Wanted: Laborers in Malawi

The official grand opening of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Lilongwe, Malawi, is scheduled for April 30, 2017.

We need people to come help us the week before and the week after April 30th for a soul-winning marathon. We had a large group from the U.S. and Canada with us on the Botswana trip, and we are praying we can get an even larger group together to go to Malawi. We plan to continuously send groups of soul winners down there, but this trip will be the big push for the official opening of the church. Many have already purchased their tickets for this exciting missions trip.

A while back, the Sodomites started a false rumor that I have been banned from Malawi for "condemning same sex marriage." This rumor was started by Gay SA Radio, and since then, several news agencies have published articles perpetuating this rumor. Well, I just got my Visa back in the mail, so I am obviously approved. The Malawi government has issued me a multiple-entry 12-month visa. Not only that, but a lot of soul-winning has already been done in Malawi on a recent survey trip by members of our church.

Read 'em and weep, Sodomites!

Same sex marriage is illegal in Malawi, so saying I have been banned for my views on that issue just doesn’t make sense. If even the government is against same-sex marriage, it would be ludicrous for them to expect a Christian pastor to condone it. Not to mention the fact that I never even talk about "same sex marriage." I talk about Leviticus 20:13 and Romans 1!

When I applied for the visa, I told them what I was going to be doing, what church I was with, and the other churches I would be in contact with while there. The media needs to stop printing lies and do some fact checking.

If you are able to get away for a couple of weeks, this is your chance to go on a unique missions trip to Africa that is actually about getting people saved. The soul winning is different in places like Botswana and Malawi because almost everybody you meet is willing to listen. Malawi is highly receptive to the Gospel, and there is something special about being at a church for the very first service. Don’t miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

You do need a visa to go to Malawi, but it’s easy to get one. Get in touch with us at the following e-mail address: faithfulword1@gmail.com if you are interested in going to Malawi, so we can coordinate with you and walk you through the process of getting the visa. If you can afford the plane ticket, a hundred dollars for the visa, and a little extra money to spend while you are there, you can join us for the big soul-winning push and historical opening day of the church.

“Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38

Here is the video where I talk about the specific media lies.

Day #5 - New Jersey

About two weeks before the Guyana trip, I was looking over my itinerary and noticed that I had a long layover of about 13 hours in New Jersey. I spent a few days after that trying to find a hotel conference room in the area where I could throw together a last-minute preaching event. Since I wasn’t sure what kind of turnout there would be on such short notice, I only booked for 100 people.

I arrived in New Jersey early that Saturday morning and met up with Pastor Mike Dinges of People’s Baptist Church in Clifton, New Jersey. I went to breakfast with him and several other church members, and we had a great time of food and fellowship. After breakfast, I had the privilege of going soul winning in the Bronx with Pastor Dinges. It was a Saturday morning, so it was their usual soul-winning time. The cold, snowy weather seemed especially frigid after having spent the last few days in Guyana and Trinidad where it was hot, so I was thankful that the soul winning took place indoors, inside a high rise apartment complex. Pastor Dinges and I had three people saved, so it was a fruitful morning.

About 150 people showed up at the hotel for the preaching service, and the hotel staff was gracious about allowing the extra people. I preached a sermon entitled "God, the Investor." I talked about how God gives us resources and abilities based on how much we do with what he has already given us.

Every household in attendance received three flash drives loaded with sermons from our Wednesday night Bible studies at Faithful Word Baptist Church. The chapter study flash drives I handed out included one on the book of Mark, one on the book of Zechariah, and one on Galatians and Colossians. In addition to the flash drives, everyone also received a Christmas CD.

About 15-20 people said they wanted to be baptized, but the hotel swimming pool was closed for the winter. I thought maybe we could book a suite with a jacuzzi or something to baptize in, but all the rooms in the hotel had already been booked. I encouraged people to show up the next morning at People’s Baptist Church to get baptized there, so hopefully a lot of them followed through on that.

Thanks to all who attended the event! It was good to see a lot of familiar faces as well as many new ones.

Here is the sermon on “God, the Investor.”

Day #4 - Trinidad

On my way back from Guyana, I spent the day in Trinidad on a layover. I had been planning to go soul winning while I was there, even if I had to go alone, but I was hoping to find someone to go with me. While in Guyana, I asked someone if they knew of a soul-winning pastor in Trinidad. He did know someone, and we were put in touch. When I spoke with the pastor on the phone, he agreed to meet with me: “I’ll be there, Brotha!”

I didn’t know what to expect, but he was a super friendly guy who went soul winning with me for about 3 hours. We went soul-winning in a neighborhood that was literally about 99% Hindu, so it wasn't very receptive, but, praise God, 2 people did get saved. Even the Hindus who weren't receptive would still usually listen to the plan of salvation, so I was able to give the Gospel to about 9 Hindus who did not get saved.  The pastor was very hospitable and took me out to eat both before and after the soul winning. A few other people from his church joined us at dinner.

The pastor had mentioned the Jews a few times during the day, but I wasn’t sure where he was going with it and had kind of blown it off. Then, over dinner, he brought up the Jews again. I was hoping to avoid the subject since we were having a great time, and I assumed his viewpoints would be the usual pro-Israel rhetoric. I was forced to address the issue when one of the other guys at the table turned to me and said, “But the Jews are God’s chosen people, right?” I told him no, and I talked about how they reject Jesus Christ.

At that point the pastor piped up with, “Brotha, the Jews don’t reject Jesus Christ.” I was surprised and confused at his response until he added, “They HATE Jesus Christ!” He was saying that they don’t just reject him, they hate him!

As it turned out, we had very similar views on the subject. He said, “If I told this to any other independent Baptist pastor, they’d say I’m a heretic.” I told him about the documentary, Marching to Zion, and we headed over to his son’s house where we were able to plug in my lap top and show it on a large TV. Everyone loved the film, and it was a great time of fellowship.

I don’t think it was a coincidence that I was directed toward this pastor who was a kindred spirit. In a country of over a million people, God blessed me with the opportunity to meet someone like-minded. I appreciated his hospitality, and I hope to keep in touch.

Proverbs 27:17 - Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Here is a sermon clip where I talk more about my day in Trinidad.

3 Common Sense Tips for Missionaries

The missions program in most churches across America is fundamentally flawed. I’m talking about in independent fundamental Baptist churches that preach the truth and have soul winning. Most of the IFB pastors I talk to agree that the current system is broken, but they can’t always put their finger on a solution.

1. A Missionary Needs to Know the Language

“Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.” 1 Corinthians 14:19

Missionaries need to speak the language of the place where they are planning to be a missionary. These guys that don’t speak any foreign language will say that God is calling them to a country where people don’t speak English. They’ll spend years on deputation raising support, and when they get to the mission field, they’ll sit around in language school on the Lord’s dime. Churches are paying people for years before they ever do any real work. Supporting a full time missionary who isn’t preaching the gospel is neither practical nor biblical.

“Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.” 1 Corinthians 9:14

If you don’t already speak another language, then why not go to an English-speaking country? How about an island in the Caribbean or one of the many African countries where they speak English?

2. He Needs to go Somewhere that is Receptive

“And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.” Matthew 10:14

A missionary in Germany quickly realized after he got there that the German people aren’t very receptive, so he started targeting refugees and foreigners who spoke English. This guy’s ministry was extremely successful as evidenced by the fact that he was baptizing several hundred converts per year! Other missionaries criticized him by saying things like, “Well, I’m here to reach Germans.” A soul is a soul, folks! I guarantee you that, when that church started thriving, a few actual Germans took notice. Focus on the most receptive communities wherever you are, and you’ll always reach others in the process.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

3. He Needs to Bring Forth Fruit

“And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.” Luke 13:8-9

Somebody needs to dung these lazy missionaries. Being a missionary should be no different than any other job where you get told off or fired when you aren’t being productive enough. The next time a supporting church receives a lame missionary letter, the pastor ought to call up that missionary and give him some dung!

The reason there’s no accountability with missionaries today is because each church sends very little money to each missionary. If I’m supporting a missionary for 50 dollars a month, I’m not going to care as much about what he’s doing as I would if I were sending 2000. Instead of supporting so many missionaries, why doesn’t one church commit to fully supporting one missionary? Either that, or perhaps a few churches could each send the guy a thousand bucks a month. That way, the supporting churches will be more concerned about seeing actual results.

Churches need to make sure they are supporting legitimate soul winners and not “moochinaries.” We don’t have a high-pressure missions program, but when you put extra money in the offering plate, I want you to get the maximum bang for your buck. I don’t want to invest in 30 losers for a few dollars each. Instead, I would rather invest in just a few winners, SOUL WINNERS.

Here is the sermon, Common Sense Missions.

Day #3 Guyana

 
“And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” Daniel 11 :32

On the morning of Day 3, we preached the Gospel in a public school in Guyana called Friendship Secondary school. There were over 500 students there--maybe closer to 600 based on the amount of materials we handed out after the assembly. They basically shut down the whole school and packed all the students into an area so tight it was standing room only.

First, Shane, Rob, and I walked through the crowd and kind of looked for students that seemed receptive and talked to them one-on-one. We had 14 saved that way. Then I got up to preach. The teachers wanted me to preach on learning and taking education seriously, so I started out talking about gaining knowledge and understanding and just brought it to the Gospel.

I tried to be interactive during the presentation, and after I went through the whole plan of salvation, I asked for a show of hands of people who understood and believed it. I then led those students in a mass prayer, and hundreds prayed to receive Christ as Saviour. We didn’t count these in our official salvation totals since there wasn’t time to deal with them all one-on-one, but hopefully many of them got saved.

We brought around 475 Bibles, 150 audio CDs, 50 DVDs, and 400 flash drives. As students walked out the door we handed out these materials. Most students got a Bible and a flash drive with 30 sermons on it, but we just made sure that everyone got something.

The teachers were helping us hand it all out, and one teacher was strongly admonishing students to read the Bible and listen to the flash drives. Can you imagine this kind of cooperation from a public school in the United States?

Each teacher got a nice leather Bible, and when I was giving those out, four different teachers specified that they wanted a King James Version. (Of course, that’s all we ever use, but they didn’t know that.) It was great that, unlike a lot of people here in the United States, most Guyanese people seem to know which Bible is the right one.

After we left the school, we went over to a pastor’s house and enjoyed sampling more of the local food. Then we drove to Brother Boodram’s house (a deacon at Foundation Baptist Church) and had yet another lunch with him. We had some great conversation with him about what we all wanted to accomplish for the Lord, the spiritual condition of our countries, etc.

We got along very well with everyone from both Foundation Baptist and New Testament Baptist, and I was really impressed by their zeal. These guys are fired up for the Lord and have a great vision for the future. They love hard preaching down there, and they don’t want to compromise.

We left and drove into downtown Georgetown and did some sightseeing along the Atlantic Ocean. After that, we headed to a different church where I preached an evening service. The building was an open-air tabernacle, which was great because I felt like people walking by could hear me preach. I preached on alcohol since I noticed that drinking is a big problem in Guyana.

After church, we took a taxi cab to the dirt road where Brother Wayne picked us up and took us back to our remote jungle habitation. Brother Shane and Brother Rob would be staying a little longer, but this was my last day in Guyana. The next morning I was heading to Trinidad and was looking forward to meeting with a pastor there.

Here is the video of preaching at the school

Day #2 Guyana

Preaching at Foundation Baptist Church in Diamond, Guyana.

On the second day in Guyana, we went to an Amerindian reservation, which had a population of around 1300. The church there had planned a special church service that morning since we were in town. I preached on working hard and how God judges and rewards us based on our works, which the pastor had recommended as a good topic for the church there. We also got to spend some time with him afterward having lunch and helping him with some computer stuff pertaining to his online donations.

We drove around the town and checked out the river and more black water. The lunch was the local Guyanese “cook-up” and some fish. While we were picking up the food, Brother Rob did some soul winning and won a couple of people in the restaurant to the Lord. We also stopped by a school and talked to the head mistress. We were able to set up an appointment to come back the following morning to preach to about 600 students!

Later that day, we met up with another pastor, Zakir Ibrahim, who pastors Foundation Baptist Church in Diamond. We had dinner with him and a couple of his key church members, a deacon and the song leader. It was interesting that Pastor Ibrahim was born and raised Muslim and the deacon had been raised Hindu. Both had eventually gotten saved and so had their families. The song leader had come from more of a mixed religious background of all different kinds of churches.

When the song leader said he had seen my videos on YouTube, I assumed he meant he had watched some of my preaching but was surprised to hear that he hadn’t. He was watching my channel solely for the music! I told him that was the first time anyone has told me that they know me for the music.

That night at church, Brother Shane and Brother Rob each got up and gave a testimony. Then I was asked to lead a song. I asked the pianist what her favorite Christmas carol was, and she said it was “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem,” so we sang that song. I preached on being built on the rock of God’s Word, and we gave each person a couple of DVDs and a flash drive.

Several of the teenagers had already heard me preach on YouTube, so I was impressed that the young people were interested in spiritual things. The church had a great spirit, and we enjoyed our visit there. It had been another exciting day, and we were looking forward to preaching in the school the next morning and handing out our materials to the students.

Here is the sermon Founded Upon a Rock

Day #1 Guyana

I recently returned from an exciting soul winning trip which included places in South America and the Eastern United States. The first stop was Guyana, which is the only country in South America where English is the main language. I was invited to preach in 3 different independent Baptist churches there, and it sounded like a great place to do some soul winning since virtually everyone speaks English, and the demographic is similar to that in Botswana.

I was picked up at the airport by two friends of mine, Rob and Shane, who are both from Toronto, Canada, and have been to several of our soul-winning marathons. The first thing we did after we left the airport was head to Shane’s cousin’s house, which was where we would be staying.

Shane’s cousin, Wayne, is a cool guy who lives totally off the grid out in the middle of the jungle. He has a generator and solar panels and collects rain water. He also raises waterfowl and chickens and is surrounded by the various crops he is growing.

When we got there, I took a shower and got settled in. Since the rain water is limited and used mainly for drinking and cooking, Wayne showers in water from the creek called “black water.” In the shower was a bucket of dark brown water, which I dumped over myself with a little cottage cheese tub. Although the water is brown, it doesn’t make you dirty. Believe it or not, the dark-coloration is due to some kind of herb in the water, so it was like showering in herbal tea.

Once everyone had gotten cleaned up, we headed to Georgetown, the nation's capital, to do some soul winning. Our team consisted of Rob, Shane, and me, and we did about three and a half hours of soul-winning. Next we got together with a local pastor for lunch. We had a great time of food and fellowship with him and continued soul winning with him until it got dark, so in about six hours total, we had 20 people saved.

In the evening, when we were waiting to get picked up by Wayne, who was both our host and driver, the power went out in the pastor’s neighborhood. We had to use our cell phones to illuminate the room during the hour we hung out there. We then went to a restaurant for some fried chicken, and we headed back to Wayne’s. I went to bed looking forward to preaching on an Amerindian reservation the next day.

Guyana is a beautiful country, and people are very receptive to the Gospel. Day One was very productive, and we were having a great time.

Here is a sermon on "Common Sense Missions."

Soul-winning is like Baseball - Part 2

Like I mentioned in my previous post, soul winning is a lot like baseball. I likened getting saved to first base, baptism to second, regular church attendance to third, and home plate to becoming a soul winner. At times, we find someone who has spent some time on first, second, or even third base, and we have the opportunity to help bring them home.

When a lady named Amanda found an invitation on her door almost eleven years ago and showed up on the second Sunday of our church’s existence, she had already been saved and baptized. Someone else had gotten her to first and second base, but she did not know much about the Bible. She kept coming to church even though we were holding services in our house and very few people were showing up. In fact, at times it was just our family and Amanda there for an evening service, so we were extremely thankful for her faithfulness in those early days. Amanda grew spiritually and became a great soul winner. She has always been a faithful member of our church and a blessing to our family. I am so thankful that Amanda got saved and that God later led her to this church.

Eight months later, a guy named Dave showed up. He had been saved 9 years earlier, but he hadn't been baptized, so he was standing around on first base. I baptized him, and right away, he started asking questions and spending a lot of time in the Word of God. “Brother Dave” also stuck with us through the house years, did a ton of soul winning, and several years later, I am happy to say that my good friend, Pastor David Berzins, is now the pastor of Word of Truth Baptist Church in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

I read the testimony of a man who was led to the Lord at the age of nine years old by a Baptist pastor. The boy's parents didn't go to church, but when this young man was 21 years old and at a low point in his life, he came across a Bible that his grandma had given him twelve years earlier (the same year he had gotten saved.) He started reading that Bible, and soon he was attending church. He grew spiritually, became a soul-winner himself, and has now been pastoring an independent, fundamental Baptist church for many years. That little boy was Pastor David Grice of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, Texas. The old preacher who got Brother Grice saved back in 1980 most likely died without knowing what that little boy would later accomplish for the Lord.

Remember that when someone gets saved, they have the Holy Spirit to guide them, and often God will send people or circumstances into their life to get them to take that next step. We can fulfill all three steps of the Great Commission--just not always on the same person. Sometimes we get someone saved and they stay on first or second base for several years before they start to grow. Keep getting people to first, second, third, and home base, and those spiritual RBI’s will add up over time. That person you won to the Lord but lost touch with might just be the next “Second Sunday Amanda,” Pastor Berzins, or Pastor Grice. You may not hear about it this side of eternity, but you will have a part in the souls they win and the people they influence.

Here is the sermon about soul-winning being like Baseball

Soul-winning is like Baseball - Part 1

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.”- Proverbs 11:30

An apple tree brings forth lots of apples, but most of the apples will not end up producing other trees. When one of the apples falls to the ground and a seed ends up sprouting into another apple tree, the cycle is complete. The ultimate goal in soul winning is for you to win someone to the Lord who will bring forth his or her own fruit by becoming a soul winner, but not all of your fruit will complete the cycle. Think of soul-winning as a game of baseball and getting someone saved as getting to first base.

First base: The person gets saved
Second base: They get baptized
Third base: They start going to church regularly
Home plate: They become a soul winner

Sometimes when giving the Gospel to people you will strike out, but if you keep playing the game, eventually someone will get saved. In a baseball game if someone makes it to first base that’s a good thing. Some people will mistakenly think that we shouldn’t even try to get someone saved unless we know for sure that they will start coming to church and be fed spiritually, but that’s a terrible attitude to have.

Getting to first base could still result in an eventual run. Sometimes you stand around on first for a couple of plays before you move on to second base, and it might take the efforts of another player to get you to that next base and beyond. Don’t be a spiritual poor sport that refuses to play the game just because you can’t hit a home run every time.

Obviously, it’s better to make it to second or third base than just to first, but sometimes all you can do is get to first. Ideally, people should get baptized and start attending church right after salvation, but they don’t always show up for that since it takes some effort on their part.

When you are up to bat and the bases are loaded, that’s even better. As soul winners we come across people who are already saved or have already been saved and baptized. Someone else got them to first or second base, but it takes another batter to get them to third, which is regular church attendance. You might get an RBI by inviting someone who is already attending church to be your silent partner out soul winning. Next thing you know, they’ll be ready to do the talking, and they’ll start bringing forth fruit.

The game ends when a person dies or the Lord returns. Some people will die at first base, but at least they are saved and will go to heaven. It’s always exciting when you hit a home run, but just realize that at times the progress around the bases is more gradual. Each time a base runner advances is something to rejoice about. Got it? Good, because you’re up to bat…

Here is a sermon to go with this article

The 3 Steps of the Great Commission

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

People will try to find fault with our soul-winning, especially the small-town soul-winning marathons, by saying that we are failing to follow up with those people. They’ll say the people we led to the Lord are now sheep without a shepherd and that we are not fulfilling all the steps of the Great Commission, but I submit to you that we are completing all three steps.

Step 1: We preach the gospel to as many people as we can.
Step 2: We baptize converts on a regular basis.
Step 3: We teach the entire Bible in our church services.

Scoffers will accuse us of being like a mother who abandons her baby in a dumpster, but when we win people to the Lord, we leave them with a Bible, an invitation to visit our church, and often a sermon CD or flash drive. The ball is in their court at that point, and the truth is, Jesus and his disciples would often get people saved and then leave town. Read the New Testament, and you will find several examples of a passing-through style evangelism.

"But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea." - Acts 8:40 

In Acts Chapter 8 when Philip preached to the Ethiopian Eunuch, he accomplished step one of the Great Commission. Once the guy believed, he completed step two by baptizing him. If it is wrong to win someone to the Lord without teaching them to observe all things, then why did God remove Philip before he could complete that final step?

These naysayers who are sitting at home critiquing our soul winning are lazy and don’t have a leg to stand on. It is neither practical nor biblical to coddle every person we win to the Lord with an in-home discipleship program. Why preach to one person when I can preach to the 300 who had enough character to show up to church? Step one is easiest since we go to them, but step two and three involve a little more time and effort on their part, which is why not everyone will come full circle.

If we get 2000 saved, baptize 200, and teach 50 people to observe all things, then we are following the Great Commission. (These are just made up numbers to illustrate the fact that only a small percentage of people show up and get baptized, and even fewer show up week after week for the follow-up training.)

The average independent Baptist church is teaching the Bible to a group of people who are already saved, but they aren’t knocking doors, and the baptistry is filled with cobwebs and Christmas decorations. These churches may be doing step 3, but they are failing at steps 1 and 2.

Other churches are doing a great job of getting people saved and baptized, yet the preaching is shallow and geared more toward unsaved visitors. This type of church is failing at step 3 because no one is being taught to observe all things.

Unfortunately not many churches are preaching the gospel to many villages like Jesus and the disciples did. Churches that don’t support missions or small-town soul-winning have room for improvement when it comes to step 1. These churches need to get a vision for getting the gospel to everybody—not just those who live near their church. Let’s try to start churches in every town, but meanwhile, people in remote areas are dying and going to Hell.

Yes, there are those textbook cases where someone gets saved, gets baptized immediately, and remains in church for decades, but it doesn’t always happen exactly that way. Steps 2 and 3 can take place years later and involve the efforts of more than one church. Even if the souls we win on some remote Indian reservation never show up to any church, we are thankful that they will be in Heaven one day.

Here is the sermon on the Great Commission.

We are already in Malawi

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8

Members of our church spent almost two weeks in Malawi last month, and things went really well. They’ve already put together a highly-motivated soul-winning team of six people, and in the short time that they were there, they saw a total of 162 souls saved!

Two local pastors, who are breaking away from local denominations are excited about helping with Faithful Word Baptist Church Malawi.

There’s always the possibility of being banned, but Lord willing, we will start the church there in April 2017.

Not only were the people of Malawi extremely receptive to the Gospel, but they really want to go to church and are looking forward to the launch of FWBC Malawi in April. One young man who had just gotten saved was asked what he would tell homosexuals that don’t want the church to be started there, and he replied that he would tell them to “go to Hell.”

Enough people in Malawi are fluent in English for us to conduct church services in English, but it is a blessing to already have some locals on our team who can also speak the native language of Chichewa. We plan to kick things off with another soul-winning marathon in April, which is a great opportunity for soul winners who are interested in going on another missions trip.

As always, the haters of God are trying to make this about our stand against homosexuality, but that’s not the focus of our church or this mission. When we have these mission trips, we are there to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and to train locals to do the same.

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:2

Here is a sermon on Common Sense Missions

Being a Self-Motivated Worker

“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.” Proverbs 6:6-8

A common theme in the Bible is the importance of being a self-motivated worker. You will be more successful at your job if you do not require constant supervision. Not only does the ant work hard, but it gets things done on time instead of procrastinating or making excuses. A lot of people today, especially millennials, need to learn to be better workers.

“Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;” Romans 12:11

Don’t tell me how spiritual you are if you are slothful in business because working hard is part of serving the Lord. The word slothful comes from a slow, sedentary animal called a sloth. If you are lazy at your job, then you’re unspiritual. Being a hard worker is part of your Christian testimony, and a good employee stays busy even when the boss isn’t watching. Being someone your boss can rely on will not only help you succeed in your career, but it will also please the Lord.

“Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:” Ephesians 6:5-7

Being in business for yourself takes even more self-discipline, but the profits are greater since someone isn’t being paid to supervise you. People who are successful at running their own businesses get up early and do what needs to be done even though they don’t have to report to a boss.

“Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.” Proverbs 27:23

Working hard is as important for women as it is for men. Ladies, your husband ought to be able to trust you to manage your time wisely when he’s not there. Just as an employer expects his employee to find things to do, your husband shouldn’t have to constantly give you to-do lists to keep your household running smoothly. Proverbs chapter 31 is all about being productive as a homemaker.

“She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.” Proverbs 31:27

When I talk about working hard, I’m not talking about becoming rich. I’m talking about doing what it takes to effectively raise a family and serve the Lord. We need to be able to pay our bills, support our families, and make a few extra bucks to give to those in need. Don’t think of your daily work as just passing time, so that you can do something more spiritual afterward. Being a hard worker IS spiritual.

Here is the sermon on Animals in the Bible: Workers

Setting Bible Reading Goals

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11

With a new year quickly approaching, it may be time to reevaluate your Bible reading plan. Hopefully you are already opening your Bible every day, but are you keeping track of what you read? People who don’t log their Bible reading don’t end up reading as much as those who systematically check off books of the Bible as they read them.

Most Christians have never even read through the Bible one time, so if you’ve done that, you are ahead of the curve. That said, don’t become complacent after having accomplished that feat. The Bible is an infinite book, so you will glean more truths each time you read it. Not only that, but you will quickly forget a lot of what you’ve read, which is why reading through the Bible every year is so important. Don’t be slothful in your Bible reading or your knowledge will start to decay.

“By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.” Ecclesiastes 10:18

If you’re a layman in the church, and you’re reading through the Bible one time annually, that’s great, but 15 or 20 minutes a day is not going to make you an expert or prepare you to pastor a church. These guys that open their mouth and scripture just flows out have worked hard to get to that point. If you want to avoid doctrinal error and be ready to answer the hard questions, you will need to spend more time in the Word.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

If you are preparing to be ordained at Faithful Word Baptist Church, you had better take your training seriously. We need to start more churches, but I’m looking for preachers who have already read the Bible ten times cover to cover. Think of a pastor as a spiritual lawyer who interprets the law of God and a doctor who helps people get the sin sickness out of their lives. How many hours do you think people read every day when they are studying to become doctors and lawyers? Pastoring a church is a much greater responsibility because of the eternal impact preachers have on people’s lives.

“See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” Jeremiah 1:10

In any area of life, you reap what you sow, and Bible reading is no different. The more time you spend reading, the more knowledge you will obtain. They say it takes at least 21 days to form a habit, so now is the perfect time to establish a Bible reading routine that will prepare you to achieve your spiritual goals for 2017.

Here is the sermon on Reaping Where You’ve Sown.