Monday, December 21, 2009
Psalm Two Twelve
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
PTI is a week away
Saturday, May 2, 2009
PTI -- Round...?
I am not sure what round to call the upcoming training in June. We are in the process of morphing the Institute from what it was—sixty-plus men traveling to the city for approximately thirty-five hours of Bible teaching and preaching—to what it will be for the near future, Lord willing. I will be meeting two Zambian pastors in Addis, and from there we will make our way to a city called Jimma in southwestern Ethiopia. Our teaching will be regionally-based, and all of the nearby pastors, ministers, evangelists, missionaries, and church planters will be welcomed.
Basically, the ministry is transitioning from training only men who want to start new churches to training all ministers within the Baptist denomination. Our hope is to keep the training quarterly and enter into a different region each time. We will continue teaching the major doctrines of Christianity in an immensely practical way.
Because so much of what we are attempting this time around is uncharted territory for us, we appreciate your prayers. The logistics are always a nightmare, but changing everything will only increase the difficulty. Transportation, lodging, travel visas, and meals are merely a few of the obvious changes for us this time. With the ever-changing, always inflating economy in Ethiopia, it is impossible to budget for something like this. Yet, I do feel strongly that this method of training is more cost-efficient than our previous system. However, the main reason for the transition has little to do with finances and everything to do with getting the Christocentric Gospel to the local pastors and ministers in order to affect their lives, ministries, and churches.
We need God to supply all of our needs—from the wisdom of what and how to teach to the dollars and cents that will feed the men their daily injera.
Our continued prayer is that the Lamb Who was slain will indeed receive the reward of His sufferings and the nations as His inheritance.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Pastor's Training Institute VII
We, that is Kurt and I, will be flying out today and returning next Friday.
Please do pray for us.
And, if you would like to go?
Well, you can. Kind of.
Thanks for your continued support in every way imaginable.
Anthony
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Training Institute...We're back.
The topics that were dealt with are terribly misunderstood worldwide within our churches.
Because of this, I am convinced that dealing with these issues was critical and I trust also that the Lord used the teaching to gain glory for Himself in His church in Ethiopia.
The way in which God works in the soul of man to bring him from being a lost soul to a child of the King is terribly misunderstood in our day. Careful attention was given to considering how in fact He does it, what it requires of Him, and what our response is to this amazing work of God Almighty. Hours were spent looking at what the bible says about the Atonement, God's calling of man, the granting of new life in Christ, repentance, faith, justification, adoption, being conformed to Jesus, and final glorification in Christ when we see Him face to face and are made like Him because we see Him as He is.
A significant portion of time was also given to the bible's teaching on the Holy Spirit. We confirmed scripturally that the Holy Spirit is a person and He also is God, co-equal with the Father and the Son. From there, His work was proclaimed from the creation of the world through His work corporately in the New Testament church today. The majority of our focus was on the regenerating work of the Spirit of God in the heart of man. Sadly, the church in Ethiopia believes like most churches in America do when it comes the the work of the Spirit in the Salvation of man. There is a huge misconception that our believing the gospel precedes the implantation of life from above. The bible is clear on this issue. We are dead in our sins. We are capable on no good thing. Yet, we must be born again. How? From above! From God himself through the work of His Son applied to our hearts by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. After hours of dealing with this in the text, a couple of men stood to say that they have been believing and practicing that which is not biblically accurate and it must not be pleasing to God. They stated that their foundation was faulty and needed to be removed. One of the ministers went on to suggest that they should all repent of their attitudes toward this doctrine and begin to trust in God alone for the salvation of their people as well as their own salvation.
I hope God will make much of His Name in the lives of these men by continuing to convince them of the truth of His word and and the seriousness of His commands concerning His church.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Two Weeks Away
The Lord has been providing for the work in Ethiopia on a monthly basis these past several months and as a result much of the needed expenses have been met already. However, there is still a need in order to cover all of the cost incurred by hosting and orchestrating this training program. It costs less than fifty dollars to provide transportation, lodging, food, and training supplies for one minister.
May the Lord richly bless you as you pray for us, that the Lord would receive all glory from PTI and in His church.