Author: Shannon Elder

Inspiration and Information from the
National Association of Wesleyan Evangelicals

Your NAWE Companion

‘N AWE
Refusing to Die
Ed Flowers, Waycross, GA

June—July 2014

Is Evangelical America dying? Is the light going out on our message in America? John S. Dickerson, journalist turned evangelical pastor, believes it is. In Dickerson’s book, The Great Evangelical Recession, the author offers as proof the declining church membership, the diminishing political influence, and the shrinkage of church funds for the “post-Christian age.” Are we American Evangelicals, therefore, becoming antiques like typewriters, iceboxes, and Victrolas?
Yes, our congregations are aging and we are no longer politically powerful. According to the Barna Group, two-thirds of the finances in evangelical churches come from parishioners over the age of fifty-five. As our congregations grow older, we look helpless to stop America’s moral decay. More state legislatures legalize same-sex marriages while federal judges declare “unconstitutional” marriages “only between one man and one woman” defying the constitutional rights of other states.
Are we relics of the past? Then we should quietly retreat behind our stained-glass ghettoes to await our dying last flicker since our message no longer connects with the younger generation. Maybe we has-beens should muzzle ourselves since our moral absolutes are passé in today’s American society.
God forbid. I for one am not ready to be a display at the Smithsonian. As Paul encouraged Timothy (2 Timothy 4:5), “we should be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist (preach Good News), fulfil our ministry”. The Good News we proclaim still liberates from immorality, still frees from guilt and shame; still saves from sin and death. God placed the light of the Gospel within us to bear its message to the world and he alone possesses the power to snuff it out.
Thank you, Brother Dickerson. Evangelical America refuses to die. Paraphrasing Dylan Thomas, we will “not go gently into the good night.” We will “rage and rage against the dying of the light.”

Praise & Prayer

Pray for Sandie Shreiner upon the recent death of her father.
We have sent out letters to some churches asking for the opportunity for representatives to come and make presentations to their church boards about the NAWE. Please pray for the Lord’s guidance in these efforts and that He will bring us together with those churches that can benefit from being associated with us.
Pray for our 2014 Annual Meeting.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU
Lance Snipes
Jim Garrett, Douglasville, GA

There are people that God brings into one’s life all along the path of living. God brought into my life a special person to whom my soul has become closely knit. I never had a brother, only two older sisters. Yet I am not bothered by this necessarily, but have often wondered what having a brother would have been like. God brought Lance and Phyllis Snipes into mine and Shelley’s life some years ago now. Since that time, we have waded some deep waters in the ministry and in life.
You will not meet a person more committed to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the growth and expansion of His kingdom. Lance was saved later in life after spending no small amount of time resisting the pull of the Holy Spirit. This is a fellow who has been educated at some of the best universities and schools of our country and yet simply believes the Bible and its message to redeem a world far away from God.
He began his own mission organization, “The Pierced Ones Ministry” while pastoring in Danielsville, GA several years ago. Following his tenure in Danielsville, he and Phyllis rejoined our fellowship in Douglasville, GA. Lance served as our head of evangelism and also our board chairman along with serving on our praise team and choir. Phyllis also assisted with our children’s, evangelism, and church choir ministry. Lance serves all over the world in his missions ministry. He took a group from our church to Nicaragua in 2012. He has preached in the heart of the Muslim world and was detained for a brief period in a police station in communist China. There he promptly offered the police captain, a woman, one of the Bibles that he and several others had been bringing into the country from Hong Kong. He also worked in the same capacity in Vietnam. Lance is presently working on a trilogy of novels. Did I mention that Lance and Phyllis lived for a time in Haifa, Israel as missionaries to the people in Israel with Operation Mobilization? Oh, I forgot to mention that Lance and Phyllis formed and pastored a church just prior to his commitment to becoming a full time missionary.
I am sure that I have some of this out of order and there are still things to write, but you more than get the picture. I would run it by Lance for greater accuracy, but he would probably then disallow it to be used. The next time you meet this somewhat quiet and unassuming man know that you are near a person that has counted the cost to follow our Savior and still simply loves the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind and strength.

ASSOCIATION NEWS
Annual Meeting
Tony Elder, Conyers, GA

The purpose of our Annual Meeting is “for fellowship, inspiration, promotion of NAWE activities, and the conduct of any necessary business” (NAWE Constitution—Article IV). As you can see, it is not primarily a business meeting. I believe there is great value in our getting together, enjoying the fellowship, sharing what’s going on in our churches and personal lives, praying for one another, and being inspired through the ministry of God’s Word. It’s a good time for us to strengthen our connections with one another, as well as to get updated on the work of the association.
I hope you will plan to attend this year’s Annual Meeting. It begins on Monday evening, July 7 and continues through Wednesday morning, July 9. Rev. Mike Murrell from Fairmount, IL will be bringing the messages in the evening services. We will be meeting at the Holiday Inn at Hamilton Place in Chattanooga, TN. Reservations can be made at the hotel by calling 423-485-1185. Be sure to tell them you are with the NAWE group. For more information contact me at RevTElder@aol.com.

Calendar

July, 7-9, 2014—NAWE Annual Meeting in Chattanooga, TN
Visit us at www.theNAWE.com