Today You Be the Minister at Church or...

Today You Be the Minister at Church
or
How to Really do Church
or
How to Have Church Body Life
or
What Ministry Can I Have at Church?

I hope you get this before you go to church today. If so, think about this plan for your preparing to go to the church meeting.

Do you think your pastor or the elder who is preaching today has probably prepared at all for the service? Do you think his heart and mind have done some preparation and that he is going to show up at the meeting, having a heart to minister to others, and will specifically offer the congregation something he has prepared? Will he consciously bring something that they he hopes, by God's grace, will be used by the Lord to edify the body?

I want to encourage you to do exactly that today. Don't just go to receive something, though God does want you to receive today. Don't just go to get, though we do need to get benefit. Do not go empty-handed or with an unprepared heart.

Why don't YOU be the minister today? How? Here's a free trial sample of how you can.

Being prepared means you are consciously choosing to do some or all of the following.

1. Go to your church meeting today determined to have a heart before God to be a blessing to others there.

2. Go to your church meeting today with a plan to greet with sincerity each person you come in contact with.

3. Consciously and purposely be a blessing to those you engage at the meeting.

4. Choose the 'least' or 'weakest' among you, and show them love, give them a hug, and say or share something appropriate with them that will show them you care for them today.

5. Work at going out of your way to be friendly and find out how others are doing and ask specifically how you can pray for them.

6. EXPRESS verbal appreciation and love for different ones; choose to go outside your comfort zone and go up to a few people and tell them, with words. Undoubtedly, there are a number of the brethren you worship with and are supposed to be committed to and your never or rarelyand it has been weeks, months, or even longer (perhaps never with some of them) that you have expressed that you are thankful for them and that they have been a blessing to you.

7. Make yourself go out of your way and get out of your little Sunday rut and seek out a number of people individually.

- if someone has been a blessing to you at any time, today tell them, even if you have told them before.

- if someone has been an encouragement to you, today tell them.

- If someone's love for Christ has been an example to you, tell them.

- If what someone has said or done has been a ministered to you, tell them.

- If you have appreciation for someone and have never told them, today's the day.

- If you want to do ministry (and if you don't want to, you're probably unconverted), THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT.

- And you start TODAY !

If you can't engage lovingly your own brethren at home, you couldn't and wouldn't if you were overseas. If you don't have a heart to do it here, you won't somewhere else. We can't love those in India, China, Romania, Mexico, or Somalia, if we are not doing it right in our own church. We won't ever really love sinners if we can't even practically love the brethren we are with in our own church.

Today, at least this one Sunday, just practice, by dependence on and obedience to the Holy Spirit, BEING the minister at church today.

By the way--today especially express love, thanks, support, prayers, and commitment to all your elders. That will minister more to them than their own sermon will. Probably very few will think of doing that today, so you be the one. Set a time during the holidays and take them out for coffee or a meal and show them you love them. You minister to your ministers and it will be true ministry.

And not just for one Sunday-- its a life style that will change your life and others. But it starts with today.

I wonder what would happen in our church life if we were all living this way at church meetings every week? The preacher might not even get to preach because the Spirit has come and is Himself preaching a living epistle through the whole church.

Ready, set, go . . . . . . . . you be the minister at church today. I think the Lord Jesus will like it very much.

- Mack Tomlinson

Missouri Prison Ministry Report

In mid-November, I had the special privilege of speaking in the Bowling Green State Prison at Bowling Green, Mo. This providentially was an immense blessing and an exceptional time of among the inmates there.

There are 1900 men in this medium security prison, with the inmates from such offenses as white collar crimes of embezzlement, forgery, finance fraud and theft, to murder, sex offenses, and all kinds of felony crimes. We were with murderers, gang leaders, as well as former stock brokers who are still wealthy, but were caught in illegal activities.

Every Wednesday evening two separate chapel services are held, as there are two different inmate blocks within the prison. The first service was at 7:00 pm, with inmates from Block A attending, then the second service was at 8:00 pm for Block B inmates.

Both services were fully attended, each time filled with men, standing room only. It was also interesting to find out that the men cannot freely come to the services anytime any of them desire to, but first have to sign up once for permission and then they are on the chapel list and can go anytime. So every inmate who attends has made a personal choice and effort to be given the opportunity to be in the services.

From the very first minutes of being there, as the men began to file in, my heart was moved and my emotions stirred. Black men, hispanics, whites, old, young, middle-age, all kinds, began to come by and speak to me and welcome me. It was obvious that many of them knew Christ. I saw quite a number of men who you would never want to meet up with them in any way in their former life. But when they approached me to welcome me, it is no exaggeration to say that 95% of them evidenced true humility, graciousness, joy, kindness, and thankfulness for us coming.

When we began to sing, from the first song, the Spirit of God settled upon the time and we sensed it was a special moment. I saw men with tears running down their cheeks, singing joyfully, "How great is our God--sing with me, how great is our God--how great, how great, is our God". We sang choruses and hymns, and almost every man in the service was singing fervently and with what appeared to be reality.

I had learned that God has been at work in this prison in recent years in a significant way, with a number of inmates having been converted. Former murderers and gang leaders are now real students of the Word and lead Bible studies in the prison. It was very moving to speak to brothers in Christ there who are in prison for life and yet are free men in Christ; they know He has set them free. Some of them are even looked to by other inmates as being real pastors, though the prison or the chapel does not recognize any such designation. But it is still happening anyway.

I found my heart very moved as we went through the time of singing, and felt the Lord's presence very near; I knew He was working and I sensed He wanted to really speak to these men. As I rose to speak in each service, I felt right from the beginning that God was going to give great help in opening the Word. And He did.

Both messages were on Ps. 107: 4 - 43 -- Grace for the Mess I'm In.

There are four groups in Psalm 107 who find themselves in a mess and have no hope unless they are delivered by God.

Four points

1. Wanderers - vss. 4-9

Many are wandering in life and cannot find their way at all; but these 'wanderers' finally in desperation cried out to the Lord and he delivered them; what do wanderers need? they need to be led out of their wanderings; that is what God did for them (see. vs. 7).

2. Those in darkness - vss. 5-16

Some are not wandering, but are sitting in darkness as prisoners in affliction; in their distress, they also cry out to God and he delivers them as well; what do those sitting in darkness need? They need to be brought out of darkness, and that is what God does for them (see. vs. 14).

3. Fools- vss. 17-22

Some are only described as fools, because that is the only thing that explains their life and condition; they are suffering affliction as a result of their foolish sinful ways; they also cry out to God in their distress and he delivers them also; what do they need? Healing and powerful deliverance. (see. vs. 20)

4. Businessmen in trouble- vss. 23-30

The fourth group are not wanderers, or in darkness, or fools, but are businessmen who are in real trouble through their business. They are doing business in ships on the sea and now storms are about to wipe them out; they also in their distress cry out to the Lord and he delivers them as well; what do these men need? They need the storm calmed and brought safely to land, and that is what God does for them. (see. vs. 29-30)

Everyone who sincerely cried out to God were helped and delivered; God also tailor-made his grace to fit the need for each one--the wanderer is led, those in darkness are led out of darkness, fools are delivered, and those businessmen in the storm in their work see their storm calmed and they are brought to their desired haven. Tailor-made grace for each situation.

Then vss. 33-42 show that it is all by the sovereign, free, and unaided power of God; God does it all.

David then closes the Psalm in vs. 43 by saying that anyone who is wise ought to pay close attention to all these things and should consider that it is all an evidence of the steadfast love of God.

Words can't convey at times what impact the preached word has on those who are hearing it. It was not an ordinary time, but God was working and speaking to many. All I can say is that it is clear that God is really at work at the Bowling Green state prison; please pray for the inmates there and pray for the good chaplain who leads the work and for the dear and faithful brothers who go weekly, especially Larry Hinds from Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Hannibal, as he is one of the main leaders who goes to the prison to preach every Wednesday night.

I hope the Lord gives me the blessed privilege of going back to Bowling Green. The kingdom of God is mightily at work in that prison among the prisoners who are coming to be the Lord's free men.

- Mack Tomlinson

When I Grumble about the Weather

"The Lord has heard all your grumblings against Him!" Exodus 16:8

Does God really hear every discontented word I ever speak? Does He hear when I grumble about the hard winter, about the late spring, about the dry summer, about the wet harvest?

Does He hear when I grumble about the frosts, about the drought, about the high winds, about the storms?

Does He hear when I grumble about my circumstances, about the hardness of my situation, about my losses and disappointments?

If we could get into our heart, and keep there continually, the consciousness that God hears every word we speak, would we murmur and complain as much as we do?

We are generally careful to not speak words which would give pain to the hearts of those we love. Are we as careful not to say anything that will grieve our Heavenly Father?

"I tell you this--that you must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak." Matthew 12:36

"He who complains of the weather is complaining of the God who ordains the weather!" -- William Law

- J. R. Miller

A.W. Tozer

Hailing from a tiny farming community in western Pennsylvania, A. W. Tozer's conversion was as a teenager in Akron, Ohio. While on his way home from work at a tire company, he overheard an anonymous street preacher say: "If you don't know how to be saved... just call on God." Upon returning home, he climbed into the attic and heeded the preacher’s advice.

In 1919, five years after his conversion, and without formal theological training, Tozer accepted an offer to pastor his first church. This began 44 years of ministry, associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA), a Protestant evangelical denomination; 33 of those years were served as a pastor in a number of churches. His first pastorate was in a small storefront church in Nutter Fort, West Virginia. Tozer also served as pastor for 30 years at Southside Alliance Church, in Chicago (1928 to 1959), and the final years of his life were spent as pastor of Avenue Road Church, in Toronto, Canada. In observing contemporary Christian living, he felt that the church was on a dangerous course toward compromising with "worldly" concerns.


In 1950, Tozer received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Wheaton College. It was May 1950, when Tozer was elected editor of the Alliance Weekly magazine, now called, Alliance Life, the official publication of the CMA. From his first editorial, dated June 3, 1950, he wrote, "It will cost something to walk slow in the parade of the ages, while excited men of time rush about confusing motion with progress. But it will pay in the long run and the true Christian is not much interested in anything short of that." In 1952, he received an LL.D. degree from Houghton College.

Among the more than 40 books that he authored, at least two are regarded as Christian classics: The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy. His books impress on the reader the possibility and necessity for a deeper relationship with God.

Living a simple and non-materialistic lifestyle, he and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, never owned a car, preferring bus and train travel. Even after becoming a well-known Christian author, Tozer signed away much of his royalties to those who were in need.

Tozer had seven children, six boys and one girl. He was buried in Ellet Cemetery, Akron, Ohio, with a simple epitaph marking his grave: "A. W. Tozer - A Man of God."

Prayer was of vital personal importance for Tozer. "His preaching as well as his writings were but extensions of his prayer life," comments his biographer, James L. Snyder, in the book, In Pursuit of God: The Life Of A.W. Tozer. "He had the ability to make his listeners face themselves in the light of what God was saying to them," writes Snyder.

Forgotten Revival of 1921

Douglas Brown, a Baptist minister in South London, saw conversions in his church every Sunday until he began to engage in itinerant evangelism in 1921. Within
eighteen months, he addressed over 1700 meetings, and saw revival under his evangelistic ministry. The Lord had convicted him about leaving his pastorate for mission work. Although reluctant, he finally surrendered. In his words: 'It was in February 1921, after four months of struggle, there came the crisis. Oh, how patient God is! On the Saturday night I wrote out my resignation to my church, and it was marked with my own tears' . . . .

'Then something happened. I found myself in the loving embrace of Christ for ever and ever; and all power, joy and blessedness rolled in like a deluge. How did it come? I cannot tell you. Perhaps I may when I get to heaven. All explanations are there, but the experience is here. That was two o'clock in the morning. God had waited four months for a man like me; and I said, "Lord Jesus, I know what you want; You want me to go into mission work. I love Thee more than I dislike that." I did not hear any rustling of angels' wings. I did not see any sudden light'.

Hugh Ferguson, the Baptist minister at London Road Baptist Church in Lowestoft on the East Anglia coast, had invited Douglas Brown to preach at a mission there in March. The preacher was ill when he arrived by train. However, he spoke Monday night and at meetings on Tuesday morning, afternoon and night. The power of the Holy Spirit moved among the people from the beginning.

On Wednesday night 'inquirers' packed the adjacent schoolroom for counselling and prayer. Sixty to seventy young people were converted that night, along with older people. Each night more packed the 'inquiry room' after the service. So the mission was extended indefinitely. Douglas Brown returned to his church for the weekend and continued with the mission the next Monday. By the end of March, the meetings were moved from the 700 seat Baptist Church and other nearby churches to the 1100 seat St John's Anglican Church. March saw the beginning of revival in the area.

Although Douglas Brown was the main speaker in many places, ministers of most denominations found they too were evangelizing. Revival meetings multiplied in the fishing centre of Yarmouth, as well in Ipswich, Norwich, Cambridge and elsewhere. Scottish fishermen working out of Yarmouth in the winter were strongly impacted, and took revival fire to Scottish fishing towns and villages in the summer. Jock Troup, a Scottish evangelist, has visited East Anglia during the revival and ministered powerfully in Scotland.

At the same time, the spirit of God moved strongly in Ireland, especially in Ulster in 1921 through the work of W. P. Nicholson, a fiery Irish evangelist. This was at the time when Northern Ireland received parliamentary autonomy accompanied by and tension and bloodshed. J. Edwin Orr, the revival historian, was converted then, although not through W. P. Nicholson. Orr wrote:

'Nicholson's missions were the evangelistic focus of the movement: 12,409 people were counselled in the inquiry rooms; many churches gained additions, some a hundred and some doubled in membership; prayer meetings, Bible classes and missionary meetings all increased in strength and ministerial candidates doubled'.

In Great Britain the Welsh Revival of 1904-5 impacted the nation. Though not as widespread or as intense, the revivals of 1921-22 touched thousands following the devastation of World War I. Revival flamed again in 1948-49 after World War II, especially in the Scottish Hebrides.

The Korean Revival 1907

Revival broke out in Korea in 1907. Presbyterian missionaries, hearing of revival in Wales and of a similar revival among Welsh Presbyterians in Assam, prayed earnestly for the same in Korea. 1500 representatives gathered for ten days at the annual New Year Bible study course, in which a spirit of prayer was brought about by the Holy Spirit. The meetings carried on day after day, with confession of sin, weeping, and trembling. The leaders allowed everyone to pray aloud simultaneously, as so many were wanting to pray, and that became a characteristic of Korean prayer meetings. The day before the study course ended, the evening meeting seemed so full of the presence of God, that many broke down, seeking the Lord, and the whole congregation wept, confessed, prayed, and praised at the same time. According to those present, what might appear to some to be chaos was actually a beautiful expression of the work of God's Spirit.

Observers were astounded. The delegates of the New Year gathering returned to their churches, taking with them this spirit of prayer which strongly impacted the churches of the nation with revival. Everywhere, conviction of sin, confession, repentance, and restitution were a common thing. By March, 2000 people had been converted, and 30,000 by the middle of 1907, by conservative estimates. Brutal persecution at the hands of the Japanese, Russian and Chinese communists saw thousands killed, but still the church grew in fervent prayer.

Prior to the Russian invasion, thousands of North Koreans gathered every morning at 5:00 am. Sometimes, 10,000 were gathered in one place for prayer each morning. Early morning daily prayer meetings became common, as did nights of prayer, especially on Friday nights, and this emphasis on prayer has continued as a feature of church life in Korea. Over a million people gather every morning at 5:00 am for prayer in the churches. Prayer and fasting is normal. Churches have over 100 prayer retreats in the hills called Prayer Mountains to which thousands go to pray. Now the city of Seoul alone has 6000 churches, many with huge numbers. Koreans have sent over 10,000 missionaries into other Asian countries.

Newly published 2 volume work on the Psalms I highly recommend

Newly published 2 volume work on the Psalms I highly recommend; very nice hard-back 2 set;

- Mack Tomlinson

New from Particular Baptist Press

AN EXPOSITION OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS
SET FORTH AS PROPHETIC OF CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH
by Samuel Eyles Pierce

This two-volume set on the Psalms by Samuel Eyles Pierce (1746-1829) was formerly one of the scarcest of the full-length Scripture expositions to be found by this early nineteenth-century Baptist minister and author.

When we set out to publish this work, not a single library in the U.S. or Canada listed it among their collections! And in Great Britain, only two libraries were shown to have the volumes. Over a century ago, C. H. Spurgeon in his well-known book Commenting and Commentaries (1885), stated that even in his day this set was "very scarce," while commending Pierce as one who "writes to comfort and edification" on the Psalms. We are therefore honored to make this work available once more to the present generation of Christians.

What makes Pierce’s exposition unique among others on the Psalms is that he views the whole book (not just the "Messianic" Psalms), as prophetic of Christ and His Church and expounds each chapter in accordance with this central theme. The result is a spiritually rich, Christ-centered treatise on this favorite Old Testament book.
Pierce was a Christian very much in the mold of John Bunyan, and readers are sure to profit from a careful study of these books.

The sixth exposition in our Newport Commentary Series. Bound in grade B black cloth vellum hardcover with acid-free paper. Smyth-sewn.
Volume One, 669 pages with portrait of Pierce and manuscript note by Pierce. $32.50 plus shipping.
Volume Two, 704 pages with portrait of Pierce and map of "Scenes in the Life of Samuel Eyles Pierce." $32.50 plus shipping.
$65 for the set.


Particular Baptist Press
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