how to answer the hard questions about our faith. Be there for our first meeting May 30th at 6:00 pm. Register and check out the website: http://www.mytruthproject.org/small_group_support/search_groups.aspx?query=&country=US&state=AZ×_of_day=0&days_of_week=0&sort_by=city&reverse=false

Tonight 5/16 we'll be having our meeting at the Don Sullivan Park at 6:00 pm. Bring a friend to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our speaker schedule for this coming two week is as follows:
Sunday School Today: Brother Mike McCormack
Sunday Worship Today: Pastor Craig
Sunday Night: Brother Lee Cooper
Wednesday: Brother Lee Cooper
News Sunday School: Mike McCormack
Next Sunday Norming: Pastor Craig
Next Sunday Night: Graduation Banquet

Again=Update May 2nd

2010-05-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

Its May. I hope you will make the first Sunday in May honoring to the Lord by being in His House on His Day. It is the Lord's Day. We are worshiping the Lord at Trinity Baptist Church. We'll have some great special music with my sister and her husband helping out today and tonight.

Speakers for this week are:
Brother Tom in Sunday School
Brother Jeff in the Worship Hour
Pastor Craig Sunday Night
Pastor Craig on Wednesday Night

Something to think about :] How to Judge a Great Church
What does it take to make a great church?

1. No soft seats or great light, but courageous leadership.
2. No sweet tones of the organ, but sweet personalities.
3. No tall towers, but lofty vision.
4. Not a big budget, but big hearts.
5. Not money received, but service rendered.
6. Not a large membership, but God's presence.
7. Not what it has done in the past, but what it is doing now and in the future for Jesus Christ

.

The Lord is Good!!

2010-05-01T23:09:00.001-07:00

Continuing in Genesis at Trinity baptist

2010-04-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Meetings:
Sunday School: Brother Tom
Morning Worship: Pastor Craig
Sunday Night: Business Meeting and Pastor Craig
Wednesday Night: TBA

Events:
Teen activity-Saturday, May 1st, 5:30 pm
Camp fundraiser at Sam's Club, Saturday, May 15t

Another school years is about to pass. Hard to believe. It has been a different year for me-but overall a good one in God's grand scheme. His will is perfect and every year at this time I reflect on what lessons and wisdom I've learned.

God has led our church into an exciting summer. Sometimes we look sad at the summer as we lose a few winter visitors. But, i'm excited for the days when I can be more of a full time pastor. There are many things I'd like to work on in ministry and outreach. I hope to get with my laptop and porch swing to open up my mind to His leading. We will be working with our young people and preparing for two different camps. We've added the International Baptist College Music Camps to our schedule for the kids. Please pray that we can send a good group to both this camp and Ironwood as we usually do.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, I still believe at Trinity Baptist Church we offer as balanced a ministry of any Evangelical, Fundamental, Baptist, or Bible church work in our valley. If I didn't than I wouldn't be here. As long as this is the case I will be here trusting the Lord and working together with all of you for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Updates for March 17th

2010-03-17T23:05:00.000-07:00

This Friday we'll be getting together with the youth at Pastor Craig's home. Missionary Steve and Anne Knox will be here to share the Word with us and to play music with us as well.
Mark your calendars for our special Easter services on April 4th. We'll meet at 7:00 am for our sunrise service and then meet for our regular worship service at 11:00 am. Hopefully we'll see all of you there.

Update for February 21st, 2010

2010-02-21T08:19:00.001-08:00

Here are few updates and a prayer for the harvest:

This Friday, February 26th, the youth will be joining the MHS Christian's Club movie night. We'll be watching "Left Behind" starring Kurt Cameron. It begins at 6:30 pm. at the bandroom. Don't miss it!! Bring a few dollars for popcorn, candy and drinks.
Also we'll have a spring work day on Saturday, March 13th, from 7:00 am until 3:00 pm. Everyone come out and help. Let's get our facility looking good for the spring. Bring tools, gloves, paint brushes and your strong will to work. God is good the last several months. I've prayed often the Macedonian call for our church. You remember in Acts when the Macedonians asked Paul to send over workers to help in the minsitry. God has answered our prayers in this matter. We have added to our flock men who can teach, preach and exposite the Word of God. He has answered the TrinityBullhead call. What a praise. But now our call is for the harvest. Pray with me that the Lord will send a harvest as we are now better equipped to minister. Our family is praying for fellowship for the youth group--we can only do this by reaching out to the community with the gospel. Pastor Craig

New Carpet

2010-01-30T12:48:00.000-08:00

To God be the Glory,

We are really excited at the new look at our facility. We've put in new carpet and it looks great. I hope all of you will be there on January 31st to praise God for his provision. Thank God for this and the new roof-which protected us from a huge rainstorm last week.

Upcoming activities at Trinity Baptist Church

Our Sunday night meeting will be at the church at 6:00 pm.

Friday night, February 12th is our Ironwood promotion with all of the kids. We'll meet at Pastor Craig's house at 5:30 pm on Friday night. All camp age kids are welcome

Velentines banquet and golf is February 13th at Scooter's and then El Palacio. We'll golf at 10:00 am and then eat at noon. Hope you'll be there.

Pastor Craig

Update 1-24-09

2010-01-23T18:38:00.000-08:00

Here are a few calendar updates for this week:

Don't forget the Valentine's Banquet and Golf Tournament Saturday, February 13th. We'll play golf at 10:00 am and then go to El Palacio Mexican Restaurant at noon. Don't miss this fun time together.

Trinity Baptist 2010

2010-01-13T21:16:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Dates: Youth Activity, Friday, 1-15-10 at the Evins Home-5:30 pm
Valentines's Golf and Dinner-Scooter's and El Palacio-10:00 am

The Business of Christmas

2009-12-22T06:44:00.000-08:00

my prayer for you all this year is that the Business of Christmas does not squeeze out the opportunity to strengthen your relationship with those you are closeest to and with the Lord. Let's keep the source of our experiences this year in Jesus Christ. Be encouraged by these words from Chambers.

My experience is not what makes redemption real—redemption is reality. Redemption has no real meaning for me until it is worked out through my conscious life. When I am born again, the Spirit of God takes me beyond myself and my experiences, and identifies me with Jesus Christ. If I am left only with my personal experiences, I am left with something not produced by redemption. But experiences produced by redemption prove themselves by leading me beyond myself, to the point of no longer paying any attention to experiences as the basis of reality. Instead, I see that only the reality itself produced the experiences. My experiences are not worth anything unless they keep me at the Source of truth—Jesus Christ.
From Chambers December 21st

Jesus Christ the Messiah

2009-12-21T07:03:00.001-08:00

He is the only Messiah and th eonly one who ever could be. We've seen this through the many prophecies of the Old Testament and we've also see this because of the lineage of Jesus Christ on the past two Sundays. There just would be too many coincidences for the Messiah to be any other than Jesus Christ, son of Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit and adopted by the legal heir to David's throne. It is a truly amazing thought. It is a miracle from the Lord. Jesus is the Messiah, He is the Savior of the world, He is Lord. Is He Lord of your life today? Put your trust in Christ this Christmas. Put him first! Be there on Wednesday as we remember the Lord and Sunday as we look back at the Christmas season and think on what we need to in the new year to serve our Savior.

Looking Forward to Christmas

2009-12-16T05:57:00.001-08:00

Christmas Caroling, Friday, December 18th-meet at the Evins house at 5:30 pm. Call us is you'd like to be caroled at.

Special Christmas Program and Service-This Sunday at 11:00 am

Great Advice from Chambers

2009-12-16T05:52:00.001-08:00

Today's words from Oswald Chambers are particlarly challenging as he exhorts us to study the Word of God and be able to put it into our own Words. This will make us effective communicators to others.

“Approved to God”

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

If you cannot express yourself well on each of your beliefs, work and study until you can. If you don’t, other people may miss out on the blessings that come from knowing the truth. Strive to re-express a truth of God to yourself clearly and understandably, and God will use that same explanation when you share it with someone else. But you must be willing to go through God’s winepress where the grapes are crushed. You must struggle, experiment, and rehearse your words to express God’s truth clearly. Then the time will come when that very expression will become God’s wine of strength to someone else. But if you are not diligent and say, “I’m not going to study and struggle to express this truth in my own words; I’ll just borrow my words from someone else,” then the words will be of no value to you or to others. Try to state to yourself what you believe to be the absolute truth of God, and you will be allowing God the opportunity to pass it on through you to someone else.

Always make it a practice to stir your own mind thoroughly to think through what you have easily believed. Your position is not really yours until you make it yours through suffering and study. The author or speaker from whom you learn the most is not the one who teaches you something you didn’t know before, but the one who helps you take a truth with which you have quietly struggled, give it expression, and speak it clearly and boldly.

Mike and Melanie Webster-Missionaries to Quebec

2009-11-25T07:08:00.000-08:00

We are looking forward to hearing from our missionaries of 30 years, Mike and Melanie Webster. I've posted a short biography of them here. They will be sharing in all of our services on Sunday. They are not only faithful servants of the Lord but dear friends for many years. Let's be there and be blessed on Sunday.

Here is a little info about the websters that I found on their website:

We are Mike, Melanie, Stephanie, Jonathan, and Catherine Webster, serving the Lord in Québec City, Québec, Canada with Independent Faith Mission of Greensboro, NC. Mike is originally from North Carolina and Melanie is the daughter of missionaries to France. We met while students at Bob Jones University, were married in France, and have been on the mission field of French-speaking Quebec since 1986. Mike has a B.A. in Bible and a M.A. in Theology. Melanie has a B.S. in Secondary Education and is currently working on a M.A. in Translation at Laval University. Stephanie , Jonathan and Catherine are currently students at Bob Jones University. Valerie, our oldest, now lives in Greer, South Carolina with her husband Tom Sandquist and sons, Erik and Benjamin. They attend Colonial Hills Baptist Church.

During our 18 years of ministry in Eastern Québec, we saw a church rebuilt, then call it’s own French-Canadian pastor whom we helped to train. In 2004, God led us to Québec City to begin the process all over again with Église Baptiste Évangélique d’Orsainville.

Pictures from our Tree Planting Saturday

2009-11-23T20:26:00.000-08:00

Philemon-Love and Forgiveness

2009-11-22T20:11:00.000-08:00

If you missed us today-you really missed out on the Word. We learned of a great man of God, Philemon. We also learned of a changed man, Onesimus. Paul tells their story and urges a reconciliation and forgiveness on Philemon's part. It was a great encouragement and challenge from the word. This week is Thanksgiving week and many of us will be traveling out of town. Let's pray for safety for all. There will be no mid-week Bible Study since so many will be gone. But, we'll be enjoying our missionaries the Websters on Sunday. Plan to be there!!!! Pastor Craig

The Place to Worship

2009-11-14T17:48:00.000-08:00

Today we had a nice day at our church. We planted 9 trees on the West side. One day these trees will be great shade for our cars in the afternoon. It was great to see some folks out to help us get the job done. Jason Seth and Jillian Moothart helped Caleb, Sam POrter and me get those trees into place. We really want out church be inviting to those who pass by. These trees will help to make our place a great place to come to. Be in the house of the Lord tomorrow. It is your place to worship.

Tomorrow we'll vote to get new carpet into our main worship area. This will really make our Worship area much more beautiful. I'm looking forward to moving forward with this postive project for our church. Be in your place on the Lord's Day.

Update for November 13th, 2009

2009-11-12T15:52:00.000-08:00

Today's update:

This week we'll be continuing our study of Titus. In fact we'll hopefully be finishing up Titus 3. Hope you'll be there to fellowship and be encouraged in the Lord. I'm also looking forward to Sunday night as we'll be conducting an important business meeting. We'd like to take care of some new improvements to our faciilty. So far the water situation is standing pat. We'd love to plant some new trees on the west side of the building, though. Consider adopting a tree. We will buy some easy to fill and use jugs so that you can water your tree twice a week through the summer. We'll keep those trees growing until the summer when we'll figure out how to get the water system to them. We'd also like to decide on new carpet for the sanctuary. Please pray on how we should take care of the facility that God has given us.

Be there to serve the Lord on Sunday at all three meetings.

Wednesday we will continue our study of heaven.

The Webster's are still coming on November 29th.

Dates to Remember at TBC

2009-11-07T21:40:00.000-08:00

Here are a few dates to remember at Trinity Baptist Church

This Sunday Night Picnic at Mountain View Park
Laughlin, Nevada November 8th at 5:00 pm

Wednesday Prayer and Bible Study 7:00 pm

November 29th, The Websters are here in all Sunday Services

Don't miss any of our normally scheduled meetings:

Sunday School 10:00 am
Sunday Worship 11:00 am
Family Fellowship TBA--normally 6:00 pm

Wednesday Night Bible Study 7:00 pm

Friday Night Youth Meeting 5:30 pm

Let's Be There on Sunday

2009-11-07T14:39:00.001-08:00

Don't let your life get in the way of being in the "House of the Lord" tomorrow-that is November 8th. There should not be anything more important than fellowship with the believers on the day we remember the Lord's death, burial and resurrection. God has blessed our fammily greatly. I believe one of the reasons is our committment to being in church every Sunday. Nothing takes priority. It just doesn't. In fact, a few times when the kids were sick, I had to tell Sarah to stay home. We are looking for the encouragement from the believers on Sunday. Every person, including you has some edifying to do on a Sunday. It has been interesting lately that a few of our visitors that have come lately have stayed late and have been very encouraging. I am encouraged by that as a pastor. I pray that you'll be there to edify the brother and sisters every Sunday. God will be there-don't miss it.

Hebrews 10:25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Trinity Bullhead Updates November 1st, 2009

2009-11-01T00:08:00.000-07:00

This is a update to let all of you know that we've decided to make this the official update and calendar of events for our church website. Since we aren't able to update our website easily we've decided to make our blog the place where calendar updates and any other news for our church will be constantly updated. Of course you can access the blog at trinitybullhead.com as usual.

This week our schedule is as usual. Sunday morning November 1st Pastor Craig will be sharing from Titus 1 and beginning a series from "The Small Books of the New Testament: Titus, Philemon and Jude. For Family Fellowship we'll be meeting at the church at 6:00 pm. Wednesday we are continuing our study "Heaven". Don't miss any of our meetings.

Future Updates: There is a couples retreat on November 12th-14th if anyone would like to go. Pastor Craig and Sarah are willing to go if anyone else is.

November 27th-29th we'll be hosting our missionaries the Websters throughout the entire weekend.

Our LIfe-Its just a Vapor

2009-09-10T06:47:00.000-07:00

I'll reference this verse later--but in James we read that our life is a vapor and but for a moment. I remember when Tim VanAcker(a friend from high school that dated my sister) preached at our church on this verse. I can't say that I took it so seriously as I do right now. Of course I didn't really have a brush with death--but I had a condition that warranted an early heart attack and quick possible death. God could have given me the strength to overcome what I had and in His grace brought me through the summer, ok. But, each night I put my head down on the coach and struggled sleeping--was an indication that something was wrong and were the results of that Aneurysm. But, yesterday the news was sad. My friend and fellow teacher, LC died by being hit by a truck on the Parkway. Devastating news for those who were closest to here and shocking to those who didn’t' know here on a day to day basis. I know that she was a committed teacher, that the kids loved her and that she was making a difference at MHS for the good. Kids were learning how to be successful in business and other enterprising pursuits. But, more than that, she was a kind encouraging kind of person. She was younger than me by three years. I'm so grieved over this. Did I tell her about Christ in my time with her? I'm not sure that I did. God only knows about her relationship with Christ. I pray that god would use this as something to draw people to the Savior. The Christian kids will have an opportunity that only happens when something like this occurs. I pray that they will speak boldly the Gospel of Christ. Our God is in control.

I'm in my backyard this morning and finding the presence of God once again. i'm reminded of the great song--that encourages believers every day:

When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrow like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot thous hast taught us to say
It is well, It is well with my soul.

When Lord haste the day when the faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trumpt shall resound and the LORD shall descend
Even so, it is well with my soul

James 4: 14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Prayer

2009-09-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

I was truly blessed by many as I went through this heart surgery in the area of prayer. The many that just told me they had prayed for me or would pray for me or would share my request with their church group was amazing. To be honest, at church prayer meeting sometimes I grow weary of all the "requests" and want to get to the praying. But, this is such a selfish desire. Sometimes you hear of so many that are suffering that you get kind of "oh, just another one to add to my long list". I'm trusting the Lord to be more sensitive to the needs of people, even when I don't know them. I think it was just amazing how so many people knew about my surgery, either before or after, and prayed for me. A couple of things were memorable. Sarah's cousin, Luther, who is just newly taken over his father's travelling evangelist schedule called me from Indonesia the night before the surgery. He right on the phone, prayed for healing. I was touched by his concern. I was transported by ambulance to Vegas and was accompanied by three Bullhead firefighters. One of them, Chief Don Evans, goes back a ways with our church. In the early days his father and their family attended Trinity Bapitst around its founding. Since then, Don has been working for the fire department for many years here in Bullhead. His wife Donna has become a friend since she is our #1 sub at the high school. She agreed to take my classes for as long as I'm gone (a new prayer request). Getting back to the ambulance---As the Bullhead crew turned me over to the staff at the LV hospital-Don prayed for me out loud, in the presence of everyone around. It was kind of a random thing-but probably something he does to encourage believers and non-believers. It was another shot of encouragement. When speaking of prayer I must give thanks to one of the most effective prayer warriors I know, Betty Geant. She made sure my request was spread all over the valley. I was talking to a good friend who goes to another church in town and she told me that they had prayed for me on Sunday in their church service. I automatically knew that Mrs. Geant had expanded the prayer list for my case-what a great encouragement. I am thankful for the prayers fo the saints through my trial. James said it well in this verse I'll leave at the end of this blog. Every time we go to prayer may we remember "availeth much." The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16

Mornings

2009-08-30T06:39:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up early and God met me in my backyard. I hope this will encourage you to seek God's face. Maybe your backyard is your kitchen't nook. late evenings when all the kids are down or a quiet lunch alone. God, though, will make a place for you to meet with him in your "quiet time."

One of the sort of odd blessings of being "down and out" for a few weeks is my mornings. I'm sitting in my back yard-surrounded by grass, a large grape vine that is almost ready to be trimmed back. There are countless birds hanging out in the trees and my cat is chasing any living thing that moves-or should I say prowling. The temperature right now can't be above 80 with 0 percent humidity. It is downright pleasant. No one else is up and its me and the cat, birds and most importantly the Lord Jesus Christ. By the way-the cat and birds as well as chirping crickets and a few barking dogs only draw me closer to my creator today. My mind is taken to "I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus. . . And wonder how he could love me a sinner. . ." I also think of the verse about creation that so encourages me in my small existence. "I am fearfully and wonderfully made. . ." the Psalmist writes. "Be still and know that I am God." Right now it is awesome knowing God. Seeing Him work---knowing He is the great designer. Knowing he is the Great Savior. Understanding His great personal love that is always consistent and boundless. I honestly know that without surgery I would not have this moment, right now with God. I would have struggled sleeping-ended up sleeping in-then rushed off barely making it to church or school.

Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
Selah
4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Selah

So when I looked up "Be still" this is where I ended up. It just started out as normal morning in shut-tin existence. God took me where he wants me to be in His presence. He took me to a place so that I would be still. As a Pastor who has the work of a pastor, preaching and then a job on the side I usually take the philosophy of my devotions are my messages. I'll probably never abandon this totally to some extent. But, this week--I'm meeting God every morning-He's always there. It may take getting up earlier or getting to bed at 9:00 pm or something--but I need this kind of time with God every day. I'm amazed at the need for this quiet morning. Sitting in the office going through my Bible reading would not bring these truths to light in such a powerful way. God's at work-and "early will I seek Thee."

Home and Trying to be "/contented/ with whatsoever state I am"

2009-08-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

When I was younger in the minsistry, I would observe some great brothers and sisters in Christ and their journey through various trials. Over the years I have read James 1 and his encouragement to believers in the "fiery trial." I've taught Paul's words from Philppians 4 that read: "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need". But not until this last week have I had to deal with a trial that "I had to rely only upon God." I know that there are many of you that have gone through greater trials than I have. yet dealing with two deaths of the "fathers" in my life was very hard. They were both Godly examples. Finally, though the heart surgery God has put me through a great struggle Not that I haven't had hard things before. But there has been nothing that has made me so reliant upon the Lord than this. The Lord has brought me through various hardships, but none that look you in the face and say--you can't go on one without me. I'm writing to you on this just one week after I was operated on. The surgery was serious. My problem had to be dealt with. Praise the Lord I made it through. Now, for the next six to 12 weeks I will be reliant on God and Sarah, my kids and some of you to carry out the responsibilities that I maintained before. This is God's will. I'll take a another blog to mention prayer (many of you were steadfast in prayer for me). For our church it is God's will that others help more with some of the responsiblities. It is God's will that Trinity Baptist come forth as gold through the trials it is has experienced from death, denial of faith and sickness over this last year. May we grow and walk close with our Lord. May we be be full and abound in Him!!!

Pastor Craig-and his firery trial

2009-08-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

We sure missed you all on Sunday. Unfortunately I won't be able to be preaching much in the next few months. I'll need God's help for recovery. Yes, I had heart bypass surgery and it was quite an ordeal. The Lord was good and brought me through ok--I'm thankful for his provision of highly trained health care workers that helped me through all of this. The nurses at sunrise were a great blessing and helped through each day with great care. The doctors seemed to know exactly what I needed at the right time. There were many that prayed for me and I could defintely tell that they were making a difference. Even the ambulance driver-who was an old friend prayed for me as he left me at the hospital. What a blessing that was. I'm about to be picked up by Sarah and we'll be heading home. We'll pray for quick recovery. In the mean time I'll be off work, not driving and remaining basically pretty passive here in the next few wees. You all are welcome to come for a visit, though. I'm trusting the Lord in the verse James "the trial of your faith worketh patience." I'm learning alot of that and will in the next few weeks. IN Christ's love. Craig

Check Brother Mike's Post!

2009-06-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

I think all of you will be challenged from Brother Mike McCormack's Blog this week. He gives a sad portrayal of how the blessing of God is departing from the United States. I hope you'll got o his blog and let him know that you are appreciating his thoughtful contribution. May God Bless our church. http://maninthepew.wordpress.com/2009/06/19/god-bless-america/

Considering God's Work in the World

2009-06-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

So many times as believers we forget our responsibility to the Word of the Lord in other lands. In the scripture, our Lord, in one of His last messages to his followers commands us to be concerned with the Work of the ministry everywhere. Acts 1:8 reads, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Each one of these place names represents a region for believers today. We are to be witnesses in our Jerusalem-Bullhead City area(I use area to make sure everyone knows our community really stretches from Lake Mohave to Needles).

Our Judea is our state-or nearby states. We might make the connection to Arizona, Nevada and California, since Cal and Nev we often visit.

Our Samaria would be compared to reaching out to areas that are not so close. I think practically speaking our Samaria is the United States of America.

What about the uttermost part of the earth? This obviously is the world

Of course, Trinity is greatly concerned about reaching our Jerusalem or our community for Jesus Christ.

We have the opportunity to support our camp which is making a huge impact on lives all over the west. We often give financial support and prayer support to the ministry of International Baptist College in Phoenix. I believe these two minisries are having a huge impact on the West for Christ. I think this covers our Judea pretty well.

What about concern for souls nationwide. Sarah and I support missionaries to the Mormons in Ephraim, Utah. I believe this would be our Samaria concern. Perhaps being involved in "see you at the pole" for our young people would be an opportunity to be concerned about our nation for Christ. Our church prays and supports several Christian colleges that are preparing men and women to serve Christ all over the world. Many of these future servants are preparing to be pastors all over the United States of America.

Finally, we are to be concerned for the world-wide ministry for Christ. God has given us missionaries to support throughout the world. We are currently supporting the Websters ministering for Christ in Canada, as well as the Conners in Mongolia. I believe we need to increase our vision for foreign missions. This summer we have the opportunity to do that as we will be hearing from the Missionary John Kane and his wife who is a missionary to Southeast Asia among the Hmong people. Then, next week Leigh Koerbel's daughter will be with us to share her opportunity for summer missions in the Czech Republic. I hope everyone at Trinity will be in their place to encourage these servants. Not only to lend support throught prayer and financial means, but also to increase your individual vision for reaching a lost world. Let's be there to "be witnesses" in the way Acts 1 charges us.

man in the pew again

2009-06-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

This is another try at getting Mike's blog to you through email=here it is.

http://maninthepew.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/living-through-the-barak-obama-presidency/

Man in the Pulpit-New blog by our own Mike McCormack

2009-06-03T16:45:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone,
I hope you will check Mike McCormack's new blog. http://maninthepew.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/living-through-the-barak-obama-presidency/

He's posted an interesting article about how we can respond to the Presidency of Obama. It is insigtful, well-studies and challenging. Hope all of you will be there tonight for Part 2 on Satan.

Back to Blogging and Being a Fulltime Pastor

2009-05-27T09:22:00.001-07:00

This week is the first week of summer vacation and I'm back at home with a little time to do some things that need to be done-like blogging to the church family. I've got 10 emails that I'm sending the blog posts to. If you got this you are one of those folks. If you don't want to get the email when I creat a new post-then email me or make a comment at the blog that you'd rather not get the email-I'll be ok with it-everyone has their reasons. If you'd like to continue getting the email, I'd appreciate it if you could make a short comment on this post-just so I know you are out there. Here are the directions for commenting:
1. Choose the comment button at the end of the post.
2. Type your comment in the comment box.
3. Type in the word verification
4. Choose the buttone Name/URL
5. Choose preview or publish-if preview then later choose publish and your are finished.
Thanks for doing this!!!! Now for my blog-----

God has been greatly blessing our church recently in many ways. As a working/tentmaking Pastor I have been blessed to see many of you help with the burden of the many tasks that need to be taken care of in our ministry. When we are all working together and sharing the load it really makes a difference. Recently, some of you have pitched in to help greatly with the burden-what a great blessing.

Also, we have been seeing many visitors come through our doors. I challenge all of you to try your best to catch the new folks before they can leave and make them feel welcome. As a small church it really is not the that hard to find the visitors and shake their hand and give a word of encouragement.

Another matter for prayer and concern-is work projects that we'd like to see accomplished. We are praying and discussing the best way to use the funds given in Pastor Ken's name. Please give the men in our church wisdom to help us in this endeavor.

Finally, let us be praying for the summer ministries and activities that we are working on. The minsitry of evangelism, of course, is very important. There are still some fairly regular attendars that we are still not sure of their salvation. Please pray for these ones. We have our camp weeks coming up. Pray for the fundraising activities-which are needed to get everyone that needs to go to camp. God has blessed us in our endeavors. We have actually seen one person come to church who we made contact with at the car wash. Let us also pray for our young people to grow in the Lord and respond to the Gospel while at camp.

If you have any comments or suggestions please feel free to email me about them. I'd also love to hear your comments. In Christ, Pastor Craig

The One and Only Gospel of Jesus Christ

2009-03-15T22:50:00.000-07:00

Today we continued our study of Corinthians and we looked at the first part of the 15th chapter. Most people like to call this the definition of the gospel. My Outline consisted of four simple points--1. The Prediction of the Gospel (we looked at prophecty) --2. The Process of the Gospel--3. The Evidence of the Gospel--4. The Practice of the Gospel. The last few verses of this passage helped to make things practical. In verse 8-11, Paul speaks of how he was the least of the Apostles and the most unworthy, "but by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain;" Paul was transformed by the Gospel. He went from persecutor and enemy of God to the greatest influence for the cause of Christ in the New Testament. It was by God's grace. God's amazing grace is the gospel. My vow is to be a gospel preacher no matter what. My goal for our church is that we are a gospel church and no matter what else we do we preach the Gospel. We may disciple, give counsel, teach doctrine, etc. , but we must always be proclaiming the Gospel message amidst everything else we do. Paul, here, emphasizes the Gospel. May we also go forth proclaiming this glorious message wherever we are.

Pastor Kenneth Evins-With the Lord

2009-02-23T20:40:00.000-08:00

With joy and sadness I write this tribute to our beloved pastor and my father, Pastor Kenneth Evins, who went to be with Jesus on February 21st, 2009. My dad battled cancer for the last two years, but his time finally came to be in the presence of the Lord. I'll miss my dad. He was a tireless worker who really cared about people. His greatest desire in life was to point people to the Savior. He spent his life in ministry-preaching the Word of God and being a witness for Christ. He loved me unconditionally and was always giving up his desires for mine. Even as an adult, my dad would stop everything to come bail me out of a difficulty I might be having. He always had an answer to the problem and could figure out how to fix anything. We will miss our Pastor. Pastor Ken started Trinity Baptist Church and pastored the church for over 29 years. He also was the first Pastor at Riviera Baptist Church back in 1969. He will be greatly missed by all of us. Today my dad truly can understand his life's verse-Phil 1:6. "Being confident of this very thing. that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the Day of Jesus Christ." The Day of Jesus Christ has been fufilled for my dad, Pastor Kenneth Evins.

Salvation In No Other from Spurgeon

2008-11-24T17:52:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since I posted. Today, though, in reading from Phil Johnson's blog he posted this excellent article from Spurgeon. It is amazing to read Spurgeon-because sometimes it seems like he is sitting and watching the way of "the church" in American today. The things that he warns about have not changed. Just read this article---it will make you think--

The Intolerance of True Religion
Your weekly dose of Spurgeonposted by Phil Johnson
The PyroManiacs devote some space each weekend to highlights from The Spurgeon Archive.

The following excerpt is from "The Way of Salvation," a sermon preached Sunday morning, August 15, 1858, at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.

"Neither is there salvation in any other."

Did you ever notice the intolerance of God's religion? In olden times the heathen, who had different gods, all of them respected the gods of their neighbors.For instance, the king of Egypt would confess that the gods of Nineveh were true and real gods, and the prince of Babylon would acknowledge that the gods of the Philistines were true and real gods: but Jehovah, the God of Israel, put this as one of his first commandments, "Thou shalt have none other gods besides me;" and he would not allow them to pay the slightest possible respect to the gods of any other nation: "Thou shalt hew them in pieces, thou shalt break down their temples, and cut down their groves."All other nations were tolerant the one to the other, but the Jew could not be so. One part of his religion was, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God;" and as the consequence of his belief that there was but one God, and that that one God was Jehovah, he felt it his bounden duty to call all pretended gods by nicknames, to spit upon them, to treat them with contumely and contempt.

Now the Christian religion, you observe, is just as intolerant as this. If you apply to a Brahmin to know the way of salvation, he will very likely tell you at once, that all persons who follow out their sincere religious convictions will undoubtedly be saved. "There," says he, "are the Mohammedans; if they obey Mohammed, and sincerely believe what he has taught without doubt, Alla will glorify them at last."

And the Brahmin turns round upon the Christian missionary, and says, "What is the use of your bringing your Christianity here to disturb us? I tell you our religion is quite capable of carrying us to heaven, if we are faithful to it."Now just hear the text: how intolerant is the Christian religion! "Neither is there salvation in any other."

The Brahmin may admit, that there is salvation in fifty religions besides his own; but we admit no such thing. There is no true salvation out of Jesus Christ.The gods of the heathens may approach us with their mock charity, and tell us that every man may follow out his own conscientious conviction and be saved.We reply—No such thing: there is no salvation in any other; "for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."Now, what do you suppose is the reason of this intolerance—if I may use the word again? I believe it is just because there is the truth both with the Jew and with the Christian. A thousand errors may live in peace with one another, but truth is the hammer that breaks them all in pieces. A hundred lying religions may sleep peaceably in one bed, but wherever the Christian religion goes as the truth, it is like a fire-brand, and it abideth nothing that is not more substantial than the wood, the hay, and the stubble of carnal error.All the gods of the heathen, and all other religions are born of hell, and therefore, being children of the same father, it would seem amiss that they should fall out, and chide, and fight; but the religion of Christ is a thing of God's—its pedigree is from on high, and, therefore, when once it is thrust into the midst of an ungodly and gainsaying generation, it hath neither peace, nor parley, nor treaty with them, for it is truth, and cannot afford to be yoked with error: it stands upon its own rights, and gives to error its due, declaring that it hath no salvation, but that in the truth, and in the truth alone, is salvation to be found.Again, it is because we have here the sanction of God. It would be improper in any man who had invented a creed of his own, to state that all others must be damned who do not believe it; that would be an overweening censoriousness and bigotry, at which we might afford to smile; but since this religion of Christ is revealed from heaven itself, God, who is the author of all truth, hath a right to append to this truth the dreadful condition, that who so rejecteth it shall perish without mercy; and in proclaiming that, apart from Christ, no man can be saved. We are not really intolerant, for we are but echoing the words of him that speaketh from heaven, and who declares, that cursed is the man who rejects this religion of Christ, seeing that there is no salvation out of him.

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."Now I hear one or two persons saying, "Do you imagine then, sir, that none are saved apart from Christ?"I reply, I don't imagine it, but I have it here in my text plainly taught."Neither is there salvation in any other." A man may seek after it and labor after it in his own way, but there he cannot possibly find it, "for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

Back to Blogging and oBama

2008-11-11T06:55:00.000-08:00

It has been way too long. But it is Veteran's Day, I'm off school, and I just canceled a work opportunity for Caleb and me (which I am glad about), since I was hoping to relax and get caught up with school work. So, I'd like to reflect on the new President. I hear Christian conservatives make such disrespectful comments about our new President. And if they aren't making disrespectful comments they are making "gloom and doom" comments. Granted, a liberal socialist leaning President could mean some dangerous changes for the USA, but I'd like to make the case for Christian conservatives to follow the Biblical mandates regardless. What does the Lord ask us to do? He wants us to "honor the King" and "give tribute where tribute is due" among other things. Another important aspect of our reaction to the new administration, is to be true believers in the idea that God is Sovereign and he continues to be in control of the affairs of men. We know he knows the future and we must trust him through every step. Of course, let us never give our vigilance to oppose Anti-Biblical actions of any government entity such as abortion or Homosexual rights, but on the other hand may we show the proper respect for authority. Kevin Bauder excellently explains this in more detail at this link. I hope you'll check it out. http://sharperiron.org/2008/11/11/what-next/#more-3219

Free Indeed

2008-09-19T06:51:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since I posted. Other things in life have taken a priority. But this morning I was blessed. Don't ever let anyone tell you that being a Christian is somehow too restrictive-it just isn't true. The real truth is freedom in Christ. This is what Spurgeon has to say--
The liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free."—Galatians 5:1.
HIS "liberty" makes us free to heaven's charter—the Bible. Here is a choice passage, believer, "When thou passest through the rivers, I will be with thee." You are free to that. Here is another: "The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee"; you are free to that. You are a welcome guest at the table of the promises. Scripture is a never-failing treasury filled with boundless stores of grace. It is the bank of heaven; you may draw from it as much as you please, without let or hindrance. Come in faith and you are welcome to all covenant blessings. There is not a promise in the Word which shall be withheld. In the depths of tribulations let this freedom comfort you; amidst waves of distress let it cheer you; when sorrows surround thee let it be thy solace. This is thy Father's love-token; thou art free to it at all times. Thou art also free to the throne of grace. It is the believer's privilege to have access at all times to His heavenly Father. Whatever our desires, our difficulties, our wants, we are at liberty to spread all before Him. It matters not how much we may have sinned, we may ask and expect pardon. It signifies nothing how poor we are, we may plead His promise that He will provide all things needful. We have permission to approach His throne at all times—in midnight's darkest hour, or in noontide's most burning heat. Exercise thy right, O believer, and live up to thy privilege. Thou art free to all that is treasured up in Christ—wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. It matters not what thy need is, for there is fulness of supply in Christ, and it is there for thee. O what a "freedom" is thine! freedom from condemnation, freedom to the promises, freedom to the throne of grace, and at last freedom to enter heaven!

Looking Forward to Heaven

2008-08-30T22:39:00.000-07:00

This is a great article from a Pastor on his way to be with His Lord. What a blessing as he looks forward to heaven.

Cabbages and Kings
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Of Death and Grace
by Rev Jacob D. Eppinga
I am dying. Of cancer. This past Christmas was my last. Spring always has been my favorite season. At this writing, I hope to see the spring of 2008. Since childhood, I have loved baseball. Today my marvelous palliative-care physician told me there is a chance that I will watch my dear Detroit Tigers on television on opening day. But that I will not see the World Series.
To paraphrase a great English observer of human nature, Samuel Johnson, the prospect of dying focuses one’s thinking. What follows are some of my thoughts about death.
Primary among them is this: I don’t want to die. Even though I have lived 90 years, two decades beyond the biblical three score and ten, I want to live. There are things yet that I want to do. People to see. Sermons to preach.
Also, I’m scared. Does it surprise you that a minister of the Christian Reformed Church is scared of dying? As a Christian, I do not fear death; still, I fear dying. How much will dying hurt? On a chart of 1 to 10, my pain threshold is a -100.
And I’m scared of something else—the money running out before life runs out.
Most of all, I’m scared about what will become of Anne, my beloved wife, who can’t hear or walk or remember. For years I’ve asked God to let me outlive her, so I can take care of her until her home-going. Then, I have told him, I could go to my grave in peace.
But God has not answered my prayer in the fashion I have requested. My son says that God has, really, because so much of Anne already has been taken (although not her sweet disposition). I am not convinced by this line of reasoning and find but small comfort in it.
Those are the big things. There also are smaller things.
For example, I struggle with disappointment and embarrassment. Always having taken care of my family and myself, now others have to take care of me. My body is failing. My mind, too, is not as sharp as it used to be—particularly because of the medications for pain. (Still, even in this, I am forced to admit that I have reason for giving thanks. Our attentive children love their mother and father. And daughter Sue, upon ending her teaching career, has devoted herself to the care of her parents. And there is a special caregiver named Mary Ellen.)
Over my 63 years of ministry, I’ve been a pastor as well as a preacher. I’ve counseled parishioners, tried to comfort them, and conducted hundreds of funeral services. (I’ve always welcomed funeral services because, unlike at weddings, those in attendance actually listen to the Christian message, focused as they are for the moment upon their own mortality.) Now, however, it’s my minister who counsels me, comforts me, and plans with me the details of my own funeral service.
And I ask myself, why do bad things happen to good people? Why me? Why now? There’s so much for me yet to do.
Early in my ministry I attempted to answer that question, as it was posed to me by a grieving parent, a dying mother, a devastated family, a stunned congregation. But soon I came to recognize that my answers were unconvincing and maybe even misdirected.
Now I am older, I hope wiser, and facing my own death. I try to answer that question—Why do bad things happen to good people?—with three points. (Are you surprised?)
First is a simple admission: I do not know. “There you have it, plain and flat,” as poet John Greenleaf Whittier once wrote.
Second is a story that gives me just a tiny glimpse into an answer. I will be edified if it does the same for you. Here it is:
When I was a boy, I feared going to the dentist. My father took me there anyway. When I was sitting in the chair, my father near me, I begged my father to rescue me from what lay ahead. My father did not do so. Instead he told me that he loved me and that I would be all right. After that, all I could do was trust my father. My father knew what was above and beyond my understanding at the time—that I needed to go to the dentist.
In a similar fashion, tragedy and death are above and beyond my understanding. I pray for God to take them away. For some reason, God doesn’t answer my prayers in the ways I want.
But here’s the point: Above my understanding. But not God’s. He loves me, this I know, so all I can do is trust him, my only comfort in life and death. My father knew, and my heavenly Father knows, things that were and are beyond my comprehension.
Third is my main point: As important as is the question about why God allows bad things to happen to good people, it is not the most important question in life. The most important question in life—in all the world and in all the universe, for that matter—is, rather, “Why does God allow a good thing to happen to bad people?”
I am a sinner—a bad person. Yet my Father gave his only Son for me—a very good thing indeed.
During a lifetime of ministry, I have heard the last words of many of my parishioners. One does not forget such things. The person whose last words I’ve been reflecting upon the most these past weeks is William Harry Jellema, a professor of philosophy at Calvin College and arguably the greatest mind in the history of the Christian Reformed Church. His last words—simple but not simplistic—were, “It’s grace, Jake; it’s all grace.”
Think of it! The enormous intellect that was William Harry Jellema condensed the entire Bible, all of theology, and every last Reformed creed and confession into just one word: grace.
Thus the title of my last Banner article, my last “Of Cabbages and Kings” in a series stretching 40 years, is not “Of Death,” but “Of Death and Grace.” Of all the words I have shared with you over all the decades in these pages, dear readers, the ones I would leave with you are . . .
“May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Amen.
“The time has come,” the Walrus said,“To talk of many things:Of shoes—and ships—and sealing wax—Of cabbages—and kings—And why the sea is boiling hot—And whether pigs have wings.”—Lewis Carroll, “The Walrus and the Carpenter”From Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872“The time has come,” our Savior said,“To show you many things:The face of your Almighty God—And Jesus Christ, your King—And that the streets are paved with gold—And angels do have wings.”—Deanna Eppinga DeVries“For Dad: Welcome to Heaven,” 2008
Author
Rev Jacob D. EppingaRev. Jacob D. Eppinga was pastor emeritus of LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church, in Grand Rapids, Mich. He went to be with his Lord March 1, 2008. This column concludes his popular “Cabbages and Kings” series, which he wrote for 40 consecutive years. Watch for It’s All Grace, a collection of his best and more recent columns to be published in book form this fall by Faith Alive Christian Resources.

Upcoming Dates and Sunday's Message

2008-08-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

We were challenged from 1st Corinthians on Sunday. We learned of Paul's discussion of growing in Christ. We should strive after "the meat" or greater Spiritual knowledge and wisdom. We need to move from the "milk" and grow into a more mature relationship with Christ. This is all found in 1st Corinthians 9. There were a couple of principles that Paul challenged us with. One was to not let pride get in the way of our growing in Christ. We must also not become man-centered in our growth. His challenge was to not let a great preacher take the place of our relationship with the Lord Jesus. Paul also challenged us to be in unity with each other in doing our part in service for Christ. Paul is not devoid of vivid illustrations in this passage and ends with the word picture of a builder and farmer. We are to till the field of Christian growth and build a Biblical foundation. This leads us to this Sunday-I hope all of you will be in your place. The rest of chapter 3 deals with Christ the true Biblical foundation-I can't wait to see what the Lord will teach us from His Word. Bring a friend to hear God's Holy and inspired Word.

Sunday night we will try for a picnic at the River Park-weather permitting.

Upcoming dates---September 6th-camp out at the Haulapais and then youth service on Sunday the 7th in the mountains.

With God You Can Overcome

2008-08-20T05:33:00.000-07:00

I thought these words from Spurgeon might be encouraging to all of us-

August 20

Deliverance Not Limited

He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. (Job 5:19)

Eliphaz in this spoke the truth of God. We may have as many troubles as the workdays of the week, but the God who worked on those six days will work for us till our deliverance is complete. We shall rest with Him and in Him on our Sabbath. The rapid succession of trials is one of the sorest tests of faith. Before we have recovered from one blow it is followed by another and another till we are staggered. Still, the equally quick succession of deliverances is exceedingly cheering. New songs are rung out upon the anvil by the hammer of affliction, till we see in the spiritual world the antitype of "the Harmonious Blacksmith." Our confidence is that when the Lord makes our trials six, six they will be and no more.

It may be that we have no rest day, for seamen troubles come upon us. What then? "In seven there shall be no evil touch thee." Evil may roar at us, but it shall be kept at more than arm's length and shall not even touch us. Its hot breath may distress us, but its little finger cannot be laid upon us.

With our loins girt about us, we will meet the six or the seven troubles and leave fear to those who have no Father, no Savior, and no Sanctifier.

Grace and Providence from Spurgeon

2008-08-02T08:57:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been reading in the mornings from the inspiring British preacher, CH Spurgeon. His writings are very encouraging. This morning I've been especially enlightened at the wonder of God's Grace. Here it is-

MORNING
“Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.”
- Ephesians 1:11
Our belief in God’s wisdom supposes and necessitates that he has a settled purpose and plan in the work of salvation. What would creation have been without his design? Is there a fish in the sea, or a fowl in the air, which was left to chance for its formation? Nay, in every bone, joint, and muscle, sinew, gland, and blood-vessel, you mark the presence of a God working everything according to the design of infinite wisdom. And shall God be present in creation, ruling over all, and not in grace? Shall the new creation have the fickle genius of free will to preside over it when divine counsel rules the old creation? Look at Providence! Who knoweth not that not a sparrow falleth to the ground without your Father? Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. God weighs the mountains of our grief in scales, and the hills of our tribulation in balances. And shall there be a God in providence and not in grace? Shall the shell be ordained by wisdom and the kernel be left to blind chance? No; he knows the end from the beginning. He sees in its appointed place, not merely the corner-stone which he has laid in fair colours, in the blood of his dear Son, but he beholds in their ordained position each of the chosen stones taken out of the quarry of nature, and polished by his grace; he sees the whole from corner to cornice, from base to roof, from foundation to pinnacle. He hath in his mind a clear knowledge of every stone which shall be laid in its prepared space, and how vast the edifice shall be, and when the top-stone shall be brought forth with shoutings of “Grace! Grace! unto it.” At the last it shall be clearly seen that in every chosen vessel of mercy, Jehovah did as he willed with his own; and that in every part of the work of grace he accomplished his purpose, and glorified his own name.

Monday Reminders

2008-07-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

This is a update blog for all of you brothers and sisters in the Trinity family. Please be in prayer for a few matters. Our friend, Harold Coleman is in the hospital and battling lung cancer. Please pray that God would provide for his dire needs at this point in his life. Also, pray for peace and perseverance through this time of trial. Crystal and Steve also need prayer as they help him out in his illness and recovery. Pray that God gives His grace. Our sister Sarah Peters needs similar prayer as she battles cancer. Pray for Ken as he gives care. Pastor also needs prayer for healing in his life. Praise the Lord there is no spread internally of his skin cancer. But, he now must go through another round of radiation. We all know how that affected him this last year.

In other matters we are continuing our study of 1st Corinthians. We looked at chapter 1 and verses 10-17. The passage is all about following God not man. Paul mentions three great Bible teachers and is disappointed that the Corinthians were following these men rather than keeping their eyes focused on the Lord. I believe this passage is important for American Christians. We are bombarded with the megapreachers of megachurches. Man of these men are not preaching the whole counsel of God and have distorted the Gospel for their own gain. I'm being general here as to not lump all radio preachers in one big lump. But, some of the most famous of the tv preachers are in the midst of preaching doctrine that is unbiblical and should be pointed out as heresy against true Biblical Christianity. We need to be discerning! I urge you to stay in your Bible and be like the Bereans and "search the scriptures".

Acts 17:10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Home At Last

2008-07-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

Praise the Lord we (Pastor Craig, Jeanette, Caleb, and Esther Rose) arrived home safe and sound from a grand trip to the Mediterranean region. God blessed us and gave us a relaxing but exciting trip. We made it a pretty long adventure. In fact the 7 weeks we were gone is the longest Sarah and I have been gone since we've been married.

As we were gone God used others to minister in a fantastic way for the Lord. The two young men from IBC were, from what I hear, oustanding and great encouragers in the Lord. My Brother-in-Law Ken came and encouraged the believers and got our new projector operational and ready to use and of course our own Lee Cooper, Steve Braun and Dad carried on the work of the ministry in a excellent and Biblical way.
Sunday was my first Sunday preaching since I went away. I preached in chapel but never was able to preach on Sunday morning.

I was excited to start a series on 1st Corinthians. Sunday I introduced our people to the Corinthians. We were challenged about how the Corinthians walk was filled with challenges from the World. They are not unlike the church today. Paul exhorted the Corinthians to "perfectly framed together". May we avoid the pitfalls that the Corinthians struggled with and put aside the world and live a dynamic separated life for Christ.

Please Pray for our kids at Camp Ironwood. There are some that need to accept Christ as Savior. Let's pray every day that God would convict and encourage. Also, don't forget to send the kids an email. Go to the ironwood.org for instructions on how to send a note to one of our campers. The campers are: Andy Dell, Caleb Evins, Kolby Bly, Jeanette Evins, Samantha Craig, Crystal Waters, and Britny Waters.

Another Congrats for Scott B.

2008-07-13T03:05:00.000-07:00

Check out the article in the MV News about our champion Little League team. If you squint you can see Scott in the picture. Congratulations to Scott and the team. They will be off to the state tournament next. Good Job.

Germany Quick Trip

2008-07-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

So many of you may be wondering what in the world are you doing in Berlin, Germany? The slide show may have caught you by surprise. Well, Mrs. Esther ( my mother-in-law) was about to go back to the states for a short tip and needed someone to take her to catch the airport in Frankfurt. I was nominated to do it. It was much less of a cost to stay for four days. I had the time so I planned a trip. I enjoyed taking the train around and visited three cities: Wittenburg, home of the Reformation; Berlin, filled with tons of important history and Frankfurt, a very modern interesting city. The slide show shows mostly Berlin. I tried to include pictures that represented phases in its history beginning with reference to Kaiser Wilhelm, the leader of the Germans in World War I to the present.

The most memorable part of my visit in Berlin was looking at the places where the Berlin Wall had been. Just 19 years ago the city was divided. In fact, Germany was divided into East and West. The West was basically a free democratic government and the East was a Soviet backed communist controlled totalitarian state. The people had no 1st Amendment type freedoms. There was no free speech, press, assembly nor religion. The communists had total control of the people. What made Berlin unique was that it was a city that was wholly in the East-around 100 miles I believe inside East Germany. But, the city became a divided city. The United States was not willing to let the Soviets take all of Berlin, because it was such an important city. So a wall was built and the city divided. More than any other place in the world it represented the Iron Curtain. The reasons were because the western part of the city was sealed off in the middle and all around with a lone road that led to West Germany. It uniquely was a haven for freedom in the middle of a Soviet block country. Many East Berliners tried to escape. Some succeeded and some failed. Many were shot in doing so. The border was well-protected by both sides.

The rest you might say is history. The Soviet Union fell apart and so did the Berlin Wall in 1989. There were huge celebrations the night the wall fell. I remember seeing live the first section falling to the ground. Berliners from both East and West celebrated as the cities united again for good.

Being in Berlin now is amazing. All that's left of the wall is purposely left parts to memorialize the struggle. I enjoyed looking at the outdoor museum with pictures and text of the history of the wall. Particularly I remember the Berlin air-lift crisis when President Kennedy stood down the Soviets and then later went to Berlin and said "I am a Berliner." And then seeing the picture and reading the text of Ronald Regan's great speech when he asked President Gorbachev to "tear down this wall." It has been one of history's greatest struggles for freedom and seeing the city really challenged me about being thankful for the freedom we have in the USA. We should never be complacent about the government of the people that we have in our home nation.

Freedom in Christ: there is nothing like it. Perhaps a great illustration would be the East Berliners who experienced the feeling of freedom back in 1989. We can truly trust the Lord Jesus Christ and believe that His redemptive work has made us free from the chains of sin and certainty of Spiritual death.

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
fast bound in sin and nature's night;
thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
my chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

Charles Wesley, And Can it Be, 3rd verse

Berlin, Germany and the Wall

2008-07-11T08:22:00.001-07:00

Witnessing and Islam

2008-07-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the seafront and passed out a few gospel tracts. Cyprus is filled with workers from India, Ceylon and Banlgadesh. These folks speak their native language and often times pretty decent English. As we were roaming around giving out tracts to those who would accept them, I came upon a man from Bangladesh. This man was a Muslim. I asked him if he was good enough for heaven. He then started on explaining how Christianity was "not relevant" anymore. He made this claim based on the worldliness of "Western Culture" that he said Christianity accepts without any reservation.

I tried my best to steer him back to his own sinful condition and his need of redemption through Christ, but he continued to complain about the sinful culture that indeed does surround us in this 21st century world. Before we parted I was able to explain how true Bibllical Christianity is all about Grace and the redemption that comes only through Christ's blood as opposed to the cold, negative religious system of Islam which is based on keeping very strict laws and religious customs. I tried to show him that a true Christian won't be affected by the worldliness of "Western Culture". I don't think I got very far with him. I pray, though, for the seed that was planted.

Sadly, I had to agree with part of what this Bengali man was saying. Western Culture has done great damage to the standing of true Biblical Christianity. In an attempt to reach out and get "in touch" with the sinner, I'm afraid American Christians have let the world affect their own personal walk with Christ. Don't get me wrong, we need to take the gospel to every creature, no matter who they are. But, must we act like the "world" to do this? Shouldn't the righteousness of Christ have a life-changing impact on the lives of sinners who are converted? These are questions I hope all of you will contemplate. Let us reach the world for Christ, but at the same time, let us preach a life-changing gospel that puts to death the sinful lifestyles of a lost world.

I John 2:15
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him

Refugees and Border Crossings

2008-07-04T21:34:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been busy here in Cyprus for the week of the 4th of July. Sorry for the lack of posts this week. But, we were out and about. In fact we were all over the island. We saw some amazing sites. You probably are wondering about the title of my post. Most people don't associate such words with the peaceful island of Cyprus. There is a history of conflict on this island paradise that you would never notice if you just came for a weekend holiday at one of the plush resorts along the sea in Limassol. This week I got to see first hand some interesting history of the conflict in Cyprus.

We got to see the north this week. It was Sarah's first time since 74 that she's been able to go to the north. Wow! it had some very beautiful spots. I'll try to post some more pictures here. We passed over the border crossing amidst the barbed wire fences and drove through the two major cities. All the city names had been changed and everything was written in Turkish. I'll give a brief summary of the reason Cyprus is divided.

Cyprus is divided into two parts. There is the Turkish north side and the southern Greek side. We, of course we are staying in the South. Before 1974 both Turks and Greeks lived together in relative harmony. Although the two groups have battled for control of the island for centuries, they basically got along ok. Cyprus had only been a nation for a decade or so (receiving their independence from Britain in 1960), when in 1974 a radical political group attempted to overthrow the coalition government (Greek and Turk) in order to merge Cyprus with Greece. The Turks of Cyprus were not happy and asked Turkey to intervene. Turkey immediately attacked from the north and kept this Greek radical group from taking over the entire island. The Turks which had a much stronger army than the Greeks did-easily pushed back the Greeks who were now all fighting together for their lives. In the end the island was divided and there was a mass migration of both Turks from the South and Greeks from the North. This migration was not unlike the great Kashmir migration of Indian Hindus to the south to India and Indian Muslims to the North to Pakistan.

This military conflict left many casualties and thousands of regufuees on both sides The majority of the regugees were Greek from the North. Many of these souls were ministered to by the Yergatians and other ministitries. In fact, there are many believers today that in the throws of despair called out to the Lord for repentance and today are living for Christ. Yesterday I spend time with one of these regugees. Yiannakis is a pastor of a Greek evangelical church today. He came as a refugee to Limassol in 1974 as a high school kid after being a prisoner of the Turks during the war. In the war the soldiers came to his house and arrested he and his father and they were taked as POW's. When the war ended they met the rest of their family which had migrated to Limassol. Sarah's Dad, seeing the need to help out the refugees instituted many relief efforts. In doing this he came in contact with Yiannakis. Eventually Yiannkis came to Christ as a result of the contact he made with Brother Levon's ministry. Later, Yiannkis went to Bob Jones University and trained for the ministry. Today he continues on as a Pastor here in Limassol.

So, what impacted me most about hearing these stories of the refugees? Well, I think it would be the whole idea of being a refugee. Mrs. Souri a friend of Sarah, told us this week that " you never will understand what it is like to be refugee unless you go through it." She told of packing two suitcases and leaving because the Turks were coming to invade and take over her village. She would never see all of the things she had collected for 30 or so years. And then there was the transition to a new home. These thousands of people escape to the south with what they can carry in their hands to new villages. They are refugees, living in places set up for temporary residence and trying to start new lives. Many of these folks were treated poorly by the local people. Even though they were Greeks, there was a bit of a threat. Jobs were scarce and the refugees were now competing for jobs, for homes, etc.

As I comtemplated the plight of the refugee, I thought of the various refugee situations around the world. Of course the Armenians were refugees during their genocide; there was the Jews of the Holocaust. Throughout the world, where there is military conflict there will be refugees which may never return to their land. Can you imagine the Children of Israel and their trek to Babylon. Again, they left with little and began new lives in a strange land. God used many of these refugees for his purpose. I think of Daniel who was used to tell us of many of the details of Christ's coming. God used this time of despair for His glory. So has he done the same in many of the lives of the Cypriot refugees. Our God reigns and will always. He will use whatever we are going through for His Glory.

Graduation at Logos Chrisitan School of Cyprus

2008-06-27T01:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had a great time at the Logos School graduation. There were young men and women from at least five countries graduating tonight. But, I was struck by the impact of one person for the Gospel of Jesus Christ on this island. That person would be my Father-in Law, Brother Levon Yergatian. It was amazing to see the faithfulness that the school has been to reaching the lost these 35 years later. Sarah graduated in the 2nd graduating class in 1978-so this was the 30th graduating class. The outreach and impact that Logos school has had on the Gospel of Christ in the Middle East is probably really immeasurable. There have been many ministries that have grown out of the ministry of Logos School and the Gospel church that has supported it all of these years.

As I got to know the student body and staff of Logos School I've seen that the impact today is probably even greater than before. Russians, and citizens from the former Soviet Republics love to come to Cyprus-and Logos School has helped to encourage these souls to be saved and serve Christ. Countless men and women have been won to Christ over these 35 years of Logos School ministry.

This week I heard the testimony of a Brother in Christ from Belarus (one of the former republics) that was very exciting. Because of the lack of jobs and opportunity soon after the wall of communism fell in Belarus-this man and his family got on their boat and sailed the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea to Cyprus. They arrived on the Turkish North side and were accused of being Soviet Spies-until they were allowed to get back on their boat and sail to Limassol . Because of the arrest and their ship having mechanical difficulties they ended up in Limassol with no money. So. here is this man from Belarus living in Cyprus with his three children. They had no immigration papers and the kids would not be allowed to attend the Greek schools. This Brother heard from another person that the Logos School could help them out. So, he took his eldest daughter to be enrolled-the school accepted her for free. Then began the spread of Salvations in each of the lives of this family until all of the family professed faith in Christ. Later the other two kids were accepted into Logos School. In the meantime this man and his wife were able to offer many skills in the operation of the school. Both are now helping in many ways in the operation of the School in teaching and maintenance etc. As I spoke with this man I was touched how the vision of Logos School is truly being realized in many ways. Lives are being changed and men and women are not only hearing the most important message of the Gospel but are being trained to serve Christ all over the world. It has been a blessing being a part of the vision that my Father-in-Law had so many years ago in the creatino of Logos School.

How can we as individuals make a difference in this world for Christ? One person can make a difference. Levon Yergatian was one man. But, he was one man who had faith in a great God. There were never any obstacles too great to get around or climb. He has shared many stories of how God did something great when all the odds were against him. Being at the Logos graduation reminded me of our great God. In a month or so I'll be going to Ironwood with our kids. Again, the hand of God is everywhere there. How could Walt Brock build the greatest youth camp on the West Coast in the middle of the desert? Well, it really wasn't Walt Brock-it was the wonderful hand of God using a willing servant. Let us be challenged to trust God to do His will. Let us not let anything drag us down or get in the way. One willing, sold out, servant of Christ can make all of the difference.

Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)
18Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Update from Guest Preacher Ken Gross from Iowa

2008-06-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

Here is an update from Brother Ken Gross from Iowa who shared the Word last week and will this Sunday, too.

Last Sunday's message was on the power of a father. We looked at how obedience, not rebellion to our Fathers (heaven and earth) produce power in our lives. We also looked at how God is a father to the fatherless and is perfect where our earthly fathers are not. Finally we discussed how we must forgive our earthly fathers and try to understand however imperfect they were, a lack of forgiveness stands between us and our God who has forgiven everything in a Christian's life. One point that I may not have made clearly was the results of obedience. Jesus was rewarded by God putting everything under His hand. We too will be rewarded greatly in this life and in Heaven for our obedience as we rule and reign with Christ forever.

Next Sunday my topic will be "Reinventing Church, or Church - Version 2.0" This message will explore how churches must adapt to the context that they operate in. This is a two fold concept as we seek to be effective to the people in general that live under the "church's shadow" of influence and also how to reach the specific group/s of people in our community that God has called this group of believers to reach. This 2nd step involves looking at what talents are in the church as God uniquely equips each church to reach a different set of people. Ultimately, we must bring "church" to the people who do not have a person relationship with God. Church outreach is an organic process from the church members, not necessarily from the Church pastors. The regular attendee's have a greater reach and influence than the pastors.

I will be showing a photo slide show set to music. This clip is a collection of photos I have taken over the last few years. This clip will emphasis that we, the church attendees, are the body of Christ. We are His hands and feet reaching out to bring good news to our neighbors. I pray that the message will be filled with power from the Holy Spirit and also pray that the Holy Spirit moves on people to see the need through mercy's eyes.

Ken Gross

2008-06-23T05:02:00.001-07:00

The Limassol Castle

2008-06-20T22:53:00.001-07:00

Father's Day

2008-06-16T03:59:00.000-07:00

It was Father's Day and I missed being with dad this year. I want to give a tribute to him today. This picture was taken just before the cancer appeared. He has always been a great example to me over the years. I've never met a more hard-working person in my entire life. At one time my dad was a part-time pastor and held down two other part-time jobs. He never complained but continued faithfully to take care of his family as well as helped meet the needs of the church family. He hasn't changed even amidst all of the struggles he's had with the treatments for cancer. Dad was there at the last church work day-doing all he could physically to help out getting many jobs done around the church. My dad has always been a faithful father-loving my mother first of all as well as his children and grand children. I know many of you have father's who were faithful and loved you uconditionally-I hope you give them the thanks they deserve. And for those of you who might look back and seem to only remember the negatives-maybe its time to forgive and give up the bitterness that so easily can creep in. Father's Day is a time to remember the good things and the positive impact that our father's have given us.

24The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. 25Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

Hold On: We're Driving in Cyprus

2008-06-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

Wow! This week I finally bit the bullet and drove on the streets of Limassol. Praise the Lord a van has been supplied for us to get around when we need to. I've been hesitant to drive because of several factors: One, they drive on the Left in Cyprus; two, the van we have is an old-fashioned column shift-which I have never driven regularly-if at all in my life; three, the roads around here are narrow and the corners are tight. Because of number three, people drive pretty aggressively and I've never been one who does-which makes things even more nervous for me. God took care of us-but I never felt comfortable yesterday(when I drove all over the town). Hopefully it will get easier. They have these funny things called roundabouts instead of lights in Cyprus-I still don't have those down yet. I was thinking about the Spiritual application that we could make for this. There are numerous things in our lives that we don't feel comfortable with. In serving the Lord, witnessing sometimes can be an uncomfortable experience. Maybe the Lord is challenging you to take on more Spiritual responsibility in your life-this can often be uncomfortable. Well, take a lesson from "driving in Cyprus". You just have to step out on faith and trust the Lord for His blessing. Be encouraged from Timothy this Lord's Day: I Timothy 4: 6Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 9Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Making a difference wherever or whoever you are

2008-06-12T01:27:00.000-07:00

Be a Witness brothers and sisters. I encourage you to pick up a few of those tracts at church and share the Gospel. Here is a great testimony of someone who did just that. All he did was share gospel tracts and people were saved and their lives transformed. Watch this video!!!
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Sunday from Bullhead to Limassol, Cyprus

2008-06-09T03:53:00.001-07:00

You might be wondering how I've had time to make so many posts since we've arrived in Cyprus. Well, I'm sure there are many jobs and tasks that I could be doing-but since this is not my home I don't have the ability to do much around here. So, I've had time to think, figure out how to do some pretty cool posts and write. God willing I'll be able to do "some work" around the school and church. There are always things to do in the Lord's work.

Well, we had a good Sunday worshiping with the believers in Cyprus. In the morning we broke bread, had a very stimulating adult Sunday School class and then in the evening we heard some good Gospel preaching. I was blessed and encouraged from the Word of God. This morning I got up and preached for the chapel session at the Logos School (the Christian school that Sarah's father started). I took my message from Acts 17 and challenged the jr. and sr. high schoolers to "search the scriptures so that they might have a personal relationship with the Lord. Tomorrow I speak to the younger kids (k-6th) for chapel.

Praise the Lord we heard great things from Brother Howie and Dency at Trinity. From my mom's report everyone was blessed and encouraged in the Lord. Thank you all that came for being there and in turn encouraging these young people who are seeking to serve the Lord with their lives. We are all looking forward to seeing the Lord work through my brother-in-law coming up June 22 and 29. Also we will be hearing from Tony De la Riva(another IBC Bible College student) in July. Please pray for that meeting as Tony's grandparents live in Bullhead City. We are praying that they will come and here from their grandson God's Word.

Athens at night

2008-06-09T03:51:00.001-07:00

the Mars Hilll Video again

2008-06-09T00:14:00.000-07:00

I wanted to repost this within the blogger. This is Acts 17-Paul's words to the Athenians.

2008-06-07T23:36:00.000-07:00

Today, we'll attend the Gospel Hall of Limassol. The worship here is a bit different than what we are used to at Trinity Baptist. But, I wish all of you could experience the "Breaking of Bread" or communion meeting here. Today we'll meet together and many of the Spiritual men will share in various ways-the reading of the Word, a short testimonial, a prayer etc. All of the things that will be shared will be centered around Christ's saving work on the cross. A few songs will be song and then we'll share the bread and the grape juice. It is definitely different than what we are used to. But, I appreciate these brothers in Christ as they seek to create a time to Worship Christ in a personal but collective way at the same time. Every Sunday the brothers and sisters break bread together. It is a blessing. Tonight we will meet back again for the Gospel meeting. Here the Gospel is emphasized. I must go we will start very soon. Have a great Lord's Day!

Liberty

2008-06-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

These are powerful words from the Apostle Paul. While we were in New York earlier on our trip we took the tour around the Statue of Liberty from one of the rangers there. Being a Government teacher I was overwhelmed with the awesome passion that the guide explained the story of the "Statue". He was an ex-marine who had served in combat I believe in Korea and an African-American-so I would assume that his background gave him an interesting perspective. As he told the story of all the symbolism within the building of the statue, you could see his passion for the liberty that he can now claim. He seemed to understand fully the cost of liberty that Americans now posses.

Greece1

2008-06-04T02:18:00.001-07:00

Where the Bible Comes Alive

2008-06-03T23:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is how I've felt walking the streets of Athens and wandering around the ancient city of Corinth. The highlight of my time in Greece was reading Acts 17 at Mars Hill and I Corinthians 13 at ancient Corinth. Walking around up here it feels like you might see around the next corner the Apostle Paul speaking to a gathering. Athens, although a modern city today-still gives the ancient feel. We enjoyed our time immensely there. I was thinking today about how God prepared even the city of Athens and all of the Roman empire of Paul's day to help us in our walk with Christ. The problems they had in Corinth or Ephesus, etc. were not unique. In fact they were quite typical. God prepared those cities so we could learn-and so the world could learn about how to walk the life with Christ. May we learn and grow-and be like the Bereans(Central Greece) -who searched the scriptures and lived Holy Separated lives unlike some of the Corinthians who were trying to live their lives apart from the principles of the Word of God. We are now in Cyprus and I hope we can encourage the believers here-like Barnabas-who was from Cyprus and is known as the great encourager. We are praying for brother Howie and his ministry with all of you on Sunday. Please don't be shy with comments!!! The first picture is me at Mars Hill and the second is a pic from Corinth at the great canal built from the Ionian to the Aegean Sea at the Pelopennisius (sorry for the spelling).
22Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. 30And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.