The Mission Foundation
Dear
friends and supporters of The Mission Foundation,
It’s
been a pretty challenging two weeks: diagnosed with partial seizures (i.e.
focused on a certain part of the brain) and having a lesion cut out of my
tongue and sent off to see if its cancerous yesterday. I will not receive the
results from the lab for about a week. I have appreciated every text, every
email, and every prayer.
But
there is plenty of encouraging news. The ministry at the State Capitol is going
extremely well. Many members of the
House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as Governor John Bel Edwards
and his immediate team of leaders (all former legislators), are coming to our
weekly Louisiana Legislators’ Bible Study / Prayer Breakfast, which is
now in its 17th year! Soon we will have our annual reunion
breakfast as former legislators will come from various parts of our state to be
with us again for what has always been our most highly attended meeting. I should add that this gathering is
completely private (no guests at all) and our continual emphasis is on unity –
the true oneness of our state leaders who are quite diverse in their
backgrounds and in their politics. My
hope and prayer is that every senator and representative (for whom it is
logistically possible) will be a part of this fellowship – this community of
governmental leaders. Please pray for
the protection of the fellowship that these men and women are experiencing. Our Lord has watched over us for seventeen
years. I trust that, as we pray, He will continue to provide that protection.
GREAT NEWS! I have very encouraging news
to share about the international accessibility of my book, Action Steps for Expository Preachers, A Method of Sermon Preparation. In addition to
our present printing facilities in the U.S., The UK, and Australia, I have just
signed a Global Connection Agreement (at no additional cost) that will extend
our network of printing facilities to include Brazil, Russia, Germany, Canada,
South Korea, and Poland. This will be
extremely helpful as it will reduce the cost as well as the time to respond to
orders for my book (and any future works) in every part of the world.
Also,
as you may remember, Action Steps is
available through Amazon in both English and Spanish. In East Africa , our
Swahili version is being printed in Tanzania Tanzania
Maybe I should explain the primary use
of Action Steps. It is to
provide national pastors, denominational leaders, Bible college instructors,
parachurch leaders, as well as expatriate missionaries with a manual for instructing others in
expository preaching – showing how to go through the entire process of
going from the reading of the Biblical passage to the writing of the
sermon. First, the preacher/teacher
seeks to understand the meaning of the Bible passage – writing notes on the
context and the content of the passage and then developing the outline and main
idea of the passage, which is stated in one sentence. Then the preacher/teacher writes the sermon
outline and sermon theme statement.
Finally, he writes his sermon manuscript, which includes explanations,
illustrations, and applications. This is
all covered in the three foundational lectures of Action Steps. Actions
Steps also includes worksheets, outlines of lectures to be given out to the
students/delegates, examples of sermon outlines, and an example of the whole
process which culminates in an actual sermon manuscript. Also, there are two additional lectures in
the appendix on hermeneutics
(principles of interpretation) and
application of the Scriptures to our lives.– I think I should clarify that Action
Steps (first published in 2011 in English) has been produced with our
own personal funds and has been of no financial profit to
us.
You are ones who make our work possible. It is you
who have supported Becky and me in our ministry so that we can write and teach
and lead conferences and seminars and disciple others and help and encourage
others in their efforts to establish new ministries, such as men’s ministries
in Central and North Louisiana and in Ethiopia
In the love
of our Savior,
Rod and Bec
P.S. We are
need of monthly supporters. Would
you please consider joining those who make our ministry possible? You can contribute online CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION
