NSU 7.05

our lives anymore. We are not under the dominion

of the devil. The bondage of evil has been broken.

Scripture uses very positive and triumphant

language to describe Christ's victory over sin and

the Christian's participation in that victory.

And yet, it is the universal experience of

every individual believer, that we do still

struggle with sin. We are still frustrated by it.

We still feel its power in our lives.

We are engaged in perpetual warfare

against sin. It is a difficult battle to wage.

And it often feels as if we are losing the fight.

There's no instant cure. There is no magic bullet.

It's a process that requires diligence, strength, per-

sistence, and above all, the power of the Holy

Spirit.

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has passed away; behold, the new has

come" (2 Corinthians 5:17)

"We know that our old self was crucified with

him in order that the body of sin might be brought

to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved

to sin. For one who has died has been set free from

sin." (Romans 6:6-7)

"No one born of God makes a practice of

sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he can-

not keep on sinning because he has been born of

God" (1 John 3:9)

"We know that everyone who has been born

of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was

born of God protects him, and the evil one does

not touch him." (John 5:18)

Those verses teach that for a true Christian,

sin is a defeated enemy. Sin has no more rightful

dominion over us. We are no longer enslaved to it.

The principle of sin is not the driving principle of

Epilogue From: Phil Johnson, MBA State Men’s Main Speaker

State Men’s Wrap-Up By: Greg Linscott, Pastor, First Baptist Marshall, Men’s Fellowship President

The 2013 Men’s

Fellowship was held at

Fourth Baptist Church

in Plymouth, on Sep-

tember 13-14. The fea-

tured speaker was Phil

Johnson, Executive

Director of Grace to

You. The theme for the

weekend, “Guard Your

Heart,” taken from

Proverbs 4:23, chal-

lenged the men to be

actively engaged in

pursuing holiness in our behav-

ior and thought life. Pastor Joel

Albright of First Baptist, St.

Francis, led the musical worship.

Workshops were presented by

Pastor Kraig Keck of Chisago

Lakes Baptist Church, and Mis-

sionary David Flinck.

With input from pastors

across the Association, several

adjustments were made to im-

prove the quality of the event.

The changes seemed to have

been well-received, as 2013’s

October 3, 2013 Volume 7, Issue 5

North Star Update A PUBLICATION OF THE MINNESOTA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

Inside This Issue:

Fellowship Foundations 2

First Person: State Men’s

Retreat, Eng

2

Family Baptist 2

State Men’s. Stephens 3

Spring Valley, 150th 3

Granite City Baptist

Academy

3

Calendar

October 19: 11:30—2 p.m.,

TC Ladies @ Light-

house Baptist

December 2: 6 p.m., Pastor

& Staff and Wives

Christmas Banquet @

Lighthouse Baptist

April 4,5: Spring Ladies

Retreat

April 21-22: Pastors’ &

Wives’ Retreat @ FBC

Baxter

June 28: MBA Annual

Meeting @ Prior Lake

Baptist

August 21-24: Family

Camp @ Lighthouse

Baptist

September 19-20: State

Men’s Retreat @ First

Calvary, Inver Grove

Heights

This past September 13th and 14th the men of the MBA, and many visitors from other churches in Minnesota and

around the country met together at Fourth Baptist Church

for about 24 hours of fellowship and encouragement. The main speaker for the meeting was Phil Johnson, director of

Grace to You. We asked Phil to send a final challenge. He

kindly sent us his Epilogue. (editor)

Continued page 4

Continued page 4

churches are being able to

have Assistant Pastors who can

supply in their own churches,

and pastors are training quali-

fied laymen who are willing to

develop teaching/preaching

skills. Those local church op-

portunities are spiritually

healthy when they are possi-

ble.

My opportunities since

the last UPDATE have been –

July 21 – I was privileged

to preach at Preston First Bap-

tist, Pastor Geno Pyse

(Michelle). It is always a bless-

ing to Rhoda and I to be with

the folks there.

July 22 thru 30. During

this time, we visited the wid-

ows of my two brothers, one in

Lafayette, Indiana, and the

other in Chattanooga, Tennes-

see.

August 11 – We enjoyed

preaching at First Baptist,

Spring Valley, Pastor Joe

Haynes (Cathy). Over the

years since Pastor Haynes has

been there, we have been privi-

leged to make many friends.

August 29 – I attended

the Planning Committee Meet-

ing, chaired by Dr. Kevin

Bauder. Many important deci-

sions were accomplished, but

everything for the MBA An-

nual Meeting is not completely

in place as yet.

September 1 – We visited

the services of Oakdale First

Baptist, Pastor Richard Jensen.

The church had just completed

a series of evangelistic meet-

ings, with encouraging results.

September 5 – On this

Thursday evening, we attended

Faith Baptist, St. Paul, Pastor

Julian Suarez (Kathy) for their

evangelistic meeting. We en-

joyed the preaching and the

fellowship with all there.

Fellowship Foundations By: Rev. Robert Fuller, Sr., State Missionary

“As For Me and My House …” By: Susan Hanks Mowen, Family Baptist Church, MPLS.

State Men’s, First Person By: Dennis Eng, Trinity Baptist Fellowship, Pine City

great God and Savior.

The arrangements and

accompaniment of Josh

Bauder were greatly appreci-

ated, whose skill and expres-

sion in music further enhanced

a weekend of joyful worship.

lance, for from it flow the

springs of life.”

Joel Albright led the sing-

ing with passion, using theo-

logically significant hymns

new and old to assist the as-

sembly in expressing heartfelt

gratitude and adoration to our

Page 2 North Star Update

Though summer opportu-

nities to preach were down, I

still had opportunities to visit

churches and encourage and

greet friends. Many of our

Those who understand the

importance of preaching to the

inner man can appreciate the

approach of Phil Johnson. By

his thorough exposition of

Scripture, he addressed the

issues of the heart every man

faces in his leisure time, teach-

ing how God’s Word and

Spirit make real change in the

life. Any non-Christians at-

tending understood that their

first step of obedience was

giving their heart away to

Christ. The rest of us left the

meeting with new determina-

tion to apply Proverbs 4:23,

“Keep your heart with all vigi-

points…depending on your

perspective.

Let us know how we may

help you, David and Susan

Mowen, members and staff,

Family Baptist Church,

[email protected];

[email protected]

om.

Family Baptist Church

also has other resources avail-

able: how to start and provide

tours to the mosque and So-

mali mall…it’s like stepping

into an African bazaar for a

total cross-cultural experience

and the Muslims are pleased

when we take the initiative to

visit them.

We are available for

speaking to small or large

groups to include extensive

outreach training or merely

covering the high or low

a f o o d s h e l f

([email protected]),

counseling by the lay person

( J W H i m e @ a o l . c o m ,

[email protected] ),

how to reach out in your local

j a i l o r p r i s o n

(David.Whiteford@GoodNews

Jail.org).

Your friends at Family

Baptist Church would like to

help you reach out to the Mus-

lims in your area. Minnesota

has 150,000 Muslims living all

over the state. We have the

largest population of Somalis

outside of the country of So-

malia!

We can give you ideas for

entertaining Muslims in your

home and church. We can give

Continued page 4

The annual State Men's

Retreat took place on Friday

and Saturday, September 13th

and 14th

a t F o u r t h B a p t i s t

Church. Mr. Phil Johnson, the

executive director of "Grace

To You", challenged each of

us to guard our hearts because

the heart is where our life,

thoughts, and actions origi-

nate. His Biblical insights and

practical illustrations reminded

us that our time on this earth to

serve our Savior is short and

that we must daily surrender

our hearts to serve Him.

Missionary David Flinck,

(Missionary to Chile) pre-

sented a workshop on

"Intentionally Impacting Men

Within and Without the Local

Church" and Pastor Kraig

Keck (Pastor of Chisago Lakes

Baptist Church) presented a

workshop on "Why You

Should Battle Your Lusts".

A panel discussion on

Friday evening addressing how

we can help each other and our

church families guard their

hearts was challenging to all.

Along with the spiritual

challenges a great time of fel-

lowship was enjoyed during

the refreshment times as new

friendships were made and old

friendships renewed.

I trust that you will start

planning now to attend next

year's retreat which will be

held at First Calvary Baptist

State Men’s Retreat—A Challenge to Guard the Heart By: Gerald Stephens, President of the MBA

Granite City Baptist Academy International Recognition By: Linda Schill, Secretary to the Pastor, Granite City Baptist, St. Cloud

Page 3 Volume 7, Issue 5

Church in Inver Grove

Heights. The keynote speaker

will be Dr. Michael Harding,

Pastor of First Baptist Church

in Troy, Michigan. The theme

will be - "THE SEARCH FOR

MEANING"

May God help us to

GUARD OUR HEARTS!!!

1 Peter 3:15

Bible-based curriculum of

Accelerated Christian Educa-

tion (A.C.E.), the Academy

focuses on Christian character

training and outstanding aca-

demic accomplishments by its

students, and also demon-

strates a continuing commit-

ment to state-of-the-art, com-

The educational challenge

of the 21st century has moti-

vated Granite City Baptist

Academy, a ministry of Gran-

ite City Baptist Church, to

uphold their standard of excel-

lence that has earned them

MODEL status.

Using the individualized

puter-enhanced education.

This past year, the aver-

age student’s grade in all sub-

ject areas was 96.31. Many

students completed well over

one year’s standard academic

expectations.

GCBA believes that their

school’s achievement is attrib-

uted in part to community

commitment to maintain an

atmosphere where a school

such as GCBA can effectively

educate our youth today for

tomorrow’s achievements.

150th Anniversary at First Baptist Spring Valley

First Baptist Church of

Spring Valley is celebrating

their 150th anniversary this

year. The theme for the cele-

bration, “150 Years of God’s

Faithfulness Moving Us For-

ward”, was highlighted in

several events. The festivities

began with the church having a

float in the local parade. Ap-

proximately 1500 postcards

were distributed inviting the

community to an open house

and giving them the plan of

salvation.

On Saturday, September

7th, an open house/luncheon

was held where several former

members were in attendance.

A slide show highlighting the

last 150 years was presented in

the afternoon along with a

reading from the first book of

records on the church (1863).

It was noted that the first

church service was on Septem-

ber 6, 1863.

A long-time member,

Erma Werth, was given a

plaque in recognition of her 53

years of service in teaching

Sunday School. Several of her

former students were present

to be a part of the recognition

and be in a picture with Erma.

At least 20 individuals coming

from First Baptist Church have

gone into full-time service.

One is Lillian Payne. She and

her daughter, Susan, were able

to attend the 2-day event.

The celebration continued

on Sunday with a Worship

Service during which the

church heard greetings from

former pastor, Chuck Amel,

and MBA State Missionary

Pastor Robert Fuller, Sr. Sev-

eral memories - but at the con-

clusion there was praise that

God’s Word was

held as the stan-

dard for 150

years. Pastor

Tobe Bolles, who

grew up in First

Baptist Church,

preached the

morning service

from Psalm 103

recall ing the

benefits of God.

A delicious

fellowship lunch-

eon concluded the

events with many

enjoying the open

"mic" time of

recalling memo-

ries of their days

at First Baptist

Church and prais-

ing God for the

impact the church

had on their lives.

cided, even though evil has

already suffered a decisive,

irreversible defeat. Our own

corrupt flesh—the principle of

sin that remains in us—wages

war against us like a guerilla,

from a position of stealth and

harassment. It can do signifi-

cant damage, but if you are a

genuine believer, sin will never

That's because sin is like a

terrorist. It has lost the war

already. It is a defeated foe. It

has been stripped of its right to

rule. But it's not dead yet. And

it hasn't given up the fight. So it

attacks us secretly, and subtly,

by ambushing us when we don't

expect it. It wants to pretend the

outcome of the war is unde-

gain ultimate mastery over you.

Meanwhile, it is our job as

Christians to wage battle

against indwelling sin ruth-

lessly. We cannot pacify the

fleshly principle. We are not

merely supposed to placate it or

negotiate with it or compromise

with it. It is a deadly enemy that

must be met with deadly force,

Epilogue, from page 1

A PUBLICATION OF THE MINNESOTA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

PO Box 527 Willmar, MN 56201-0527

We’re on the web! http:www.mbaoc.org

MBA Contacts

Minnesota Baptist Association

Rev. Gerald Stephens, President

Community Baptist Church

PO Box 212

New Prague, MN 56071

(952) 758-3287

[email protected]

State Missionary

Rev. Robert Fuller, Sr.

1549 118th Lane NW

Coon Rapids, MN 55448

(763) 568-4078

[email protected]

MBA Office

[email protected]

Minnesota Baptist Association

PO Box 527

Willmar, MN 56201-0527

Send Contributions to:

Mr. Brian Veth, MBA Treasurer

c/o Coon Rapids Baptist Church

11164 Hanson Blvd.

Coon Rapids, MN 55433

Send Update Articles and Pictures to:

[email protected]

North Star Update Editor

315 S. Payne St.

New Ulm, MN 56073

(507) 354-3323

September 8 – At the Invitation of Pastor Haynes of

First Baptist, Spring Valley, we

attended and participated in the

Observance of the 150th Anni-

versary of that local church. It

was a great blessing and chal-

lenging to experience the re-

view of 150 years. Another

report can be found elsewhere

in the UPDATE.

If I can be of help or ser-

vice to your church, please

contact me.

Foundations, from page 2

State Men’s, from page 1

attendance was 176, over 100

more men than we had the pre-

vious year. One attendee

shared: “This was the most

worthwhile Men's Retreat that I

have ever attended. Men of all

ages (I'm 67) could relate to

Phil Johnson's messages, and

grow from his consistent scrip-

ture-based teaching.”

The sessions were re-

corded, and one can hear or

download the Session and

Workshop audio by visiting

http://www.mbaoc.net/men/

audio-sessions. Next year’s

event is scheduled for Septem-

ber 19-20, 2014, and will be

hosted by First Calvary Baptist

Church in Inver Grove Heights.

Dr. Michael Harding of First

Baptist Church, Troy, MI, will

draw from the book of Ecclesi-

astes as he addresses “The

Search for Meaning.” We hope

you will join us!