I wanted to share an exciting development with you. Buckaroo Bob has moved to two new homes!
Buckaroo Bob’s Neighborhood will now be presenting regular shows in the Tyler Church of God (Tyler, Texas) and at Cornerstone Fellowship (Atlanta, Texas). We have already done puppet shows for both groups.
When we travel with the puppet show, we have two portable puppet houses. Each group has invited us to put a puppet house in its building. Each group has just very recently moved into its new facility!
The Tyler Church of God just finished their new building. It is at 14151 Rhones Quarter Road (FM 2964). Their web site is tylercog.org. For more information about their Sabbath services, contact Jon Coffee at 903/582-9328. Or you may email him at tjcoffee@earthlink.net.
Cornerstone Fellowship recently got their own building. It is located at 2814 Main Street in Atlanta Texas 75551. For more information about their Sabbath services, contact Richard Davis at 903/293-2224 or at 870/774-7008. Or you can email HUNSTER13@aol.com.
We are really excited to be able to serve these two churches in this way. We have also taken our DCM Trio to both places to sing. And I have preached at both places. This is the very thing that DCM was designed to do. DCM is not a church. It is a ministry that serves local churches.
I hope that you someday have the chance to fellowship with at least one of these two groups. I encourage you to contact them if you are ever nearby on the Sabbath and can come visit them. They would love to have you as a visitor. You will find both groups warm and hospitable.
The two groups are different in some ways, but each group has the love of God. The Tyler group has a more formal church service. Their congregational singing is usually hymns. The Cornerstone group has a lot of kids and has a more interactive church service. They usually sing praise music.
Whatever your preference for how Sabbath services are organized, I hope you will always keep an open mind when visiting other groups. The days of all church services being run exactly the same are over. There are less and less “yellow pencil” Churches of God. You may not like this change within the Body of Christ, but we must accept the fact that we cannot turn back the hands of the clock. We are in a new era. I have learned to enjoy this diversity that I see in different local congregations.
Whatever format a church uses, let’s all love one another as we obey God by keeping His Sabbath and as we preach the true Jesus with the world.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Helpers of Our Joy
Last Sabbath, I had the pleasure of hearing a couple of lectures about the history of the Church of God Seventh Day by Robert Coulter. Brother Coulter has served the Church of God Seventh Day (CG7) in many capacities over the decades. He was the president of the Denver General Conference for 24 years. He has also served as the Southeast District Superintendent, pastor of numerous churches, writer, author, and missionary to third world countries.
I worked closely with Mr. Coulter years ago when he was pastor and I was a member of the Grand Prairie, Texas CG7. It was during his pastorate that I came to better understand the Scripture which talks about ministers being helpers of our joy.
As pastor, Brother Coulter was able to meld various personalities together into a unified congregation. It was under his leadership and service that attendance increased dramatically. Because of his vision, many people were able to set up different ministries in that local group.
Brother Coulter stayed away from politics in the Grand Prairie church. He made everyone feel welcome. No one felt that he administered the church unfairly. He showed no favoritism.
I had the pleasure to serve on the local board in Grand Prairie while Brother Coulter was pastor. He came to a board meeting one day and said, “I am entitled to two weeks vacation and, with your approval, I would like to take off these two weeks.” He then gave us the dates. I wasn’t used to a pastor asking members for approval on vacation time.
Naturally, we approved his request. Then, one of the board members asked him what he was going to do with his two weeks. We wondered if he was going to go fishing or spend time playing golf or perhaps go see the Lawrence Welk Theater in Branson. He said, “No. I am going to go do some mission work in Africa for those two weeks.”
I was astounded and impressed that he would spend his two weeks of vacation preaching the Gospel of Jesus. What an example he was to his flock!
In this age when so many men who claim to be ministers of Jesus while lording over their flocks, I hope everyone in the Church of God can at some point have the pleasure to be in a church whose pastor demonstrates the humility demonstrated by Brother Coulter.
Nancy and I further had the pleasure of having lunch with Brother Coulter and his lovely new bride, Ida, yesterday. It was a great opportunity for him and me to reminisce about the old days. I didn’t hesitate to tell him how much I appreciated his service back in Grand Prairie.
Does your pastor exhibit humility and love and fairness? If he does exhibit these wonderful virtues, I hope you will tell him that you appreciate him. If not, I hope you will someday find a pastor like Brother Coulter.
I worked closely with Mr. Coulter years ago when he was pastor and I was a member of the Grand Prairie, Texas CG7. It was during his pastorate that I came to better understand the Scripture which talks about ministers being helpers of our joy.
As pastor, Brother Coulter was able to meld various personalities together into a unified congregation. It was under his leadership and service that attendance increased dramatically. Because of his vision, many people were able to set up different ministries in that local group.
Brother Coulter stayed away from politics in the Grand Prairie church. He made everyone feel welcome. No one felt that he administered the church unfairly. He showed no favoritism.
I had the pleasure to serve on the local board in Grand Prairie while Brother Coulter was pastor. He came to a board meeting one day and said, “I am entitled to two weeks vacation and, with your approval, I would like to take off these two weeks.” He then gave us the dates. I wasn’t used to a pastor asking members for approval on vacation time.
Naturally, we approved his request. Then, one of the board members asked him what he was going to do with his two weeks. We wondered if he was going to go fishing or spend time playing golf or perhaps go see the Lawrence Welk Theater in Branson. He said, “No. I am going to go do some mission work in Africa for those two weeks.”
I was astounded and impressed that he would spend his two weeks of vacation preaching the Gospel of Jesus. What an example he was to his flock!
In this age when so many men who claim to be ministers of Jesus while lording over their flocks, I hope everyone in the Church of God can at some point have the pleasure to be in a church whose pastor demonstrates the humility demonstrated by Brother Coulter.
Nancy and I further had the pleasure of having lunch with Brother Coulter and his lovely new bride, Ida, yesterday. It was a great opportunity for him and me to reminisce about the old days. I didn’t hesitate to tell him how much I appreciated his service back in Grand Prairie.
Does your pastor exhibit humility and love and fairness? If he does exhibit these wonderful virtues, I hope you will tell him that you appreciate him. If not, I hope you will someday find a pastor like Brother Coulter.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Feast of Tabernacles 2008
Nancy and I just got back from the Feast of Tabernacles. It certainly was not a mere vacation. It was a lot of work. But was it fun!
We began by driving to Destin, Florida (Big Sandy Church of God Feast site) where I gave a sermon on the opening day. The sermon talked about why the world NEEDS the return of Jesus. People may THINK they don’t need Jesus to return, but they’re wrong. Jesus MUST return if this world is going to survive.
We then went to the United Christian Ministries Feast site in Sevierville, Tennessee. We stayed in a huge cabin in the beautiful Smokie Mountains. Staying there with us were Wynn Skelton, Kim Skelton, Wayne Weese, and Karen Weese (Nancy’s older sister).
While in Sevierville, Wynn and I both gave sermons. Wynn’s was titled “Time To Shine” where he talked about how important it is for a Christian to let his light shine brightly to the world. Mine was titled, “Evangelism in the 21st Century.” It talked about how there is not enough evangelism going on in the Churches of God even though it is important it is for us to be fishers of men to the unsaved.
Karen, Kim, Nancy, John Blevin, Vickie Mouland, and I put on three puppet shows.
And Wynn, Kim, Wayne, Ray Wooten, Carol Boyer, and I performed three songs.
It seemed to me that, every time I turned around, Wynn was playing praise music with some group of people before services, during services, after services, and during the fun show. The Sevierville site certainly had some of the best Christian music I have heard in a long, long time. Maybe the best ever.
The reason I bring all this up is that all of this material will soon be up on the DCM website! You can watch these things on video or listen to them on mp3. Our little group put a lot of time into preparing all these things, so I think you will enjoy them and be inspired by them. I hope these things will be posted on DCM by around November 1. Why don’t you make a note on your calendar to start watching for them soon after November 1?
And, believe it or not, our little group is already making plans for next year’s Feast! We are already working on new puppet shows, teen classes, and sermons. We are also thinking of recording a DCM broadcast before a live audience at next year’s Feast of Tabernacles.
I hope you had a great Feast too. If not, perhaps it is because you stayed home or perhaps you went to a site that did not fill the needs of you and your family. If that is the case, why don’t you start making plans for next year right now? Why not start saving your vacation time for this wonderful commanded assembly? Why not start looking for a Feast site which will bring joy to you and the ones you love?
I know it’s early, but have a great Feast in 2009!
--Wes
We began by driving to Destin, Florida (Big Sandy Church of God Feast site) where I gave a sermon on the opening day. The sermon talked about why the world NEEDS the return of Jesus. People may THINK they don’t need Jesus to return, but they’re wrong. Jesus MUST return if this world is going to survive.
We then went to the United Christian Ministries Feast site in Sevierville, Tennessee. We stayed in a huge cabin in the beautiful Smokie Mountains. Staying there with us were Wynn Skelton, Kim Skelton, Wayne Weese, and Karen Weese (Nancy’s older sister).
While in Sevierville, Wynn and I both gave sermons. Wynn’s was titled “Time To Shine” where he talked about how important it is for a Christian to let his light shine brightly to the world. Mine was titled, “Evangelism in the 21st Century.” It talked about how there is not enough evangelism going on in the Churches of God even though it is important it is for us to be fishers of men to the unsaved.
Karen, Kim, Nancy, John Blevin, Vickie Mouland, and I put on three puppet shows.
And Wynn, Kim, Wayne, Ray Wooten, Carol Boyer, and I performed three songs.
It seemed to me that, every time I turned around, Wynn was playing praise music with some group of people before services, during services, after services, and during the fun show. The Sevierville site certainly had some of the best Christian music I have heard in a long, long time. Maybe the best ever.
The reason I bring all this up is that all of this material will soon be up on the DCM website! You can watch these things on video or listen to them on mp3. Our little group put a lot of time into preparing all these things, so I think you will enjoy them and be inspired by them. I hope these things will be posted on DCM by around November 1. Why don’t you make a note on your calendar to start watching for them soon after November 1?
And, believe it or not, our little group is already making plans for next year’s Feast! We are already working on new puppet shows, teen classes, and sermons. We are also thinking of recording a DCM broadcast before a live audience at next year’s Feast of Tabernacles.
I hope you had a great Feast too. If not, perhaps it is because you stayed home or perhaps you went to a site that did not fill the needs of you and your family. If that is the case, why don’t you start making plans for next year right now? Why not start saving your vacation time for this wonderful commanded assembly? Why not start looking for a Feast site which will bring joy to you and the ones you love?
I know it’s early, but have a great Feast in 2009!
--Wes
Sunday, September 21, 2008
What About Your Feast Site?
Even though I don’t belong to any political party, I wanted to watch some of the speeches at the recent national conventions held by the Democrats and the Republicans. And I was impressed that the speakers presented powerful messages of hope. Oh yeah, they spent time bashing each other. But the biggest part of every speech that I heard had a positive vision for America.
Someone might say that all this positive rhetoric was just a cynical attempt to sway voters. Maybe. However, I kinda believe that there was at least a minimum of sincerity involved in all this partisan rhetoric. I think these men and women genuinely want what’s best for our country.
But their level of sincerity is not my point. Here is what I think is most important: Why can’t the ministers in Sabbath-keeping Church of God movement present more messages of a positive nature. God’s people need more sermons about hope. Especially at the Feast.
I have been keeping the Feast since 1971. I have been to many Feast sites over the years and have come to the conclusion that each Feast site has its own spirit. There are many Feast sites available to God’s people this year. Some locations will place considerable emphasis on conspiracy theories or pushing worldly politics or pushing goofy doctrines or trying to understand prophecy by reading the Bible and Time magazine simultaneously.
If you go to a Feast site that does things like this, I’m sorry to tell you that none of the above is preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God. Most of the above is a waste of time and serves no good purpose at a place where God has supposedly placed His name.
I hope you are going to obey God by attending the Feast this Fall. And I hope you will ask yourself to evaluate the kind of Feast site you will be attending.
Hopefully, it will be a place where Jesus is preached as the world’s future King of Kings.
Hopefully, it will be a place where people are encouraged to be good ambassadors for that future kingdom.
Hopefully, it will be a place where God’s present-day ambassadors are admonished to follow the fruit and nut admonition which says that we were called to bear fruit—not to act like a bunch of nuts.
Hopefully, it will be a place where the true Jesus is taught—not the false Jesus of the world’s churches.
You and I have freedom to keep the Feast or not keep the Feast. You and I have the freedom to attend the type of Feast site we want to.
Freedom is a two-edged sword. Each person is free to make his/her own decisions on doctrine and church administration. Unfortunately, too many of God’s people have not figured out that freedom must always be accompanied by responsibility.
If you have a family, you have a responsibility to take them to a Feast site where they can be inspired. People often say the following about attending church services on the Sabbath, “I come to church to feel better. If I leave church feeling worse than when I walked in the door, then I may need to find a new church.”
The same applies to a Feast site. If your family leaves a Feast site on the Last Great Day feeling worse than when they arrived, you may have taken them to the wrong Feast site.
As you make your Feast plans, may God guide you to choose your Feast site wisely—avoiding any place that promotes futile irrelevancy as you seek a location which preaches the wonderful hope of Jesus.
I hope you obey God and go to the Feast. And I hope you have a great Feast!
Someone might say that all this positive rhetoric was just a cynical attempt to sway voters. Maybe. However, I kinda believe that there was at least a minimum of sincerity involved in all this partisan rhetoric. I think these men and women genuinely want what’s best for our country.
But their level of sincerity is not my point. Here is what I think is most important: Why can’t the ministers in Sabbath-keeping Church of God movement present more messages of a positive nature. God’s people need more sermons about hope. Especially at the Feast.
I have been keeping the Feast since 1971. I have been to many Feast sites over the years and have come to the conclusion that each Feast site has its own spirit. There are many Feast sites available to God’s people this year. Some locations will place considerable emphasis on conspiracy theories or pushing worldly politics or pushing goofy doctrines or trying to understand prophecy by reading the Bible and Time magazine simultaneously.
If you go to a Feast site that does things like this, I’m sorry to tell you that none of the above is preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God. Most of the above is a waste of time and serves no good purpose at a place where God has supposedly placed His name.
I hope you are going to obey God by attending the Feast this Fall. And I hope you will ask yourself to evaluate the kind of Feast site you will be attending.
Hopefully, it will be a place where Jesus is preached as the world’s future King of Kings.
Hopefully, it will be a place where people are encouraged to be good ambassadors for that future kingdom.
Hopefully, it will be a place where God’s present-day ambassadors are admonished to follow the fruit and nut admonition which says that we were called to bear fruit—not to act like a bunch of nuts.
Hopefully, it will be a place where the true Jesus is taught—not the false Jesus of the world’s churches.
You and I have freedom to keep the Feast or not keep the Feast. You and I have the freedom to attend the type of Feast site we want to.
Freedom is a two-edged sword. Each person is free to make his/her own decisions on doctrine and church administration. Unfortunately, too many of God’s people have not figured out that freedom must always be accompanied by responsibility.
If you have a family, you have a responsibility to take them to a Feast site where they can be inspired. People often say the following about attending church services on the Sabbath, “I come to church to feel better. If I leave church feeling worse than when I walked in the door, then I may need to find a new church.”
The same applies to a Feast site. If your family leaves a Feast site on the Last Great Day feeling worse than when they arrived, you may have taken them to the wrong Feast site.
As you make your Feast plans, may God guide you to choose your Feast site wisely—avoiding any place that promotes futile irrelevancy as you seek a location which preaches the wonderful hope of Jesus.
I hope you obey God and go to the Feast. And I hope you have a great Feast!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
The Value of Young People in Doing God’s Work
Several weeks ago, Nancy approached a young lady in our church about participating in the Dynamic Christian Ministries broadcast. The young lady’s name is Jennifer Killingley. I have known Jennifer’s parents for years. We went to college together in the 70s in California.
Nancy and I wanted Jennifer to be on our broadcast because she is intelligent and witty. She attends college on several academic scholarships. She is sweet-natured.
Before Nancy approached Jennifer about being on the broadcasts with us, we tried to come up with persuasive arguments as to why she should do this. We thought we came up with some good ones.
So now Nancy was ready to call her on the phone and ask if they could chat face-to-face. Armed with her arsenal of reasons as to why Jennifer should say “yes,” Nancy went into the meeting and began her discussion with Jennifer. Nancy was astonished that, before she could get all her reasons out, Jennifer quickly said she liked the idea. Nancy was taken aback. She felt that perhaps Jennifer was accepting only because she was afraid to say “no” to an older person in the Church. So Nancy suggested, “Why don’t you think about it for a few days? I’ll call you and ask for your answer.” Jennifer agreed.
Nancy figured she’d call Jennifer in about three or four days, but Jennifer beat her to the punch. Two days later, Jennifer called Nancy and said, “I want to do this!” Needless to say, we were thrilled to add Jennifer to our cast. So far, we have recorded three broadcasts with her and we are totally pleased with her contribution to the program.
[BTW, we just posted on the DCM website our two most recent programs which we recorded last Labor Day. These broadcasts deal with our on-going study of the book of Genesis. I hope you check them out. They are entitled: “Giants, Fallen Angels, and God’s Law—Parts 1 and 2.”]
Here is the important part of this whole thing. Jennifer is only 17 years old and she is being used as an instrument to preach the truth of God’s Word! She does this with poise. She is articulate. She projects her message clearly.
There is no doubt in my mind that some will be offended by this and say, “Preaching the Gospel is not a job for cute little girls. This job should only be done by old men. This is our church tradition.”
I have stated from the beginning that for the DCM broadcast we were NOT going to put an old man in front of a bookcase filled with books he has never read and have him preach. This is what so many of the Sabbath-keeping Churches of God are already doing. And it is their business how they do their outreach. They need to do what they are comfortable with. Our feeling is that this “old-man-in-front-of-a-bookcase” method worked in the 50s and 60s, but we feel the need to preach Jesus in a more contemporary fashion in the 21st century. We feel that Jared and Jennifer will do much to help us reach younger viewers and listeners. Jared and Jennifer can appeal to younger audiences better than Nancy and I can.
We know that young people cannot do everything that the more mature and older folks in God’s Church should do. But I do know from experience that young people can do a lot more than they do now.
I have found that it’s usually not their unwillingness to help that keeps young people from serving. More often than not, young people do not help because the older adults don’t have the foresight to ask them! Most of the time when I ask young persons to help out with things, they willingly agree. They may be shy about it at first. They may initially feel a little insecure about having the ability to do the job. But with guidance and reassurance, they inevitably perform the task that ultimately benefits the body of Christ.
We need to involve our young people more in feeding the flock and preaching the Gospel. And we want this not so we older people can sit back and take it easy. No. This is not the age in man’s history when any of us can go on vacation. Everyone of all ages must work hard to teach and do God’s will.
Back to these two young people that I am so proud of…
I don’t know how long Jared and Jennifer will be willing or able to be part of our broadcast team. Nancy and I realize that, as young people, they have a lot of interests. They certainly need to be mindful of their educations and their careers. So the day may come when they will need to move on from the program.
In the meantime, Nancy and I feel that God has blessed our broadcasts with these two wonderful young people. At this time, I am asking that you take time to regularly pray for Jared and Jennifer--that God will guide and direct their lives not only as they continue to be obedient to God and His Word, but also as they enthusiastically do their part to preach the Gospel of the true Jesus of the Bible.
Nancy and I wanted Jennifer to be on our broadcast because she is intelligent and witty. She attends college on several academic scholarships. She is sweet-natured.
Before Nancy approached Jennifer about being on the broadcasts with us, we tried to come up with persuasive arguments as to why she should do this. We thought we came up with some good ones.
So now Nancy was ready to call her on the phone and ask if they could chat face-to-face. Armed with her arsenal of reasons as to why Jennifer should say “yes,” Nancy went into the meeting and began her discussion with Jennifer. Nancy was astonished that, before she could get all her reasons out, Jennifer quickly said she liked the idea. Nancy was taken aback. She felt that perhaps Jennifer was accepting only because she was afraid to say “no” to an older person in the Church. So Nancy suggested, “Why don’t you think about it for a few days? I’ll call you and ask for your answer.” Jennifer agreed.
Nancy figured she’d call Jennifer in about three or four days, but Jennifer beat her to the punch. Two days later, Jennifer called Nancy and said, “I want to do this!” Needless to say, we were thrilled to add Jennifer to our cast. So far, we have recorded three broadcasts with her and we are totally pleased with her contribution to the program.
[BTW, we just posted on the DCM website our two most recent programs which we recorded last Labor Day. These broadcasts deal with our on-going study of the book of Genesis. I hope you check them out. They are entitled: “Giants, Fallen Angels, and God’s Law—Parts 1 and 2.”]
Here is the important part of this whole thing. Jennifer is only 17 years old and she is being used as an instrument to preach the truth of God’s Word! She does this with poise. She is articulate. She projects her message clearly.
There is no doubt in my mind that some will be offended by this and say, “Preaching the Gospel is not a job for cute little girls. This job should only be done by old men. This is our church tradition.”
I have stated from the beginning that for the DCM broadcast we were NOT going to put an old man in front of a bookcase filled with books he has never read and have him preach. This is what so many of the Sabbath-keeping Churches of God are already doing. And it is their business how they do their outreach. They need to do what they are comfortable with. Our feeling is that this “old-man-in-front-of-a-bookcase” method worked in the 50s and 60s, but we feel the need to preach Jesus in a more contemporary fashion in the 21st century. We feel that Jared and Jennifer will do much to help us reach younger viewers and listeners. Jared and Jennifer can appeal to younger audiences better than Nancy and I can.
We know that young people cannot do everything that the more mature and older folks in God’s Church should do. But I do know from experience that young people can do a lot more than they do now.
I have found that it’s usually not their unwillingness to help that keeps young people from serving. More often than not, young people do not help because the older adults don’t have the foresight to ask them! Most of the time when I ask young persons to help out with things, they willingly agree. They may be shy about it at first. They may initially feel a little insecure about having the ability to do the job. But with guidance and reassurance, they inevitably perform the task that ultimately benefits the body of Christ.
We need to involve our young people more in feeding the flock and preaching the Gospel. And we want this not so we older people can sit back and take it easy. No. This is not the age in man’s history when any of us can go on vacation. Everyone of all ages must work hard to teach and do God’s will.
Back to these two young people that I am so proud of…
I don’t know how long Jared and Jennifer will be willing or able to be part of our broadcast team. Nancy and I realize that, as young people, they have a lot of interests. They certainly need to be mindful of their educations and their careers. So the day may come when they will need to move on from the program.
In the meantime, Nancy and I feel that God has blessed our broadcasts with these two wonderful young people. At this time, I am asking that you take time to regularly pray for Jared and Jennifer--that God will guide and direct their lives not only as they continue to be obedient to God and His Word, but also as they enthusiastically do their part to preach the Gospel of the true Jesus of the Bible.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Dinosaurs: Figment of Someone’s Imagination?
Several weeks ago, a co-worker asked me about something he saw on the Discovery Channel. Apparently, a woman who had successfully fled a polygamist cult was interviewed on TV and made the statement, “After I escaped the group, I could then believe in dinosaurs.” My friend asked me what this lady meant.
I explained that some fundamentalist churches actually believe that dinosaurs did not exist in spite of the plethora of archeological proof that is on display in hundreds or even thousands of museums around the world! These people preach that Satan has placed fake dinosaur bones in the earth’s layers so that our faith in the Bible will be weakened!
The rejection of the validity of dinosaurs is (at best) well-meaning, but it is also quite absurd. These folks ignorantly feel that, if you believe that dinosaurs once roamed the earth, you can’t believe in the Bible. Not true.
== The existence of dinosaurs does NOT disprove the Bible!
== The validity of the Bible does NOT disprove the existence of dinosaurs.
We have just recorded a broadcast for Dynamic Christian Ministries which looks into the Genesis Creation account. It shows that Bible believers do NOT have to fear scientific discoveries. In fact, many of these discoveries actually prove the accuracy of historical accounts that are found in Scripture!
I hope you will take the time to watch this broadcast. I think you will find it interesting and informative.
In future broadcasts, we are going to study various topics in the book of Genesis--topics such as giants, fallen angels, cave men, Neanderthals, the pre-Flood world, and Noah’s ark.
--Wes
I explained that some fundamentalist churches actually believe that dinosaurs did not exist in spite of the plethora of archeological proof that is on display in hundreds or even thousands of museums around the world! These people preach that Satan has placed fake dinosaur bones in the earth’s layers so that our faith in the Bible will be weakened!
The rejection of the validity of dinosaurs is (at best) well-meaning, but it is also quite absurd. These folks ignorantly feel that, if you believe that dinosaurs once roamed the earth, you can’t believe in the Bible. Not true.
== The existence of dinosaurs does NOT disprove the Bible!
== The validity of the Bible does NOT disprove the existence of dinosaurs.
We have just recorded a broadcast for Dynamic Christian Ministries which looks into the Genesis Creation account. It shows that Bible believers do NOT have to fear scientific discoveries. In fact, many of these discoveries actually prove the accuracy of historical accounts that are found in Scripture!
I hope you will take the time to watch this broadcast. I think you will find it interesting and informative.
In future broadcasts, we are going to study various topics in the book of Genesis--topics such as giants, fallen angels, cave men, Neanderthals, the pre-Flood world, and Noah’s ark.
--Wes
Thursday, July 24, 2008
UPDATE ON A BUNCH OF STUFF!
Nancy and I just got back from Birmingham, Alabama. We had a wonderful trip and got to fellowship with many of our wonderful brethren from several different states. People came from as far north as Michigan and from as far west as Texas. (Nancy and I weren’t the only ones who came from Texas.) While we were out there, Nancy gave a terrific presentation at the United Christian Ministries annual women’s conference. I didn’t get to hear it live because men weren’t allowed in the conference. Many of the women told me they enjoyed it and now her message is up on our DynamicChristianMinistries.org website. I hope you have a chance to watch this video. I think she did a great job, but maybe I am biased. J
We also added some more music to our website. I am blessed to be able to be in the DCM Trio where we have two terrific female vocalists, Stephanie Stotts and Kim Skelton. We just recently started this thing and we haven’t had a lot of rehearsals. About two weeks ago, we got out a camcorder and said, “Let’s just do this.” So we just started recording songs that we have worked on. The audio is not great from a technical point of view, but I think you will agree that these gals do a great job on their vocals. Our trio has seven new songs on the Music tab of our DCM website. Please check them out.
This Sunday, the DCM cast and crew are going to record another broadcast. The subject will be the Creation in Genesis. The book of Genesis is one of my favorite books of the Bible and I hope you will enjoy the presentation that we will put together for you. Over the years, I have found that people enjoy studying the book of Genesis because it takes you into so many areas: The Garden of Eden, cave men, Neandertal men, giants, fallen angels, the pre-Flood world, etc. Lots of stuff. We can even find the first prophecy of Jesus in the book of Genesis! It doesn’t get any better than that! We are going to talk about all these subjects in future broadcasts. I hope you won’t miss a single one.
We are enjoying some of the comments we get from people who visit our website. One gentleman recently wrote that he appreciated our ministry because it exists to serve the local church and not visa versa. He is correct! DynamicChristianMinistries.org does not exist for the purpose of asking you to help us. We exist to serve people in local churches. We sell nothing. Everything we have is absolutely free. The good part is that we don’t even know who goes to our website and accesses our materials. It’s like we have opened and stocked a store and left a sign on the door that says, “Come in and take what you want. Everything is free.” After hanging the sign, we walked away and we have no idea who is taking what. We don’t know if someone downloads an article or video or audio. We don’t need to know. The only thing that is important is that we want people to know this stuff is out there and it’s free. Praise God for His precious Bible truths which we want to disseminate to as many people as possible.
Please check our DynamicChristianMinistries.org website regularly because we are constantly adding new things. Thanks for listening.
--Wes
We also added some more music to our website. I am blessed to be able to be in the DCM Trio where we have two terrific female vocalists, Stephanie Stotts and Kim Skelton. We just recently started this thing and we haven’t had a lot of rehearsals. About two weeks ago, we got out a camcorder and said, “Let’s just do this.” So we just started recording songs that we have worked on. The audio is not great from a technical point of view, but I think you will agree that these gals do a great job on their vocals. Our trio has seven new songs on the Music tab of our DCM website. Please check them out.
This Sunday, the DCM cast and crew are going to record another broadcast. The subject will be the Creation in Genesis. The book of Genesis is one of my favorite books of the Bible and I hope you will enjoy the presentation that we will put together for you. Over the years, I have found that people enjoy studying the book of Genesis because it takes you into so many areas: The Garden of Eden, cave men, Neandertal men, giants, fallen angels, the pre-Flood world, etc. Lots of stuff. We can even find the first prophecy of Jesus in the book of Genesis! It doesn’t get any better than that! We are going to talk about all these subjects in future broadcasts. I hope you won’t miss a single one.
We are enjoying some of the comments we get from people who visit our website. One gentleman recently wrote that he appreciated our ministry because it exists to serve the local church and not visa versa. He is correct! DynamicChristianMinistries.org does not exist for the purpose of asking you to help us. We exist to serve people in local churches. We sell nothing. Everything we have is absolutely free. The good part is that we don’t even know who goes to our website and accesses our materials. It’s like we have opened and stocked a store and left a sign on the door that says, “Come in and take what you want. Everything is free.” After hanging the sign, we walked away and we have no idea who is taking what. We don’t know if someone downloads an article or video or audio. We don’t need to know. The only thing that is important is that we want people to know this stuff is out there and it’s free. Praise God for His precious Bible truths which we want to disseminate to as many people as possible.
Please check our DynamicChristianMinistries.org website regularly because we are constantly adding new things. Thanks for listening.
--Wes
Monday, July 7, 2008
We Want Jesus to Return!
We’re always adding things to the website and we hope you benefit from them. We’ve got a couple new songs that will be added to the “Music” tab in the next few days. The titles are A Brand New Song and Wayfaring Stranger. Let me tell you the story behind each one.
Wayfaring Stranger. This was recorded by my band called the Mojos back in the 60s. A long time ago! At that time, I was not a Christian. God had not called me at that point of my life. Back then, I was playing music in dives in Calumet City, Indiana, and in bars in the Old Town section of Chicago. My band played this song simply because we liked it. We had no idea what the words meant. After I was baptized in 1971, I re-looked at these words and then realized their meaning that we are pilgrims and sojourners in this life as we wait for the return of Jesus to rule the earth as King of Kings. The quality of the recording is not that great. If was initially recorded analog on reel-to-reel tape, then transferred to cassette tape, and then transferred to digital CD. I hope you enjoy the music and I hope that the words bring you inspiration.
A Brand New Song. This is song that I wrote not that long ago. The message of the song is really meaningful to me, but the music is somewhat of a lark. One evening, I thought I would try to record the song by laying down all the vocal tracks myself. All the voices you hear on the recording are mine. This is obviously not studio-quality, but I hope you will like it anyway. This song also deals with the return of Jesus.
The return of Jesus should consume our lives! Telling the world of His return should be an overriding obsession of our lives!
Thy Kingdom come!
Wayfaring Stranger. This was recorded by my band called the Mojos back in the 60s. A long time ago! At that time, I was not a Christian. God had not called me at that point of my life. Back then, I was playing music in dives in Calumet City, Indiana, and in bars in the Old Town section of Chicago. My band played this song simply because we liked it. We had no idea what the words meant. After I was baptized in 1971, I re-looked at these words and then realized their meaning that we are pilgrims and sojourners in this life as we wait for the return of Jesus to rule the earth as King of Kings. The quality of the recording is not that great. If was initially recorded analog on reel-to-reel tape, then transferred to cassette tape, and then transferred to digital CD. I hope you enjoy the music and I hope that the words bring you inspiration.
A Brand New Song. This is song that I wrote not that long ago. The message of the song is really meaningful to me, but the music is somewhat of a lark. One evening, I thought I would try to record the song by laying down all the vocal tracks myself. All the voices you hear on the recording are mine. This is obviously not studio-quality, but I hope you will like it anyway. This song also deals with the return of Jesus.
The return of Jesus should consume our lives! Telling the world of His return should be an overriding obsession of our lives!
Thy Kingdom come!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Is God Spanking America?
It seems as though any time a natural disaster hits America, the evangelicals (and some Church of God leaders) say that this is God’s way of punishing us for being an evil nation. When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, many said God was punishing that city for having so many homosexuals. Others said New Orleans was being punished for being a city of drunkenness and fornication. Some even attributed this disaster to too many inter-racial marriages!
Does God punish nations? Absolutely! The Old Testament shows how God would subject Israel to the ravages of outside armies for their sins. The people would repent, God would remove the punishment, and then the people would sin again. This Evil-Captivity-Delivery cycle is seen over and over in the book of Judges. It is mentioned no less than seven times in this one book alone. Even so, in God’s mercy, He gave Israel more peace than captivity during the times of the judges. Probably at a rate of five years of peace for every one year of captivity in spite their unwillingness to obey God.
The prophet Ezekiel makes very clear the reasons for Israel’s later captivity and enslavement. You can read it in Ezekiel 20:12-24. Verses 23 and 24 indicate that the main reasons for Israel’s enslavement were idolatry and Sabbath-breaking. These two sins are very prevalent in the U.S. The Church of God needs to do a better job of preaching that this nation needs to abandon idolatry and Sabbath-breaking. We are not effectively getting this message out.
Nevertheless, when there is a national or regional disaster, can we emphatically state that that disaster is God’s punishment? Absolutely not!
We know the reasons why the Israelites were punished by foreign armies because the Bible clearly tells us. But God does NOT make it crystal clear that our nation suffers natural disasters because of sin. We simply do not know the mind of God in these matters. Like it or not, there are no Jeremiahs or Ezekiels on the world scene to explain this type of phenomenon to us. Some may claim to be prophets or apostles, but they are liars if they claim these titles and they are liars if they emphatically preach that hurricanes and floods are a result of God’s anger.
Again, we need to preach repentance to the United States!
But there is no way to say for sure why reasons hurricanes and floods have been hitting our lands for hundreds of years. To attribute these disasters to God could very well be blaspheme.
Let’s be careful in these matters! Let’s not be quick to judge others. Let’s not be quick to condemn people. Let’s not be quick to claim that another’s misfortune is because of something he did to displease God. You never know when you might experience a difficult financial or health situation. Surely, you don’t want others to claim it is because you are sinful.
Let’s continue to preach God’s truth. Let’s continue to condemn sinful practices and false doctrine. But let’s also show the world that the Church of God is filled with people who have an abundance of Christian love!
By the way, we are excited to announce that we have a new tab on our website. It is called Sabbechism. (Nancy and I made up that word.) Check it out. I think you will find it informative and interesting.
Does God punish nations? Absolutely! The Old Testament shows how God would subject Israel to the ravages of outside armies for their sins. The people would repent, God would remove the punishment, and then the people would sin again. This Evil-Captivity-Delivery cycle is seen over and over in the book of Judges. It is mentioned no less than seven times in this one book alone. Even so, in God’s mercy, He gave Israel more peace than captivity during the times of the judges. Probably at a rate of five years of peace for every one year of captivity in spite their unwillingness to obey God.
The prophet Ezekiel makes very clear the reasons for Israel’s later captivity and enslavement. You can read it in Ezekiel 20:12-24. Verses 23 and 24 indicate that the main reasons for Israel’s enslavement were idolatry and Sabbath-breaking. These two sins are very prevalent in the U.S. The Church of God needs to do a better job of preaching that this nation needs to abandon idolatry and Sabbath-breaking. We are not effectively getting this message out.
Nevertheless, when there is a national or regional disaster, can we emphatically state that that disaster is God’s punishment? Absolutely not!
We know the reasons why the Israelites were punished by foreign armies because the Bible clearly tells us. But God does NOT make it crystal clear that our nation suffers natural disasters because of sin. We simply do not know the mind of God in these matters. Like it or not, there are no Jeremiahs or Ezekiels on the world scene to explain this type of phenomenon to us. Some may claim to be prophets or apostles, but they are liars if they claim these titles and they are liars if they emphatically preach that hurricanes and floods are a result of God’s anger.
Again, we need to preach repentance to the United States!
But there is no way to say for sure why reasons hurricanes and floods have been hitting our lands for hundreds of years. To attribute these disasters to God could very well be blaspheme.
Let’s be careful in these matters! Let’s not be quick to judge others. Let’s not be quick to condemn people. Let’s not be quick to claim that another’s misfortune is because of something he did to displease God. You never know when you might experience a difficult financial or health situation. Surely, you don’t want others to claim it is because you are sinful.
Let’s continue to preach God’s truth. Let’s continue to condemn sinful practices and false doctrine. But let’s also show the world that the Church of God is filled with people who have an abundance of Christian love!
By the way, we are excited to announce that we have a new tab on our website. It is called Sabbechism. (Nancy and I made up that word.) Check it out. I think you will find it informative and interesting.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Be a Barean
Not long ago, Nancy gave a presentation at a Women's Conference. The title was, "All You Need Is Love." I am told it was well-received and that a lot of the women thanked her for it.
But a problem surfaced some time later. It turned out that one lady disliked the fact that Nancy had handed out heart-shaped candy during her presentation. When Nancy found out, she called her and they worked out their difference. Nancy assured her that she does not keep Valentine’s Day and certainly wasn’t promoting it. Nancy apologized for giving wrong signals and promised she would never again give out heart-shaped candy at a Women’s Conference--even if that candy is on clearance and can be bought cheap. J
I think there are a couple of lessons that can be learned from this instance:
1) If two people really want to work out a difference, they can. What if Nancy’s friend refused to accept her apology? Or what if Nancy were unwilling to offer the apology? The outcome of this would have been entirely different.
2) But, even more importantly, I think this incident shows that we in God’s Church need to hold each other accountable in a loving way. Nancy was challenged on whether or not she keeps a pagan day when she performed an act which gave mixed signals. There is nothing wrong with Nancy being challenged.
Actually, I think we would all be amazed if we knew what doctrinal beliefs others really hold deep down inside. And every person’s beliefs are his own business if he chooses to keep them private.
But the minute you set yourself up in a leadership position in God’s Church, others have the right (maybe the responsibility) to ask you what you really believe. As long as Nancy is willing to stand up before God’s people and teach, she has to be willing to be honest about her beliefs.
When someone claims to be a Christian, it’s not up to me to judge whether or not he is really converted. But when someone claims to be a minister or an apostle or a leader of any kind, I have a right (maybe a responsibility) to ask him to prove what he says he is. Questioning someone’s leadership is totally different than questioning someone’s conversion.
Let’s be like the Bereans. Let’s prove all things. If someone wants to educate you, make sure he is qualified to do so. And, Nancy, no more heart-shaped candies. I don’t care how cheap they are on sale.
But a problem surfaced some time later. It turned out that one lady disliked the fact that Nancy had handed out heart-shaped candy during her presentation. When Nancy found out, she called her and they worked out their difference. Nancy assured her that she does not keep Valentine’s Day and certainly wasn’t promoting it. Nancy apologized for giving wrong signals and promised she would never again give out heart-shaped candy at a Women’s Conference--even if that candy is on clearance and can be bought cheap. J
I think there are a couple of lessons that can be learned from this instance:
1) If two people really want to work out a difference, they can. What if Nancy’s friend refused to accept her apology? Or what if Nancy were unwilling to offer the apology? The outcome of this would have been entirely different.
2) But, even more importantly, I think this incident shows that we in God’s Church need to hold each other accountable in a loving way. Nancy was challenged on whether or not she keeps a pagan day when she performed an act which gave mixed signals. There is nothing wrong with Nancy being challenged.
Actually, I think we would all be amazed if we knew what doctrinal beliefs others really hold deep down inside. And every person’s beliefs are his own business if he chooses to keep them private.
But the minute you set yourself up in a leadership position in God’s Church, others have the right (maybe the responsibility) to ask you what you really believe. As long as Nancy is willing to stand up before God’s people and teach, she has to be willing to be honest about her beliefs.
When someone claims to be a Christian, it’s not up to me to judge whether or not he is really converted. But when someone claims to be a minister or an apostle or a leader of any kind, I have a right (maybe a responsibility) to ask him to prove what he says he is. Questioning someone’s leadership is totally different than questioning someone’s conversion.
Let’s be like the Bereans. Let’s prove all things. If someone wants to educate you, make sure he is qualified to do so. And, Nancy, no more heart-shaped candies. I don’t care how cheap they are on sale.
Monday, May 12, 2008
More on… Fruit or Nut? Which?
It’s been a while since I have updated this blog. Sorry about that. Nancy and I have been busy. We traveled to Ft Wayne, Indiana, to keep the last day of Unleavened Bread with United Christian Ministries. We had a wonderful time with the folks up there. Their friendliness, warmth, and hospitality were superb! I gave a sermon out there on Law and Grace. It should be available on our website any day now. I hope you will check it out. The title is “Grace Plus Nothing Equals Salvation?”
In the sermon, I pointed out that it is understandable how a Christian can get confused on the exact time table of events of Passover in 1487 BC and of Passover in 31 AD. Not all issues of doctrine are easily proven as we sometimes see through a glass darkly. But there is perfect clarity on Scripture on Law and Grace! God makes this one easy for those who are led by His holy spirit.
At this time, I don’t understand the confusion on this subject that currently exists among some in the Church of God. And even among men who claim to have been ministers of Jesus Christ since the 1960s! Why is there a need to have all these conferences and meetings on the subject? Could it be that there are those who are attempting to subtly do away with the Sabbath and the annual high days? He that hath an ear let him hear. Dynamic Christian Ministries not only has my sermon on the subject of Law and Grace; we also have an article if you want to have something to print out.
We have also completed two new puppet shows that will soon appear on this website. If you have kids or grandkids, I hope you are giving them an opportunity to watch these shows. These shows would be a great addition to your local Sabbath school class. They would be a good alternative to some of the inappropriate kids’ programming out there on TV these days. We apologize for the current quality of sound. We are working to improve it. We think we got it fixed on our most recent show. And we hope to make all future shows better as well. One more thought: It is also our desire to develop Buckaroo Bob coloring books for little kids!
We are also adding our first piece of recorded music to the website. It is a song sung by my good friend, Scott Allen. It is a piece he wrote and recorded for his mom. I think you will find it uplifting. It’s really good stuff. The melody. The instruments. The vocals.
We are also working on new recordings for broadcasts.
In the news lately, there has been considerable publicity regarding a Fundamentalist Mormon group of West Texas having all their children taken away by the state of Texas. (It is not my place to comment on whether or not the state was justified in its actions.)
I just found out that there is another group having similar problems regarding accusations of polygamy and child molestation. And these people are Sabbath-keepers! (Normally, I would say they are Sabbath-keeping Church of God people, but I believe they do not like the word “church” and I believe they don’t like the word “God.”)
According to last Saturday’s front page of the Dallas Morning News, this group claims to keep all 613 laws of the Torah. This is impossible! No one can keep all 613 laws of the Torah. For example, you can’t keep any Torah law regarding the Temple because the Temple doesn’t exist. For this reason, Christians must do their best to figure out which of those laws are in effect and which aren’t.
Again, no one keeps ALL of these 613 laws. But, then again, there is no one who does not keep ANY of them. No matter what religion you are, you keep at least some of these laws! If you are an atheist, you keep at least some of these laws!
But let’s get back to the group that is mentioned in a recent Dallas Morning News. If you can believe the DMN, the women in that congregation must wear latex gloves when it is that time of month! I can’t imagine asking a woman to do that. How demeaning! How humiliating!
All of this discussion goes back to one of the basics of Christianity: God called you to bear fruit; He did NOT call you to be a nut!
The good news is that God’s people can think for themselves. But sometimes the bad news is that God’s people can think for themselves. We are free to worship God in the way that conscience dictates. This freedom requires us to act responsibly. God does not want us getting side-tracked into goofy beliefs and practices.
Christians! Bear fruit! Don’t act like nuts!
In the sermon, I pointed out that it is understandable how a Christian can get confused on the exact time table of events of Passover in 1487 BC and of Passover in 31 AD. Not all issues of doctrine are easily proven as we sometimes see through a glass darkly. But there is perfect clarity on Scripture on Law and Grace! God makes this one easy for those who are led by His holy spirit.
At this time, I don’t understand the confusion on this subject that currently exists among some in the Church of God. And even among men who claim to have been ministers of Jesus Christ since the 1960s! Why is there a need to have all these conferences and meetings on the subject? Could it be that there are those who are attempting to subtly do away with the Sabbath and the annual high days? He that hath an ear let him hear. Dynamic Christian Ministries not only has my sermon on the subject of Law and Grace; we also have an article if you want to have something to print out.
We have also completed two new puppet shows that will soon appear on this website. If you have kids or grandkids, I hope you are giving them an opportunity to watch these shows. These shows would be a great addition to your local Sabbath school class. They would be a good alternative to some of the inappropriate kids’ programming out there on TV these days. We apologize for the current quality of sound. We are working to improve it. We think we got it fixed on our most recent show. And we hope to make all future shows better as well. One more thought: It is also our desire to develop Buckaroo Bob coloring books for little kids!
We are also adding our first piece of recorded music to the website. It is a song sung by my good friend, Scott Allen. It is a piece he wrote and recorded for his mom. I think you will find it uplifting. It’s really good stuff. The melody. The instruments. The vocals.
We are also working on new recordings for broadcasts.
In the news lately, there has been considerable publicity regarding a Fundamentalist Mormon group of West Texas having all their children taken away by the state of Texas. (It is not my place to comment on whether or not the state was justified in its actions.)
I just found out that there is another group having similar problems regarding accusations of polygamy and child molestation. And these people are Sabbath-keepers! (Normally, I would say they are Sabbath-keeping Church of God people, but I believe they do not like the word “church” and I believe they don’t like the word “God.”)
According to last Saturday’s front page of the Dallas Morning News, this group claims to keep all 613 laws of the Torah. This is impossible! No one can keep all 613 laws of the Torah. For example, you can’t keep any Torah law regarding the Temple because the Temple doesn’t exist. For this reason, Christians must do their best to figure out which of those laws are in effect and which aren’t.
Again, no one keeps ALL of these 613 laws. But, then again, there is no one who does not keep ANY of them. No matter what religion you are, you keep at least some of these laws! If you are an atheist, you keep at least some of these laws!
But let’s get back to the group that is mentioned in a recent Dallas Morning News. If you can believe the DMN, the women in that congregation must wear latex gloves when it is that time of month! I can’t imagine asking a woman to do that. How demeaning! How humiliating!
All of this discussion goes back to one of the basics of Christianity: God called you to bear fruit; He did NOT call you to be a nut!
The good news is that God’s people can think for themselves. But sometimes the bad news is that God’s people can think for themselves. We are free to worship God in the way that conscience dictates. This freedom requires us to act responsibly. God does not want us getting side-tracked into goofy beliefs and practices.
Christians! Bear fruit! Don’t act like nuts!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Women’s Conferences Galore!
Praise God that the women in the Church of God love to attend women’s conferences! These assemblies offer wonderful opportunities for women to assemble. They worship, praise, teach, fellowship, and show love for one another.
I am pleased to note that they do all of this without the need of some male to “oversee” them. The holy spirit guides them into mature actions without the need of a man to “supervise” their efforts. Believe it or not, there are some who feel that women can’t assemble for a conference like this without the guidance of men!
Let’s look at three specific women’s conferences in three different parts of the country.
But first, I would like to encourage you to check out our brand new article entitled, “What is the Role of Women In the Church?” You may be surprised by the answers that we find from the Bible. If this article on women is not on our website by the time you read this blog, please be patient. It should be posted within a few days.
Back to our women’s conferences.
Hot Springs, Arkansas. A women’s conference will be held in Hot Springs from May 16 thru May 18 (Friday thru Sunday). The theme will be “God’s Greatest Gift” (I Corinthians 13:13).
The setting will be the beautiful Ouchita Mountains which should be lush and green that time of year.
For more information, contact:
Rosy Halley
501/915-8843
rosyhalley@earthlink.com
Barbara Marlowe
501/915-0538
rhmarlowe@earthlink.com
Big Sandy, Texas. About 100 women met together here in Big Sandy several weeks ago. The women who organized this conference have been involved in Women’s Conferences since 1999! The theme of their 2008 conference was “A Christian Woman’s Journey: Growing Along the Way.” Their next conference will be held March 13 - 15, 2009. The theme will be “Preparing the Bride of Christ.”
For more information, contact my lovely wife, Nancy. Her email address is Info@EastTexasWomensConference.com.
Birmingham (Fultondale), Alabama. Many women will be congregating in the Fultondale Fairfield Inn for the July 18 – 20 women’s conference. They haven’t announced the theme yet. You may contact Peggy Wooten at RayWooten@aol.com. Or call 888/985-9066.
We are grateful to all these women for the wonderful example they set when it comes to Christian fellowship! Too often, the world thinks that being obedient to God makes for a dull and boring life. Not so! Being a follower of Christ brings us so much happiness and joy! I would like to encourage all women who seek the Lord to attend one or some or all of these conferences. No matter what your age, these conferences will benefit you. They are run by sincere, dedicated women. I have known Rosy Hally and Peg Wooten for years. These sisters in Christ are working hard to serve you in this great ministry.
I am pleased to note that they do all of this without the need of some male to “oversee” them. The holy spirit guides them into mature actions without the need of a man to “supervise” their efforts. Believe it or not, there are some who feel that women can’t assemble for a conference like this without the guidance of men!
Let’s look at three specific women’s conferences in three different parts of the country.
But first, I would like to encourage you to check out our brand new article entitled, “What is the Role of Women In the Church?” You may be surprised by the answers that we find from the Bible. If this article on women is not on our website by the time you read this blog, please be patient. It should be posted within a few days.
Back to our women’s conferences.
Hot Springs, Arkansas. A women’s conference will be held in Hot Springs from May 16 thru May 18 (Friday thru Sunday). The theme will be “God’s Greatest Gift” (I Corinthians 13:13).
The setting will be the beautiful Ouchita Mountains which should be lush and green that time of year.
For more information, contact:
Rosy Halley
501/915-8843
rosyhalley@earthlink.com
Barbara Marlowe
501/915-0538
rhmarlowe@earthlink.com
Big Sandy, Texas. About 100 women met together here in Big Sandy several weeks ago. The women who organized this conference have been involved in Women’s Conferences since 1999! The theme of their 2008 conference was “A Christian Woman’s Journey: Growing Along the Way.” Their next conference will be held March 13 - 15, 2009. The theme will be “Preparing the Bride of Christ.”
For more information, contact my lovely wife, Nancy. Her email address is Info@EastTexasWomensConference.com.
Birmingham (Fultondale), Alabama. Many women will be congregating in the Fultondale Fairfield Inn for the July 18 – 20 women’s conference. They haven’t announced the theme yet. You may contact Peggy Wooten at RayWooten@aol.com. Or call 888/985-9066.
We are grateful to all these women for the wonderful example they set when it comes to Christian fellowship! Too often, the world thinks that being obedient to God makes for a dull and boring life. Not so! Being a follower of Christ brings us so much happiness and joy! I would like to encourage all women who seek the Lord to attend one or some or all of these conferences. No matter what your age, these conferences will benefit you. They are run by sincere, dedicated women. I have known Rosy Hally and Peg Wooten for years. These sisters in Christ are working hard to serve you in this great ministry.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Reacting to Others: Churchill’s Way or Lincoln’s Way?
People have pointed out that the Dynamic Christian Ministries website doesn’t hesitate to take on the teachings of the churches of this world. Some wonder if we carry this even further by having bad feelings toward the leaders of these churches.
Let’s answer this question by looking at two prominent leaders in the English-speaking world: Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln. No one at DCM is suggesting that any of us can here in Big Sandy Texas be compared to these to leaders. We can only look to their virtues for example.
Churchill knew how to demonize his enemies. He showed utter contempt for the leaders of the Nazi party. He said they practiced “barbarous paganism.” He talked about their “aggression and conquest.” He noted that they took “perverted pleasure from persecution.” He didn’t stop there. He talked about their “pitiless brutality” and “murderous force.” And his points were well-taken in describing these evil monsters: Hitler, Himmler, Geobbels, et al.
Lincoln, on the other hand, had a different approach when he talked about his foes in the Civil War. In his second inaugural address, he stated, "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds...” (“Charity” is another word for “love.”)
Lincoln genuinely and lovingly looked at the rebellious South, not as evil monsters, but as wayward brothers! He longed for their return to the union. He lived for the day when all Americans would be reunited.
Lincoln’s example is the one that we at Dynamic Christian Ministries have attempted to follow because, when we look at people who teach and follow false doctrines, we don’t see evil monsters. We see wayward brothers. We don’t sentence them to everlasting torment in hell fire. (Listen to our broadcast on the subject of hell.) We believe that God will call these people into His truth at some time and that they will have the opportunity to accept the TRUE Jesus of the Bible some time in the future. In the meantime, we harbor no ill feelings toward them. We look forward to the day when all mankind will be united in God’s precious truth!
We will continue to teach against false teachings while extending love to and extending prayer for the world’s deceived. It is our hope that all who truly understand the Bible will follow Lincoln’s example of having charity for of our brothers who have temporarily lost their way.
We know that God will call them on His timetable. May that day come soon! Thy Kingdom come!
(For more information on what God has in store for you, check out our article, “Why Did God Create Man?”)
Let’s answer this question by looking at two prominent leaders in the English-speaking world: Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln. No one at DCM is suggesting that any of us can here in Big Sandy Texas be compared to these to leaders. We can only look to their virtues for example.
Churchill knew how to demonize his enemies. He showed utter contempt for the leaders of the Nazi party. He said they practiced “barbarous paganism.” He talked about their “aggression and conquest.” He noted that they took “perverted pleasure from persecution.” He didn’t stop there. He talked about their “pitiless brutality” and “murderous force.” And his points were well-taken in describing these evil monsters: Hitler, Himmler, Geobbels, et al.
Lincoln, on the other hand, had a different approach when he talked about his foes in the Civil War. In his second inaugural address, he stated, "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds...” (“Charity” is another word for “love.”)
Lincoln genuinely and lovingly looked at the rebellious South, not as evil monsters, but as wayward brothers! He longed for their return to the union. He lived for the day when all Americans would be reunited.
Lincoln’s example is the one that we at Dynamic Christian Ministries have attempted to follow because, when we look at people who teach and follow false doctrines, we don’t see evil monsters. We see wayward brothers. We don’t sentence them to everlasting torment in hell fire. (Listen to our broadcast on the subject of hell.) We believe that God will call these people into His truth at some time and that they will have the opportunity to accept the TRUE Jesus of the Bible some time in the future. In the meantime, we harbor no ill feelings toward them. We look forward to the day when all mankind will be united in God’s precious truth!
We will continue to teach against false teachings while extending love to and extending prayer for the world’s deceived. It is our hope that all who truly understand the Bible will follow Lincoln’s example of having charity for of our brothers who have temporarily lost their way.
We know that God will call them on His timetable. May that day come soon! Thy Kingdom come!
(For more information on what God has in store for you, check out our article, “Why Did God Create Man?”)
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Fishing or Fighting: It’s Your Choice!
What a lesson for God’s people!
Christian fellowship is important, but the fact remains that God did not call us just to be part of a friendship club where we get together every Sabbath. God called us for many reasons, but one of our main functions is to be fishers of men! And, as
I have been kinda making this point for some time, but in more of a sports metaphor. Have you ever been in a locker room after a basketball team loses another game? They have lost eight in a row and the losses are becoming unbearable. They take their frustrations out on each other. They point fingers. They play the blame game. Then punches get thrown.
Local churches are similar in this regard. A congregation sees its attendance decline year after year through splits or through normal attrition. There are less people to do the things that need to be done.
“We don’t have enough Sabbath school teachers.”
“We don’t have enough people to do volunteer work in the community.”
“Our local treasury is to the point that it’s hard to afford any new projects.”
These are the kinds of problems that cause church members to develop frustrations and lash out at each other. Again, it’s like being in a locker room after the team has lost one more heart breaker.
That’s the bad news. The good news is this: Apparently, it is in our church DNA to want to evangelize and grow! It seems to be in our nature to desire to promote the Gospel of the
There’s more good news: There seems to be a new awareness in the Churches of God of the desperate need to evangelize.
So who has the answers on how to bring people to Christ? No one. God’s people are going to have to learn to do this together. But, if we prayerfully rely on God to lead us into this type of work with a pure heart, we must go on faith that He will teach us.
Three important points:
1) You don’t always see the fruit of evangelism. Sometimes your efforts to preach the Gospel affect someone that you don’t even know about.
2) You don’t own the person you evangelize. A newly-converted person does not belong to any church or ministry or group. That new person belongs to Jesus. We shouldn’t care where the new person attends Sabbath services after baptism. Instead, we should rejoice that a sinner has been brought to Christ.
3) Sheep stealing is NOT preaching the Gospel. Convincing a person to leave one
God’s people should be working hard to bring new people to the real Jesus. Not the Jesus who was born on December 25, who was resurrected on Easter Sunday morning, and who did away with His Father’s Law.
Let’s rejoice that we have the freedom to preach Jesus. Praise God that His truths are precious and that He is inspiring many to want to work harder to teach these truths to the world!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Don’t Be Fooled By Conventional Wisdom!
What color are alligators?
That seems like a simple question. Most people answer “green.”
But alligators are NOT green. They are either black or gray. If you don’t believe me, check it out for yourself in an encyclopedia. When I tell this to people, many are amazed and ask me, “Well, then, if alligators are not green, why do most people say they are?”
Because conventional wisdom says so. And conventional wisdom is wrong!
Conventional wisdom is wrong in so many aspects of life. And conventional wisdom is wrong so many times when it comes to the Bible! Here are some phrases that are conventional wisdom when it comes to Christian belief, but all of this conventional wisdom is wrong:
If my church teaches something, it has to be correct.
If most Christians believe something, it has to be correct.
Jesus was resurrected on Sunday morning.Sunday is now the Lord’s Day and has replaced the Jewish Sabbath.
Jesus was born on December 25.
All these churches can’t be wrong.
The website of Dynamic Christian Ministries is brand new, but we already have some exciting things out there for you. Please feel free to browse.
But beware! The things that you hear from
Whatever your reaction, always remember to study God’s Word with an attitude of humility. Consider for just a moment that many of the things that have been taught to you all your life may be wrong!
Are you ready for the challenge?
Check us out often because we will be adding new features regularly. It’s here for you. Join us on our crusade against ignorance as we help one person at a time learn the TRUTH about the written Word of God.
As you study the Bible, don’t believe me. Don’t believe other people. Don’t believe conventional wisdom. Believe what it says in your Bible!
Thanks for visiting Dynamic Christian Ministries.
--Wesley White
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