Summer 2010 THE CHRISTIAN RUNNER wr bethelboptiteccom In Search of Perfect People to Serve In this issue Iam quoting Rev. David Gant’s article on “Searching for perfect people to do the ministy.” I thought it ‘would be a fun reading and atthe same time prepare our hearts and minds to start thinking about the church year that begins in September. Note: Please do not look Jor theological appropriateness and political correctness while reading this lrticle from Rev. David Gant, just read for the fun oft search comt report to their congregation...... We do not have a happy report to give, We have not been able to find suitable candidates to serve in our church, though we have one promising prospect. ‘Thank you for your suggestions. We have followed up on each one \with interviews or by calling atleast three references. The following is our confidential report. Adam: Ancestry could not be confirmed. Good man but has problems ‘with his wife. One reference told us how he and his wife enjoyed walking indecently inthe woods, until God finally ‘made them put clothes back on. Noah: Had former pastorate of 120 ‘years with no converts, Prone to “unrealistic building projects. Great animal lover, but the last neighborhood received a flood of complaint right as he was leaving town, Joseph: A big thinker, but a braggart; believes in dream interpreting and has a fee's prison record over accusations of his boss’ wife. Good with budgets and managing resources, however. ‘Moses: A modest and meek man, bat poor communicator; even stutters at times. Sometimes blows his stack and acts rashly in business meetings, Some say he left an earlier chureh over a murder charge. Often claims to get direct quotes from God. Too much over the top for most folks. History says he ‘was a basket case from the beginning. Deborah: One word ~- Female. David: The most promising leader ofall until we discovered all of his messed up life. Besides, he can’t control his own household... so how ‘could we respect him, Solomon: Great Teader, but he is weak in ‘many areas. Independently wealthy, so the church could pay him less and he can make up the difference. Elijah: Prone to depression; collapses under pressure. Besides, no one has seen him in a long time. Doesn't blend ‘well with other religious leaders, either. Hosea: A tender and loving leader, but our people could never handle his wife's occupation, Jonah: Told us he was swallowed up by a great fish, He said the fish later spit him out on the shore near here three days later. We bung up. Amos: Too much of a country hick. Backward and unpolished. With some seminary training, he might have promise; but he has a hang-up against wealthy people. bethelbcffeadamalicam In This Issue: | x In Search of Perfect Pe to Serve x Associate Amblings x Worship News * Exciting News! A New Church Year! x Bethel”s Library * Youth News - Keeping Up With The Young Folks x VBS News X Mission News x Home Touch Ministry re & Concern x Prayer Chain x Welcome Wagon, Birthdays, Anniversaries & Events Calendar Associate Amblings ‘Today, an attempt ata little humor — especially for those who might have a bit of difficulty with computers! Moses and the 10 E-mails "Excuse me, Sit "Ts that you again, Moses?” “1m afta itis, Si "What is it this time, Moses; more computer problems? "How did you guess? "don't have to guess, Moses. Remember?" "Oh, yes; forgot." "Tell me what you want, Moses."‘The Christian Runner Summer 2010 In Search of Perfect People to Serve continued John: Says he is a Baptist, but docsn't dress like one. May bbe too Pentecostal. Tends to lit both hands in the air to worship ‘when he gets excited. You know we limit to one hand, Sleeps in the outdoors, has a weird diet, Sincerely, The Search Committee Written by Rev. David Gant, Oklahoma, Have you ever wondered why God used each of the persons listed above? The answer is and provokes denominational leaders Peter: Too blue collar. Has a bad temper, even sad to have cursed on ‘occasions, He's a loose cannon. Paul: Powerful CEO type and fascinating preacher. However, he's short on tact, unforgiving with young ministers, harsh, and has been known to preach all night. Very offensive to ‘women when he starts his "submission" stu. And besides, he has @ rap sheet a nile fong in numerous cites. ‘Timothy: Too young and inexperienced, In the final analyses, we intend to keep looking until we find perfect people to serve our congregation. quite simple; they all had a willing and a forgiven heart for God to use. A scripture that comes to my mind is this, 1 Corin- thians 1:27-29 “But God chose the foolish things of the World to shame the wise; God chose weak things of the World to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of the World and despise things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him.” (NIV) Did you enjoy reading it? lam always in awe of the amazing grace of God is using each of us in His ministry inspite of us. = Pastor Paul Associate Amblings continues lu you already know, Sir, Remember?” "Moses!" Sorry, Siz” "Well, go ahead, Moses; spt it out." "Well, Ihave a question, Si. You know those ten things you sent me via e-mail "You mean the Ten Commandments, Moses?" “Thats it, Tovas wondering if they are imporian.”| "What do you mean 'ifthey are important Moses? OF course, they are important, ‘Otherwise, [would not have sent them to you." ll, sorry, Si, but I lot them. I could say the dog ate them; but, ofcourse, you would see right through that” "What do you mean you lost them’? Are ‘you trying to tell me you didnt save them, Moses?" o, Sit; forgot.” "You should always save, Moses." "Yes, Tknow. You told me that before. was ‘going to save them, but forgot I did forward them to some people before I lst them though, "And did you hear back from any of them?" "You already know I did, There was the one ‘euy who said he never uses shalt not” May he change the words a litle bit? "Yes, Moses, as long as he doesnot change the meaning," "And what about the guy who thought your stance was a litle hash, and recommended calling them the "Ten Suggestions; or letting people pick one or two to ty fora while?” "Moses, I will at as ifT didnot hear that.” "think that means ‘no Well, what about the guy who said Iwas scamming him?" "think the term is ‘spamming,’ Moses, "Ob, yes. emailed him back and tod him 1 don't even cat that stuff, and Thave no idea how you ean Send itt someone through 2 computer "And what dd say?" "You know what he suid, He used Your ‘name in vain. You don think he might have Seat me one of those ~ err plagues, and that's the reason [lst those ten things, do you wey are not plagues; they are called ‘viruses Moses.” "Whatever! This computer stusTis just too much for me. Can we go back to those sone tablets? Teas hard on my back taking them out and reading them each day, ‘but atleast [never lost them.” 4do it the new way, Moses; using you would say that, Six" "Moses, what did [tell you to do if you messed up?” "You fold me to hold up this rt and point it toward the computer” “Its a mouse, Moses, not arat, Mouse! Mouse! And did you do that?” "No, I decided to try calling technical support firs Afterall, who knows more about this stuff than you? And [realy ike yout hous, By the way, Sir, did Noa have two ofthese rice on the ack?” "No, Moses." ne other thing, Why did you not name them ‘frogs’ instead of ‘mice; because did you not tell me the thing they sit on isa pad?” did not name them, Moses. Man di, and ‘you can call yours a frog if you want o." "Oh, that explains i. Tbet some woman told ‘Adam to call ita mouse. Aer all, was it nota ‘woman who named one of the computers “Apple "Say good night, Moses.” minute, Siam pointing the mouse, and it seems to be working. Yes, a couple of the ten ‘thing’ have come back, "Which ones are they, Moses el me se. ‘Thou shalt no steal from any grave an image’ and "Thou shalt not uncover Thy neighbor’ wife!” "Turn the computer off, Moses, Tm sending ‘you another sel of stone tablets" =< Pastor Jimmy Bethel Baptist Church Centered On Christ, Focused On People Page 2The Ch tion Run wer 2010 a a a a a Worship News Let me begin this first writing by saying ‘what a blessing itis to have the opportunity to serve together with each and every one of you at Bethel, Jill and Uave been blessed beyond ‘measure by your kindness and hospitality and look forward to many years of service and ‘ministry together Allow me to continue by saying that our fist Sunday (une 6) worshiping together was an exper Despite the" technical bumps in the road that were bound to ‘occur whenever new people begin working {together the manifest presenee of the Spit of ‘God was overwhelming in our ‘midst, Thad to comark to myself as entered the sanctuary on that Sunday moming, "be careful, God's in there..." What an awesome feeling! Bethel Baptist Church is at 2 ‘momentous time in her history. A, ‘crossroads really, where we must decide if we are to move forward {in doing the things imperative to reaching the world forthe cause of (Christ, or are we going to maint 4 status quo resulting in nothing. T fam reminded ofthe Old Testament story in II Kings ofthe four lepers |) ‘who were sitting outside the gate of the city starving during a time ‘of war between Israel andthe ‘Arameans. The four lepers finally looked at one another and sid, “Why do we sit her til we dic?” (Kings 7:3b) They assessed. ther situation inthe proverbial do, darned if we don’t” perspective and headed ‘overt the enemies side where they knew that regardless ofthe outcome, it was beter than ‘what the alterative of remaining where they were. What they found was an abandoned ‘camp and all the food they could ea, because ‘of the Lord's provision for them. (See It Kings 71-8) God has gone before us and placed His ‘church in this place on Montgomery Rosd in Ellicott City. He has done this in His timing and His providence. He has a greater and perfect purpose for our being hece, But if we fare unwilling to seck His face and pursue His will, then we are siting bebind a wall starving ‘when the blessing is just outside the city gate ‘Are we to si here until we die? The answer ‘ean and should bea resounding no! But if this isto be tre, we eannot continue simply lweading waler and maintaining, We must sock ‘out what will make the difference for us in «effectively carrying out His Kingdom work. wong the many important elements of evangelism, discipleship, missions and ‘others that make up the oh description of a Believer we cannot forget what we were created to be and do. We were created tobe Worshippers of the Living God. That is our singular purpose for existing. AUl the rest (the eforementioned components of evangelism, diseipleship, et) are the ‘overflow of our worship, When we wo in Spist and in Truth it should drive and ‘compel us to seck to be better disciples, to tell others abour God's saving grace, to ‘each out toa lost and dying world. ‘Worship is what we all were made for, ‘This September we will move to a One Worship Service format. This isa step that I ip know many have been praying and longing for over an extended period of time. One of four members shared with me the unfortunate but al too familiar story of an acquaintance of theirs whom attended the early service ‘After several weeks of not soving this person because of attending two different services, this individual noticed at a combined service that ther friend wasn’t present, When inquiring abou the individual, they’ earned ‘that their fiend was no longer attending our church and because of attending a different Service, they had no idea their friend was not attending any longer. This is one many problems endemic of having multiple worship services, Folks, there is only one good reason why we should have multiple services here at Bethel. That reason is simply this: When God blesses us with more people than our facilities can handle, then we could goto two or more worship services. We should never allow difference of opinion on musically style or choice of clothing, or program content separate us. ‘These are man-made problems, not God-made problems. ‘The family of God should never be divided, especially ifit is avoidable. And in our ssluaton here at Bethel, that is most assuredly the ase, Its our intent and ever present concern to provide a worship experience that meets the Spiritual needs ofall who gather on Sunday in God's house, The whole family: our children and students all the way o our Senior Adult, Twas a moving experience for me to see young faces engaged in worship during our ‘ime that first Sunday, ling thei hands and voices in praise to our Lord. It was just as raving, if not mare 50, 0 see some of our “Prime-Timets” singing “Take My Life, Lead "Me Lord” and lifting their hands in worship as well, Ws not about the style of the ‘music or the beat othe tempo or ‘what insrument is playing. What is important i this: Is out ‘worship authentic and relevant? ‘That will always be my goal and im in planning for and leading {youu in worship each and every ‘week. Through the course ofthe ‘month of June we will have all participated in atleast three different formas of what our ‘combined worship will look like, Tewill never be exacly the same seek to week, but it wil always ‘be authentic to the cause of Chris, and relevant in leading all of us to approach the throne af grace with boldness Furthermore, this single service will also be designed to be inviting to those who come to our church forthe fest. time. Some of whom have never entred a church before. We want our worship experience to be one that anyone feels comlortable participating in, even if they have never atended a church service before. And when they walk away, itis my prayer that they ‘would not feel overwhelmed or intimidated by ‘what they have just participated in, But rather Took forward to joining us again in worship and in tur taking their own relationship with Jesus Christ to a deeper level [pray that you will unite with me and that ‘we will relish the renewal of spirit that comes When we are united asa Tamil testifying in whatever form it takes that, “once we were lost ‘but now we ate found, once we were blind but ‘now we see." And tht all we say, sing and do will be nothing moce than a sweet offering to the giver of grace we sing about and that our songs will be lifted as performance unto an audience of One, Won't you join me? = Matt Chattin| Bethel Baptist Church Centered On Christ, Focused On People Page 3‘The Christian Runner Summer 2010 Exciting News! A New Church Year' Several new things are on the horizon for Bethel! ‘One Worship From September Sth: ‘Any change in a person's life whether itis a change in job, change in position, change of place, or change in life, the knee-jerk reaction always in most cases is ‘uncomfortable.’ Taking into ‘consideration the cohesiveness in the spiritual realm of making Bethel worship a family-centered worship including children, youth, young adults and senior adults, the best Way to take our worship to the next level is ONE BLENDED WORSHIP. All would agree that the Lord gave us several months of two worships to foretaste what it would be like when we blend the two, While we are grateful to Rev. Ryan Strother, Bro. Mike Kirkpatrick and Rev. Jimmy Jackson who helped us in ‘two worships and got us to this point, we Summer mission trip - July toth ~ 17th, 2010 ‘Ateam of 18 volunters fom Bethel ae signed up, excited und ready for this year’s ‘mission tip to Tavee, Montana. The ea will bbe working with Immanuel Baptist Church (BC) that hasan outeach misty tothe Chippewa Cree Indians on the reservation ina place ealled Rocky Boy which s about 30 Ines fom Havre, The mission work will includ Vacation Bible School a TBC inthe ‘morning, Backyard Bible Cubs at 4 diferent Millges on the nian reservation inthe allemoons and tore constuction projets. The teamis looking forward a time of harvest for the Lord and upon thei turn the reports of transformation ~ not only in thse the tam Ininstered to but how the Lord impacted the tives oft members themselves, No one returns home fom a mission wip without ‘xpercncing the Lard ina mighty way. The team i indebted to Bethel for sending them to this pioneering state with less Cristina influence particularly the Chippewa {Cree people group on the reeration. Each ‘member ofthe eas grateful those who ‘ought baked goods, those who gave nations by prbasing tems at he bake fuction and also thore who gave trough designated pving. The bake auction on Mey 5rd was a great success which greatly helped truly believe the Lord prepared the hearts and minds of the congregation in calling Bro. Matt Chain to lead us into just that—one blended worship. All of ‘us might have to make a little sacrifice - some more than the others - but the end result we are looking for is 1) worship- ing the Lord as a family and, 2) that others may hear the Gospel. Let us get ‘on board with oneness, Back to Church Weeken: The weekend of September 12 is shaping up to be an event-filled weekend. The yeatly ‘Ministry Fair* will be held when leaders of each ministry exhibit their best display of their respective ministry for the congregation to know what the Lord is doing in each of our ministries and encourage members to get involved. There is room for everyone to serve the Lord through Bethel! Mission News the mission team, Please pray fr the safety ofthe team when they travel and their fruitful ministry in Montana. Mission Opportunity 'you have not yer scheduled 2 ‘Summer Bible Club for your neighborhood, now isthe time to reserve a team of missionaries that work thu the Children's Bible Ministry of Maryland. Only 1 hour a day for 5 days could change the lives ofthe children you invite, Clubs are held during Family Fest: The pastoral staff and the deacon body are considering another weekend in September for atime of revival and renewals it will be called “Family Fest." It is tentatively set for September 17-19, Each night there will be a different event such as ‘a night of laughter and fellowship,’ ‘a night of Southem Gospel concert and preaching of the Word that culminates in old-time revival and renewal during the entire weekend, Preparations are underway with a special committee to pray, plan and promate. As opposed to the popular belief of slow summer months, Bethel is very busy with ‘a mission trip, youth camp, children’s camp and VBS, In the midst of this busy season when most people go on vacation, ‘we urge Bethel families not to forget supporting the church financially. -< = Your Bethel Stait July and August. They also need volunteers to help drive the teams of missionaries to their ‘clubs. Gasoline mileage is paid. If you are interested please call Carolyn King at 410-796- 7900 and schedule a date ‘Don't forget to check out the MISSIONS ‘TABLE in the back of the sanctuary for more information about how you can get involved in ‘missions. ‘There is a place for EVERYONE! = Wanda Horstmann, ca TMU age Pa Bethel Baptist Church Centered On Christ, Focused On People Page‘The Christian Runner ‘Summer 2010 BRR Bethel’s Library Summer time is here, what a great time to relax and read a good book. Bethel has an outstanding assortment of Books, CD’s and DVD's for you to borrow, and there are several locations in our church for you to access these resources. ‘The main library area is located by the pastor’s office, another in the church foyer, and one more downstairs by the fellowship hall. We have a wide variety of books for you to choose from: fiction, Christian living, biographies, Biblical studies, Bible reference books, and commentaries. © a couple of books that you might like to read: I Saw The PHitip Prayer: Does It Lord YANCEY Make Any Difference By: Anne Graham By: Philip Yancey Lotz In his most powerful book since What's So Amazing about Grace? and The Jesus I Never Knew, Yancey probes the most fundamental, challenging, perplexing, and deeply rewarding aspect-the very heartbeat—-of your relationship ‘with God: prayer. In theory, prayer is the essential human tack a priceless point of contact between you and the God of the univers. In practice however, prayer is often frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery. Prayer Does It Make Any Difference? explores the mysterious intersection where you and God meet and relate, Writing as fellow pilgrim, Yancey explores the questions surrounding prayer that you may wonder about but not know how to express. Above all, Yancey shows you how to pray to 8 God who sees what ies ahead of you, knows what ies within you, and who invites you into an eternal parinership with Him-—through prayer. I saw the Lord is ‘a wake-up call for Christians everywhere. Anne Graham Loz knows from personal experience what i's like to be floating along in a sea of complacency. The revival we need today is not a tent meeting but life-changing fire-blazing revival; @ fresh commitment to holiness, As you read this book and hear the wake-up call, get ready for the fire of revival to fall on you! We have books for the young at heart as well. Here are two that I have read to my grandchildren that are in the church library. Will, God’s Mighty sea art Jesus Must Be Warrior ae Really Special By: Sheila Walsh By: Jennie Bishop From the Sheila Walsh, creator of Gigi ‘The young narrator comes Gods Lite Princess, comes a new young, to know and love eaus by character! Meet Willa fearless, loveable watching his parents and superhero, Well, atleast in his imagination, He participating in their lifestyle of ccan leap tall buildings-from his bed. And he faith. His family's experiences, ccan rescue his sister from the jaws of a told ina gently humorous style, ferocious beast-his dog, Ralph! Complete with cape and sword, will capture your child's attention and lead him to Will's adventures take him on dangerous missions through the discover that he loves Jesus to0. Uplifting sidebar notes Jjungle--his backyard, But when he gets confused by the meaning of | offer practical help for easily and intentionally passing ‘God's armor, his dad teaches him that he ean do anything with God's on your faith, With your family you can begin to share strength and protection. Afterall, he is God's Mighty Warrior! the blessings of living out your spiritual legacy. jes, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe just to name a few. lease feel free to contact either Linda We also have DVD's: Veggie If you would have any questions about utilizing the library, Cleveland or Gayle Deal, ~ Gayle Deal Bethel Baptist Church Centered On Christ, Focused On People Pages