Blending of Conferences

Life has been hectic these past two weeks. In a ten-day period I attended three different men's conferences. The first was with Stauros Ministries, the second was the Men's Prayer Advance with Christ Life Ministries. The third was the Fellowship of Bible Churches Men's Retreat.

I must admit that by the time of the third conference I was in no mood to attend. However, all three, even the FBC conference, were a blessing. The Stauros retreat predominantly involved men who have struggled with either alchohol or drug addictions. The Prayer Advance was just that, a time of intensive prayer. The FBC retreat functioned more as a Prophecy Conference with speakers from Friends of Israel.

In the end I feel that I benefited from attending the combination of all three. The time hearing testimonies and getting to know the men of Stauros was great. Prayer and fellowship with the combination of Wakefield men made the Advance something special. And the exceptional Bible teaching of Dr. Renald Showers and Steve Herzig was a blessing (FBC conference).

Well now I'm home, trying to get my diet back into step with home food.

-Mark

Grace Upon Grace

I'm sorry for not posting these many months. Life has been busy. However, I should be able keep up with my future postings.

While reading John 1, I was struck by one certain verse, verse 16. It reads, "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace."

The believer then wakes up everyday to receive another wave of God's grace. The grace a believer received is replaced with even more grace. Robertson pointed out that the Greek is like that of Luke 11:11 where a serpent is given for fish and in Hebrews 12:2 where joy replaces the cross. The image that comes to my mind is that of someone standing on the beach, knee deep in the tide, with wave after wave striking his legs. God's grace is endless and the believer never lacks with what God provides.

The first part of the verse speaks of "His fullness." I looked at Ephesians 4:13. There we find that the gifted people given to the church are being used by God to lead the body to a fullness of Christ. We are becoming more like Christ each and every day!

It seems though that John 1:16 is much different from Ephesians 4:13. In Ephesians the promise is for the believer. In John, I feel that the fullness of Christ is the Incarnate God, who walked among men. The only begotten, He in His fullness, came to man; and those that believe receive His grace forever more each and every day.

-Mark

Looking upon God's Face

For several months I have been preparing for the 2008 AM message series. The goal of this series can be found in Psalm 27:8, "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek." For much of the prep time I have had in my mind the pattern of preaching/studying The Parables, The Sermon on the Mount, and The Gospel of John. However, now I sense that God would want me to change that order, to begin with John.

The Parables are found in the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Their focus is predominantly on the Kingdom of God. John on the other hand has no parables, unless you consider the shepherd & vine passages as parables. Also the focus of John is not so much on kingdom but on new life. As I have prayed and talked to some others, I now believe that we should begin with John to have a greater chance of realizing Psalm 27:8

Please join us starting January 6th as we begin to walk with Christ through John's eyes.

-Mark

Preparing Workers for the Next Harvest

We recently completed our missions conference. Dave Wall, of New Tribes Mission, Linda Reynolds, of Biblical Ministries Worldwide, and Dan & Barbara Keys, of Interact were our visiting missionaries. God truly blessed us with their presence. Because of this, and my recent visit to ABWE, my mind has been centered on missions.

Wakefield has a wonderful history with missions. I believe that this is due in part to Pastor Horner's vision and love for missions. Additionally, the people of Wakefield truly love and support their missionaries, committing almost 100,000 dollars per year to missions. This coming from a church of approximately 100 on Sunday mornings.

What then could be added to such a church? I feel that to build on a such a strong foundation, Wakefield must work harder at becoming a sending church. There are some from within our congregation that are on the field. However of late, we have not focused on training the next generation of missionaries. Where are these trainees? I believe they are now approaching retirement, making themselves ready for a new career, and are in middle school and high school.

To then motivate this upcoming class of missionaries, it is essential that we do the following: 1) Constantly put missions, both local and the "uttermost" in front of the congregation. This must include our children, for according to many missionaries, they sensed God's call on their lives when only kids. 2) Provide opportunities for local evangelism. This should include purposeful outreach events and frequent training. 3) Seek to plant churches in the local area and surrounding counties. It is my understanding that many missionary candidates have never led a person to Christ and have never been involved in a church planting program. Therefore, it is essential that our people experience such.

These are three simple steps that I will expound upon in time. I pray that God will continue to use Wakefield in His missionary program. I am certain that the current congregation will lovingly and enthusiastically support missions. However, we need to begin now to train the next congregation.

-Mark

Almost thou persaudest me ...

Praise God for a glorious evening in New Windsor! Because of three months of sincere prayer and relationship building we were permitted to share Christ with some in our community. That said, I must admit to having mixed emotions. On the one hand I am greatly encouraged, for God was glorified and His Son clearly presented. On the other hand my heart is heavy because no one would receive Him.

After years of doing door-to-door evangelism I am familiar with this response. However, this time was particularly unsettling. Why? Because we shared Christ with some fine people. Unfortunately, their lives of good deeds and service to the community has blinded them of their need for a savior. One responded in so many words, "My good deeds will get me in."

Please pray for those in New Windsor with which we shared Christ. Especially pray for Sheri, William, Sean, and Peggy. Pray extra for Peggy who fell and is in the local hospital. Some will visit her tomorrow to check up on her and to pray with her.

Even in times when it seems our efforts fail, God is glorified and we are edified. All of the team was weary prior to going out. After, although saddend by the rejection of truth, we were greatly encouraged! Even in times of rejection, rich soil is turned over and seeds planted. Pray that soon we will witness a harvest in New Windsor.

-Mark

White Already to Harvest

Tomorrow, Oct 16th, the GROW Team will return once again to New Windsor to meet with people, seek their prayer needs, and offer Christ. This will be the third pass for this particular GROW Team. This team has worked a series of houses in the New Windsor area. The first two visits were for the purpose of meeting people, getting to know them, and asking for prayer requests. We have then taken these requests back to the church and prayed for them on the following Wednesday evenings.

I will say that the experience of both teams has been all positive. The people have greeted us warmly, they have shared their needs, and for the most part they have welcomed us back. Also, I feel that our people, those of Wakefield Valley Bible Church, have enjoyed the process and have truly developed a love for those that they have met. Now tomorrow starts step three.
On this step we will return to our warmest contacts. As before we will sincerely ask for their prayer requests. Then we will share a short Gospel presentation. We will begin this presentation with the following statement, "May I tell you of a time that God answered one of my prayers?" If given permission, we will share our testimony and move through a presentation like that of the Romans Road.

Pray for our teams and the people of New Windsor. Our other team is one month behind and will be returning to their contacts the first Tuesday in November.

-Mark

The Entire Mission of the Church is Missions

I'm sorry that I have not posted in the past many weeks. There have been many conflicts for our time and focus.

This week I am at ABWE for the Pastors' Consultation. The training has been outstanding. (If you are a pastor you should request the opportunity to attend or send your missions' pastor.) I have taken much away from the training and I will relay parts of the training on this blog as well as preach on portions of it in the near future.

One thing to share with you is the false idea that missions is what is done overseas and evangelism/outreach is what is done at home. Rather, churches need to quit separating the two and understand that the entire mission of the church is missions, that there is no difference between local church outreach and foreign missions.

I'm excited about what God will be doing in coming years at Wakefield in the area of missions. We have always had a desire to send the Gospel overseas. Let's now add to that focus the desire to take the Gospel across the street.

-Mark