Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Vol. 57 No.7
www.baptistdigest.com
igest
July 2013
Rick and Gay Clock Brett and Mary Yohn Bob and Sandie Anderson The changing of the guard will take place this year in the Southern Baptist campus ministries at the three largest universities in Nebraska and Kansas. Rick Clock will be retiring after 32 years at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Brett Yohn and Bob Anderson will be retiring after 40 years of service. Yohn leads the ministry at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln while Anderson serves at Kansas State University, Manhattan. The KNCSB Mission Board on Friday, March 8, affirmed the three men and their wives who will be assuming the new leadership roles after Clock, Anderson and Yohn retire. Robbie Nutter will take over the leadership role at K-State Christian Challenge, where he now serves. Jeremy Pape will assume leadership of Christian Challenge at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where he has served since 2005. Ryan Stelk will take over the leadership role at the University of Kansas. He has served for 10 years with K-State Christian Challenge. (see pages 5-8 for more detail)
Editors Note: For the past year we have been uploading the Digest to an online reading and download site. We have tested this enough now to begin offering our readers an option. If you would like to receive an email notification of the Digest upload to the web either instead of the print copy, or in addition to it, please send your email address to tboyd@kncsb.org. Please note whether you would like to eliminate your print copy. It may take us several months to eliminate your print copy if that is what you choose to do. We want to make sure that the email notification is working.
And then I heard the voice of the Master: Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? I spoke up. Isaiah 6:8
Not long ago, I received the results of the 2012 Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources. The statistics from this profile include metrics related to membership, average attendance, baptisms and total giving. To say I was shocked would be an understatement and yet on the other hand not so shocked. Shocked because, I was dismayed at the rate of our decline as a denomination while on the other hand not so shocked because we are not being obedient to the Great Commission as a people. Marty King of Baptist Press points out: n The number of churches in the Southern Baptist Convention grew by 270 to 46,034, a 0.6 percent increase over the previous year. SBC churches also reported 4,992 church-type missions last year, 40 more than in 2011 n Although the number of SBC-related congregations grew, reported membership of those church declined more than 100,000, down 0.7 percent to
15.9 million members. Primary worship attendance declined 3.1 percent to 5.97 million Sunday worshippers. n Although baptisms were a bright spot in last years report, increasing 0.7 percent, this years report shows a decline of 5.5 percent to 314,956 people. Reported baptisms have declined six of the last eight years, with 2012 being the lowest since 1948. The ratio of baptisms to total members increased to one baptism for every 50 members. (Thirty years ago the ratio was 1:8). (BTW, KNCSB baptisms were up.) While I celebrate every person who has come into a new relationship with Christ, my heart breaks over the overall decline in baptisms and membership. Before God we must ask for forgiveness and repent and return to a posture of calling people to follow Christ. I am willing to admit that there are other contributing factors related to these abysmal statistics, issues related to national current trends, political, social, economic etc. One thing I do know is that the lack of intentional Biblical discipleship is a major contributing factor.
Just a thoughtwhat if we focused our attention on learning and becoming followers of Christ and each of us commit to making disciples who make disciples. For too long our focus has been bringing people to Christ and stopping there. Perhaps the above statistics reflect our lack of follow-through in helping those new converts discover the joy of being a Christ follower. It is almost like givBob Mills ing a thirsty man a drink of cold water and then telling them to go a figure out how to find more water. The ACP metrics illustrate outcomes or results of the effectiveness of discipling activities. Perhaps we need to rethink how our systems/programs/ministries/structure/values within the church are intentionally making disciples. What must we be and do differently to focus on discipleship? I do not want this article to be viewed as a downer but rather a challenge to rethink how we must approach discipleship in the future.
Jesus Grew Spiritually The questions Ive been dealing with lately have touched on learning Jesus, an idea that captured my heart when I read Ephesians 4:20 (See previous articles in the Baptist Digest). Today I want to deepen even more our learning Jesus by looking at his pattern of growing in faith. May his pattern teach us to be like our Master in informing our own faith development! Faith grows as the disciples realized at one point when they asked: Lord, increase our faith. Our destination in this life and the next is greater intimacy with God and loving others as ourselves. But a parked faith, like a parked car, does not get us anywhere on the road to Christlikeness. In the days of his flesh Jesus grew spiritually. These words create a tension. How can it be that Jesus, who is God in the flesh, grew spiritually? Does God the Son grow spiritually? Doesnt spiritual growth imply learning to overcome sin? Does not growing in faith imply a pattern of living obediently? Dont we already know know that the Author of Life never sinned (Hebrews 4:15) and that he always abides in his Fathers love (John 15:10). We do. But perfect obedience is not devoid of growth. Was Jesus sinless because he was God or because he learned to negotiate his relationship with God as a man in obedience and determination to grow in faith? Bruce Ware points out (in the The Man Christ Jesus, Crossway, 2013), that it was necessary for Jesus to grow spiritually. He says, precisely because he obeyed the Father perfectly, including in times of opposition, agony, affliction, and suffering, this perfect obedience actually resulted in the most profound and radical growth in his spiritual lifea growth of faith greater than anyone has ever experienced. The author of Hebrews put it this way: In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him (Hebrews 5:7-9). What then do we make of: 1. his learning to obey by means of what he suffered? 2. his being made perfect? The clues are in the text. While Jesus lived as a man on earth he prayed as any other faithful person would pray.
He prayed the prayers of his people and experienced the same or greater depth of intimacy with God. The divine Jesus knows what God the Father knows. But the human Jesus needed to pray. The eternal Jesus acted in obedience to his Father when he accepted the humbling position of serving humanity. Bruce Ware says that Jesus obedience in the flesh was not new but rather the kind of obedience was indeed new. Jesus prayed and he obeyed and he learned and he suffered and he grew. He prayed with cries and tears implying struggle and pain. Not of the cross alone but also of the pain that comes from being misunderstood, persecuted, belittled, rejected by friends and foes alike, questioned as to every motive, burdened for broken and suffering men and women and children, and dying in Georges Boujakly agony. No surprise here: Jesus is the suffering servant of Isaiah 42, 52-53! The role of suffering of Jesus was to mature his faith (As it did all the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11). His spiritual growth came at the expense of his constant obedience to the will of his Father. The maturity of faith that was at work in Jesus life worked to give his character the strength needed for greater obedience. At 12 he obeyed his Father. But did Jesus have the maturity of obedience that the cross demanded at 12? The obediences of the rest of his life prepared him for the final obedience demanded by the cross. One act of obedience at a time, in the midst of suffering, grew his faith to the point of death
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on a cross. Our obediences will not accomplish the salvation of the world nor ours. But we are to learn to live up to the level of maturity of Christ as Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 4:13-15. Bruce Ware mentions 3 implications that I have adapted. Learning Jesus implies that there are no little obediences. Every hill of obedience grows us spiritually in order to face the next mountain of obedience. How I obey Jesus today, this hour, make a difference in how I will obey him tomorrow and when the bigger tests of life come. Obedience works cumulatively. It strengthens our character to face the increasing costs of discipleship: self-denial and mounting the cross daily in His steps. The yes to God I say today assumes the bigger yes I have to say tomorrow. Learning Jesus also informs my suffering as a grace or gift. By the sweat of my present pain I will eat the bread of spiritual growth tomorrow. By pain today I build equity for future obedience. This God-ordained gift of suffering is the way to know more of God, experience his presence, understand life more deeply, peer into the life of Christ more fully, and derive joy in God (for the joy set before him he endured the cross). To avoid suffering is human. To embrace it and grow by it is divine. Learning Jesus, lastly, implies that faith grows by struggle. Lord, increase my faith. Christians do not sit atop mountains to contemplate the mysteries and miseries of life. Rather, they engage life as it is. Often reality is gut wrenching and doubles us over in pain. The role of faith is to help us navigate the rough waters of lifes pains in order to arrive safely in the harbor of peace with God.
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POSTMASTER:
GUIDING PRINCIPLES: INFORM -- Regularly share information about ongoing training, curriculum, events, support and personnel. RESOURCE -- Serve as a resource pool for practical ideas about what is working in KS-NE congregations and how it relates to all sizes of churches. GENERATIONAL -- Cast . the widest net, providing stories and information that will appeal to all generations of Southern Baptists in NE-KS. FAMILY-FRIENDLY -- Be family-friendly with stories, regular columns and helps for families and leaders who work with families. AGE DIVERSE -- Publish s . tories that address the diversity of age, ethnicity, and geographical regions of KS-NE. MISSION-ORIENTED -- Publish stories about people and congregations involved in missions and regularly publicize ministry opportunities. PART OF WIDER MISSION - Help congregations discover that they are part of the larger work of the Kingdom of God through their ministries.
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Editor: Tim Boyd, PhD. Associate Editor: Eva Wilson Printing Coordinator: Derek Taylor KNCSB Executive Director
AFFILIATIONS Association of State Baptist Papers Baptist Communicators Association
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Recently I have participated in two volunteer opportunities. Love Houston was the opportunity for outreach before the Southern Baptist Convention held in Houston in early June. Again this year as in earlier years, I found the opportunity of sharing the good news of knowing the Lord a highlight of being at that meeting. Secondly, the Flint Hills Association held an Acts 1:8 Missions Day. That too was a very positive experience of working with volunteers from the churches of the Flint Hills and Ridgewood Baptist Church in Arkansas. Debbie Carter captured the excitement and benefit of working together in making Christ known. Acts 1:8 in La Harpe = 11 Professions of Faith More than 100 Flint Hills volunteers and 11 from Forrest City, Arkansas converged on La Harpe, Kansas June 15 for Acts 1:8 Missions Day. Planning began months ago when Carl Weatherford, Pastor at Ridgewood Baptist Church in Forrest City, Arkansas contacted Duwayne and Debbie Bearden, Church Planters in La Harpe and Richard Taylor, Flint Hills Director of Missions about the possibility of an Acts 1:8 Missions Day in La Harpe. The Ridgewood Baptist Church Mission team had strong ties with the Beardens and their ministry, so there was an existing partnership with La Harpe and Ridgewood Baptist Church. That partnership soon grew to include other Flint Hills Churches. The planning began months ago with prayer. Praying for the community, for Duwayne and Debbie, and for volunteers to serve in La Harpe on June 15. Praying about the needs in the community and how
Why is Sioux Falls at the top of the list? Sioux Falls has 240,000 people and four Southern Baptist churches, Simon said. Theres a huge need there compared to other places. These hubs cities are just the starting point of the vision. The plan is to concentrate on them initially, and then to branch out into the more rural communities that surround them. Its kind of like Omaha Beach in World War II, according to Elliott, Unless you get a toehold on the beach, you are not going to move inland. So its establishing that toehold, taking the beach and then taking the land. Thats the end game. In light of the challenges of the each region, Elliott suggested that the task force use the imagery of transitioning from a Matt. 9:38 era to a Luke 10:2 time frame. In both passages Jesus said the same thing: Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest. In the Matthew passage, Jesus was sending out the 12. In the Luke passage, his disciple base had expanded and he sent out the 72. The emphasis in both passages is for the disciples to be intentional about raising up leaders from the harvest, for the harvest. But as the church grew, more believers took the gospel to more regions. Were taking it to another level to a broader base in which we are more intentional, Elliott said during the meeting. The task force identified three specific next steps: to schedule vision and prayer tours; having each convention develop a specific needs list to include city profiles, ways churches can partner, planting and strengthening opportunities; and identifying stories that accentuate the culture of each area that can be used to motivate interest in partnership opportunities.
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KNCSB on mission
The Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering supported Ken and Linda Bowie as they served 34 years in Peru and Chile.
sible for reaching the lost of the Limar valley are: n Juan Ramirez, who is in his 70s, the only team member left. He travels two hours on a rough road every other Sunday to La Caleta, Limar. n Sunilda is a believer in La Caleta, Limar, who has promised to help a teen teach the children Bible stories on the weeks Juan doesnt come. In this poor village, people either fish or gather seaweed to earn a living. n Adriana Cerda, who relates extremely well to the rural people, because she comes from a rural family. She has family responsibilities but went to night school to finish high school. She then went to beauty school to use those skills as she goes as often as she can to the mountain towns of Tulahun and Carn, where most people work in vineyards or raise goats. n Hortencia Rojas, the lay leader of the Alcones Baptist Church, who knows there are many people, mostly seniors, living in isolated homes. She organizes her church members to make home visits to pray, teach, sing hymns and provide any food or clothing
Kansas missionaries Ken and Linda Bowie retired on April 1, 2013, after 34 years of service with the International Mission Board in Peru and Chile. They are living in Crowley, Texas, (on the south edge of Fort Worth) near their three daughters and six grandchildren. (Submitted photos)
Southern Baptist missionaries Ken and Linda Bowie, who are Kansas natives, served in northern Chile from 2003 to December 2012. They retired on April 1, 2013, after 34 years of service in Chile and Peru. The Bowies lived in Ovalle, Chile, which is the capital of the Limar province. It is a commercial center, where people from more than 250 small towns in the valley come to buy or sell produce, bank, and do other business. (Below) Men gather seaweed in La Caleta, Limar. There are only a few, struggling Baptist churches in the province.
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Southern Baptist campus ministry in Kansas and Nebraska has its roots at Pittsburg State University in southeast Kansas. Keith Hamm and Charles Coleman came home from World War II and decided to attend college with their GI benefits. They chose Pittsburg State Teachers College in southeast Kansas, which was a thriving institution, according to Making a Difference: A 50-Year History of Kansas-Nebraska Southern Baptists. Hamm had served as a summer missionary with the Home Mission Board and wanted to stay in Kansas. To make ends meet, the two friends bought a house full of old furniture at the edge of campus at 1111 E. Cleveland St. The house was authorized by the Kansas Convention in 1947 as the Pittsburg Student House. Southern Baptist ministries soon spread to other campuses. The groups gathered for annual conventions and sent out small numbers of summer missionaries, both in the United States and abroad.
Student ministry in the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists shortly began shortly after the convention was founded in the mid-1940s. Making a Difference: A 50-Year History of Kansas-Nebraska Southern Baptists describes the early years of campus ministry: Campus ministry in Kansas-Nebraska began with two young men who had been involved in Baptist Student Union in Oklahoma. Keith Hamm and Charles Coleman came home from World War II and decided to attend college with their GI benefits. They chose Pittsburg State Teachers College in southeast Kansas, which was a thriving institution. Hamm had served as a summer missionary with the Home Mission Board and wanted to stay in Kansas. To make ends meet, the two friends bought a house full of old furniture at the edge of campus at 1111 E. Cleveland St. The house was authorized by the Kansas Convention in 1947 as the Pittsburg Student House. It could house 16 students upstairs and had meeting
sity in Topeka in 1967-68. Keefer served at KU until 1982. After leaving KU, she served as executive director of Kansas-Nebraska Womans Missionary Union from 1982 to late May 2003 when she retired. Rick Clock joined the staff at the University of Kansas in 1980. He assumed the leadership after Keefer went to KNCSB. In August 1972 Bob and Sandie Anderson arrived in Manhattan, Kan., to begin serving at Kansas State University. They shared a rental truck with Brett and Mary Yohn who moved to Lincoln, Neb., to serve at the University of Nebraska. The summer of 2013 finds Rick Clock retiring after 33 years of service at the University of Kansas. Bob and Sandie Anderson along with Brett and Mary Yohn are retiring after 40-year careers. From humble roots in Pittsburg, Kan., KNCSB campus ministries are flourishing. Both students and alumni of KNCSB campus ministries are helping to fulfill the Great Commission in the United States and around the world.
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The life that Bob taught about from his pulpit was the life I observed him living.
Bob Kolb
experiences at K-State during the 2012 Kansas-Nebraska Pastors Conference. The event preceded the mid-October KNCSB annual meeting at Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kan. During the next nine months Waggoner experienced no less than a transformation of the mind and heart. At first, reading the Bible was difficult. But in the spring of his freshman year, the Word of God became alive. said. Waggoner also started memorizing Scripture. For me, it was a whole new experi-
ence when I got to K-State and started memorizing Scripture. Brad is a 1979 graduate of KState. He and his wife, Patti, met during their freshman year and were married in 1980. Waggoners testimony is just one of the stories that can be told by the thousands of people who have been touched by the ministry of Bob and Sandie Anderson. They retired in May after 40 years of service at K-State and are now exploring new ministry opportunities. Bob Kolb was part of the Andersons ministry in the mid1980s. He lived in their home for a short time after graduating. Sandie taught me several of my most memorable life lessons, one while helping her fold the laundry. In her gentle but firm way, she taught me to be attentive and respectful of what is important to others around me. I also watched how she and Bob interacted with their kids. Read more at https:// www.dropbox.com/ s/8mk8yq45q91mgnf/Bob_and_ Sandie_Anderson.docx
The end of the school year in May found Bob and Sandie Anderson stepping down from 40 years of ministry at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan. They are exploring how God wants to continue using them and hope to spend more time with their family. Sandie Anderson is now in her second term as the Kansas-Nebraska representative on the board of trustees of the International Mission Board. She also serves on the Strategic Planning Team for Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kan. (Photo by Derek Taylor)
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Bob Anderson (left) and Brett Yohn attended the 1984 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Kansas City, Mo. (KNCSB file photo)
Bob Anderson (center) has had an international impact in a quiet way, said Brad Waggoner, a former student who is now a vice president at LifeWay Christian Resources, Nashville, Tenn. Anderson and his wife, Sandie, stepped down from their 40-year ministry at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan., in May. Here, Anderson is pictured at a K-State Christian Challenge meeting in 2005. (Midwestern Seminary photo)
the Baptist Student Union there. They ended their full-time ministry career at Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kan. The Smiths are now semi-retired and live in Rose Hill, Kan., near Wichita. We had a guy come in one night. I dont know what his purpose was, Floyd Smith recalled. He started challenging what I was saying. Rick pulled up a chair and started asking him challenging questions. Floyd and Rick met regularly at a restaurant in Emporia. Smith recalled how Clock kept asking him, How do I know if God is calling me? Smiths reply was, God doesnt pitch fastballs to try to strike you out. Keep doing what youre doing and He will show you. Clock found his calling in student ministry. He served quietly, but very effectively, in his 33 years at KU. Mildred Smith said of Clock and his wife, Gay Lynn, I guess the most important thing you can say about them is they have always had a heart for the Lord and a heart for people.
Missions has always been a passion for Rick Clock throughout his entire ministry career. Clock retired at the end of the school year after 33 years of leading University Christian Fellowship, the Southern Baptist ministry at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. He led a spring-break mission team to Chicago. The group is pictured in the photo below left. Clock is on the back row in the hooded green jacket. Just before Christmas 2012 Clock led a student team to New York City to serve in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The team served on Staten Island with a student effort sponsored by the North American Mission Board. (Submitted photos)
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Rick Clock (right) and members of Starlight kept worship lively during the 1987 KNCSB fall student retreat at Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kan. Starlight was the worship team from University Christian Fellowship at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Clock retired in May after leading UCF for 33 years. (KNCSB file photo)
[Brett] just wanted to give of himself, just like Paul did with Timothy.
Monte C. Johnson
Phyllis, were part of the Yohns ministry in the 1970s. He will be the keynote speaker for the banquet Saturday, Aug. 3, during the KNCSB campus ministry reunion at the Sheraton Hotel at the Convention Center, Overland Park, Kan. Shortly after my Damascus Road event with God, our paths crossed when God sent Brett as my Ananias! I had learned to be skeptical/protective of what others wanted from me, Johnson recalled. However, when Brett
The end of the school year in May found Brett and Mary Yohn stepping down after 40 years of ministry at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. They have served as a team throughout their entire ministry. The Yohns are now exploring what God has planned for their future. (Photo by Derek Taylor) Brett helped connect us with Jesus Christ which then has impacted everything in my life. The influence of Brett and Mary Yohn has extended far beyond the UNL campus. Richard Casebolt met Brett through the collegiate ministry study program at Midwestern Seminary, Kansas City, Mo. He and his family now serve in the inner city of Kansas City. I was greatly impressed with Bretts practical insights into the life of a college minister, and I have been encouraged by his lifestyle of discipleship, Casebolt said. I was privileged to enjoy Brett and Marys hospitality when I visited the campus ministry at UNL back in 2001 and stayed overnight in their home. Although that was over 10 years ago, I remember the warmth of hospitality shown to me. As a newly engaged seminary student I was encouraged by their marriage story and closeness. I vividly remember going on a prayer walk with Brett where we knelt in the center of the UNL football field and prayed for God to receive the glory normally devoted to the game played on that field, Casebolt said. Bretts devotion to the Lord, commitment to the Great Commission and relational style made an impression that continues to encourage me today. Although Brett and Mary Yohn are stepping down from full-time student ministry, they will continue to serve as God opens doors. Read more at https:// www.dropbox.com/ s/9r8rvxmphhf1jou/brett_and_ mary_yohn.docx
Bob Anderson (left), Yvonne Keefer and Brett Yohn played major roles in the growth and maturity of campus ministry in Nebraska and Kansas. This photo was taken on Feb. 6, 1998, when the three were honored for 25 years of service with KNCSB. Keefer served as campus minister at the University of Kansas in Lawrence from 1969-1982. Before that, she served for two years at Washburn University, Topeka. Keefer served as executive director of Kansas-Nebraska Womans Missionary Union from 1982 to late May 2003. Anderson and Yohn stepped down in May 2013 after 40 years of campus ministry. Anderson served at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan., and Yohn led the Southern Baptist campus ministry at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.
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KNCSB on mission
ment operation in support of Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief efforts, Thomas said. The incident command center in St. Louis shut down on Thursday, June 13. But Southern Baptists will continue to serve people in the St. Louis area who were affected by the May 31 tornados. After the KNCSB incidentcommand team left St. Louis, KNCSBs attention turned to Colorado where wildfires have been raging. As The Digest was going to press, the disaster-relief laundry and shower units from Eastern Nebraska Baptist Association were stationed in Black Forest, Colo., in the Colorado Springs area. Local volunteers were operating the two units. Details had not been finalized for KNCSBs possible additional response to the Colorado wildfires. Go to Facebook and like Kansas-Nebraska Disaster Relief for current information. Your contributions to KNCSB Disaster Relief will help KNCSB teams serve in areas hit by natural disasters. Please make donations out to KNCSB and put Disaster Relief in the memo line. Send contributions to KNCSB, Attn: Disaster Relief, 5410 SW 7th St, Topeka, KS 66606.
KNCSB Disaster Relief volunteer Jeff Thomson helps clear property of damaged trees at a home in Moore, Okla., after the May 20 tornado. Thomson is a member of CrossPoint Baptist Church, Hutchinson, Kan. He is disaster-relief coordinator for Central Baptist Association in Kansas and served with the associations team in Moore. (NAMB photos by John Swain)
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Chaplain Brian Rothrock of Lenexa, Kan., signs a Bible he presented to Moore, Okla., homeowners Lindsay (left) and Lannette Phillips (center) who survived the EF5 tornado that struck the city on Monday, May 20. Rothrock is facilities manager at Lenexa Baptist Church. He served with the churchs disaster-relief team in Moore. Go to Facebook and like Kansas-Nebraska Disaster Relief for current information about KNCSB disaster relief.
Two Kansas ministers died recently after long, courageous battles with cancer. John Spradlin, 64, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church, Arkansas City, Kan., died Thursday night, May 23, at his home. He also had served at First Southern Baptist Church, Cherryvale, Kan., for many years. Kerry Baker, 57, music minister at Cedar Pointe Baptist Church in Wichita, passed away on Monday, June 17, after a valiant battle with cancer. John Spradlins funeral was held on Tuesday, May 28, at First Southern Baptist Church, Arkansas City. Burial was in Memorial Lawn Cemetery. John was born at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 20, 1948, to James J. and Margaret (Brennan) Spradlin. John was raised on many Air Force Bases up and down the Eastern Seaboard. After his fathers retirement, he graduated from Wheaton High School, Wheaton, Md. He attended college at Tennessee Temple of Chattanooga, Tenn., and graduated from Faith Baptist Bible College and Seminary of Ankeny, Iowa. He later received teaching credentials from Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kan. He married Kathy Carter on Nov. 20, 1969, in Winterset, Iowa. Among the survivors are his wife of the home and two sons
KNCSB on mission
John Jr. of Ladera Ranch, Calif., and Aaron Spradlin of Arkansas City. A memorial has been established with First Southern Baptist Church, 138 E. Kansas Ave., Arkansas City, KS 67005. Online condolences may be made at http://www.rindt-erdman.com/ The funeral for Kerry Baker was held Saturday, June 22, at Cedar Pointe Baptist Church. Kerry graduated from Sedgwick High School in 1973 and Friends University with a bachelors degree in fine arts in 1991. Along with his church ministry, Baker was a long-time member of the Kansas-Nebraska Singing Men. He was preceded in death by his father, Lawrence Baker, mother, Joyce Baker, and infant son, Kerry Baker. Among the survivors are his wife of 37 years, Michelle Baker, and his daughters, Jacelyn Baker, Rachel Hutson, Elizabeth Baker and Jessica Baker, his granddaughters, Madelyn Baker and Kylee Hutson, all of Wichita. Memorials may be sent to Cedar Pointe Baptist Church, 9221 E 31st St S., Wichita, KS 67210-5101. Watson Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements. Condolences may be sent to the family at http://watsonfuneral. com/fh/home/home.cfm?fh_ id=10235
Webster Conference Center was quiet on a recent morning. But the scene is much different as campers gather for large-group recreation. Kansas-Nebraska Southern Baptists are asked to pray for unsaved campers at Super Summer, which ends on Friday, Aug. 2. In other activity at WCC, contributions are coming in for the $50,000 matching challenge grant. It will be used for constructing a new addition to the Dining Hall. Make contributions out to Webster Conference Center, designate them for Matching Grant and send them to KNCSB, 5410 SW 7th St., Topeka, KS 66606-2398.
WCC Update
n Join us in prayer each MondayThe WCC Board of Directors has agreed to pray each Monday for the camps being conducted at WCC this summer. All of our Associations have completed their summer camps at WCC and Hispanic Super Summer was completed on June 21. Please pray for the students as they return to their homes and churches to begin living out the truths they learned at camp. Likewise, please continue to pray for Summer Summer 13 that runs from June 24-August 2. n User Days continue to be strong: Year-to-date User Days are 13,351 while revenues are $236,323.60. Attendance is slightly down from last years record high, but the revenues to date are a new record. n The 2013 $50,000 Matching Challenge Grant to fund the Dining Hall expansion project reached $21,561.94 as of June 17, 2013. To participate in this project, send tax deductible gifts to: 2013 Matching Challenge Grant; 5410 SW 7th Street; Topeka, KS 66606-2398. Make checks payable to WCC. n The flood plain and sprinkler questions have been resolved with the State of Kansas which will now enable WCC to move forward with developing working drawings for the Dining Hall expansion project. n Thank you for your prayers, financial support and usage of WCC. Thank you for your continued support of this mission facility as we continue to reach people for Christ and train believers for the work of the ministry! The WCC Staff
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Cooperative Program: KNCSBs Lifeblood for Carrying out the Great Commission 10
Retreats - Camps
The Ark
www.knwomen.com
Keeping Intimacy Alive in Marriage
Debra Bonds
WWW Life Session Leader
If the saying everyone is chasing after something is true, what are you chasing? That is the question women attending this years Wonderful Weekend for Women (WWW) conference will be asking themselves. This years conference will be held on September 13th & 14th, at Webster Conference Center in Salina, Kansas. Chasing after the heart of God, is the theme with scripture emphasis from Jeremiah 29:13, And you will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart. Guests include Jennie Allen, author of her most recent bible study entitled, Chase. Joining her this year is Rachael Lampa, Christian singer and songwriter, known for such hits as Live for you, Blessed, and You Lift Me Up. So prepare yourself to be challenged, as we discover the heart of God through the life of David. See you this fall!
Dont let the enemy win. We must make intimate time for each other. It doesnt start and stop in the bedroom. Start the romance early in the morning. Here are a few suggestions: As you wake up, acknowledge each other with a kind word, a back rub, holding a hand, or cuddling. Be intentional before you leave to start the day. Sometime during the day, call to say, I love you; make it nice and sweet and short. Or, stick a nice note in their lunch, pocket or briefcase put it wherever he or she will see it. Step out of your box and be creativethe prayer line to Christ is always open! Just rememberif you dont make it intentional, intimacy can go stale. So come on lets take back this part of Gods creation, and use it to please our spouse. Have FUN!
By now, I hope that you have come to the realization that God created sex. Genesis 4:1 says, And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived and bare You can read the rest, but you get the idea. Just so theres no doubt, the Word is very clear about what knew means - it goes on to say she conceived. Theres only one immaculate conception that I know about, so anything else takes action of the part of you and your spouse. All through the Word of God we can find references to sex and its enjoyment in marriage. The enemy is out to kill and destroy, in every area of a Christians life, and guess what? Intimacy in a marriage is not off limits. As a matter of fact, he has a bulls-eye target aimed right at Christian marriages. Husbands and wives must take back what God gave us for our pleasure.
Simply, Tara
The morning worship service had just begun with a choral reading. I zipped into my regular spot in the choir loft, front row, center. The spotlight seemed especially bright today as if it actually was that penetrating light of the Holy Spirit, peering into my heart as no other can. We continued the reading, as I squinted out the words from the monitor: I will love you with Ok, Id been a little rushed from my morning responsibilities and duties, so my heart wasnt quite with my head as yet, but I joined in with the choir. I participated in the reading at the appropriate times, but suddenly as we continued the reading, and I internalized the words on the screen: I will love you with my whole heartMy WHOLE heart. Whoa! Suddenly I was awake and everything was crystal clear. That spotlight was amazingly hot and I felt like I was in a room all by myself with God. The director
was moving us on to the first song, but inside my heart was screaming, Wait! I need to stop here a minute. I needed to hang onto this line a minute and do a little self-check. I think my voice went on to sing whatever song was next, but inside Im going through a mental checklist! I will love you with my whole heart. Do my actions show this? Lord, help me to truly put self aside, the cares of the world aside, personal preferences aside, my own fears and inhibitions, and anything else that would stand in the way of my loving you with all my heart. Lord, thanks for this personal interruption in the Order of Service today! Help us to all be aware of your presence, and never go through the motions of worship. You know, Hes waiting to speak to each one of us, Sunday morning, and every other morning of the week! Listen for Him. Restore us, O Lord God Almighty, make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. Psalm 80:19 Blessings, Patti 11
July 2013
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JULY 2013
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