Finally! The June Issue of Gospel Gazette Online Is Ready

Bonnie & Louis Rushmore in India

Finally, the June issue of Gospel Gazette Online has been published to the Internet for the edification and enjoyment of readers around the world. Bonnie and I are devoted to each other and dedicated to Christ. GGO is one of the endeavors for the cause of Christ in which we are involved. Others include The Voice of Truth International and Global Harvest magazines, stateside and overseas speaking appointments and travel, writing books and tracts, and shipping literature stateside and abroad.Bonnie and I just returned from nearly two weeks in Guyana, South America. We conducted five workshops in four cities for the purpose of strengthening Christians and the congregations of which they are members. Bonnie taught Christian ladies about the biblical model for the Role of Women in the Home and in the Church. One of her lessons appears in this issue of Gospel Gazette Online on Page 15. I taught Male Leadership in the Home and in the Church. One of my lessons appears as the Editorial in this month’s edition of GGO. July and August issues of GGO will carry subsequent lessons that Bonnie and I delivered in Guyana during those workshops.

Questions about the Thief on the Cross occur regularly. The late J.C. Choate addresses these inquiries on Page 4. D. Gene West on Page 6 answers the question, Is the Bible a Revelation from God? On Page 10, Adam Cozort presents an interesting feature for careful reflection: Are You a Practical Atheist? Royce Pendergrass contemplates on Page 11 Is Fashion Worth the Price? Mark Ray on Page 13 poses the question Have You Seen the Christ?

The Question & Answer section this month tackles questions about modesty, the fundamental theme of the Gospel and how Jesus Christ could identify with humans. It seems that questions and answers dominate this issue in the articles as well as in the Question & Answer section.

Be sure to read each of the articles for your personal edification and enjoyment. For your convenience, there is a shortcut below to each of the articles this month. You may find Gospel Gazette Online at www.gospelgazette.com.

In This Issue

Page 2: Male Leadership in the Church Louis Rushmore, Editorial
Page 3: God Gave the Increase Rodney Nulph, Editorial
Page 3: Attitude Bob Howton
Page 4: The Thief on the Cross J.C. Choate
Page 5: “And He Had Went” Raymond Elliott
Page 5: Some Things I Have Learned Since… Jim Faughn
Page 6: Warnings Donald R. Fox
Page 6: Is the Bible a Revelation from God? D. Gene West
Page 7: Let His Glory Shine through Me Marilyn LaStrape
Page 8: Praise the Lord with the Heart Tim Childs
Page 8: A Word Between Friends (audio)Tim Childs
Page 9: Flesh and Blood T. Pierce Brown
Page 9: Double Yoking Robert Rawson
Page 10: Are You a Practical Atheist? Adam B. Cozort
Page 10: The Way to Heaven Denver Cooper
Page 11: Redeeming the Time Dean Kelly
Page 11: Is Fashion Worth the Price? Royce Pendergrass
Page 12: The Ax at the Root Chad Ezelle
Page 12: The Difference a Dad Makes Mark N. Posey
Page 13: Have You Seen the Christ? Mark Ray
Page 13: It Is the Greatest Paul Clements
Page 14: I Can Do All Things through Christ Ed Benesh
Page 14: A Great Church Robert Johnson
Page 15: Role of Women in the Church Bonnie Rushmore
Page 16: Q & A: God Defined Modesty in the Beginning Louis Rushmore
Page 16: Q & A: What Is the Fundamental Theme of the Gospel?
Page 16: Q & A: How Was Jesus Able to Identify with Humans?

The Flight that Wouldn’t

Crazy it seemed, but for us to go from Winona, MS to Linden, Guyana, South America, it was almost a “you can’t get there from here” scenario. Bonnie and I drove two hours north to Memphis International Airport. From there we flew east to Atlanta, GA, after which we flew to New York City, NY to catch a flight to Georgetown, Guyana. From there it is an hour at sub-supersonic speed in a converted Toyota cargo van to Linden, Guyana – our base of operations. That was the plan!

Our Atlanta to New York flight was delayed significantly. Hence, we were in danger of missing our once a day flight from New York to Georgetown. We landed in a heavy rainstorm at JFK International Airport, it appeared too late to board our next flight. However, the plane waited for us and a few others, though it was otherwise completely boarded and sitting at the gate awaiting our arrival. Bonnie and I scurried from one gate across the terminal to another gate, where we were led into the pouring rain to board a bus. It took us to another terminal, which necessitated us getting in the rain once more.

Finally, we boarded the New York to Georgetown plane. Of course, by now there was no place for our carry-on luggage, and it had to be secured beneath the plane. Our preferred boarding benefit only works if the prior flight is not hours late! Ready to go, right? Wrong! Other passengers straggled in for the next little while. The plane door was even reopened at least once to allow another passenger entry.

Way late, the plane eventually made its way to the runway, but it broke down, so we could not take off. On the way back to the terminal, a second breakdown occurred. For the next nearly two hours, hundreds of passengers herded like cattle confined to chutes mulled as technicians made repairs. About to push away yet again from the terminal, the cockpit crew appeared to have pushed some wrong buttons, intending to converse with the tower but instead addressing the passengers. A few moments later, attempting to talk to the ground crew, once more the cockpit spoke instead to the passengers. We could only hope that the plane was airworthy and that in the air the pilots would remember which buttons to push.

Pushing back from the terminal, the auxiliary lifeline to the plane was pulled unceremoniously from the underbelly of the aircraft. All power was lost in the plane, and auxiliary power was required to restart onboard motors to restore electrical power. As we made our way to the runway and hurled down it for a nighttime ride through torrential rains, we could only rejoice that we were not superstitious and further hoped that the balance of this leg of our journey would be uneventful. It was! We arrived hours late, but we arrived in Georgetown, Guyana to the loving embrace of dear and precious brethren in Christ.

We’re Back!

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Tuesday evening, June 12, Bonnie and I arrived back in Winona, MS from our nearly two weeks of mission work in Guyana, South America. We taught five workshops in various parts of the country, visited patients in a hospital, participated in home Bible studies, taught youth in a boarding school, attended a marriage seminar and worshipped with two congregations.

In the workshops, Bonnie taught Christian women about The Role of Women in the Home and in the Church. I taught Male Leadership in the Home and the Church. Sessions were conducted in Georgetown, Linden, New Amsterdam and outside of Charity. Sometimes lively panel discussions concluded each appointment, where a capable Guyanese brother and I fielded questions on the workshop theme and other Bible questions.

We were in Guyana during the rainy season. It rained off and on every day! The combination of heat and high humidity made for sticky days. Bugs aplenty made their presence known, with ant, mosquito and spider bites populating our skin with pock marks from time to time literally from head to toe. Of all the places we travel in the world, Guyanese mosquitos cause the greatest, swiftest and longest lasting effects on me personally. One dark, early morning I felt the bite on my forehead, and immediately I began to swell in the affected area. The bulging bump stretched my skin until that hurt, too.

The larger bridges we crossed were all floating on barges. These toll bridges were approximately a mile in length, and they bobbed up and down as voluminous traffic traversed them. The most interesting mode of transportation was a speed boat we rode each way across the mouth of the Essequibo River at the Atlantic Ocean. The boat held about 18 passengers and cargo. It was open topped and traveled around 60 mph crossway to the current and around islands. The water was calm in the morning, and the ride was smooth but we could barely open our eyes for the force of the wind. The return trip across the river that afternoon was bumpy, comparable I would imagine to riding a mechanical bull. We do not have to buy excitement at an amusement park! Passengers hold up across the benches what resembles the upholstery off of a couch when anticipating a blast of water shooting up over the bow or pushed by the wind over the side. Sometimes we deflected the water, and sometimes our timing was imperfect. Even when we managed to avoid being smacked in the face with a wave of water, still the water fell into the boat and soaked us. It was virtually impossible to open one’s eyes due to the force of the wind. Forty-five minutes of bouncing on the waves with the boat battering our kidneys and bladders, sodden with saltwater baths, arms aching from using them as masts to steady the furniture fabric sail meant to protect us, we arrived on the opposite shore. This trip involved a two-day drive, boat ride and taxi ride to our destination near Charity. We went attired in dress shirt and pants with tie in place to be ready for the workshop upon our arrival. We could only laugh to ourselves and know that we could not adequately describe this affair to anyone back home. By the way, one Guyanese brother told us the life preservers were required – to locate bodies easier! Another Guyanese brother pointed out the plastic jugs strapped to the underside of the benches – so the boat wouldn’t sink when it overturns!

There is a lot of ongoing interest in Guyana by American Christians who devote themselves to the employment of various methodologies for evangelism in that country. Perhaps some missionaries edify congregations that they encounter. However, we are not aware of any widespread investment by American Christians to help mature the Lord’s church in Guyana. That is why beginning in 2012 Bonnie and I are devoting ourselves to working with church leaders on a national level to help grow the church from the inside out. We want to contribute to the stability and maturity of the congregations throughout the country – in the more easily accessible areas as well as in the bush as the nationals say. Our primary partner in Guyana is Nigel Milo. He is a graduate of Heritage Christian University in Florence, AL, and he was mentored by Edmond Cagle. Nigel is academically qualified, experienced in the USA and his homeland of Guyana, and he is fully devoted to the cause of Christ. Through him, Bonnie and I will continue to work with Guyanese preaching brethren and their congregations throughout the entire nation of Guyana. We are already planning an extended mobile program for 2013 that will take us to most areas of Guyana. Whatever good comes of these humble investments of ourselves will we pledge to the glory to God and earnestly desire to be a blessing to our Guyanese brethren.