Author: Danny Whetstone

In a recent missions conference a young lady said, “I believe the Lord is leading me into something, and I think it is missions. I am afraid!” I attempted to assure her that this fear was coming from somewhere other than the Lord. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7) A couple of days later she openly confessed that the Lord had indeed called her to missions work, and that she had surrendered to His calling.

It would be impossible for me to answer for everyone else, but I can speak for myself and I readily confess that there have been times when I made a step of faith with a bit of anxiety. Was this uneasiness created by the world, the devil, or my flesh? I cannot conclusively say, but probably from my own flesh. I can conclude that it did not originate with the Lord.

What does the Lord give us? Power to face whatever is in our path. Timothy undoubtedly had seen his share of persecution and perhaps had endured a measure of it himself. Paul is writing to him, and there is no question that he had known more than a normal share of persecution against him and his ministry. So now he encourages Timothy to lean on the Lord for power to overcome.

The Lord also gives us the spirit of love. The ability to put God and others before ourselves. This certainly is not natural for the flesh. Under most circumstances we will opt to satisfy our own fleshly desires before thinking of anyone else. However, the love of God shed abroad in our hearts has changed us. Through Him we are capable of loving the unlovely. Through Him we are enabled to love those who are against what we are doing in the service of the Lord.

Then Paul reminds Timothy that the Lord has also given him the spirit of a sound mind. His mind must be disciplined. He must focus on the power of God and not on his fear of the power of the persecutors. Any reasonable person is concerned about the hardships of life, but we cannot afford to be paralyzed by them. We must bring our thoughts into the captivity of Christ while pressing forward with what we know He wants us to accomplish.

Draw near to God where fears dissipate and power, love, and a sound mind originate. I pray that the Lord will give you a blessed and fruitful month in His service. We must continue to press forward until we are called up to meet our Lord in the air.

In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone

Summer is ended! In my part of the world the green leaves will turn to a variety of colors that will dazzle our eyes. As the days pass it will get cooler, and then colder. We know this because it has been our experience year after year.

The observations of older people have always interested me. I remember a farmer once telling me that if you dug a hole for a fence post in the wrong moon phase you could put the post in the hole and not have enough dirt to finish filling the hole. On the other hand if you dug the hole in the correct moon phase you would have sufficient dirt to pack down for a firm hold. Is it some kind of magic? No, it is simple observation over a long period of time.

It appears that we too often endure the long, cold winter without seeing fruit for our labor and grow so discouraged that we fail to reap the harvest when it is all around us. A vicious cycle follows until we complain about the lack of harvest while the seed is still in the barn.

The Lord permitted those that would follow Him to catch a great many fish after they had worked all night without taking anything. When they acknowledged their amazement at what He had done, He declared that He would make them fishers of men. Jesus came to seek those that would be saved. He has invited us to join Him in His great commission to see people saved by His grace. Is it possible that we could allow this most noble cause to be buried under the rubble of daily activities? Could it be that we would permit the misuse of this calling to seek converts to cause us to neglect this sacred duty? Might it be that we fear failure should we dedicate our lives to this task to seek the lost?

I would like to find some acceptable excuses for my lack of diligence in reaching out to a lost world, but there aren’t any. It is true that evangelism is only part of the Great Commission, but it is part. As a matter of fact, it is the first part. If it was important enough for our Lord to come to earth to seek the lost should it not be important enough for us to rise to the occasion in our generation to go into the highways and hedges looking for them? If we are just too busy to evangelize we are just too busy with something that should be left undone!

We know that the gospel is “the power of God unto salvation.” We must broadcast the seed believing that it will do its perfect work if given the opportunity. The Lord is counting on us, and the world is depending on us. If we fail let it not be caused by neglect.

God bless each of us as we strive to serve Him faithfully in the coming days. May each of us be more diligent in our witness for Christ than we have ever been before.

In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone

“This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.” 1 Timothy 3:1

There are no insignificant callings to serve the Lord. It was my privilege to serve the Lord as a pastor for more than ten years before following His leading into missions work. With that said, we understand that God has ordained that the work of the church would be led by men called to serve Him as pastors of the local church. It has been my experience that God-called pastors all have the work of the Lord at heart.

No matter what our position is in the service of our great God we all have opinions. Even pastors disagree on so many subjects. It should not surprise us that they might have various opinions concerning missions. It is pastors that direct their congregations to support our ministries around the world. We are given the opportunity to share our ministries in churches because pastors invite us to do so. We share our burdens both in our presentations and preaching. We espouse our positions on various things. Pastors will often consider the mission that we are serving with, our position on doctrinal matters, and our presentation of the work that God has led us to do.

It appears obvious to me that if we change our doctrinal position, or if the Lord leads us in a different direction than presented to the church, we should share that change with the pastor. We should not assume that the pastor or the church would want to continue to support the changes that we have settled on. Every calling of God is important, but when we are expecting the local church to support our ministries prayerfully and financially it makes us accountable to them. Furthermore, God has made us accountable to them.

The pastors that I am with week after week sincerely want to get the gospel to the world. They should not have to be concerned that they are supporting missionaries that are pulling the wool over their eyes because those missionaries feel that the church owes them something. It is the Lord that called us into the work, and it is the Lord that will sustain our ministries. If God is pleased with the changes that we decide to make, then God will raise up the support to carry that work out without us being crafty with the church and its pastors.

Pastors, evangelists, and missionaries are all accountable to the church in one way or another. It is an honor to work together with others to accomplish the great commission. Make it a practice to pray for your supporting pastors and churches. They are praying and pulling for you.

In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone

Words cannot express the blessing of the World Wide Family Fellowship Meeting last month. Pastor Chad Estep and the Valley Baptist Church of Edinburg, Virginia, rolled out the red carpet for the World Wide family. Brother O’Malley and the office team worked along with the church to make the week move smoothly from one blessing to another.

We are indeed laborers together in the Lord’s work. All of us depend on others to see our ministries go forward. For the mission itself we see the missionaries, office staff, board, sending churches, and supporting churches come together to make progress possible. When each of these are dedicated to serve the Lord there is no limit to what can be accomplished.

It was a special blessing to see Mrs. Arlie Wingard accompany Dr. Wingard to the meeting. It is difficult to talk to Mrs. Arlie without a smile, because her presence is so delightful. She doesn’t like leaving home much anymore, but I appreciate the effort she made to be with us.

It is easy to see that many of us have become gray heads, white heads, and bald heads over the years, but praise the Lord there is a generous supply of young missionaries coming behind us. It is a joy to see the young children and teens of missionary families around the church. We owe a great deal of gratitude to the Valley Baptist Church staff for making the week so enjoyable for the young folks.

Next year we plan to meet with Pastor Tim Daniel and the New Testament Baptist Church in Kinston, North Carolina. If you are planning to be in the States next summer please put that in your calendar for the third Monday through Thursday of June. We greatly desire your fellowship.

Thank you for your faithful service to our Lord. I pray that He will bless you continually with His divine presence and power. Whatever you are facing today, remember that the One Who has abides in you is greater that he that abides in the world. Your victory is secure in Christ.

In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone

Family Fellowship Week always begins on the third Monday in June. This year, we are meeting with Pastor Chad Estep and the Valley Baptist Church in Edinburg, Virginia. I always look forward to these days. Since 1976, I have missed only one of these meetings. There is no doubt that they have changed over the years. The length has been shortened by one day, and the days that we do meet have been made considerably easier to attend. Is it necessary to meet every year? No, but it is very helpful. My heart is always blessed by the messages and by the fellowship.

None of us see each other often. Though Brother O’Malley and I lived beside each other for many years, it was rare that we spent time with each other. I have worked full-time with Pastor Wingard since 1985, but we spend far too little time together. Family Fellowship Week gives us the opportunity to fellowship, and I can hardly wait!

Fellowship is so important. The early followers of Christ continued in some very important things like doctrine, breaking of bread, and prayer. Listed among those things was fellowship. Every family needs fellowship. Every church needs fellowship. Friends need fellowship. You might do without it long enough to begin thinking that it isn’t all that important, but it is very important.

We are strengthened by fellowship. If you go long periods of time without spending face-to-face time with other Christians, you might start to think you are all alone in the battle for this amazing faith. We are made stronger when we have the opportunity to bind our hearts together with others of like precious faith. Will you have the strength to stand alone? I hope so, but you don’t have to stand by yourself when there are so many others that would delight to stand with you.

We are encouraged by fellowship. We are living in a very complex and ever-changing world. Discouragement has a way of creeping into our lives a little at a time. When we realize that there are so many others fighting the same battles that we are fighting, we are encouraged by finding answers in fellowship together.

We are challenged by fellowship. I suppose that everyone feels like quitting a few times in life, or perhaps a few times every day! When we share in fellowship our victories and defeats, we can challenge each other to press on toward victory and success.

Don’t wait for fellowship to just happen. So often it gets pushed into the background because it does not clamor for our attention like so many other things in life. Schedule fellowship. Make it happen! You might have to go out of your way. You might have to rearrange your schedule. But when you do make room for fellowship with other believers, you will come away thinking you should do that more often.

If you can make it to Edinburg, Virginia, this month I will look forward to your fellowship. If you cannot make it this year, please make sure it is in your schedule when you are in the States.

In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone

Paul challenged Timothy to “preach the Word.” At that time, Paul was not under house arrest, but was actually in prison awaiting execution. He knew that there would eventually be a turning from the truth. Obviously, not everyone turned to Christ when Paul preached. It seems that Paul’s warning involved religious people that appeared to be drawn to the truth, but would eventually seek teachers of their personal persuasion. They would gravitate to preachers that would tell them what they wanted to hear. So Paul admonished Timothy to stay with truth, regardless of the changing winds that would blow around him.

As proclaimers of the truth, we must not be sidetracked by the desires of others, but rather maintain a straight line with the truth. Paul did qualify his charge: Timothy was to preach the truth with “longsuffering.” Examining his ministry in Corinth would reveal Paul’s ability to deal with a disobedient people while exhibiting longsuffering among them. He also wanted Timothy to preach “doctrine.” The early believers “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine.” If we are going to say that the Lord said a certain thing, we should know that He said it. I heard a preacher say, “I am going to preach Isaiah 6 in a way that you have never heard it before.” Well, there was a reason that we had never heard it preached that way before! He ignored the Bible completely to say what he wanted to say.

There are many good things to do, but for us, there is nothing more important that sharing divine truth. Many have fallen by the wayside, and unfortunately, many more will in the days to come. Let’s do all that we can to make a difference by consistently proclaiming the precious Word that has been faithfully handed down to us. We are called on to endure affliction, work as an evangelist, and make full proof of our ministries.

We know, as Paul did, that we are soon to be in the presence of our Lord. Can we be as confident as Paul when facing that reality? Yes, we can be, if we handle the truth as he did. We must establish and maintain the priorities in our life as Paul did so long ago. The world needs the truth today as much as any generation before us.

I pray that the Lord will bless your labor of love this month. Digest His wonderful truth and pass it on to those among whom God has called you to minister.

In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone

We are living in an ever-changing world today. Each missionary that is accepted with World Wide has been challenged with the responsibility to have the means to evacuate his family if it becomes necessary. This can be done by an escrow account, a credit card that is dedicated to this cause, or a sending church that is willing to accept the responsibility.

We recognize that God has not given us the spirit of fear. However, He has given us the spirit of love, power, and a sound mind. Please develop a plan ahead of time that would afford you alternate ways of evacuation by car, train, boat, and air. This is not only a consideration for those that are in traditionally dangerous areas; it is now important no matter where you are.

Should it ever become necessary for you to make a move, please get a message to the mission as quickly as possible. Your safety is very important to us, and though we cannot do everything, we certainly will do all that we can to guarantee your well-being.

It is very important that we take a balanced look at the changes that are being magnified every day. This is not the time to obsess over what could happen. When this happens, we are of no value to those the Lord has called us to serve. But neither should we simply pass it off as though we have no responsibility to keep our families safe. If they are living every day in an atmosphere of insecurity, your best work has not been done.

Please know that you are loved and prayed for by many around the world. If there is anything that we can do to help you make proper plans and preparations, we would be delighted to do so. We pray that the Lord will bless you with a lifetime of faithful service in that special place that He has called you to serve.

It is a pleasure to be associated with you and your ministry. Our Lord will bless your labor of love. We pray that His promise to never leave or forsake you will be a manifested reality to you with every passing day.

In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone

Will you think back to your interview with World Wide during your application process? I know for some of us that was a long…long…long time ago! At the end of the interview you would have been asked to simply make us aware if you changed your mind about the position that you held at that time. In order for any of us to have been accepted, we would have—of necessity—responded with an answer of “yes”.

in·teg·ri·ty: 
the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness. “He is known to be a man of integrity.”
synonyms:
honesty, probity, rectitude, honor, good character, principle(s), ethics, morals, righteousness, morality, virtue, decency, fairness, scrupulousness, sincerity, truthfulness, trustworthiness. “I never doubted his integrity.”

For so many today, the end justifies the means. You see it in politics and in business all the time. But this should not be part of the Christian’s dealings. Anyone has the right to change his mind about almost anything; however, if we establish relationships on our words to each other we should be honest enough to let the other know if we change our position.

Personally, I have no problem respecting someone that has an opinion contrary to mine. As a mission, World Wide has never set out to hurt anyone, even if we disagreed. On the other hand, it is very difficult for me to understand why we would establish a relationship on an even playing field and not maintain a steady line without communicating that for weeks, months or even years.

Once trust is broken it is a very difficult thing to renew. If you change your mind about any of the things covered in the application process, please let us know before it finds its way through some other means to us. We mean you no harm, but the integrity of our relationship must be maintained if we are going to work together.

We are proud to say that by-and-large the people we have worked with through the years have dealt above-board with us. It is rare that situations arise that require us to go separate ways. As we are traveling to various churches we look at the missions’ display, and we are very pleased to talk to the pastor about your ministries. Keep up the good work. We pray the Lord’s richest blessings to be yours.

In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone

There are so many things about the early church that are impressive, things that made them a successful force in world evangelism. They were fervent in prayer. The Holy Spirit obviously empowered them. The Word of God was used skillfully. Along with these was their ability to press forward in good times and bad.

On the day of Pentecost they experienced great success in seeing three thousand saved, baptized and added to the church. However, it did not cause them to accept this as the end of their mission, but rather as the beginning. The church was not content with the advance that they had made. Instead, they pressed forward.

The early success was followed by persecution. This persecution would be repeated again and again with the same result. They continued to press forward. They were threatened, beaten, jailed and rejected. But when they were given the opportunity, they pressed forward.

There was a disagreement in the church in Acts 6. The church quickly found a solution to the problem and made haste to press forward. As a result “the Word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly.”

Stephen was taken from them. Peter had great success in the house of Cornelius. Philip had wonderful success in Samaria and Gaza. Paul was banished from cities, imprisoned, and stoned. The end was always the same: they pressed forward.

Now, fast-forward two thousand years. We also enjoy successes and endure failures. The question is this: Will we continue to press forward? We can pray. We have the power of the Holy Spirit. We have even more of the written Word than they had. Do we have the conviction necessary to stay in the fight for the souls of men?

It seems that every force on earth is opposed to the forward movement of the gospel, but it had to appear that way to the early church as well. The world was upside-down for them, and without question it is for us as well. We have a command to take the Gospel to the world, and we cannot permit anything to slow our forward march. Take courage, for we have the authority of Christ to accomplish this great task.

In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone

A few days ago, Darleen and I had the pleasure of visiting with Pastor and Mrs. Wingard. It was a blessed time. Sometime during our visit Pastor Wingard gave me an article to read on church planting. It was encouraging to read an article by someone that actually has something good to say about these days. There seems to be a resurgence of church planting in America. This is wonderful news indeed.

I have observed in recent years that our Lord is calling some dedicated servants into His work. We are closely associated with young families who are on deputation to raise support for worldwide ministries they are burdened for; however, that is only part of the story. God is also raising up some amazing young pastors for America, pastors who are deeply concerned about reaching people for Christ both home and abroad. These are men who see beyond their borders.

There is no doubt that we have lost many churches that at one time stood at the front lines of battle and did a great work for our Lord. It only seems to make sense that we need to reproduce good ministries in other places. There will always be churches closing and compromising, and it might be that a few of them can recover. More than likely the answer is to start new churches more rapidly than we lose them. This is not only applicable in America, but also in the entire world.

How marvelous would it be if a real revival of reaching people with the Gospel broke out in our churches today? I am not advocating numbers for the sake of numbers, but might I remind you that the book of Acts has a great deal to say about reaching one, two, three thousand, five thousand and multitudes. But it is not enough to simply reach them. They will need to be baptized and taught. This will require establishing a New Testament church, because baptism is a local church responsibility. It is one of only two ordinances committed to the church.

We have little to no idea exactly what the future holds. However, we know from church history that our God has done great things in difficult times. These are not days to hesitate. These are not days for fainting. We desperately need a generation of Christian soldiers that will rise to the occasion. Let’s go after sinners with the Gospel of Christ and see the ministry as a long term service for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Maybe you are in a dark and dismal place today. Perhaps you think that no one knows your needs or even cares that you have them. Let me assure you that the One who put you where you are does indeed know, and He cares. Prepare your heart for God to do an amazing work in and through your life.

In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone