www.msbaptist.orgMarch 1, 2021 VOL. 75 NO. 5

JOURNAL OF THE

BAPTIST MISSIONARY

ASSOCIATION OF MISSISSIPPI

different degrees (cf. Heb 12:4),but we should be slow to disre-gard persecution against broth-ers and sisters in Christ. Toignore this is to ignore the slan-der that was levied against ourSavior (Matt 27:37). We sufferbecause Christ is King.

How might we respond? Praynow – and pray often. Be con-stant in prayer (Rom 12:12) andtrust in the Lord always (Prov3:5-6). This is foundational, in-dispensable, and essential.

Further, expect persecutionin this life. This is surely neverpopular advice and no one iseager to hear these words. Yetconsider the lives (and deaths)of the apostles. The early churchdid not suffer persecution be-cause they had failed – they

Josh Howard

by Dr. Josh Howard

The recent arrest and impris-onment of a Canadian pastorhas led to some difficult, impor-tant questions – questions aboutthe role of the church, the reachof the State, and the param-eters of perse-cution. A ques-tion that arisesfrom this is sig-nificant: whatis persecution?

First, let usrecognize thatper secut ionmay be differ-ent than we ex-pect. Many of us have thoughtof persecution in a rather sim-plistic way – evil men in clearlyevil uniforms showing up at ourdoorstep and demanding thatwe deny Christ. This may in-deed happen to some, but manyChristians will face persecutionunder different circumstancesthan these. Simply put, Chris-

tians will suffer because Christis King. There is spiritual con-flict taking place behind theworldly conflicts we experience(Eph 6:12), but we should recog-nize that persecution is rarelyidentified this way.

For example: John the Bap-tist was beheaded for condemn-ing a public official’s immoral-ity (Matt 14); the Pharisees beatand imprisoned the apostles outof jealousy (Acts 5:17, 40);Stephen was stoned for blas-phemy (Acts 6-7); Paul and Silaswere imprisoned for obstruct-ing the local economy (Acts 16);Paul was jailed as a politicalinstigator and insurrectionist(Acts 24:5); and many other ex-amples exist (Heb 11:35-38).Would we suggest that thesedid not suffer for Christ becausethe world slandered them evenas it persecuted them? Why didthey truly experience persecu-tion? They suffered becauseChrist is King. Suffering maycome in different forms and in

“Because Christ is King” experienced persecution be-cause Christ has triumphed! Wefollow in His footsteps, and thisbrings persecution in this world(2 Tim 3:12; Jn 16:33). Again,we will be persecuted – becauseChrist is King.

In keeping with the above,we must determine to stand withfellow believers. Those who arereading this may very well not

fear imminent persecution –many of us may feel quiteshielded from the evils of thisworld. But consider Paul’s wordsfrom the conclusion ofColossians: “Remember mychains” (4:18). Stand with fel-low believers, knowing that theChristians experiencing perse-cution around the world aremembers of the same body (cf.Eph 1:22-23; 2:19-22). We arebound together, and stand to-gether – because Christ is King.

Finally, we should not takelightly the command to proclaimthe gospel. When the commandsof the State prevent us fromfollowing Christ’s commands,we must remember the exampleset for us in Scripture (see Acts4:18-20; Acts 5:28). The worshipof the church and preaching ofthe gospel are essential. We sim-ply cannot compromise – be-cause Christ is King.

In the waning days of WorldWar II, pastor-theologianDietrich Bonhoeffer was one ofthe last prisoners executed bythe Third Reich. Choosing toremain with his people who weresuffering under the Nazi regime,Bonhoeffer was unceremoni-ously hanged as an enemy of theState. His last words were re-portedly: “This is the end. Forme the beginning of life.” Let uslive with a faith that trusts Godin all things (Rom 8:28). Let uslive lives that testify that Christis King.Howard is Associate Pastor atCalvary Baptist Church, HornLake and oversees Missions,Student, &Discipleship

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,but against principalities, against powers, against

the rulers of the darkness of this world, againstspiritual wickedness in high places. 

ChangeMaker in Philippines: God Uses People With Disabilitiesby Missionary Sam FreemanMissions Coordinator in the

PhilippinesBorn in 1959 on the island of

Cebu, Maximino “Max”Quiachon, Jr. spent most of hisadult life on Bohol after attend-ing the university there. Dur-ing his fourth year of studies inmechanical engineering, Maxenlisted and served two yearswith the Philippine Marines. Hethen returned and completedhis degree.

In 1982 Max accepted Jesusas his Savior after a friendshared the gospel with him. Soonafter, he felt God’s calling on hislife to serve as a pastor. Maxenrolled at BMA Bible Collegeof the Philippines in 1984 andgraduated in 1987.

He served as a BMA Philip-pines pastor on the island ofLuzon until returning home to

Bohol then marrying Victoriain 1996. The Lord blessed themwith two beautiful and talenteddaughters who are a blessingand benefit in their family’sministry.

Several years ago Max losthis eyesight from diabetes com-plications, not uncommon in thePhilippines with its lack of pre-ventative diagnoses and cost ofmedication. Blindness would bedevastating to many people, butMax used it grow spiritually:He learned Braille, listened tofamily members read the Bible,memorized eight of its book, andlearned hundreds of Scriptureverses.

Each week he types sermonoutlines in English and Visayanfor church members to read andtake home. As he preaches, theoutline and Scripture referencesare quoted from memory. Max’s

dedication and commitment toteaching and preaching God’sWord has spiritually challengedand encouraged me and manyothers.

In 2019 I met Pastor Maxwhile visiting him on the islandof Bohol. With a heart to reach

there.Afterwards, the BMAP mis-

sionary committee recom-mended him to the associationas a potential BMAP mission-ary. After many Covid and gov-ernment related delays, on Oc-tober 29, 2020, Pastor Max waselected as the seventh nationalmissionary serving BMAP. Tosupport his ministry, Bro. Maxdoes blind massages for beachgoers on the island, which isjust another way he can sharehis testimony.

Covid-19 has caused manychallenges to church planting,and Pastor Max and the youngmission in Bohol continue toexperience those difficulties.Please pray for this faithful ser-vant and his family as they la-bor to win others to Christ andmake Jesus’ name known to theBoholano people.

Bro. Max and Familyhis family, relatives, friends,and community, Max felt Godleading him to plant a BMAPhilippines (BMAP) church inhis hometown of Tubigon. Ref-uge Baptist Church had votedto be the mother church, so Itraveled to see him and the work

2 March 1, 2021 • Mississippi Baptist

Don J. Brown, EditorE-Mail - editor@msbaptist.org

Web site www.msbaptist.org

USPS 353-960P.O. Box 8181

Laurel, Mississippi 39441-8000

Phone 601-426-3293

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Published on the 1st and15th of each month by the Bap-tist Missionary Association ofMississippi. Periodical postagepaid at Hattiesburg, MS 39402.

Postmaster:Send address changes toMississippi Baptist Paper

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Journal of the Baptist MissionaryAssociation of Mississippi

Don BrownEditor

THE TEACHER'S CORNERHELP FOR THE CHURCH'S CLASSROOM

Philip Attebery

Say it Againby Dr. Philip Attebery

Several years ago, while studying the first chapter of 2 Peter, Idiscovered a teaching idea. Peter promoted the need for spiritualgrowth by adding to a believer’s saving faith. Such additions keepus from being useless and unfruitful in our knowl-edge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, what is the teaching idea? Repeat yourmessage, or say it again.

Most of us know what we need for spiritualgrowth and have strong beliefs. Peter recognizedthose facts but felt it “meet” or right to do all hecould to “stir up” his readers by way of reminder.The word “meet” refers to something right in God’seyes. In 2 Peter 1:12-15, he mentioned “remem-brance” three times. Knowing his death was near,Peter stressed his diligence to do all he could to help his readersremember these truths after his death. He did so by saying thingsagain.

Since noticing Peter’s emphasis, that reminding others of whatthey already know and heartily believe is right in God’s eyes, I haveattempted to “preview” and “review” sermons or lessons. Be en-couraged to ask students what they learned about the previouslesson (i.e., say it again). Or, go ahead and give them a preview ofwhat is to come then when you teach, say it again. Most educatorsagree that it takes hearing something multiple times before it“clicks” or becomes permanent.

Follow Peter’s example and repeat points and highlights of yourmessages. Let me encourage you to, “Say it again!”Dr. Philip Attebery has served as Academic Dean at BMA Theo-logical Seminary, Jacksonville, Texas since 2000. He also teacheschurch ministry courses. He may be contacted atphilip.attebery@bmats.edu.

Much To ShareBelow you will find the totals given to this ministry during our

annual Special Emphasis Drive. It never ceases to amaze me howthe needs of this ministry are provided by our gracious Lord. Iknow that many churches have experienced a reduction in incomeover this past year due to the Covid pandemic. Nevertheless, manychurches and individuals gave selflessly. Each gift is sincerelyappreciated and certainly needed. Thank you to all who gave.

I would like to mention the gifts from Donald and PamelaPhillips. When I was elected your editor in 1978 Bro. VernonPhillips was serving on the Publications Trustee Board. Donald isthe son of Vernon and Lela Phillips. Pamela's parents are Milfordand Elsie Majors. Both of these couples faithfully ministered inchurches of the BMA of Mississippi. Their gifts were in memory ofVernon and Lela Phillips and in honor of Milford and Elsie Majors.What a blessing to remember and honor their parents through thesupport of this ministry.

Church TotalAntioch Baptist Church, Taylorsville ..................................$300.00Bethel Baptist Church, Wiggins .........................................$200.00Bethel Baptist Church, Louise ...........................................$500.00Big Creek Baptist Church, Soso .........................................$350.00Big Creek District WMA ..................................................... $50.00Calvary Baptist Church, Taylorsville ...................................$200.00Cypress Creek Baptist Church, Brookland ..........................$500.00Day Star Baptist Church, Sumrall ......................................$300.00Donald & Pamela Phillips, Rolling Fork ........................... $4,000.00First Baptist Church, Bay Springs ......................................$100.00First Baptist Church Of Calhoun, Laurel .............................$500.00First Baptist Church Of Shady Grove, Laurel ......................$250.00Forked Oak Baptist Church, Booneville ..............................$500.00Frank Panzrino, Tupelo ................................................... $100.00Linda Collins, Carthage...................................................... $50.00Little Creek Baptist Church, Perkinston ..............................$161.00New Bethany Baptist Church, Seminary .............................$120.00Palestine Baptist Church, Bay Springs ................................ $50.00Rock Creek Baptist Church, Union .....................................$200.00Scotland Baptist Church, Madison .....................................$250.00Shiloh Baptist Church, Mt. Olive ........................................$500.00Temple Baptist Church, Biloxi ...........................................$100.00Union Baptist Church, Bay Springs ..................................... $27.33Walnut Grove Baptist Church, Fulton .................................. $50.00Washington Baptist Church, Neely ..................................... $95.60Wilderness Baptist Church, Vicksburg ................................$300.00Total ....................................................................... $9,753.93

New Featured ColumnWe recently introduced a column directed toward our ladies by

Carolyn Hagler. In this issue you will find the first in a series ofhelpful notes directed toward teachers in the church. I reached outto our BMA Theological Seminary and shared with them an ideato present short, helpful suggestions for our classroom SundaySchool teachers and Bible teachers. The faculty and staff agreed tobegin helping in this effort. I am greatly appreciative for theirwillingness to take on this project.

The first of this series is found on this page and is by Dr. PhilipAttebery, the Academic Dean at BMATS. I hope our teachers willfind this helpful as they stand before those students put in theircare. Many of our church's classroom teachers are not 'professionalteachers' but they feel a calling to serve. Our Prayer is that theseregular tidbits of wisdom will help and encourage them to be ableto reach their students and to be more effective in sharing God'sWord.

Assistant Editor"Back in the Saddle"

Our Assistant Editor andmember of our Board of Trust-ees Bro. Corbey Jones was re-cently released from the hospi-tal after a 75 day ordeal dealingwith the Covid Virus. Godblessed Bro. Jones and he is a"survivor" of this horrible pan-demic that has taken the livesof so many.

Bro. Jones returned to hispulpit at Good Hope BaptistChurch, Stringer, Mississippi onFebruary 28. My wife and I wereblessed to be in this service alongwith his family and otherfriends. His text was from Psalm30 and centered on God's vic-tory over defeat, His healing,and His wonderful salvation.

Bro. Jones still has a longroad to full recovery. Pray forthe Jones family, Bro. Corbey,and Good Hope Church.

Website UpdateComing Soon

We are in the process of up-dating our website to make itmore user friendly and withsome new features. Our sitename will remain the same -msbaptist.org. We are testingand making updates on the newsite. You may review it at atemporary web address -newmsbaptist.org.

We encourage you to visit thesite and make any suggestionsand comments that will be help-ful.

Our efforts on every level -articles, new columns, updates,etc., are for the purpose of betterserving the churches and peopleof the BMA of Mississippi.

Survey or CommentsWe like to hear from our read-

ers concerning content prefer-ences. If you have comments onitems that you would like to seein the paper or on current con-tent we would like to hear fromyou.

We would be interested inyour reading habits of our cur-rent content. We are interestedin readers' thoughts on lengthof articles and reports as well ascontent. From previous conver-sations I have had individuals

admit that they read certainarticles and reports and usuallyskip others. Sometimes theywere candid as to their reasonsand sometimes not.

Do you read reports only thatyou are interested in or do youmake sure you read each to keepup with their ongoing minis-tries? (Each report is presentedto keep you informed about the

progress and needs of our over-all work and contain vital infor-mation)

We are constantly seekingarticles and writers that willminister to the interests andneeds of our churches and read-ers. If you have suggestionsplease share them with us.

You can email us ateditor@msbaptist.org.

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or in typed format by mail to P.O. Box 8181, Laurel, MS 39441.Photos should be emailed in jpg format. Photos should be well

lighted, clear and sharp. Photos should contain people if at all possible.There is no guarantee that all articles and/or photos will be published.Unsolicited items will be given consideration, but publication is notguaranteed. Date sensitive articles will take priority.

We publish on the 1st and 15th of each month with the exception ofDecember. Articles announcing events should be in the issue that ispublished at least 2 weeks prior.

3March 1, 2021 • Mississippi Baptist

BAPTIST MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION OF MISSISSIPPI

Missions Department &Revolving Loan Fund

State Missionaries, Coaches & Coordinators and Wives

www.bmams.org - 601.428.8616Larry Geraldson

Director

Kenneth & CarolePollock

Sidney & BeckyFarmer

Johnny & Neta Williams

Scott and SusanBrocious

Chris & DeeDeeYager

Estuardo &Yasmine Marroquin

Josh and Mary HelenDaniels

Jason and KylieHoward

Wesley & HolleyMartin

Daniel & SherriAllen

Refuge Baptist Mission – Kiln, Missis-sippi

Greetings to the BMA churches and asso-ciations of Mississippi. It is with great joyand hope that I can write this update. Wehave truly experienced great blessings so farthis year. We continue to meet new people,have new visitors, and see incredible num-bers each week. Our prayer is that thesenumbers will soon represent new souls saved,converts baptized, members joined, and serv-ing disciples. We have recently finished ourfirst discipleship course. It was a 5-weekcourse held in two different host homes. Weaveraged around 30 people between the twogroups. Each group is studying the samematerial. We will begin the second course ina couple of weeks. The idea has been to havea discipleship course that we can do at inter-vals of a few weeks at a time with a break of

“And Moses said unto the people, Fear yenot, stand still, and see the salvation of theLord, which he will shew to you today: for theEgyptians whom ye have seen today, yeshall see them again no more forever. TheLord shall fight for you, and ye shall holdyour peace. And the Lord said unto Moses,Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak untothe children of Israel, that they go forward:”Exodus 14:13-15

Israel was backed up to the Red Sea withPharaoh’s army pressing down upon themand they murmured to Moses saying, “Is notthis the word that we did tell thee in Egypt,saying, Let us alone, that we may serve theEgyptians?” With regret and anxiety, theybecame discouraged and defeated and beganto take their frustration out on the man ofGod. Moses gave to them what appears to begood counsel saying, “Fear ye not, stand still,and see the salvation of the Lord, which hewill shew to you today: for the Egyptianswhom ye have seen today, ye shall see themagain no more forever. The Lord shall fightfor you, and ye shall hold your peace.” Hetells them to “stand still” and “hold yourpeace” but when God speaks to Moses inverse 15 He says, “Wherefore criest thou

unto me? speak unto the children of Israel,that they go forward:” It is clear that God’scounsel and Moses’ counsel were not thesame. Moses instructed them to be still, butGod told them to move.

When faced with trials, like those that wehave experienced over the past year, it seemsthe human thing to do is to just hunker downand try to wait until the threat passes. Iremember my combat training concerningambushes. We were told the only response toan ambush was to go on the offensive. Neverhunker down. That seems to be good counselfor today, as well. Our churches and ourpeople need to go forward. We need to moveout sharply toward the goal that God hasgiven us to carry the gospel to the world. AsEcclesiastes will teach us, there is a time foreverything under the sun and this is one ofthose times that we need to get up and move.Sometimes even prayer can be an excuse.Notice what God said to Moses, “Whereforecriest thou unto me?” God had already toldMoses what to do and more prayer, when youalready know God’s will, can be an excuse tostand still and not move forward. We areclearly under attack; it even feels like anambush, so let’s get up and get going. Are we

going to have casualties? Yes! But we mustmove or die!

I believe our missionaries understand thisprinciple and they are on the move. They areworking, growing, and reaching people, de-spite the pandemic. I am confident that theirreports will bless your heart. I have beenprivileged to be out there with a number ofthem this past month and can tell you howexcited I am for the progress that is beingmade.

I want to introduce you to the newest ofour Missions Committee members. We aregrateful for the long-time service of the faith-ful men they are replacing, Bro. DennisKnight and Bro. BillyFerrell.

Bro. Justin Rhodes isthe Pastor of Big CreekBaptist Church in Soso,Mississippi. He has anAssociated of Arts De-gree from SoutheasternBaptist College and aMaster of Arts in Pasto-ral Theology from theBaptist Missionary As-sociation Theological

Seminary. He currently serves as the BMAof Mississippi Clerk and Chairman of theNominating Committee and as Vice Presi-dent of the BMA of America. He also serveson the National Coordinating Counsel and isthe Chairman of the Board for the BaptistPublishing House. We are grateful for hiswillingness to serve.

Bro. John Michael Poulin serves as a laypastor at Calvary Baptist Church in HornLake, Mississippi. Heis a former foreignmissionary to Peruand has more than adecade of foreign mis-sions church plantingexperience with theBaptist MissionaryAssociation ofAmerica (BMAA). Heis currently workingfor the BMAA’s De-partment of Missionsas a Latin AmericaCoordinator. John Michael is a graduate ofMid-America Baptist Theological Seminary(ADiv). We are grateful that he has joinedour committee.Justin Rhodes

John Michael &Angela Poulin

a couple of weeks in between each coursebook. The entire course is 6 books and we willfinish by the end of the year. This has broughtgreat growth among the people already. Wesee relationships continue to grow and geltogether. 

We are also planning to begin childrenand teen ministry on March 7th and con-tinue Sunday evenings at 6pm in the KilnShelter. We had a trial run of this ministryback in the Fall and found it to be successfuland needful. Pray that parents will bringtheir children or teens to this. 

As many of you know from our last updatethat we now have 6 acres of property in Kiln.We plan to have a couple of workdays inMarch to clean up some of the property. Itwill not be too much of a workload since theland has been cleared for a few years now andmaintained. Our plan is to have an outdoorservice on Easter Sunday morning with sometents being borrowed from Divine Grace inLong Beach. Join us in praying for thatservice and that the weather will cooperatewell. 

Another blessing is that we have morefamilies desiring to join and go through thenew members classes soon. So, hopefully, wecan see a few more additions to the ministryby summertime. 

As always, we appreciate each of you forthe support, prayers, and love. May we con-tinue to all work together as associatedchurches, missions, and ministries for thefurtherance of the gospel and the love ofJesus! Decreasing for HIS Increase, Bro.

Josh Daniels, Missionary Pastor

Redemption Baptist Mission – DiamondHead, MississippiDaniel Allen, Associate Missionary – “Greet-ings from Redemption Mission, we are ex-cited to see what God has in store for us in2021. We have been striving to get to thispoint where we can organize as a New Testa-ment Church. We should be finishing ourConstitution and By-Laws including ourStatement of Faith, very soon. I have had theprivilege to work with Brother Wesley dur-ing this process. I have also been meetingwith Brother Sidney Farmer over severalmonths for discipleship training. We aregetting close to the end of this, as well. I amlooking forward to my next phase of training.I have also been going and preaching atdifferent churches when given the opportu-nity. Thanks for your continued support andprayers.”Wesley Martin, Missionary Pastor – “Greet-ings from Diamond Head! I hope that thisreport finds you doing well. We continue tobe blessed by the Lord far above what wedeserve. We have settled back into regularmeetings on Sunday morning and Wednes-day night. We are using Sunday night foryouth classes and outreach. We have contin-ued to see great attendance throughout thesetroubled times. We have even been able tomeet some new families, recently. God hasblessed us with growth in numbers in vari-ous ways. Over the past few months, we havehad 5 newborns. I am thankful for these

young families and all the children aroundour church. It is a joy to see families beingraised in the church and taught the scrip-tures from a young age.

With all our growing families, we haverealized a need for building expansion. It hasbeen a year since we started meeting in ournew building and even now, we are begin-ning to fill it up. We have started working toget expansion plans drawn up. Just thisweek we had a productive meeting with ourmen and Bro. John Prickett to discuss thelay out. Our people are excited about thechurch growing and look forward to expand-ing so we can continue to grow in ministry.This expansion will first give us more sanc-tuary space. It will also allow us to use ourcurrent sanctuary for expanded youth andactivity space.  

As we plan to expand the building and seethe church grow, we feel it is a good time forus to organize. We are finishing up some ofthe last things we need to organize. We planto set a date for organization soon. I continueto work with missionaries across the state inmy Missionary Coach role. It has been a joyto work with these men and help themthrough the process. I thank you for yourcontinued support and prayers. May Godcontinue to bless you richly.”  

Missions Reportcontinued on page 6

Refuge Baptist Mission continues to growwhile meeting in a storm shelter in Kiln, MS

4 March 1, 2021 • Mississippi Baptist

Dr. Scott CarsonPresident

4229 Highway 15 North, Laurel, Mississippi 39440, (601) 426-6346

Southeastern Baptist College

Serving Christ With A Biblical World View In A Christian Atmosphere

President’s PerspectiveDo you like rollercoasters? For

as long as I can remember, Iavoided them at all cost. Every-one screaming their lungs outwas pretty much a turn off forme. I remember wondering whyanyone would want to terrorizethemselves like that! However,after having children and lis-tening to their pleas for me toaccompany them on coasters, Ihave discovered some are fun,but others are, well, terrifying!I learned I could handle someshort drops and tight turns likeon the Runaway Railroad atDisney. I can also do twists andloops with much joy. But the bigdrops? NO! If I see a rollercoaster that has steep and sus-

tained drops, Iwill not get onit.

You may beasking, “Butwere you notan airborneparatrooper?”Yes, I was. Ihave 78 jumpsfrom variousaircraft, but it’s actually a verydifferent experience from thatof a roller coaster. Except forone jump, I never experienced afalling sensation parachuting.It was more like stepping into afast running river that knockedme off my feet. Only once, off thetail of a CH-47 Chinook Heli-copter, did I get that gut wrench-

ing feeling of falling. So, for me,jumping from an aircraft becamerather fun and I had to remindmyself each time that what Iwas about to do was extremelydangerous and could kill me if Iwasn’t careful.

I sometimes feel like I’m on aroller coaster ride here at SBC.We have so many blessings eachweek, only to be followed by asudden drop in our joy as a newsignificant problem arises. Thispast week select members of thestaff and myself attended theAnnual Accreditation Confer-ence in Orlando. This has beenthe first time since I’ve been atSBC, that more than two staffmembers were able to attend.The conference and the break-

out sessions were extremely in-formative, motivating, and eventransformative! Our staff is veryexcited to apply what theylearned, toward the future ofSBC.

As we were in a taxi going tothe airport for our return jour-ney, we watched the final mo-ments of the men’s ChargersBasketball Team win the BibleCollege National InvitationalTournament! We were overjoyedfor the team and for SBC! As wecontinued our celebration at theterminal, sending congratula-tions to the team and coaches, Ireceived a text message inform-ing me that our handyman hadresigned. Oh, what a “drop” inour emotions as we sought tounderstand the challenge thatthis new situation had just cre-ated. We absolutely need a pro-active maintenance person!There is an endless list of thingsthat need attention on campus,another list of things that mustbe maintained, and another long

list of things to improve.These ups and downs are now

so common we can almost pre-dict them. For every three ups,there is one down, but praisethe Lord it isn’t the other wayaround! We are excited to seeGod’s hand advance the schoolin miraculous ways, yet out ofnowhere, we know another sig-nificant challenge will arise andmust be faced and overcome.

Pray that the Lord will soonsend us a part-time handyman!I and the staff can only spare somuch time towards the mainte-nance of the campus. We need toquickly find someone who pos-sesses the experience, knowl-edge, skills, and energy neces-sary for day to day operationsand the continued improvementof our infrastructure.“We are troubled on every side,yet not distressed; weare perplexed, but not in de-spair;” 2 Corinthians 4:8Equipping the Saints!

Dr. Carson

Golf Cart NeededCampus security volunteers need con-

venient transportation for makingrounds about campus, especially at night.A golf cart would be ideal. If you, or agroup, would like to donate a golf cart, orsimilar transportation to the college, giveus a call at 601-426-6346.

In MemoriamJim Ellzey family, Eddie Walker fam-

ily, and the Brenda Smith family re-cently provided a monetary gift to SBCin memory of Mrs. Sally Ruth Ellzey.Thank you for honoring Sally Ruth withyour gift to Southeastern. God bless you!

Thinking of AttendingAnother School? Think Again!

Southeastern Baptist College is des-ignated by Intelligent.com as the "BestTwo Year University" for Online BibleColleges out of 201 institutions acrossthe U.S. In the last 4 years we have beenranked number one out of hundreds ofcolleges and universities two times! Andwe have consistently been in the top 25.SBC is also one of the top 10 least expen-sive schools among thousands of col-leges in the country. Contact the SBCAdmissions Officer today! What on earthare you waiting for? 601-426-6346.

Veterans BenefitsSBC possesses the Gold Award level

as a military friendly college! Have youserved in America’s armed forces? Thenyou probably have Veterans Adminis-tration tuition benefits that you can usetoward a free education right here atSBC. I urge you to contact your local VArepresentative for an evaluation of yourbenefits. You earned them! SBC hasnumerous students receiving VA assis-tance for both online and in-classroomtuition.

Amazon SmileAnyone shopping on Amazon can selectSoutheastern Baptist College as yourcharity. When you do this, a portion ofyour purchase price will go directly toSBC as a donation from Amazon Smile!Thank you for those who are alreadyusing this unique method to benefit SBC.Be sure to choose Southeastern BaptistCollege and NOT the Southeastern Bap-tist College Foundation. Also, be carefulwhich you choose because numerous or-ganizations have “Southeastern” in theirname.

Need A Pulpit Filled?“Preach the word...” 2 Timothy 4:2. I

am ready to fill your pulpit! If you are inneed of a guest preacher or request apersonal report on the college, contactme, Dr. Carson at 601-433-4736 or atscarson@southeasternbaptist.edu

National Champions!The SBC men’s basketball team re-

cently won the Bible College NationalInvitational Tournament in Jacksonville,Forida! The Lady Chargers came in sec-ond in the same tournament! We areproud of our players and coaches fortheir exemplary representation of SBC!Go Chargers!

Chargers BaseballChargers baseball has begun! Come

out and support the first year of Charg-ers baseball. They are playing on Wooten-Legion Field, 1215 West Drive, Laurel,Mississippi. The season schedule is lo-cated near this announcement.

Volunteers answer the emergency call tofix a leaking frozen water line

Chargers BasketballTeam wins the

2021 Bible CollegeNational Invitational

Tournament

Around the SBC Campus

Champion Team Coaches Hall and Gibson

English class enjoys a day at the LaurenRogers Museum in Laurel

KassidyUlmer

commits tojoining

next year’sSBC

softballteam

5March 1, 2021 • Mississippi Baptist

SBC Staff recently attended the Associa-tion for Biblical Higher Education annualconference

Dr. Carson accepts an award on behalf ofthe SBC Board of Trustees for their suc-cessful completion of their Board Gover-nance Training with our accrediting agency

Professor Matt Olson, Pastor of First BaptistChurch of Sharon, speaking in chapel

SoutheasternBaptist College

In His Gripby Carolyn Hagler

Carolyn Hagler

Old Friends on Life’s RoadA desire of mine and my sister was to

go on a cruise. I should have knownwhen I told her that I would go only if shefound one with a preacher I admired,gospel singers I enjoyed, and a place Iwanted to see, that it was a matter oftime. It seemed that she called immedi-ately. “Charles Stanley, Greater Vision,Legacy 5, and Alaska.” I was hooked!

That cruise was about 20 years ago,but I still remember the beauty of thesights I had never seen, music that liftedmy spirits, good friends that we spenttime with, and sound biblical preaching.

One quote of Dr. Charles Stanley hasstayed with me all these years, “A godlyfriend is one of the greatest assets youhave.” Dr. Stanley mentioned that weare fortunate to have two or three realfriends--you know the kind who standwith you no matter what. They love us,understand us, forgive us, and encour-age us. True friends aren’t perfect, butthey bring you closer to God.

One of those true friends shared a lotwith me: a love for the Lord, southerngospel music, plants, dogs, birds, travel,

etc. I learned many things from her:Health. Though she was a health nut,

we enjoyed Krispy Kreme doughnutsand Apple Barn Sparkling Cider everynight after Praise Fest in Pigeon Forge.Krispy Kreme has never tasted as goodagain.

Humor. Her good sense of humor ranout when I locked her in the car after aconcert. In my defense, it took her for-ever to gather her things and get out ofthe car. I just thought she was beingunusually slow. When my sister and Iwere halfway to the motel room, I lookedback. Do you remember Wile E. Coyote’sface as he realized he had run off thecliff? Never dawned on me she couldn’tunlock the door. I never heard the end ofthat story.

Sensitivity. I was in Houston, Texas,for Hurricane Katrina. My brother-in-law was battling cancer at M. D. Ander-son, and I went to be with my family.With two trees down, my roof and fencedamaged, my yard a mess, and no elec-tricity, I dreaded coming home. When Iarrived home about a week later, late inthe day, she was waiting so that Iwouldn’t be alone as I saw the damage.She even took me out to eat at one of thefew restaurants open. She was also theone who had the sensitive spirit for hurt-ing people. If a friend or someone wewere witnessing to was hurting, she al-ways listened and found the words ofcomfort needed.

Long-Term Memory. She had thememory of an elephant. Remember her

sensitivity during Katrina. Well, she wasone of the friends who cleaned out myrefrigerator and freezer before I camehome. I heard on a regular basis aboutthe shrimp I left in my freezer. I promiseI would have eaten them before I lefthome if I had known how long I wouldhear about them.

Animals. She loved dogs and alwayshad one. My Koda did not like her. Howmany times would she ask, “Why doesn’tKoda like me?” You can’t make a dog likeanyone--until that dog wants to punishanother friend she loved. Koda finallyliked her.

Lost Opportunities. One desire of herheart was to go on the Alaskan Cruisewith Dr. Stanley. Five of us made plansin 2014 for the trip. I’ll always rememberthe day she came over and told me herplans to cancel her reservation. She wasafraid a roommate wouldn’t be foundand she would have to pay the entire costof the trip. Fear kept her from one of thedesires of her heart only to die a fewmonths later from injuries in a wreck.

Singing Even When It Hurts. Shealways had the sweetest expression asshe sang. But I remember crying with

her at Greater Vision concerts as theysang, “God wants to hear you sing.” Andshe did sing during the happy times aswell as the hard times of her life. I stillthink of her when I hear that beautifulsong.

I haven’t mentioned her name becauseI want you to think of your dear friendswho hold that special place in your heart.Do you need to reach out in love, writethat letter you’ve never written, placethat phone call? Now is the time.

I can smile with thoughts of SharonLucy today because of precious memo-ries that I hold dear, just as many of youwho knew her. In fact, I’ve borrowed mytheme from Sharon’s kitchen plaque: “InHis Grasp, By His Grace, For His Glory.”I changed it to also honor my favoritesouthern gospel pianist, Roger Bennett.

As J. Vernon McGee said, “Friendshipand fellowship are the legal tender amongbelievers.” As believers we are million-aires in old friends.

Until next time, I remain in His Grip.Carolyn Hagler is a retired educator anda member of Westover Baptist Church inHattiesburg. You may conact her viaemail at cmhagler@bellsouth.net

Jacksonville College Seeking PresidentJacksonville College, a vibrant, faith-based, liberal arts institution, is accepting

applications for the office of President. Applicants must have an earned Doctoratedegree, with Education or related disciplines preferred. This confident, well-spokenleader must be a conservative, growing Christian with deep experi-ence in institutional development, fund-raising, and administration.Pastoral ministry-related experience is a plus.

For consideration, please send: A cover letter; A personalresume which includes family information, your history of workexperience, your personal testimony of faith; contact informationfor three references.

Please email your application to: dpage@hillcrestbc.com Ap-ply by April 10, 2021 for full consideration.

Jacksonville College was founded in 1899, and is affiliated with the BaptistMissionary Association of Texas and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

Just The Crumbs Update - 2021Lavon Haden, president

Just the Crumbs personally responded to seven disasters during 2020 andsupplied funds to Belle Fontaine Baptist Church on Dauphin Island Parkway inAlabama after Hurricane Sally damaged the roofs on the church building, educationbuilding, and the parsonage.

During this winter we have car-ried boxes of food supplies to thosein our areas who can use a helpinghand as well as doing necessaryequipment upkeep. A tornadotore through Fultondale, Alabamaon January 25, 2021; Just theCrumbs set up in an old Shoney’sbuilding and began feeding volunteers and families in a trailer park on February 6.The volunteers returned to their regular schedules and a church took up the feedingin the trailer park, so we were free to carry our whole team to Foley, Alabama onThursday, February 18 to fulfil a scheduled week of feeding Team Acts 20:35, whowill be making house repairs that are needed due to Hurricane Sally.

We are aware of needs caused by the ice storms across Texas and will be checkingto see if our assistance could be helpful in some area. Please pray for our efforts.

Every gesture of goodwill in the form of words, prayers, hands-on help, orfinancial help is noted and we thank God for it. Please continue praying for God togreatly use this ministry.

To get questions answered you may call Beth Burkes at 662-582-6667, LavonHaden at 601-522-6055, or Mike Angus at 228-669-1108.

We always welcome and need your donations. These may be made by PayPal tojustthecrumbs21@gmail.com; mailed to Just the Crumbs, 10 Wagon Trail, Sumrall,MS 39482; or mailed to BMAA Missions, P.O. Box 878, Conway, AR 72033 anddesignated to Just the Crumbs.

6 March 1, 2021 • Mississippi Baptist

MORAL ACTIONBaptist Missionary Association of America

Dr. John M. Adams,DirectorP.O. Box 305, Mantachie, MS 38855 - 662-231-3863

On The Web at www.macbma.net/Email - fbcdjmaj@yahoo.com

Dr. Adams

Living Hope Baptist Mission –Meridian, Mississippi

Growth is exciting and conta-gious. As church planters, our dailyprayer is to see the church experi-ence growth. But all too often, wehave pigeonholed our excitementand prayers for growth in the realmof numbers. If we are growingnumerically, we determine thatchurch growth is taking place. Butthese past two months have re-minded me that growth is morethan numbers. Late December,January and early February werefilled with trials and difficulties forour new, baby church. Betweenlong quarantines, unscheduled sur-geries, family death, health prob-lems, and job difficulties, every fam-ily in our church experienced oneor more of life trials like these.These trials tested our numbers,but it grew and strengthened ourchurch. The past 6 weeks haveseen some of our lowest attendedservices, but produced some of ourgreatest weeks of growth in love,

“Should We Still Pray For Our Political Leaders?”

Pray for our leaders, for wis-dom and guidance in the days tocome. Pray for both parties,that they will put aside theiranimosity and partisan politicsfor the sake of the unity of ourgreat nation. Pray that the hos-tility will cease,and that peace-makers fromboth sides of theaisle will pro-vide the coura-geous leader-ship so desper-ately needed.

When Ben-jamin Franklin emerged fromthe Constitutional Conventionin Philadelphia after helpingforge the U.S. Constitution, hewas asked what sort of govern-ment the delegates had created.His reply was, “A republic, ifyou can keep it.” Billy Graham

Our nation was born in aquest for religious liberty andfounded on Christian moral andspiritual principles. JohnAdams, an original signer of theDeclaration of Independenceand our second president, wrotea profound letter to the Massa-chusetts Militia in the fall of

1798, saying: “Our Constitutionwas made only for a moral andreligious people. It is whollyinadequate to the governmentof any other.”

II. James 5:16 – “Confess yourfaults one to another, and prayone for another, that ye may behealed. The effectual ferventprayer of a righteous manavaileth much.”

I Timothy 2:1-2 – “I exhorttherefore, that, first of all, sup-plications, prayers, interces-sions, and giving of thanks, bemade for all men. For kings,and for all that are in authority;that we may lead a quiet andpeaceable life in all godlinessand honesty.”

What a difficult and differentapproach to governmental au-thority. Even if we disagree, weare to pray for those who rulethe daily affairs of our lives.

The early church had beenaccused of action against thedecrees of Caesar and havinganother king, Jesus Himself(Acts 17:7). Their enemies ef-fectively accused them of dis-satisfaction with the ruling par-ties. Paul encouraged these

Our Heavenly Father hasn’tpromised that every politicalleader will become pure andrighteous if we pray, but He stillcommands us to pray for ourleaders and those of other na-tions as well. The Bible says, “Iexhort therefore, that, first ofall, supplications, prayers, in-tercessions, and giving ofthanks, be made for all men.For kings, and for all that are inauthority; that we may lead aquiet and peaceable life in allgodliness and honesty.” (I Timo-thy 2:1-2).

You might say the world isstill rocked by conflicts and cor-ruption and lawlessness but letme ask you a question. Howmuch worse would the world beif God’s people didn’t pray? What

if we simply gave up and al-lowed the devil to carry on hisschemes without interference?We may never know what im-pact our prayers are having –but God is still at work in re-sponse to the prayers of Chris-tians. “I’ve never witnessed suchintense hatred and vitriol inWashington D.C. The disdainbetween the Democratic and Re-publican parties has plunged tonew depths. The drive to rule istearing our country apart.”Lloyd Ogilvie

I. “Praying always with allprayer and supplication in theSpirit, and watching thereuntowith all perseverance and sup-plication for all saints.”(Ephesians 6:18)

early believers to look to God asthe One who had placed thesemen in authority.

Pray that they would havewisdom. This was Solomon’sprayer as he ruled the nation ofIsrael - that he would have “anunderstanding mind to governthe people” (1 Kings 3:9). Praythat our leaders would havewisdom to know right and thestrength to do it.

Pray that they would havediscernment. This is the abilityto know right from wrong; toknow God’s leading as opposedto the leading of the enemy (IKings 3:9). Pray that God wouldprotect them from lies and de-ception.

Pray that they would be in-struments of God. This wasPaul’s instruction in Romans13:4; that rulers, authorities,and governing bodies were ac-tually “servants of God”. Praythat our leaders would lead asociety marked by tranquility,godliness, and dignity

Oh, how we need all of Chris-tian folk to rise up in prayer.God can and will hear us as wepray!

Missions Reportfrom page 3

grace, and care for one another. Ithas thrilled my heart to hear offamilies contacting, praying for,encouraging, and going out of theirway for one another. We have seenthis new church act in maturitythrough these difficult weeks.

Coming out of a season of testingis exciting, as well! This past Sun-day, February 21st, we were able tohave the majority of our group backtogether, and the Lord blessed with4 visitors. As it was great to be backto normal numbers, it was evenbetter to see the bond that was builtover the past few months. It was asweet Sunday of worship in Spiritand fellowship. Keep praying forus! Pray that the Lord will con-tinue to knit our hearts together.Pray for souls to be saved. Over1200 invitations with gospel pre-sentations have gone out this pastmonth and half with many per-sonal connections. Please pray thatthese will produce fruit. Pray forwisdom as we strive to minister toall that God has given us. Breth-ren pray for us!

We have some exciting fewmonths planned ahead with start-ing new Bible studies, camps, andnew outreaches. We look forward

to sharing with you all that theLord will accomplish in the nextfew months! May the Lord blessyou as strive to serve Him! – ChrisYager, Missionary Pastor

Canaan Land Baptist Mission –Buckatunna, Mississippi

It is our prayer that this reportfinds you well. Things have beenmoving along well at the missionwork here in Buckatunna. Westarted our mid-week services atthe beginning of February and our

members are enjoying this. TheLord laid it upon our hearts to uti-lize this meeting time to really goover and teach some basic BibleBaptist doctrine. Our people seemto be enjoying this and learningquite a bit. We have also been start-ing and ending these services withsome Bible drills and trivia ques-tions based on these lessons, andour young people enjoy this. It

helps keep their attention throughthe lesson. They are never too youngto learn what we believe and whywe believe it. As the word of Godstates in Proverbs 22 “train up achild in the way he should go: andwhen he is old, he will not departfrom it.”

Brother Geraldson and his wifeMrs.Cherita had the opportunityto come and be with us on Wednes-day night February 10th, and theywere a blessing to us.

We have had a chance to visitsome new people and are makingnew contacts. Please help us praythey will accept the invitation tocome and worship with us. Ourprayer is that the Lord will give theincrease according to his will.

Saturday, February 27th we willbe doing a community outreach andgiving away Chick-Fil-A sandwichbags and gospel tracts. Our prayeris to let the people within our com-munity know that we love themand hope the gospel of Christ canfind its way into the hands of peoplein need. Please pray for these ef-forts. We will also be having a gos-pel sing on Saturday, March 6thstarting at 6pm. Big Blessing willbe with us. If you can make it, we

would love to see you and use thisfor a time of worshiping our Savior,as well as, good Christian fellow-ship. Our address is 1863 Hwy 45S Buckatunna, Mississippi, foranyone interested in coming.

I have also had the opportunityto give an update on this missionwork to several of our churchesover the last month. It is always anamazing opportunity to visit ourchurches and tell them about whatGod is doing in this mission work.With that being said, if you wouldlike us to come and give a report toyour church, feel free to reach out tome. I am available most Sundayevenings. Would you please prayfor us as we labor in this work?Also, pray specifically that God soft-ens the heart of the people here,and show them their need of a Sav-ior, as well as, a Bible believing,Bible preaching, and Bible teach-ing Baptist church.

As always, I would like to thankyou all from the bottom of my heartfor your continued support bothprayerfully,as well as, monetarily.We could not do this without you.May God Bless you all, Bro. ScottBrocious, Missionary Pastor

Midway Baptist Mission,Batesville, Mississippi

Greetings form your mission inthe Batesville/Oxford area. Thankyou all for your interest, prayers,and financial support. We are con-tinuing to reach out to the localcommunities in search of those whodo not know the Lord as Savior,and of those who are backsliddenand no longer attending any of theseveral churches nearby. Visitation

Living Hope

Baptist Mission

Meeting at the

Riley Center in

Meridian, MS

Canaan Land Baptist Mission nowmeeting in there newly renovatedsanctuary

Missions Director Larry Geraldsonpreaching at Canaan Land BaptistMission in Buckatunna, MS

continued on page 7

7March 1, 2021 • Mississippi Baptist

is still limited because of the ongoing pan-demic and lately the weather, but all themembers are talking to close neighbors,friends, and family members. We believethat the Lord is working in the hearts of thepeople and soon we will recover our lossesand gain in our worship attendance.

We continue to have good services and thepeople are learning how to operate as a NewTestament Church. The doctrinal statementsof the BMA of Mississippi are being taught,along with discipleship and church polity.Work has begun on several documents thatwill be necessary to have in place whenMidway organizes into an autonomous body.A draft of the Constitution and By-Laws isready to be presented to the members and aChurch Policy Manual is almost ready.

Much teaching, discussion, writing, andprayer will be required over the next severalmonths, but we believe that we will be able toorganize in the Fall of 2021. Keep us in yourprayers as we seek to do the Lord’s work andestablish a doctrinally sound BMA church inthe Batesville area. May God bless you inyour Christian service, and may God be glo-rified through your labors. Dr. Kenneth Pol-lock, Missionary Pastor.

Salt Light Baptist Mission – Waveland,Mississippi

Salt Light Baptist Mission made the deci-sion to meet each week regardless of theCOVID-19 situation. We are letting peopleknow if they feel sick or have any of thesymptoms, they should take precautions.Also, if they want to wear a mask it is per-fectly fine. We provide hand sanitizer andspray with Lysol before service. Our atten-dance has been about the same so far thisyear with about 17-20 and we have beenhaving first time visitors and repeat visitors.We recently had two additions to the Mis-sion; one on statement and one on professionof faith and as a candidate for baptism. We

are really excited about starting back up onWednesday nights for Bible study and fel-lowship supper. The attendance and responsefrom our people are very encouraging andtruly uplifting to my soul! We still have a fewwork projects to complete in both our build-ings and I recently met with our motherchurch and made plans with them to startworking on some in the next few weeks. Werecently launched our new website atwww.saltlightwaveland.com. As always, Iwant to thank you all for your prayers andsupport, they really mean so much to us atSalt Light Baptist Mission. We love you all. 

Missionary Pastor Johnny Williams

Hispanic Missions Report –Bro. Estuardo MarroquinHATTIESBURG MISSION

We thank God for the Hispanic mission inHattiesburg. The congregation continues totake firm steps in our Lord's way. Leo Adanreports good news of the Hispanic mission.Over the past few weeks, they have contin-ued worship services, small group meetings,and prayer meeting. Friday nights, Bro. Leo

spends time training several men who over-see the small groups in the mission. Atten-dance at worship services has averaged 35people. Since the beginning of the year, theyhave implemented their work plan and arebeginning to see fruits of their work. They

have contacted new people and started at-tending worship services. They have sharedthe gospel to several people and as a resulthave had professions of faith and alreadyhave some brethren to be baptized. We thankGod for the life of Brother Leo Adan and thegreat work he is doing in the Hispanic mis-sion of Hattiesburg.

CANTON MISSIONBro. Lucas Gómez reports from the city of

Canton some advances in the Hispanic mis-sion. In recent weeks, they have undergonesome changes because some people in theHispanic community have moved to othercities and states. This has been the result ofthe closure of a chicken processing plant inwhich many Hispanic people work. How-ever, Brother Lucas has stood firm in hiswork plan. In the last few weeks, he hascontacted some new people in the area andshared the gospel of salvation for them. ThankGod two people have accepted Christ as Sav-ior. Bro. Lucas reports that he has had somenew contacts from people living in theClinton, Mississippi area. This has encour-aged him and he is preparing to visit thesepeople in this area. We thank you for yourprayers and help for this Hispanic work.

EL CAMINO CHURCH, LAURELEl Camino church reports good news over

the past few weeks. On February 14th they

had an incredibly special worship servicethanking God for 19 years of serving Him asa church. They had a special time to shareGod's blessings. Brother JohnMichael Poulinwas the guest speaker, who gave a greatmessage of God's Word by encouraging allbrethren to continue serving and dedicatingtheir lives to God. At the end of the meeting,they had a great lunch with traditional foodfrom Mexico and Central America: Tama-les!. In the coming weeks, the evangelismteam prepares with training to testify and isstarting work on their plan. They have setsome evangelism goals for this year and oneof them is to be able to share the gospel ofsalvation to more than 100 people in JonesCounty in the Hispanic community. Wethank God for the El Camino Baptist Churchand all her efforts to move forward in mis-sionary work.

NUEVA ESPERANZA (NEW HOPE HIS-PANIC ASSOCIATION)

The New Hope Hispanic Association willhold its meeting on March 6. They will meetat Lone Oak Baptist Church in the city ofWest Point. We thank Pastor John Parkerand the congregation for giving us the privi-lege of using their church facilities and con-ducting the association meeting. The His-panic association continues to encourage eachChurch and Hispanic mission to participatein missionary support. Thank God they aresupporting with offerings to two workers:Bro. Lucas Gómez (Canton) and Bro.Humberto Regalado (Tupelo).

The first week of January, I had the op-portunity to meet with missionaries Leo Adanand Lucas Gómez. Pastor Marciano Montalvowas also present and we talked about theprogress of the missions. I had the opportu-nity to listen to their concerns and needs. Wealso talked about joining efforts to expandmissionary fields. As a result of this meet-ing, we agreed to start visiting with Bro.Lucas, the cities of Isola and Clinton. BrotherLeo expressed a desire to help the HispanicMission in Biloxi and from March they willstart to help in this area, having the supportof some brothers from Hattiesburg HispanicMission. We also put in calendar dates toperform training called "Multiplication". OnMarch 20th we will hold the first Hispanicmissionary conference for this year. Thisconference will take place in the city ofHattiesburg on the premises of WestoverBaptist Church. We thank Pastor SamOglesby and the congregation for allowingus to use their church facilities.

I thank our Lord for the opportunity Hegives me to serve alongside all these men ofGod who have dedicated their lives to magni-fying the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.We ask for your prayers for them and myfamily. In Christ, Estuardo Marroquin, His-panic Missions Manager

Restoration Ministries –Dr. Paul Spurlin

Restoration continues to work with juve-nile detainees and adult prisoners in theJones County juvenile and adult detentioncenters. Since our last update in this paper,we have visited the juvenile center on Febru-ary 5 and February 19 and have visited theadult center on January 29 and February 19.

In our February 5 meeting, Bro. BrodyMcCool, youth pastor at First, Bay Springs,helped minister to four residents in juveniledetention. Two were aged 14 and two wereaged 16. On February 19, I met with juveniledetainees. Two of these young people, ages14 and 16, were in our meeting on Febru-

Missions Reportfrom page 6

www.saltlightwaveland.com

Bro. Estuardo Marroquin meeting withHispanicMissionaries

Bro. Lucus

Gomez

sharing the

gospel in Canton

continued on page 8

Keith Gordon Passes AwayBro. Gerald Keith Gordon, 74, passed away

on February 18, 2021, at his home.Keith was born on October 5, 1946, in

Picayune, Mississippi, to Reverend G.H. andMiriam Gordon. As ayoung man, he felt the callto the ministry. He wasordained by Creston HillsBaptist Church in Jack-son. After graduating fromProvine High School in1965, he moved to Laurel,to attend SoutheasternBaptist College (1965-1970). He later earned hisB.S. from William CareyUniversity (1978), M. Div. from New Or-leans Baptist Theological Seminary (1981),and D. Min. also from New Orleans BaptistTheological Seminary (1986).

He had been in the ministry for 56 years. He was preceded in death by his parents,and his eldest sister, Tessa Gordon Darst.He is survived by his wife of 49 years, JudyHolifield Gordon; daughter, Dr. Jessica E.Gordon; son, Gerald K. Gordon, II (Lauren);grandson, Nicholas Gordon; sisters, CathyJohnson (Jay), Asheville, NC, DonnaStrickland (Nick), Gulfport, MS, ConnieLowe, Laurel, MS, and a number of niecesand nephews.

Services were held February 26, at FirstBaptist Church Shady Grove, Laurel, MS.

Keith Gordon

Scripture Thoughts by CleaverPhilemon 7 “For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because thebowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.“

Philemon was an encourager. He was the kind of Christian other discipleswanted to be around. He was busy with others, not himself. Hewas focused on others, not himself. Oh how we need more likehim in our churches today! The New Testament is replete withwhat we would call “men of encouragement.” Luke referencedBarnabas as “Son of Encouragement” in Acts 4.36. Luke alsospeaks of Barnabas encouraging the young church in Antioch(Acts 11.23). Paul commented how Stephanas, Fortunatus, andAchaicus refreshed his spirit (1 Corinthians 16.17-18). They toowere encouragers to the saints.

Dear Reader, as your fellow believers work with you, where do you thinkthey would place you on an “encourager scale” of 1 to 10? A 10 would placeyou right up there with Philemon and those like him mentioned in the NewTestament. You do not want to be placed down the scale toward the area of1, or 2, or 3. At this point on the scale, let’s just say you are not seen by othersas an encourager. You do not refresh the hearts of your fellow saints. Youhave no love that brings joy and encouragement to others. Review theconclusion of this letter (verse 25): “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ bewith your spirit.” Let that be your resource for encouraging behavior.

Dr. Tony Cleaver is a retired U.S. Army Chaplain and Director of DistanceLearning for BMA Seminary.

You may contact him at jstmcleaver@embarqmail.com

Tony Cleaver

8 March 1, 2021 • Mississippi Baptist

Jason HowardDirector

History & Archives Comm ission4226 Highway 15 North, Laurel, Mississippi 39440

Notice of Planned ConstitutionalChanges

Proposed Constitutional changes to the By-Lawsof the Mississippi Baptist Commission on History and Ar-

chives.

Proposed Constitutional changes in Bold TypeArticle II – PurposeThe purpose of this commission shall be to:1. Gather and preserve information from the churches, pastors, mission-aries, and various departments of the Baptist Missionary Association ofMississippi.2. Publish information when necessary.3. Correspond and cooperate with other archival libraries for exchangeinformation.4. Collect and disburse funds received and give regular reports to theassociation.5. (Proposed Constitutional Change) – Bring the History andArchives department to the churches by republishing certainbooks, tracts, etc. containing doctrinal or historical informationrelevant to BMA churches of Mississippi and making theserepublished works available to the people and churches of theBMA of Mississippi.

Article III as currently stated in Handbook.Article III – StaffSection 2: Librarian And Designated Personnela) Personnel: The librarian of Southeastern Baptist College shall serve asthe custodian of the commission’s holdings.b) Duties: The Librarian or designated person’s responsibility is to:1. Catalog and file all holdings of commission.2. Serve as the treasurer of the commission and to receive and disbursefunds as directed by a majority vote of commission and/or association.3. Supply a financial report to the director to be given at the annual sessionof the association.

(Proposed Constitutional Change to Article III – Staff)Article III – StaffSection 2: Custodian and Designated Personnela) Personnel: The Director shall appoint some person, at hisdiscretion, who shall serve as custodian of the commission’sholdings.1. Duties: Catalog and file all holdings of the commission.a) Personnel: The Director shall appoint a Treasurer of thecommission. (Custodian may serve as Treasurer)1. Duties: Receive and disburse funds as directed by majorityvote of commission and/or association.2. Duties: Supply a financial report to the Director to be given atthe annual session of the association.a) Personnel shall be compensated for their work. Compensa-tion to be determined by Director.b) Personnel shall hold membership in a BMA church.

Please forward all correspon-dence for the History andArchives Department to

4226 Hwy 15 NorthLaurel, MS 39440

Baptists Need Doctrinal Emphasis

The following article was writ-ten by Chauncey R. Daley andpublished in the Western Re-corder in 1963. It was later re-published the same year in theBaptist Record, and by the Provi-dence of God, it now finds itsplace in the Mississippi Baptistnearly 60 years later. Of course,I do not know the author, nor isthere any indication in the ar-ticle concerning his particularBaptist views. That aside, I dobelieve the sentiments heshared then are even more rel-evant to our own time.

Mr. Chauncey obviously wit-nessed in his own time a declinein regard to Doctrinal Empha-sis. We would like to say BaptistDoctrine is Bible Doctrine, andin fact true Baptist Doctrine is.But of course, in the day that welive, and no doubt in the author’sown time, that would depend onwhat “Baptist” you asked. Thetime-honored title Baptist hassadly lost much of the historyand doctrine infused into it overthe years. This has happened,in part, because there was and

remains a lack of DoctrinalEmphasis.

Mr. Chauncey observed, “Ofthose things for which we shouldbe concerned at this time, noneis more disturbing than the ap-palling ignorance of most Bap-tists as to what they believe.Many Baptists find that friendsof other faiths can say quicklyand clearly why they are whatthey are while they themselvesare hard put and flounder whenasked what they believe.

There are many reasons forthis doctrinal ignorance amongpresent day Baptists. One ofthese is the lack of any effectiveindoctrination plans in mostBaptist churches for new mem-bers. New member classes arehelpful, but except in isolatedinstances they are not required,and thus are passed up by mostmembers. We seem to be so anx-ious to have new members thatwe don’t take the trouble to makecertain they share basic convic-tions Baptists have cherishedthrough the centuries.

Most modern-day Baptistpreaching is not characterizedby strong doctrinal content.

Comparison between a volumeof typical modern day Baptistsermons and a volume of Bap-tist sermons under older gen-erations reveals a great differ-ence in doctrinal content andemphasis. In earlier days wefelt we had to give a reason forour faith; nowadays we are thedominant group in many places,and we feel no compulsion tosay why we believe what we do.

C on t empo -rary Baptistpreaching ischaracterized bysuch themes ase v a n g e l i s m ,missions, stew-ardship, andChristian mo-rality. Surely these are basic,but too often methods are em-phasized to the exclusion of thedoctrinal basis from which thesethemes stem. Every year theBaptist calendar becomes more

and more crowded with specialthemes and promotional causes.When the preacher finishes withthese there are few opportuni-ties left for doctrinal messages.

There is a kind of doctrinalpreaching by some Baptistpreachers which discouragesother preachers form beingknown as a doctrinal preacher.This is that done by a few preach-ers who take several doctrinalemphases and give them anemphasis all out of proportion.They major on minors and mi-nor on majors. This approachproduces hearers who are longon some points, but short onunderstanding the great bodyof Baptist Doctrine.”

Missions Reportfrom page 7

ary 5, and the other two were both15 years old. A new shipment ofBibles had arrived for our ministryfor the February 19 meeting, so wegave a Bible to all four residents.Our study that night came fromEphesians 4:17-32. As we spokeabout avoiding sinful anger, two ofthe residents admitted that theyhave a problem with anger. Both ofthem were part of our two meetingsin February and both are in deten-tion for violations related to fight-ing. As you pray for our ministrywith all of these young men, pleasepray specifically for these two whoadmit to having a problem withanger.

As Bro. Gil Odom and I minis-tered to eleven adult prisoners onJanuary 29, it was an unusuallytense time in the jail. The men toldus that there had been a disagree-ment in the jail that day, appar-ently among prisoners. The staff ofthe jail had been searching the pris-oners’ housing units and movingmen to different locations withinthe jail. As you can imagine, theprisoners attending our servicewere initially distracted and hav-ing a hard time focusing. However,God was gracious and allowed usgreat freedom to preach and a goodresponse from the prisoners. Oneminor point in the study that nightreferenced Acts 16, which allowedGod’s Word to encourage the menby showing them that in dark timesin a jail, God may do amazingthings. Following the study time,one of the prisoners spoke, namingmany sinful activities that he hadtried but that he had come to theconclusion that nothing comparesto stepping into God’s light andcontinuing in it. He directly chal-lenged other prisoners who aresaved to work in obedience andallow God to use them to reachothers that only they may have theopportunity to reach. Followingthe service, several prisoners ap-proached me individually. One,who Bro. Estuardo Marroquin wasable to lead to the Lord on his visitto the jail, asked specifically aboutBro. Estuardo returning to minis-ter to other Hispanic prisoners cur-rently in the jail. Another threeasked me about getting them studymaterials. One wanted a Bible, onea Study Bible, and one a Bible dic-tionary. Thank God for his bless-ings!

We have been encouraged as wehave started seeing prisoners inmultiple services. Out of the elevenin the January 29 adult service, Ibelieve six have been in servicewith us before. We also have somespecific challenges for which I needyou to pray. You may have noticedthat our ministry visited both theyouth and adult facility on Febru-ary 19. It is quite tiring to ministerto these groups consecutively inone evening, which highlights ourneed for a church in the JonesCounty area to be willing to helpwith this ministry. Please praythat God will burden a church to

help minister to those in jail inJones County. If your church isinterested, please contact the Mis-sions Office. Also, on February 19as we tried to bring into the adultjail the Bibles and the specific studymaterials that prisoners had re-quested, we were prevented fromdoing so. This was unusual as wehave not been stopped previouslyfrom bringing Bibles into this facil-ity. Please pray that I can workwith jail administration to be ableto continue providing Bibles forprisoners and specific study mate-rials that they request. Thank youfor letting Restoration work on yourbehalf. May God bless all of you.

Missionary Coach Report –Sidney Farmer

All our Missionary Coaches arebusy with various training and dis-cipleship with our Missionaries andAssociate Missionary. It is excitingto be able to work together with allthese men and to witness their spiri-tual growth as well as the growthwithin their respective works. Weask that you continue to pray for allour Missionaries and their fami-lies as they continue to serve theLord.

Report from Missionary andCoach, Jason Howard

Thank you all for your contin-ued prayers and financial support.It has been a blessing to serve theLord and serve the Lord’s churchesas both Church Planter and Mis-sions Coach. As Bro. Brocious isnow leading the work of establish-

ing a church in Buckatunna, hisreport will detail that work. How-ever, I am still active in the churchplant there assisting when andwhere I am able. Bro. Scott worksin coordination with myself andthe mother church, Canaan Mis-sionary Baptist Church.Concerning my role as MissionsCoach, my area of responsibility isChurch Doctrine. It is to assist thesegreat men by ensuring they havethe foundation they need to plantBiblical churches according to theBiblical model. I am now finishingup with Bro. Josh Daniels. Bro.Josh and I began meeting in Octo-ber of last year. Thanks to yoursupport, our relationship in theLord has grown, and I believe heand I both have benefitted fromthis endeavor. I look forward tocontinuing this work on your be-half.In addition, I began a Bible studylast year at Bayou La Batre. Wewere meeting every Tuesday nightwith an average of around 10 peoplewho were interested and coming tothe Bible Study. Through a seriesof events, we had to stop meetingthe end of December 2020. The dayof writing this letter, I had an en-couraging phone conversation withone of my contacts in Bayou LaBatre. It is in his place of business,a restaurant, that we are able tomeet. I was encouraged to believewe will be able to resume soon,within the next two weeks. Willyou join with me and make this amatter of prayer? God Bless youall, Bro. Jason Howard.