Well, this is my last newsletter article for you.  It is hard to believe that this time has come.  I pulled up my first article to read from February 2010 and I remember writing it like it was just last week.  Time flies and we can never know just what the Lord has in store for us.  When Morgan and I started this process with the IMB just over a year and a half ago, we never could have imagined that time would go by so quickly.  I cannot tell just how amazing it is to see how the Lord has brought us to this point.  It is only by his grace and it will only be by his grace that we go forth from this place.

As I look back over our time here there are several things that really stick out to me.  Obviously this is where we started our family.  All four of our kids were born into this church.  I am so thankful that the Lord allowed us to begin our family here.  Then I think of all the time I’ve spent with our youth.  From lock-ins to Bible study, there have been lots of memories made with our students.  Probably my greatest time with our youth has been at World Changers each year.  We’ve been to Fort Smith, Covington, Natchez, Eastland, and Joplin and everywhere we went I saw the Lord work in our students in a powerful way.  My desire from day one for our students has been that they love the Word and live it out in all they say and do.  I hope this will be true of each of them for the rest of their lives.  Finally, I think about a more recent happening.  Sabbatical was such a special time for me.  Not necessarily because I got to preach more or be more involved in different ministries but because I learned more how to put my trust in the Lord.  That task was one that I did not feel prepared to accomplish.  I am in no way qualified to do the things you entrusted me to do.  Every day I had to let go of my desire to control things and let the Lord lead me.  It caused me to draw closer to him and prepare me for this coming season in our life.  God’s timing is so perfect and Sabbatical was a God ordained time.  Thank you for entrusting me with that time.

If I could just close by challenging you with one last thing.  I was reading 1 Corinthians 10 this morning and the last three verses of the chapter say, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.  Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.”  Church, let everything you do be for the glory of God and let your task be to see that many are saved.  May you be a church that in all you do, through your time, talents, and tithe, you declare his glory among the nations.

Thank you Oak Crest for your faithfulness to the Gospel and allowing me to be a part of this covenant body.  As of tomorrow I am no longer on staff but you are still our church.  We look forward to continuing to partner with you for the sake of the Gospel.

In Christ,

Nathan

What a special time this past Sunday was! Once again it is hard to even know how to express how much we love this church.  God has been so gracious to us.  This is the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere, being an Air Force brat, and all my kids know is Oak Crest.  Thank you for your support over the past 6 years and your continued prayers for our family.  Sunday night we sang a song titled "Grace Alone."  It is only by his grace that we have come to this point and it will only be his grace that carries us through.

If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with what we are doing and know how to pray for us, we have a newsletter signup sheet in the foyer.

​In Christ,
Nathan

DUE TO THE POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE NATURE OF THIS ARTICLE PLEASE DO NOT SHARE ITS LINK ELECTRONICALLY

      Over the last couple of weeks several of you have asked me to write an article updating you on where we stand in the application process with the IMB.  Before I do that I just want to thank everyone for your encouragement.  You have no idea what a blessing it is for our family to know we will have the support of this church once we are overseas.  God has been so gracious to bless us with Oak Crest.
      There are three phases to the application process with the IMB.  The first phase is the Prospect Phase when applicants have their initial interview, provide basic info about themselves, and attend a missions expo to learn more about how the IMB functions.  Basically this is the part where the IMB makes sure you aren’t a crazy person.  Morgan and I attended our expo in September of last year.  The second phase is the Applicant Phase.  This is a time of more in depth exploration about calling, physical and mental health, and giftedness.  The final phase is the Candidate Phase.  Here the candidate is matched with a job, their references are released, and they go before the trustees for approval.  This all took place in August and September and we were recommended for appointment on September 28th.
     What’s left for us moving forward?  Now that we are recommended to be appointed as IMB missionaries we will attend appointment week November 3-9th in New Orleans.  After training and lots of meetings we will participate in the appointment service, Lord willing, on November 8th at which point we will officially be IMB missionaries.  Our last official day at Oak Crest will be December 18th and we will start training in Virginia on January 18th and be finished on March 18th.  Between appointment and training we will be visiting churches that would like to be prayer partners with us.  We will not be looking for any financial support as we will be fully supported through the Cooperative Program but we do want to bring several churches alongside us to commit to pray for us.
     After training in March we will then go to Southeast Asia for a year of language school before we transition to our final destination and begin our work.  Our first term will be three to four years, including the year of language school, and we will then return to the states for a time of furlough.
     We’ve walked through this entire process understanding that everything set before us will only happen if it is the Lord’s will.  All of these plans are subject to change as things are always changing in the world of missions.  But we know that God is sovereign over all of this and there is no reason why we should be at the point we are right now apart from his working.  We trust that his will is being done and we long for the day when we can be on the front lines of reaching the Unreached in Southeast Asia.

In Christ,
Nathan

Thanks to everyone who has signed up to participate in our Oak Crest booth at the Midlothian Fall Festival this Saturday.  If you have not signed up and would like to stop by our booth to help pass out water bottles, Story tracts, and Oak Crest info, please come join us.  The more we have at our booth the better.  Whether you are participating on Saturday or not I would plead with everyone to be in prayer for this outreach opportunity.  We have a great chance to reach many people in our area with the gospel.  Please pray for lots of gospel conversations and that those conversations will result in saved souls.  See you Saturday!

​In Christ,
Nathan

​I think we can all agree that one of the most important things we can and should be doing in our Christian walk is sharing the gospel consistently.  It’s important because Christ has commanded us to do so and lost souls are at stake.  I think something else we can all agree on is that we don’t share the gospel as often and as consistently as we should.  Why is this?  The one thing that is potentially most important in our walk is the one thing we fail to do so often.  There are lots of answers we can give to the why.  Fear, discomfort, and lack of contact with the lost are just a few.  I’m convinced though that the main reason we don’t share the gospel is we have never been equipped to do so.  We talk a big game but how often is our talk not backed up because we really don’t know how to begin to share the gospel?
The truth is we cannot allow ourselves to let any excuse get in the way but if there is one that will continue to be a stumbling block it is being ill-equipped.  This coming Sunday, October 4th from noon to 2pm, I will be doing Way of the Master evangelism training.  In two hours I will give you basic tools that will equip you for a lifelong commitment to sharing the gospel faithfully.  So often all it takes to get someone actively sharing the gospel is showing them how.  Way of the Master is a non-confrontational way of sharing the gospel with anyone, anywhere.  You can use it to share with your children and you can use it to share with a complete stranger in the grocery store.  It is a very practical, yet biblical way of presenting the gospel.
I challenge everyone to make this a priority, realizing that Sunday afternoons are cherished time.  This is time worth investing in.  Another advantage of attending this training is it will prepare you for the Midlothian Fall Festival coming up on October 17th.  We will be providing lunch and childcare so everyone is welcome to join us.  There is a signup sheet in the foyer.
Will you be a part of reaching Midlothian with the gospel?  Don’t be content sitting on the sidelines of evangelism.  The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  The following video gives you an idea of what The Way of the Master is all about.

In Christ,
​Nathan

I want to make you all aware of a great opportunity we have as a church to reach our community with the Gospel.  Saturday, October 17th is the Midlothian Fall Festival at the MISD football stadium.  We will have a booth set up to pass out water bottles as well as Story tracts and Oak Crest info cards.  Last year we had lots of opportunities to talk to people and share the Gospel and I expect the same this year.  If you would like to participate in this outreach opportunity, we have a signup sheet in the foyer that we would ask you to sign up on.  We are in need of at least three teams of two to work the booth in two hour time slots.  But the more people we have the better.  So feel free to sign up with as many people as you would like.  A representative from the Outreach Team will be present all day to assist participants with whatever they might need.  If you don’t feel prepared to participate we will have evangelism training after morning worship on Sunday, October 4th in preparation for the Fall festival.  There will be more details about this training in the coming weeks but make plans now to participate.  We’d love to have lots of people representing Christ at the Fall Festival so make it a priority to participate.

In Christ, 
Nathan

What are the benefits of a local church partnering with missionaries to reach unreached peoples?  More specifically: why is it important for Southern Baptists Churches, who are already contributing through the Cooperative Program to the largest and most efficient missionary force in the world, to work in partnership alongside IMB missionaries to reach a specific unreached people group?

Much of the local churches missions’ strategy reflects the shot of a shotgun.  It has a wide spread but it isn’t lethal.  The strategy is to simply give to the Cooperative Program and go on short term trips to different destinations every year.  The quantity is there but the quality of work is lacking.  In order to understand the benefits of partnership, along with Cooperative Program support, we must first look at some downsides to a shotgun approach to missions.

·         Simply giving money does not cultivate fervor for missions in the church.  We must give to the Cooperative Program but it’s only when we sacrificially give of our resources (talents, time, and finances) will zeal for missions grow.

·         Yearly, location driven, short term mission trips tend to be glorified vacations.  It’s more about the experience than it is about the gospel.

·         When the experience of short term trips overshadow long term strategy, effective missions principles are violated and a lot of money is spent with little results to show for it.

If the shotgun represents quantity, a high powered rifle represents quality.  Its shot is precise and its force is lethal.  An effective mission’s strategy is one that is precise and lethal.  Here are some reasons why local churches partnering with IMB missionaries to reach a specific unreached people group through praying, going, and giving is precise and lethal.

·         It shows a commitment to effectively participate in what is already happening in a specific part of the world.  True participation in a work that is happening in Guatemala is not one weeklong trip.  Effective participation in what God is doing in a specific part of the world is investing in that work year in and year out.

·         A commitment to go back to the same place over several years produces strong relationships that can develop and support that can target real life needs.  We cannot truly grasp the needs of people that we don’t spend time with.  Strong relationships with missionaries and effective support of the work produce long term results for the gospel.

·         Committing to a work over time helps avoid unnecessary errors.  Investing in a specific missionary and trusting in their strategy allows the church to know things are going to be done right.  The people who know best what needs to be done are the ones who are giving of themselves daily to reaching a people group.  Casting our American ideas onto another culture will not advance the gospel.

·         A long term investment will produce long term results.  We cannot truly make disciples on a two week mission trip.

Why is this important?  First, we should desire for every penny we give to be the most effective it can be in reaching the world with the gospel.  What a tragedy it would be to spend thousands of dollars on missions each year and not have any tangible results.  Second, we are participating in such a partnership! We give faithfully to the Cooperative Program and to the work in Southeast Asia to reach the Lasa.  This is something we should be proud of.  Not only are we investing in work to reach people in every country on the earth through the CP, but we are directly connected to seeing that the Lasa are reached with the gospel.  Embrace this by continued faithfulness to pray, go, and give.

In Christ, 
Nathan

On Sunday our youth will be leaving for our end of summer camp.  There will be 15 of us going.  It will be a nice few days to relax, fellowship, and be in God’s word together before the craziness of the school year begins.  Please keep us in your prayers over the next week.

Our youth have done a lot together this summer.  We started out with a trip to Joplin, had same great time in the Word at Study and Swim, and did lots of fun things.  I love the summer time because we get to spend a lot of quality time together so it’s always bitter sweet when the school year comes.  There are new opportunities for ministry once the school year starts but everyone is so busy in today’s world.

This summer has been extra special as I’ve been able to make some final memories with my students.  I have truly loved serving here at Oak Crest.  We have the best youth around.  It’s crazy because I’ve never really felt like I’ve had a home.  Growing up in a military family we moved every three of four years.  The longest I ever lived in a place was four years.  So when people ask me where I’m from I never really know what to say.  At the end of this year we will be a month shy of being at Oak Crest for 6 years.  This is the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere my entire life.  We started our family here and this is all that my kids know.  So now when people ask where I’m from I’ll proudly know how to answer.  I’m from Midlothian.

Though it is nice to feel that I finally have a place to call home, the reality is that this place that we call home now is only temporal.  Our citizenship is not of this earth.  The goal of the Christian life is not to find paradise on earth but to live for eternity.  We can never allow ourselves to be blinded by the American dream into thinking that our ultimate goal is to live as comfortably as possible.  Peter said, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”  As aliens in a foreign land we cannot allow our lives to be consumed by created things.  Rather, we must give all that we are and have to the creator of all things.  May we all live with a longing for home.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” –Jim Elliot

In Christ,

Nathan

Last week was a tremendous blessing.  I hope you were able to spend some time with the Walkers.  God moved through their sharing and testimony.  It was a special time.  I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped make the Missions Conference possible.  Those who hosted the Walkers, provided entertainment, transportation, and food, and helped organize events throughout the week.  The Walkers felt like they were at home.  God is doing amazing things all over the world for his glory.  Hopefully you were able to get a glimpse of that last week.  Let’s not forget our time with the Walkers.  May the Lord continue to burden us for the people right here in Midlothian and to the ends of the earth.

In Christ, 
Nathan