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Rev. Robert William Jenkins, 76, of Natchez, Miss., formerly of Cartersville, died in Natchez Monday following a courageous battle with cancer.

He was born in Ohatchee, Ala., July 18, 1936, a son of the late Boyd Lee Jenkins and Ovie Lee Tidwell Jenkins, moving to Cartersville at the age of 14.

Prior to being called to the Gospel ministry at White Oak Springs Baptist Church, Mr. Jenkins was a well-known contractor in Cartersville and Dallas. He first served for eight years as a missionary to the Island of Dominica in the West Indies. While there, Mrs. Jenkins’ cousin and husband, Margaret and Parnick Jennings, Sr., served three weeks as lay missionaries. Brother Jenkins then joined the Maranatha Baptist Mission in Natchez serving 27 years, overseeing the building of Maranatha Haven. He was called as Executive Director of Baptist Pioneer Mission, overseeing the building of its three-story headquarters. Returning to Natchez, he and Brother Johnny Welborn formed Warrenton Baptist Mission Agency and Robert oversaw the erection of its Mission Building. Mr. Jenkins preached all over the South, Midwest and North and Northeast.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Boyd Ray Jenkins.

Surviving is his wife of 59 years, who served by his side in ministry, Nancy Pinson Jenkins, also formerly of Cartersville; two sons, Robert W. Jenkins, of Douglasville, and Ricky Lee Jenkins, of Natchez; two daughters, Luanne and her husband, Dan Hurst, of Hudson, Fla., and Jane and James Tipton, of Dalton; eight grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren also survive, along with two brothers, Harris (Reba) Jenkins, of Cartersville, and Roger Dale Jenkins, of Ellijay; and one sister, Mary Carolyn (Hugh) Crosby, of Cartersville.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday in White Oak Springs Baptist Church near Dallas, Ga., with Brother Joe Clifford, Brother Terry Oswalt, Brother Donald Young and Brother Curtis Gibson officiating. Music will be provided by Joe Robinson of the Good Shepherd staff. Interment will be in the adjoining cemetery.

The florist will deliver to the church at 3 p.m. today, Friday, Dec. 7.

The family will receive friends at the church from 4 to 8 p.m. today and from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday. At other hours they will be at the home of Carl and Sarah Pinson, Highway 113, Cartersville.

Pallbearers are asked to meet at the church by 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

The family requests that memorials be made to Warrenton Baptist Mission Building Fund, 829 Belva Drive, Vicksburg, MS 39180. Please visit www.goodshepherdfh.net to sign the online guest book and view a DVD of the life of Brother Jenkins.

Parnick Jennings, Sr.’s Good Shepherd Funeral Home, Inc., 2750 Shorter Ave., Rome, 706-234-9622, is serving the family of Rev. Robert W. Jenkins.

It started out with Tropical Storm Irene flooding us in at the Church, and we had to stay overnight at the Church with no electricity after the Sunday evening preaching.  All of the highways were closed, and four bridges were washed out.  But, we had oil lamps, plenty of clean water to drink, plenty of food, and a great spirit among everyone.  It was one of those nights we will probably never forget.

Monday evening, things started to warm up with some good preaching by Bro. Hafelin and Bro. Patterson.  Tuesday was what I called “Youth Day” — we had 39 youth show up!  We started at noon with a spaghetti feed for the youth, then had some outdoor activities, then Bro. Hafelin preached at them, then we had some more outdoor activities, and then supper.  For the preaching that evening, we had 51 people there (the most we’ve had in that little building in the 10 years I have been here) and had to set up chairs in front of the pews and behind the pews to get everyone in.  God is so good.  there were 3 saved that night, including the toughest teenager there, who had been brought by one of his friends.  This 17-year-old came right up to me afterward asking how soon he could be baptized, and he went home and told all of his friends that he was saved.

On Thursday afternoon, Bro. Carl Morrison (planted a church 18 months ago in Bridgton, Maine), Bro. Paul McLaughlin (Hope Haven Gospel Mission), and Bro. Chuck Barnes (Maine church planter) preached, and Hafelin & Patterson wrapped it up by preaching in the evening.  In all, 7 were saved during the week and we had the best attendance ever.  There was a wonderful spirit all week long.  I have never seen teenagers respond like this to the preaching of God’s Word.  What a sight to see the young men and women.

God has so blessed.  There is a new spirit in the Church.  God is so good.  I don’t know if my Dad was able to see what was going on this week at the Church he poured 25 years of his life into, but if he did see it, he’s probably still shouting “AMEN!”

This summer and fall, we had tables at the Farmington Fair (largest local fair), the Wilton Blueberry Festival, Kingfield Days, and Phillips Old Home Days.  It was a tremendous investment of time but has paid off with eternal fruit.

Our Fall Conference in September was a wonderful success.  The theme this year was “Seeking the Old Paths,” and it was a great time of preaching, fellowship, and spiritual refreshment.  I have put the audio from this conference on-line (see the post below).

I also completed our “Why We Use the King James Version” video DVD, which has been very well-received.

Thank you once again for your continued and faithful support of us by holding us up in prayer and assisting financially.  We are entering the challenging Winter season, so your support is that much more vital and welcome.  Thank you.

Please pray for God’s guidance and wisdom for us, as well as for more open doors.

Thank you,

Bro. Ron.

Be Not Weary (MP3 Audio)

Sunday, September 12, 2010 AM, Evangelist Clarence Hafelin.

Are Your Revive-able? (MP3 Audio)

Sunday, September 12, 2010 AM, Evangelist Mike Patterson.

The “I Will’s” of Jesus (MP3 Audio)

Sunday, September 12, 2010 PM, Evangelist Clarence Hafelin.

When God Shows Up (MP3 Audio)

Sunday, September 12, 2010 PM, Evangelist Mike Patterson.

The White Stone (MP3 Audio)

Monday, September 13, 2010 PM, Evangelist Mike Patterson.

The “I Will’s” of Jesus, part 2 (MP3 Audio)

Monday, September 13, 2010 PM, Evangelist Clarence Hafelin.

The “I Will’s” of Jesus, part 3 (MP3 Audio)

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 PM, Evangelist Clarence Hafelin.

“Better” ain’t Always “Right” (MP3 Audio)

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 PM, Evangelist Mike Patterson.

Do You Despise the World and Its Ways? (MP3 Audio)

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 PM, Evangelist Mike Patterson.

Getting the Right Ingredients (MP3 Audio)

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 PM, Evangelist Clarence Hafelin.

Keeping the Fire Burning (MP3 Audio)

Thursday, September 16, 2010 PM, Pastor Ron Meldrum.

What Doth Hinder You from the Old Paths (MP3 Audio)

Thursday, September 16, 2010 PM, Dr. Paul McLaughlin, Hope Haven Gospel Mission.

Your Heart’s Desire (MP3 Audio)

Thursday, September 16, 2010 PM, Pastor Ron Meldrum.

The Soulwinning Imperative (MP3 Audio)

Thursday, September 16, 2010 PM, Evangelist Clarence Hafelin.

The Four Men (MP3 Audio)

Thursday, September 16, 2010 PM, Evangelist Mike Patterson.

For more about the video, click below:
» Why We Use the King James Version video

Faithful to the Old Paths

This project was born out of what I can only describe as grief at the departure from the church by somebody who got mixed up in some bizarre, modernist doctrines.  This person is loved and missed very much.  I hope that by exposing a number of false modernist doctrines — not just what this person was involved in — and debunking them using the Bible, I can help another pastor and another church avoid what our family has been through.

God told Jeremiah to tell the men and women of Judah to seek the Old Paths.  They replied that they would not walk in them — they had a “better” way.  What seems “better” to man is not always what is better to God.

In the end, people will do what they “feel” is right, despite the clear teaching of the Bible.  But, perhaps there is that one person out there who sincerely loves and wants to please God, and will heed what the Bible says.  I pray God will use this new site mightily and will provide the time resources to develop it into what it ought to be.

I have to admit that when she called me, I assumed the worst.  I questioned God as to why he would take away our only vehicle when we had no means for another.  I settled on Romans 8:28 and put it all in His hands.

Thankfully, she has a brother who lives 7 miles from where she broke down, and the roadside service allowed a tow of up to 15 miles, so we had it towed to his place.  One of his sons looked at it a couple days later to see what the problem was.  The problem was with an “oil sensor” gone bad, and parts and labor figured out to $100 even.  Wow.  $100 is a lot of money, but it’s a whole lot better than $1200-$1600.

All I can say is, “God is so good.”

Meals served this year, to-date: 13,147

People sheltered this year, to-date: 313

Turned away for lack of space: 31 Men, 30 Women, 34 Children

On his last morning in Armley Jail, Leeds, England, he was taken on the death-walk from the prison cell to the gallows. Before him went the prison chaplain, routinely and unemotionally reading some Bible verses.

The criminal touched the preacher and asked what he was reading. “The Consolations of Religion,” was the reply.

Charlie Peace was shocked at the way he so professionally read about hell. Could a man be so unmoved under the very shadow of the scaffold as to lead a fellow-human there and yet, dry-eyed, read of a pit that has no bottom into which this fellow must fall? Could this preacher believe the words that there is an eternal fire that never consumes its victims, and yet slide over the phrase with a tremor? Is a man human at all who can say with no tears, “You will be eternally dying and yet never know the relief that death brings”?

All this was too much for Charlie Peace. So he aid to the preacher:

“Sir,if I believed what you and the church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worthwhile living, just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that!”

It’s time for us to attempt extraordinary things for the sake of reaching the lost, to give them opportunity to turn from death to life.  Tens of thousands of Mainers are passing from this life to the next with little chance of hearing the Gospel, because sound, Bible-believing churches have retreated from rural areas.  Please pray for our work as we try to do our little part in reversing that trend.

Why to the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their bans asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.”

Psalm 2: 1-5

No matter how much they legislate their immorality, no matter how much they try to revise history, no matter how much money they get, no matter how much they pour out their ideology in schools and on television, no matter how hard they try to convince us or to beat us into submission, no matter how many people they fine or send to jail for disagreeing with them, the fact is that the Bible still says that homosexuality is a sin. Sin. It always has, and it always will. It is outside of their power to change that.

We can all point to certain money-crazed charismatics who teach on television and radio that financial increase is a sign of God’s blessing and that God wants all of His people to be rich. The Bible calls these people “men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness” (I Timothy 6:5) and adds “from such withdraw thyself.”

Yet this very philosophy has influenced our independent Baptist churches. Preachers and evangelists are pointing to financial gain as a sign of God’s blessing on them, and some are even laboring for this type of gain. We give great influence and prominence to the big colleges and churches, who have the big money.

If money, buildings, and crowds were an indicator of God’s blessing, then we should all convert to Roman Catholicism right now.

We need to look with spiritual eyes, not worldly eyes. Remember, we are not laboring for an earthly reward. If God has called us to labor on a certain field or in a certain way, money and comfort-of-living should never enter into our mind as a “confirmation” of His blessing. We ought to simply pursue the work He has assigned to us, whether or not the money and recognition are there.

The next time someone remarks, “The offerings in Pastor XXXX’s church are up over $700 a week – God is really blessing there!” open your Bible to I Timothy chapter 6 and let the Bible purge them of that charismatic philosophy before they do any more harm to God’s work and to God’s people.

If the Bible is not enough to convince them (it often is not enough for those who are influenced by worldly charismatic thinking), give them a history lesson.

William Carey is recognized as “the father of foreign missions.” As he labored in England, sometimes working two jobs in addition to his pastorate, he lived in abject poverty.

When he tried to convince pastors of the need to evangelize heathen nations, he was met with indifference. When speaking of this need at a pastor’s fellowship, one prominent pastor said, “Young man, sit down and be silent. If God wants to save the heathen, he will do it without your help or mine.”

Carey finally convinced enough churches that world evangelism was possible and was the duty of God’s people, and he left for India with promises of support. In India, the money he had brought with him did not last long, and he and his family were soon experiencing dire need. Support from home was slow in coming, and much less than needed. For years he lived and labored in poverty, living at times in a Bengali’s garden house and later on a homestead in the jungle, often not having food for meals. His wife turned on him. The influential East India Company opposed his work.

He saw little fruit in his ministry for the first seven years. The one person who made a profession to Christ was not faithful. Discouragement seemed to beset him on every side. Most of our churches today would have dropped him from support during those first years.

After seven years, the situation began to improve, and gradually support from home increased and he got a well-paying job as a professor at a college in Calcutta. Even during this time, however, Carey lived in poverty by choice, keeping only 10% of his college salary and putting the other 90% directly into the mission. He and his fellow missionaries lived in a common house eating meager meals and wearing clothing that back in England would have been considered beneath any professional. The only exception to clothing was that Carey, after consultation with the other missionaries, purchased a suit of better clothes to wear when he went to teach at the college in Calcutta.

The time of relative prosperity didn’t last. Soon, enemies began circulating nasty rumors among supporting churches back in England, and support plummeted. The mission board, which he had helped create, cut off funds to the mission, believing the rumors rather than the missionaries themselves. Carey found himself, again, immersed in financial difficulty and turmoil.

No, financial gain is not a sign of godliness or of God’s blessing. The approbation of fellow preachers is not a sign of godliness or God’s blessing. Professional success is not a sign of godliness or God’s blessing.

The bottom line is that when God gives us a job to do, we are to labor at the task regardless of circumstances. If we have to look to earthly things as confirmation of God’s calling, then we never believed the calling to begin with. When you know what you are to do for God, pursue it with all your might and with all your resources, regardless of money, possessions, glory, and other people’s approval.

Our reward is not down here. This world has nothing to offer us. Our hope lies above.

Hudson Taylor lived in poverty in China, sometimes not knowing where he would be sleeping the next night. Because of his state, the guardian of the woman he wanted to marry did not immediately give her approval. He was considered a ne’er-do-well because he was not associated with a mission board and had no steady income.

Taylor buried his eight-year-old “daddy’s girl” and two babies in China. His house was looted and burned down. His wife died. Yet, he kept his eyes above – not looking to the circumstances of this world as confirmation of his calling, and not considering for a moment that money should be considered a stamp of approval or sign of God’s blessing on his ministry.

Brothers and sisters, if we are truly living for God, there is a great possibility that we will never see financial prosperity or wealth.

George Műller lived as a pauper in Bristol, sometimes giving his last bread and butter to a house guest, and often not knowing where the next meal for he and the orphans would come from. Fellow Christians told him that he was a fool for living the life of faith and reliance upon God for which he is so respected today – they said he would only bring shame to God by his manner of life.

Even when money came more easily during the latter part of his life, he kept the bare minimum for his own expenses and put everything else into the ministry. He did not consider that the money was a reward for all the hard work and sacrifice he had put in over the years (he had labored for God, not for money). Nobody would have faulted him for taking a little for himself, for buying better clothes instead of mending the older ones, for buying a nice house. But, he didn’t. In fact, he never owned a house. After his wife died, he even relinquished the rental house he had been living in and moved into one of the rooms in one of the orphanages he had built.

Műller said, “A servant of God has but one Master. It ill becomes the servant to seek to be rich, and great, and honored in that world where his Lord was poor, and mean, and despised.”

When so many great men and women of God throughout history have endured severe poverty, hardship, and deprivation, how dare we look to money, cars, nice suits, and nice homes as a sign of God’s blessing – or as something to even be desired in our Christian ministry!

I was naïve about this. I thought, “I’m doing God’s work, so God will send all the money, and the more I work for God, the better finances will be, because, after all, ‘God provides.’”

What I discovered through experience was something very different. Yes, God provides. But sometimes that provision is in the form of affliction which tests your determination and faith. Sometimes He presses your life through financial hardship to the point that you don’t think you can bare it. Sometimes He teaches you to live on less than you ever thought possible. Sometimes He teaches you that the things you thought were “necessities” are really only “wants.” Sometimes He compels you to give up material things that you thought were very important.

Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept they word … It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statues. (Psalm 119:67,71)

Often God provides for us by bringing us low and shaking us up.

My family is now living on less than 2/5 of what I was making before surrendering to preach. We’re still living on bare plywood floors. We just installed second-hand carpet in the children’s rooms upstairs. We have to keep the house at 50-55 degrees for most of the winter. There’s a five gallon bucket under the kitchen sink because the elbow on one of the drains leaks so much. We hang clothes from the ceiling in the kitchen/dining room because it is expensive to run the dryer. We get our clothes as hand-me-downs or from Goodwill. Every car I’ve bought since becoming a pastor has been at least 8 years old. The driveway has so many ruts and rocks in it that we have to drive it at 5 mph. Winters are cold and laborious and expensive.

God has used me more this year than in all the eight previous years, yet income has dropped to its lowest, and the work I did locally to supply steady income for our household was lost when the company I worked for dismissed all of its independent contractors (including me) this Spring in order to save staff jobs. Our meager savings disappeared within three months.

But not one of the statements above is a complaint! To the contrary. God has been so good and gracious to allow us to continue ministering here.

Being able to serve God is a privilege. Without that purpose, I could have twice the money but still be aimless, desolate, and hopeless. It is through God’s grace that I continue to minister on His behalf, and I don’t look to the things of this world as confirmation or signs of His blessing. In fact, financial prosperity has more pitfalls than blessings for God’s people.

Our hope and purpose as God’s servants need to lie beyond this world, or we will be the most miserable people on the face of this earth.

Let’s don’t put conditions upon our service to God.

We should not say, “God, I’ll serve You if you keep the money flowing.”

Or, “I’ll serve You if I can keep my standard of living.”

“I’ll serve You if I can have my nice clothes.”

“I’ll serve You if I can keep my hobbies.”

“I’ll serve You if I don’t lose my house.”

“I’ll serve You if I have good health.”

“I’ll serve You if I can live with electricity and running water.”

“I’ll serve You if I can have people’s respect.”

Don’t make your faithfulness contingent upon temporal things. Don’t be guilty of “supposing that gain is godliness.” Receive what God gives you and be thankful for it. Be grateful for His provision, whatever it might be.

No, it’s not easy, but it gets easier as we grow toward Him. You’ll find yourself in prayer more. You’ll find yourself more humble, and more sensitive to other people’s needs. You’ll find yourself looking more to God and the next world and less to the things of this world. You’ll find God using you in surprising, unexpected ways.

I ask you to pray for me, my family, and the ministry God has given us. Pray that we are faithful to the end, and that He is able to use us in the way He wants to. I also want to pray for you, particularly if you are enduring hardship for the sake of your ministry on God’s behalf. You have a lot of brothers and sisters that are struggling just as you are, laboring alongside you. Keep your eyes on Him.

Amid this over-arching challenge, our hot water heater died.  It took four trips into the hardware store this week, but we finally got another (used) heater installed and it’s working wonderfully.  What a blessing to have hot water, and to be able to learn “on the job” like this to do that kind of plumbing and wiring without hiring a contractor.  I’m sure it’s God’s way of training us for some things that are coming in the future.  In the process, we also discovered a potentially dangerous wiring issue and were able to fix it with the help of an electrician-friend who explained to us how to do it over the telephone.  God’s so good.

But, there have been blessings amidst the trials.  On one of the trips to the hardware store, I finally found the right adapter to get our used gas dryer running.  We’ve had it for months, but did not have the right adapter until this week.  The timing could not be better, since we won’t be able to hang our clothes out to dry much longer with winter coming.  We’re already having to run the wood stove every day.  Nights are getting down into the low 20’s and days get up to the high 40s and sometimes low 50s.  It’s too early for this kind of weather!

Also, a man from the church let us come over and dig all of his Jerusalem Artichokes.  We got around two bushels, which means that we can now replant all of the artichokes we dig up from our own crop, so we’ll have a bigger crop next year.  He also gave us all of the horseradish we could dig, and several pounds of apples from his apple trees.  He is single, so he couldn’t use it all himself.  What a blessing!

We also received $135 this month toward the church-planting effort and $75 in missionary support.  Praise God!  The $135 is being applied to the start-up cost for Rural Church Planters of New England, an organization that the church will be voting this weekend about whether to start.  Amidst all of the challenges, the work is still moving forward!

Please remember us in prayer, especially to thank God for His mercies and grace toward us.  Thank you.