Honored @ Homecoming 2008

There are very few things that can make me speechless. But when I received word that my alma mater - Valley Forge Christian College - was giving me an award as a "Distinguished Young Alumni Award" Emphasis on the 'young' :)

I felt, well, simply put unworthy. Just 8 years removed from Graduation the award is given to individuals that have made some accomplishments under 10 years after graduation. I along with Amanda (Rainville) Anderson were there to accept. In the room were decorated ministers including a 20 year veteran of evangelism Greg Hubbard, a two star general chaplin in the US Military and world renowned Author and counsellor Dr. Richard Dobbins - and then there's . . . me. One can feel like a guppy in a room like that. Nevertheless, I am humbled and greatly appreciate the award. I have my Savior to praise for His enduring love and patience with me. That being said, I would be remissed if I didn't take a well deserved moment to thank my wonderful and supporting wife who has encouraged me time after time with all things ministerial. She is a true anchor and a blessing from the Lord Himself. She is and will forever be my queen.

Thank you to my wife Elisha and all those who support this ministry.


Tony and Dr. Richard Dobbins

Church Intelligence

According to a recent Christian post:

Just 17% of Protestant churchgoers in America demonstrate a “decent” level of discipleship or spiritual maturity, claims Brad Waggoner, author of Shape of Faith to Come: Spiritual Formation and the Future of Discipleship (B&H 2008). This minority scored 80% or higher on a Spiritual Formation Inventory, developed to measure key areas of Christian discipleship. Waggoner writes, "At present I believe that too many of us are settling for easy goals. It is one thing to grow a church numerically. It is quite another to seek the transformation of heart, mind, and character."

Other findings show only 16% of Protestant churchgoers read their Bible daily, while another 20% read it "a few times a week."

~23% "agreed strongly" with the statement, "When I come to realize that some aspect of my life is not right in God's eyes, I make the necessary changes."
~47% admitted to just "going through the motions," often during the singing and prayer portions of worship services, while 25% strongly disagreed.

In the past six months, 29% said they shared with someone how to become a Christian twice or more, 14% did so once and 57% not at all. 55% of churchgoers believe they grew spiritually over the past year, yet only 3.5% showed a statistically significant level of growth.

This must be know before we can do something. Let's doers of the word and not just hearers.

Christian Post 10/14/08

I subscribe to several newsletters that keep me posted on the church. Church Intelligence is one of them. If you want to subscribe as well go to http://www.churchleaders.com/

Live for Him today!
Tony

Report: Alexandria, Virginia

I met up with an old friend (shout out to Rob Casey) and met some great new ones as well. I was at First Assembly of God in Alexandria, VA under the leadership of Pastor Wes and Stephanie Johnson and let me tell you they have a great thing going on there. They are serious about serving the Lord and they are focused on the Lord's calling on that area. We had a great night Saturday with some great young people followed by a wonderful Sunday morning service where we celebrated a baby dedication along with a heart dedication ourselves. One thing that God recently showed me was that Christ did not call us to set people straight, He called us to set people free! Free with the purchase of Jesus' death on the cross. I am continually humbled by the fact that he loved me enough to leave heaven's throne and get beaten and mocked for me. His death has allowed me to be free from the many things that plague our society today. In reality, the seperation between God and man has been lifted by that very sacrifice.

God is in control and he hasn't lost track of you today. Take a moment sometime today and pray. Just, say some note of gratitude for what He has accomplished on your behalf. I promise, you get this and you will never see the cross the same again.

I would rather walk with God in the dark than go alone in the light.
- Mary Gardiner Brainard

keep chasing,
Tony

Interest Bearing Accounts

“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance.”

— C. S. Lewis

Billy The Driver

Billy Graham was returning to Charlotte after a speaking engagement and when his Plane arrived there was a limousine there to transport him to his home.
As he prepared to get into the limo, he stopped
and spoke to the driver.
'You know' he said, 'I am 87 years old and I have never
driven a limousine. Would you mind if I drove it for a while?'
The driver said,
'No problem. Have at it.'
Billy gets into the driver's seat and they head off
down the highway.

A short distance away sat a rookie State Trooper operating his first speed trap.
The long black limo went by him doing 70 in a 55 mph zone.
The trooper pulled out and easily caught the limo
and he got out of his patrol car to begin the procedure.
The young trooper walked up to the driver's door
and when the glass was rolled down, he was surprised to see
who was driving.
He immediately excused himself and went back to his car
and called his supervisor.
He told the supervisor,
'I know we are supposed
to enforce the law....
But I also know that
important people are
given certain courtesies.
I need to know what I should do because
I have stopped a very important person..'
The supervisor asked,
'Is it the governor?' The young trooper said,
'No, he's more important than that.'

The supervisor said,'Oh, so it's the president.'
The young trooper said,
'No, he's even more important than that.'
The supervisor finally asked,
'Well then, who is it?' The young trooper said,

'I think it's Jesus, because he's got Billy Graham for a chauffeur!'

Why I Can’t Vote For Obama - Article by Huntly Brown

This is from Huntley Brown, a Christian concert pianist, a man of God and a black man. This is a must read!

Why I Can’t Vote For Obama

First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support. Obama needs to be commended for his accomplishments, but I need to explain why I will not be voting for him.

Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness.

I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads I follow. I can’t dictate the terms He does because He is the leader. I can’t vote black because I am black; I have to vote Christian because that’s who I am. Christian first, black second. Neither should anyone from the other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won’t be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.

In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning, to name a few, wrong, economic concerns will soon not matter.

We need to follow Martin Luther King’s words, “Don’t judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” I don’t know Obama so all I can go off is his voting record.

His voting record earned him the title of the most liberal senator in the US Senate in 2007. NATIONAL JOURNAL: Obama: Most Liberal Senator in 2007 (01/31/2008)

To beat Ted Kennedy and Hilary Clinton as t he most liberal senator, takes some doing. Obama accomplished this feat in 2 short years. I wonder what would happen to America if he had four years to work with.

There is a reason planned parenthood gives him a 100 % rating.
There is a reason the homosexual community supports him.
There is a reason Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Hamas etc. love him.
There is a reason he said he would nominate liberal judges to the Supreme Court.
There is a reason he voted against the infanticide bill.
There is a reason he voted No on the constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.
There is a reason he voted No on banning partial birth abortion.
There is a reason he voted No on confirming Justices Roberts and Alito. These two judges are conservatives and they have since overturned partial birth abortion. The same practice Obama wanted to continue.

Let’s take a look at the practice he wanted to continue.

The 5 Step Partial Birth Abortion procedure

1. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby’s leg with forceps. (Remember this is a live baby)
2. The baby’s leg is pulled out into the birth canal.
3. The abortionist delivers the baby’s entire body, except for the head.
4. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby’s skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.
5. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child’s brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed. God help him.

There is a reason Obama opposed the parental notification law. Think about this: you can’t give a kid an aspirin without parental notification but that same kid can have an abortion without parental notification. This is insane.

There is a reason he went to Jeremiah Wright’s church for 20 years. Obama tells us he has good judgment but he sat under Jeremiah Wright teaching for 20 years. Now he is condemning Wright’s sermons. I wonder why now? Obama said Jeremiah Wright led him to the Lord and discipled him. A disciple is one in training. Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19 - 20 ‘Go and make disciples of all nations.’ This means reproduce yourself. Teach people to think like you, walk like you, talk like you believe what you believe etc. The question I have is what did Jeremiah Wright teach him?

Would you support a White President who went to a church which has tenets that said they have a:

1. Commitment to the White Community
2. Commitment to the White Family
3. Adherence to the White Work Ethic
4. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the White Community
5. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting White Institutions
6. Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace the White Value System
7. Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System.

Would you support a President who went to a church like that?

Just change the word from white to black and you have the tenets of Obama’s former church. If President Bush was a member of a church like this, he would be called a racist. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been marching outside. This kind of church is a racist church. Obama did not wake up after 20 years and just discovered he went to a racist church. The church can’t be about race. Jesus did not come for any particular race. He came for the whole world.

A church can’t have a value system based on race. The churches value system has to be based on biblical mandate. It does not matter if it’s a white church or a black church it’s still wrong. Anyone from either race that attends a church like this would never get my vote.

Obama’s former Pastor Jeremiah Wright is a disciple of liberal theologian James Cone, author of the 1970 book A Black Theology of Liberation. Cone once wrote: ‘Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. Cone is the man Obama’s mentor looks up to. Does Obama believe this?

So what does all this mean for the nation?

In the past when the Lord brought someone with the beliefs of Obama to lead a nation it meant one thing - judgment.

Read 1 Samuel 8 when Israel asked for a king. First God says in 1 Samuel 1:9 ‘Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.’

Then God says: 1 Samuel 1:18 ‘When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.’ 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. ‘No!’ they said. ‘We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.’ 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, ‘Listen to them and give them a king.’

Here is what we know for sure.

God is not schizophrenic

He would not tell one person to vote for Obama and one to vote for McCain. As the scripture says, a city divided against itself cannot stand, so obviously many people are not hearing from God.

Maybe I am the one not hearing but I know God does not change and Obama contradicts many things I read in scripture, so I doubt it.

For all my friends who are voting for Obama, can you really look God in the face and say; Father based on your word, I am voting for Obama even though I know he will continue the genocidal practice of partial birth abortion. He might have to nominate three or four supreme court justices, and I am sure he will be nominating liberal judges who will be making laws that are against you. I also know he will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this. I know I can look the other way because of the economy.

I could not see Jesus agreeing with many of Obama’s positions. Finally I have two questions for all my liberal friends.

Since we know someone’s value system has to be placed on the nation,

1. Whose value system should be placed on the nation?

2. Who should determine that this is the right value system for the nation?

Blessings,
Huntley Brown

Inferiority

"Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

REPORT: Christiansburg, VA

I really did have a blast at Victory Restoration Center with this wonderful leadership led by Pastor Ray and Sandy Kingrea. The Word of God came forward and many reports of God's touch. We experienced a special move of God at the end of the second service that left much of the congregation speechless and moved. God is breaking His people for a service that is bigger than we have ever seen in our earth's history.

The Lord revealed to me recently this thought, "it takes a broken spirit to change a broken life." What I sensed was, if believers are not surrendered, why would others want to follow this Jesus that we ourselves don't deem worthy enough to change our lifestyles. Far too many people are wandering around existing and not "LIVING." Jesus Christ came so that we would have LIFE and LIFE more abundantly. I believe that this church is doing something on point and I believe that I want to be a part of every single thing the Spirit of God wants to do across this nation. Pray for us as we are setting our 2009 schedule right now for God appointments at God ordained times. Thank you to all of you who keep in touch and are praying.

LIVE LIFE,
Tony

ps
Check out our NEW newsletter HERE

Checked In

I am here in Blacksburg, VA - home of the hokie pride. I must say that the Inn at Virginia Tech is one of if not the most beautiful hotel I have stayed in a long while - thanks Pastor Kingrea. I am getting ready to speak tonight (to the youth) and tomorrow at the same Victory Restoration Center in Christiansburg and I am pumped about what God is going to do. I had to leave the family at home for the night and drove almost 7 hours to be at this event. It takes alot out of me but I know that God is worth it all and hard work is pivitol in God using us. Hard work shows God that you are serious. No cruising along in this faith walk. I love what Peter Drucker wrote: "Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work."

Pray as we encounter God tonight!

Ministry Center Project

We are in a very exciting yet pivotal point in this ministry yet the ministry needs the help the Lord and also of all our friends to accomplish it. We have raised about half the funds to date. Prayerfully consider supporting us in prayer and if you feel led maybe even in finances. Please stop my our MINISTRY CENTER PROJECT page on our website to find out more. This is simply office space - nothing fancy. We do however need a place to work in ministry and this is it. We have extended the deadline to October 14 trusting to hear from a few more friends in support. Elisha and I really desire to do the work of the ministry and this is one way you can play a part in it. Thank you in advance for your prayers.

Tony