THE TRUTH

A Newsletter of PURSUING THE TRUTH MINISTRIES
(Educate to Liberate!)
December 2003

Greetings

Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS! I pray that you will be blessed of God as we move to the holiday season. Remember those who may not share in the joy of this season because of various reasons. Bless them according to your resources, time, and friendliness. Love is activity not passive.

WHAT'S NEW!

Soon I will move the Pursuing the Truth Website to a different website hosting company. I was told about a company that hosts websites with many features for very good prices. I checked them out and am currently evaluating them. It looks like I will be moving PTM to that company. Currently I am testing the formmail utilities that they have for sending emails from the website. I don't like their solution so I am going to write my own code for that. I hope to have it all running by January 1st. You won't notice any difference. Well, actually you might because I intend on updating the site as well. So pray with me about this as well.

We have new friends in Singapore, China. Pastor David Chee has asked us to send monthly material to him to be used for his church. That is great that someone on the other side of the world is finding this ministry useful. We actually have associates all over the world in China, Japan, Australia, Africa, India, and throughout the United States. God has really expanded this ministry. Pray that we remain true to the truth and continue to be a blessing to these people.

You know I don't recall ever telling you all of my employment situation. Well, I was laid off from my job at Macsteel Service Centers, USA back in January, almost a year ago. You can probably only imagine the thoughts that were going through my mind as I had recently purchased a new home and have a relatively new addition to the family. But as you can see, I'm still hear and having the time of my life, though I still need to get sufficient pay. I am however doing what I love as I have officially started my technology consulting company, "Reggie's PC Resources" (RPCR). You can visit my website at www.rpcr.com. So pray for me as I move forward with this endeavor. God has truly been blessing me in this and I want to remain true to him and consistent with his will for me

The Extreme Gospel?

By Pastor William Cunningham

We live in a time when sensationalism is the key for acceptance. We would rather hear sensational news rather than the truth about what actually happened. The same is true even in our churches and ministries. We would rather have a hopping service where the music is "professional quality" instead of hearing the truth and worshiping the Lord in Spirit and in Truth. There are those who desire a true personal relationship with Jesus and there are those who just want the religious scene.

Paul was amazed at the Galatian church because they had embraced another gospel, which wasn't a gospel at all. They began to believe and hold to things that were not consistent with the Gospel that they were told and taught. We too are doing the same type of thing. We hold to the sensational message instead of the true Gospel. We love to hear how God will make you wealthy, heal you, give you a new car, truck, house, and more money. We love to hear such things because they are extreme. However, the Bible simply points us to Jesus who in turn points us to the Father.

Jesus warned us in Matthew's Gospel to not lay up for ourselves treasures on earth, which can and will corrode. He said to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven, which is eternal (See Matthew 6:19-21). The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not extreme. It just is. There is nothing sensational about the Gospel in terms of riches and glory except for those things spiritual. The resurrection is indeed sensational! Let's remember that Jesus died for us. He didn't die so that we would be rich and have expensive clothes, though some will have the resources to have expensive things (I like expensive toys myself from Sears). God will even purpose some to be rich. However, Jesus came so that we would have eternal life and not so that we would have the the rich life.

Let's stop responding to sensationalism and the extreme, but rather respond to the truth of the Gospel and spread that. People out there in the world need Jesus Christ. People need to know that God loves them. People need to know that there is hope. Riches do not bring hope. Power and prestige do not bring hope. Our only hope is in Christ Jesus. Spread the word! Spread the truth! Amen

Count Your Blessings

There is a saying that you can measure the success of a church by the number of members it has. I used to believe that until a few years ago. Every now and then I would come home on a Friday after servicing someone's computer or the like. There would sometimes be someone on the corner preaching to the people as they walked by and to the drivers as they drove by in their cars. The church was called "Church of the Broken Pieces." I kept thinking how faithful they were to preaching the word. It takes a lot to stand on the corner with a PA system and preach. Anyway, the church did not have a large building or anything like that. As a matter of fact, it was a storefront building. However, I couldn't get them out of my mind. They were so effective.

I don't know how many members they have but I know it couldn't be that many. Then I thought. What in the world do we mean by members. What does it mean to be a member of a church. Aren't we all members of the one true church of Jesus Christ. So what does the whole membership philosophy mean anyway. Then I thought, the church as a whole progresses as more and more people believe in Jesus Christ and are saved. However, it is unfair to think of growth only in terms of membership or the number of people attending church.

I was sensitive to this issue when I pastored Oasis Christian Fellowship a few years ago. I became concerned about getting more people to come. I began looking for a place that we could meet. However, I began to think. What does it mean. Why not just operate with the resources that I have and allow God to do whatever he wants with the church in regards to attendance. Now of course I could start an advertising campaign to attract more people. However, I think it is more important to be faithful with what you have and allow that to grow.

I think that many pastors are caught up in the numbers game. I recall a pastor of a church that I attended for a while telling me that his vision was to have 800 members. That was interesting because my goal was to educate people with the Gospel. I wanted people to know the truth so I was trying to build an educational system in that church that would bless the people with the Word of God. Well after a while I concluded that the pastor and I had very different visions so I had to step down from my administrative and ministry leader position so I wouldn't cause any more trouble.

So we should be careful how we measure God's blessing. I can look out in the congregation that Pursuing the Truth has now and wish I had more people. However, we have a good number for a startup church. Most importantly we have a great group of people. Let me start with them and train them to the best of my ability with the word of God as I was trained. Then together we can do a lot for the kingdom of God instead of merely trying to get more people in the seats. I've been to churches where the turnover rate is incredible. People come but they don't stay. They don't stay because there is nothing for them at the church. Though some people have superficial reasons for coming to a church, that is, they want the sensationalism and the extreme, there are those who honestly want to know God and are seeking him.

I measure the growth of Pursuing the Truth Ministries by the people that we interact with, which is why I desire to hear from you all. After all, Pursuing the Truth Ministries was in existence long before we started the Pursuing the Truth Ministries church. So I couldn't measure growth by the number of people. I was forced to measure our growth by our effectiveness and consistency with the purpose that God has given me for this ministry. That is how I measure growth. Are we as a ministry excelling in what we do to affect more and more people and to effect change in those people. Yes we have and yes we are!

Let's count our blessings but in a way that is conducive to edification and not multiplication. Don't measure God's blessings by how much you have in the bank for example. Count your blessings by what God has done for you and how he has kept you. Count your blessings knowing that Jesus died for you so that you might be reconciled to God and have an intimate relationship with him. Amen.

Help the Children

By Pastor Bill

There is a major epidemic in our youth today. They are very lacking in moral values and good character. This is primarily the fault of the parent. Why can I say that? Where else will the children learn good values and morals. How will a child know to seek God unless he or she is taught to do so by his or her parents. Sure it is possible that a parent can train up a child in the way of God and that child still end up a bank robber or something like that. That is not your fault in the same way it wasn't God's fault when the Israelites fell into trouble after disobeying God. They knew what was right and decided to do something else.

So the first thing that has to happen is that the parents have to train the child in godly way. This is very lacking these days. So what are the children going to teach their children? You got it. Nothing pertaining to God. What makes matters worse is that some parents condone their own mistakes and sins. Sure we all sin but that doesn't make it OK. If you sinned as a parent then you should be sure not to present that sin to your children as something that is acceptable. You should make them aware that you did it and it was a sin. It was wrong. You aren't perfect so there is no sense in trying to be flawless.

I think we have gone far too long with deficient child raising. It is probably going to take several generations before this epidemic is corrected if indeed it will be. We say that the world is getting worse. Well said. However, if you haven't trained your children in the way of God and to have good character and morals then you are part of the problem. You are part of the reason that the world is getting worse and worse. Evil feeds more evil and goodness counteracts that evil. The problem is that we are producing more evil than good.

Train your children according to God's way and in the way of God. Parents don't teach their children discipline so the child grows up thinking that he or she can have whatever he or she wants. We listen to the New Age philosophy about child raising and subsequently destroy the child. Our children have no hope to being productive and god fearing adults. They were destroyed at youth because their parents didn't do what they were supposed to do.

Help the children. Start with your own children. Do what you can to instill godly values to them. Do what you can to lead them on a path that will take them to Jesus Christ and salvation. Amen.

Well, God bless you always. Remember to eat, drink, and digest the word of God and know God for yourself. Be blessed and be free!

- Pastor William Cunningham