Thus Saith GodTs Word
by Rev. Ted Brooks, Pastor, West Saddletree Baptist Church
On The WeU, But Not By Ourselves
"And I sent messengers unto them saying. I am doing a great work, so that
I cannot come down.
"Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after
the tame manner." (Nehemiah 6:3-4)
Once again I want to quote from n Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves
whether ye be in the faith, prove your own sdvea " I
want to say this, my friend, it does not take a great person to do meat
things. It only takes a consecrated person. Nehemiah did a great work for God.
He did so because he was committed tot he work fhithfully which enabled him
to be an effective witness.
When Tobiah and Sanbal-lot wanted to meet with Nehemiah in order to
get him off the wall, Nehemiah sent messengers unto them saying "I cannot
come down. Why should the work cease whilst I leave it." (Nehemiah 6:1-4)
I want to speak to you concerning those who have come down and in some
places the work of God has ceased As I attempt to write this sermon, I am
holding a small brochure called "Wounded Heroes" and it tells about
ministers who walked away from their ministries. In all, they tell us over 6,000
Southern Baptists left and 1200 were fired. 1500 ministers leave their
ministries each month. Eighty percent of pastors and 84 percent of thenspouses
are discouraged or dealing with their depression. Forty percentof
pastors and forty-seven percent of their spouses are suffering from burn-out
Seventy percent of pastors do not have a close minister friend.
So, the people who fit the above have been invited to a retreat called
"Wounded Heroes Retreat" to save our missionary ministry. So, if you are
discouraged, stressed out, burned out, you are invited to come and be
encouraged back into the action
Let me say this: I do not fit any of the above. No Sir, since God saved me,
old things have passed away, including stress and discouragement. When the
Lord saved me, I found that the same God who cared for Elijah will not pass
by one ofhis self sacrificing children. I found out that the God who would keep
count of the number of hairs of my head will care for me and if I happen to
be without pastorship, I will not hunger for want. I shall be satisfied While
it may be that the wicked are dying from hunger and pestilence, angels will
shield the righteous and supply their wants to him that stays on the wall and
walketh righteously That is the promise of God Bread shall be given him.
His waters shall be sure. When the poor and needy seek water and there is
none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, "L the Lord, will hear them. L the God
of Israel, wifl not forsake them" (Isaiah 33:15-16; 41:17)
Oh, my friend, it is not a retreat you need. You need to examine yourself,
whether ye be in the faith. Prove yourselves. "Although the fig tree shall not
blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine, the labor ofthe olive shall fail, and
the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there
shall be no herd in the stalls. Yet shall they that fear Him rejoice in the Lord
and joy in their salvation." (Habbakkak 3:17-18)
"TheLord is the keeper; the Lord is the shade upon thy right hand. The sun
shall not smite thee of day, nor the moon of night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from evil. He shall preserve the soul. He shall deliver thee from the snare of
the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his
feathers and under his wing shah thou trust." (Psalm 121:5-7; 91:3-10)
But, you have got to stay on the wall. This is no time to come down on a
poor excuse ofbeing burned out or to convince yourself that you have got bad
nerves. No, my preacher friend, get up. Do as Nehemiah, why should the work
of God cease over your self pity? Four times Nehemiah said the same thing
"I cant come down." Confess that what you are doing is a great work for Go<f
The reason most of you are discouraged and depressed and even been told you
are burned out by those who travel all over this world, in and out of Israel
three and four times a year. It is them who claim to have been baptized where
Jesus was baptized, stood where Paul stood, they have been every where and
now they are bored and become stressed out. It is these great television
evangelists who are leaving their wives, those .who earn millions of dollars a^
year and he has fallen off the wall and they are looking for company. No
wonder 6000 churches closed up last year. No wonder 1500 ministers left
their ministries and their spouses were depressed And now they look around
and no friends are to be found. No, my friend, it is not another tape or video
package you need. No, my friend. It is time to be examined Time to be proven.
Let me ask you this question, did God call you or did you come into this
ministry by the voice of another? Listen, if God called you, don't come off
the wall of God. Satan has many ways of closing the doors of God's house
Satan can bum you out, stress you out, but his main line that he uses is
discouragement. But none of these can get to you unless you come down off
the wall yourself. Nehemiah repeated to To-biah "I am doing a good work."
Let me ask you a question: what kind of work are you doing that has convinced
you that are you burned out and that your wife is to depressed?
Could it be that these persons who cl*im to b? your brothers often hinder
the work of God in your fife? My friend, if God had thought for t moment that
you could not handle the vtuetion He would never have allowed it to come
your way.
Let me share with you how to stay on the wall. In other words, let me shaf&.
with you how my wife and I overcome discouragement.
First, we know that we have a conviction for the work of God Now it is not
just my kind of conviction, but we are certain that it is a Hohr -Ghost
conviction. We know in our hearts we were drawn to God by Holy Ghost
conviction. Now I admit it is a phrase seldom used today by religious persons
and it is true it is seldom seen in the oonvert. It is one of the principles that few
church folk give little or no evidence of truly being bom sgsin
The fhct is, most people who get stressed out andburned out are those who
show no Holy Ghost coaviction and He is not a reality in their lives.
Any one who has experienced Holy Ghost conviction knows it is a work
prior to conviction or before he can identify himself as a Christian. Anyone
who does so before conviction has never been converted Such a person has
never been mode alive by the Holy Ghost. He only has a name while his soul
dieth away and ia dead to God and is a stranger to God's saving grace.
No you can see why last year in these United States, 9000 churches were
closed and by the year 2020 we will be hard pressed to find enough qualified
pastors to pastor Christian churches.
Statisticians tell us that in the last 40 years in America, we have a 500
percent increase in violence, 400 percent increase in illegitimate births, 420
percent increase of children of single parents, a 360 percent increase in child
abuse and in our cities a child is murdered every 12 minutes.
The reason for the above statistics are men who come down off the wall.
The work you were doing was not great and you did not hold to the promises
of God.
The second reason is that many of your are sock piling tapes of other
preachers who at one time were noted as great TV. personalities and you learn
later they had been living a shameful life. Then when they are caught for
stealing and committing adultery, they will look you in the face and say "You
that are without sin cast the first stone " Let me close with this thought, there
ought to be some gray-headed preachers out there who could say as Samuel
'I am old and gray beaded and behold my sons are with you and I have walked
before you from my childhood unto this day. Behold here I am-Witness
against me before the Lord and before his anointed, whose ox have I taken?
Or whose ass have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I
oppressed? Or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes
therewith? And I will restore it you.M (I Samuel 12:1-3)
Samuel's message to us all was "Fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with
all your heart.'' (I Samuel 12:24X
When Samuel gave a call to consistent living for God, He asked the people
to examine him, to try him and see if he had not lived a consecrated life. The
people's reply "Thou hast not defrauded us." (Verse 4)
Samuel was relinquishing his political duties and handing over the
governmental responsibility of the nation to the new king. While he would
continue to take change of the prophetic office and to care for the spiritual
welfare of the people, the king would handle the governmental responsibility.
This he did so well he established schools for the training of young men in the
prophetic ministry. (I Samuel 10:5-19; .18-24) '
Let me say this, if we are to go forward and to remain on this wall God has
placed us on, we better settle something quickly as we go into the 21st
Century Our slogan for the church better not be everybody's doing it and he
that is without sin cast the first stones. These words have cost us the closing
of9000 churches and 1200 fired pastors and over 1500 left the ministry each
month. Eighty percent of our preachers and wives are discouraged. Now it
has been said they are burned out and stressed out and even become
discouraged. Seventy percent don't even have a close friend.
Let us go forward telling what sin is, telling this America that sin is to fail
God, to fad to render to God his due. Tell America God's dues are righteousness,
our restitution of will. He who fails to do this will rob God of his honor.
This is sin. And what is satisfaction. It is not enough simply to restore what
has been taken away, but in consideration of their insult offered, more than
what was taken away must be rendered back. If you and I will do this, there
would be less burn out, less stressed out. Preach with fire and determination
and see a new creation around us.
CAROLINA
INDIAN VOICE
? 1
PensbroksJSjJS^
oy ur. a en Johnson
Miss Lumbee Glenda Hadden was
the speaker at the Tuesday evening
meeting of the Kiwanis Club held at
tie Jade Garden Restaurant. She waS
presented by Program Chairman
Furnie Lambert. She is the daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. John and Brenda
Hadden. Miss Lumbee is a first semester
student at Methodist College.
She wishes to major in American
Indian Studies and transfer to the
University ofNorth Carolina at Pembroke.
She will be attending the pow
wow of Nations in New Mexico this
coming summer.
"1 remember how greatly we as
youngsters looked forward to Christmas
even counting the days Sh a
calendar, my sister and I. We should
never forget the real meaning of
Christmas as it is the celebration of
the birth of Jesus Christ our personal
savior."
Miss Glenda Hadden, Miss Lumbee,.
led Christmas carol singing and
sang solo "Silent Nigh, Holy Nigh,"
in a strong, beautiful soprano voice.
Presiding-President George
Kenworthy. Invocation-Clay
Maynor. Song leader-Ed Teets. Reporter-Ken
Johnson. ,
The monthly business mccti ng w as
rcld Tuesday evening at the Jade
Restaurant with President George
Kenworthy presiding.
Committees for the new year are
Program Chairman: Harry Oxendine;
Publicity : Ken Johnson: Inter Club:
George Kenworthy. Patric Bullard :
Board of Directors: Todd Jones.
Furnie Lambert; Membership:
Mitchell Lowry, Buddy Bell; House
Chair: Ed-Topts.
New Officers are: President George
Kenworthy. President Elect: Todd
Jones. Secretary: Carlton Mansfield.
Treasurer Albert Hunt, starting his
fortieth year. President Emcrti. Brian
Brooks.
Miss Glcnda Haddcii "Miss Lunibec"
was presented $150.00 fro ex-,
penscs Furnic Lambert led the discussion
for a fund raising dance to be
held in the spring. Carlton Mansfield
announcedtheKiwanis Internal Convention
will be in Denver June 18 - 22
Furnic Lambert invited all to be his
and Elaine's guests this coming Friday
at 2:00 P.M. to celebrate their
30th wedding anniversary at a "Pig Picking
cook - out in Maxton on
Highway 71
Albeh Hunt reported $3.549.16 in
the T rcasury.
lnVocation: Albert Hunt. Song
Leader: Ed Tccts. Reporter: Ken Johnson
Under new law you may qualify for
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John E. Crane. M.D. has joined the
medical staff of Southeastern
ss^ Regional Medical Center He
is certified by the American
'ft Board of Obstetrics and
yi Gynecology and associated
\\ in private practice with
II the Lumberton Clinic of J
11 Obstetrics/Gynecology J
II . A native of Oklahoma.
Dr Crane earned his
John E. Crane M.n
MM medical degree in 1978 from the
Medical College of Virginia in Richmond and completed his
residency in Virginia and Pennsylvania in 1982 After five years
with the U S Navy at Camp Leleune. N C . Dr Crane began solo
W practice in Emporia. Virginia, where be served as the only
obstetrician/gynecologist in a three-county area for most of his
M ten years there
We can all feel good about each new addition to the medical staff
at Southeastern Regional Medical Center Each physician brings
years of education, specialized training and personal expertise to our
highly diversified health care team ? and to our community
we u ni\c iv caiciiu d wdini wenume
to our newest doctor With his
arrival, there is a significant A
improvement in the general A
health of this community W
SOUTHEASTERN
REGIONAL
MEDICAL CENTER
'^^^lOOWest 27th Street. Lumberton. NC (910)671-5000 J
wwwsrmc.org Aw
I
Handcrafted Stools & video Chairs
by John Woodell
On Display at
Cherry's Consignment
Normal Street
(Across from Old Main)
Local Native American Artist
Please contact me if you would like
your work to be djspayed to be sold.
Contact: Miss Cherry McMillian.
Phone: (910) 521-0620
V ; /
l
Two powerful words that kids are saying to their teachers, their schools,
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A
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Jam
Say you read it
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Indian Voice
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call 521-2826
rwi
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