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Dear subscriber, 
Happy Fourth of July from SCBLN
On September 13-14, 1814, Francis Scott Key witnessed the bombardment of American forces by the British Royal Navy. It was in the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. Key, a young American attorney, was at sea those two days and could not tell the result of the battle until the morning. He was certain the sheer ferocity of the British assault did not portend a hopeful outcome. At dawn, however, Key was enthused as he saw the large American flag flying triumphantly above Fort McHenry. Inspired, he wrote the poem, Defense of Fort McHenry, from which the lyrics for “The Star-Spangled Banner” come. On March 3, 1931,”The Star-Spangled Banner” was declared the national anthem by a congressional resolution, which was signed by President Herbert Hoover. The Star-Spangled Banner, 1814 The first stanza is the most famous and is usually the only stanza sung when “The Star-Spangled Banner” is performed. The rockets Francis Scott Key wrote about were some of the earliest selfropelled missiles used in war. They were called Congreve rockets after Sir William Congreve, who invented them. Congreve took the biggest skyrockets he could find in London and transformed them into self-propelled missiles. The British Army and Navy used them from about 1806 to 1815 when improvements in other weapons made Congreve rockets obsolete. On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, The sheer ferocity of the British bombardment didn’t give Key much to hope for that fateful night, as he anxiously awaited the outcome of the battle. After all, the British Navy was the most feared in the world. Imagine Key’s joy when he saw the American flag raised high above Fort McHenry. He captured his jubilation, immortalizing his feeling with the words, “In full glory now shines on the stream: ‘tis the star-spangled banner!” signifying the Americans had triumphed. In the War of 1812, the British faced a second defeat against the upstart Americans. Though America had won its independence in the Revolutionary War just a few decades earlier, the British believed the nascent country wouldn’t survive the War of 1812. But, as Key so accurately wrote, “the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave; o’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.” Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand From this verse comes the motto of the United States, “In God we trust.” In 1956, the United States adopted this slogan as the national motto and made it law. Key ended his poem as he ended each preceding stanza, with the patriotic description of America as “the land of the free and the home of the brave!” Certainly the soldiers in the fight Key had witnessed had proven this to be true. Used with Special Permission from Dunham Books from We Believe, © 2010 by Jack Watts and David Dunham. All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America by: Dunham Books, 63 Music Square East, Nashville, Tennessee 37203 Back to top^
NATIONAL CELEBRATION REPORT FROM OUR NATIONAL COORDINATOR
The National Celebration of the Bivocational and Small Church Leadership Network meeting at the Del Norte Baptist Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, last month was a blessed event. David Red and Myra Robinson of the Leadership Development Team of the Baptist Convention of New Mexico did a wonderful job of hosting the Celebration. We could not have been treated better. Several significant actions were taken:
- Vice President For Communications - Shannon Smith was elected to this position and will serve as our website editor.
-Sanford University in Birmingham, AL
Larry Lehn - President
Vernon Beachum (WV) 1 year;
Shannon Smith - Plain States (KS, NB, SD, ND); Set future meetings: 1. Coordinating Council summer meeting - August 10-11, 2010 at the Tennessee Baptist Convention building in Bentwood, Tennessee 2. National Celebration for 2011 - April 14-16 at the White Oak Conference Center near Columbia, South Carolina 3. Held a dialogue meeting with representatives from NAMB about how we can work as partners in the future. The meeting was very positive and gave promise of significant strategy development in the future, Three of our folks were not able to attend because of health issues. Jimmy McCaleb of Mississippi fell and broke his hip just before the event. Upon arrival Jean Beachum had to have emergency surgery and spent her entire stay in Albuquerque in the hospital. Joyce Byrd was also hospitalized upon arrival and received a pacemaker before returning home. All three are home and recovering. We pray for their continued health. Ray Gilder
National Convention Report
The Bivocational and Small Church Leadership Network was well represented at the SBC by Lester Evans and Ray Gilder who manned a booth during the Convention. Hundreds of bivocational and small church pastors visited the booth and received information about our organization. Many did not know we existed but were pleased to learn that someone knew about them and could relate to them. About 100 attended the bivo ministers luncheon hosted by the North American Mission board. We anticipate an even greater response next year as the Convention is held in Phoenix. Check out our website for additional information including:
SCBLN - HAS SECURED FININCIAL SUPPORT, BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP
Pastor Study Resources is committed to help us during our current financial hardship. If you have the situation of financial hardship yourself Pastor Study Resources can help you as well.† Invest in a copy of Search for Solvency, by Robert McGee, Jim Smith and Jack Watts. Your Investment will greatly help with any churches financial hardship and will help SCBLN as $10.00 of the special SCBLN sales price of $19.95 will go to our treasury. Order your copy today at: http://pastorstudyresources.com/products/search-solvency Encourage all of your pastor friends to order a copy. To forward click on this link: http://pastorstudyresources.com/products/search-solvency All other books, workbooks and small group materials ordered during the next 90 days from www.pastorstudyresources.com will result in a 35% of gross sales donation by Pastor Study Resources to SCBLN. This includes the Search for Significance materials by Robert McGee that Billy Graham said every Christian should read. Encouraging all of your friends and members to purchase just one book could yield a wonderful blessing to underwrite the needs and work of Small Church Bivocational Leadership Network. Thanks for your participation and support. Ray Gilder Back to top^
FULLY ACCREDITED BIVOCATIONAL DEGREE COMPLETELY ONLINE
The educational needs of a bivocational minister are quite different than the needs of a traditional student. The bivocational minister, because of location and responsibilities of the church or ministry, the needs of family and the responsibilities of work, may not be able to attend college as others attend college. In order for the bivocational minister to fulfill the call of God on his life and be successful in ministry he needs to be equipped for the tasks associated with his call. Clear Creek Baptist Bible College is an educational institution that has, as its core mission, the training of individuals called to ìdoî ministry. Clear Creek is the only accredited Bible College associated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Kentucky Baptist Convention that offers a fully accredited Bible College degree online. Clear Creek has been in the ministry of equipping men and women called to do ministry since 1926. Clear Creek Baptist Bible College is fully accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education. The Association for Biblical Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for the purpose of accrediting colleges that offer baccalaureate degrees which prepare students for Christian ministries through biblical, professional, and general studies. ABHE holds membership with the Council on Higher Education Accreditation Board (CHEA.). The college is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate and baccalaureate degrees. Every student at Clear Creek majors in Bible. A bivocational Bachelor of Arts degree is comprised of 130 semester hours. Within that degree a graduate is required to take 32 semester hours of Bible with a total of 44 semester hours of Bible and Theology. The general education component of the degree comprises 36 semester hours and 17 semester hours of professional studies. Professional studies would include courses such as, evangelism, missions, practical ministry, counseling and sermon preparation and sermon delivery. No student can graduate from Clear Creek if they cannot verbally share their faith in Christ with another individual. A student seeking a bivocational degree could transfer into this program 31 semester hours of bivocational electives as well. An Associates degree in bivocational ministry is available and is comprised of 66 semester hours. The entire program can be taken and completed completely online. You can get your degree where you are now located. If you have internet access, completing your ministry education at an accredited college is now available to you in an affordable manner. In fact, your first course at Clear Creek Baptist Bible College is now available to you at a cost of $150.00, plus your textbooks. This is a considerable savings over the cost of a regular course. If you are interested in taking just some courses or looking to complete a degree you can contact the Office of Distance Education at Clear Creek. Our toll-free telephone number is: 1-866-340-3196. The email address is: distanceeducation@ccbbc.edu. Our distance education web address is: http://ccbbc.educampusonline.com. Back to top^
Quotes for Today
"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.”
APPALACHIAN BIVOCATIONAL CELEBRATION
Appalachian Bivocational Celebration is a gathering and retreat for Bivocational Pastors & Wives Retreat in All of Southern Appalachia. Music Road Hotel & Convention Center Theme: Staying Fresh Through the Journey REGISTRATION: $100 per couple. You may register on-line at www.tnbivo.org or mail in the Registration Form. The cost includes your hotel, meals, breaks and conference materials. Agenda; Friday, September 24, 2010 4:00PM - Registration Saturday, September 25, 2010 8:00AM - Special Music, Rick Whitehead Deadline for Registration: September 15, 2010 - Refund Deadline: September 23, 2010 Make your check to the Tennessee Baptist Convention or the Appalachian Bivocational Celebration, ATTN: Marjorie Waddey, 2001 Maryland Way, Brentwood, TN 37024. Call 1-800-558.2090, ext. 2040 for any questions. Back to top^
The Seminary Extension Connection
What is the connection between Seminary Extension and Bi-vocational/small church ministers? As a ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention, Seminary Extension offers Bi-vocational/small church ministers and lay-volunteer ministers an opportunity to receive theological education and ministry training of excellent quality where they live. In fact, Seminary Extension has been training Southern Baptist church leaders for over half a century. What does Seminary Extension training look like? Seminary Extension training is done in the form of courses that are similar to those taught in traditional seminaries and colleges. These courses are written by professors that have or are currently teaching in one of our six seminaries and are designed to be immediately applicable in the lives of our students and the churches where they worship and serve. In fact, that is our primary goal. We want to help believers grow in their faith and become effective leaders and ministers in their local churches and communities. Although Seminary Extension does not offer any degrees, Level Two courses taken with Seminary Extension carry the possibility of college credit and many of our students that have decided to continue their education have been able to use some or all of their course credits when entering other institutions. How do students take Seminary Extension courses? In order to meet the scheduling challenges of our students, Seminary Extension courses are offered using three methods of study. First, we offer courses as group studies. These groups are usually formed by Southern Baptist state convention leaders or Associational Missionaries or Directors of Missions. When these groups are formed, they work with Seminary Extension to provide the facilities and leaders to guide the students through courses. We have many active local study groups that meet during the year. In fact, approximately 250 centers/study groups were registered with Seminary Extension over the last year. The second method of study is correspondence. This is the most flexible method because the student sets his or her own pace and sends their work to Seminary Extension as they complete it. Then Seminary Extension has its instructors grade and interact with the student to guide them through the course. The third method is via the internet. We offer a limited number of courses through a basic interactive study method over the internet. In this method, students interact with an instructor and other students as they complete daily assignments throughout the duration of the course. So when can a student start a Seminary Extension course? Enrollment is simple. Seminary Extension students must be at least 16 years of age and if they want the possibility of transferability of credit for courses take must have a high school diploma or GED. Other than that, students may enroll in a Seminary Extension during any day that our offices are open. Our business hours are 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM Central Time, Monday through Friday. The basic paperwork is simple and may be printed from our website: www.seminaryextension.org. You may also contact us and we will be happy to send you everything you need to get started.
A Part-time Vocation that Provides for Full-time Ministry! As well as more time for the family!!!
Have you ever asked yourself “How am I going to get everything done” Lets get personal, it’s little Suzy’s birthday and your anniversary is this Friday, the car insurance is also due on Friday, What are you going to do about it? Murmur another prayer and again, you’re off to work. Your prayers are not flippant or halfhearted prayers, they’re heartfelt, earnest pleas for God to intervene. He is our hope and our salvation. Many bivocational pastors have wonderfully rewarding ministries and yet others can have ministries that can create enough hardships on the family that in some instances, resentment sets in or even the ministry is abandoned. No one intended this to happen, it’s not that God forgot about you or didn’t care. It could be we are fighting a war against principalities, spiritual battles. It could be we made a wrong decision at some time. If you have ever felt this way and wished there was something you could do to change this, continue reading and hopefully you may find some answers, some hope. Jon Church of Sedalia, MO. found himself in this situation over 15 years ago working weird hours including Saturdays and then scrambling to be ready for church the next morning. Jon had a passion for missions, he wanted his church to also have a heart for missions. But, like so many bivocational pastors Jon couldn’t put it together and make it fit. He knew Gods calling was real, Jon just needed a secular vocation that would give him FREEDOM TO DO WHAT GOD WANTS. In 1995 Jon made a career change and joined Fas-Break Windshield Repair. Today Jon pastors a church that does missions, several every year. You can read about Jon’s church Katy Park Baptist Church in “The Pathway” a Missouri Baptist Newspaper. Jon and his family do annual vacations. His wife Debra has stated that their family life has only improved! Ron Ingram of Fort Smith, Arkansas had a job that paid well but only allowed him to see 20 people a week, the same 20 people every single week. It was hard for Ron to cultivate relationships in the church little else the community. Today Ron sees 20 to 40 different people every day he operates his Fas-Break Windshield Repair business. He’s getting to know his community and they’re getting to know him (and the Lord). The Arkansas Baptist News printed a story about Abundant Life Church and the outreach this church is having. This outreach is due in part because of Ron’s heart and because of the TIME Ron can spend nurturing relationships. Ron & Jon both have the desire that whatever is happening “GOD COMES FIRST” What has allowed Jon & Ron and many other bivocational ministers and many layman this FREEDOM is a career change to Fas-Break Windshield Repair. www.fasbreak.com Windshield Repair is a industry that has saved millions of windshields from being replaced. One of the greatest aspects of this industry is that insurance companies “waive” comprehensive deductibles when an insured chooses to repair vs. replace a windshield. This little fact means that most of the work Fas-Break Techs do wont cost our clients a dime. If your windshield had a 14 inch crack and I guaranteed to stop it from growing and to make it almost disappear and “it wouldn’t cost you a dime” …… Would you let me fix it? …... I’m sure you would! We offer service! We’re not selling products! www.fasbreak.com Pastor James Bryant of Harrison, AR. puts it this way, “I can fix your windshield, but God can fix your life” Pastor Scott Tafoya of Albuquerque, NM. “Fas-Break gave flexibility to schedule my ministry responsibilities” Shannon Smith 1-800-655-8522 Back to top^
ONE OF A THOUSAND
Do you want to join a team that is committed to enriching, encouraging and equipping Southern Baptist pastors who serve churches of 100 or less in worship attendance? Do you want to provide pastors who serve bivocationally the opportunity to be fully equipped for preaching, pastoral ministries and leadership? Do you want to encourage Southern Baptist agencies and entities to remember that the vast majority of our churches, though small, have much to offer in service to our Lord. You can do this and more by being One of a Thousand who support the Bivocational and Small Church Leadership Network with a contribution of $100 per year. The BSCLN is a growing fellowship of pastors, associational and state convention personnel, and laypersons who are committed to the well being of smaller membership churches and their pastors. The Bivocational and Small Church Leadership Network is already:
If 1,000 individuals, churches, associations and state conventions would contribute $100 (or more) to the BSCLN each year, the current efforts could be multiplied ten-fold. If you want to become One In A Thousand send your check marked SCBLN - One In A Thousand to our treasurer Joyce Byrd, 5111 Marc Court, Nashville, TN. 37211. Back to top^
Closing Thought
“For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised.” Hebrews 10:36 HCSB
God Bless You, Your Family and Our Nation of this July 4, 2010. Jim Smith Editor Back to top^ |
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