Author: Shannon Elder

Inspiration and Information from the
National Association of Wesleyan Evangelicals

Your NAWE Companion

‘N AWE
Making Lemonade
Donnie Morgan, Lexington, GA

December—January 2014

As Thanksgiving and Christmas were fast approaching my wife and I were discussing menu options for the meals that would be prepared and served for our immediate and extended family get-togethers. Among the beverage options is a favorite of ours, lemonade. This calls to mind the saying, “when life hands you a lemon, make lemonade” - which most of us would describe as taking an unpleasant experience and with wisdom, determination and help making it less unpleasant, maybe even refreshing.
I have found there are three basic steps or scriptural principles that can help us in making lemonade out of life’s distasteful experiences.
The first step is taking the lemon and squeezing it to get the juice. This reduces the lemon to its essence - the sour part that causes us to react somewhat negatively to the experience. When faced with life’s unpleasant experiences we should reduce it to its essence, to simplify or identify the true issue to be dealt with. Then with God’s help we can see the true issue and not be so intimidated by the ‘whole lemon’. James 1:5 offers us God’s help by stating “…if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously…”
The second step is to add water which dilutes the juice and makes it more tolerable. John 7:37-39 tells us about the “living water” that God offers to help dilute or mitigate the experience, making it more bearable.
The third step is to add a sweetener to make it somewhat enjoyable. Ezekiel 3:1-3 speaks of the word of God being “sweet as honey”. God’s word can provide direction, comfort, and courage that will sweeten the experience and help us learn from it, and maybe even allow us to help someone else with their “lemon”.
I trust these words will help when life hands you a lemon.

Praise & Prayer

The National Conference on Christian Apologetics was a blessing for several of our members who attended.
Congratulations to Tommy Crisp for recently completing the NAWE Course of Study.
Pray for our churches with their Christmas activities and ministries, as well as for guidance for the new year.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU
Chuck Powell
Tony Elder, Conyers, GA

It should come as no surprise that with a name like Charles Wesley Powell, he is the son of a Methodist pastor. Chuck was called to preach shortly after his conversion at age 13, and thereafter his father let him give short sermonettes about every six weeks. He has been active in ministry for 25 years, serving eight United Methodist churches and two Evangelical Methodist churches in Athens, GA and Fairmount, IL. Chuck is currently pastoring part-time in Indiana at the Community Church of Farmersburg.
However Chuck and his wife, Audrey, are now moving in a new direction. Although they hope to continue pastoring at Farmersburg, they have also been called into full-time ministry with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). They are currently coordinators for the West Central Indiana Chapter of CEF. The Powells report, “We love this ministry. We first became acquainted with CEF when Cathy Peek helped us start a five-day club in Athens, GA. We have seen in the ministry that the children are more open to hearing about our Lord and Savior. Our ministry focus has changed to reach the children because they are more open to the gospel, yet most vulnerable to the tricks of sin.” Chuck and Audrey have already seen several children saved through this ministry.
The Powells are about 50% funded and would like to become full-time by January 2014. If you are interested in partnering with them through prayer and financial support, you can contact them at the following address: P.O. Box 194, 819 W. Hopewell, Farmersburg, IN 47850. Their email address is chuck_powell_970@ymail.com

ASSOCIATION NEWS
Executive Committee Update
Hal Lovett, Stuttgart, AR

Greetings from the Executive Committee.
Exciting days are ahead for the National Association of Wesleyan Evangelicals. God has richly blessed both our membership and organization in bringing us to this point in our short association history. We, as an association, are now fully formed and ready for the next step.
But where do we go from here? The obvious answer is to grow, both in individual members, and most importantly, adding more churches to our rolls. Your Executive Committee is currently developing a Plan for Growth. We have developed a thorough list of reasons WHY an individual or church should want to join the NAWE. Additionally, we are working to identify those individuals and churches who, in our opinion, should be members of the NAWE. Once the Executive Committee has finalized this data, we hope to speak to individual pastors, church boards, and church members. We are convinced we have something terrific to offer both pastors and churches that are looking for a home among like-minded individuals. We offer membership in an association that allows ALL authority to rest in the local church. Being a member of the NAWE costs nothing, as all giving is voluntary. I don’t have the space to list all the reasons a pastor or church would want to join, but suffice to say we want to meet your needs, and are ready to answer any questions you might have.
If you are an NAWE member, I ask you to tell others about our association. If you are considering joining the NAWE or wanting to find out more about what we have to offer, I encourage you to contact any member of the Executive Committee or pastor of a current NAWE member church. We want to talk to you. We want to share what God has done and continues to do through our association. To God Be the Glory.

Calendar

April 2-4, 2014 - Ministers’ & Wives’ Retreat
The retreat will be held at Montgomery Bell State Park near Dickson, TN (about an hour west of our previous site in Murfreesboro). Plan to arrive on Wednesday afternoon & depart on Friday morning. More details will be sent out soon.
Visit us at www.theNAWE.com