Editor's Notes

October 3, 2008

The National Election Looms Just Ahead

One of the grand privileges of living in a free nation is that we get to pick our leaders. It is in my judgment a major responsibility for which all of us have a God-given stewardship.

Christians should be sure to exercise this privilege and handle their responsibility in a wise manner.

Here are some thoughts for your consideration:

1. Get registered now! You can’t vote if you don’t sign up. Do it now! Churches can set up a registration table right in the lobby. As long as you do so in a non-partisan way, it is legal to do this.

2. Get yourself informed about who is running and find out where they stand on important matters.

3. Give attention to voting for whomever best reflects your values and views.

4. Don’t be intimidated or discouraged into not voting.

5. If there is not a candidate you especially like, then your vote is all the more important. In other words, if there is not a great candidate (in your view), then vote against the worse of the two. Whatever you do, as a Christian, you should be sure to “pull that lever” for (or against) somebody!

6. As a Christian, I would absolutely be ashamed of myself if I did not vote. It is a privilege purchased by the blood of patriots. The least I can do is honor their sacrifice and protect what they secured for me.

Fellowship Baptist Church Roanoke, Virginia A Good, Blessed Sunday

On Sunday, September 14, I spent the day with Pastor Mark Manning at the Fellowship Baptist Church in Roanoke, Virginia. I’ve known Brother Manning for several years and had preached for him while he was pastor in Port Charlotte, Florida. Two years ago he was called to pastor the church in Roanoke.

During the first twenty-four months, major upgrades have been done on the church property, and attendance has steadily increased. As the people have caught a fresh, new vision for their city, and for why the church is there, they are following the pastor’s leadership in soul-winning outreach. Consequently, they are now seeing people come to Christ regularly.

Three different families told me that they had come to the church because of the influence of the sword of the lord. I was so pleased to hear their testimonies of the help we had been to them in that regard.

Brother Manning gave his own testimony of how the sword was always in his home as he was growing up. Through the information he found there he went to a Christian college where he found Christ, surrendered to the ministry and met his wife as well.

All three times when I stood to preach, I found the people eager for the Word of God. There is a sense among the people that they are a part of something special, and they are energized about it.

The Roanoke Valley has almost 300,000 people, of which approximately 93,000 are in the city of Roanoke. It is the heart and vision of Fellowship Baptist Church to create a solid, Christian oasis where people can bring their families, serve and be blessed.

If you’re moving to the area, you’ll want to check out this good church for yourself.

Coming Up to Christmas!

With Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, I thought I would go ahead and remind you that we hope you will think of the Sword of the Lord when you start shopping this year.

Gifts with a message! Gifts that help! Gifts that motivate, indoctrinate and encourage! They’re all available from the Sword of the Lord.

Our friendly staff include order takers who man the phones all day every day. They are ready, able and willing to assist you at your convenience. Call 800-251-4100.

All of our inventory is also available online. Check it out at swordbooks.com.

Or you may write and send your order by mail. Here’s the address: Sword of the Lord, P. O. Box 1099, Murfreesboro, TN 37133-1099.

Here’s what you should consider:

1. Bibles! We stock a large inventory of Bibles and New Testaments (all KJB) with a wide assortment of colors, sizes and editions. If it is a King James Bible, we either have it or we will get it. Our Bible prices will save you money too!

2. Sword-published books! What a great assortment of Sword books we have! You know if it is published by the Sword of the Lord, it is a good book. When you give books to family and friends, you are helping them. The Sword is the best source (we believe) in all the world for good books.

3. CDs and DVDs! You want to hear the great men of God who have been on the Sword of the Lord platform (past and present)? You want to get teaching and preaching that will help you? Here is the place to get them. We have many thousands available!

4. SWORD subscriptions! If you give the sword of the lord as Christmas gifts, it is a gift that will keep on giving every two weeks throughout the year.

Some of you may want to order a bundle of the swords (any number) delivered to your mailbox. You can then hand-deliver them or remail them to family and friends.

5. Books from other publishers! We do stock a large inventory of other books which we believe you should have.

6. Greeting cards! Finding cards (get well, birthday, anniversary, Christmas, etc.) that are “clean” and that are King James text is getting harder and harder. Do it the easy way! Order from us—the source you trust!

7. Gift cards! You can buy a Sword gift card in amounts as low as $5. When you don’t want to pick a gift but you want to be sure the family member or friend will get “the right kind” of gift, then buy him a Sword gift card. That way he can pick his own gift from our fabulous inventory.

We want all we offer to you to be a help and an encouragement to you, and we want to do it at prices you will love.

At the same time, every time you order something from the Sword, you are a blessing to the worldwide outreach of the Sword of the Lord.

Thank you for shopping with us as Christmas approaches. Call now or anytime. Our workers are standing by waiting to take your call!

East Coast Ladies’ Jubilee October 23–25 Open Bible Baptist Church Williamstown, New Jersey

Ladies, this will be the last Jubilee of 2008! We will not have another one for six months. So I want to urge you to be with us October 23–25 when we are at Open Bible Baptist Church, Williamstown, New Jersey.

Dr. and Mrs. George Riddell III and their wonderful people at the church always roll out the red carpet of welcome and hospitality for us.

We have a great lineup of speakers and music (see ad on p. 23). Why not sign up and come? Why not bring a group from your church?

It will be life changing for many. We surely are hoping to see you there.

Soul-Winning Training Westminster, Maryland November 13–15

We will provide an opportunity for you to get familiar with our Soul Winners’ Club training on November 13–15 at the Church of the Open Door, Westminster, Maryland. We will start on Wednesday night (so you can see the program in action), have classes all day Thursday and until noon on Friday and go soul winning with the local people on Thursday night.

This is for pastors and their key workers to learn how to set up and sustain a successful soul-winning training program in your local church.

We have done much of the work for you in that we have the actual training sessions on DVD, the manuals, etc., produced for you. But there is more to it than that. Most churches fail to have an ongoing soul-winning program that produces growth in their local churches because they do not set it up well and they do not administer it properly.

You should not try to “reinvent the wheel” on this.

You should not (in my view) go through several cycles of trial and error trying to make it work.

Go with a proven commodity (that’s our Soul-WInners’ Club) and let us show you how to make it happen.

Dr. Norris Belcher, Dr. Larry Staner and I will give you all the “nuts and bolts” gleaned from a 30-year successful run at the Church of the Open Door.

Since we began offering this to others, we have literally had churches all over the world get on board. In churches large and small the results have been very, very good.

If you will invest two days with us to learn how to do this right and then put it in place in your church, I promise you that you are going to like what takes place.

Call us today! Sign up, and we will see you there, November 13–15.

Oklahoma, California and Ohio, Five Wonderful Days

In September, I had a good five-day stretch in Oklahoma, California and Ohio. Though the meetings were separated by a lot of miles, the Lord graciously gave His blessings to the full.

Southwest Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

On Wednesday night (September 17), I preached at the midweek service of the Southwest Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Brother Sam Davison has served as the pastor there for the past 19 years.

At 6:15 p.m. I spoke at their teachers’ and workers’ meeting. After reviewing a few of their immediate plans, they gave me about 20 minutes to give some coaching and hopefully to motivate them as well. They received what I gave them with interest as well as nodded and gave vocal approvals (amens).

When Brother Davison and I walked into the spacious auditorium, we visited with the incoming folks for several minutes. Several friends had come to see me. Some of them drove three hours or more. After a good time of music and fellowship, I stood before an almost full house and felt good liberty in preaching. The Lord was gracious to give His blessing. The time at Southwest Baptist Church was a blessing to me.

Locally and on the national scene, Brother Davison has taken on a strong and decisive stand. With a warm heart and a good spirit, he has held high the banner of the independent Baptist movement and New Testament fundamentalism.

Heartland Baptist Bible College, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Just a few minutes from Southwest Baptist Church is the 28-acre campus of the Heartland Baptist Bible College where Brother Davison serves as the president.

The college opened the fall semester with an enrollment of 487 students.

When they bought the campus in 1998, it was sitting vacant and needing a facelift. What they have done has been amazing to see. Today the buildings and grounds are neat, well manicured and very inviting.

The atmosphere on the Heartland campus is warm and personal. As Brother Davison and Brother Copes (the executive vice president) walked me around the campus, they called dozens of students by name.

There are a lot of good things happening at Heartland, and I enjoyed preaching for them.

On to California West Coast Baptist College in Lancaster

With our West Coast Sword Ladies’ Jubilee already underway when I arrived in California on Thursday night, I arose early the next morning to preach at 8:00 a.m. chapel for the men students of West Coast Baptist College. Since the young ladies were attending the Ladies’ Jubilee all day, they were not at the chapel.

Even at the early hour, I asked the Lord if He would graciously give me His unction for the preaching to these young servants of God.

With the college having over 900 students in residence this semester, they are continuing to see good things happen in training young people for Christian service.

Just recently another major part of the campus master plan was completed. It is a three-story high-tech classroom building that can accommodate more than 800 students at any one time.

This early chapel with the college men was a blessed hour. I enjoyed my time with them.

Our West Coast Sword Ladies’ Jubilee, Lancaster Baptist Church, Lancaster,

California

For several years now we have had a Sword Ladies’ Jubilee in this great church where Dr. Paul Chappell has been the pastor for the past 22 years.

Since I needed to fly out mid-morning on Saturday, I preached to the ladies Friday morning just before noon and again Friday evening. Both times, I sensed the Lord working, and I had wonderful liberty.

This year we were pleased to have more than 1,200 ladies in attendance. We had groups from the states of Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Utah and, of course, California. There were also individuals from a number of other states from across the country. (See pictures on pages 8 and 12 in this issue.)

Mount Vernon, Ohio, Mount Vernon Baptist Temple

Just about one hour north of Columbus, Ohio, you’ll find the town of Mount Vernon (population approximately 15,000). It is here that Pastor Bill Fennell has led the Mount Vernon Baptist Church for the past 7 years.

Four years ago they began using the Sword Soul Winners’ Club training to train soul winners. The result for them has been exciting. Many of their people, both adults and teens, have become soul winners. They have had significant growth in the church because of it. During Brother Fennell’s ministry, Sunday attendance has gone from 75 to 312 one week ago.

In addition to their own good success with the Soul Winning Club, they have influenced a number of other churches, including several in the Philippines, to use it. One other church, right in Mount Vernon, a very small church of fewer than 15 people, got on board with it 4 years ago. They are now averaging 90 people a week and seeing souls saved regularly.

I was so warmly received by the people. As I opened the Word of God each of the three times I was up to preach, the people were attuned to it and receptive.

The Lord gave us a great Sunday with them.

Prayer Force Growing

Letters and calls have come almost every day since I made mention of our band of prayer warriors which I call the Prayer Force.

For wisdom, I pray!

For insight, I pray!

For vision, I pray!

For health and protection, I pray!

For daily bread, I pray!

For every needed resource, I pray!

For our preachers the world over, I pray!

For local, New Testament churches, I pray!

For the raising up of an army of soul winners, I pray!