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October 2014
UnitedinKingdomService
Monthly Newsletter of McMinn-Meigs Association of Baptists
Volume 14, Issue 10
Mark Your Calendar!
October
Cooperative Program
Emphasis Month
Pastor/Staff Appreciation
Month
October 11
Journey into Adventures in
Missions (JAM), First Baptist
Church Morristown
October 12
World Hunger Sunday
October 14
Retired Ministers Breakfast,
Shoney’s, 9:00 am
October 20
McMinn-Meigs Association
Annual Meeting, First Baptist
Decatur, 7:00 pm
November
November 10
Pastor’s Conference
Brentwood Baptist Church,
Brentwood
The Good Cup,
Brentwood Baptist Church,
Brentwood
Summit: The Gathering of
Tennessee Baptists
Brentwood Baptist Church,
Brentwood
November 11
Annual Annuitant Luncheon
Brentwood Baptist Church,
Brentwood
Annual Ministers Wives
Luncheon, Br entwood Baptist
Church, Brentwood
November 27-28
Thanksgiving Holiday, Baptist
Center Closed
After 14 years of service to
McMinnMcMinn-Meigs Association of
Baptists
as the Director of Missions
Rev. E. Ray Luck
is celebrating his retirement.
Please join us on Monday, October 20, 2014
5:30—
5:30—7:00 pm for refreshments prior to the Annual Meeting.
First Baptist Church Decatur ♦ 240 North Main Street ♦ Decatur, TN
The91stAnnualSessionofthe
McMinn-MeigsAssociationofBaptists
October 20, 2014 ♦ 7:00 pm
First Baptist Church Decatur
240 North Main Street ♦ Decatur, TN
Annual Sermon: Rev. Travis Torbett, Pastor of Marshall Hill Baptist Church
October is Pastor/
Staff Appreciation
Month
Please take time during this month
to do something tangible to show
your appreciation, as a church and as individuals, for your Pastor and paid Church Staff. Serving
the Lord is a special calling that, at times, can be very demanding and sometimes a seemingly
thankless job. You can change that by encouraging your Pastor and Staff by showing them, in
tangible ways, how much you love and appreciate them.
The Baptist Center will
close at 2:00 pm on
Monday, October 20th
and will reopen at 10:00
am on October 21st.
Ray’s Reflections
Last month I shared with you a recap of 7 of the 13 chapters in Dr.
Gene Getz’s book “Building Up One Another”. This month I will
conclude that recap with chapters 8-13:
8. “We Are to Serve One Another” – (Galatians 5:13) Freedom in
Christ is the central theme of Paul’s letter to the Galatians.
Freedom is not a license to sin, it is not freedom from the reality
of sin, nor is it freedom from servant-hood. Freedom in Christ
enables us to serve others in the love of Christ, without a desire
of personal gain.
9. “We Are to Bear One Another’s Burdens” (Galatians 6:1-3).
Bearing one another’s burdens means to hurt with a fellow
believer when they hurt and also to restore a fellow believer when
the stray from the fold of faith. As we do this it will require much
prayer, genuine humility and caution (Titus 3:2-5).
10. “We Are to Bear with One Another” (Ephesians 4:2). To do this
requires patience, a forgiving spirit and hard prayerful work. Let’s
face the truth here, there are some people who are just hard to
like and to love, but the Word of God admonishes us to be people
who bear with one another through the love of Christ in us
regardless.
11. “We Are to Submit One to Another” (Ephesians 5:21). When
most people hear this they usually think it refers to the marriage
relationship. However submission is in essence a synonym for
obedience. Submission therefore is for the mutual good of one
another, not one lording it over another, and it must be based on
the Word of God (Colossians 3:16-17; Ephesians 5:15-21). There
are several passages that show how one group is admonished to
relate to another (I Peter 5:2-3; I Timothy 5:17-20; Hebrews
13:17; I Peter 5:5-6; Ephesians 5:25-28, 6:1-9; Colossians 3:1825, 4:1; I Peter 3:1-7; I Corinthians 7:3-4; Titus 2:3-5; Romans
13:1,5,7; I Peter 2:13-17)
byE.RayLuck,DirectorofMissions
Christians have a major, major problem – ME – selfcenteredness or any other self-focused analogy you can come up
with. I guess my goal for taking the approach I have in the last
two articles I will write for the LINKS is to remind all of us that
Christ has set before us a higher standard of living than is offered
to us by the world system controlled by Satan. He rejoices all the
way to the pits of hell when he is able to distract God’s people
from the main thing which is being true and faithful followers of
Jesus Christ. I fear that our faithfulness is showing signs of wear
and tear and the churches we attend are beginning to weaken
simply because we are fumbling more than we are holding onto
the faith and moving forward for the Kingdom. As I conclude this
portion of my article I would like one last time to encourage those
in our churches to be faithful to Jesus and never forget the words
in I Peter 5:8-9, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary
the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may
devour. Resist him (in Christ’s power in you), steadfast in the
faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your
brotherhood in the world.” (Italics mine). So many times we as
followers of Christ are known as people who always stand
against something, and there are times when we need to do that.
But may we begin even now through the power of Christ to show
that we stand for Christ by showing love one for another,
encouraging one another and walking daily by faith in the power
of the Word of God.
12. “We Are to Encourage One Another” (I Thessalonians 5:11).
Basically to encourage one another is simply to build up and edify
one another. The Word of God again plays a key role in the
encouragement process. In other words it is difficult for a
Christian to mutually encourage one another with Scripture if they
themselves do not know Scripture (Colossians 3:16). I have been
around so many people, mostly Christians, who spend more time
criticizing others than lifting them up. In other words we tend
more often than not to shoot our wounded rather than lift them up
and heal their wounds. May we as followers of Christ not be
guilty of doing that. If, however, you are in the habit of tearing
others down then I admonish you to cease and desist and begin
even now to find ways to encourage and build up one another.
Well this is it. By the time you read this I will be a little over 30 days
from retirement. It is a time in my life that I really never thought I
would see, as I felt I would have to work at a steady job or ministry
much longer than I am. I am looking forward to taking some time just
to relax and rest in the Lord. Traveling to one church, for the most
part except when I am preaching, on Sunday and Wednesday will be
something I have not done for nearly 20 years. I will miss visiting with
the churches in McMinn-Meigs Association, but also I think I am
excited about reducing my traveling time. When we came here we
purchased a 2001 Chrysler Town and Country which we still have. It
started out with very few miles on the odometer, but by the time I
retire, 14 years later, it will have close to 250,000 miles on the
odometer, most of which is work related. It has truly been a joy to
serve you as your Director of Missions these 14 years and I am
grateful that God is allowing us to continue living in this area. As the
opportunity to preach, from time to time in some of our churches, is
afforded to me I will look forward to renewing fellowship with you. I
pray that you will receive the next Director of Missions with the same
grace with which you have received Judy and myself. May the love of
Christ be evident always in the McMinn-Meigs Association as you
continue to stand “United in Kingdom Service”.
13. My bad, there is no chapter 13, so let me use this space to recap
what this series is all about. It is all about one another, it is all
about serving others and thus serving God. I have served this
association for 14 years, adding two other associations I have
served for a total of 25 years as a Director of Association
Missions. During that time I have visited many churches,
counseled with many ministers and laypeople and sat through
several contentious church business meetings. After reading Dr.
Getz’s book I have come to the major conclusion that we as
One final word about my Diabetes. My four month check-up was the
best ever, to say the least I and Dr. Riley are very pleased. However
today after lunch I was reminded that this is an ongoing process and
that blood sugar readings can go south in an instant. We cannot nor
must not give-up because life is too precious not to take care of it.
Keep focused on right habits for the long haul, I am pulling for you. I
will continue to pray that God’s Grace will enable you to hang in there
and take care of your physical body and your spiritual walk with the
Lord each day for the rest of your earthly life.
Volume 14, Issue 10
Page 2
October Celebrations
Celebrating Birthdays
02 .... Delois Bernard .......... Central
Jean Perry ................. Mount Pisgah
04 .... Shane Arnold ............ First Baptist Riceville
05 .... Larry Sorah ............... Bethsadia
06 .... Doug Alexander ....... Union McMinn
14 .... Justin Brown ............. Zion Hill
16 .... Jamie Hammonds ..... Mount Harmony Niota
17 .... Jennie Cullum ........... First Baptist Etowah
18 .... Garry King................. Mount Harmony Riceville
Kay Sorah .................. Bethsadia
20 .... Jody Thomas ............. Manilla Chapel
28 .... Becky Blanchette ....... Calvary Etowah
Wayne Bryant............. Clearwater
29 .... Jeannie Sneed ........... Eastview
Celebrating Anniversaries
03 .... Mike & Carrie King ........... Shiloh
27 .... Joe & Marjorie Davis ........ New Bethel
Church/AssociationAnniversaries
Mark Wade ........North Etowah....................... 2 years
Mike King ..........Shiloh .................................. 4 years
Jody Thomas .....Manilla Chapel .................... 5 years
Gerald Perry ......Mount Pisgah ....................... 7 years
Kathy Fain ........Association Staff.................. 10 years
Bill Pearman .....Good Hope .......................... 10 years
Bob Kerr ............North Athens ....................... 28 years
Garry King ........Mount Harmony Riceville ... 32 years
New Contact Information for Ray Luck (after
retirement)
Cell Phone will be the same (423) 506-6541 – I will keep the
texting feature.
E-mail will change after 10/31/14 to [email protected]
Home phone is the same (423) 649-0394
Home address is the same 427 Lynnwood Drive, Athens, TN 37303
October 11 ♦ First Baptist Church Morristown
Cost: $15 before September 26; $18 after September 26
For more information, go to www.tnbaptist.org.
Raising a Modern-Day Knight
Men if you are looking for a good resource that you can use to lead your
son to be a Modern Day Knight for the Lord then check out the most
recent addition to the McMinn-Meigs Association Media Center,
“Raising a Modern-Day Knight” (A Father ’s Role in Guiding His Son
to Authentic Manhood) by Robert Lewis. This resource has been used by
hundreds of fathers with their sons with great success. Our Director of
Missions son used this with his sons which left a lasting spiritual impact
on their life. If you would like more information about how this works
talk with our Director of Missions, Ray Luck.
ShoesforOrphanSoulsUpdate
Wecollectedatotalof:669pairsofshoes;1,057
pairsofsocksand76pairsofshoelaces!
Thankstoallwhoparticipatedandspecial
thankstoallwhohelpedsort,countandpack!
Remember in prayer our
churches without Pastors:
Antioch, Calvary Missionary, Double
Springs, New Zion, Pisgah, Rogers Creek
and Union Grove Decatur.
The 2013 Golden Offering for
Tennessee Missions closed with a total
of $1,532,060.00 which was 5.4% more
than 2012 but short of the 2013 goal of
$1,600,000.00. Only one-third of
cooperating Tennessee Baptist Churches
support the GOTM. The peoples of the
world are coming to Tennessee. In
reading Acts 1:8, Tennessee is a part of
that scripture. If you have questions
about GOTM, please call Judy Luck.
2014 GOTM will close this year’s
offering next year 2015 on August 31st. Our goal this year is $1.65
million. Let’s do our part McMinn-Meigs Association.
New DVD’s in the
Library
Mom’s Night Out
A Long Way Off
Volume 14, Issue 10
Page 3
CHURCHCONTRIBUTIONS
Church Name
Current
Antioch
Athens, First
Bethel Springs
Bethsadia
Brookhill
Calhoun, First
Calvary, Etowah
Calvary Missionary
Cambria
Central
Clay Hill
Clear Springs
Clearwater
Cog Hill
Conasauga
Cottonport
Decatur, First
Dixon Avenue
Double Springs
Eastanallee
East Athens
East Niota
East View
Englewood, First
247.59 2,161.82 Etowah, First
0.00 20,833.30 Five Point
0.00
600.00 Good Hope
100.00
530.00 Goodsprings
80.00
800.00 Hiwassee
200.00 2,800.00 Idlewild
100.00
550.00 Lakeside
100.00 1,000.00 Lakeview
185.29 1,850.80 Manilla Chapel
448.11 5,444.00 Marshall Hill
60.00
120.00 McMahan Calvary
529.27 4,951.01 Mount Harmony, Niota
333.34 4,083.33 Mount Harmony, Riceville
175.00 1,925.00 Mount Pisgah
100.00 1,100.00 Mount Verd
0.00
730.62 New Beginnings
786.63 7,973.80 New Bethel
220.00
990.00 New Zion
166.00 1,826.00 Niota, First
1,250.00 12,500.00 North Athens
600.44 8,359.23 North Etowah
332.00
664.00 Oak Grove
0.00
0.00 Old Salem
572.08 6,357.62 Parkway
YTD Church Name
Current
0.00
0.00
75.00
124.59
53.60
100.00
139.23
165.23
0.00
100.00
243.64
517.00
61.37
365.78
100.00
0.00
0.00
240.00
148.62
50.00
776.13
311.00
320.68
15.00
YTD Church Name
1,000.00
0.00
825.00
1,387.40
452.40
1,100.00
2,551.87
1,916.71
200.00
1,000.00
3,210.21
5,205.00
604.14
3,714.19
300.00
50.00
0.00
2,345.45
1,799.58
300.00
8,843.19
3,582.16
4,966.34
165.00
Current
YTD
Pisgah
3,164.22
5,873.22
Pond Hill
0.00
600.00
Pope Avenue
43.63
567.67
Riceville, First
141.61
1,482.33
Rockview
0.00
0.00
Rocky Mount
0.00
450.00
Rogers Creek
193.56
1,655.00
Sanford
0.00
1,500.00
Shiloh
400.00
2,200.00
Short Creek
420.55
3,915.76
South Liberty
410.00
410.00
Stephensville
0.00
0.00
Ten Mile
127.61
891.57
Union Grove, Decatur
0.00
250.00
Union Grove, Niota
240.00
1,440.00
Union Hill
159.85
1,871.75
Union McMinn
400.00
4,400.00
Valley Road
0.00
300.00
Valley View
0.00
931.00
Walnut Grove
246.62
2,988.74
West End
380.29
1,736.07
West View
111.44
1,197.96
Wildwood
0.00
4,548.48
0.00
1,750.00
Zion Hill
Total Receipts 16,932.00 174,628.72
Contributions received through September 24th.
To be included in this year’s totals, I need to receive your contribution by October 7th.
Fiscal Year-end totals for Church Contributions will be reflected in the Book of Reports and Annual Minutes.
Church News
♦ Mount Verd Baptist Church will host the 7th Annual
Sunday, October 26th at 6:30 pm. Everyone is invited to
attend.
Ladies Conference on Saturday November 1st at 11:00 am.
The guest speaker will be award winning songwriter, author
and speaker, Kyla Rowland. For more information call 423
-506-6909.
♦ Short Creek Baptist Church will have Revival ser vices
♦ Brookhill Baptist Church is seeking a par t-time Minister
on October 26-29. Rev. Kenny Purdie will be speaking on
Sunday (morning and evening). Rev. Daniel Stewart will
be speaking Monday-Wednesday. Services begin at 7:00
pm with special singing nightly. Everyone is invited to
attend.
♦ Short Creek Baptist Church is seeking a Youth Pastor .
♦ The Talley’s will be at Pope Avenue Baptist Church on
♦ East Niota Baptist Church is seeking a Minister of
♦ Testimony will be singing at Union Grove Decatur on
Sunday, October 5th at 6:00 pm. Everyone is invited to
attend.
of Music. Please contact Rev. Gary Higdon at 263-5592 if
interested.
Send resumes to Rev. Victor King, 1190 County Road 750,
Athens, TN 37303 or call him at 920-7365.
Attention: Church Clerks
If you have not turned in the names of your
messengers and the names of deceased members for
this past year—please email to [email protected];
phone: 745-2248; fax: 745-7693. We are currently working on the
Book of Reports and need this information to complete our reports.
Volume 14, Issue 10
Music. Please contact Rev. Jerry Plaster at 506-6154 if
interested.
Attention: Church Treasurers
Please take a moment and make sure the total above
agrees with your records. Every effort is made to
make sure your donations are recorded correctly—
however mistakes can (and will be) made. I would
like to make any corrections before we close our
books for the year.
Page 4
Mission Awareness leads to Mission Involvement byJudyLuck,AssociationWMUDirector
Secrets to Surrender wr itten by Debby Aker man, National
WMU President is the 2014-2015 theme book. Through
Biblical and contemporary stories this book will help us to put
into practice the 3 areas of “surrender”: surrender (surrendering
our will to Him just as He surrendered His will to the Father in
the garden), sacrifice (focusing on God’s desire not our own)
and serve (when we do it to the least of these…we do it unto
Him). This book is in our media library. Let this be the next
book you read.
From 2014 to 2016 the WMU emphasis for Project Help is
PTSD. What is PTSD? PTSD is a trauma and/or str essorrelated disorder that is diagnosed according to the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual and the International Classification of
Diseases. Who suffers from PTSD? Anyone is susceptible after
a traumatic event. How can this emphasis through WMU help
both the sufferer and the families of those who deal with PTSD?
We serve a broken world but because of God’s mercy, we can
become aware, pray - “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this
way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2), learn ways to
be supportive and involved for those in need. June was
awareness month for PTSD. Where do we start when about 5.2
million adults are and will be affected with PTSD? A Bible
study on PTSD is in our association missions library. PTSD is
not found in the Bible but wounded in body and soul is. Check
this study out.
“Uniting each other and the world” in prayer is the purpose of
The Baptist Women’s Day of Prayer. The theme is “In Step
with the Spirit Through the Fruit of the Spirit
FAITHFULNESS”. You ar e invited to unite your hear t in
prayer with women around the world on Monday, November
3rd, 1 p.m., at the Baptist Center. As we learn about the needs
on seven continents, together we can be faithful in learning,
praying, and giving!
How Many Slaves do we Own?
The following is a reprint of an articles written by Angelita Clifton
with the Lott Carey Convention Anti-Trafficking Initiative in
Summit, NJ:
“While surfing the internet in 2013, after serving with the Lott Carey
Trafficking Initiative for many years, I stumbled upon
Slaveryfootprint.org. The website afforded the opportunity to
calculate the number of men, women and children in developing
countries, manufacturing all the stuff I love. I entered my details (age,
gender, bedrooms and bathrooms in my home as well as the gadgets I
collect) and to my chagrin, I OWNED SLAVES, I discovered in spite
of my best efforts, NOT to support modern day slavery, I still owned
sixty-five (65) slaves. This number is relatively low, but it reveals the
need to continually rethink our worldview, while curbing our
consumption of just about everything.
Whether we want to admit it or not, each and every one of us
indirectly perpetuates human trafficking. While we cannot return to
making all our own clothes and growing all the food we eat,
recognizing the human costs embedded in the production of the
products we use should help to reframe the way we think. It is
imperative to recognize just about every shirt, pair of sneakers,
electronic item, canned good and chocolate treats we love, carry the
sweat of a modern day slave. Some will try to argue this is the price
of progress. They will say people locked in sweatshops working
twenty (20) hours a day, are not being oppressed but instead given
opportunity. They would like us to believe little boys picking cocoa
beans long into the night, is their chance to pull themselves up by
their bootstraps even though they have no boots. Many will argue this
is a form of investing in a developing country rather than invading a
disenfranchised culture to exploit the people.
The question of the day, how long will we continue to turn a blind
eye? How long will we leave bloody footprints of exploitation around
the globe, exploiting our brothers and sisters? I encourage everyone to
look to the Lord, after calculating the number of slaves you own, and
ask the obvious question, what does the Lord require of you?”
Volume 14, Issue 10
Somepeoplehungerformore
thanjustthewordofGod.
Morethan1billionpeopleintheworlddo
nothaveenoughtoeat.
49millionAmericansstrugglewithhunger.
Hungerandmalnutritionarethenumber
oneriskstohealthworldwide.
Almost16,000childrendiefromhungerrelatedcauseseveryday.
Butyoucanhelp.
Just30centsprovidesamealataSouthern
Baptisthungerministry.
GivetotheSouthernBaptistWorldHungerFund
onWorldHungerSunday,October12.
Page 5
Non-Profit Org.
US Postage Paid
Permit No. 14
Athens, TN 37303
McMinn-MeigsAssociationofBaptists,Inc.
350CongressParkwayNorth
Athens,TN37303
Phone:423-745-2248
Fax:423-745-7693
Website:www.mcminnmeigsbaptists.org
Email:[email protected]
Return Service Requested
AssociationStaff:
DirectorofMissions:Rev.E.RayLuck
Email:[email protected]
MinistryAssistant:KathyFain
Email:[email protected]
Vote YES on 1
You may have already seen the logo saying Vote Yes on 1 in various places.
You will be seeing this more as the General Election on November 4, 2014
draws near. The Tennessee Legislature has voted to place this issue on the
November 4 ballot. It is basically an amendment to the Tennessee State Constitution. Senate Joint
Resolution 127 proposes an amendment to the Constitution of Tennessee to confirm that, “nothing
in the Constitution secures the right to an abortion or requires the funding of an abortion”. If this
passes it would effectively give the legislature the opportunity to overturn a 2000 State Supreme
Court decision that stated the State Constitution grants the implicit right to an abortion thus making
Tennessee the most abortion friendly state in the south. It is hoped that people throughout this state
will step up to the polls on November 4, 2014 and Vote Yes on 1. For more information call 615298-LIFE (5433) or e-mail [email protected] the web page is www.voteYEStn.org
This is a very critical issue and the opposition is mounting and they are very belligerent in their
opposition to this. It is hoped that every person who is pro-life go to the polls and Vote Yes on 1! If
our Director of Missions, before he retires, can be of assistance to you regarding this issue please
call or text him at 506-6541 or e-mail him at [email protected] or luckeray@icloud,com after
10/31/14.
1. Promoting this issue in your church will not affect in any way the church’s 501©(3) status;
2. It will be impossible to get to all the churches prior to the November election. Therefore CD
Powerpoints, etc. are available at the Association office for Pastors or others in your church to
use to educate the church on this critical issue.
3. The Association Office will be a clearinghouse for items related to Vote Yes on 1 such as yard
signs, bulletin inserts, brochures, etc. They are here! They are asking for a $3.00 donation to
help offset the cost of the signs.
McMinn-Meigs
Association of
Baptists
Pastors Conference
Meets every Monday
morning at 10:00 am
at the Baptist Center.