BATON ROUGE, COVINGTON, MINDEN, PERU MISSION, AND MONDAY MORNING FOR MEN IN RUSTON

September 19, 2012

 

Greetings, friends!   We give thanks to our Lord for you and for your prayers. 

 

BATON ROUGE, LA – First Baptist Church:  I am very grateful to Pastor Oren Conner for the privilege of preaching at First Baptist on Sunday, September 9^th.  This was very special for me for two reasons.  First, this congregation has very warmly hosted our weekly Gathering of Men luncheon since 1999. Also, this was the first church that I visited when I came to LSU as a freshman in the summer of 1968.  I was something of a wandering, seventeen-year-old soul as I sat near the back of that beautiful sanctuary with its massive white pillars.  Little did I know that one day my Lord would actually allow me to serve Him in that very pulpit from which Dr. Norris Palmer preached to me on that morning. 

 

COVINGTON, LA – Grace Family Church:  On Saturday, September 8^th, through the kind invitation of Lavon Welch, Ed Miltenberger, and Eric Cooper, I led a seminar on how to preach from the epistles at GFC.

 

MINDEN, LA – First Baptist Church:  A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting with Ty Pendergrass, Pastor Leland Crawford, and Ass’t. Pastor Jim Wallace to discuss strategy for the establishment of a men’s ministry at First Baptist Church.  They are now moving forward with their plan!  On Thursday, October 11^th, our long-time friend, Judge Wayne Smith of Ruston, LA, will be the speaker for an evening outreach event. Please pray for Wayne, and if you are in that area, I hope you will consider attending this meeting.  In January FBC will begin their weekly ministry to men as Pastor Leland will be teaching “The Quest for Authentic Manhood” (a series written by our brother Robert Lewis, also originally from Ruston).    

 

PERU MISSION – Seminary (Presbyterian):  Through the invitation of another dear friend Steve Hill, I will be teaching expository preaching in the seminary of Peru Mission from October 1-10. I have also been asked to speak at evening outreach meetings. For several days, I will be in the city of Cajamarca (pop. 217,000) which is situated in the northern highlands at an altitude of 8,900 ft.  One of our visits to churches will take Steve and me into a remote area even higher in the Andes Mountains.  Then on Friday, October 5^th, we will take an overnight bus down to Trujillo (pop. approx. 315,000) on the Pacific coast where I will preach at several churches on Sunday and will then teach another group of seminary students, beginning on Monday. Please pray for safety and for effectiveness in teaching. Also, please pray for Steve and his wife Dianne. 

 

RUSTON, LA – "Monday Morning for Men":  A new, but long-awaited ministry endeavor!  As some of you know, Ruston, Louisiana is very dear to us.  In the 1970's and early '80's, we enjoyed wonderful years in ministry there before moving to England in 1984.  Twenty-four years later, in 2008, our son Jake and his family moved back to Ruston.  Since before he arrived in Ruston, he has strongly encouraged me to do men's ministry there.  Well, at last, on Monday morning, September 17^th, at 6:00 a.m., we began! 

 

Exactly 40 of us came into the lovely conference room provided by First National Bank.  The men came from a number of churches and denominations.  Their ages ranged from about twenty to eighty!  My message was on the never-ending discovery of God:  “You shall seek Me and find Me when you search for me with your whole heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). We then divided into small groups for discussion of the passage and prayer.  

 

Would you please pray for the protection of this effort and of all of the men who are involved? Please pray for Bec and me as we make this weekly 8-hour round trip, and please pray and ask God to cause all of us to grow in our obedience to that commandment that guides us into the fullness of who we are as human beings: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37-39). 

A brother in Ruston has developed a website: www.mondaymorningformen.org   There you can find our guide for meditation and an audio file on the great commandment. It is entitled “The Great Theme of Your Life”

In our great Savior,

 

Rod and Bec

 

P.S.  As we are about to enter the final quarter of this year, we must address the matter of finances in a bit more direct way.  We need additional monthly supporters.   Please know that any amount will be deeply appreciated.  Thank you for whatever you may feel led to do.  

Becoming Anglican

August 13, 2012

 

Dear friends,

 

For many years, Becky and I have been on a long, much blessed journey.  It all began in 1984 when we and our boys moved to England where I studied with John Stott, and we had our first experience with the Church of England.  Week after week and month after month, we had tremendous joy in our worship, our fellowship, our study, and our service with Anglicans.  What we did not realize was that we were at the beginning of a winding and sometimes uphill road that would at last take us into the Anglican Church. 

 

About ten years ago, Becky and I became aware of a new conservative, evangelical movement among Anglicans in the United States.  Because of the extreme liberalism that had become pervasive in the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A., many Bible-believing Episcopalians were assembling themselves in a new expression of American Anglicanism.  These conservative Episcopalians were placing themselves under the oversight of conservative archbishops in Africa and Asia as a number of these groups were being established all over America.  As soon as Becky and I became aware of this unprecedented situation in Anglicanism, we began our quest.  We wanted to know if God was calling us to be a part of this movement.  Over the past decade, Becky and I have attended large conferences as well as small meetings of Anglicans, and we have spent many, many hours in counsel with Anglican leaders who have been very helpful and strongly encouraging toward us.  And now at last we have reached our destination. 

 

I know that you will have a number of questions.  I will try to briefly answer the most important ones.

 

1.  Nothing will change in our ministry with The Mission Foundation.  Becky and I will continue to do all of the work we have been doing in the past.   I will continue to serve at the Louisiana State Capitol, with The Gathering of Men, and in Developing World countries.  Becky will be going forward with her ministry to women both in the U.S. and abroad.  As in the past, our ministry will always be trans-denominational. 

2.  Becky and I will continue to be dependent upon friends like you for the financial support of our ministry with The Mission Foundation.  We want to say again that any monthly support of The Mission Foundation is greatly appreciated.  We need your involvement.  Even the smallest monthly gift is a great blessing to us.  If you are not presently involved, would you please consider becoming a monthly supporter?

3.  I have met with our presbytery (Southeast LA Presbytery of the PCA) and have explained to them why I am becoming an Anglican.   I assured them of my love for them and of my anticipation of good co-laborship with them in the Lord’s harvest here in LA.  I am in good standing with my presbytery.  I have no conflicts with any of my brothers in the PCA.  A letter that affirms my good standing has been sent from Rev. Scott Lindsay, clerk of our presbytery, to the Western Gulf Coast Diocese of the Anglican Church.

4.  Becky and I are joining the Anglican Church in North America.  I am NOT joining The Episcopal Church whose leaders have departed from Biblical theology and have begun ordaining homosexuals.

5.  There are about 78 million Anglicans in the world today.  As is the case with many denominations, the Anglican Church is growing most rapidly in the Global South where Anglican preachers are proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus with great zeal.  It has been my privilege to serve among many of them in Africa. 

 

I am very happy to say that Becky and I are taking this step with the blessing of our board of directors.  Also, we are deeply grateful for letters of recommendation that have been sent to the Anglican Church by those with whom we have been associated in ministry for many years.

 

In closing, we are very thankful to have friends like you.  In just a little while, we will all be before our King.  We must remember the words of Jesus to His disciples, “We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work.” (John 9:4)  Let’s get on with the work until He comes, or until we go to Him! 

Meet you at the finish line!

 

Rod and Bec