October, 2005

On Saturday, September 3, Betty Gibby, Mary Poole, Wana and I went to the home of Mrs. EDITH MELLOR to celebrate her 95th birthday. Her precious husband, Dr. WILLIAM C. MELLOR, age 98 had preceded her in death. We had a lovely afternoon with her. She is one of God’s great saints. Others took note of her 95th birthday.

DR. MATTHEW SKARIAH, President of World Prayer Band, P.O. BOX 686, ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO, 88202-0686 write one of the finest monthly prayer letters. Write him and he will send you a copy of his Prayergram.

Excerpts for the September, 2005, Prayergram. Some Christians are debased by their ever-growing desire for fame and recognition. Humility is no longer the virtue in which they live as disciples of Christ. The accolade which the world bestows is more sought after than the honor that comes from God. The superficial artistry of gospel entertainment is more coveted after than the manifest presence of His glory. Religious entertainment is the golden calf of ‘deeper life’ groups. The Savior weeps as He observes the irreverent manner in which some worship God in the sanctuary. And most importantly, the call of the early apostles, “ Come out from among them and be ye separate, says the Lord,’ and “live in the Spirit,” is now superseded by the psychobabble of the new apostles, “Come, join the fun of the world, and win the world by being worldly and irreverent.” Contemporary changes are never reliable, and the Christian who patterns himself after the changing world is headed for disaster for there are always new and outrageous changes on the horizon.

Is it any wonder then, that the debilitated state of many evangelicals does little to curtail the rapidly worsening moral and social depravity of our nation and the world? Just imagine, with all the preaching on radio and television in America today, we have not put one dent on the flood of moral pollution and social disintegration. What does that tell us? It tells us that we do not practice what we preach for reasons unknown. HARNACK, the historian and theologian, said that the Church influenced the world most when it was most unlike the world.

August 28,29,30, 2005 Wana and I enjoyed three nights with Dr. Rodney and Mrs. Paula Agan. He is the pastor of the North Point Baptist Church, Carrollton, GA. They bought 42 acres on the leading intersection coming into that city. It was miracle of God that they were able to get that prize piece of property. Pray for Rodney and Paula as they lead this great Church. Wana and I felt it was such an honor to be invited to share three nights with them. Some of the leading preachers of our nation preach there and they invited us. Thank you Rodney.

Two unusual preachers! REV. BOB STEELE. Bob is a retired Virginia State Trooper. He has been preaching for years. He is a blessing to many of the Churches in that area. He is as well known as any preacher in the area. He will be found preaching nearly every week. He conducts Revivals in many Churches where others would not go. He has led hundreds to accept our Lord Jesus Christ. I have never known a preacher that is being used more in our Lord’s Service than Bob. His lovely wife, NITA, is such a godly person and is with Bob whenever and wherever he goes to preach. They are members of Antioch Baptist Church, Bristol, VA. Dr. Brad Davis, Pastor.

DR. RAYTON PUCKETT. Once or twice in a lifetime you meet a legion. Rayton is a legion. His faithful and precious wife, FAITH, are two of the most well known Church people in several states. You will seldom find anyone in the Pulpit that holds the attention and blesses people like Rayton Puckett. He has one of the finest minds of any person that I have ever met. There are few preachers that he has not worked with. Preachers and Churches in several states use this man of God to conduct their Revivals, weekend services and Homecoming meetings. He and Faith are members of Antioch Baptist Church, Bristol, VA. Dr. Brad Davis is Pastor.

By the way, Dr. Brad Davis is one of the great preachers in Virginia and other states. He and his wife Sandra are precious people

Wana and I feel that we have been blessed of God to count these six people as our dear friends. God has given us so many friends such as these. How do you thank God for all his goodness?

Another one of God’s great preachers is DR. GEORGE LAUDERDALE. He and Sally celebrated their 56th Wedding Anniversary on Friday, September 9. They were married in Atlanta on Friday, September 9, 1949. Pastors, you owe it to yourselves and your Churches to have George Lauderdale speak to your people, their address: 1715 Swann Road, Wrens, GA. 30833-4105

July 3, 2005, Dr. Lynn McClain invited Wana and I to minister to the people of The Kenwood Baptist Church, Fayetteville, GA.

July 10, it was my privilege to preach for Dr. Ralph Easterwood and the people of The Glen Haven Baptist Church. That church is growing!

July 24, it was my privilege to preach for Dr. Ken Martin and the people of the Grace Baptist Church, Powder Springs, GA. Dr. Billy Wood is the associate Pastor. You will never meet two men who are doing more for God than Dr. Ken and Dr. Billy. That Church is growing.

August 14, a.m. I preached for Dr. Ronnie Healan. Pastor of The Calvary Baptist Church, Statham, GA. They are building a new building.

p.m. We went to Glen Haven B/C to heard DR. RANDY HARDEMAN. He started Glen Haven. He has been a blessing to thousands with his ministry.

August 21, a.m and p.m, Wana sang and I preached for REV. TED CROTTS, Pastor of the Blackwater Community Church. We enjoyed that day.

August, 22, Wana sang and I preached for Rev. Watson and the people of The Little Mountain Baptist Church, Ararat, N.C.

August 24, again at the Little Mountain B/C

August 26, again at the Little Mountain B/C Dr. Rayton Puckett was the Moderator. We heard from many other preachers. It was a good Camp Meeting.

October 2-5th, 2005, Grace Baptist Church, Powder Springs, Georgia, will celebrate their Anniversary Service. They moved into this location 7 years ago. Ken Martin, Garland Odom, Joe Arthur, Larry Brown, Lou Baldwin, Bill Sturm and Junior Hill will preach. October 9, Dr. Ken Martin and Dr. Billy Wood will preach. Everyone needs to visit Grace Baptist Church

Sunday, Sept. 11. a.m. Wana sang and I preached for Dr. Roy Yelton and the people of The Beaver View B/C, Bristol, VA. God gave us a good meeting.

p.m. Wana sang and I preached for Rev. Les Ketron, Central, B/C, Abingdon, VA. It was a thrilling service.

Thursday, 9-15, a.m. I preached, along with other preachers, for Dr. Tolbert Moore at Antioch B/C, Bristol, VA. Dr. Moore was moderator of the Appalachian Baptist Fellowship. Dr. Brad Davis was associate Moderator. The meeting was Monday through Thursday. The next meeting is to be next September, 11-14, 2006, at the Antioch Baptist Church, Bristol, VA. Wana sang at several of the services. Dr. Moore has asked me to be one of the speakers in 2006 and Wana will sing in some of the services. Dr. Tolbert Moore is doing a great work for our Lord. He is natural leader.

President George Bush has recommended JUDGE JOHN ROBERTS to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It is a shame that he must face the likes of Ted Kennedy and his bunch of liberals. I pray for Judge Roberts. What right does Ted Kennedy have to question anyone?

The RAPPERS that we see on our T V screens are some of the lowest life on earth today. Their sexual suggestions and grabbing their private parts and above all—THEIR EGO—is one of our nation’s greatest sins. Their baggy clothes and ball caps on sideways and their suggestive songs are repulsive to anyone with any kind of morals. I am an old-timer, 82 years old, and I know that our nation was not like that at one time. Many of us were poor but we wanted to look our best. Our clothes were clean and if they had holes (and many times they did) they were patched. In my early life men did not curse when women were present. The first date did not mean sex, not even a kiss. A girl who was pregnant was disgraced and often sent away until the child was born.

One instance: A girl was studying to be a nurse. One day she and others were in the X-Ray room. One girl said to her, ‘You are pregnant.’ She came to her pastor. They talked and prayed. The pastor said, “I want you to come before the Church Sunday morning. I will be in charge. I want you to confess your sin and ask the Church to forgive you. With tears in her eyes and with a broken heart she said, “I have sinned. I am pregnant. WILL YOU FORGIVE ME? I have asked God to forgive me. When she was through two or three hundred people came by and put their arms around her. Tears flowed freely and she realized that she was forgiven. When her baby came that child was the darling of the Church. Later God gave her a wonderful husband and what a godly couple they were for God and the Church.

Wana and I drive by several Junior High and High Schools and it frightens us. I don’t believe in cloning (it is an area that we need to stay away from) but when I see these young girls coming out of class—it is like seeing cloned Britney Spears. All their jeans are about the same, tight around the legs with part of their stomach showing and usually the blouse or shirt is low cut

Thank God for Christian Schools who still have standards. Some tell me that it is only a fad. It may be but it is a BAD FAD. See many of the young men come out with their ball caps sideways on their head and a long baggy T-shirt and baggy shorts.

Continued from page 2: You see CRUMBS started these fads. If the Bible is clear about anything it is this, “Come out from among them. Be ye separate. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Our conduct, our talk, our dress, and the places we go and things we do should be different than the world.

To all young Christians (and older ones and preachers) get a copy of A.W. Tozer’s book, “The Pursuit of God.” My dead friend, DR. WILLIAM C. MELLOR, died recently, I spent hours with this man of God. He was a personal friend of Tozer. He wrote some for Tozer and Tozer spent time in the home of Dr. William and Mrs. Edith Mellor. You should read chapter six, “The Speaking Voice.” Tozer said of Jesus, (page 110) “ The words of Jesus are wonderful and strange, a visitation from above. It is good that we listen to Him. His words are the essence of truth. HE IS NOT OFFERING OPINIONS; JESUS NEVER UTTERED OPINONS. He never guessed. He knew and He knows. He spoke out of the fullness of His Godhead, and His words are very Truth itself. He is the only one who could say “blessed” with complete authority, for He is the Blessed One come from the world above to confer blessedness upon mankind.”

The prophets of old were men of breaking hearts and had a quality about them not known or understood by common men. They habitually spoke with spiritual authority. They had been in the PRESENCE OF GOD and they reported what they saw there. They were PROPHETS, not scribes, for the scribes tell us what he has read, PROPHETS tells us what HE HAS SEEN.

Dr. Ed Moore (one of this nation’s great preachers) said in a sermon , Sept. 14, in the Antioch Baptist Church, Bristol, VA, preaching from the Book of Ezekiel, ‘What have you seen, what have you heard, and what have you felt?”

Tozer said, “We are today overrun with orthodox scribes, but the prophets, where are they? The Church waits for the tender voice of the saint who has penetrated the veil and has gazed with inward eye upon the Wonder that is God. In the sixth chapter of Isaiah we see a man who did just this. His friend the King was dead, that day as he walked up the steps to that beautiful temple he was lonely and hungry. He needed to see The Glory of God (and he did) and to see all the powers that are in Heaven and around the throne and bask in that heavenly scene. What an afternoon. Isaiah was alone in the Temple with God. It was there, also, that he saw himself. One will never count for God until we first see His Glory and then we see ourselves. Not only did Isaiah see himself as lost and unclean but that the world was lost and then He said, ‘Here am I, send me.’ Then he asked the question, HOW LONG? The answer–until every part of the world is reached and every person has heard. What is God saying? The same thing that Jesus said in Matthew 28-19-20.

You see, God is the need of every person on earth, every nation, every color of skin, every race, and every language and in all walks of life. The rich, the poor, the educated, the uneducated, the young, the old, the male and the female—all need God. There is no other way to heaven or to be saved. Peter said there is no other name whereby men must be saved.

How long? Until He comes again! The message is for the whole world. John 3-16 tells us that truth.

We used to sing that old song, “There are days I would like to be all alone with Christ our Lord.” All of us need time alone with Him. John was alone that Sunday morning and came to be in the Spirit and received the Book of Revelation. That must have been one more day.

In 1946 I had been discharged from the Army (WW 11). I was working for an Oil Company. I was down on the River for eight hours. I had my Bible open. I went out of High School into the army. Yet that day alone with our Lord was one I have never forgotten. I was so alone with our Lord. I had not been to the University and yet the Lord showed me that I would start a Bible College and Seminary and be President of that School. He showed me that we would be on Radio and T.V. and have a ministry that would reach many nations and our own nation. This has all come to pass. It was shared with me that day—alone.

Many times Church Members want their Pastor to be seen in local places every day, but the Pastor that will bless your heart and the heart of the Church is the Pastor that is alone in his study, praying, studying and being touched by God. Don’t rob your Pastor by not letting him be alone with His Lord. Study takes time. There are notes to be made, books to be read, and a time to just think. As a young Pastor, Dr. Johnson from Nashville visited our Church. I asked him a question, “Dr. Johnson give me some advice.” He sat down at my desk. He put his feet on the desk and leaned back and looked out the window. He said, ‘Just be quiet and think. Let God color your mind. Listen to Him. He still speaks if we listen.” We must be still long enough for Him to speak. The Quakers were not so wrong in some of their thinking.

We are told that they who wait on the Lord will receive. It does not matter how much education you have, how much you know, the size of your library, or your natural abilities—without His Spirit and the touch of His Presence all is vain. What a joy to the Preacher when he feels the Hand of God on his message. It is sad that today many preachers have all the mechanics and the passage is alliterated but lacks the SPIRIT OF GOD. Each preacher should know when a message is anointed by The Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that makes the words live. The touch of the Spirit is more than Charisma, more than just flesh, more than human ability, it is the touch that can be felt and it moves and changes us.

I am not talking about this whipped up emotion that we see on T.V. today. I am talking about that kind of meeting when the lady or man at the Piano is seen weeping or the song leader is overwhelmed with Spiritual emotion or the Preachers stands and weeps and people in the congregation are weeping or moving toward an altar. The joy of a mother seeing her son saved or a dad seeing his children saved or the joy of seeing a new-born soul standing, speechless, just over whelmed by the joy of being saved.

The joy of leaving a Church service praising God for what He has done. Let me tell you the story of Granny Bacon. She is dead but some who read this newsletter will remember her. The morning service had been so moving and Spirit filled. She left the New Home Free Will Baptist Church rejoicing over that morning’s service. John helped her get in the buggy. They went just beyond the School. She said, “John stop the buggy. Help me out.” John helped her out and she said, ‘Hold my bonnet.’ He did and Granny shouted around that buggy about three times. She said, ‘John give me my bonnet and help me get back into the buggy.’ He did and they went home. That was what I call Old-fashioned Spiritual services.

As you read this article you know that Wana and I are old-timers. We grew up when people were poor and they would sing ‘How Beautiful Heaven must be. To them Heaven was so real and as a young man it seemed to me that they were looking right into heaven. Wana’s Grandfather, Uncle Wash Benton, would come to the pulpit singing, “ We have mothers over yonder, we have fathers over yonder or The Life Boat is coming,’ and people would be shouting

or kneeling before the message ever began. We can’t go back but they were precious days.

Wana and I invite you to look at our Website. We have had so many good comments about it. If you are interest in one for your Church or business, I can give you the phone number of Mr. Glenn Labbie? Our Website: www.WinfreyEvangelisticAssociation.com

Wednesday, September 21, 2005, I wrote a letter to the Editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and they published it. “ARGUMENT FOLLOWS PATTERN SET BY GOD. Senator Nancy Schaefer’s article was excellent and right, and I thank God that we have ladies like her in the Senate. We could expect the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to be against her. A good policy: Generally, if the AJC is for it, we should be against it. Why would the AJC side with the American Civil Liberties Union, which is completely out of step with all that is right? Children need a mother and father—never two men (that blows your mind) or two women. The pattern of a man and a woman was established in the beginning by God. Gene Winfrey, Loganville, GA. The letter appeared in the paper 9-22-05

DR. GARY HEDRICK, President of the Christian Jew Foundation, and speaker of the Christian Jew Hour, San Antonio, Texas, is reaching thousands of Jews for our Lord. It is probably the strongest outreach for Jews in the world today. He is heard on several hundred Radio Stations. They have purchased land and houses in Jerusalem. November 4-11 they will be dedicating the house as Headquarters for the Christian Jew Foundation in Israel. If you are interested in a Trip to The Holy Land—contact them.