MassBaptistNews

SONshine Thots from a Ray for May 2012

2012-05-19T15:15:00.002-04:00

Deuteronomy 6:5 says, "And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." In Mark 12:29-31 our Lord Jesus quotes this as being the greatest commandment of all. He continued by saying, "And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is not other commandment greater than these."
How do you measure up to this? Many of us would have to confess that we do not love Him with all of our mind and heart and soul. I must confess that I do not measure up to this; but I agree with what Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
I do love Him, I want to love Him more. He is the object of my affection. Jesus asked Simon Peter: "Do you love Me?" I believe He would ask you and me the same question.
To learn to love Him we must sit at His feet and come to know Him. He is our God. He is our Savior. He is our Lord. I worship Him. I quote Paul again when he said, "That I might know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death." May we love Him more each day.

SONshine Thots from a Ray for April 2012

2012-05-19T15:11:00.001-04:00

In the Massachusetts Baptist Association we have 17 congregations that preach and teach the Good News of Jesus Christ in twelve languages other than English. Since I speak only English I am in need of a translator to understand what is being said. We are fortunate that there are translators who help me when I visit in their congregations.

In the spiritual realm we also need a "Translator" to help us understand about God our Father. Thankfully Jesus is the Translator to develop the intimate relationship with God through the Son. Jesus explained heavenly things so that each of us might know the love and mercy of God. Easter is the reminder of what God provided to us through Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. Don't forget He is also coming again!

Entrusted with such a precious gift we are commanded to take the Word of God to every ethnos and many of these cultures are coming to us. Our neighbors and coworkers are looking for answers and God has provided many ministry opportunities. We can and should be light in the darkness as we share the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE, in love to others. As we reflect Jesus we become heavenly translators wherever we go.

Even though we have completed our 40 days of praying for the cities we have decided that we will continue to meet for prayer on Monday, April 2nd for prayer for MBA, BCNE, and the SBC. I hope you will make an effort to join us. We meet in the seminary classroom of the BCNE office building at 10am.
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Many good things happened in March beginning with the BCNE Evangelism Conference.
1. We were blessed during our Monday Morning Prayer Gatherings with 5 or 6 churches represented as we prayed for the cities we were led by Randy Sprinkle.
2. I had the privilege to teach "How to Share Your Faith without an Argument" using a marked New Testament at Christ Baptist Church in Worcester as they seek to touch their community with the Good News.
3. Pleasant Street Baptist Church had excellent services with Apologist Alex McFarland.
4. Our two Winter (Spring!) Bible Studies in Acts led by John Brownlee had 25 attend.
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SONshine thots from a Ray for March 2012

2012-02-29T10:44:00.018-05:00

March is a special month for me as well as MBA. First, on the 1st is the “someteenth” anniversary of my wife’s 39th birthday. Carolyn is a “honey!” and a “keeper!”

Second, the BCNE Christ’s Harvest Evangelism Conference will be held at Grace Baptist Church in Hudson, MA on March 2 & 3 beginning at noon ending at 4pm on Saturday. They have a great lineup of speakers, don’t miss it.

Third, the Annie Armstrong Week of Prayer and offering is from March 4 – 11. Many of our BCNE church planters receive support from this offering. Go to the North American Mission Borard web site to get information and free downloads for your church. Shaun & Deshni Pillay from Connecticut represent the Northeast region.

Forth, the four Monday Morning Prayer Times – Praying for the cities, will meet in the seminary classroom on the lower level of the BCNE Office building beginning at 10am. We had a dozen people from 8 churches praying this past Monday. I’ll look for you! We have distributed over 230 booklets for this prayer emphasis. How we need revival!

Fifth, the MBA-Central Pastors’ Fellowship will be held at Denny’s Restaurant, March 13th – 9am across from the Lincoln Square Mall in Worcester.

Sixth, March 25th is Start a Church Sunday. I am praying that every church in MBA will help start new congregations this year. We are a team!

And, finally, seventh (a divine number) our Winter Bible Study on Acts, led by John Brownlee, will be on March 27th at Christ Baptist Church in Worcester and March 28th at Emmanuel Baptist Church in West Springfield. Both will be from 9am to 2pm – MBA provides lunch. Pray about participating in these activities and grow in grace!

Last month we had nearly 20 folks participate in a Prayer Walking Practicum led by Randy Sprinkle from BCNE at Pleasant Street Baptist Church in Worcester. Even though it was over 40 degrees outside the North Wind was blowing in at 30+ miles per hour so the wind chill was about 10 degrees when we went out to Prayer Walk. We still had a great experience and we thank Pleasant Street for hosting us.

SONshine Thots from a Ray - February 2012

2012-01-30T11:45:00.002-05:00

As we enter this “Snowy Month” we are often reminded of the power of the Savior’s blood to “wash us white as snow” because of His love toward us. It is also the month we think of our most precious love, our Valentines – I know she gets a lot of credit but you could give her a little cash as well! Do you remember when you first “fell in love?” Your prayer life was purposeful!

I would like to challenge us – all MBA pastors – to join in 5 weekly Prayer Meetings to be led by Randy Sprinkle. We’ll meet on 5 Monday mornings at 10am in the Seminary classroom at the BCNE beginning February 27^th and going through March 26^th. I know many of you spend time with your Valentine on Monday’s so bring her with you.

We have ordered 100 copies of Seek God for the City 2012. Randy introduced us to this book at our last Fellowship meeting. It is a 40 day guide leading up to Easter. Three churches have already requested copies for their congregation but we can order more if you would like to use them. The cost of 100 books or more is $2.00/per book.

James 4:2 reminds us the “we have not, because we ask not…” We need to be prayers and lead our congregations in corporate prayer. If II Chronicles 7:14 is true, and it is, we need to apply its admonition and claim its promise from God. Let’s make prayer our priority this year.

Calendar events.

MBA North Pastors’ Fellowship – 2/8 – 10am at Panera Bread in the Leominster Mall.

MBA Central Pastors’ Fellowship – 2/14 – 9am at Denny’s Restaurant in Worcester.

MBA West Pastors’ Fellowship – 2/22 – Noon at Century Buffet in W. Springfield.

Prayer Walk Practicum – 2/25 – 9am-1pm at Pleasant Street BC. $5 registration.

1^st of 5 weekly prayer meetings – 2/27 – 10am in the Seminary classroom at BCNE.

SONshine Thots from a Ray - January 2012

2012-01-13T18:33:00.004-05:00

Here we are at the end of 2011 and standing on the threshold of 2012. A new year, a new beginning, with renewed hopes and dreams, and for some new resolutions that somehow we can change and be better than we were last year. We all want to be better Disciples for Christ, better husbands or wives, better parents, better – you fill in the blanks. But remember that the flesh is weak and “without Christ, we can do nothing.”

Many of you have heard me tell that I pray for “wooden,k” “W.U.D.&K.”for each of you. These initials come from Proverbs 2: 1-11 and verses 10&11 sum it up. “When Wisdom enters your heart, and Knowledge is pleasant to your soul, Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you….” And this leads naturally to Proverbs 3:5-10 and the blessings our God desires to give us.

2012 has another new beginning – the new Church Planting Catalyst position. As a part-timer I will be both DOM and CPC. The directed goal from NAMB is that we in MBA start 2 new congregations this year. If you have been thinking about starting a mission church or would like to be on a team of pastors and leaders to start a mission church please let me know as I hope to develop several church planting teams in MBA.

Please know of my prayers for you, your family and your ministry. I covet your prayers for me as I seek to serve you and your church. Let us see what God has in store for us and how He can use us to grow Christ’s Kingdom here in Massachusetts.

Keep looking up – Jesus is coming soon!

January Dates: 5^th – 10AM - MBA Administrative Meeting at the MBA office.

10^th – 9AM, MBA Central pastors’ fellowship at Denny’s, Lincoln Square in Worcester.

17^th – 7PM, MBA Quarterly Business Meeting at the BCNE Conference Room.

21^st – 10AM, MBA East pastors’ fellowship – place to be announced.

27-29 – BCNE Youth Encountering Christ Conference in Sturbridge, MA.

SONshine Thots from a Ray - December

2011-12-01T12:31:00.002-05:00

On November 27^th we began the Advent Season. Preparing to celebrate Christmas gives us one of the best opportunities to tell people without a relationship to the Lord why Jesus had to come and what He offers them. As we enter this season let us remember…

Jesus came to save us from an eternity of separation from God. One of our favorite examples is Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus. We know that he was a despised tax collector – a traitor to Israel. When Jesus was going through town Zacchaeus had a deep desire to see Him. Jesus turned this desire into an encounter when He call him by name and invited Himself to eat with him. This was a transforming event! And this is why Christ came to earth – through us He invites the lost to accept His invitation.

May God help us be ready to share the real meaning of Christmas as we enter this season of celebration, tradition, and reflection. I would like to thank each one of you and your congregation for your support this past year. May God bless you this Christmas with a renewed sense of wonder and appreciation for the gift of His Son.

SONshine Thots from a Ray

2011-10-21T17:09:00.000-04:00

The MBA Annual Meeting has come and gone. The folks at Apple Valley Baptist Church prepared a wonderful supper for us. We had guests from Project Launch 13 and Northeastern Baptist College in Bennington, VT, from the Luther Rice Homesite in Northborough, MA and announcements from International Missions, and YEC 2012.

We learned about the change in the DOM/CPC role as we ramp up to start at least 2 churches each year beginning in 2012. We have a new church planter, Tom Cabral, in Fall River who hopes to launch next fall and there are several other potential church starts in Worcester County. Half of my time will be helping plant churches and the other half will be serving as your DOM. We elected new officers and met new ministers.

I want to thank the churches that continue to support the association and for those who are planning to contribute or increase their gifts next year. And while we are on the subject of thanks let’s remember to ~ Give Thanks ~ to God for His provisions and grace extended to us through Jesus Christ, His Son.

The Scriptures tell us to be thankful and why. Look at Psalm 31:19; 69:30; 95:1-6; 100:4 or 106:1-2; or how about Colossians 2:6-7 and I Thessalonians 5:16-18. Even in times of economic struggle and the seemingly growing hopelessness in our culture, we still have much for which to be thankful. May we always reflect on and be thankful for the good and the eternal, and let those thoughts drive our actions every day.

SONshine Thots from a Ray

2011-10-21T17:04:00.000-04:00

Change is all around us. Fall is here and we have moved into the last quarter of 2011. This is also the first addition of our new E-Messenger that will help us know what is going on in the association with special events and information from the churches.

We pray that God will bless your ministries as we approach the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. These are great opportunities to lift up Jesus Christ in your area.

Will you please plan to attend or have a representative from your church attend our MBA Annual Meeting on October 14^th at Apple Valley Baptist Church, 12 Columbia Street, Ayer, MA 01432? We will be sharing dinner with the homeless folk of the area at 6PM and the meeting will begin at 7PM. MBA provides the dinner through your gifts and the members of Apple Valley will prepare it for us. During the meeting we will be sharing the changes to the DOM role as we dovetail with NAMB's Church Planting Catalyst responsibilities. There are a number of new pastors, church planters, and collegiate ministers who have come to serve with us in reaching MBA for Christ that you will want to meet. Please put this date on your calendar. I will look forward to seeing you there.