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| Pastor Mathias | | Ms. Brunell - Executive Director | | Mr. Gaffney - Managing Director | | Ms. Helmers - Managing Director | | | |
| Mr. Flynn - Senior Director | | Mr. Bolton - Director | | Ms. Irwin - Director | | Mr. James - Director | | Mr. Levine - Director | | Ms. Radewicz - Director | | Mr. Rodgers - Director | | Mr. Shea - Director | | Mr. Widmyer - Director | | | |
| Ms. Avery | | Ms. Baird | | Ms. Baker | | Ms. Bray | | Ms. Burns | | Ms. Coffey | | Ms. Crane | | Mr. David | | Ms. Drew | | | |
| Mr. Dunlap | | Mr. Ewing | | Mr. Farley | | Ms. Finley | | Mr. Friedman | | Ms. Gay | | Ms. Hahn | | Ms. Hobbs | | Ms. Holder | | | |
| Mr. Horton | | Ms. Lee | | Mr. Maddox | | Ms. Perez | | Ms. Rollins | | Ms. Smith | | Ms. Smith | | Ms. Weslin | | Mr. Wilkerson | | | | | | M.R. Mathias - Ambassador |
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| |  | | | Gospel Tract Society | Lester L. Buttram | Founded 1926 | Founder Lester L. Buttram heard from God in 1926 a very clear instruction — “Print My Word.” Then the Lord placed certain conditions on how the Word would be printed and distributed.
First, never would a price or cost be placed on any of the literature because the Good News is freely given by God.
Secondly, Mr. Buttram was never to promote a particular denomination or church doctrine.
From these simple, yet direct guidelines, The Gospel Tract Society was formed. Within hours of hearing from God, Mr. Buttram withdrew $7.10 from his bank account and went to a print shop in Springfield, Missouri. He boldly told the owner of his burden to publish Gospel tracts, and asked that she print as many tracts as she could for that small amount.
Moved by his enthusiasm and sincerity, she replied, “You’re really serious about this aren’t you, Lester?” “Oh yes Ma’am. I’m very serious.” The owner smiled: “Lester, I’m going to double your order and give you $15.00 worth of tracts.”
This offer from the print shop owner showed that God was already speaking to hearts about this new ministry. Soon these tracts were mailed out and Mr. Buttram earned the money to buy stamps. Immediately, response began to come back through the mail, for men and women across the country wanted free Gospel tracts. Some enclosed a small donation – most did not.
Then a financial breakthrough came when Mr. Buttram received a check for $100.00 from William Dyke, a wheat farmer in Montana. To a struggling young man in the 1920s, this seemed like a fortune. His mother urged Mr. Buttram to return the money: “Son, this man doesn’t know you or that you just have a few tracts printed at a time. Return the money and thank him for his help.”
Mr. Buttram reluctantly did as his mother asked. However, in a few days the check arrived back. In rather terse terms the man wrote, “Mr. Buttram, I sent you the check in the first place because God told me to. Now here it is, and use it to print the Gospel.”
With part of that money, a little hand-operated Kelsey press was bought along with a supply of ink and paper.
Mr. Buttram’s father was sympathetic to his cause and provided a work area for the new ministry. He removed a cow stall in the barn and built partitions. Lined with tar paper to keep the wind out, shelves and tables were built from orange crates and Gospel Tract Society had moved forward.
The forward steps continued. By faith, Mr. Buttram continued to improve his methods and update his equipment. When discouragement arose, it was defeated by the prayers of Mr. Buttram and his family. God honored the prayers, fasting, sacrifice and dedication of those early years.
Lester and Ethel ButtramMr. Buttram married Ethel Berneice Viola Theimer in 1940, and together they had four children: David, Paul, Tom and Phillip. Lester Buttram passed away in December, 1990, and his wife Ethel (Mom B) took his place as president until her passing in October of 1992.
From October of 1992 until January of 2006, Lester and Ethel’s eldest son David served as president of Gospel Tract Society. Upon David’s passing in 2006, ministry leadership was guided by David’s younger brother Tom Buttram. Tom turned over the reins to his youngest brother, Phillip, in January 2014.
The core values begun by Lester Buttram in 1926 remain today. We still print and distribute God’s word through the printed page and make these materials available to anyone who can genuinely use them—and we still rely on financial gifts from our constituents to continue our operations. [More] | |  |
| |  | | | American Tract Society - Wikipedia | American Tract Society (ATS) is a nonprofit, nonsectarian but evangelical organization founded on May 11, 1825 in New York City for the purpose of publishing and disseminating Christian literature. ATS traces its lineage back through the New York Tract Society (1812) and the New England Tract Society (1814) to the Religious Tract Society of London, begun in 1799. Over the years, ATS has produced and distributed many millions of pieces of literature. There is a printed pamphlet titled "Constitution of the American Tract Society, instituted in Boston 1814" referencing the distribution of 'Religious Tracts' by Christians in Europe and America during the previous twenty years. The purpose of which was to combine the energy & activities of various groups & individuals across New England.
ATS is theologically conservative. It receives funding through a combination of private donations and tract sales. ATS accepts donations to fund tract and evangelistic resource distribution including start-up funding for foreign tract distribution in regions including Africa, Asia, India, South and Central America, Canada, Australia, and Europe. Churches and other evangelistic groups in the United States can purchase ATS literature at nominal cost for use in their own evangelistic ministries.
ATS is board-governed and benefits from the visibility of its Council of Reference, an advisory board of evangelical notables from business, ministry, and other walks of life. ATS is currently headquartered in Garland, Texas.
On September 1, 2012, American Tract Society entered into a joint publishing agreement with Good News Publishing, which is a division of Crossway.[1] [More] | | |
| |  | | | Mary Jones and her Bible - Wikipedia | The story of Mary Jones and her Bible inspired the founding of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Mary Jones (16 December 1784 – 28 December 1864) was a Welsh girl who, at the age of fifteen, walked twenty-six miles barefoot across the countryside to buy a copy of the Welsh Bible from Thomas Charles because she did not have one.[2] Rev. Thomas Charles then used her story in proposing to the Religious Tract Society that it set up a new organisation to supply Wales with Bibles.
Together with the Welsh hymnwriter Ann Griffiths (1776–1805), Mary Jones had become a national icon by the end of the nineteenth century, and was a significant figure in Welsh nonconformism.[1] [More] | | |
| | | | | A Short History of Grace Communion International | Grace Communion International | A Short History of Grace Communion International
Transformed by Christ
A Brief History of Grace Communion International
In the early 1930s, Herbert Armstrong began a ministry that eventually became our denomination. He had many unusual doctrines. These he taught so enthusiastically that eventually more than 100,000 people attended weekly services. After he died in 1986, church leaders began to realize that many of his doctrines were not biblical. These doctrines were rejected, and the church is now in full agreement with the statement of faith of the National Association of Evangelicals. To reflect these doctrinal changes, in April 2009, the denomination changed its name to Grace Communion International. This name better reflects who we are and what we teach. For a press release, click here. For a letter of further explanation, click here.
Here is the story of how the church developed and how it changed.
Transformation of a denomination
Jesus Christ changes lives. He can change an organization, too. This is the story of how the Lord changed our denomination from an unorthodox church on the fringes of Christianity, into an evangelical group that believes and teaches orthodox doctrines. The story involves both pain and joy. Thousands of members left the church. Income is less than one fourth of what it once was. But thousands of members are rejoicing with renewed zeal for their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Chapter One: A Brief History of Our Growth
The story begins in Oregon, in the 1920s. Herbert Armstrong, a newspaper advertising designer, accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. He described it in his Autobiography:
Jesus Christ had bought and paid for my life by His death. It really belonged to Him, and now I told Him He could have it! From then on, this defeated no-good life of mine was God’s. I didn’t see how it could be worth anything to Him. But it was His to use as His instrument, if He thought He could use it....
In surrendering to God in complete repentance, I found unspeakable joy in accepting Jesus Christ as personal Savior and my present High Priest.... Somehow I began to realize a new fellowship and friendship had come into my life. I began to be conscious of a contact and fellowship with Christ, and with God the Father.
When I read and studied the Bible, God was talking to me, and now I loved to listen! I began to pray, and knew that in prayer I was talking with God. I was not yet very well acquainted with God. But one gets to be better acquainted with another by constant contact and continuous conversation. So I continued in the study of the Bible. I began to write, in article form, the things I was learning. [More] | | |
| |  | | | Verge Network | Equip Leaders for Mission | Verge Network exists to equip leaders for mission. Founded by Michael “Stew” Stewart in 2009, Verge Network is for church leaders, students, entrepreneurs, artists, urban innovators, business leaders, community development specialists, non-profit leaders, church planters and everyday leaders – anyone pursuing the mission of God, in community, whatever the context, for the sake of the Gospel.
Verge leaders and churches are engaged in the mission of God, centered around the gospel, in community, and understand the value of staying current on issues surrounding the mission of God. Verge Network has a passionate and engaged audience of leaders who want to see the Gospel change them, change their communities, change the neighbors and change the world.
With over 250,000 members, students and subscribers you are joining an incredible tribe of missional leaders who also want to see God change their worlds. [More] | | |
| |  | | | Acts 29 | | Acts 29 is a family of church-planting churches that stands in the tradition of historic evangelical confessionalism. While we believe it is vital that the Elders of each of our local churches determine where they stand on doctrines of second importance, we do wish to make known our convictions on the following five distinctive theological foundations. | | |
| |  | | | Faith In Travel.Com | KY | | Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. | | |
| |  | | | Bible Societies | United Bible Societies | Albania
Algeria
Angola
Arab Israeli
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bangladesh
Barbados (operates in the East Caribbean)
Belarus
Belgium
Belgium (French)
Benin
Bolivia | | |
| |  | | | Japan Bible Society - United Bible Societies | Japan Bible Society
Kyobashi PO Box 6 104-8601 Tokyo Japan
E-mail: info@bible.or.jp Website: http://www.bible.or.jp/
The Bible In Japan
Randy S. Reese Sr.
Ashlya Shi, Japan
The story of the Bible in Japan is a fascinating one. Many things that actually did happen seem improbable.
The Bible's initial introduction to Japan came through Francis Xavier in 1549. Xavier brought with him a copy of the Gospel ofMatthew, which had been translated by a young Japanese named Yajiro living in Goa India.
After Xavier's arrival in Japan several attempts were made to translate the bible. However, no copies of these efforts are known to exist.
Karl Gutzlaff, a Prussian doctor, is regarded as the first Protestant Translator. In 1832, Gutzlaff came into contact with threeshipwrecked Japanese seamen in the Port of Macao. Their junk had been blown clear across the Pacific Ocean in a fantastic journeylasting 14 months, only to be wrecked at the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon. From here they were sent to China and finally toMacao. With the help of these three men Gutzlaff translated the Gospel of John into Japanese and had it printed in Singapore in 1837.Unfortunately no copies reached Japan until 1859.
The first New Testament to be printed in Japan was made by Jonathan Goble, a marine on the Perry Expedition. In 1860 Goble returnedto Japan this time as a missionary and in 1871 successfully printed this translation of the book of Matthew. Goble's translation 'was cuton wooden plates, all of this done in. secret as a prohibition existed against Japanese helping foreigners produce writings on Christianityin Japanese.
Between 1874 and 1880, a committee representing six Protestant denominations headed by Dr. James C. Hepburn, translated the entireNew Testament. Dr. Hepburn also headed the committee that translated the Old Testament in 1888. Thus making the entire Bibleavailable in Japan for the first time!
During the years 1910 to 1917 a committee produced a revised version of the New Testament, which with the 1888 edition of the OldTestament became and remained the standard Bible in Japan for nearly half a century!
After World War Il the Japanese language found itself in need of a new Colloquial Version of the Bible. (All previous versions had beenin Classical Japanese.)
From 1951 to 1955, the Japan Bible Society produced a new Translation. The translators creed was, "To translate the Bible faithfullyand correctly from the Greek originals, and to do it in simple colloquial style."
This was the first translation done solely by Japanese scholars. All previous work had been done under the leadership of foreignmissionaries.
In 1961, the New Bible Retranslation Publishing Committee was founded and once again the Bible was brought up to date. This is thetranslation that we use here in Japan today.
According to the Japan Bible Society more than 2,269,000 copies of the Bible were sold last year by them. (This does not include theCatholic versions.) Since 1871 more than 100 different translations of the Japanese Bible have been done.
When people humbly study, believe, and obey Bible commands as God's Word, they become Christians (Acts 11:25), who enjoy peacehere (Phil. 4:7), and eternal salvation hereafter (John 5:39).
[More] | | |
| |  | | | Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation | In 2005, Congressman J. Randy Forbes (VA) gathered a small group of members of the U.S. House of Representatives to pray for our nation in Room 219 of the U.S. Capitol. This bipartisan and bicameral group of Congressional members continue to meet for 30 minutes before session every week to pray for God’s Divine wisdom and intervention in our governmental affairs. They passionately believe that through trust in God, humble prayer and strategic action, we can preserve our Judeo Christian nation and protect our religious liberties.
In the same year, members of the 219 Prayer Group, led by Congressman Forbes, formed the Congressional Prayer Caucus – an official caucus of the U.S. Congress – to boldly acknowledge the important roles that faith in God and prayer play in American life and history. These public servants stand as faithful sentinels to guard the right of individuals in America to publicly pray and express their faith in God.
On November 18, 2005, dozens of Caucus members stood on the steps of our nation’s Capitol and issued a formal “Call to Prayer for America” – a call to “pray without ceasing” for God to heal our land (1 Thess. 5:17 and 2 Chron. 7:14).
The Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation, Inc. was established later in 2005 to work alongside the members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus in order to build a network of like-minded government leaders who are committed to prayer and action. [More] | | |
| |  | | | The Jesus Alliance | | Uniting, Equipping, & Mobilizing Christ-followers around the world to counter billions of negative and anti-faith media attacks with messages of truth, hope, and the unconditional love of Jesus Christ – together we can rebuild a Godly culture. | | |
| |  | | | World Apologetics & Discipleship Institute | But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. I Peter 3:15
WADI stands for World Apologetics and Discipleship Institute. It is a training program of courses that have the objective to mobilize, equip and energize brothers and sisters around the world to share the love and truth of Jesus, the Son of God, to their neighbors. Our goal for this to be an equipping place for people of different languages and backgrounds, who are growing in the knowledge of Jesus and have a loving heart towards Muslims everywhere.
Many have answered the call to prepare themselves to be a chosen vessel of God in the last days to reach people around them with the love and truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every type of training requires commitment, determination and discipline to study. As you go through the content of the WADI program, via the online school and/or the mobile app and prepare yourself in this type of service, prayer, consecration and growth in love towards God and others are unconditionally essential.
The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. 1 Timothy 1:5
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must* worship in spirit and truth*.” John 4:23-24
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8 [More] | | |
| |  | | | Endtime Ministries with Irvin Baxter | Endtime Ministries, Inc. is a Christian, non-profit organization located in Plano, TX. We employ more than 30 people and we work with volunteers from all over the world on a daily basis; setting up group studies, conferences, translating materials, and more. Endtime is supported by contributions from individuals who partner with the ministry.
Our Mission
Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom to every person on earth… Because the Endtime is Now!
Our History
In 1965, when Irvin Baxter was just 19 years old, a visiting evangelist taught that the four beasts of Revelation 4 were Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. “I knew that wasn’t right,” said Baxter. “He offered no evidence; no scripture. So I was inspired to find the truth.” Over the next 30 days he read the Book of Revelation 19 times. Little did he know that was the seed for a worldwide ministry. [More] | | |
| |  | | | Terminating the Legal Murder of Unborn Babies | Terminating the Legal Murder of Unborn Babies
By Peter Allison
September 06, 2017
In 2003 the Republican Party gained control of the Texas legislature for the first time since the Reconstruction Era 130 years earlier,1 and has held it ever since. With this new-found majority and a national media buzz around the recent double murder of Laci Peterson and her unborn baby by her husband,2 the pro-life Republican legislature introduced personhood legislation, SB319, which changed the legal definition of an “individual” from a human being who “has been born and is alive” to “a human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.”
This bill had strong support from all the nominally pro-life organizations (including Texas Right to Life, Texas Alliance for Life, and the Eagle Forum) and was even given double weight on some pro-life legislative scorecards. However, while the bill recognized unborn babies as people it also amended the homicide statute in the penal code, which criminalizes killing “individuals,” to allow mothers and doctors performing approved procedures to murder or assault unborn children. What it gave with one hand it took away with the other.
By this artifice the bill’s proponents accomplished three legislative objectives.
First, supporters could claim the bill had nothing to do with abortion and that its purpose was simply to facilitate the prosecution of people, like Laci’s husband, who have murdered or assaulted unborn babies against the mother’s wishes. This approach enabled them to receive legislative support from members who wouldn’t necessarily support legislation just because it was pro-life.
Secondly, it allowed nominally pro-life legislators who represented predominantly pro-life constituencies to enhance their pro-life credentials by voting for a strong pro-life bill that didn’t stop one murder.
Thirdly, it placated the proponents of abortion exactly because it did nothing to stop or hinder abortions.
And so, a few weeks after Laci and her unborn son Conner’s decomposing bodies were pulled out of San Francisco Bay, only fifteen out of one hundred fifty legislators voted against the bill—and one of them claimed he intended to vote “Yes.”3 Those “No’s” represented the hard-core abortion supporters who were neither moved by the gruesome double murder captivating the nation nor fooled by the hollow protestations of the bill’s supporters that it wasn’t about abortion.
One of those “no” votes, Mr. Farrar, explained himself on the house floor,
If this bill isn’t about abortion, then why is this [i.e., the unborn child’s fundamental right to life] so important to them? Why isn’t this bill a law and order bill that is endorsed by law enforcement groups? The truth is, the goal is to have statutes in place that are building blocks or foundations for future legislation, litigation, and the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court.
If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant’s case, of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the Fourteenth Amendment. This is part of an organized nationwide effort to lay these foundations in other states.4
Mr. Farrar was exactly correct. If the new definition of individual that brought abortion under the scope of the murder and assault sections5 of the penal code withstood court scrutiny, future legislators wanting to criminalize abortion simply had to remove the exceptions added to those chapters. Even the plaintiffs in the blatantly immoral and unconstitutional Roe case6 acknowledge that their case collapses if unborn babies are actually people.7 It is also much harder for a future appellate court to find the absence of a law unconstitutional than it is to find a newly enacted law unconstitutional. Thirteen years later, when the public media circus had long moved on to other amusements, the next generation of pro-life warriors, encouraged by similar efforts in other states, seized the opportunity that had been set up a decade earlier. [More] | | |
| |  | | | Do Churches Need 501(c)(3) Status? | IRS: Churches Exempt from Tax
Several IRS publications are available from the agency (phone 1-800-TAX-FORM or www.irs.org) that state that churches are automatically tax-exempt, even without 501(c)(3) status.
Package 1023, Application for Recognition of Exemption, lists churches, church auxiliaries, religious schools, mission societies, and youth groups as automatically exempt.
Package 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax, p. 3, Section B of instruction booklet, includes churches, church-affiliated organizations, church schools, and mission societies on its tax-exempt list.
Publication 557, Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization, p. 17.
Publication 1828, Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations, p. 3, reiterates the tax-exempt status of churches, their auxiliaries, and associations of churches.
Conclusion
Although many church officials and members think a church must be 501(c)(3) to be exempt from taxation, this status is not necessary for a church to carry out any of its functions. There are also theological objections to it, as stated by Rushdoony and others.
The lack of a 501(c)(3) designation does not exempt a church from any legal prohibitions against “politicking,” but not being 501(c)(3) would make any politically motivated investigation of a church more difficult. (The IRS, then, would have to examine church members’ individual tax returns, financial statements, etc.)
A church’s right to speak out on controversial issues, which may cross the line into prohibited political activity, is protected by the First Amendment. No church has ever lost its tax-exempt status as a result of “political speech” by the pastor. Any survey of the national news will turn up many stories of churches and clergy speaking out.
How strictly can the IRS interpret the federal laws against a church “intervening in a political campaign”?
Marcus Owens, defending a church against just such a charge by the IRS, said he has not heard from the IRS since he sent the agency a letter in October rejecting the IRS’ contention that a sermon opposing tax cuts and the war in Iraq constituted “intervention.” “They’ve been quiet,” he said. “Perhaps they’re considering their position.”
It’s true that obtaining 501(c)(3) status unnecessarily gives the government a foot in the door of the church. It’s also true that incorporating a church simply isn’t necessary: churches in Virginia and West Virginia prosper without it.
Given the acknowledged potency of “the Christian vote” in recent elections, it’s doubtful that the IRS would find it politically prudent or practical to launch a campaign to muzzle America’s churches. If nothing else, it would touch off a political firestorm that would consume the IRS commissioner.
Meanwhile, church members and their legal representatives have the right to campaign for changes in the laws and IRS regulations, and lobby for greater independence for the church, not less. [More] | | |
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M.R. Mathias 
