PASTOR’S THOUGHTS
When you live in Michigan the phrase “heat wave” means something totally different than it does in Florida. The lazy hazy days of summer are a prize that only a young
school boy that has spent the winter in leggings and galoshes and an arctic wind blowing through the front of his coat on the daily hike to school could appreciate. But even
those warm summer days could be destroyed by false premise.
In the fifties, your family doctor was the final authority when it came to matters of
health. Dr. Ecklin was ours. Between my allergies and Michigan weather I took more
than my share of trips to his office. There was always the stethoscope and the funny
little flash light in your ear and nose, but that was only the preliminaries to the Doctor’s
real intent, to jab a big needle in my back side. I might add, the sucker was not sufficient compensation.
But my point is that Mom believed in Dr. Ecklin and whatever he said was gospel.
Now back to my summer days. We were amid a heat wave. The thermometer was screaming for
relief while my friends next door had discovereda wonderful prescription for a scalding day. It was running
through the water sprinkler. All I need to hear was “Come on Bob it’s great.” Not until I was thoroughly
doused did it enter my mind that I should have asked Mom first. But the damage was already done and
whatever the price I would have to pay for my impulsive plunge would not be increased because I stay a
little longer. But little did I know my wet clothes would be the least of my mother’s terror, yes, I said terror.
The pure enjoyment of bright sunshine mixed with splashing water was going to be short lived.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw my mother running at full bore, arms outstretched, apron flying in
the wind. There was that screech in her voice that can only be produced by panic as she yelled, “Get out
of that sprinkler.” Expecting the worse I braced myself, but to my surprise Mom swept me up and held me
close in her arms and ran home. When we reached home it was easy to see that she was on a mission,
my clothes were off and I was wrapped in a big towel before I knew what happened. Then came the words
that effectively tarnish the rest of my summer days. “Dr. Eklin said that ‘running in the sprinklers causes
polio.” Even years later I remember feeling sorry for all the kids in the sprinklers because they didn’t know
it caused polio.
It was during a dorm meeting while in college that I discovered that everybody had run in the sprinklers and none of them got polio. Everyone has such fun talking about it that we decided to hit the sprinklers. At midnight on a hot Texas night we all ran in the sprinklers. My buddies relived their childhood and
I experienced mine.
God’s instruction to Timothy was “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15 In verse 17 it is added that false
teaching will “eat as a cancer.” Maybe some of the things that happened to me in the past has helped cement in me a determination to teach the whole counsel of God, and with prayer and study to be sure that
what I teach about the Truth is true.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page 1
Page 2
Page 2
Page 2
Page 3
Pastor
Finance
Webmaster
Ushers & Greeters
Deacons
Page 3
Page 3
Page 4
Page 4
Page 4
Library
Men’s Ministry
Wycliffe Dinner
Women’s Ministry
Choir
Page 4
Page 5
Page 5
Page 5
Page 5
Immokalee
Sanibel Fellowship
Cook-In-For Jesus
Atten. Snowbirds
Adult Mission Trip
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 8
Missions
Tid Bits
Easter Hymn
Birthdays
Church Information
as much as $30,000.00. However, there is a
possible tax situation that might erase a lot of
that, so pray that this can be settled with minimum cost.
In summary, our finances are satisfactory, though
not great. Our buildings and grounds are old
enough that repairs can be expected. The members and friends of SWBC have always responded well to needs, and I think most of us would rather dig a little deeper and not have to tap into our
CD reserve fund.
Finance
Where are we financially?
I am going to try to explain our
financial situation as simply as possible.
1. Starting in January we have gone to a Church
specific accounting system called Power
Church. It is a Church Management Software
system that allows us to have membership,
contributions and accounting and event calendar all within one program. This software system uses the double entry accounting method.
The advantage of the double entry accounting
method allows for the accounting equation
(assets = liabilities + church’s equity) to always be in balance. As we grow this will give
the Pastor, management team, and membership accurate numbers to evaluate our financial health.
2. Over the next few months we will be evaluating and updating, as needed, all procedures of
handling money, then procedures for the handling of money will be written to cover money
from the time it is placed in the offering plate
until it is spent.
3. Our spending over the past few years has remained consistent except for some large unexpected maintenance expenses. We have
had several of our eleven AC units go out and
there remains at least one that is 20 years old
and 4 that are 10. There is also the cost for
the training necessary for our accounting system.
4. We depend greatly on the offerings during the
winter months. Though expenses remain
about the same, our attendance fluctuates
from 140 in the lowest part of summer to over
400 during the winter. We generally enter this
time of year with about $30,000.00 in reserve
but this year our offering was short of what we
expected by about $11,000.00.
5. Added to our cash reserve we have a CD
emergency fund that is worth a little more than
$44,000.00. The cost for cashing it is rather
low, something less than $400.00. We have
not had to touch this emergency fund for a
long time but it is there if we need it. We also
have a saving account with $30,376.10 in it.
6. The major concern is that our general offerings last year and also in the month of February this year have been short of meeting our
budget.
7. There is the matter of the office complex that
SWBC owns next door. If they stay occupied
and there are no unexpected expenses, we
should see some income from them. Maybe
WEBMASTER
This time of the year it
is hard to see so many friends
leave Southwest Florida and
go back north. I hope you all
have had a smooth and safe
return and we will be looking
forward to your return to
SWBC. You can view our
morning church service by DVD’s sent to you or
on our web site www.swbcfortmyers.org. If you
would like you can down load the DVD or if you
are traveling in your car there is an audio track
that can be downloaded. If you have trouble
downloading the sermon, send me an email to
[email protected] and I can walk you
through the process.
The scammers are very busy this time of
the year and you need to be on the lookout for
these bandits. I saw on our local TV that they
are targeting people by email and phone calls.
They claim to be with the IRS that you have
some back taxes that haven’t been paid and if
you send it by email they can prevent you from
having fines, interest payments, and audits.
They might question where your refund is being
sent. Hang up, the IRS does not use internet
emails or the phone to contact you, they still
use the US postal system. It seems that these
bandits are busy coming up with new scams to
get your money!
Be safe and God Bless! Joe Cramer
USHERS AND GREETERS
2
Some of our Snowbirds have left and the
rest of you are getting ready to leave. It’s been a
blessing to have you all with us at Southwest
Baptist, even for just a few months of the year.
The church seems to come more alive when you
are all down here, with
two Sunday morning services going and more Bible studies and Sunday
classes. We are going to miss all of you.
As the person in charge of the offering being taken you can see the drop in the offering. But
the church still must go on while you are up North.
Don’t forget us down here and may the Lord Bless
and keep you safe and in good health. We pray
that you have a safe trip
In working out the ushers and greeters list,
if you can’t make the date, please let us know so
we can get someone to take your place. So, if
you’re staying here this summer, and can help us,
please let us know. Be a worker for God.
Geary Flener
come visit the library check out some books and
enjoy the summer.
MEN’S MINISTRY
Hi you all, It has been a
great past month. The Men’s Retreat was an all time high for attendance.
Our March breakfast had
53 Men.
Our speaker was
Randy Widener assisted by Keith
Miller (Both are Gideons) We learned a lot about
the Gideons, they gave us a lot of history about
the Gideons and what they do and what they
stand for. I am sure Most of you have noticed or
read Bibles in hotels and motels all of your lives.
The Gideons are the ones who placed them
there. Can you Imagine how many people found
Christ thru this ministry for over 100 years. If you
can help to support this ministry please see Keith
or Randy.
Our guest speaker For our next Men’s
Breakfast is going to be Stephen Kasten. I’ve
known Stephen for 22 years and watched him
grow. God is really using this young man. Come
and bring a friend; April 15th @ 8:00 am.
See ya! there - TOM HANEY
DEACONS
Greetings from your deacons,
Your deacons have met
a few times to discuss several
issues. The new budget was
recommended to our church
members at our annual business meeting on March 22,
2017 and passed. As most of
you know, our Church owns
two thirds of the condo Units
next door. We are in the process of restructuring
our finances for the Pines Plaza so that our new
system will operate more efficiently.
We are having another church business
meeting on Sunday, April 23rd, 2017, following the
6:00 PM Service. At that time, we will recommend
to you a very qualified brother in Christ and church
member Randy Weidner, to fill a vacant position of
Church Treasurer. Randy is a very respected
Christian businessman, and I feel he will do a
great job. Pray for Randy.
In addition, our discussions included interviewing new candidates for the janitorial position,
vacated by Geary Flener. We would like to thank
you Geary for a job well done for the past year.
Our revival was a huge success. Many
Souls came to know Christ as their personal Savior.
Until next time, God Bless
Your Deacon chairman, Tom Haney
Dinner Invitation with Wycliffe Associates,
Bible translators
Monday, May 1, 2017 @ 7:00 PM
Free 5 Course Dinner
LIBARARY
Hot, humid and rainy
weather will soon be here so
check out our library so you
can stay in your air conditioned home and read.
The library has a lot of
resource material, some history of this area, nonfiction and fiction. PLEASE
3
Again this year Wycliffe Bible Translators
will host a free 5 course dinner and guest speaker
on May 1st, 7 pm at Crown Plaza@ Bell Tower.
Free tickets may be yours at the SWBC
church office or from Dr. Bob Stuckey. Call him at
239-699-2612 for mailing tickets to your home.
The speaker Grace Fabian’s story of the
murder of her husband by a native helper while
translating the new Testament into Nabak. While
she thought she had come to teach them, she
learned they would teach her about reconciliation
and forgiveness.
Wycliffe has accelerated translating into
months now, not years as beforehand. Over
3,000 languages still wait to be translated. Call
now to dine with us for a memorable and informative evening.
CHOIR
Women’s
Ministry
The
choir
has
worked very hard on the
cantata so please come
and hear the Easter story
in song. The cantata will
be presented Easter Sunday April 16th at 11 a.m.
You will be blessed. Our
two morning services will
end Palm Sunday, April
9th.
Annie K., Choir Director
What a great time
we had at the fashion
show in March. Our
models gave us lots of
laughs with their “modeling poses”. Shirley Hiatt
and Ruth Prather challenged us to “put on our armor” everyday – The Armor of God! As Shirley
read about “Facing the Giants” in your life and
talking about each piece of the armor, Ruth ‘put
on’ each piece.
We will be “Giving Glory to God” through
music, praise and testimonies of God’s faithfulness and grace at our last luncheon of the season
on April 13th.
Ladies, look ahead on your calendars and
mark Nov. 9, 2017 for the first luncheon of the
new season. Ever wish you could make beautiful
wreaths for any season of the year or bows for
packages? Plan to join us for lunch and discover
how to do just that.
Praying for a wonderful, safe summer for
those going north and those staying here.
Blessings, Melinda
MIXED QUARTET SINGING ON APRIL 2
IMMOKALEE
SOUP KITCHEN
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26,
LEAVING THE CHURCH AT
9:30 AM
SIGN-UP AT BOBBY’S TABLE
4
SANIBEL
FELLOWSHIP
ADULT MISSION TRIP TO
“SNOWBIRD”
ANDREWS, NC, MAY 1 - 6
The Florida Baptist Convention always
does a great job in
providing resources for
churches to use to present witness to how God
is working and how, in
this case, the Annie
Armstrong offering is being used to further the
gospel. Each Sunday,
we have been encouraged in hearing how
missionaries have been
impressed by God to start their ministries. One
such example is the Carr family, who teach English to immigrants in Jacksonville. What is so special is that they use the Bible as the textbook! We
are preparing to meet our goal set for the Annie
Armstrong offering that will enable these missionaries to continue doing His work.
It is that time of year again: when folks have or
are preparing to return north. We have several
who were with us this winter, traveling back to Illinois, Indiana, and Tennessee. Soon, another couple will return to New York. Yet on this last Sunday, we had 20 worshippers! We are thankful for
the comfortable seating (not having to be moved
in and out) and use of the movie screen and projector.
Thank you for the prayers and support.
Debra Hutchinson
2016 SNOWBIRD ADULT MISSIONARIES
SIGN-UP AT BOBBY’S TABLE AS SOON AS
POSSIBLE. WE HAVE TO LET THEM KNOW
HOW MANY ARE GOING TO BE THERE, AND
WE NEED TO KNOW HOW MANY ARE RIDING
ON THE BUS.
MISSIONS
ANNIE ARMSTRING EASTER OFFERING
COOKIN’ FOR JESUS
Our goal here at SWBC is $10,700.00. We have
received $7,457.00, as of April 2.
Spent A Day With Annie Armstrong
by Carmon Keith
A letter to her brother T. P. Bell, Secretary of Sunday School Board, June 30, 1894.
I wish with this letter I might send you a large
palm-leaf and a very attractive pitcher of iced lemonade, for I think if you had these, you might have
more patience to consider the numerous items
which I will now have to present to you, but as
these comforts, or rather necessities during this
intensely hot weather, cannot be sent through the
mail, I will have to ask that you either provide
them for yourself or consent to be a martyr.
As the first corresponding secretary of Women’s Missionary Union, it was obvious that Annie
took very seriously the word “corresponding.”
She wrote thousands of letters - lengthy epistles
The April 26th Wednesday
evening meal will be the last
one for the season. We are ending a month early
due to lack of cooks. Dinners will resume in September if we have enough help.
ATTENTION SNOWBIRDS
We don’t know where the time has gone but our
Snowbirds are starting to fly North. Please
let Sally know by filling out the card in the bulletin
or by calling the church office. It costs about seventy cents to print, mail and
have it returned to the
church because you forgot
to let us know. know where
you are. Your cooperation
will be greatly appreciated.
5
that touched on everything; personal details to
professional concerns.
I first learned of Annie Armstrong when I was a
GA leader at Second Baptist Church in Griffin,
Ga. Wanting to know more about this woman
named in the offering the GA’s were giving money
to, I checked out a copy of Annie Armstrong
Dreamer in Action and found the Annie Armstrong
Easter Offering worthy of monetary gifts.
Years later I found myself writing promotional
materials for the offering, or that the task would
take me to the SBC Executive Committee in
Nashville, Tenn., which houses an extensive library of Southern Baptist historical materials.
Among those are some of Annie Armstrong’s letters, written in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
Facing me was the task of reading some of
the letters contained in more than twenty folders
in the library. I had the unique opportunity to read
what she herself wrote. The first folder contained
a large stack of now yellowed letters, and I immediately leafed through them, noticing they were for
only a brief period of months in 1894-1895.
Reading the first letter, I could not help but
think of the scene in the mission room where she
worked in Baltimore 1894. She was a passionate
advocate for missionaries all around the world.
She faced physical and spiritual challenges with
her job, her family and friends.
If Annie were alive now, I believe her heart
would feel even more burdened by the needs represented in this time. Even as
the scope of North American Mission efforts has expended and
the number of missionaries has
grown, the tremendous spiritual
needs and the urgency to share
Christ are greater than ever and
we must continue reaching people with the never changing gospel of Jesus Christ.
Marv McIntyre, Mission Coordinator
TID BITS
Hello, Once Again We are now entering the
month of April and many of you
have already headed back North
and soon the rest of you will be
leaving us. Our church always
seems bare when everyone
leaves. (That’s part of life here in
S. W. Florida.) We wish all of you a wonderful
summer full of happiness and enjoying all your
loved ones and friends again. If the Lord’s willing
we hope to see you again this fall.
6
Since I last wrote, we had our Anniversary
Sunday. It was a fun day. The Dartt Family was
here with us again, providing their music, which is
always a blessing. The ladies did a super meal, we
all left blessed and full of food and of course those
always homemade yummy desserts!
Also our Valentine’s Party was great, lots of
good wholesome fun, many participated. I think
Dennis Billingham is already planning next years
party. He did a super job!
Our Revival was wonderful with Kenny Evans as the speaker, as well as entertaining us with
the music. Friday evening was especially touching
with songs from the 50’s and 60’s and many young
teens coming forward to accept Our Lord as their
Saviour. What a blessing the revival turned out to
be. Pastor has already suggested his coming back
next year for another revival...Souls were saved,
teens as well as adults. God Is Good!!
Soon Easter will be here, our choir has
been rehearsing over the past couple of months for
our Cantata. The choir as well as Annie K. do a
wonderful job each year of blessing our hearts with
those beautiful songs. We thank them in advance
for all the hours dedicated to blessing many.
Our Annie Armstrong Offering is going on
now at church, we are a little shy of our goal. We
hope to fulfill it in the next week or so. Our mission
field brings many people to our Lord.
The way our world is going today, so much
turmoil; prophecy is being fulfilled daily. We all
need to be ready to meet our Lord. As Pastor
says, we need to let our lights shine daily to those
around us, so the unsaved will see something different and special in us, and want what we have.
Once again be in prayer for our church family, so many are going through trials with their
health. They need our prayers more than ever.
Please remember them, God knows who each one
is.
Barbara Sandbek did a Sunday Night Concert, and told about their mission to build a Christian Radio Station in Belize, and how they succeeded through all their trials with God’s help. Her
songs were beautiful and inspirational also.
The Women have their last luncheon of the
season this next week. Their ministry is a real
blessing to the ladies.
The men have their prayer breakfast coming
soon. Their ministry continues all through the
year. The Men’s Retreat turned out great, I hear.
Speakers were an inspiration to the men. Steaks
were delicious and the huge potatoes were a big
hit. All the speakers were men from our church
family. How great is that! God has really blessed
their ministry.
Our offerings have been down this winter.
As we all know our congregation is small in the
summer months, we hope everyone will remember helping the church out during those lean
months. God will bless . . .
We want to wish every one a “Happy Resurrection Day”, which is coming soon.
May you all have a wonderful day with your
family or friends
Until next month, may God continue to
watch over each of you. It’s always a joy for me
to keep in touch with all of you.
sands in the open air at Blackheath, and Charles,
too, got a vision for reaching the multitudes.
He made his first attempt in the outskirts of
London. “Franklyn, a farmer, invited me to preach
in his field,” he wrote. “I did so to about 500. I
returned to the house rejoicing.” Soon he was
preaching to thousands. “My load was gone, and
all my doubts and scruples. God shone upon my
path; and I knew this was his will concerning me.”
A man named Joseph Williams heard Charles
in Bristol: “ I found him standing on a table-board,
in an erect posture…surrounded by, I guess,
more than a thousand people, some of them fashionable persons, but most of the lower rank of
mankind. He prayed with uncommon fervency…
He then preached about half an hour in such a
manner as I have scarce ever heard any man
preach….I think I never heard any man labor so
earnestly to convince his hearers they were all by
nature in a sinful, lost, undone, damnable state;
that notwithstanding, there was a possibility of
their salvation, through faith in Christ…All this he
backed up with many texts of Scripture, which he
explained and illustrated, and then by a variety of
the most forcible motives, arguments, and expostulation, did he invite, allure, quicken, and labor, if
it were possible, to compel all, and every of his
hearers, to believe in Christ for salvation.”
Charles Wesley still preaches today in much
the same way through his ageless hymns which
are sung around the world each Sunday. Perhaps his most exuberant anthem is the one he
simply called, “ Hymn for Easter Day, ”published
in 1739. It originally consisted of eleven stanzas.
The “Alleluia’s” were added later, but appropriately, for this is a hymn one never gets tired of singing.
Keep Smiling!
BORROWED FROM THE BAPTIST PRESS
Love Ya’s, Natalie
And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is
empty and your faith is also empty.
1Corinthians 15:14
John and Charles Wesley soon found themselves out of favor with many fellow Anglican ministers who spurned their fiery evangelistic preaching. Many pulpits were closed to them.
A friend from his Oxford days, George Whitfield, 22, who was having the same trouble, began
preaching in the open air. In London, he asked
Charles to stand with him as he preached to thou7
Non-Profit Org.
U. S. Postage
Paid
Fort Myers, FL
Permit No. 743
16940 McGregor Blvd
Fort Myers, FL 33908
Return Service Requested
MAY
01 - Lois Killian
02 - Linda Eaton
03 - Shirley Lane
03 - Cherrie Paschall
03 - Irene Pruitt
04 - Bill Podley
06 - Bill Davis
07 - Elaine Busfield
07 - Sue Hoekstra
07 - Ray Stidham
08 -Bob Jones
10 - Dale Jenkins
10 - Janet Nettlefon
12 - Dottie Kropf
13 - Judy Fine
13 - Tom Haney
13 - Marv McIntyre
14 - Kay Bowling
15 - Von Burchfield
17 - Diane Mayhew
17 - Kacie Phillips
18 - Edelgard Frazee
18 - Liane Kemp
19 - Hilda Dove
20 - Angela Reece
21 - Ron Boggs
CHURCH CONTACT NUMBERS
Office:
239-454-3336
FAX:
239-454-3247
Pastor:
239-823-2003
Prayer Chain:
239-454-3336
(Sally - Evenings & Week-ends)
239-466-8318 or 239-849-4692
21 - Joe Cramer
24 - Helen Skelton
25 - Del Shinn
27 - Patty Risse
29 - Margery Lafollette
29 - Carol Wilson
31 - Chuck Christman
SUNDAY SERVICES (Jan 8, 2017)
9:30 AM - Country Worship Service
11:00 AM - Blended Worship Service
9:30 & 11:00 AM - Sunday School
6:00 PM - Evening Worship Service
WEDNESDAY EVENING
5:00 PM - Dinner
5:45 PM - Bible Studies, Visitation,
Prayer Group
7:00 PM - Choir Rehearsal
NEWSLETTER
INFORMATION
Please direct inquiries, items
for publication, etc.,
to Doris Dobson, Email:
[email protected]
VISIT OUR WEBSITE
 Watch our Sunday Service; Check The calendar;
 Current events; Missions;
 See pictures of what has been going on since you’ve
been gone.
www.swbcfortmyers.org