June and July have been filled with blessings from the Lord!  Many first time visitors have attended with a good number returning for a second and third visit.  Since anniversary Sunday, we have seen a 15 percent increase in the Sunday morning attendance.  This past Saturday, two men were saved at the prison service and on Sunday, the Lord blessed with first time visitors, one of which came forward for salvation!  Following the 11 am service, we were blessed to baptize two precious people.

We as a church must remember Who gave us these and many other blessings.  They came from above from the Father of lights! He deserves all the glory and praise.  Blessings come from the Lord as we are faithful to His Word!  Might we always remember the following verses of Scripture, ” I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”

Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow!

Your Friend,

Pastor

Some warm weather has finally come to the Vancouver area!  Wearing jackets in late June is not really my idea of summer attire.  The first of week of July is coming to a close and we are entering a time of the year when many Christians put their spiritual growth on hold.  On the baseball diamond, it has been referred to as a summer slump.  The player is not competing at a high enough level to make a positive impact for the team.

If we as Christians are not discerning, we will fall prey to a Spiriual Summer Slump.  By discerning, I mean this is no time to abandon our daily walk with God – reading and meditating on God’s Word as well as a prayer life.  This is no time to head to the beach or mountain on Sunday when we ought to be worshipping God with fellow believers.  This is no time to lower our standards of modest dress just to fit in with the world! 

Summer does present more opportunities for travelling outdoors or taking a family vacation.  If you and your family can take a trip, by all means, enjoy making memories.  Decide now that the spiritual summer slump is not going to find its way into your home.  Decide now to be faithful to One Who paid it all that we might have eternal life!  

With the help of God’s Spirit…strive to make this a Grand Slam Summer!

Your Friend,

Pastor

Earlier this month we celebrated the 10 year anniversary of Anchor Baptist Church.  Friday, June 10, we had a special time of celebration with a delicious meal, Christ-honouring music, a wonderful video presentation and a challenge from God’s Word by Dr. Les Hobbins.  It was an evening to remember as we praised the Lord for His many blessings over the past 10 years.

Sunday, June 12, God moved in a mighty way!  It was our privilege to have a men’s quartet from Crown College and the preaching of Dr. Les Hobbins.  Twenty-five first time visitors came through the doors of our church.  There were people from 25 different countries and 5 precious people came forward to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour!  Once again, we saw the mighty hand of God at Anchor Baptist Church.

It has been ten years of God’s blessing and provision.  We owe Him our best and we are striving to give that to Him!  This is no time to slow down in the work of the Lord.  Our daily walk with God is still the “Anchor” needed to keep from drifting away from His will. Hebrews 6:19 Which hopewe have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.

I am looking forward to serving with the Anchor family and seeing what the Lord does in the next ten years!  God has been so good to give me the privilege to pastor the people of the Anchor Baptist Church!

Your Friend,

Pastor

Not a day goes by when we do not need help!  Pride will try to tell us that we can go at it alone.  This is one of the many lies of our adversary the devil. Our Heavenly Father has provided all the help we need in His Word. 

I am reminded of the father in Mark 9:22-24,” And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

This father sought the help of the Lord Jesus.  We have the very same opportunity available to us today.  It’s time that we humble ourselves and take part in the help that our Father in Heaven desires to provide us.

I am also reminded of the vision Paul had in Acts 16:9, “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.”

There are people all around us who need our help.  They need spiritual help!  They need physical help!  They need emotional help!  We need God’s help so we can in turn be a help to others!

In closing, let us consider Hebrews 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Take time to pray boldly for HELP!

Your Friend,

Pastor

It has been so long since I updated the blog that I almost forgot what to do!  Life has a strange way of filling up with “this and that”. Might be a good idea for each one of us to review the “this and that” in our lives.  Is our life filled with temporal “this and that” or can the eternal easily be found in our lives?  While there is an appropriate time for the temporal, too many are majoring on the temporal “this and that” and minoring on the eternal “this and that”.

We can be challenged once again by Jesus preaching in – Matthew 6:19-20, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:”

Has it “been awhile” since you spent time in God’s Word”  Has it “been awhile” since you communed with Him in prayer?  Has it “been awhile” since you assembled with other believers in a local Bible preaching church?  Has it “been awhile” since you loved those under your own roof?  Has is it “been awhile” since you gave out a Gospel tract?

My prayer is that God’s Spirit would always have the throne of my heart and that He would be the one controlling the “this and that” of my life.

Your Friend,

Pastor

If there is a time of the year when there are more distractions, I do not know when it would be.  Somewhere around December 15, the world in which we live in changes gears.  Christmas parties and events are well under way and our daily schedules are no longer as regimented.  Some have saved their vacation time and will not have to “work” again until next year.  The Christmas season truly is filled with distractions.

For the child of God, we can view these distractions through the eyes of Lord as “Moments.”  I heard a preacher once say that we should “seize the moments.”  The dictionary gives a definition for seize…”to grasp mentally; understand clearly and completely; to take advantage of promptly.”  Can I ask you, “What moments have you seized this Christmas season?”  It is much easier to be caught up in the distractions and just ride the Christmas wave until January 1.  It will take discipline to slow down and seize the moment.

The moment may be an opportunity to witness to someone of God’s saving grace in your life.  The moment may be giving that invitation to the church Christmas program.  The moment may be spending some extra time with your family.  The moment may be a visit to the nursing home, hospital or Union Gospel Mission.  God will bring “moments” across our path.  Moments that involve serving others. On this Christmas Eve, I would like to encourage you to seize the moments that the Saviour brings your way.

Merry Christmas!

Your Friend,

Pastor

The last several days it has been difficult to stay warm.  Having lived in the Vancouver area for over 10 years, I am not accustomed to these low temperatures for extended time periods.   Needless to say, we have burned a much wood in our fire place to try and help the furnace to keep us warm.

The Bible makes it clear that the Lord does not want us to be just warm.  He desires that we would be cold or hot.  In Revelation 3, we find this charge being made to the Church at Laodicea.  I have heard preaching before that warned me about becoming a Laodicean Christian.  I am grateful for such teaching and preaching.  At the age of 37, I am praying that God would give me many more “hot” years of service for Him!  It is my desire and goal that my works not become “lukewarm”.

With just a few weeks left in 2010, it might be a good time to check our works.  Are they cold?  Are they lukewarm?  The world is not going to be brought to the truth while Christians works are ”lukewarm”.  By God’s Spirit working through us we can make a difference for His glory!

Your Friend,

Pastor

I truly hope I have everything packed and ready for the trip to Greater Portland Baptist Church!  This trip has been a part of our church calendar for a good number of years.  We are excited to have 11 teens and 3 adults going this year. We have never had this many before and are praying for safety while we travel as well as tender hearts towards the preaching of God’s Word.

God worked a miracle just in the last few hours giving another teenager from Anchor the opportunity to go on the trip.  Please join with us in praying for this wonderful opportunity for our young people.

Our journey begins Thursday morning as we leave at 6 am.  Our plans are to arrive back in the Vancouver area sometime after 6 pm on Saturday.

Sunday evening, we hope that many of the young people will give a testimony as to what the Lord spoke to them about at the conference.

It will be our (Pastor and Brother and Mrs. Ravert) blessing to spend the next three days with the Anchor teens!  What a privilege it is to see God working in their lives.

Your Friend,

Pastor

There may only be one event on our church calendar that compares to our mission’s conference.  October 29-31 was truly a blessed three days at Anchor Baptist Church.  Our church family was privileged to meet several missionary families as well as Pastor and Mrs. Corey Bane from Grace Baptist Church, Delaware, OH.  Going into Sunday, October 31, we needed around $ 600 to meet our Faith Promise committment from last year.  To God’s glory we collected over $ 1,800 that Sunday!

With another mission’s conference means turning in another Faith Promise Commitment card.  Again, I am excited to report that our church has committed to give over $ 58,000 to missions this year!  This commitment is $ 9,000 more than last years commitment.  What a blessing it is to pastor people that have a vision to reach the world and that vision leads us to give as unto the Lord.

Your Friend,

Pastor

Just a short post today to say how thankful I am for all the co-labourers at Anchor Baptist Church.  In thinking about a conference, I cannot help but think of all the hours that will be spent to help make the conference run smoothly. These many hours will be worked by many a volunteer.  My prayer for our church is that we remain committed to the cause of Christ and that we remain focused on Who we are volunteering for.

I leave you with the words from W. S. Brown which he penned in 1907.

A volunteer for Jesus,
A soldier true!
Others have enlisted,
Why not you?
Jesus is the Captain,
We will never fear,
Will you be enlisted
As a volunteer?

I would like to thank our church family in advance for your labour for the Lord during this years mission’s conference. May God receive all the glory for He truly has done and will continue to do great things!

Your Friend,

Pastor