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Antioch News - March 2005
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NEWS AND VIEWS
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Life and Death – The Terry Schiavo case is
in the news a lot right now. Should her feeding tube be removed
or not? Who should make the decision: Congress, the courts, or
her family? I will not make a full call here. But we need to consider
the case on biblical precepts and not on human opinion. One precept
that must be considered has to do with God’s part in life and death
issues. God states, “I kill, and I make alive” (Deuteronomy 32:39).
Except in cases where he gives permission to take the lives of
others (self-defense, war, and capital punishment), these decisions
are ultimately left to Him. We do what we can to restore health
and protect the innocent, but God has to make the final decision.
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Fruit of Steadfastness – Recent news has reported
battles in which Iraqi terrorists have lost significant numbers
of soldiers in clashes with American forces. It seems that Iraqi
citizens are finding more and more courage to report on the whereabouts
and activities of the terrorists. Evidently, the recent elections
and the fact that the Americans have stayed the course have started
turning the momentum. I do not know where this will go, but I know
that God blesses faithfulness.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Building Offering – We are running out of room at
Antioch Baptist Church. This is a wonderful and blessed problem.
This last Wednesday evening, Pastor Reagan presented the possibility
of a small addition to the church that would help us with several
of our needs at this time. The goal is to increase our facilities
without going into debt. The Lord through prayer has already provided
about 70% of the funds needed for this project without taking up
the first offering. We will now be receiving an offering through
the end of April. If the Lord provides the remainder of the needed
funds, we will look at going ahead with the addition. If He does
not, we will take it as His leadership that we are to wait for
now. We only ask that our friends pray that the Lord will provide
the funds if this is His will.
- At our annual business meeting, the church voted to
give a part-time salary to Drew Ray so that he can help Pastor Reagan
with the ministries of the church. Brother Ray has scheduled to cut
back on his secular work hours the first full week in April so that
he can give about half of each day to church work. Pastor Reagan
is in dire need of this additional help. The ministries of Antioch
Baptist Church have grown to the point where such help is needed
to continue. Praise the Lord for His goodness in this!
- Writers’ Conference and History Tour – We are still
scheduled to have a King James Bible Believers Writers’ Conference
on Friday, June 17th, and a local Baptist History Tour
on June 18th this summer. Work overload has kept us from
getting material out about the conference. We plan to do so in the
next 2 or 3 weeks. The staffing change mentioned above should help.
However, we have some wonderful people scheduled to come in and we
encourage you to mark your calendars for this event.
CHURCH MINISTRIES
- Prison Ministry – With the help of Paul Grady, we
have started a new prison ministry in the Knox County Prison System.
We have several men presently going through the process of getting
approval for this work. Pray that the Lord will give souls and
other fruit for our labors here.
- New Members’ Class – For the last three weeks, we
have had a new members class for the adults who have recently joined
or are interested in joining the church. This class will probably
last a couple of more weeks. We are presently surveying the different
ministries of the church. We have already looked at the history of
the church, Pastor Reagan’s personal background, and the particular
approach and goals of Antioch Baptist Church. The class will also
deal with the government, finances, and policies of the church.
- Sunnybrook Ministry – Sunnybrook Home is a local retirement
home. We have held special services there on Sunday afternoons for
several years. The ministry was maintained by Randy Williams and
then by Andy Soon. Recently, Mike and Cathy Kuethman have taken this
ministry on and they are already doing a great job with the folks
at Sunnybrook. Jonathan Judy continues to help them as he formerly
helped Brother Soon. We thank them for the work they are doing.
- Church Choir – The choir has recently gained a number
of new members. We are having to change our seating arrangements
to accommodate the crowd. Thanks to all who are ministering in song.
- New Singing Groups – We are also establishing some
new singing groups for the church. Some of the Barnt family members
are making one group. We are also beginning work on a new men’s group.
There should be some other surprises as well.
MISSIONS
- Pastor Reagan is planning to take a special trip
to Israel from May 23rd to June 3rd. This
trip is open to others who are interested. If you would be interested
in seeing the land of Israel, let us know and we will get you some
material.
- Jeffrey Hensley is the pastor of Faith Independent
Baptist Church of Knoxville, Tennessee. He works a fulltime job,
takes care of his large family, and pastors a growing church. Antioch
Baptist Church is Brother Hensley’s sending church. We have ordained
him and he is a graduate of our Bible College. Because the church
is an inner city church, it is not likely to be able to fully support
him for quite some time, even though he already has a good sized
congregation and is reaching many in the black community. To make
ends meet, Brother Hensley works on the side on one of his off days.
I would like to see him get enough support so that he does not need
to work that extra day. Antioch Baptist Church recently took him
on for $100 a month. I pray that others will do the same. If anyone
is interesting in supporting him, please let me know. If you are
near Knoxville, I encourage you to have Pastor Hensley in for some
Sunday evening service. I know that he will be a blessing to your
congregation.
- China Girl Home – For security reasons, I will not
give her name. However, the single girl out of our church who has
been teaching in China has come home on furlough. She had to come
back a couple of months early because of an injured foot. She also
had to apply a temporary filling in one of her teeth while in China.
Both the dentist and the foot doctor have told her that coming home
early probably avoided serious problems. Those working with her have
given testimony of her doing a great job and she is already making
future plans to return. We thank the Lord for His goodness.
BIBLE SCHOOL
- New Term – The second term of the Spring Semester
at Scripture Baptist College (a ministry of Antioch Baptist Church)
begins on Monday, March 28th. The college is so designed
that new students can begin school at this time. If you are in
the Knoxville area, there is no need to wait until this fall. You
can begin school now. The Monday night classes are Zechariah and
John, both taught by Pastor Reagan. The Tuesday night classes are
Return From Captivity taught by Karl Lohman and Colossians taught
by Drew Ray. We look forward to a great finish to the school year.
- Four Pastors – Though our enrollment is not large,
we thank the Lord that we have four area pastors attending Scripture
Baptist College. We want to honor them. Their names are Larry Teaster,
Claude West, Jeffrey Hensley, and David McGinnis. Thank you men for
your determination to grow as you serve.
- Internet Courses – We only have one internet course
up and people are asking for more. Getting more of these set up will
be one of the duties of Drew Ray as he has more time to apply to
such projects. Please pray for him and for this ministry. We have
already had students sign up from many states in the USA and a number
of other countries.
PREACHING/TEACHING
- Sunday School on the Web – We received a call from
a pastor in Texas the other day. Several months ago, his church
building was destroyed by a tornado. Since they did not have insurance
on the building and the church is a small one, they have had to
repair the damage as the money has come in. They are now meeting
in a community center and are not able to have Sunday School classes.
He said that his family and some other families in his church listen
to our Sunday School lessons online. What a blessing! Our adult
teacher, Karl Lohman, is teaching Sunday School in Texas. By the
way, Antioch Baptist Church sent a small offering to this church
in order to help them. They now have their roof back on, but still
need heating/air and other inside repairs. Please pray for them.
I could direct anyone to them if they wanted to help financially.
We just took up one Sunday evening offering for them. Perhaps others
could do the same.
- Ecclesiastes – Pastor Reagan continues to teach through
Ecclesiastes on Sunday nights. We are now in chapter eight. There
is so much practical help in this book.
- Cassette Tape Ministry – Each month, Rich and Jean
Clark send out two preaching tapes to people who have shown an interest
in receiving them. They pick out two sermons from the preceding month
and make audio cassette copies of them. Then they send them with
a letter of introduction. We do not charge for this ministry. We
only ask that those who receive the tapes confirm every six months
that they want to continue receiving them. Of course, we appreciate
offerings to help defray the costs when they are given. If you would
like to receive these tapes, please let us know.
WEB SITE
- Website Traffic – Although we have not been able
to put the effort into this ministry lately that we desire, we
have still been averaging over 4700 hits a day. Recently, we have
started adding much more to the site and more will come later.
- Pilgrim’s Progress – One of the new items going up
on the website is a simplified version of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s
Progress. However, this simplified version is no modernized baby
talk edition. It is a young people’s edition from the 1920s. It leaves
the flavor and the language of the original while making it a bit
more accessible to the modern reader. We thank Jeff and Robyn Newman
for getting this book typed for use on the site.
- Future Change Over – Over the next year or so, we
are going to have to change the supporting structure of the site.
Our site is becoming so large that it is beginning to strain our
present infrastructure. If all works well, you may not notice anything
different, but this project will take many, many hours of labor.
Yet, if we continue to build the site and reach out to more of our
goals, this is one of the things that must be done. We just ask for
your prayers concerning this matter.
- Introduction to Christianity –
Pastor Reagan is praying and planning for a series of studies for the
purpose of introducing Christ and true Christianity to people who
have no knowledge or background in Christianity. This would be
a serious missionary tool. Please pray for direction and time for
this project.
SPECIAL PRAYER REQUESTS
- Building – Just pray for God’s will to be done concerning
the Antioch Baptist Church building. We want God to be honored.
- Bible Believing Pastors and Churches – Satan is attacking
true Bible-believing pastors and churches all over the world. Please
lift the men and churches you know up in prayer.
QUOTE
- We think of joy as the absence of trouble.
Paul saw tribulations as the beginning of true joy (Romans 5:3-5).
We think of trials as a deviation which must be corrected in order
to bring happiness. The early Christians accepted afflictions as
the rule of life that brought them ever closer to Christ—the source
of eternal joy. Happiness is the absence of pain. Joy is the presence
of Christ. – David F. Reagan
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