Posts By :

admin

December 2021 – Mission Director’s Report

 150 150 admin
By:
0

Dear Churches of the BMAMO:

Merry Christmas, everybody! It has been a full year plus 2 months since I became your Missions Director and that time has been fruitful and positive in many ways. I could not be more excited about the ministry that Bro. Juan Fernandez and his family are carrying out and the fruit that they are seeing. I beg you to continue to pray and support Bro. Juan in any and every way the Lord leads.

On a State level, I am striving to encourage each church to do the BMAMO assessment and utilize the accompanying pamphlet so that the next time you perform the assessment, the church as a whole will score better and thereby increase their Missions knowledge. These articles over the next few months will lay out specifically the impetus behind the assessment questions and how to use the pamphlet to better prepare yourself for your next assessment. I am hearing positive things from the churches that have made use of the assessment and will be sharing that soon.

Most of us have heard the question, “What do you give someone that has everything?” As Americans, we don’t think of ourselves in that light, yet compared to 2/3 of the world we do have everything. We have comfortable homes, wardrobes to clothe ourselves, refrigerators and freezers full of food, cars, trucks, houses, and lands. You and I know there are lots of people that have more “stuff” than we do. But to get back to the question – what do you give someone that has everything? The answer is to give them something that they cannot provide for themselves. For every man, woman, boy, and girl, that is what Jesus did for us. He gave us the one thing we could never provide for ourselves – His precious salvation. This is why we call ourselves “Missionaries.” It is our mission to take this most wonderful gospel to the world, specifically to the people within your and my sphere of influence.

On a very practical level, I believe we can take the same ideology and ask, “What can I do for the people within my sphere of influence that they cannot do for themselves?” That’s the way you make your Christmas list and shed the light of the gospel in their lives. Some of those on your list will have physical needs, some will be spiritual, some will be time that you spend with them, and some will be financial gifts. I encourage you to ask yourself the question as you go about preparing to bless others with a gift.

Lastly, on a negative note, but also positive from the standpoint of potential healing and restoration, our Baptist Missionary Association President Justin Rhodes was relieved of his duties as Pastor of his church because of an unstated moral failure. This is public knowledge, I am told, and I got permission to share this before I included it in this article. You may not know Justin, but I do. This was a shock and a great disappointment. I have nothing but empathy, forgiveness, and love for Justin, and I’m asking you to pray for him, the church that he pastored, and the association, that God will bring healing, restoration, and forgiveness. I love the verse that says God will restore the years the locust have eaten. What Satan means for evil, God will use for good and for a lesson to all of us.

Let’s remember 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

May the Lord richly bless you this Christmas season.
Bro. Ben Kingston

Happy New Year!

 150 150 admin
By:
0

The fruit of having a Merry Christmas

We hear a lot about having a “Merry Christmas” as we enter this time of celebrating the birth of Jesus as He came to fulfill the plan of God for the redemption of mankind.

As we refresh our minds concerning God’s plan, love, wisdom, power, and glory we can’t miss having a “Merry” Christmas.

Being blessed by God as we are reminded of His wonderful characteristics of love, peace, joy, strength we are laying the foundation that permits us to have a Happy New Year!

A Happy New Year is the result of having a Merry Christmas. When we focus on the Word of God which enlightens us about the joy of The eternal One during Christmas we can look forward to a Happy New Year because whatever we experience in the year ahead will be faced with stronger faith and exciting confidence instead of dread and fear! God knows what we will face before we face it and prepares our hearts and minds to rely on His promises no matter what we face.

Luke reminds us of the attitude we should have as a result of the Good News the angel spoke about the birth of Jesus in Luke 2:10-11. “And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

The results of what the shepherds heard and saw are recorded in verse 20: “And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.” Look forward to a Happy New Year as a result of the blessings of Christmas!

November 2021 – Mission Director’s Report

 150 150 admin
By:
0

Dear BMA of Missouri Churches:

WOW, well, here we are! It is Thanksgiving and then Christmas season. But relax! According to the media, we won’t have Christmas this year because all the “stuff” that makes Christmas Christmas is out on shipping containers in the sea for one reason or another. So, we will not be able to have Christmas the way we are used to … wait for it … GOOD! Now, why would I say that? Because if those folks think that some $50 gadget is the sum total of Christmas, then they truly have allowed the commercialization of Christmas to blind them.

Dear Churches, Christmas has always been a little babe in a manger bringing God’s love to the world. And it still is!I am so glad that the love of Jesus is not dependent on the supply chain of America. (As someone posted on Facebook “Christmas isn’t stranded on ships in either ocean. God delivered Christmas over 2,000 years ago. JESUS CHRIST is Christmas!)
Some of you might be thinking, “Wait a minute, Bro. Ben, aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves? We have Thanksgiving first, don’t we? Yes, no doubt! But I wanted to highlight what the news is cramming down our throats because in their eyes, if we can’t have Christmas the way we are used to, why on earth would we have anything to be thankful for?

Let’s count, shall we? For the moment we still have a free country. We still have the freedom to worship the way we biblically see fit. We still have a representative government. We still have free elections. We can still move throughout the country with freedom. We can still own and sell property. Now, are many of these freedoms being threatened? Absolutely! But we should be thankful that we have them at this moment.

Let’s get personal. We should be thankful for our physical health, at whatever level. We have our families and their health, at whatever level. We have friends. We have our churches. We have the Gospel. We have the Bible. We have the Church we attend. We have our Sunday School or Small Groups class we attend. We have the transcendent cause of sharing the Gospel with our friends, neighbors, and relatives.

My friends, we are a blessed people. Did you notice what is missing from that list? All the stuff that, if we are not careful, we think our life is truly about. But sir or ma’am, please go back over that list slowly and ask yourself, “Are these not the elements of our lives that truly matter?” If we take this attitude into Thanksgiving and Christmas, we will truly have a blessed holiday season.

Now for the real reason for this article. I know, I know! It’s long, please bear with me till the end.

I have done several funerals in October including: a 54 year old man, Jeff Folk from our church, 52 year old Karen Oats, wife of Bro. Eddie Paul (Pastor at Berean, who did the main portion of the service), and 62 year old Sandy Belew, my next door neighbor. If I missed one, please forgive me. My memory is not what it used to be.

These, however, stand out to me because I am 56 years old, so in that respect these are ‘my people.’ I don’t know about you, but my way of thinking is that this is way too young. Bro. Jeff went to sleep one night and never woke up. Sis Karen and Sis Sandy fought cancer for many years.

We are not promised tomorrow. This is the motto that has gone through my mind all month in response to the news of each of these home-goings: “One life to live, soon it will pass, only what’s done for Christ will last.”

If you have gone through the BMAMO assessment, you know that the whole point of the document is to put the emphasis of our lives on people and their eternal souls. That which truly matters is that which will last forever. The stuff on those shipping containers will rot in a matter of years while our souls will last forever. Please make your life about that which Christ made His life about: the lost souls of men, women, boys, and girls.

May the Lord richly bless you is my prayer.
Bro. Ben Kingston

Our Commission

 150 150 admin
By:
0

Jesus said, “All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. 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 alway, even unto the end of the world.”

Matthew 28:18-20

A Prayer for Help in Hopelessness

 150 150 admin
By:
0

Psalm 88:1-8
by Dennis Baker, BMAMO Brotherhood President

Heman, the son of Korah, was a temple musician during the reign of David. The Psalm begins with pain and perplexity but, unlike other psalms of lament, it closes without triumph. The psalm speaks of darkness (vs.1, 6, 12, 18), life in the depths (vs. 3-4, 6), the immanence of death (vs. 5, 10-11), feeling of drowning (vs. 7, 16-17), loneliness (vs. 5, 8, 14, 18), and imprisonment (v. 8). Heman was a servant of God who was suffering intensely and did not understand why, yet he persisted in praying to God and did not abandon his faith. Not all of life’s experiences have happy endings, but that does not mean that the Lord has forsaken us. From Heman’s experience we can discover instructions to follow when life falls apart and our prayers seemingly are not answered.

Come to the Lord in faith, vs 1-2. Heman’s life had not been an easy one and it seemed like it was getting even more difficult, and he felt that death was very near. Heman spoke as if he was ready to give up. But he did not give up! He still trusted in the Lord of his salvation. Heman prayed day and night believing that God would hear his prayers. No matter how we feel and no matter how impossible our circumstances, we can always come to the Lord with our burdens.

Tell the Lord how you feel, vs 3-9. There is no place for hypocrisy in personal prayer. When we pray, we need to be completely transparent and not tell the Lord anything that is not true or that we do not really mean. Heman confesses that he was “full of troubles” and felt like a “living dead man.” He was without strength and felt forsaken by the Lord. Heman told the Lord that He was responsible for His servant’s troubles! God’s hand put him in the Pit (the grave), and God’s anger was flowing over him like breakers from the sea. Whatever sickness he had was caused by the Lord and made him so repulsive that his friends avoided him He was without health, without light, and without friends. He felt like he was without God! He was a prisoner and there was no way to escape. Like Job, Heman wanted to know why all this suffering had come to him.

Defend your cause before the Lord, vs 10-14. The Scottish minister Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661) who suffered much for his faith wrote, “It is faith’s work to claim and challenge loving kindnesses out of all the roughest strokes of God.” He also said, “Why should I tremble at the plough of my Lord, that maketh deep furrows in my soul? I know He is no idle husbandman; He purposeth a crop.” Heman’s argument was simply that his death would rob God of a great opportunity to demonstrate His power and glory. What service could Heman be to the Lord in sheol? Heman prayed for healing and strength. Heman felt rejected and knew that God’s face was turned away from him. But he kept on praying.

Wait for the Lord’s answer, Vs 15-18. It appears that Heman could not even look back to a time in his life where he enjoyed good health, v 15. The billows that had almost drowned him (v 7) now became fiery waves of torment (v 16) as God’s “burning anger” went over him. The flood was rising, and he felt he was about to drown, and there was nobody near enough to rescue him. He was alone! The darkness was his friend because it hid him from the eyes of those who observed his suffering and may have said (as Job’s friends),“He must have sinned greatly for the Lord to afflict him so much.” He continued to pray and to look to God for help! “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him” Job 13:5. “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage, yes, wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:13-14). The Lord always has the last word, and it will not be “darkness.” When life falls apart and our prayers seemingly are not answered, come to the Lord by faith, tell the Lord how you fell, defend your cause before the Lord, and wait for the Lord’s answer. Not all of life’s experiences have happy endings, but that does not mean that the Lord has forsaken us. No matter how we feel and no matter how impossible our circumstances, we can always come to the Lord with our burdens.

EIM is wanting to help your church

 150 150 admin
By:
0

By: Michael Goodwin, EIM President & Program Director

Evangelistic International Ministries would like to make ourselves available to our BMAA churches. This past summer, God opened up new doors for us since we were limited in doing overseas travel. For over 10 years, EIM teams have traveled overseas conducting Overseas Bible Schools. These are done much like Vacation Bible Schools here in the States. God has laid it on our hearts to begin helping the local churches that may not have the manpower nor the finances to have a Vacation Bible School. EIM is wanting to schedule 3-4 Vacation Bible Schools here in the States for next summer. We would be honored to bring a team of 10-18 to your church to help you reach children and parents with the gospel and to help make new contacts for your church.

We conducted two VBS’s here in the States this past summer. We were able to work with Bethel Baptist Church in Clayton, Texas, as well as New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Eugene, Oregon.

Here is what Pastor Chris Price said after we had worked with him and his dear church, “Since EIM came to Bethel, the hearts of our members are full of joy again. Jesus used EIM to restore hope to a people who have been hurt and were halted because of it. With the hurt gone, hope restored, and hearts healed, we have new faces and new families we are ministering to.”

Pastor Clint Perdue had this to say, “There was one key element that stood out to me above all the rest that made the week with EIM special, that was the LOVE that was on display. Each of the team members loved Jesus, and it was obvious. It was shown in the love for the Gospel, for the people that attended the VBS, and it was shown to the Church, as well.”

If you would like more information on how EIM could help, please contact me at mgoodwin@eimworldwide.org or call 870-234-5319. You can also go to our website at www.eimworldwide.org and see what God is doing globally through the ministry of EIM.

EIM is a partner of BMAA Missions and Lifeword. We are a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization which began in 1998 and is sanctioned and endorsed by First Baptist Church of Magnolia, Arkansas.

September 2021 – Mission Director’s Report

 150 150 admin
By:
0

Dear Missouri Baptist churches,

It is quite possible that this will be the last article before our annual meeting at Faith Baptist Church on October 9, 2021 convening at 9 AM, so I want to use this opportunity to prepare you for what you’re going to hear and what “I believe” God is asking us to do as an association to prepare for a missions reset in our state.

This began in May at the mid-year meeting, where I shared with you the BMAMO missions assessment and the resulting pamphlet that guides someone wanting to raise the bar of our missions awareness.
Why would we start here? Well, let me answer that question by my own experience. As Bethel’s pastor I am striving to do a better job of educating and guiding our church in the area of missions, what we are currently doing as a national association, and how we should be involved on all association levels. The blunt reality of it is that we are under-performing as an association when it comes to missions efforts even within our own churches and certainly when it comes to planting churches. My vision if you will, and the vision that I’m striving to cast starting last May and now in October and beyond, is to raise the bar of awareness in our own churches as to what we are already doing as an association and then to raise the bar of action in our participation and great commission skills.

About 20 some odd years ago now, I heard perhaps one of the greatest messages I have ever heard by Charlie Holmes and it was called “the three prayers that God always answers,” that are found in John 14, 15, and 16. Each verse ends with “ask anything in My name and My Father will do it.” That is a rough paraphrase but that’s essentially what is stated, however the context for each verse is different.

John 14:13,14 “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”

John 16:23 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”

These are the three verses that Charlie went on to expound upon and this is the long and short of that message and honestly the impetus of what I’m striving to do!

When you go by the context of these three chapters, the context of all three statements is different.

Statement #1 in John 14 – the context is the work of the kingdom

Statement # 2 in John 15 – the context is the fruit that is to be bore by believers

Statement #3 in John 16 – the context is the spirit of God

So we have these three summations of these three chapters and these three statements: ask whatsoever ye will in my name and I will do it.

These are not in the order that they are presented here in scripture.

Prayer #1 based on John 16 – the prayer that God will always answer is GOD HELP ME TO KNOW YOU.

If you and I are soaking in the spirit of God and the word of God, the spirit of God is going to speak to us through the word of God and we’re going to know him. This is the most basic element and none more important for the repentant sinner than for him to be inextricably connected to his Savior and his God!

Prayer #2 found in John 14 – LET US IN ON YOUR KINGDOM WORK

As you grow in your relationship with God, you’re going to want to bless God, you’re going to want to serve him. The only way to effectively serve God is to get involved in his kingdom work. What is his kingdom work? Sharing his gospel, living a holy life, growing in the gospel as a disciple, and ultimately reaching other people for the gospel’s sake.

Prayer #3 is found in John 15 – LORD HELP US TO BEAR YOUR FRUIT!

As you and I grow in our love relationship with Jesus Christ, and as we ask Him to show us where he is working, we can’t help but to bear the two types of fruit: inner fruit and outer fruit. The inner fruit is the fruit of the spirit, and couldn’t we all do with a good dose of the fruit of the spirit? “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, against such there is no law,” according to Galatians 5:22. And then the outward fruit of soul-winning and discipleship.

Pastor, as you and your church apply the loving challenges that are found in the BMAMO benchmark assessment, you will fulfill these three areas. It is my humble opinion that as we apply ourselves to this approach of raising the bar in our knowledge and awareness of what we’re already doing as an association and then raise the bar in our own lives of being missionaries to our world through prayer and evangelistic action, our churches will grow and we will plant more churches. Isn’t that what we were created for?

I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming meetings.

Bro. Ben Kingston

News From Camp Garwood

 150 150 admin
By:
0

Greetings from Camp Garwood! Since camp week we have continued working at camp weekly. We are getting things cleaned up and put up. Hopefully to give us a little boost on being prepared for next years camp.

We had a great DEWrs retreat mid August. A good turnout and a lot of fun. It was good simply hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. I believe it’s called fellowship and we need it. In today’s society it’s hard to know what to do. When to meet, when to distance, when to wear a mask. Even being an introvert, I know that we need time together. We’re better together. At the retreat we played games, took a train ride, some played on the slide and mini-golf. It was a simple, casual gathering. Bro. Dan Wisely gave a great devotional on Saturday morning, Bro. Jeff Reynolds prepared our meals with help from the Kewanee ladies. We all agreed the weekend was great and that the DEWrs should meet at that time every year. After camp rather than before.

I’d like to have a Fall retreat but finding a suitable weekend is proving to be difficult. Band events, football games, community days, local association meets and hunting season fill the calendar. Maybe we can sneak one in this winter.

I’ll give a full report at the annual meeting, but camp week was great in so many ways this year. However we were lacking in two areas. Our attendance numbers were about half normal. And the spiritual response during camp was not there. We have no professions or decisions to report. That’s hard for us to imagine. We can only guess as to the why. We know seeds were planted and we trust that the LORD will give the increase in His timing.
As I mentioned it was a great week in so many ways. Being half the campers the dorms were not over filled, there wasn’t such a pressure with break downs and problems. We had tremendous services and a great time together in the valley.

Looking to camp in 2022. We have Bro. Jordan Bowen coming from Little Rock AR to speak. Jordan is currently serving as church planter at Hillcrest Community Church in North Little Rock. The committee and I are excited that Jordan will be with us next year. Please join us in praying for him, His wife Sarah, and their sons Brooks and Caden. May God use them to stir our hearts and awaken dead souls.

The Central Collective will return to lead the worship. And we are planning some more great things for Garwood ‘22. Plan now to join us July 25-29th. Only 46 Saturdays away!

Thank You for the continued support. We are a little behind financially due to the lower number of campers and the added expenses from working on the slide. Our focus now is on paying down the tractor debt.

Blessings to all of our churches.
Chris Polk
PO Box 271 • Matthews MO 63867
Cell phone 573-380-1975
E-mail – campgarwood@gmail.com

94th Annual Meeting

 150 150 admin
By:
0

Annual Meeting Reminder: The 94th Annual Meeting of The Baptist Missionary Association of Missouri will meet October 9, 2021 at Faith Baptist Church 2310 Muegge Rd. St. Charles, MO at 9:00 A.M.

It’s A Boy!!

 150 150 admin
By:
0

Our Missionary Family
Juan & Hannah Fernandez & Girls
are expecting a baby boy in October!
Bethany Baptist Church in St. Louis is
Planning an Associational Baby Shower
for them and would love for all our
churches in the BMA of MO and Meramec
Associations to participate.
The date is September 4 at 1:00 p.m.
They are registered at Target and on
Amazon. If you are unable to attend please
feel free to support them by sending cards, gifts,
or monetary support.
Finger sandwiches and cake will be served.
If possible, please let us know if your church or
individuals will be attending.
RSVP to
Mary Hoffmann • 176 Bear Creek Dr. • Wentzville, MO 63385 • 314-488-9055 • jmhoff@charter.net
or
Bertha Blanchard • 11479 Edwards Ave. •
Maryland Hgts., MO 63043-1816 • 314-800-4072