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The Robinsons’ Herald
E·mail version for April thru May 2006
We are
thankful for recent rains that have filled our cistern to running over and
making the grass turn green again. Others here are also thankful that they
no longer need to haul water or pay trucks to carry it to their homes.
We are
looking toward our upcoming furlough. We have the expected mixed emotions of
wanting to see relatives and friends, but not looking forward to saying
goodbye to our spiritual family here for about a year.
Bill and
Ruth Stoll arrived last week. Thanks for praying! Our folks and the Stolls
are already getting acquainted. Bill and Ruth are adjusting to the
difference in culture, pace of life, and the rather warm weather. They also
need more support so that they will not need to take more from their savings
as they serve the Lord and help us here. We truly appreciate their
sacrifice. Their contact information is at the end of this document.
I ask that you would pray for them continually while they
are on Carriacou working in our place.
News about
Windward Bible Church
Our
attendance has improved recently, even though we had seen a considerable
drop off for the previous month or so. Some of our students had missed as
they intensified their studies to prepare for year-end tests and examines.
We encourage them to study all year long and be faithful in attendance all
the time. I am sure their results would be much better if they would follow
this counsel in their lives.
Some of the
older ladies in our congregation attend services less and less. They suffer
from arthritis, high blood pressure, and diabetes, along with other
ailments.
Please
remember to pray for the health of Sister Williams, Sister Stafford, and
Sister Gwenny.
Sadly, one
young man that made a profession late last year has stopped coming. He will
not tell me why and acts as though he does not have a real reason. Please
pray for DB.
A lady and
her children also stopped coming after they had begin coming the latter part
of last year. She too would not give us a reason why. She had told us that
she wanted to think about receiving Jesus Christ as her Savior after we had
explained the Gospel to her in our home back in January. However, we
recently discovered that she is expecting a baby. We were saddened to learn
this, as she is not married. I now suspect this is why she had stopped
coming. Perhaps she thought we would not want her to attend anymore once we
realized she was pregnant out of wedlock. Nevertheless, we did invite her to
attend services again, and she has stated that she will come this Wednesday.
Pray for ES to see that Jesus has His arms open for her.
I spoke to
our meeting place’s landlord a couple of week ago after we had received a
lot of rain. She informed me that the rain had proved that the roof still
has several leaks. She said she does not know what to do at this point. We
do not have thousands of dollars to purchase roofing materials to repair the
roof ourselves. I plan to meet with her in the next week or two and make a
decision about what to do. Some of our folks have also expressed their
feelings that it would not be wise to return to the building now, especially
since we are now into the hurricane season once again.
We have
passed out tracks and witnessed in the community of Windward several times
since we moved our services there in 2000. We also had special meetings and
several open-air meetings since 1992. In fact, we held street meetings for
nearly every Sunday morning for nearly a year from July of 1992 to July of
1993. Several times, we canvassed the community with flyers and invitations
to special meetings with special speakers and singing over the years. People
often told us they would visit, but never have. There are two men and two
women that have attended our services from there from time to time. There
are also three children, from one family, that attend a couple of times each
month from this village. However, all of these but two women still attend
our services held in our home in Meldrum. In the past, the latter two would
only visit a Sunday night service perhaps once a month. There were three
other men, one drug addict and thief, and two alcoholics that would
sometimes venture into services, but I would usually end up escorting them
from the service because they would began making noises or speaking out in
disruptive ways.
The Seventh
Day Adventists (SDAs) recently held their second crusade here on Carriacou
in two years. This time it was held half way between our home and the
village of Windward in the village of Dover. It ran for four to five weeks
and featured a woman evangelist. They brought in a large tent and about
three hundred chairs to put under it. They had keyboards, musicians, and a
very loud public address system that we could hear in our home a little over
one half mile away from their location. They hired buses that transported
people from all over the island to and from the services. I suspect that the
SDA denomination poured tens of thousands of dollars into this venture. They
also built another meeting place in Dover where their converts are now
holding services. This is essentially what they did last year, and it also
resulted in them building another SDA church between L’Esterre and Harvey
Vale on the southern end of Carriacou. They have had a well established
church in the town of
Hillsborough
for decades. Their crusades the last couple of years have had notable
results that include some in the
village of
Windward.
For those
who may not know, SDAs refer to the teachings of Ellen G. White as
authoritative as if a prophetess of God. However, the Scripture singled out
three spiritual gifts that would end when the word of God would be complete.
In 1
Corinthians 13:8-12, we are told that the three spiritual gifts of
knowledge, the true gift of diverse tongues (not an unknown tongue), and the
gift of prophecy would end when that which is perfect is come. The context
uses a symbolism that relates to a person that looks through a “glass” (or
mirror) darkly that was going to be replaced by something perfectly clear.
This clear medium would be as though looking directly at something face to
face as opposed to looking at a poor reflection.
There are
two other places in the New Testament where the symbolism of a mirror or
reflective medium is used, James 1:23 and 2 Corinthians 3:14-18. In both
places, the mirror or glass represents the word of God. Thus, in 1
Corinthians 13:8-12, Paul’s speaking of a looking trough a glass darkly
represented about the then present situation where the church of Jesus
Christ did not have the finished and completely revealed Word of God (i.e.,
Bible). That’s why he stated that at that time they knew in part and
prophesied in part. However, he went on to say that at some point in the
future, the complete and perfect Word of God would come, and that which was
still in part (through prophecy) would be done away.
Most Bible
students, scholars, historians, and other experts agree that the Word of God
was completed when the Apostle John set down his quill after penning the
last verse of Revelation on the
island
of Patmos in the latter part of the first century. According to history,
John was allowed to return to Ephesus and finally die of natural causes
after the Roman emperor Domitian, who had banished him to Patmos for his
faith, died in A.D. 96.
Scholars
believe the Book of Hebrews is the last book Paul penned before he was
martyred for his faith. Most believe that it was written from A.D. 68 – 69,
and that possibly the Book of Jude and surely the Book of Revelation were
written afterward.
Significantly, the writer of Hebrews stated that in times past (before the
Book of Hebrews was written) God had spoken in many parts and many manners
to the old testament fathers through the prophets, but in these last days
(from when the Book of Hebrews was written onward), he had spoken (past
tense) through His Son.
Jesus, God’s
Son, (God the Word made flesh, John 1:1, & 14) spoke to us directly as
recorded in the Gospels and in a few places in Acts. He also spoke to us
indirectly through His New Testament Apostles and prophets. Once John
finished the Book of Revelation, that which was in part and dark was then
completed and perfected, flawlessly revealing the nature of God, His plan,
His purpose, and His will for His New Testament Church.
Thus, all
who claim to have become prophets or prophetesses that were supposedly
called after John finished The Book of Revelation are false prophets. That
includes Ellen G. White, regardless of whether she made the claim of being a
prophetess or merely allowed others to think of her in that position of
authority. The same is true of those in Pentecostal and other Charismatic
elements of Christendom today. Moreover, the Biblical period that defined
when those three named gifts would cease also shows that the so-called gifts
of knowledge (or word of knowledge) and the true gift of different or
various tongues also ceased at the end of the first century. That means all
supposed such gifts today are false and counterfeit. Consequently, all new
revelations and claims made by such are either outright false or
superfluous, (because God had already revealed them in His now complete and
written word. It is no wonder that John warned in the sternest of terms
again adding to or taking anything from the last book of the Bible.
(Revelation. 22:18 – 19) Of course, this is not the only doctrinal error
with SDAs. They essentially proclaim a gospel of works by keeping the law,
not the gospel of grace. (Romans
6:14, and Galatians 1:6 – 9, 5:4)
In any case,
reports are that a significant number of people from the Windward and Dover
areas attended the meetings held by the women evangelist on behalf of the
SDA.
Notably,
those that attended, like many in churches around the world today, seem
unaware that the Lord inspired Paul to write to the church in Corinth to say
that women are commanded to be in silence in the church and are not
permitted to speak, according to 1 Corinthians 14:34. The Lord inspired Paul
to also state that women are not to be allowed to teach men in church in 1
Timothy 2:12. A woman whose faith and godliness are based upon God’s word
would never allow herself to be put in a position where she would act
contrary to it in any way. The same should be true of men who organize
meetings or conduct services where they either put a woman in this situation
or allow her to get into it.
I have said
all the above to show that I am now facing the reality that it may be time
to dust off our sandals and move to another location here on Carriacou.
(Matthew 10:14) Paul did exactly that when the religious people of
Antioch in Pisidia, rejected the Gospel of
Grace. (Acts 13:14)
It seems
that those in darkness are attracted to darkness, and often shy away from
the light of the truth. Perhaps this is why the Lord has not saw fit
to repair the roof in our meeting place in Windward for nearly a year. It
is important for everyone to know that I do not believe the Lord is leading
us to leave Carriacou, but I am open to His leading that He could be
leading us to focus on another area of Carriacou. Thankfully, Carriacou and
the nation of Grenada is part of the “Windward Islands” of the Southern
Caribbean. Thus, Windward Bible Church could be located almost anywhere here
and still hold its name without raising many questions.
Please pray
with us as we seek the Lord’s will concerning a meeting place as we continue
to serve Him here on Carriacou. Pray that we will discern His will
concerning the Village of Windward and the possibility of finding a new
location.
With all the
above going on, the core group of those that attend Windward Bible Church
demonstrate a good spirit of fellowship. It seems more and more that they
want to linger around after our services conclude just to talk and enjoy
being with each other. Such times are warm and encouraging.
We are planning to hold
vacation Bible School next week, July 4 – 7. It will only be the Robinsons
and Stolls, one of the Stoll’s three sons, Will, who is scheduled to arrive
on Sunday, July, 2, and perhaps a couple of adults and teenagers from our
congregation that will be conducting it this year. We do not plan to
advertise beyond those in our congregation as we did last years. Even then,
some seventy very lively children attended on the last day of last years
VBS. Please pray that the Lord will help us to
finalize our plans and preparations. Pray for the children as we reach out
to them to help them see the Lord’s smile and open arms ready to welcome
them into His wonderful family. Pray for us to have wisdom, patience, and
the needed stamina to keep up with them. Pray for the safety of all.
My health is
better, even though I still have some discomfort from time to time,
depending upon what I eat and what I do. I plan to get a check up once we
make it stateside.
Please pray
for my ongoing health improvement and the health of Linda and the Stolls.
Robinsons
Furlough Plans
We have much to do before we leave for
furlough the middle of July.
We had hoped
to have our tickets by now, but we are still waiting on the Lord to provide
the funds for us to purchase them.
As I explained in our last prayer letter
update, our last
furlough was six months long and was back in 1996. Since then we have spent
time in the US
recovering from a stroke, a severely broken leg, a couple of minor surgeries
for me and one major surgery for Linda back in 1999. After going through two
destructive hurricanes in eleven months in 2004 and last year that damaged
our meeting place and home, I must admit that I am tired, and perhaps even a
bit discouraged. We need some time off. We also need to broaden our prayer
and financial support base, report to faithful supporters, be refreshed
through rest and fellowship with our spiritual and natural families, and
then return to Carriacou. I then hope to resume work with new vigor and new
direction. We are also trusting the Lord to lead us to others that will
commit to come to Carriacou and work permanently with us to help see
Windward
Bible Church become what the Lord desires it to be.
Please pray that the Lord will supply the
support for the airline tickets and other yet unseen expenses that we will
incur going on furlough. We also need a reliable and economical vehicle and
a place to stay. We need to get everything done, including getting some
needed rest, and return by June of next year. If we leave for the
US by the end
of July or the first part of August, we will have ten to eleven months.
Thus, we need this prayer to be answered soon.
I have already begun making contacts and scheduling
meetings. I have much more to do in days ahead. As explained in our previous
update, our first priority is to report to our present supporters and
schedule meeting to report to them. It is my hope that each one of them will
be able to supply new contacts for us and they will recommend us to the same
contacts. We desire to serve and minister as often and to as many as the
Lord will lead.
If you know of a pastor that would possibly be interested
in having us present our ministry and serve them in some way, please forward
their contact information on to me. You can also inform them that they can
find all the information about us they would need through our website at:
www.WindwardBibleChurch.org. Tell them to go to
www.Carriacou.info if they wish to learn more about our field of
ministry. In the mean time, please ask the Lord
to help us with our immediate needs.
Prayer Requests
Our list of ongoing prayer requests is still
present on our website at
http://www.lastchanceministries.com/current1.htm
Thanks
Thanks once more to all who
faithfully pray and support us in the work here on Carriacou. We are
looking forward to seeing you on furlough and thanking you in person!
Still looking up for Him,
(Signature omitted from online version for
security reasons)
Walter Robinson II
See Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.30.3
Copyright © 2000 Last Chance Ministries. All rights reserved.
Revised: September 11, 2006.
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