Wisconsin District neWs November/December 2011
RISK TAKERS By John E. Putnam
Wisconsin District News WDN EDITOR Craig Lundt PO Box 688 Beloit, WI 53512 editor@wisconsindistrictnews.org WDN SECTIONAL REPS Section 1: Loretta Lundt Section 2: Carole Keller Section 3: - Open Section 4: Frank Ritchie Section 5: Kathy Fry WDN Proofreader: Dede Sharp DISTRICT OFFICERS Superintendent: Rev. J.E. Putnam Secretary-Treasurer: Rev. E.A. Kaske Honorary Board Member: Rev. J. Grant PRESBYTERS Section 1: Rev. C. Welch Section 2: Rev. A. Tamel Section 3: Rev. E. Herman Section 4: Rev. J. Sindler Section 5: Rev. P. Bennett DEPARTMENTS Foreign Missions: Rev. M.W. Rogers Home Missions: Rev. R. Keilley Media Missions: Rev. S. Jacobs Ladies Ministries: Sis. J. Schumacher Youth Ministries: Rev. Tim Vik Revival Commission: Rev. M. Hook Sunday School: Rev. W. Rehbein Prayer Force: Rev. Don Rogers Men’s Ministry: Rev. S. Rogers Music Ministry: Sis. Darlene Boyte Purpose Institute: Rev. J.D. Putnam Deaf Ministry: Renee Thomas FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE The basic and fundamental doctrine of this organization shall be the Bible standard of full salvation, which is repentance, baptism in water by immersion in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the initial sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. We shall endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit until we all come into the unity of the faith, at the same time admonishing all brethren that they shall not contend for their different views to the disunity of the body.
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District Superintendent
M AT T H E W 14:26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “risk” as the... 1: possibility of loss or injury; peril 2: someone or something that creates or suggests a hazard In the hour in which we live, all of us take “risks” every day of our lives. When one ponders the odds that come with just getting into your automobile and driving across your city or town, we recognize that we place ourselves at risk with every other driver out on the road. We risk our lives every time we step aboard an aircraft or a ship, or any other form of transportation that we may choose. We all take risks when going to a restaurant, and we eat the food served to us, not knowing how fresh each bite may be. Just getting out of bed every morning is a great “risk.” Life as we know it is full of “risks!” All of us are “risk” takers!
The fourteenth chapter of Matthew describes the scene as being very early in the morning... the Scripture states that during the “fourth watch,” which is between 3:00 AM and 6:00 AM, the disciples are on board the ship, being tossed to and fro by the wind-swept waves, and suddenly JESUS comes walking on the face of the water. At first the disciples believed they were seeing a “ghost,” until Jesus spoke to them. It is important to point out that, prior to the Lord’s encounter with His followers on the lake, Jesus had been up in the mount praying. But when He saw the difficulty of the circumstances that had come against His own.... He went to them! Make no mistake about it, dear saints of the most High. He is watching out for us! He is not interested in us getting hurt or caught off guard. He is wanting us just to put our trust in His Word and continue to walk on! Jesus calls out to them and identifies Himself... “It is I!” And when the apostle Peter hears His voice he recognizes that it is the LORD, and he decides to take a “risk.” Matthew 14:28.... “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” Had Peter ever walked on water before? NO... Had he ever seen anyone else walk on water prior to this encounter? NO...but he had heard the voice of his Lord before! And when he made the inquiry of going to the Lord, the Lord responded by saying, “Come.” I don’t know if Peter had to jump in, slide over the side of the boat, or what, but what I do know is that when his feet touched the surface of the water, instead of piercing the face of that liquid body, he felt firmness, and began to walk towards his Lord. Peter was willing to take the “risk” of doing what no one outside of Jesus Christ
had ever accomplished before. I believe that Peter felt, if Jesus was walking on the water, then He could certainly make it so for him as well. I believe the principle key to this whole event was that Peter was willing to trust and obey the Word of his Lord and Savior. I also believe that as we come to the end of yet another year, we have realized that we also can take the necessary risks to fulfill the “call” of God upon each of our lives. The Word of God says in Ephesians 3:20, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us...” Paul exhorts us to realize that through Christ, we can do all things! (Philippians 4:13) What we need to realize in our culture of ease and abundance is that, when God calls us to do something that is outside of our comfort zones, we still need to take that “risk,” and it will turn out all right, simply because God is the one who called us to do it. We all need to be willing to “risk it all, in answering His call, and step in...” What is Jesus challenging you with as we approach 2012? Is He wanting you to reach out and teach Home Bible studies? Is He asking you to get involved in evangelistic outreaches of your local assembly? Is He calling you to start a new work in an area that does not have a church? Is He beckoning you to a higher standard in living for Him? Is He calling you to be transparent and open? Regardless of what His call is upon our lives, I pray that we would all be willing to be “risk takers”... and do our best in fulfilling His direction for our lives. Remember, Jesus came to them walking on the water, because He saw their struggle as they journeyed upon it. Jesus will meet us at the very point of our need, if we will be willing to obey, and if we are willing to take the “risk” when He calls. We need to understand that, regardless of the fact that we have never done what He
is calling us to do, it doesn’t mean that He is asking the impossible. As Jesus said to the man whose son was gravely tormented by an evil spirit, and so desperately wanted him to be delivered, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
Mark 9:23 I believe that all of us need to be “risk takers” in doing what God wants, just as much and even more than the everyday risks that are necessary for us to take. May God bless all of you Holy Ghost-filled “risk takers” out there!
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Single Parent Conference BY TARA WALTERS Divorce. Joint custody. Single parent. These are words that seem to be becoming more and more familiar in our churches. It’s not fair. It’s not fun. It’s not glamorous. It’s not the ‘happily ever after’ that we all dream of…but it is life - and it is happening. Pastors and saints alike need to become more aware of how to handle situations like these, and help those that are in need when life takes a turn, and they find themselves in an unplanned, unpredictable situation. With the help and encouragement of our Pastor, Rev. Steve Rogers, we held the first Single Mothers’ Conference last year at Elim Tabernacle. We received feedback from several single fathers asking if they, too, could be involved. Thus, this year, we changed it to the Single
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Parent Conference, and invited single fathers as well. Last year’s conference was entitled, “You Are Not Alone.” As a new single parent, that’s exactly how we feel - alone. It is always nice to have your pastor tell you everything will be alright, but has he been in your shoes? It is wonderful to have friends and family come over to help and offer assistance, but have they stood where you are standing? We wanted to get the message out that there are many single parents in Wisconsin, in our
churches, that are in the same situation. This year’s conference was entitled, “You Can Do It.” Rev. Phil Bridges and his lovely wife, Terra, came to speak to the group. Both Brother and Sister Bridges have been single parents, and had so many words of encouragement, funny stories, and educational lessons to share with the attendees. I highly encourage anyone who is a single parent, who knows a single parent, or who pastors a single parent to purchase CDs from this conference (www.elimtabernacle.org). I promise that you will be encouraged, enlightened, and educated by their words. The Bridges also taught a session on “Dating as a Single Parent.” They shared their testimony as two successful single parents, finding love and combining families… all while keeping God first and foremost in their lives. Rev. Tim Vik, Wisconsin District Youth President, who was raised by a single mom, closed the conference with a powerful message that resulted in a time of healing at the altar. We would like to thank all of the sponsors of the Single Parent Conference, which allowed the registrants to attend for free. Lunch and childcare were also provided, as a result of the donations of pastors and churches from across the District. Look for more information coming for next year’s Single Parent Conference in September at Elim Tabernacle. We do need to encourage single parents to get together and gain encouragement from each other!
Greetings in Jesus Name, Sorry it has taken so long to get this letter out. We were running as fast as we could trying to get everything done with Pastor Harris coming down in June, Bro. Bailey and his team in August, and Benjamin and Victoria’s wedding in September. God is definitely doing wonderful things in Antigua. We started out the month of June with a miracle. God poured out the Holy Ghost on a young man during our Sunday night prayer service. We were blessed to have Pastor Mark Harris and Bro. Geoff Albertson with us to preach a revival. We went on the street a few days, and God filled four people with the Holy Ghost right on the street as we prayed for them. One lady got the Holy Ghost at the bus station and she was also healed. When one of the ladies received the Holy Ghost, she said, “Wow, I have never felt anything like this!” During that revival, we had 28 people filled with the promise of Acts 1:8! Delon, one of our young men, was so excited about praying people through on the street that he went around his neighborhood and prayed a young lady through right on her front porch! After
Pastor Harris and Bro. Albertson left, we had a number of new Bible studies. In July we focused on finishing the upper room, so we would have a place for the young ladies of our youth camp to stay, and also keeping the vans all running and repaired. On August 12th, Bro. and Sis. Bailey, along with some of the Racine Youth Group, arrived here in Antigua to help us get ready for our first youth camp. The youth had a tremendous time, for it was the first time that they ever stayed here at the church. They were here for six days and five nights. We had prayer every morning at 9am, then breakfast, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Then they were blessed by Sis. Bailey’s teaching. She did a tremendous job. After eating lunch, they went out to play cricket and volleyball in the afternoon. Those that wanted to be in the youth
choir practiced with Sis. Krystin Poplawski who was in charge of music for the youth camp. Sis. Poplawski did an outstanding job leading the choir and worship. Bro. Rick Bailey preached all our night services. He did a great job. He focused on the youth getting involved in the work of God. Bro. Bailey told me after the first evening service, that it was as powerful as the last night of camp! The first miracle of camp was that we prayed for rain to fill up our cistern, so we would have enough water for the whole camp. When we woke up the next morning, our cistern was overflowing! Out of 24 that attended youth camp, only one needed to be baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost and, by the end of the week, Laura was baptized and received the Holy Ghost! We would like to say a special thank you to Sis. Smith for cooking all that delicious food for the young people! I believe that our youth camp was one of the best things we have done for our church, because we have seen such a growth in our young people! The last night of youth camp, Bro. Bailey preached on commitment and the calling God has for our lives. At the end of the service we had a prayer line, and many were touched and convicted about the things of God. We are so thankful for everything that happened during our youth camp! In September, we got ready for our first wedding here at the church. We had twelve family members come down from the States to be a part of and help us with wedding preparations for the marriage of our son, Benjamin, and Victoria Smith. There were about 75 people that came to the wedding, and many people were touched. This was Continued on page 8
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AIMer
Greetings in the precious name of Jesus! My name is Liana O’Neal and I attend Calvary Gospel Church in Madison, WI. Reverend John Grant is my pastor. I hope this letter finds you well and in good health. I am doing great! I look forward to each new day with excitement about what God has planned for my life. I am writing because, in April 2010, my dad (George O’Neal) and I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Poland and visit Bro. and Sis. Nicholls, who are missionaries in Warsaw. It was a great experience! I immediately felt at home in Poland. The people were friendly, the city was beautiful, and I felt an overwhelming burden for Poland. I am pleased to say that I have been accepted as an Associate in Missions volunteer. After speaking with Bro. and Sis. Nicholls, it was decided that in January, I will be joining them for twelve months in Warsaw, Poland, assisting them with prayer, evangelism, Bible studies, music ministry and anything else that needs to be done. It was my desire to go to Poland earlier, but I do know that God’s timing is perfect! I will be living there and learning about Polish culture, and building relationships with those around me. I
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to Poland
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then said I, ‘Here am I; send me.’” Isaiah 6:8 am so thrilled to have this opportunity to minister to those in need in Poland, and I cannot wait to begin this new chapter in my life. I am writing to solicit your prayer and financial support in this endeavor. First, I ask that you pray for God’s continued guidance in my life and that I will be prepared spiritually for this trip. I also ask that you pray that God will provide financially for this trip. I need to raise around $5,000 before December, in order to pay for airline tickets and other expenses. Thanks to family, friends, my home church, and other churches in Wisconsin, it is my pleasure to say that I have already raised about $17,000 dollars out of the $22,000 budget, and I am so appreciative of those who have already given towards this trip. Please pray for safe travel for me and that God will continue to bless the work in Poland. Could you possibly be involved by seeking God’s guidance in aiding me financially for
this trip? Anything you can give would be a huge help and greatly appreciated. Remember, a little goes a long way, especially when God is involved! An account has been established in my name at the church. If you feel so led by God, you can make checks payable to Calvary Gospel Church and designate on the memo line “Poland Aimer.” The address is 5301 Commercial Ave., Madison, WI 53704. I am in the process of developing a website, where you will be able to keep track of how the fundraising is going and how/what I am doing once I arrive in Poland. The web address is www.polandexpress.yolasite.com Thank you for your consideration in being part of this awesome opportunity. I know that God will richly bless you in return. God Bless, Liana O’Neal “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” Romans 10:14
The Giants Before the BY DON ROGERS
I want to share what I believe is a Rhema Word:
Acts 19:14-16 • Some families are experiencing what the seven sons of Sceva went through as it relates to being overwhelmed by spiritual forces. What happens is: a person begins to believe that God no longer hears them in certain areas and they give up praying altogether. • Failed expectations and failing finances can cause you to lose faith, and now it seems you can’t even pray any more in that area. • The seven sons of Sceva ignored the giants before the giants in their personal lives and were overcome by their enemy. • God wants to change someone’s paradigm about the giants they are fighting. The focus for the battle is dealing with the giants before the giants. Issues of deep seated fears, unresolved past experiences, or trusting authority. These are what I call the giants before the giants. • It is the will of God that, when we war in the spirit, we win against the enemy. Let’s turn to I Samuel 16:10 and see how God reveals to us the revelation of how to fight and war in the spirit. Let’s look at these giants in David’s life. I want to show you another side of David’s life people don’t talk about, a side that prepared him for fighting, unlike the Seven Sons of Sceva. David had to battle the rejection of his own family. (verse 11) His father, Jesse, never even considered bringing David out to meet the prophet Samuel. And some of us think we are fighting family members. We think we
Giant
are victims of past issues. • This is the facing of a giant that needs to come down today, because this attitude and thinking low of myself can affect the way I pray. • Rejection hides behind procrastination and the wearing of masks that insulate me from people coming close to me. These are giants before the giants. When it becomes difficult to become transparent and vulnerable to my own loved ones and church family leaders, I am not conquering the giants before the giants. The next giant David fought was loneliness on the back side of a mountain. David had to conquer the giant of coping with loneliness before he could openly kill his Goliath. David had to get dominion over self in order to have dominion over Satan. This is why God allows
BEFORE DAVID CAN FIGHT GOLIATH, HE MUST LEARN TO CONQUER OTHER GIANTS IN HIS LIFE. certain unfair experiences in our lives, so we can face the way we are responding to loneliness. This is a prerequisite in fighting public giants. Loneliness is where I learn to fall in love with God’s Word. This is called walking in Divine Order. It becomes my only source of healing and comfort while all alone and facing rejection. These are the giants before the giants. • The Divine Order is: o Fearing God’s Word enough to allow it to change your values, your convictions, and the way you talk and dress… o Because prayer and holiness go together, as holiness gives us dominion over ourselves. Continued on page 8
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Giants
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• I am talking about facing the deep-rooted attitudes of loneliness, rejection, and our self-esteem issues that are really giants in your life, and not issues. • God said it’s your season to bring these giants down because they have been with you way too long. In other words, these giants only you and God know about. The saints, leaders and family members do not see these giants exposed in your life. • These giants will make you feel like you can’t trust anyone. It will make you suspicious of your spiritual covering. I personally had to come face to face with the trusting of leadership, both in my district and family, if I were to be ready to fight bigger giants. You will struggle with thinking evil of people when you are in conflict with them. David had to settle this in his heart. This is why he writes the Psalms. He runs to the priest for the shewbread while running from Saul. David sought the comfort of the Word before the comfort of his wounds and rejection from his leader, King Saul. • God said it is time to kill your giants that have kept you from your personal development- giants that have kept you from the calling of ministry in your life. David had to conquer the giant of the fear of man.
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not a normal wedding, for at the close when the bride and groom usually walk out of the church to stand and shake everyone’s hands, the whole wedding party stayed at the altar and individually prayed for all those who attended the wedding. We are still working on the upper room, where Benjamin and Victoria
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• Seeing his life only from the eyes of others. He learned to conquer this on the back side of a mountain. • Read I Samuel 17:26-28. • David learned to ignore what his brothers thought on a back side of a mountain all alone, killing the giants of jealousy, rejection, loneliness and the fear of man. o Some of us need to kill the giants of jealousy and fear of man we have towards our brother. Read verse 28 again. David had to kill pride on the backside of a mountain — read verses 38-40. • Can you imagine how ridiculous this looked for David, or the ridicule he suffered? • Pride is a giant. In order to kill your Goliath, you must kill the giant of pride. David killed the giant of fear — read I Samuel 17:33-37 • David had to learn to master his fears all alone. • I don’t believe he just, all of a sudden, went out to kill a lion or bear. I believe he suffered some losses. I believe he used his harp to build his confidence. • David conquered the spirit of fear on the backside of a mountain before he could kill Goliath. (Read I Peter 2:1-3) These are the giants we have now live. We have the kitchen to finish, but it should be done shortly. We are focusing on teaching Bible studies and street evangelism that we might fulfill Luke 9:10, to seek and to save that which was lost. To date so far for this year, 16 were baptized in the wonderful name of Jesus and 49 were filled with the Holy Ghost!!! Once again, we want to thank all of you who have kept us in your prayers for the work here in
learned to live with. We think it’s normal to entertain the attitudes of I Peter 2:1, “…all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.” We make too many excuses about why we live with these giants. • You have a harp to worship. • You have a slingshot—God’s Word of Faith. • So tell your Goliath he is coming down today. Read I Samuel 17:45-47 • David prophesied to his giants before he killed them. It is important we do this for three reasons: 1. For you to be shaped into the nature of Jesus and your apostolic identity. 2. To inherit Abrahamic promises that are occupied by our giants. 3. God has called you to walk in victory. You must recommit your flesh in repentance, fasting and prayer so you will have dominion over self. Then you will have boldness to come to God’s throne to speak to your giant. This starts by increasing the size of your altar in order to handle a bigger cross for the lost. Then you can handle a bigger giant later on in your future.
Antigua, and for all the financial support that comes in to help us do what God has called us to do. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!! To see the pictures of all the things we have shared with you, just go to our website: http://praisetabernacleag. webs.com/ TO GOD BE THE GLORY, Bro. & Sis. Lenny Smith
Waupaca is seeking a new pastor… The Morey’s are moving to Alabama this winter. After ministering in Waupaca, Wisconsin for ten years as pastor of Gateway Apostolic Church, Rev. Tom Morey, his wife Cheryl and their daughter, Hannah, will be moving to the Alabama District. Bro. Morey recently accepted an offer to transfer to a new position within the Kimberly Clark Corporation. Pastor Morey turned in his resignation to the church on November 13th, taking effect as of January 1, 2012. The actual move date is yet to be determined. The church is currently in the process of seeking qualified candidates for the vacant pastoral position. Pastor Morey announced to the church “For my wife and I, we see another ministry for our future in the Kingdom of God. I see new opportunities to serve the Lord as I prepare to retire from Kimberly Clark in the next
few years. I would love to be in a position to help in another missions work in the Mobile, Alabama area. Fresh vision, fresh anointing, new direction to do his perfect will is what we are pursuing.” This opportunity also puts the Morey’s much closer to their children. Their son, Tim, currently lives and works about 4 hours away in Huntsville, Alabama area and their sonin-law, Rev Ryan Vanderford, their daughter Lisa, and grandchildren, Rylee and Jacelyn, have just recently taken a church in New Hebron, Mississippi, which is about three hours from where they will be settling. Pray that the pastoral selection process will go smoothly for the Waupaca church and that the Morey’s will arrive safely in Alabama and adjust to this big change in their lives.
Rev. Loammi Diaz | December 29-31, 2011 Radisson Paper Valley Hotel, Appleton, WI After service activities | Thursday night: Players Choice | Friday night: Skate City Hyphen Event | Friday night: Comedy Sportz at OuterEdge Stage See www.wisyouth.org for more information November/December 2011
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For a candle to be effective, it does not need to be concerned about its size, color or age. It just needs to shine. The Adventure Christmas for Christ Offering Date: December 18, 2011
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