Month: January 2018

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Featured Article: Ecclesiology and World Evangelism

In Titus 2:1, Paul instructs, “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine.” Theology is the foundation of our faith. Throughout this year, we will be sharing some articles with you that have been penned by our board members. A few of them have taken much time to research and write about an area of systematic theology. We hope this will be an encouragement to your faith. This month, Bro. Tim Daniel has written an article on Ecclesiology–The Doctrine of the Church.

But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. 1 Timothy 3:15-16

The church is a group of believers called out of the world to go back into the world to sound forth the gospel message of the living God. Everyone in the local church must be functioning and behaving according to God’s truth for world evangelism to successfully take place. The pastor and deacons must be serving God according to His Word. The pastor also must be administering the ordinances of the church for the church to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Baptism is the announcement of a new believer and disciple in the church, and the Lord’s Supper is an opportunity to remind believers of the atoning work of Jesus Christ. These two ordinances bring new life and revived life to the church. The church must be faithful to tithe and give sacrificially for the work at home and abroad to succeed. As the Word of God is entrusted to others in the local church, it will grow and equip the pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and church members needed to carry on the work of world evangelism.

The Church witnesses the truth of the living God in the world.

The church of the living God is the God-ordained organization to witness the Gospel message around the world (Matthew 28:18-20). The church is the “pillar and ground” of the truth of the living God in the world. Jesus promised, “I will build my church” (Matt. 16:17) and He is still doing so! The stewardship of the Word of God by the church will directly influence the building and witness of the church! Whether it is around the corner or around the world, the church is the God-ordained organization to build evangelistic outreach. Other organizations are involved in missions, but the God-ordained institution is the local church. In Acts 13:2-3, the local church at Antioch under the leadership of the Holy Spirit commissioned and sent Barnabas and Paul out as missionaries. They were then accountable to that church for their missionary work. This same process of the church witnessing in the world must be distinctly maintained today! Unless the local church wisely operates according to the truth of the Word of God world evangelism will die!

The Church worships the truth of the living God in the world.

It is through the biblical worship of the living God in the church that world evangelism will be reinforced and expanded. The Word must be preached and practiced to regenerate new life and new service for God. The church is the “pillar” of truth, a place of heralding forth the Word of truth! It is not an entertainment center, social club, theater, or recreational facility. Its main business is the preaching, preservation, and practice of the truth. Worshiping God according to truth produces a continuous cycle of more evangelism, more sanctification, more edification and more equipping (Acts 15:33, 2 Timothy 2:2). Worship builds the church and its missions outreach! Proper worship in the church of the living God produces more and more world evangelism! In order to maintain and move forward in world evangelism, there must be a strong determination to plant more local churches! The more people who properly worship God in spirit and truth, the more warriors will be produced and prepared for spreading the Gospel around the world. Worship in the local church and world evangelism work hand in hand.

The Church wars for the truth of the living God in the world.

The church of the living God is a group of believers who earnestly contend for the truth of God (Jude 3). They will advance against the enemy and false doctrine to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ all around the world (2 Timothy 2:3-4). The world is a war zone for believers! The church of the living God is the “ground” or “foundation” of truth that propels missionaries into the regions beyond. Everything done in the name of the living God must be built on the foundation of truth, which is the Word of God. The church is the source of the called-out warriors to advance with the truth around the world. Therefore, the local church evangelizes, educates, edifies, and equips people to advance the cause of Christ throughout the earth! Without the power of the Holy Spirit in the local church, true world evangelism will be defeated by false religions and God’s enemies!

Without an institution that is functioning well and is identified as the ground and pillar of truth, biblical missions will cease to exist. Thank God, that institution God established for the work of world evangelism is the church. Missions cannot operate biblically or successfully apart from the pillar and ground of truth, which is the church of the living God. May God raise up more pastors who will preach with the power of Holy Spirit! May God enable us to preserve the truth in our generation and behave biblically as we practice this truth in the local church! Truth will triumph in the church, and truth will triumph in world evangelism. The church must continue to function as the pillar and ground of truth! World evangelism will progress proportionately as the truth of the living God is preached and preserved in the local church.

Pastor Tim Daniel
New Testament Baptist Church
Kinston, NC

If this has been a blessing to you or you would like to share your thoughts with Bro. Tim Daniel, you can contact him via email here.

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From the Memo Board: February 2018

Dates to Know

February 19 – You should receive the 2018 MFR Template with the new mileage rates.

March 1 – January Financial Reports will be due.

June 18-21 – Family Fellowship Week in Shelby, NC.

August 20-24 – Encouragement Conference in Germany.

Uplift

The Friday Uplift time changed to 11:15 AM. The adjustment allows everyone a better block of time for making deputation contact calls. If you have never attended Friday Uplift, please join us for this time of encouragement and prayer. Other Uplift meetings this month are Tuesday, February 13th at 9:00 AM EST and Tuesday, February 27th at 9:00 PM EST.

Women of World Wide

We’re announcing a fairly new ministry of WWNTBM for ladies only. For several months now, we’ve had a Facebook closed group for the women of our mission. Every day, you can laugh, pray, ask questions, and share with us. Some of our ladies are very active, but we haven’t seen many of you at all. Perhaps you didn’t even know we existed. Men, please tell your wives about WOW (Women of World Wide), and if you are a World Wide lady reading this, please come over and join us. It would be wonderful to have ladies praying for each other at any hour of the day or night. We are all over the globe, you know! Hope to see you soon! Your fellow WOW, Lou Ann Keiser (Spain)

Please contact the office to be added to the WOW group.

Benefits of Financial Reports

The Monthly Financial Report (MFR) is the tool that missionaries can use to become accountable to WWNTBM for their reimbursable expenses, rather than having all funds listed as salary. Over the course of 2017, 82% of those eligible chose to submit MFRs. By doing so, they were able to reduce their W-2 Wages by a combined average of 33.73%. If you are not currently utilizing MFRs and would like information about how to begin, please contact our Office. This tool will be even more important in 2018 as changes to the tax law may make it more difficult to claim certain items on your own taxes that could still be claimed through the WW office.

Financial Status Report

We have uploaded a Financial Status Report to your SecureCloud account. This is meant to show you the financial details that we have on file, such as your support estimate and the average amount of support you received this past quarter. This is information we provide to pastors who may call about your ministry. We ask that all missionaries update their support estimate once every four years, or as their lives and ministries change. Please review this information and contact us if you have any questions.

New Baby

Congratulations to Joshua and Joanna Town on the birth of their newest baby, Joshua Scot. He was born on January 31, and weighed 8 pounds 10 ounces and was 21 inches long. Joshua joins three sisters: Juliana, Jayla, and Jennifer. The Towns are starting an Arabic church plant in Philadelphia, PA. Pray for their ministry as they are seeking a new location.

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From Our President: February 2018

Danny Whetstone

In June of 1976, I was invited to become an Executive Board Member of World Wide New Testament Baptist Mission. What I knew about missions had very little to do with personal experience. There was no way for me to know what the years to follow would mean to me. The board was, and still is, made up of men that sincerely had a burden to help missionaries get to the mission field. It was the beginning of my understanding of missions, and I was learning from some of the very best. My mentor, Pastor Bill Wingard, began shaping my vision of New Testament missions. Perhaps he did not understand during those days the impact he would have on my life in this amazing journey. Pastor Wingard has not only shaped my understanding of missions, but he is the very heart of WWNTBM. These many years have afforded me so many wonderful years of memories. We certainly have not done everything right, but, once we’ve recognized our mistakes, we have done everything possible to correct them and learn from them.

This year will mark twenty-five years that Brother John O’Malley has served with World Wide. We have great hopes for the future of this work. I have the joy of being in meetings almost every week with some of our missionaries. I have never been more proud of these faithful servants of the Lord. Brother O’Malley is the General Director of WWNTBM. He is doing an awesome job of taking the ministry into the future. Many things have changed through the years. I can remember when it would oftentimes take two to four weeks just to get support to some of our missionaries. Now almost all missionaries can have their support in a day or two. In the past, pretty much everything was done by hand rather than with a computer. However, though many things have changed over the years, many things have not changed. We are still committed to maintaining the policies and practices that we started with in 1971.

I want to say thank you to each missionary, staff member, board member, and supporter for not only making World Wide what it is, but also for propelling it into the future with a determination to change when needed and stand fast on those things that make us who we are. May we all be challenged to be a strong link in the chain that has been forged through the years, and pray with us that the days ahead will be filled with faithful servants through this ministry.

In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone

If this article has been an encouragement to you, you can email Bro. Whetstone here to let him know.

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Prayer & Dates: February 2018

February Prayer/Praises and Special Dates

Click the link above to download a PDF of prayer requests and praises as well as the birthdays and anniversaries for February. Note: You will need to login to SecureCloud in order to view this document. Once you have logged in, click on Files, Shared, then Headquarter Happenings, then scroll to the month you would like to view. This step protects people with WWNTBM in restricted access fields.

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New Missionaries January 2018

Praise the Lord, He is continuing to bring new missionaries to join our family at World Wide! Here are two new families who have been interviewed in recent weeks. Pray for these as they begin deputation, as well as others still in the application process!

Jed and Gloria Duarte are sent out of the Maranatha Baptist Church in Shelby, NC, pastored by Jim Davidson. They have a daughter, Eliana, who is just a few weeks old. Bro. Duarte is originally from Brazil, where his father is a pastor. Gloria was born in Kenya, where her family served as missionaries. They are both graduates of Ambassador Baptist College and plan to go to the Moto Grosso area of Brazil.

Ethan and Brittany Prater are sent out of the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Abingdon, VA, with Pastor Bryan Treadway. He is a graduate of Grace Baptist Bible Institute of Dennis, MS. The Praters have three sons: Enoch (5), Silas (3), and Jude (1). They will soon be starting deputation to go to the Dominican Republic.