Archive | August, 2011

Update From 2500 Miles Away From Home

by • on August 31, 2011 • in Uncategorized

We have arrived in Montana area for about a week and a half of meetings up here. Sunday we were with a good friend of mine and had a great meeting.

Monday, Lori and I celebrated our 2 year Anniversary and I couldn’t be happier. She is perfect for me, waaay too good to me, and loves me with all her heart for some reason. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for her.

We are up in Montana which, turns out, is a really nice place to be for an anniversary! The Lord has been great to us.
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Tonight, are in Pocatello, Idaho at a church that I travelled to when I travelled Neighborhood Bible Time. Should be fun hearing about all the crazy stuff I did that I have forgotten about.

Sunday, we are back in MT for a couple of meetings before we head back toward home.

I never knew, but Montana is the real wild wild west. Still. Everyone carries guns and lives on a ranch. But I can’t really blame them with awesome views like this.

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August Prayer Letter

by • on August 24, 2011 • in Asia, Prayer Letters

Deputation Update
We have had a good time lately traveling and preaching and want to praise the Lord for how He continues to raise our support. Our support level at 11 months is just over 40% and promised support is much higher.We have not been very far from home for extended periods of time over the last couple of months, but we are about to start on our longest road trip of deputation so far. We are going to start in AL and then go through KY on our way out west to Montana and Idaho. Pray that these will be profitable meetings as we continue to work toward Thailand soon!

Other Ministry Opportunities
When we aren’t traveling on deputation or calling to set up meetings, we have the chance for some other ministry opportunities. One of those was a recent one day youth camp that our church put on with some area churches. We had a good time at that and saw the Lord work in some hearts.

Another opportunity I had this summer was to teach a two-week module at the Our Generation Training Center. This summer it was on Creation vs. Evolution and we pray that this will be used by the students as a foundation as they will go all over the world one day to preach the inerrant Bible.

 

VisionTour Thailand 2012 Date Change
We have had to move the date up one week for the VisionTour to Thailand next year due to the date change of the OG Camp. The dates are now June 4-15, 2012.If you are interested in joining us you can get more information at http://projectthailand.net/trip where you can find the application, schedule, financial information, and other ways to help you be able to join us. Come with us!

Setup Fund
I would like to as you to be praying for our setup fund. If you would like to give specifically to this need, you may send it to Vision Baptist Missions and mark it “Setup Fund”. Thank you for praying about this and we look forward to that day!

 

Our Generation Summit
This December 31-January 1 we will be a part of the Our Generation Summit, a family oriented missions winter retreat in Pigeon Forge, TN. We would like to encourage and you to consider being a part.We have been involved in it for the past 5 years and have seen God do incredible things every year! Some have described it as a missions conference on steroids and we look forward to seeing what He is going to do this year. For more information visit www.bcwe.org

Thank you for praying and supporting us. Pray that the Lord would use us as we travel and especially that he would raise up laborers for Thailand.

Yours for the Gospel in Thailand,
Philip and Lori Bassham


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3 New Supporters in 4 Days!

by • on August 18, 2011 • in Uncategorized

The Lord has really been blessing lately as we raise support, and every new supporter is another step toward Thailand. I can’t believe that we are almost halfway done with deputation!
Sunday as we sat in the service I got a text message (that I didn’t check in church of course!) that told us that a church in NC voted to take us on.Then after the service we met with the missions committee where they asked us questions about our ministry – then they voted to start supporting us as well!
Then the next day we got an email from a pastor we were with about 6 months ago that voted to take us on as well.
Last night we had a meeting and were going for 4 in 4 days, but the church isn’t going to vote until their missions conference, so we don’t know about that one yet.
But we praise the Lord for His people that are concerned about getting the gospel to Thailand and have decided to partner with us to take it!

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Karen People in Northern Thailand Trusting Christ

by • on August 16, 2011 • in Uncategorized

Here is a video from a ministry that I know nothing about, so I am not endorsing their ministry, but it highlights some of the situation of the Karen people in northern Thailand who have escaped as refugees from Burma and now live in makeshift villages and try to survive.

There is great opportunity to reach these and other forgotten people in Thailand. Pray about how the Lord might have you to give your life in this place.


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VisionTour 2012 Date Change

by • on August 15, 2011 • in Uncategorized

When we announced the VisionTour we were still a year and a half away from the trip, so there were still a few unknowns about some of the details. Now, the closer that we get the more things are starting to come into focus. We have moved the date of the trip up one week to June 4-15, 2012. The week before, the last week of May, is the Our Generation Camp. This will serve as an orientation for those planning on going to Thailand and prepare our hearts and minds for what we are going to see.

I am very excited about those that are coming so far and think that this is shaping up to be an extremely great time. For more information about the trip go to http://projectthailand.net/trip. I hope you will join us!


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Killing Moralism

by • on August 8, 2011 • in Uncategorized

I found this post and thought it was too good not to share. 

 

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Many Christians have grown up in the church on moralistic preaching; that is, preaching that calls for obedience without connecting the commands of God to the cross of Christ.

This disconnect is dangerous, potentially leading hearers into either self-loathing or self-righteousness. Moralistic preaching is often the ground in which the devil sows the seeds of legalism. Of course biblical preaching will always be relevant and call for a response, but how can we preach the commands of God without reducing our messages to moralism? Is the key to simply jump from the command “pray without ceasing” to the reality that Jesus suffered a vicarious, penal atonement? Well, that’s one way to do it. But, let me suggest three ways of preaching the commands of God that help us avoid the trap of moralism.

Show the God of the Command

God’s laws are not arbitrary, but stem from who he is. And, because we are made in his image and for his glory, he gives us commands that reflect his character. So, when holding out the commands of God we must point beyond the command to the God who gives it.

For example, God commands us to be holy, because he is holy (1 Pt 1:16). He commands us to speak the truth (Eph 4:25) and not bear false witness against our neighbor (Ex 20:16), because he is a God of truth who cannot lie (Is 65:16; Heb 6:18). He commands us to be faithful, for he trustworthy and keeps his word (Ps 36:5). He calls us to love, because he is love (1 Jn 4:7-8). Naked commands, separated from the character of God, lack both weight and compelling beauty. Showing the God of the command moves us from preaching moralism to unpacking theology. It moves us beyond the command to the God who gives it.

Naked commands, separated from the character of God, lack both weight and compelling beauty. 

Show the Grace Behind the Command

It is important to note, when speaking to believers, that the commands of God are given to his people who live in a covenant relationship with him by grace. When the Lord gives Israel the law he first establishes who he is and what he has done for them, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Exodus 20:2) He is the God who has rescued his people. He is our God. We must always remind our people (and first, ourselves) that God commands us to act—not that we might become good, but that we might know and show him to be good. God does not reveal his will so that we can build our confidence in our ability to keep it, but so that we can exalt and exult in the God we know by grace. Showing the grace behind the command moves us from fearful performance-based religion to a delight in the will and ways of God.

 

Show the Gospel Above the Command

Once the commands of God are laid out, and people can feel their weight and significance, it is important to point them to the gospel above the command. We need to work to help our people see three truths:

 

1.  Jesus atoned for our failure in this command. (Col. 1:3;2:13, 14; Eph. 2:16; Rom. 5:9)

The commands of God are pure and beautiful. They are a perfect reflection of his character and will, and we stand in stark contrast to that revelation. We are spiritual failures who could be justly condemned for our sin. But, our failure is not the end. Jesus has fully atoned for our sins through his death on the cross, and by it we are reconciled to God.

God does not reveal his will so that we can build our confidence in our ability to keep it, but so that we can exalt and exult in the God we know by grace.

 
2. Jesus fulfilled this command for us. (1 Cor. 1:30, 31; Rom. 5:19; Phil. 3:9)

Not only has God forgiven us of our unrighteousness, but he has given us the righteousness of Jesus, declaring that in him we are holy and blameless. In every point where we have failed, Jesus has been faithful. In this very command, Jesus was not only righteous, but was righteous for us.

 

3.  Jesus empowers us to live out this command. (Phil. 2:12,13; Eph. 6:10-20; 1 Pet. 4:11)

The good news of the gospel is that in Christ we are not only delivered from the curse of the law, but also empowered by God to keep it. Relatively. We remain sinners, and find ourselves unable to loose ourselves from sin’s presence this side of the resurrection, but God is at work in his people to enable us to walk in his ways. You really can live a godly life. One in which you acknowledge and repent of your sin, and submit yourself to will and ways of God through power that comes by the Holy Spirit.

So yes, we can and must preach the whole counsel of God.  We must call men and women to obey, but not for approval, nor apart from the truth of the God who gives and fulfills the law for us. I believe if we do this when teaching the commands of God we kill moralism and will, by the grace of God, see conviction and encouragement among the people.

via: Joe Thorn

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