GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

Transcription

1 VOICE OF THE APPALACHIAN CONFERENCE OF THE IPHC Vol. 76, No. 3 November 2014 GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father There is no shadow of turning with Thee Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be Summer and winter and springtime and harvest Sun, moon and stars in their courses above Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed Thy hand hath provided Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! Author Thomas Chisholm O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good Psalm 107:1

2 Bishop s Page PRESTON MATHENA BAKER S CHAPEL DEDICATES FAMILY LIFE CENTER On August 16, 2014, Baker s Chapel P.H.C. dedicated its new Family Life Center. Our church family was pleased to welcome a host of special guests, including former pastors and conference superintendents. Our guest speakers included Rev. Ron Fredericks (Appalachian Conference D.M. director), Rev. Ken Kingrea (former Appalachian Conference superintendent) and Bishop Preston Mathena (present conference superintendent). Each spoke with similar affirmations Although the project was a tedious endeavor, the ministry journey has just begun. The new 12,000-square-foot facility houses the Children s Center and Youth Center, as well as a community center, fitness center, commercial kitchen and a 5,000-square-foot multipurpose/gym area with a stage. The vision for this facility originated 10 years ago when the church progressively experienced tremendous growth. Pastor Jim Tunnell reiterated the message God gave him 10 years ago This place (Baker s Chapel PHC) will be a ministry resource center for this community and county. We would like to recognize all the men and women of our church for their relentless dedication of time and labor to make this day possible. Most of all, we give glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for His strength and guidance! Congratulations to Jim and the congregation of Baker s Chapel, whose diligence and hard work have brought to fruition the vision for such a functional and impressive facility. Bishop Preston Mathena HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM THE STAFF OF THE APPALACHIAN CONFERENCE MINISTRY CENTER VOICE OF THE A PPA L ACHI A N CONFER ENCE OF THE IPHC

3 MESSENGER (USPS ) Vol. 76 November 2014 No. 3 EXECUTIVE EDITOR Preston Mathena STAFF Phone Oak Grove Avenue Dublin, VA EVANGELISM & WORLD MISSIONS MINISTRIES Larry Meadors 5847 Oak Grove Avenue Dublin, VA DISCIPLESHIP MINISTRIES Ron Fredericks 5847 Oak Grove Avenue Dublin, VA DECEMBER RETIRED MINISTERS BIRTHDAYS December 1 December 10 Rev. Kenneth Kingrea Rev. Billy Akers 3249 Mudpike Road 2279 Cox Hollow Rd. Christiansburg, VA Pulaski, VA December 10 December 16 Rev. Earl Ragland Rev. Don Sizemore 512 Old Stage Road 5893 Jewell Avenue Erwin, TN Dublin, VA December 20 December 26 Rev. Bob Corum Rev. Lacy Griffi th P.O. Box 494 HC 32, Box 309-A Powell, TN War, WV December Dates to Remember 5 First Friday Fast 7 2nd Sunday of Advent 14 3rd Sunday of Advent 21 4th Sunday of Advent 23 Conference Offi ce Closes at Noon Conference Offi ce Closed for Christmas 29 Last Day to Receive Church/Ministers Reports 31 New Year s Eve (Offi ce Closed) WOMEN S MINISTRIES Kathy Mathena 103 Windsor Circle Bluefield, VA Phone: WIN Donna Hankla 139 Ridgeway Drive Bland, VA Phone: MEN S MINISTRIES Quent Baria 1712 Vineyard Street Bluefield, WV Deadline for all script to reach the office: 1st of each month for the next month s issue to shwood7@yahoo.com. CONFERENCE BOARD Superintendent Preston Mathena Assistant Superintendent Mike Dodson Secretary Frank Neff Treasurer Gary Cope Board Member Larry Meadors Board Member Wanda Myers Board Member Jim Tunnell MESSENGER (USPS ) is published monthly by LifeSprings Resources, 2425 W. Main St., Franklin Springs, GA 30639, for the Appalachian Conference. Subscription price $2.00 per year. Periodicals Postage Paid at Franklin Springs, GA POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MESSENGER, 5847 Oak Grove Avenue, Dublin, VA WEBSITE: CREDIT GRAPHICS: Thinkstock.com NOVEMBER 2014

4 World Missions & Evangelism LARRY MEADORS Pastors Engaging Their Communities The New Testament church went out into their world and touched people at the point of their need. This important spiritual principle changes lives and grows the kingdom. Please pray for these church planters and their communities as they minister. Church Planters: In Richlands, Virginia, church planter Brandon Hay is meeting with the core group of Life Church. They plan to launch Easter Sunday in Pastor Travis Lowe and Crossroads (Bluefield) is the mother church. Pastor Randy Miller of New Hope Church, in Stanley, is conducting Friday services at New Hope Outreach Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia. They have just added Sunday services and plan on organizing soon. Next Level Church has begun meeting in Elkins, West Virginia. Planter Keith Coen is meeting on Thursday evenings with the core group. Also in West Virginia, Pastor Dennis Wyer reaffirmed the affi liate status of Eli Gospel Tabernacle (formerly Heritage Christian Fellowship). The church recently moved from Alum Creek to Sumerco, which is southwest of Charleston. Opportunities: There are two church facilities that present opportunities for ministry. Pulaski, Virginia (formerly known as Stafford Hill) and Crandon (Bland County, Virginia) need to be re-opened. Is God speaking to you? In Charlottesville, Pastor Stephanie Henry leads the House of Refuge Ministries in the same facility that Pastor Ray McDaniel uses as an outreach of New Beginnings Ministries. This African-American congregation is in the process of forming a relationship with our conference ministries. New direction has come to Covington, Virginia, from Pastor Pamela Irvine. Recently, a conference crew spent two days working on the facility. Special thanks to Pastors Frank Neff (Lifeline Ministries) and Tim Stalnaker (Freedom Center) for bringing a work crew to help this church with some much-needed maintenance issues. New Hispanic Director: Pastor Abel Castro has been appointed as the new conference Hispanic director. His church in Harrisonburg is a strong and vibrant congregation. He has a heart to see churches planted. 24 to Double: The eleven churches in the two-year 24 to Double program have made a fi rm commitment to engage their communities. This last session with Dr. Owen Weston was on how to conquer your city. In these last eight months, many of the participating churches are seeing revitalization and growth. Churches that are enrolled: Bent Mountain, Bluefield, Crossroads, Destiny Outreach, Freedom Center, Harbor of Hope, Liberty Hill, Life Changers, Shenandoah, Tower of Refuge and Victory Restoration. Let us prepare for a new year of ministry by looking for ways to engage our communities with the love and power of Jesus Christ! GO Offering Needs Your Help: The 2014 Global Offering (GO) deadline is fast approaching, with all gifts due in the conference offi ce by November 21. Our current balance of $87,051 is far short of what is needed. We need each individual and church to contribute to help in global and U.S. evangelization. Learn more about this strategic offering at: iphc.org/missions/go/ Engage Your World in Thailand February 23-March 6, 2015 Now is the time to plan on a life-altering experience by becoming a team member on the Thailand Missions trip. The focus of the trip will be to present the gospel to children/ youth and construction. We will be working with our missionaries Jeff and Verna Willhoite. No matter your giftings, you are needed February 23-March 6. Details at appconf.org. Some members of the Covington work crew. VOICE OF THE APPALACHIAN CONFERENCE OF THE IPHC

5 Discipleship Ministries RON FREDERICKS Internet Strong: Keeping Your Family Safe in an Online World For the past several months, we have had several opportunities to teach Internet and cell phone safety to our churches and young people. It is no longer a trend or fad that our kids and church members are using social media as their main source of communication. As we look around in the congregations and youth classes, we see that most everyone has a cell phone. The age group that has access to these devices continues to be a younger demographic, with parents increasingly wanting the ability to contact their kids to check on them at a moment s notice. They feel more secure in allowing them to be out with friends and family with the cord of the cell phone. We want to inform you and challenge parents to be involved and engaged in standing as a watchman from those who daily prey upon the youth of our nation to include those in our churches. The Journal of Adolescent Health reports that in 82% of online sex crimes against minors, the offender used the victim s social networking site to gain information about the victim. Often, kids get into conversations with these people innocently enough; however, after a few casual questions from these unknown people, they begin building rapport and asking for more personal information. With the curiosity of young people and the security of being in their own home or school, they begin to involve themselves with compromising photos or conversations. Predators will request naked photos or inquire about a teen user s sexual experience. Looking for more, they may threaten the child with exposure of notifying their parents and friends. This is known as sextortion: a form of sexual exploitation that employs non-physical forms of coercion to extort sexual related favors from the victim. Fear of embarrassment and punishment often causes the child to hide the information from the parent. The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children supports trends stating that only 1 in 3 young people will report sexual crimes to a trusted adult or look for help. To help avoid sextortion, we as parents need to begin to examine the social media sites and communications our children are using. This means to physically look through and find the hidden features each social site and app may have that could make our youth vulnerable. The parent s full understanding of the apps that their children are using is the only way to understand how the child is, and potentially could be, communicating with others. The situation can best be analogized this way: We wouldn t tell our children to go and play on the interstate highway with tractor-trailers and vehicles running at speeds of 80 miles per hour, because we know that this is not responsible or safe. So why are we willing to allow them to play with no supervision in the world of the Internet that is knowingly filled with child predators? Why would we allow our youth to convince us that there is no need for concern of this threat or to be engaged? These predators are people who want to take advantage of our youth and who have no love or care for them whatsoever. Being aware of this existential threat and making the decision to become deliberately engaged in how our youth are communicating to the world around them is the first step. The next step that parents can take is to continue to educate themselves as new applications and features emerge. This could seem like a daunting task. Parents should start by researching the type of apps their child is using. App ratings are a good place to begin. App reviews such as Apple s Age Appropriate App Reviews can provide insight to the level of susceptibility to predators. (Reviews don t always present a full picture of potential vulnerabilities. A large portion of potentially dangerous features are in secluded parts and features of an application.) An example of this flaw in the rating scale is an application called Kik. Kik is an app hugely popular with teens, currently with 90 million active users. Here s what parents need to know about Kik: users are supposed to be age 13 or older. This is because it is not compliant with COPPA (Children s Online Privacy Protection Act) requirements of specific features for a website designed for children, meaning those 12 and under. Kik itself states, Children under the age of 13 are prohibited from having a Kik account by the Kik Terms of Service. The site has no age verification. Kik is rated 17+ by both the App Store and Common Sense Media. Kik definitely adds a kick to old-fashioned texting, but teens need guidance on safety and privacy if they re going to use such apps. Teens between 13 and 18 years old need to have permission from their parent or legal guardian before they create a Kik account and start using Kik Messenger. How do apps get their content ratings? It seemingly involves nothing more than the app developer filling out a form describing their application. Ratings are then generated based on that description and the app then receives reviews. Things are changing all the time, especially with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) scrutiny on mobile privacy space, so keeping tabs on what value these ratings hold can be very helpful to our role as guardians. What are the ratings? Here are descriptions of the ratings, straight out of itunes. 4+ Applications in this category contain no objectionable material. 9+ Applications in this category may contain mild or infrequent occurrences of cartoon, fantasy or realistic violence, and infrequent or mild mature, suggestive, or horror-themed content which may not be suitable for children under the age of Applications in this category may also contain infrequent mild language, frequent or intense cartoon, fantasy or realistic violence, and mild or infrequent mature or suggestive themes, and simulated gambling, which may not be suitable for children under the age of You must be at least 17 years old to purchase this application. Applications in this category may also contain frequent and intense offensive language; frequent and intense cartoon, fantasy or realistic violence; and frequent and intense mature, horror, and suggestive themes; plus sexual content, nudity, alcohol, tobacco, and drugs which may not be suitable for children under the age of 17. With more than 500,000 apps available in the App Store, it can be tricky for parents to decide which ones are okay for their children. Now that you know what the app ratings mean, you can help your kids navigate the App Store with a bit more confidence. What apps are your kids using? What type of communication is taking place within that application? Will you be setting parental restrictions? Technology is a wonderful and ever-changing tool that we have to impact the world. However, when it comes to our children, it is important that we understand its impact. A well-balanced approach to fulfilling the responsibilities of protecting your maturing child s development begins with education and engaged oversight into how the world is communicating with your child. We, as Christian believers, need to stand together to protect our children from what is now known to be part of our everyday life; that is, social media. These issues are affecting the world and our churches, so we need to fight to protect the good in our children and show them the proper way to conduct themselves on the Web. A few websites that may help you educate yourself on your child s Internet safety: Bewebsmart.com; Wiredsafety.org; kidshealth.org; High Tech Dad; Common Sense Media; The 8 Worst Apps for Your Kids. Submitted by: Special Agent Michael Bowman, Department of Virginia State Police, High Tech Crimes Division, Salem Field Office (Michael Brown is a licensed minister with the Appalachian Conference and attends Christian Life International where he is Outreach Director. For more information or to arrange a presentation on Internet Safety for your church, contact Michael at michael.bowman@vsp.virginia.gov. NOVEMBER 2014

6 Women s Ministries KATHY MATHENA Be Thankful! Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ the Message have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives words, actions, whatever be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. Colossians 3:15-17 MSG The Bible tells us to cultivate thankfulness. To cultivate means to prepare for a crop, loosen the soil. In order for us to be thankful, we must prepare our hearts to receive what God has for us. We must let go of our own ways and let God have His way, which is always better for us. Psalm 103 tells us to not forget the benefits of being in the family of God. In other words, be thankful. Remind yourself of what you have received from your Father and be thankful. 1. He forgives all your sins. 2. He heals all your diseases. 3. He redeems your life from destruction. 4. He crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. 5. He satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. 6. He executes righteousness and judgment for you against oppression. He sets you free. 7. He makes known His ways to you. 8. He gives you His grace and mercy in times of need. Don t just settle for knowing God s blessings. Remember them every day. Be thankful, and watch them come alive in you. Happy Thanksgiving from the Women s Ministries Board CONFERENCE W.M. PROJECTS FOR 2014 Four youth camp scholarships $800 to Discipleship Ministries Department for upgrades to cabin quarters VOICE OF THE APPALACHIAN CONFERENCE OF THE IPHC

7 World Intercession Network DONNA HANKLA PRAYERS THAT MAKE DEVILS FLEE! What would you do if you heard that a satanic mass was going to be held in your city? Yes, thousands of devil worshippers were planning to come and hold an evil meeting. The leader of the devil worshippers even threatened to cast evil spells. In particular, he said they were going to cast the Holy Spirit out of a person! Such a prayer request came across my on September 4, The National WIN leader, Lou Shirey, asked all prayer directors to pray that this satanic mass planned for September 21, 2014, would not succeed. This prayer request certainly caught my attention. This event was planned to take place in the Oklahoma City Civic Center, and declared that it was protected by the First Amendment. RALLY THE TROOPS! Immediately prayer was mobilized. Many churches joined together to pray. The key scripture for prayer was 1 Samuel 14:20: Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle. And behold, the Philistine s sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion. THE DAY OF THE BLACK MASS! When the day came, only 40 to 50 satan worshippers showed up! Thousands had said they would come. The protesters outside the Civic Center far outnumbered the devil s group. Churches came together and held a procession in the streets and PRAYED! The devil worshippers were very disappointed. GOD IS NOT DEAD! Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the Name of the Lord; and the One Who answers by fire, let Him be God. This scripture is found in 1 Kings 18:24. Elijah, the prophet, challenges the people to a prayer contest! The Lord God won the contest. He answered by fire, while the prophets of Baal cried in vain! God is up to the challenge. He can protect your city, too. Will you pray for your city? Will you pray for your nation? The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16 (International Standard) Don t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees. Corrie ten Boom NOVEMBER 2014

8 MESSENGER (USPS ) 5847 Oak Grove Avenue Dublin, Virginia Periodicals Postage Paid at Franklin Springs, GA Address Service Requested SPEEDWELL P.H. CHURCH ON THE MOVE Recently, the Speedwell P.H. Church baptized and added nine new members to the church. We are thankful to God for His blessings and we look for greater growth in the days ahead. Those who were baptized and joined the church are: (left to right) Billy Watkins, Amanda Watkins, Shannon Watkins, Angela Williams, Pastor Don Byrd and Viola Williams. Front: Abigail Williams, Colton Williams and Alexis Williams. Also baptized, but not pictured, was Robbie Williams. GREAT THINGS HAPPENING AT IRISH CREEK I was invited to be the guest speaker for the W.M. Mother s Day celebration, and what a celebration it was! The W.M. director, Wanda Allen, had everything planned superbly. First, there was a delicious meal with lots of fellowship. The presence of God was so real from the very beginning. The song service was anointed and there was a united worship with a large congregation of ladies from 17 different churches and denominations. It was a treat for me to worship with ladies that I had not seen for such a long time, some since we pastored in that area during the Hurricane Camille tragedy in There was such liberty to speak and God blessed in such a special way. Congratulations, ladies, for a wonderful event! Submitted by Renee Kingrea