Our Approach to God in Prayer

Adapted from Matthew Henry's Method for Prayer

As we prepare ourselves to pray, Christians will:

compose our hearts, so that we are reverent and joyful, serious and delighted, God-fearing and God-desiring;

with our thoughts gathered in, and God's word stored up, and all that is within us charged with anticipation of communion with the Triune God; longing to come to the Father, by the Son, through the Holy Spirit;

we set the Lord himself before us, with a fixed attention and application of mind and an active lively faith, and (as it were) we see his eyes upon us, and set ourselves in his special presence, presenting ourselves to him as a living sacrifice, which we desire may be holy and acceptable and a reasonable service;

*We lift up our hearts, with our eyes and hands, unto God in the heavens.
*We stir up ourselves to take hold on God, to seek his face, and to give him the glory due unto his name. Unto thee, O Lord, do we lift up our souls.
*We enter, in humble boldness, into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, in the new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil.
*We attend upon the Lord without distraction, so that our hearts are not far from him when we draw nigh to him with our mouths and honour him with our lips.
*We worship God, who is a Spirit, in spirit and in truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him.

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The Weekly Blogging Schedule

What's On Daily

Here is our plan for the weekly schedule of regular posts at the Pastors' Blog.

Sunday: Lord's Day Reflections

Monday: Pastor's Perspective, Blog of the Week

Tuesday: Understanding the Times

Wednesday: Hymns of the Faith

Thursday: Sunday Order of Worship, Windows on the World, Windows on the Past

Friday: Missionary Spotlight

Saturday: Sunday's Coming

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Praying with Rick Phillips

On Veterans' Day

I have freely swiped this post from my good friend, Rick Phillips, at Second Presbyterian Church, Greenville, SC. He is a former Army Officer. He offers here helpful pastoral guidance on praying for those in our Armed Services.

"November 11th is our nation’s annual celebration of Veteran’s Day, having been established as a national holiday by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954. Previously, Nov. 11th had been designated Armistice Day, to commemorate the Allied victory in the First World War. After the change of name, the holiday was set aside to remember the sacrifices of our veter-ans in all of our wars. According to the original proclamation by President Woodrow Wilson, the holiday was designed to promote reflection “with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.”

It is entirely appropriate that Christians should join our fellow citizens in expressing thanks to those who have served as veterans in our Armed Forces and also gratitude to God for the peace we have enjoyed through the service of our soldiers, airmen, and sailors.

One of the most valuable ways we can show our thanks to veterans is to devote ourselves in prayer for the veterans who defend us during our pre-sent time of war. We should be praying not only for soldiers who we know and love, but also for all the men and women presently serving in our military. Having been raised in a war-time Army and having spent thirteen years in active duty, let me suggest some items that would assist you in praying for our current veterans:

 Pray for their safety. Every single person in uniform has people at home who love them and who lie awake at night worrying about their safety. Military service is inherently dangerous, and all the more so in a war zone. Pray that God would thwart the evil designs of those who seek only harm. Pray for success in war with a minimum of human casualties, including the beleaguered people of Iraq and Afghanistan, but especially with respect to our military members.

 Pray for their suffering and misery. Many of our soldiers are living a very difficult life. They get used to it, but it is still miserable. Many of them are severely sleep deprived. They are often hungry. They do not often get to thoroughly wash and they suffer from the sun and the heat. Pray for God to strengthen their resolve that they would not be worn down by misery.

 Pray for their strength of heart. They are lonely and sometimes discour-aged. Many of them are seeing heart-breaking scenes. My personal interactions with veterans of this war reveals a significant problem in this respect: returning to “normal” life can be a real trial and the effects of war can scar the soul. Some of our military will doubt the wisdom of our policy or of their particular unit’s command. Pray that they would respond with faithfulness to their duty and courage against difficulties. Pray that they would not be taken up with anger against the enemy or temptation to sin.

 Pray for those who bear great responsibility. A young squad leader has numerous lives in his hands. A young officer, like Matthew Russell from our congregation, is often burdened by the life-and-death decisions he makes every day. Of course they make mistakes, but these mistakes can be costly and can burden their hearts. Pray that they would not falter, nor that they would fail in their duties. Pray that leaders would bend their knees before the Lord, lift up their hearts to God, and seek from Him the wisdom that their responsibilities require.

 Pray that their sacrifices would make a difference for peace. War is always terrible. But a war that does not make a tangible difference for good is particularly bitter. Our military has made enormous personal sacrifices over the last five years and more. May God bless their sacrifice by enabling a stable peace in Iraq and at least a manageable situation in Afghanistan.

 Pray for their families, who daily wonder where their loved ones are and are sacrificially doing without a father or mother, a son or daughter. I personally know a Green Beret captain (and PCA elder) who is serving his fourth combat tour in Afghanistan and who left his wife only a few weeks before she gave birth to their fourth child. Pray that family unity and love would remain strong. Pray that marriages would not be unduly strained, that children would not be embittered by the long absence of their father, and that the daily strain of fear would not break their spirits.

 Pray for Christians and Christian families in the military. They have a significant opportunity to show the power of God’s grace and to share the gospel with many in very great need. Ask God to give them strength to bear rich spiritual fruits and a boldness to witness the gospel. Pray for the Christian soldiers to manage the great strain of cultivating love within a violent occupation, and that God’s Word would restrain them from sin while bearing arms.

Let us not fail to pray for our nation during this time of war, but especially for those who most greatly bear our burdens. May God bless America, may He protect us from wicked enemies, and may God make our country a blessing to all peoples.

In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Rick Phillips

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Watch this space

Next Monday Big Changes Coming

Some big changes are coming in our usage of the First Presbyterian Pastor’s Blog. This coming week, for instance, this weekly First Epistle column, the “Pastor’s Perspective” will move to the Pastor’s Blog.

We have been blogging here for some time now, but our activity has been minimal for the past year. So we are going to re-launch it next week – Monday morning, November 17, 2008. Tune in!

My "Pastor’s Perspective" column will appear weekly, here, on Mondays. In addition, Derek Thomas’s regular “Understanding the Times” column will appear on Tuesdays. We will have a weekly "Hymns of the Faith" column on Wednesdays and a "Windows on the World" column on Thursdays. Also, on Thursdays, we will post the Sunday Order of Worship. On Fridays, we will continue to introduce you to our missionaries, church planters, campus ministers and others supported through the gifts of the church. On Saturdays and Sundays, we’ll include things that will help you in worship preparation.

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Missionary Spotlight:

Tial and Annie Thanga - Myanmar



Thank you for your faithful prayer support. We are living in the most center place of 10/40 window that make a lot of work a mong the most unreached people group of the world. Because of your unceasing prayer, the Lord enable us to reach the heart core of the unreached groups slowly by slowly. We have now working on Nagis cyclone effected people as well.
Tial is currently the head of mission work and also teach at RTS of Myanmar. Annie is helping our home kids and students at the bible college. Our oldest daughter, Eden is now finished her college and teach English at the bible college. Also involve in our Church Sunday School as kids teacher. She is applying to come to RTS Jackson for MA in christian Education course. She need to raise fund at this time for her Education at RTS Jackson. Our sons; David and John are now in the 10 and 11 Grade. David hope to be a pastor in her future.

We also fostering 3 girls since 4 years a go. The yongest Sangte is 2 Grade this year now and just boke her elbow and now in the healing process. The Second one, Remboihi is in her high school final year. The oldest Moite is now in the bible collge as the first year student. We all enjoying God grace. Our family hope to serve the Lord as much as possible for His glory.

We appreciate for your prayer card and mail.
Matt. 25:40.

Your prayer support family
Tial, Annie, Eden, David, John
Moite, Remboih, and Sangte

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Men of the Covenant Luncheon

Dr. Samuel Hensley

Join us Thursday, November 6, for the Men of the Covenant lunch. The speaker this week is Dr. Samuel Hensley. Sam is one of our new elders and a respected pathologist and bioethicist.

Dr. Hensley, in addition to practicing medicine, serves as Bioethics Consultant to Mississippi Baptist Medical Center and is an Adjunct Professor at Covenant Theological Seminary and a Fellow at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity. He is president of the Board of Directors of Matthew 25:40 Ministries, an outreach to the elderly in Chicago. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the local campus based chapter of the Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA) and serves on the CMDA National Ethics Commission. In 2000, Dr. Hensley received a Master's Degree in Christian Thought and Ethics from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. He and his wife, Elizabeth, teach an elective in Bioethics for fourth year medical students.

The time is 11:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. The cost of lunch is $5.00. Reservations are not required. If you have further questions, please contact me at 601-326-9243 or ShannonC@fpcjackson.org

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Missionary Spotlight:

Clay and Darlene Quarterman - Ukraine


Dr. Clay Quarterman (PhD, Univ. of Wales) is a church planter with MTW in Odessa, Ukraine, and is President of the Evangelical Reformed Seminary of Ukraine.

He has lived in Odessa for 14 years, but he has been with MTW for 31 years.
Clay was raised in First Pres Jackson. His father Palmer and his grandfather "Pop" Quarterman were elders in FPC. Their ancestors were Puritans who moved to Boston in 1630 to avoid religious persecution in England, then to Midway Georgia, where his Great-Great-Grandfather was a Presbyterian pastor.
Clay met his wife Darlene at Belhaven, and their first date was to the First Pres Missions Conference! They were married at First Pres in 1973. Darlene is also from the West Hopewell PCA church in Virginia.
Clay attended every school near FPC: Power, Spann, and Casey Elementary, Bailey, Murrah (1970), Belhaven (1974), took music at Millsaps, and worked at UMC and Baptist Hospital. He went to kindergarten at Trinity Pres. and received his MDiv and Doctor of Ministries degrees from RTS-Jackson. He is a member of the MS Valley Presbytery since 1978, when he was ordained as an Evangelist. He received his PhD in Theology from Univ. of Wales in 2005.
Clay is especially thankful for FPC, where he grew under the ministries of John Reed Miller, Jimmy Turner, and Don Patterson. But it was Brister Ware that God used to lead him into a personal relationship with Christ in 1963, and he has enjoyed the friendship and ministries of Jim Baird and Ligon Duncan.
The missionary call came early to Clay, and his counselor at Bailey Jr Hi thought he was out of his mind for it. Clay started preaching in the Gateway Rescue Mission on Gallatin.
The FPC mission conferences were a highlight of every year, where Clay especially remembers Paul B. Smith and the missionary families. Because of the FPC Mission House on Gillespie St., he developed friendships with children of missionary families such as the Kyles, Lintons, and Longs. Clay, Paul Long, and Glenn Camenisch developed a missionary vision, becoming the Portugal Team of MTW in 1979, after gaining pastoral experience in Matherville, MS, Prattville, AL, and Savannah, GA.
Clay worked in Lisbon for 14 years, planting a Presbyterian denomination and teaching in the Portuguese Bible Institute. He is fluent in Portuguese and Russian.
In 1994, God called them to Odessa, Ukraine, where they were the first resident couple of the MTW church-planting team. They have now seen the start of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ukraine with 11 churches, and they founded the seminary where they now serve. Clay was head of MTW's largest-ever capital campaign, raising $1.1 Million to restore the historic church building in Odessa—in which FPC took part.
Clay and Darlene have been married 35 years and have a granddaughter Kendra who lives in Jackson. They have 4 grown sons, all born in Lisbon: Matt (& Erin in Seattle), Nate (& Malaika in Jackson), Ty (& Irina in Odessa), and Alex (Belhaven). Clay enjoys photography, scuba diving, playing clarinet, archery, sailing, and choral singing.

web: www.clayq.com email: clay@paco.net October 30, 2008

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Missionary Spotlight:

Derek & Shannon Ebbers - Romania


In Romania, with the Ebbers Family.

“Then in fellowship sweet,
We will sit at his feet,
Or we’ll walk by his side in the way,
What He says we will do,
Where He sends we will go,
Never fear, only trust and obey.”

We are the Derek & Shannon Ebbers family. We have 5 children. Jessalyn 11, Aaron 9, Isaac 6, Elijah 4, and Hannah 2. In Isaiah 41:10, the Lord has promised to go with us and uphold us with His righteous right hand. So here we are in Romania, trusting Him to do what He has said He will do. We arrived on July 13, 2007 and we plan to make Romania our home as long as the Lord will have us here. Our initial year has been spent immersing ourselves in the language and culture. As we have now completed our first year, Derek has begun teaching 2 English as a second language classes, three days a week, as a means to build relationships, identify & train leaders, and ultimately facilitate church planting. . Our goal is not only to start and ESL program in our community, but also to train others to teach English in various locations around the country and be a support to them. Derek has already been assisting a church plant with their ESL program in another city. Shannon’s primary role is helpmeet to Derek. She is also building relationships with other young moms in the community. We have found there to be many right in our own neighborhood! As a family, we want to be available to other young families who may be, along with us, struggling yet striving to honor God through our marriages and the way we raise our children. We consider it a privilege to serve our Lord in Romania.

Derek (08/21), Shannon (02/05), Jessalyn (02/08), Aaron (12/22), Isaac (01/09), Elijah (03/05),
Hannah (02/07)

Visit our team website at www.mtwro.org
Family Blog www.dandsfamily7.blogspot.com
Derek & Shannon Ebbers
Str. Iosif Comanescu, 13
Codlea, 505100
Brasov, Romania

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!! We would not be here without you!

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Missionary Spotlight: Craig and Lisa Sheppard - Bulgaria

Craig and Lisa Sheppard have been serving the Lord with Mission to the World in Sofia, Bulgaria since 1996, where he serves as a church planter, seminary instructor, publisher, and founding board member for the Sofia Christian Academy. As the MTW Regional Director for Eastern Europe, Craig is also tasked with overseeing the ministries of more than 65 missionaries in five countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Ukraine), as well as developing new church planting works in other Eastern Europe countries (such as Russia, Greece, Latvia, Croatia, and Belarus).

Craig is from Wichita, Kansas and Lisa is from St. Louis, Missouri. They served together in university ministry for four years before Craig attended Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. There he earned a Master of Divinity degree in Missions, and a Master of Theology degree in Theology. While in seminary, Craig served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church as the Director of College Ministry. He is ordained in the Heartland Presbytery of the PCA. They have four sons and a daughter (Jared, 16; Nathan, 14; Luke, 11; Andrew, 8; and Abigail, 6).
They are still missing four bags from their trip back to Bulgaria. Please be in prayer that their luggage is found soon and that the bags would arrive and arrive in good condition.

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Missionary Spotlight: Bill and Marion Baldwin - Greece

Bill and Marion work with Greater Europe Mission in Greece.

Bill was born in St. Louis, Missouri and moved to Houston, Texas when he was 15. In college his room-mate invited him to church and there he made a public confession of his faith. After college, with a BS in Religion he attended Moody Bible Institute for one year and then Dallas Seminary where he received his MTh. While at seminary he met Bob Evans, founder of Greater Europe Mission and felt that GEM's thrust of starting Bible Colleges all over Europe was a wise idea. For some reason God placed Greece on Bill’s heart. GEM expected all candidates to attend Missionary Internship, a 7-month training program for would-be missionaries in Detroit, which is where Bill & Marion met.
Marion was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She graduated from Toronto Bible College and then became a registered nurse before going to Missionary Internship.
Bill served as youth pastor at West Chicago Bible church for one year after their marriage and then a year later, having raised their support Bill & Marion left for Greece with a very simple job description: start a Bible Institute. So....that's what they did....and therein lies a LONG story of learning a language, gaining the trust of the Greek evangelicals, finding a 'home' for the Greek Bible Institute, finding teachers and students and the money to pay for it all....GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL. Bill has taught all the Theology courses at the Bible college, Marion used to teach a course to young women, but now does the book-keeping for the college for Greater Europe Mission.
Today the director of the college is their son Jeff. The graduates are pastors of the majority of the Greek Evangelical churches in Greece. They head up most para-church organizations in Greece, and are also serving as missionaries.
Bill and Marion’s four children have all married Greeks and 2 of them are also missionaries with GEM in Greece. Thank God they are all committed Christians, married to people from committed Christian homes. They also have 11 grand-children.
Bill & Marion first heard of First Presbyterian church in Jackson, Mississippi when their then pastor, Don Patterson, asked Bill to lead a tour group he was bringing to Greece. Bill and Marion got a burden for Greece and even sent Van and Alice Rusling to Greece to work with the GEM team for a few years. Van actually taught Marion her job!
Please pray for Bill and Marion as they serve in Greece.

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