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
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
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