Meeting Transcripts

‍“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Walk Worthy

The Role of the Spouse

While it is often unnecessary and even unwise to share with our spouses the details of every matter that commands our attention, camp meeting gives us the opportunity to remind ourselves that we are part of a worldwide and unified fellowship. May we leave camp meeting with a renewed determination to brighten the corner where we serve.

When a husband enters the ministry or begins to pastor, his wife will sometimes ask, “What do I do?” One response is, “What were you doing before?” Continue to do the same things that you were doing. Primarily, be the same mother to your children and the same wife to your husband as you were before. That is what brought you to this point. You will certainly have an increased responsibility to set a good example, but in many other ways, nothing will change. Continue serving God with all of your heart. At times, it is the wife who enters the ministry or begins to pastor, and the same general rule applies to the husband in those instances.

A Divine Calling

Ephesians 4:1-3 says, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Elsewhere in the New Testament, the Greek word translated here as “vocation,” is translated as “call” or “calling.” In those cases, the Bible states that we have a “high” calling, a “holy” calling, a “heavenly” calling, “this” calling, and “your” calling. It is not clear to me why the English word “vocation” is used in this instance, but it is clear that, as the Minister’s Manual states, “The ministry is not a profession. It is, instead, a divine calling.”

We must have the assurance that God has called us to this task. That call was disclosed or revealed to each of us in a uniquely personal manner. I am not normally an advocate of declaring “God showed me” or “God told me.” I have heard too many declare such things when it was clear that God had nothing to do with what they were shown or told. In those cases, God was interjected for leverage or manipulation to achieve the outcome they wanted. However, God does show and tell. If and when He does, it is often so sacred that one chooses to say little about it, knowing that the same God who discloses a matter can bring it to pass. The Minister’s Manual says, “It is almost an unfailing rule that those who have the real call will say the least about it. In fact they will even seem to avoid the issue . . .”

No matter how it came about, it became evident to ourselves and others that we were called, and so we entered the ministry. When we did, we entered into what is referred to here as, a vocation. This vocation is different than a secular vocation or profession. If we found ourselves in an emergency situation that required a call for the police, firemen, or paramedics, none of us would immediately inquire about the responders’ personal lives. During a crisis, we just want them to quickly fix our problem; we do not care how many wives they have had or what kind of condition their finances are in or where they spent their recreational time the night before. In contrast, in this Biblical vocation our personal lives are what give credibility to our words; the audience hears what we say through the filter of what they know about us. Our personal state can impact our effectiveness and even our role in the ministry. This idea was not invented by the Apostolic Faith. It was repeated throughout the Pauline epistles, particularly in his writings to the young ministers Timothy and Titus.

The words of Romans 11:29, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance,” have, at times, been taken out of context and applied in a Calvinistic manner to the ministry—implying that once in the ministry, always in the ministry. The context of that verse is in answer to the question asked in verse one of the same chapter, “Hath God cast away his people? God forbid.” God’s design for Israel to be a chosen nation had not changed, though they had stumbled, and a dispensation of grace was offered to the Gentiles.

We realize that we cannot demand absolute perfection in every aspect of our ministers’ personal lives. It would be nice if every minister’s home was perfectly peaceful. It would be nice if we all had good paying jobs, bills were never incurred, and cars never broke down. Life has not worked that way for any of us. Some teens quietly rebel, and some teens quite visibly rebel. Businesses fail, or health collapses—hardships come. Circumstances over which we have very little control will occur. May God give us wisdom all along the way at those times. Our approach to serving God, even under those challenges will be in a manner that is worthy of our vocation as members of the Body of Christ.

Response to Questions from Pastors

We will now proceed to cover a few subjects that have come to my attention over time.

Registered Sex Offenders

We must understand that the term “registered sex offender” covers a wide range of perpetrators. It includes older teens convicted of being consensually intimate with an underage girlfriend or boyfriend. It also includes sixty-year-old pedophiles who have molested dozens of children over a period of decades. Each is a serious offense, but they are viewed differently. The type of crime will have an impact on how we address it. Therefore, it is appropriate for us to request details related to the crime committed. That can include asking questions of the perpetrator and then confirming the answers with a parole officer and/or gaining information through an internet database.

Today, I am mostly concerned about the pedophile. First of all, we will obviously comply with restraining orders. Next, we can exercise our prerogative to bar someone from the church premises. If a perpetrator thinks they have a negotiating position, it is a sign that they should be banned from church premises. Of course, perpetrators can also conduct themselves in a very compliant and apparently submissive manner, which in and of itself does not mean that they should be allowed to attend church. 

Each case must be addressed independently, and we are happy to help you from our perspective. If we need guidance, we can obtain it from our insurance agent and his legal team.

If a victim of the offender attends our church and objects to the perpetrator attending, then the perpetrator should be banned. If the perpetrator is going to be allowed to attend, it is appropriate to ask him to comply with a written conditional attendance agreement. That agreement could stipulate that the offender arrive for church immediately before the service begins, sit in a pre-designated spot, remain seated until the service ends, and leave immediately following. There would be no loitering. Any violation of said agreement would cause an immediate revocation of the privilege to attend.

Within the past few months, I asked a convicted sex offender to discontinue attending our church because he noticed the musical talent of our children. Based upon his history and my past conversations with him, I felt it was not appropriate for him to notice anything about any of our children. If his interest was totally innocent, God is able to sustain him in the Christian walk away from our church. My primary responsibility is to protect our church families, not to accommodate him.

Another case that comes to mind involves a young person guilty of camp meeting misconduct a couple of years ago. Though it didn’t involve law enforcement, it was a serious matter. He has reappeared just in time for this camp meeting. We have not forgotten his disregard for acceptable behavior in the past or his apparent lack of spiritual interest since. Therefore, he has been restricted to coming to meetings only, from thirty minutes before a service starts until thirty minutes after a service ends. He is not to go behind the front of the tabernacle. If those conditions are violated, he will not be allowed even for meetings. He can still seek God from where he lives.

We will not please everyone. To those who view our approach too stringent, we remind them that we are not responsible for the actions that have forced a response. To those who view our approach too lenient, we remind them that souls are at stake in these cases. We pray for wisdom, asking God to help us make the right decision in these matters. We cannot be afraid to impose restrictions, particularly where the welfare of our families is jeopardized. At the same time, we don’t want to be guilty of imposing undue restraint where circumstances do not warrant it. When these types of situations arise, we solicit input from other leaders in determining our approach. Proverbs 11:14 states, “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.”

Don’t devalue victims

We can unwittingly devalue victims by lacking sympathy or understating the impact the experience had on them. I may have done that in my Father’s Day sermon when I offhandedly declared my dad makes a very poor victim. He was born with a cleft pallet; his mother died when he was a child; his father abandoned him shortly thereafter; he and his brother were left on the home place to fend for themselves well before their teen years; and during his teen years he suffered from rheumatic fever. He never used his hardship as an excuse for any of his shortcomings. My point was that he did not use his adversity as an excuse to justify his conduct as a sinner, nor hide behind his upbringing when it came time to accept responsibility.

In our congregations, we no doubt have victims of sexual harassment, molestation, and rape. It occurs with more frequency than we realize until it happens to us or to someone we know. Churches are havens for predators. Just as fishermen troll slowly at Diamond Lake hoping to catch unsuspecting trout, predators move slowly through congregations, preying on the innocence of children, young people, and even adults. We have the responsibility of being alert for predators and sympathetic to victims.

Steve Estes once wrote, “God has determined to steer what He hates, to accomplish what He loves.” He co-authored a book with Joni Eareckson Tada who, in 1967, became a paraplegic at age seventeen as a result of a dive into shallow water. She tells her audiences that God has used her weakness to reveal His strength in her and in those to whom she has ministered. She believes that not only did God allow her to become a paraplegic, but God destined her for that role. The things that happen to us are not the result of chance. If they were, we would be at the mercy of randomness. We must believe that we are at the mercy of a gracious God who perfects us through the things we experience. His purpose may be for us to more capably help others, or His purpose may be only revealed to us in eternity. We can be confident that He does have a purpose.

Assistant Pastors

The question of formally designating assistant pastors has come up three or four times in the last few months. We used to designate assistants in our work, even as recently as fifty or sixty years ago. However, that policy later changed due to the fact that some who were designated as assistants turned out to be disloyal. Over time, even events which fall far short of disloyalty or backsliding can occur. Any number of reasons can arise that suggest one who was once designated as an assistant would no longer be the best one to fill that role. Illness and aging are two of the most obvious reasons. Removing a formal title from one in either of those conditions can be disheartening, so it is better to not formalize the title to begin with.

In Portland, we have nine active ordained pastors. When a title is needed such as for business cards, we use “Associate Pastor.” No one here bears the title of the “Assistant.” If a non-ordained minister needs a title, we offer “Associate Minister” or “Youth Minister.” We suggest branch churches follow the same pattern.  If you do not currently have an official assistant pastor in your church, we recommend against appointing one. If you do have one, there is no requirement that you change it now.

The title a minister bears need not dictate who runs the meetings on the rare occasions in which you are absent. We do not operate by seniority, so it is acceptable for a minister who is not ordained to run meetings in your absence, even when you have an ordained minister on staff. We operate by doing our best to discern who God has appointed to a certain role at any given time rather than by a system of tenure.

Local Church Boards

There are advantages and disadvantages to a branch church having a local board. Many denominations use that mode of operation, but we do not. Typically, under that system, the local churches are autonomous, which means all decisions are made locally, including the hiring and firing of pastors. The local board also controls all financial matters in place of the pastor. Our veterans tell me that, over the years, we have encountered significant challenges under that system, even resulting in church properties being taken from local congregations to the benefit of the ones who took them and to the detriment of the local saints.

In our organization, branch churches are not deemed to be autonomous. Instead, we are one body, incorporated under the laws of the State of Oregon, and accountable to the Portland headquarters. Local pastors have a great deal of local control. There are advantages and disadvantages to this system as well. A key advantage is that the local church’s spiritual focus is less likely to be distracted by temporal matters including administrative details. The chief disadvantage is that it is possible for a local pastor to avoid accountability to Portland out of forgetfulness, busyness, or even negligence. As branch church pastors, we can mitigate that potential disadvantage by conscientiously making ourselves accountable to Portland. Our branch church congregations understand that financial reports are submitted monthly, with details of income and expenses reported. This needs to be done in a timely manner, within thirty days of the end of each month. Your congregations also know that I am aware of what is going on at your location. It is to your advantage that I am aware, so I can support you in the event that questions pertaining to your location are brought to me.

The system we use unifies us in that we are not only one in doctrine, but we are also one in mode of operation. It also serves as a safety net for times when it comes to light that either a pastor or key member of a congregation has exerted an inordinately strong will, independent of the rest of the organization.

Our system is built on trust. Our congregations trust that the local pastor is appropriately accounting to Portland and operating in a manner consistent with how our pastors are expected to operate, which includes maintaining compliance with the laws of the Internal Revenue Service.

With accountability in mind, we ask that there be two signatures on every check written. It is best if the second signer is not a relative, though this cannot be avoided in small groups. The second signer should see the filled out check before he or she signs it. They need to know what they are signing. You should not request that the second person sign a stack of blank checks.

The most flagrant financial violation in evangelical circles occurs when leaders fail to keep church finances and personal finances separate. We do not co-mingle funds or allow the church to pay our personal expenses. This is a matter of integrity. The church does not exist to support its pastor. The pastor exists to serve the church. With that in mind, most of us have happily served while simultaneously pastoring and working secular jobs.

We are accountable to Portland, but we are also accountable locally. Our practice is to rely upon an informal board of local elders whose input provides the basis of support in decision making. We look to trustworthy saints who have often spent many years loving the Apostolic Faith Church and what it stands for, and whose expertise lends itself to good advice. We cannot over-emphasize the effectiveness of consulting veteran ministers and elders in these decision-making processes. In fact, I did just that in preparation for this presentation. What you have been hearing today has been vetted by what we would call a board of elders, which in my case consists of ordained ministers.

Local boards are informal and unofficial in the sense that they are comprised of a group whose membership fluctuates as time passes or as the challenges being addressed vary. The lack of a formal board does not give license for any of us to operate in an independent manner. It is just the opposite. It encourages us to rely upon different individuals as the times and challenges demand, while at the same time garnering the support of the entire congregation as best we can. Quarterly ordinance meetings have historically been used to share information with the saints along these lines. And our congregations will support us if we are consistently motivated by keeping the good of the work foremost.

Moral Failure

There has been more than one occasion over the history of our work, where one in a church leadership role has been guilty of sexual misconduct. Moral failure is not necessary, but it does happen, and it does have consequences. I cannot see circumstances under which a minister who backslides could later be restored to preach the Gospel in our work. It certainly is possible for that one to be forgiven by God and by all of us, but that does not mean he or she can be restored to the former leadership role. We must maintain the credibility of our organization.

In the past decade, three or four inquiries have been made of me where clear moral failure (adultery) occurred. My immediate reply was, “If that occurred here, they would never preach again in our work.” It is possible to be susceptible to distorted judgment when we are dealing with personal friends and relatives. It is a good idea to step back and try to see things as others would see them. This may also help us to view them as the Lord does.

Is taking a firm approach to misconduct too strong? I asked others to review the thoughts I have just shared with you. I told them, “I don’t want to overstate and bind a future generation to too strict of a policy if Jesus tarries. Or perhaps I do want to do just that!” One response included these words:

“The laws of God defy all logic and were meant to do just that. In every conversion, God’s Holiness must be vindicated, or our sense of justification would be greater than God’s. It is hard for me to believe that we could reduce ourselves to mere pawns in the hands of a few weaker brothers or sisters allowing such a breach of moral integrity to have no disciplinary action. If there is no integrity in leadership or at most a reduced image of integrity, we have compromised the very purpose of our calling.

“The church has a basic task and that is to hold up the realities of the Gospel. I would at the least expect anyone entering the ministry to be warned of the seriousness of any serious moral lapse, and the consequence that would follow. 

“It is not hard to see, especially in our day, that the current trend to harmonize Christianity with science, philosophy, and every natural and reasonable thing is, I believe, the result of failure to understand Christianity, and judging from what I hear and read, failure to understand science and philosophy as well.

“At the heart of the Christian system lies the Cross of Christ with its divine paradox. The power of Christianity appears in its antipathy toward, never in its agreement with, the ways of fallen man.

“The Cross stands in bold opposition to the natural man.  Its philosophy runs contrary to the processes of the unregenerate mind, so that Paul could say bluntly that the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness. To try to find a common ground between the message of the Cross and man’s fallen reason is to try the impossible, and if persisted in must result in an impaired reason, a meaningless Cross, and a powerless Christianity.”

Restoration to God is possible. When it occurs, there is a clean slate in the eyes of God; sin is forgiven. However, in considering church policy, remember that restoration to God does not un-ring the bell. There are consequences for broken trust, and evidence of an individual accepting responsibility for their actions is that they recognize that fact. I can recall hearing in early camp meeting Bible teachings, that after we apologize for having misspoken, we are still not in as good a position as we were prior to doing so, even if the offended person has forgiven us. We are in a much better position when we do not speak unwisely to begin with. “Walking worthy” while in a leadership role is to never put ourselves in a position of wishing we could un-ring the bell when it comes to moral issues.

There seems to be this prevailing mentality in evangelistic circles that God’s grace somehow makes it unnecessary to accept responsibility or reap consequences for misconduct. That mentality does not serve the offender or anyone else well. It is better to understand that God’s grace is what enables one to accept responsibility and endure consequences in a humble manner. 

We cannot be afraid of having a standard consistent with the holiness work we claim to be.  Our approach in addressing issues of immorality need not be viewed as punitive. It would more accurately be described as protective: protective of the individual who failed and protective of the integrity of the work and the fact that we stand for holy living.

If there is someone in the church where you currently pastor who has been around a long time but has never participated in the work, it would be wise to learn the reason why rather than suddenly asking them to participate. You may find out that they are married a second time while their right spouse still lives. You may find that their lifelong pattern of sinning and repenting disqualifies them.

Delivering a Sermon

In Preaching, Start by Preaching

When you arrive at the pulpit to preach, begin by reading your text. Twenty-five years ago at camp meeting, Brother Loyce Carver held a ministers’ meeting addressing this very subject and told the young ministers, “I hope you will listen to me. The older ones haven’t paid too much attention. When you start to preach, get up and start to preach. Don’t talk and ramble about this or that. Do not make several comments about disconnected subjects. What are you going to say? If you are going to preach, you must have your mind on what you are going to say. Alright, start with that. Just start to preach.” He went on to spend a lot of time talking about some who go to the pulpit and just begin to ramble, and finally say, “Now, for my text . . .” During the same ministers’ meeting, Brother Carver told us not to preach at people. He used the example of us being aware of someone who was out a good part of the night in questionable company and told us not to get up in the next meeting and preach about those who stay up all hours of the night keeping questionable company. He said it accomplishes nothing. Let us not address those kinds of things from the pulpit, whether those people are in meeting or out of meeting.

During the same ministers’ meeting, Brother Carver admonished us not to say “I” so much, and confessed that this was a hard lesson for him to learn. He had notes from an undated ministers’ meeting that Brother Ray Crawford held years before. In that meeting Brother Ray referred to a survey that Sister Tillie Nelson had taken. She was an English teacher who had been converted after serving eight years as a missionary to India. Afterward, she worked in our church editorial department and taught English classes to our ministers. Her survey tracked how many times each preacher used “I” in a sermon. Brother Carver said at that meeting in 1985, that for the most part all of us would know these ministers; they included some of our best-known veterans. One preacher used “I” sixty-seven times in a sermon that only took up three-and-a-half single-spaced pages when transcribed. Others used “I” fifty-eight and fifty-nine times. Those sermons were mostly under six pages long. One used “I” just twenty-three times in ten pages. (That was probably Brother Charles Rodman.) Brother Carver added that we should not say, “I think this” or “My Bible says this.” Nor should we refer to “my church” or “my people” or “my ministers,” because it is not our church, and these are not our people or our ministers. Of course, in public prayers, we say, “We pray” rather than “I pray” because we are representing the congregation.

Know When to Stop

We want our sermons to be remembered for content that is inspired of the Holy Ghost and achieves the goal of inspiring souls to prayer. So often, the longer the sermon the shorter the prayer meeting because a long sermon leaves the saints weary rather than inspired to pray. Long sermons are often long remembered and talked about—for being too long. Make your words count. Page 152 of the Minister’s Manual speaks of ministers who lack a sense of discernment in knowing when to stop. The one who is leading the meeting can tell us when to start our preaching, but it is up to us, individually, to know when it is time to stop. The correct time to terminate the sermon is when the “pull of the Spirit” is the strongest and when there is the greatest response on the part of the listeners. It is not necessary, or important, that the sermon fill a certain allotted time. It is bad to think that it should. The purpose of preaching is to bring people to the altar; and if we miss that in an attempt to fill a specified time we have missed everything. It is better to quit too soon than to stop when it is too late! The Minister’s Manual also states that the only thing worse than a minister having no sermon objective is one who builds to an excellent climax and then wears the congregation down by continuing long past having made his point. Your audience will hardly regard it if you quit when they know you’re supposed to quit. They will notice if you go beyond when they know you should have quit, because you are presuming upon their time. They will also be wary of you the next time you get up to preach.

Page 247 of the Minister’s Manual says, “Twenty minutes is sufficient time for the average sermon.” There is little gained by our continued speaking when most of our audience has discontinued listening. If we lose them today, they will be wary of us the next time we get up to preach.

Be an Example

Altar Call

It is encouraging when the ministers and workers come to pray during the altar call song. It sets a good example for others in our meetings when they see we are a praying church. Page 238 of the Minister’s Manual reminds us that, “There are times when a seeker may need a few words of encouragement or counsel, but it must be remembered that it is prayer, not talking, that takes people through to their experiences.” Let us not become one of those known to be long on talk and short on prayer.

We must be men and women of prayer, not only at church or when we are on our knees, but at all times. Let us strive to be in communion with God constantly. Obviously, that is not possible when our minds must be otherwise engaged, just as we can hardly be praying right at this instant. However, we can be praying when we come and go, and throughout each day. We can be that golden altar of incense, continually offering up praise, thanksgiving, and requests to God.

We want to be examples of people who pray before meetings begin. We cannot be demanding of our musicians who are about to render a special, but we can do our best to stop visiting and engaging in conversation, and instead go to the prayer room well before meeting begins. If the ministry does not lead in praying in the house of prayer, who will? It is also helpful if we as ministers pray on the platform side of the altar, thus allowing seekers to pray on the audience side of the altar. We do need to greet visitors, particularly those who are coming in for the first time, but it is counter-productive to talk and talk and talk when our vocation calls us to be men and women of prayer.

By the way, there are two places not to check email or text messages. The first is in the presence of God. We set a poor example when we are meeting with the Lord and are seen to suddenly be dealing with somebody more important than Him. Second, in the presence of your spouse when out to dinner. Refraining from cell phone use in both cases may revolutionize your relationship with each of them. Granted, there are rare extenuating circumstances, such as needing to be aware of somebody’s birth or death.

Testimony Service

We want to be alert, doing our part to be sure the testimony service moves along. Some who testify are very inspired and leave us all encouraged. A few who testify tend to sap the life out of the entire meeting. We cannot fault the latter when the former do not get up. Please do not come to a Portland meeting to relax any more than you allow ministers to come to your location and relax.

Social Networking Sites

There is not much to say about this except God made human beings to be social creatures, whether in cyberspace or elsewhere. Some people are probably too social and make others nervous by being so while others of us are not social enough—often to our own detriment. Like many tools and activities, social networking sites can be harmful, or they can be harmless and even helpful. We have no intention of trying to control social lives. We should be good examples if we use social networking sites.

Integrity

To “walk worthy” of our vocation is to walk in integrity. Last fall I read Billy Graham’s autobiography, Just As I Am. In it, he referred to what Cliff Barrows called the Modesto Manifesto (page 129). It made the following four points related to integrity:

Money

They solicited funds and received offerings where there was little or no accountability for receipts or disbursements. “It was a system that was easy to abuse—and led to the charge that evangelists were in it only for the money . . . we determined to do all we could to avoid financial abuses and to downplay the offering and depend as much as possible on money raised by the local committees in advance.” Our system of accountability has been sufficiently covered for today.

Sexual Misconduct

Billy Graham’s team traveled around the country and eventually around the world without their families. “We pledged among ourselves to avoid any situation that would have even the appearance of compromise or suspicion. From that day on, I did not travel, meet, or eat alone with a woman other than my wife.”

We share that sentiment and add a bit more. We do not meet with women other than our wives at the church if no one else is there. Even if someone else is present, we do not meet in the office with the door closed. We are careful not to be unduly familiar with one of the opposite gender, including those who are much younger or much older than we are. Though we are brothers and sisters in Christ, our personal interaction is to be maintained on a business level for the most part.

God has not called us to be the therapists or even counselors of one of the opposite gender. God has called us to be ministers and our charge is to simply deliver the Word of the Lord.

We are told that some who would not be tempted to have inappropriate behavior with a woman, have no problem dabbling in pornography or acting things out in their minds. Some have conducted surveys of ministers and pastors which show disgraceful results. Let us vow never to be reckless or careless in our actions or in our thoughts.

Criticizing Other Works

They were not to “criticize local pastors and churches openly and scathingly.” The Billy Graham group was very much ecumenical and dependent upon participation of local churches when they held their citywide campaigns. That is what God called them to be, and we agree with what I just quoted and would have no criticism of them for their practices along those lines. However, we are not ecumenical and make no apologies for our own approach. We do not invite preachers from other organizations to fill our pulpits or teach the Bible to our saints. If they invited us to come to them, we might do so, but only if they understood that there would be no reciprocation. We feel very strongly about the sound doctrine and practices of this Latter Rain Gospel, so it would not make sense for us to join arms with those who don’t. At the same time, discrediting someone else only serves to discredit ourselves, so we don’t do that either.

Publicity

The tendency was to exaggerate successes, and in particular, to claim higher attendance numbers than what really existed, which made the press suspicious. We don’t have problems with the press covering us, but we can still learn the lesson that it does not pay to overstate successes. We are always motivated by glorifying God rather than ourselves. We are not going to take credit for what only God can do.

May we all share the conclusion of the Modesto Manifesto, which was “. . . that determination would be the hallmark of both our lives and our ministry.”

Closing

We share the sentiment of Paul, stated in Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ . . .” God has met with us during the first week of camp meeting and we anticipate the best is yet to come. Thank you very much for attending this meeting today. Thank you for the sacrifices you have made to support this camp meeting. May you leave spiritually richer and fuller than when you came, and may God give you a prosperous coming year after you leave here.

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