The Ohio Independent Baptist, August 2002

f.,1·,,111 011r Hea ts To Dave and Pat Warren State Representative The Power of a Praying Church ()nc (.)r the grand purpo~c~ or th, , \ '"(.)L'illt ll)tl (.)r chur ' he~ i ~ to Ii n p1..'t)plc -~ .._p,r1t~ \el~ the) ~er, c their Lord . The \ ,~t)ctn tion i" not an end in it cl[ l ut i~ a n1can~ to an end ·er, ino the ~ L l)rd '~ -.,er, ants . \\ ·c ,, ant si n1ply to ,trcnQthcn \ ou and\ ou r churches in the ...... . ., ... ,, l) rk tl, ,, hich Ile ha~ ca lled \OU. nd J pra~ er,, a kc) to such strengthening o r ..,p,rits! fhnt is \\ h} ,,c ha,c cho en to cn1pha~1.1c thi~ , ital topic . 1-\ nd thi i ,, h\ ,, c encou rage vou r attendance thi ()ctobcr. ~ · \\. t' plan to gather October I l-,.,, , 200 1 . at the "'\s ottinghan, Bapti t Church in \\' illoughb\ I-fill around the thc1nc - J ' ..The Po,, er or a Praying Church." . the ten11 c 011/'<!rence itnpl ie ,ve are goi ng to confer together around a centra l then1e - - Max and Phyllis Tucker Church Planting Coordinator An Untroubled Heart \\.(!,,ill , oon be ob er, ing the anni, er ary or epte1nber 11 . I a1n \\ r1ting thi on Jul y 4th, 200 I. thinking back on all that ha happened betv;een la t year · ce lebration or freedo n1 and thi Jul 1 4th. Today there are 1nany celebrating ··freedo1n'',, ith a bit n1ore fear. and manv \\ ith ad and troubled - heart ·. A · ,,.(: pick up ou r ne\v paper each dav. \\e realize that ince 9-1 l all - ha. not gone 111 th e right direction. A le\, da 1 ago, Bill y Graham v,'a preaching here in Cinci nnati on a aturda)- e\ening. He v. a ca lling upon the pl!ople of ( ' incinnat i to love one another and be united. A he \-\a peaking. approxirnatelv t\\O n1ile . ., fron1 the ~tadium, there \-\a · a dri, e-by hooting"" here ix people \-\ere \\Ounded and one died . Thi i ort of p1cture~que of thing that ha\ e happened ince 9-11. Alan Gre(!n pan called upon ou r nation to revitalize our econom\ and to hold firm. We then "' J ...... p~·a) er. \J hat ~1cttcr or 111orc necessary topt r around,, ht t: h to focu~ our attention'? ho or us doc · not need to pra 1 n1orc'.' l o pray better? Whi ch or l~Ur _c hur~h.c~ ~locs. not need n1orc prayer lor 1t n11n1 ~tr1cs. tls needs. it problcn1s. its leaders. its progrc '? What doc~ our nntion need n1orc than praye r? Pat and I knO\\ the Ii ft that co1ncs to u~ ,, hen peopl e ~ay, "We arc praying for you and 1 ou r rninis try aero Ohio." We also as urc you that becau c , c lo, c you ,vc pray for you a,· ,vcl I. c cry pa tora I ran,il_ and church on a ,vcckly ba i . \~c kno,, or no better \Vay to ex pre, love and to actua ll y touch your live · than to be praying for you and fo r your uccc in 1nini try. We cannot be phy ·ica ll y pre cnt every\ here at the an,c time, but ,vc can till i1npact li ve by n1ean of prayer. In other word , ,ve, like you. belie e in prayer. We are old on the the1ne of thi onference and on the po,ver of prayer. We under tand that Chri tian experience i con1po ed of t\VO dyna1ni c - hu1nan re pon ibility and di vine o e re ignty. When we pray we are bringing the e two ingredient together and are unl ea hing God' po\ver in learned that compan ie Iike Enron, and no\v we a ume thi i ju ta tip of the iceberg. ,vere '"cook ing the book .'' Thi , of cour e, place our economy in peril and undennine the integrity of cap itali m. We read in the paper headline like, ·lMiddl e Ea t Battl e " ' "War on Terror,, "'Midv e t Mai lbox Bombing ,' ' "Ca tholics in Cri i .' ' "Ca tro' Che tn ical ." Then to top it off we co1ne to thi day of celebratio~, and a Pre ident George W. Bu h begin to encourage our people to thank God for our nati on, along come a Califon1ia cou rt declaring that children cannot ay the pl edge of allegiance becau e it re fe r to God. In the 1nidst of al l ofthi , ju t ,vhat \Ve a ll need, another tran lation of the Bible. Thi tin1e a rea l gender-bender ca lled the T l V . Thi \Vould be a good tin1e for u, to look agai n at John, chapter 14 ,vhere \Ve are gi en rea on for an untroubled heart. There we are to ld , " Let not you r heart be troubled." In the Greek, thi i , " tara estho_'' which mean agitated. The e lution to agitati on i : I. Be lie e in God 2. Be lie e in Jesu . Thi word "be! ieve" a lso mean to tru t. The re t of Lhi chapter i filled \.Vith many rea on to rejoice. In my O\vn Iittle 'A'Orld, l too 1nu t not unprcccdc1~tcd \vays. ( iod deli ght ~ to honor our Ia 1th and to an~\vcr our prayer~. It i · a .. Ciod-thing" for I lin1 to get glor~ to I lin, ~c lfby an<',we ring our prayer~ 111 \vay~ that onl y I l e could . We all need to lea rn n1orc about thi ~. Ithough thi s i only Augu~t 2002 a5 you read these words, 'wC 'A- ill be prayi ng that you 1nark your ca lendars and 1nakc the dcci ' ion lo inc lude your ·elf in these l \.VO day~. October 2 1-22, 2002. Reg istrati on 1nateri als ,viii 0011 be arri vi,~g at your doors that \Vi 11 provide you v.·1th the necessary information. The ~'good_ole u1nmcr time" \v iii oon s lip into ht , tory and th e fa ll chedu lc \.\Ji ll be upon u . "The Po\vcr of a Praying hurch,, is a ' 'mu l hear" for al I of u . omc to le eland and confe r. But 'A-C' 11 do 1norc we'l l pray together! ee 'ya there! P Remember the Council of 12 election . When you r church ubmit a name or name , that count a more than a non1ination , but rather an actual vote for that indi idual. The names that arc ubmilted mo t often are the names that are e lected to the Counci l, upon their agreement to erve. be troubl ed, but there are ome thing that are certainl y di appointing. We need to pray tor God to rai e up church planter , becau ewe are hav ing an influx of inte re t fron, churche that \Vant to reproduce after their own kind . The need i great: the laborer so few. How To Reach Us... State Representative David & Pat Warren 360 College Hill Drive Cedarville OH 45314 937-766-5913 warrenoarbc@juno.com Church Planting Coordinator Max & Phyllis Tucker 9163 Steamboat Way West Chester, OH 45069 513-942-1295 pltucker5@juno.com