Fall 2010

One of the most popular subjects in the Christian book mar-ket today is leadership. In a day when leadership seems to be failing on the national and religious scene, people are searching for books that will make them into a leader. After reading many books on the subject, I remain convinced that the greatest book on leadership is the Bible. When describing a leader, many secular authorities cite Biblical principles and concepts such as humility and vision without even realizing it.

In the spiritual realm, what is the missing link of leadership in our churches today? Many people think that things such as cha-risma, personality, and talent are the most indispensable qualities of leadership. As a result, some Christian leaders are exalted to be “larger than life.” They would do well to respond like Peter in his encounter with Cornelius and say, “Stand up; I myself also am a

man” (Acts 10:26) when people bow and worship them. I would like to take a few moments to look at the opening verse of Paul’s letter to Titus to identify the missing link of spiritual leadership: servanthood.

In Titus 1:1, Paul introduced himself as “Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ....” Of all of the terms that Paul could have used to describe himself, he chose the word servant. What could he have said about himself? Before his salvation, he was known as one of the most devout and zealous Jews (Phil. 3:5-6). After his salvation, he became the most influential leader and preacher in the early church. He raised the dead, sang praises in the jail at midnight, and did many other things in the work of the Lord—yet he chose to call himself a servant.

The Missing Link of Leadershipa word from the president, by evangelist alton beal

continued on page 3

To request a brochure, please visit our website at www.ambassadors.edu/BaptistHeritage/or contact us at 704-434-0303 or info@ambassadors.edu

Wednesday Thursday Friday

8:45am dr. Bob dalton dr. david Baughan pastor norman Johnston

10:00am pastor nathan deatrick evangelist alton Beal dr. Joel Spencer

7:00pm pastor nathan deatrick, Question and answer Session

dr. Bob dalton, Bunyan trial Reenactment

Concepts of PreachingProfessors ~ Dr. Charles Surrett

Pastor Nathan DeatrickAmbassador Baptist College

this four-hour winter module will explore the Biblical definition and models of preaching, give an overview of the history of christian preaching, critique some modern pulpit trends, establish Biblical ex-pectations for the sermon, and give each student the opportunity to develop an exhaustive series of sermons for a particular book or topic of the Bible.

Any interested student may audit the course.

to receive credit, the following criteria must be met:• aBc graduates may enroll in the program if they have more than two

years of ministry experience.• non-aBc graduates may enroll if they have more than ten years of min-

istry experience, have a bachelor’s degree, and are in agreement with ambassador’s philosophy and doctrinal statement.

if you would like more information about the M.Min. program, please email info@ambassadors.edu. For specific questions about enrollment, please con-tact our academic dean dr. charles Surrett at csurrett@ambassadors.edu.For information about on-campus housing, email info@ambassadors.edu or call 704-434-0303.

For more information, visit www.ambassadors.edu/MastersModule/

January 3 - 7, 2011cost:

$800 for credit (4 hours of Masters-level credit)$200 for auditSpecial tuition discount for pastors of churches that support aBc monthly: $200 for credit

Imagine riding in a van for 10,000 miles and being in a different church almost every night of the week in a span of eight weeks. You have just caught a glimpse of the life of a member of an ABC summer ministry team. This summer, two groups traveled the northeastern and the midwestern United States singing Gospel songs and preaching the Word of God in more than 100 churches. Each night, the teams provided two packages of conservative Christian music, a brief presentation about the college, and a Bible message from the Word of God.

While the teams are sent out to be a blessing to local churches, the members themselves received a number of blessings as well. Here are a few of their testimonies:

“i learned that walking with god each day is so vital, even if you are in full-time ministry every single day. His strength and power were the keys to blessing and effectiveness in the services. Ministry certainly requires selflessness and focusing upon others’ needs above your own in every way.”Christina Uit de Flesch — Senior from Rochester, MN

“i can honestly say that god continues to confirm in my heart the call to evangelism.  also, the Lord continues to teach me that my flesh is weak and feeble, and i need Him in every area. “Will Geisman — Senior from Rockford, IL

“one of the greatest blessings for me on this trip was to see the Lord work in people’s hearts. it began our first day of traveling. i had been praying before the summer quartet left that we would see souls saved and lives changed by the power of god’s Word. in our first service, we saw a young teenager accept christ as His Savior.”Kevin Gilbert — Senior from Scobey, MT

“the first observation that i made this summer is simple.   new england needs churches! a pastor in Vermont told us that there are only a handful of independent Baptist churches in the state. Similar stories were told throughout the region.  the need is truly great!”Daniel Brubaker — Senior from Hershey, PA

“My favorite part of traveling was seeing how different churches operate and listening to the pastors and their wives talk about the ministry.”Laura Dillon — Junior from Clifton Forge, VA

These summer teams were a great blessing to many churches. If you are a pastor and are interested in having a summer team from the college, please call 704-434-0303 or email your request to Kelly Guisinger at kguisinger@ambassadors.edu.

Summer Ministry Teams from ABC

In a day when many are seeking new methods and using worldly means for growing their churches, we do well to remember the life and legacy of a notable Baptist pastor named Shubal Stearns. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 28, 1706, and spent the first 39 years of his life as an unsaved member of the Congregationalist Church. Under the fervent evangelistic preaching of George Whitefield, Stearns was born again in 1745. Soon after his salvation, he broke from the “Old-Light” Congregationalist Church, which was opposed to the Great

Awakening, and began pastoring a “New-Light” or “Separate” church of genuinely born-again believers. This, however, wasn’t the end for Stearns. Through careful study of the Scriptures, he adopted Baptist convictions, and in 1751, at the mature age of 45, he followed the Lord in believer’s baptism by immersion. A short time later, he was ordained to the Baptist ministry and led the church he pastored to adopt Baptist principles.

He had modest success in his pastorate in New England, but sensed God moving him south for a greater work. He received a letter from a friend which claimed that in North Carolina “there was no preacher for 100 miles…and folks will travel 40 miles just to hear a sermon.” Taking this as his Macedonian call, Stearns traveled to Sandy Creek, North Carolina, near present-day Greensboro. Along with fifteen other believers he began the Sandy Creek Baptist Church on November 22, 1755. What God would do through the obedience of this one local church to the Great Commission is one of the most amazing stories in American History. Within seventeen years, Sandy Creek Baptist Church was instrumental in planting 42 other churches and training 125 young preachers for the ministry. By 1790, those churches had multiplied to over 400 churches, and one historian estimates that by 1850, they had multiplied to approximately 5,000 churches. All of this began with one Baptist church purposing to do its part to obey the Great Commission. The story of the Sandy Creek Baptist Church is historical proof that planting local churches is the logical outcome of fulfilling the Great Commission. Through dynamic Bible preaching and fervent evangelism and discipleship, our Baptist forefathers saw God grow individual churches and multiply the number of local churches in America exponentially within one century. Let us pray, “Oh, Lord, do it again!”

Baptist History Highlight: Shubal Stearns

In Paul’s day, the servant was commonly known as a slave, one who gave himself up to the will of his master. When we think of a leader, we typically think of the one who is calling the shots rather than the one who is taking the or-ders. Christian leaders must never forget the fact that they are slaves to Jesus Christ. When we remember this, we will not seek the acco-lades of men or perform the will of the flesh. In-stead, we will do the will of our heavenly Father.

This fall, all of our young men will be re-quired to read Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders for our “Preacher and His Ministry” class. Every preacher, church leader, and layman should read this classic work. In chapter three, Sanders made a powerful observation. He

pointed out that the word leader is found only six times in the KJV. He followed with the ob-servation that the word servant is found many times and is used to describe great leaders like Moses. If Ambassador and other schools are go-ing to train leaders, we must teach them to be humble servants.

I pray that God will continue to teach me and our dedicated faculty and staff here at Ambassador about the indispensable quality of servanthood and help us to impart it to our students. The Lord Jesus gave us the divine ex-ample in Mark 10:45, where the Bible says, “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ran-som for many.” We cannot go wrong when we follow the example of the Lord Jesus. Is the link of servanthood missing in your life? ❧

PRA

YER

& P

RA

ISE

god’s blessings on the new school year

employment for our students

god’s power and blessing for Baptist Heritage conference

and Missions conference

god’s provision for aBc and our students

Souls saved through the ministry of the summer teams

and safety in travel

a good enrollment for fall semester

Several projects accomplished on campus this summer

Many decisions for surrender during Landmark conference

and camp Barnabas

&&PRAISE

PRAYER&

continued FRoM FRont page

A Word From the President

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??Would you prefer to receive “The ?Would you prefer to receive “The Would you prefer to receive “The Ambassador” electronically rather than ?Ambassador” electronically rather than Ambassador” electronically rather than by “snail mail”? The Ambassador is ?by “snail mail”? The Ambassador is by “snail mail”? The Ambassador is ??now available by e-mail in PDF format. ?now available by e-mail in PDF format. now available by e-mail in PDF format. To change your subscription, visit ?To change your subscription, visit To change your subscription, visit www.ambassadors.edu/newsletter/?www.ambassadors.edu/newsletter/www.ambassadors.edu/newsletter/and request that your “Ambassador” ?and request that your “Ambassador” and request that your “Ambassador” ??subscription be changed from postal ?subscription be changed from postal subscription be changed from postal mail to e-mail format.

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ORIALMEM

ambassador baptist college presents

Date: Saturday, November 13, 2010Time: 9:00am - 5:00pm

Speaker: Evangelist Dave CajiuatCost: $15 ($5 discount if postmarked by Nov. 1st)

Contact: activitiesdirector@ambassadors.edu

Mrs. June McFalls in memory of Mrs. Betty Thorn

Mrs. June McFalls Ray Leech Memorial

Ambassador Baptist College Annual Missions ConferenceNovember 1 - 5, 2010

Speakers: Dr. Les Frazier, Dr. Danny Whetstone, Missionary Dalton Heath

NONPROFIT ORGUS POSTAGE

PAIDCHARLOTTE NCPERMIT NO. 3307

AMbASSAdORbAPtISt COLLEgE

P.O. box 158101 Stockton StreetLattimore, NC 28089

704-434-0303www.ambassadors.edu

RETURN SERVICEREQUESTED

SepTeMBeR

5-10 Grace Baptist Church & School Pastor Bill Egerdahl West Columbia, SC 803-794-8237

26-29 Liberty Baptist Church Dr. Gary Jackson Sarasota, FL 941-371-8239

OcTOBeR

3-6 Harvest Baptist Church & School Pastor Kurt Skelly Natrona Heights, PA 724-337-0607

10-15 Faith Baptist Church Pastor Bennie Moran Morgantown, WV 304-292-9872

24-29 Great Hope Baptist Church Pastor John Godfrey Chesapeake, VA 757-482-1177

31-Nov.5 Maranatha Baptist Church Pastor Dale Coffey Yorktown, VA 757-867-8394

NOveMBeR

7 Tabernacle Baptist Church Pastor Michael Free Candor, NC 910-974-4028

14-19 Maranatha Baptist Church Pastor Kevan Bartlett Charleston, WV 304-984-9514

SepTeMBeR

5-10 Grace Baptist Church & School Pastor Bill Egerdahl West Columbia, SC 803-794-8237

12 Parkdale Baptist Church Pastor Jon Schrock Gastonia, NC 704-854-9510

19 (am) Shining Light Baptist Church Pastor Tim Cruse Monroe, NC 704-283-1480

19 (pm) Faith Baptist Church Pastor Monroe Taylors, SC 864-322-0700

OcTOBeR

3 (am) Emmanuel Baptist Church Pastor Mike Haley Newland, NC 828-733-2806

3 (pm) Victory Baptist Church Pastor Benny Bagwell Sylva, NC 828-586-2120

17-22 Camp Creek Baptist Church Pastor James Lyons Cornelia, GA 706-778-0622

24 (am) Devonshire Baptist Church Pastor Gene Cole Charlotte, NC 704-536-7367

24 (pm) Eastside Baptist Church Pastor Roger Wood Mooresville, NC 704-663-4826

Ron Comfort Evangelistic MinistryS E P t E M b E R - N O v E M b E R 2 0 1 0

Alton Beal Evangelistic MinistryS E P t E M b E R - O C t O b E R 2 0 1 0

Please check our website for updates to the itinerary at www.ambassadors.edu/PresidentsCorner/Comfort/

Please check our website for updates to the itinerary at www.ambassadors.edu/PresidentsCorner/Beal/

Classes beginthursday, august 26

Opening Revival: Evangelists Alton beal and Richard Harper

Monday - Friday, august 30 - September 3

baptist Heritage Conference

Wednesday - Friday, September 15 - 17

Fall breaktuesday - Sunday, october 27 - 31

Missions ConferenceMonday - Friday, november 1 - 5

tAC ConferenceSaturday, november 13

Messiah ConcertsFriday - Saturday, november 26 - 27

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