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Archive for the ‘Ministry Updates’ Category

August 6

The last few weeks have been very good for Debbie.  She has generally had only 2-3 headaches each week and has been able to have about 4 good days each week.  She was able to attend the SB Founder’s Conference in Birmingham, although she was only strong enough to attend a couple of the evening sessions.

Please continue to pray regarding the headaches.  Debbie currently takes chemotherapy every Monday and seems to respond well to the treatments.  She is also taking large doses of vitamins and her counts are improving even though she is taking chemo.  We ask for you to continue praying for healing, but, most of all, that the Lord may be glorified in all we do during this time.

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July 13 Update

Debbie has been home for about 3 weeks and has shown much improvement.  She continues to have occasional headaches, but these seem to be manageable.  She has been taking chemotherapy once a week and, according to the doctors, should do so indefinitely.  We are currently planning to attend the Southern Baptist Founder’s Conference in Birmingham, July 18-21.  Debbie feels she will be strong enough to travel and attend most of the sessions.  The theme this year is on providence and many of the messages center on suffering and providence.  Pray that Debbie will travel well and be encouraged by these messages.

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June 23, 2000 Update

I just returned from teaching in Belgium on May 12th. As usual, the time teaching and interacting with students was very good. In this class, I had students from the Netherlands, Belgium, Rumania, Moldova, Russia, and Germany (most were from Belgium and the Netherlands). I was able to teach about the various issues facing theology today, including many of the current problems facing a “watered-down” evangelical theology. Thanks for yours prayers for me as I traveled and taught.

The day after I returned, Debbie came down with the worst headache she has ever had. It was so severe that I had to take her to the emergency room on Saturday afternoon. She was vomiting for 12 straight hours until the doctors were able to control the pain. They did an MRI and an EEG which both showed a spot on her brain. Since that time, she has be in very good condition, but she was in the hospital until June 14th. Although she is home, she is continuing to have the headaches. The results of three spinal taps are also still inconclusive. Her bone scans show that the cancer has spread and grown and that a number of spots are present on her skull. Please be praying for her. Also pray for our strength as we wait to hear something conclusive from the doctors. Also, pray for God’s healing. God knows what the problem is and is more than able to heal whatever it is. Most of all, pray that we will be able to glorify the Lord, even in suffering, if God, in His sovereign wisdom chooses that path for our lives.

As to Teaching Resources, pray that I may have time to get back on schedule. Because of trips to the hospital, I am behind on the next issue. Pray that I can secure and edit the materials for the Spring issue (which should have been mailed out this month). Also pray for time to work with the Russian translator. One of the graduating students from the seminary in Ukraine thinks he has time to do it. But I have not had time to get him started since I returned.

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Spring 2002

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?? Teaching Ministry – During the past year, I have been blessed with the opportunity to teach in a

number of places. I have taught in Ukraine (3x), and Belgium (2x), as well as teaching 3 classes at

John Brown University. The New Year includes a number of teaching opportunities in these same

countries, as well as in Sofia, Bulgaria in May. In addition to teaching these college and seminary

classes, I continue to teach weekly at the Bible Church of Cabot. Preaching weekly certainly is a

great joy! In the past year, I have been able to preach through much of Genesis, nearly all of James,

and do a short series on the Church. Additionally, I have been teaching through systematic theology

with the men of the church on Saturday mornings. We recently completed the doctrine of the Holy

Spirit and we are currently working on the doctrine of man and sin. The Church continues to be a

blessing to my family also, caring for us regularly and holding us up in prayer.

?? Praises – There have been many reasons for praise this past year. This summer, we reprinted

“Tried by Fire,” by A. W. Pink in a booklet form. This small booklet has been very well received

and has ministered to many who are going through suffering. It presents the best biblical approach

to facing suffering that I have seen. We receive many requests for multiple copies of this resource

through our website and through the mail.

?? Responses to our new Email “Reforming Reflections” has also been very positive. We have

received much positive feedback from them, especially from the article on “A Theological

Response to Terrorism.” Through this new resource, we are able to provide easy-to-reprint articles

to pastors every month. (If you have not signed-up for this resource, please visit our website for

details).

?? Other materials that we have published continue to be a blessing to readers and pastors. Through

the Reforming Issues Publications, printed and distributed by Christian Communicators Worldwide

(Jim Elliff), I have received a number of very positive responses to both “The Dangers of the

Invitation System” and “Asahel Nettleton: A Forgotten Evangelist.” When I am at conferences,

pastors I have never met introduce themselves to me and tell me how these little publications have

changed their lives and ministries.

?? Finally, we have just completed the first of what we hope will be a major part of our ministry—a

Russian translation of an article from Teaching Resources! We hope that we can provide access to

theological resources in many languages so that these articles might have impact on as many lives

as possible for the glory of God. May God be praised for the impact that Teaching Resources is

able to have on the lives of pastors and missionaries around the world!

?? Perhaps the greatest praise that we have personally is Debbie’s survival and recovery from the

Stevens-Johnsons syndrome that had her in intensive care for 3 weeks last summer. During that

time, she had so many complications that the doctors told us that she would not live through the first

weekend. We praise the Lord that He had mercy and not only provided healing for her body but has

increased her strength since the event. Her condition related to the cancer remains the same and so

we continue to ask for your prayers.

?? Plans for the Coming Year – Although much has been accomplished in the last four years through

Teaching Resources, we really have much more to do. Please pray for us as we attempt to

accomplish the goals and plans that are listed below:

1. Translations – One major goal remains getting the articles from Teaching Resources translated into a

variety of languages. At many of the schools I teach, professors and students often tell me that they

wish they could find these resources in their native languages. While many of them are educated and

can read English, most of the people in their churches cannot. They would like to have these articles

available in their own language. We continue to make progress and have completed a number of

Teaching Resources International ? 3 East Lake Drive, North Little Rock, AR 72116 ? 501-753-2955? http://www.teachingresources.org

Russian translations this year. In discussions with these professors and other ministries that do

translation work, I have been encouraged to consider using the Teaching Resources website as a

distribution center for these translations. Since most pastors have internet access, articles on-line in a

native language could be downloaded and printed in that country by the local church or school. We

have added a translation section to the Web Page and are working toward getting more materials on

the Internet. Please pray for us regarding finances to pay translators. It costs us between $300-500

per issue for good translation work.

2. Bible Studies for Small Groups –- Another request from the Russian pastors was for materials to lead

home Bible groups. They preferred studies that would lead people to study the Bible inductively.

When I showed them some copies of the Bible Studies we do at our church, they said that was

exactly what they wanted. In the coming year, I will be trying to work with our translator to translate

these studies into Russian so that they can be put on our Web Page and printed out from anywhere in

the world.

3. Reforming Reflections – Beginning last January, we began to publish a monthly “reflection” that

featured some aspect of reformation in the church. These reflections included short puritan reprints,

excerpts from current authors, and various articles and issues of interest (similar to the “Insights”

currently on our Web Site). They were placed in a format that can be easily copied and shared with

leaders and friends and distributed by email and posted on our Web Site. This past year, we sent out

over 11 articles to over 100 different subscribers each month.

4. Reforming Reprints – This past year, we were able to reprint A. W. Pink’s Tried by Fire, an

excellent resource to give to suffering Christians. It is our hope that we can publish one additional

reprint each year in additional to the regular issues of Teaching Resources.

5. Teaching Resources Quarterly — In addition to these plans, we will continue to produce and

distribute Teaching Resources free of charge on a quarterly basis (as the Lord allows). This summer,

due to Debbie’s illness, we were not able to publish a summer issue of Teaching Resources.

6. Additional Teachers – I have had a few teachers and pastors ask about becoming part of Teaching

Resources. This is certainly something that we need to consider. Without seeking to find places to

teach, I usually receive about twice as many requests for teaching as I can fill personally. This

would especially involve a lot more coordination work and we would probably need to find someone

to help coordinate the teaching trips and opportunities.

All of what we do depends on available finances. We work hard not to undertake any ministry that we

do have the funds for. This past fall was especially difficult as ministry funds from September and

October dropped to 1/3 of normal and we did not have sufficient funds to reimburse expenses until

November. I have also had to tell the man translating our articles into Russian that he needs to wait until

we have more funds so that I can pay him for additional work. He is ready and willing to translate an

article each week, but our current funds would not support this. We are also hoping to add additional

languages (Spanish & French) as funds become available. Please pray with us regarding these

translations—it is so important to get these materials into the language of the people.

Finally, we are nearing the time when we will have an associate pastor in Cabot so that I can devote more

time to this ministry. When we do, then my salary will be shifted to cover the full-time associate’s salary.

This will mean that we will need an additional $1500/month in salary. Pray for others who will become

part of this ministry by providing support for the work that we are doing.

Thank you for your support of this ministry. We pray that it will continue to be used by the Lord in His

Kingdom work. We remain amazed at His grace to us in so many areas of our lives. May you rest in His

grace always!

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