May 13th, 2016 — Uncategorized
BTBTTBM APRIL/MAY 2016 UPDATE
“Keep in the Word, on your knees,
loving God, loving each other,
building godly homes,
worshiping together,
sharing the faith.
supporting the Lord’s work financially,
living life abundantly”
Back To The Basics Ministries
P.O. Box 32486 Knoxville, TN 37930
www.drbobbymullins.com
drbobbymullins@aol.com
Dr. Bobby Mullins YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNCkSdVA4D_jXgCKGO64nNw/videos?shelf_id=0&sort=dd&view=0
OUR DAUGHTER MALLORY AND HER HUSBAND ROCKY EXPECTING THEIR FIRST CHILD
“We’re adding a new member to our Pit Crew November 5th and the doctors are 99% sure it’s a little girl. Watch out world, there’s another boot scootin’ McNabb racin’ into this world.” That’s how Mallory and Rocky announced on Facebook, along with the picture above, that they are expecting their first child. Wanda and I are planning now for time off to be able to be in Knoxville for the birth and to spend a few days there afterwards.
A FRESH START DISCONTINUED IN NASHVILLE
The last program on this first try at airing A Fresh Start in Nashville ended its run the last Sunday in April. Down the road, when the extra funds are available, we will probably try another go in Nashville. We are grateful for the support of our Knoxville area donors who have made it possible for us to be on the air on WVLR, two times a week in prime time, since November 2009. Support in Memphis has been good enough that we have been on the air in Memphis again since the last week of last August. I hope to soon be able to tape new programs of a Fresh Start. It costs $200 a week to air the program in Memphis and $187.50 a week to air the program in Knoxville. We are able to tape, edit, and produce a new program for $250.00. We are extremely grateful to Bob Denney, the one who produces and edits our program via his company DDX Media, for airing A Fresh Start at no cost on the Creative Christian Network, which he founded. He also arranged where we are able to air A Fresh Start on Saturday night without cost on IHope TV.
WHY KNOXVILLE, MEMPHIS, AND NASHVILLE FOR A FRESH START AIRING
Since we were living in Knoxville when A Fresh Start TV originated, being on WVLR in November 2009, which is on the Knoxville cable TV system, of course, was the place to begin airing the program. Going on in Memphis and Nashville was the next logical step for expansion. Both Memphis and Nashville have populations near the 650,000 mark with Memphis still a few thousand residents larger than Nashville. Knoxville has about 185,000 residents. So, that comes to about 1.5 million residents in the three cities. But, all three cities have surrounding cities/towns that push the numbers living in those areas and in the television viewing range of A Fresh to about 2.5 million. Then all 3 cities are tourist destinations with the Grand Ole Opry drawing tourists to Nashville from all over the world, Elvis’ home Graceland drawing tourists from all over the world to Memphis, and The Great Smoky Mountains National Park drawing tourists from all over the world to the Knoxville area. And, there are other tourist attractions in all three areas, but I mentioned the main attraction for each city.
So, that is why airing A Fresh Start in these areas has such great potential for reaching people for Christ regularly who are not just residents of the local viewing areas of the program, but thousands of people each week are in these locations from all over the United States and the world. The potential to reach people, whom we will never meet but possibly make an eternal difference for Christ in their lives, reminds me of the setting on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). People were gathered in Jerusalem from all the world as they knew it at that time. In one day as the Gospel was shared and people were saved, they went back to their homes and testified to the citizens of their home countries of the saving grace of Jesus. That was the fulfillment of Jesus’ command to take the Gospel locally, regionally, continentally, and globally to all the world. Thank you for your support, financially and prayerfully, that allows me and you as my ministry partners to take the saving name (Acts 4:12) of Jesus to all the world, and most importantly, to our corner of the world.
Blessings,
Bobby Mullins
April 15th, 2016 — Uncategorized
This blog is a chapter from a manuscript I wrote in the early 1990s on “Divine Discipline: God’s Training Ground for Spiritual Growth and Maturity” which covers the divine disciplines of Divine Darkness, Divine Delay, Divine Differences, Divine Difficulty, Divine Disappointment, Divine Disturbance, and Divine Drudgery.
Chapter Two
Divine Darkness
“Training Us To Hear God”
“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1).
Job was a man who was blameless, upright, God-fearing, and an avoider of evil. He had a high, moral character, and he lived what he professed. He was a man of integrity, fairness, and loyalty. Job had a holy, reverent respect for God. He avoided evil, and he deliberately turned from it when confronted by it. Job wanted no part of anything that was against God.
The Bible says that Job was the greatest of all the people of the East (Job 1:3). He had a wealth of possessions and property. He had seven sons and three daughters (v. 2). His concern for their spiritual welfare was so great that he would often rise early in the morning to intercede before God in their behalf (v. 5). Their family enjoyed being together (v. 4). Job was blessed with fame, fortune, a fine family, and a fervent faith in God.
“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. And the LORD said to Satan, ‘From where do you come?’So Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.’ Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?’ So Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!’ And the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD” (Job 1:6-12).
Job had it all! Yet in one day, he lost it all. The first chapter of Job records that in one day all of Job’s oxen, donkeys, sheep, and camels were either destroyed or stolen. According to the text, it appeared that all but four of his servants were killed. As his sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s house, a great wind caused it to fall in, and all of Job’s children were crushed to death. Those tragedies occurred because God allowed them to happen. It was not because of wrongdoing on the part of Job. His simple response to this first set of tragic circumstances was, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21).
It got even worse for Job. At a later time, the Lord called again the life of Job to the attention of Satan. This second time that God asked Satan to consider the life of Job, He said of His faithful servant, “Still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause” (2:3). But this time, Satan said that if Job’s body was afflicted, he would surely curse God (2:5).
“And the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head” (Job 2:6-7).
From Job 2:8-37:24, the Bible gives the account of a season of time during which Job experienced the divine discipline of divine darkness. The story of Job had a happy ending, but before the last chapter was written, Job had come to the end of himself. He never cursed God, but he cursed the day of his birth. Job got so low in his life that he exclaimed, “Why did I not die at birth?” (Job 3:11).
The Divine Discipline Of Darkness
Job has been used as an example to introduce the divine discipline of darkness. Job used the word, darkness, to describe the “adversity” (Job 2:10) God had sent upon him:
“He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass; and He has set darkness in my paths” (Job 19:8).
“Because I was not cut off from the presence of darkness, and He did not hide deep darkness from my face” (Job 23:17).
“But when I looked for good, evil came to me; and when I waited for light, then came darkness” (Job 30:26).
Several words from the Hebrew and Greek are translated into English as darkness. The meaning can either be literal or figurative. Context determines whether its usage is for physical darkness or spiritual darkness.
Two different Hebrew words are used in Job for darkness. Both of these words appear in Job 23:17. The first use in the verse is the word, chosek. Literally, it means a state that is the opposite of light. Figuratively, it means distress, blindness, or judgment. The second word translated darkness is ophel. Literally, it refers to a deep darkness, which is so dark, that you cannot see anything. Figuratively, it means spiritual darkness as a result of a calamity. The figurative meaning applies for both words in Job 23:17, but the literal sense of the words helps to bring out the spiritual picture Job was trying to make. Job has implied in this verse that he was not spared from adversity coming upon him and that God did not protect him from the calamities which resulted in his state of spiritual darkness.
Other Biblical Examples of Divine Darkness
Although Job will be the main example of divine darkness, other biblical examples give an insight into the divine discipline of darkness. Jeremiah, the “weeping prophet,” was one whom God used to speak an unpopular message of judgment and doom. Jeremiah experienced divine darkness in his life. He said about God, “He has led me and made me walk in darkness and not in light” (Lam. 3:2). This was the one to whom God had said, “For you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you” (Jer. 1:7-8).Isaiah made a reference that is applicable to the divine discipline of divine darkness: “Who among you fears the LORD? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely upon his God” (Isa. 50:10).
In 2 Samuel 22:29-32, David proclaimed, “For You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD shall enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop; by my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” This Scripture passage contains the words of
a song that David wrote after “the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul” (2 Sam. 22:1). David was the one described by God as “a man after my own heart, who will do all my will” (Acts 13:22; also 1 Sam. 13:14). Now he was not without faults and failures in his life, even being guilty of adultery and part of a murder plot, but the divine darkness that David experienced, was not punishment for sin, it was divine discipline to mold David into a man after God’s own heart who would do all his will.
The prophet Micah knew about divine darkness when he wrote, “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me” (Micah 7:8).
Divine Darkness Trains Us To Hear God
God may put you in a state of spiritual darkness. When God has placed divine darkness upon you, you know it. You know God is there, and you can even be calling upon God daily, spending a great amount of time doing so, but you just cannot seem to find His will or direction concerning various matters of your life. God has His purposes for sending divine darkness, but it is a tough discipline to endure. It takes a mature Christian to be exercised by it because a weaker Christian might become so discouraged in it that he may waver in his faith or be tossed to and fro so that he would miss the reason for the divine darkness.
Among the reasons why God sends divine darkness is that He uses it to train us to hear Him. We live in a day when we are bombarded from all sides by well-intentioned individuals with sincere advice as to how we should respond to decisions facing us. But the voice we must hear above all others regarding the issues of life is the voice of God. We are often put into the “shadow of God’s hand,” as Oswald Chambers described it, until we learn to hear Him above all else and all others.
When we have decisions to make, whether they are major ones or minor ones, God wants to lead us to make the right choice. Human nature leads us to make the common sense decision. That is where most of our advice from others will lead us. But so often, God’s direction for a particular matter will lead us to do what is contrary to our human logic. It is often the opposite of what would seem the normal thing to do. The Bible says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding” (Prov. 3:5). God wants us to lean on His understanding. That is why we are to know His voice. It is so that we will follow Him (John 10:4), and that we will not be directed incorrectly by the voice of a stranger (John 10:5). To follow the wrong advice is to follow the voice of a stranger.
From the life of Job, we learn three results God desires in our lives as He uses divine darkness to train us to hear Him. We are to: seek God’s voice above all others; stay upon God until you hear His voice; and speak God’s message in the light.
Seek God’s Voice Above All Others
If divine darkness comes upon you, seek God’s voice above all others. Divine darkness is the time to listen to God’s voice alone. One reason why God may put you in the dark is because too many voices have been influencing you, and you are having a hard time distinguishing the voice of God from others. As a result, you may be about to make a wrong move, or you may have already gotten started in the wrong direction. So God places you in divine darkness so that you will seek His voice above all others.
When you find yourself in the spiritual dark, you need to be still. It is a time to think back to where you believe God put you into darkness. Review the decisions you were facing at the time. If you are not definitely sure that you acted according to the will of God, then halt as much as possible in the situation and circumstances you are in right now. When all the adversity came upon Job, he halted everything. He sat for seven days and seven nights, not saying a word to anybody, and no one spoke a word to him (Job 2:13). It was a great time of grief for Job, but surely, as he sat still and silent, he reviewed every decision of his life that he could remember.
As you review decisions and realize that you made some poor decisions, then reverse those decisions as God permits, as it is appropriate, and in an ethical manner. Several years ago, a pastor left a strong, solid church he had pastored for several years to accept the pastorate of what was then a larger, more well-known church in another state. After a few weeks on the new church field, he felt that he had missed the will of God in moving to that church. He was completely honest about it with the members of that church, and in a spirit of understanding they accepted his resignation. His former church asked him if he would come back as their pastor. He did, and since then, his church has flourished, grown, and received notoriety for its ministries.
Sometimes, though, decisions cannot be reversed immediately. For instance, a student may enter a college and later realize he needs to be at another school that would better fit him for continuing his education. But he would be better off finishing a semester of school, without loss of course credits and tuition, before transferring to the college where he really needs to be.
Then there are decisions that are irreversible once they have been made. For example, you should not reverse a decision if you have to violate a Scriptural truth or principle. God will never call us to disobey His Word to obey His will. In such a case, when a decision cannot be changed, ask God to help you live so that you can serve Him, even though you missed His will regarding that decision. Make a fresh commitment to live within His will from that point on in your life.
When you are in divine darkness, you not only need to be still in seeking God’s voice above all others, but you need to be silent as much as possible about your situation. If you talk very much in the dark, especially about why you may be in it, you normally will talk in the wrong mood, in a spirit of anger, bitterness, confusion, fear, frustration, or worry. For seven days and seven nights, Job was silent (Job 2:13), when divine darkness came sweeping over his life. The Bible says that in all the adversity which came upon Job, he did not sin with his lips (Job 2:10). His silence, early in his state of divine darkness, was a factor to his not sinning with his lips. Now the Lord did acknowledge that Job spoke some things that revealed a lack of knowledge and understanding (Job 38:1-3), but Job never denied his faith in God.
In the spiritual dark, do not seek out other people to talk to about your situation. God may send someone to you to act as a spokesman on His behalf, but do not seek them out. Let God send them to you. Do not even seek out books, other than The Book, The Bible, to find out the reason for your darkness. If you talk to other people too much about your spiritual darkness, or you look to other sources other than the Lord, you cannot clearly hear what God is trying to say to you in divine darkness. Be silent and listen.
Also consider that God can say as much in His silence as He says when He speaks. Silence can speak louder than words. When you clear out the noise and clutter of other voices, your spiritual ears can clearly hear the voice of God. And if God continues to remain silent, your spiritual mental perception will be sharper when you get away from the clutter of other voices. God will not necessarily need to speak to you because you will be able to perceive where you got off course of His will. Seek God’s voice and His vision for your life above all else.
In Job’s period of divine darkness, he had some well-intentioned friends, who came to be with him during his suffering. They all offered their opinion as to why God had put divine darkness upon Job. But none of those four men said what God wanted Job to hear. The four men were sincere in their efforts to help their friend, Job, but they were sincerely wrong. They all had some wise things to say, especially Elihu, the last one to speak. But none completely represented God in what He wanted to say to Job (Job 42:7). Sincerity can be sincerely wrong.
When you are in divine darkness, seek God’s voice above all others. In going back to where God put you into divine darkness, if you find that you made a wrong move, then correct your situation as much as you are able by God’s direction. If you believe that you have made decisions within the will of God, then be silent, remain quiet, and listen for the voice of God.
Job got to the point where he desperately wanted to hear the voice of God:
“Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat! I would present my case before Him, And fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which He would answer me, And understand what He would say to me” (Job 23:3-5).
Job did come to an understanding of what God had to say to him, but he heard it when he listened for and to the voice of God alone.
Stay Upon God Until You Hear His Voice
In spiritual darkness, not only should you seek God’s voice above all others by being silent and still, but you also need to stay upon God until you hear His voice. The prophet Isaiah said:
“Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God” (Isa. 50:10 KJV).
The Hebrew word translated stay in the King James Version Bible of Isaiah 50:10 literally means lean or support oneself on something. This same word is translated lean in Proverbs 3:5, which says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” In Proverbs 3:5, the application of this verse is that you lean to God’s understanding by placing absolute trust and confidence in Him so that no matter how difficult a situation you may be experiencing, you will not take matters into your own hands, but you will wait on God to see you through. In divine darkness, you are not to take matters into your own hands, and you are not to trust man’s understanding with your life’s plan. How can you do that? You are to stay upon God by leaning on His Word. In the midst of divine darkness, Job said, “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). The means by which you lean upon the Word of God today is through the Bible. It is the only book that you really need to read when you are in divine darkness.
As you stay upon God by leaning upon His Word, look for your word from God in the Word, when you are experiencing divine discipline. As you look, listen at the same time. God has a message for you that you can only find and confirm in the Bible. Now there are other ways other than the Bible by which God speaks to us and directs us, but none of those ways will ever be in contradiction or disagreement with the Scriptures. If they are, you can be assured that you are not hearing the voice of God.
In divine darkness, you are to stay true to those divinely inspired autographs, written by God through about forty individuals over a period of fifteen hundred years, which became the Bible as we know it. You will find and hear your word from God through a verse or passage that will stir your heart and soul regarding your particular situation. Job stayed upon God by leaning upon God’s Word alone. Chapters Thirty-Eight through Forty-One record God’s Word for Job.
If you are in the spiritual dark right now, stay tuned to the frequency of divinely illuminated airwaves until you hear God speaking to you. Lean on the Word and listen for your word from God. God’s divinely illuminated airwaves have their reception from the Bible, as it is the main means by which God transmits His Word to us. The only possibility of fully understanding the ways and works of the Lord is by the Word of God and by the witness of the Holy Spirit Who illuminates the Word of God within you (see John 16:13). The Bible has many words to us, but in divine darkness look and listen for a word from the Word. Although all the words of the Bible are inspired, inerrant, and infallible (absolutely and completely reliable), there are times when a specific verse or passage of the Scriptures will stir you. Those words become the word from the Word for you in the particular condition in which you find yourself. That is the way God speaks to us today. The prophet Isaiah said of God, “Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth” (Isa. 25:1). Those “counsels of old are found in the Bible, and they are just as faithful and true for today as they have ever been. Isaiah also said of God, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You” (Isa. 26:3). Even in the spiritual dark, you can be at peace, as you stay upon God by leaning on and looking to His Word. If you are in divine darkness, stay upon God until you hear His voice. By the simple way of words, as spoken through the Holy Scriptures, and as stirred by the “still, small voice” of the Holy Spirit, that is how God will speak to you.
Speak God’s Message In The Light
When God speaks to you in the spiritual dark, it is not something you are to keep only within yourself and for yourself. God’s message to you is also a message for others that they need to hear. When you get back into the spiritual light, you must speak God’s message in the light. Jesus said, “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light” (Matt. 10:27). There are two benefits that God’s message to you in the dark will have for others: enlightenment and encouragement.
The Bible says in Psalm 18:28, “For you will light my lamp; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.” God’s message to you in divine darkness is for your enlightenment and the enlightenment of others. Job had a greater message to share after his period of divine darkness. It was an enlightenment not only to himself, but also to others, especially Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar (see Job 42:7-9). The enlightenment received from divine darkness is beneficial in two ways: unto salvation and unto sanctification.
When Paul was converted on the road to Damascus, the commission of the Lord Jesus to Paul was for him to take the gospel to all the world “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.” (Acts 26:18). Divine darkness gets you completely set apart to God, to the point, that you realize nothing in life matters more than your personal salvation from sin through Christ. Everything you have—property, possessions, prosperity, your family—can be taken from you, but not your eternal salvation (Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:8-9).
I mentioned in the first chapter that sometimes God may have to reduce you to nothing so that He becomes your everything in order that He can do anything He wants to do through you. Divine darkness so reduces you to nothing that you are so hungry to hear God that everything else fades out of view. The enlightenment received is then for your benefit. It is then that the Lord can light your lamp and enlighten your darkness. It is then that you can most effectively become the light of the world in the spiritual darkness around you. Your light begins to shine before men so that they may see your good works and many will be led to glorify your Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16). As a result, your divine darkness has enlightened others unto the salvation of their souls.
You and I are chosen to proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). As nothing matters more than your own salvation from sin, you have a desire to lead others to Christ. You become a “vessel of honor, sanctified and useful for the Master” (2 Tim. 2:21), as you desire to live a life of obedience and commitment to the Lord because you want to live before those to whom you witness a living example of what it is to be a Christian. Your enlightenment is then for the benefit of others in that they too may be saved from the darkness of sin and sanctified also to shine as lights in the moral and spiritual darkness around us. As you are already saved, divine darkness leads you to become more holy so that others may be saved and set apart as witnesses for the Lord.
When you are in divine darkness, God’s message to you is also for the encouragement of others. The Bible says that we are mutually encouraged by each other’s faith (Rom. 1:12). As other Christians, particularly, weaker Christians, see you remain committed to the Lord and to your faith while you are in divine darkness, it is an encouragement to them. It prepares them to receive divine discipline from the Lord for its intended purpose, not as punishment, but as a means of taking them from a weak faith to a strong, mature faith. The message you have received, and your remaining faithful while waiting to receive it, help to strengthen weaker Christians.
The message God gives you in the spiritual dark may also be for the purpose of encouragement in edifying, reconfirming, and directing believers to greater maturity. Your message from God is also meant to stir willing Christians who will receive it and respond to it. God has His special spokesmen in every generation who can so open the Scriptures to us that our hearts burn within us (Luke 24:32). These spokesmen make God’s wonderful counsels of old (Isa. 25:1) wonderful counsels for today. They bring fresh insights and deeper understanding into verses and passages we have heard preached upon many times before. Divine darkness is one way God gives such powerful messages to these proclaimers of the Word who stir our hearts and lives to change and who move us to higher levels of faith. Such sermons are born in the dark, still night of the soul, when all you can focus your sight on is God, and the only sounds you hear are from God. If it were not for the night, we would never know the sparkling brightness, brilliance, and beauty the light of the stars produces. It is a unique kind of light from that which we see in the daytime. It is never too bright for the eyes to gaze upon, but peaceful and pleasant to behold. There are truths, lessons, experiences, and wonders of the Christian life that would never be seen, heard, or learned if we were always in the light concerning all spiritual matters. Be thankful for those who have shared the message they have learned and heard in the spiritual dark; otherwise, you may never have known it.
Conclusion
Divine darkness trains us to hear God. This comes through seeking God’s voice above all others, staying upon God until you hear His voice, and then speaking the message God has given you to others who need to hear it in the light. Job did in divine darkness what he needed to do, and he came out of it a better and greater man. He sought God’s voice above all others. He did not heed the voice of strangers (John 10:5), in his case, some well-intentioned friends who offered plenty of advice. Job stayed upon God until he heard God’s voice. He got to the point that he desperately wanted to hear from God, so much, that he hungered for the Word of God more than food. He treasured God’s words as the most valuable thing he could receive (Job 23:12). He heard from God, and he knew it when God spoke to him.
The Book of Job begins by revealing what a great man of God Job was. The Book of Job ends with Job an even greater man of God. But he had to go through an extremely dark period to be that greater man for God. Job already knew much about God before his season of divine darkness. He knew enough about God that he had a healthy fear, reverence, and awe of the Lord. But through the divine darkness he experienced, Job really got to know God intimately:
“‘I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’ I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:2-6).
Those are the words of a man who not only knew of God, about God, and who believed in God. Those are the words of a man who personally and intimately knew God, heart to heart. The divine darkness Isaiah and Jeremiah experienced factored in the powerful prophecies they proclaimed under the inspiration of God. They were men who knew God personally and intimately. Certainly the divine darkness David experienced help to influence the Book of Psalms and so many verses and passages that minister to us concerning the issues of life because every emotion we feel is in those psalms. David was a man who knew God personally and intimately, and God Himself said about David that He was a man after God’s own heart. Like Job, divine darkness was the discipline by which Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, Micah and others heard clearly the only voice that mattered, the voice of God, which they boldly proclaimed to those who needed to hear God’s message.
Through it all, God gave a message to Job that benefited Job personally, that was the salvation of Job’s friends (Job 42:7-9), and that is an encouraging and inspirational message for us today. It is a message which we can look to as we strive to endure dark and difficult times. If God should bring divine darkness upon us, may it be as spiritually profitable to us as was the divine darkness of Job.
March 30th, 2016 — Uncategorized
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BTTBM MARCH 2016 UPDATE
“Keep in the Word,
on your knees,
loving God,
loving each other,
building godly homes,
worshiping together,
sharing the faith,
supporting the Lord’s work financially,
living life abundantly”
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SERVING A RISEN SAVIOR
One of my favorite great hymns of the faith is “He Lives.” With a few word changes I have made the first verse and chorus of the song says, “I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today; I know that He is living no matter what others may say; I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, and anytime I need Him He’s always here. He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today; He walks with me and talks with me along each step of life’s way; He lives, He lives, His salvation to impart; You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart.”
The one major reason I believe in Jesus Christ as the Risen Savior, whose salvation (forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven) He makes possible for everyone, is because He lives in my heart. Well, glory!
WILL GIVE IT ONE MORE MONTH IN NASHVILLE
A Fresh Start has aired in Nashville since the third week of January at 6:00 p.m. on Sundays. A financial principle Back To The Basics Ministries follows is that to stay on the air in a TV market we need to have enough donations come in from that area to cover airing costs. That is not the case with Nashville right now.
We will give a TV market a try when we have had extra funds to come into the ministry just to see if it is an area to expand to. We did that in getting on the air in Memphis and aired the program for about a year and a half, then canceled the program when we could not cover air time costs from local donors. A few months later some money was donated to get us back on the air in Memphis and we did so for a few months. Then for the same reasons as before we discontinued the program in Memphis. Now we have been back on the air in Memphis since last August. We are getting about half the funds needed, via local monthly donors in Memphis, for airing A Fresh Start. I will make a push soon to see if we can raise the other funds needed to continue airing A Fresh Start on WTWV in Memphis. Since day one we have had enough funds donated monthly in the Knoxville area to cover the costs of airing A Fresh Start on WVLR Knoxville. Praise the Lord! Enough funds have also come in from Knoxville area donors to allow us to produce 12 to 20 new programs per year.
I have mentioned before that the cause of Christianity advancing is not dependent on the airing of A Fresh Start. There are thousands of churches/ministries proclaiming the Gospel, and many ministers on television who are more known than me. But, a television ministry is something I am able to do because of an ability the Lord has helped me to develop because He enabled me and equipped me to do it, and I feel that if I do not seek to do it, at this point in my life, I am not using my gifts, talents, and abilities to the glory of God as I should. The television program is also a way to do my part in fulfilling the Lord’s Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) beyond the walls of the local church I pastor.
I will continually look for new ways and areas through which to reach as many people as possible for Christ, and a television program is one of the most expedient and effective ways to do that in this critical time in history. So, with Nashville being the Number One TV market in Tennessee and in the Top 30 in the country, I felt we needed to test it out to see if A Fresh Start could have a spiritual impact upon the lives of people there. If we are unable to continue the program in Nashville, we will have given it shot, and we can try it again down the road. So, until The Rapture, Back To The Basics Ministries will keep seeking to win the lost to salvation and help to disciple Christians in the basic fundamentals of the faith and to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).
NEXT MONTH I WILL ADDRESS WHY KNOXVILLE, MEMPHIS, AND NASHVILLE FOR AIRING A FRESH START. (Hint: all three cities are tourist destinations)
You may make a tax-deductible donation to this ministry by sending your check to:
Back To The Basics Ministries P.O. Box 32486 Knoxville, TN 37930
or online by clicking on the link: www.drbobbymullins.com then clicking on the link at the top of the page DONATE, and following the directions.
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Thank you for your financial support, prayers, and friendship,
Bro. Bobby Mullins
February 26th, 2016 — Uncategorized
BTTBM FEBRUARY 2016 UPDATE
“Keep in the Word, on your knees,
loving God, loving each other,
building godly homes,
worshiping together,
sharing the faith,
supporting the Lord’s work financially,
living life abundantly”
BACK TO THE BASICS MINISTRIES
P.O BOX 32486
KNOXVILLE, TN 37930
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A FRESH START NOW AIRING ON WHTN NASHVILLE
A Fresh Start began airing on WHTN Nashville on Sunday January 24. The program will air on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. Recent Nielson ratings revealed that the Nashville television market is the 29th largest in the country. Memphis is the 49th largest TV market and Knoxville is 61st. I feel blessed beyond measure that A Fresh Start is able to air in these cities and surrounding counties due to the generous donations of supporters of Back To The Basics Ministries. Of the 6 paid broadcasts of A Fresh Start each week with 3 in Knoxville, 2 in Memphis, and 1 in Nashville, 5 are in Prime Time. Also, the program is aired at times I am unaware of on WTWV in Memphis at the choosing of the station manager. I received an e-mail from a local pastor in the Hernando area who saw the program on a Monday morning. Our two paid air times in Memphis are at 9:00 p.m. Monday and 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. The program airs for free on IHope TV Knoxville at 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays, as well as each week on the CCN (Creative Christian Network) at no cost throughout the world for those who view television via ROKU.
NOT A MORE EFFECTIVE INVESTMENT OF MONEY AND TIME
With the end of the year giving in 2015 being as good as it was, I felt that we ought to give the program a try in the Nashville area, so we are airing the program on WHTN for at least three months. If enough funds begin coming in from that area locally to cover TV airing costs, we will continue the program in Nashville. But if not, well, we will have given it a try.
The reason for expanding to new TV markets is not for the sake of personal advancement or promotion, but for advancement of The Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). Jesus gave to us to take the Gospel message throughout the world, beyond the local corner of the world where we live. As a Royal Ambassador (a Southern Baptist mission education organization for boys in grades 1-6), among the first Bible verses I learned as an RA was the Great Commission, to go into all the world and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That means I not only as a Christian should help to spread the Good News of Jesus through a local church but via other methods and ways that God has given me the ability and resources to do. So, A Fresh Start TV Program is a way that I can personally fulfill The Great Commission beyond the walls of my local church.
I have said it many times that I do not feel there is a more effective investment of money and time as far as the potential number of people who can be reached for Christ than what is able to be accomplished through a television ministry. Each time A Fresh Start airs I preach to more people at one time than I have ever preached to in a year’s time in the pulpit of a church. Now I believe that a Christian should be a faithful member of a local church, but we have been made ambassadors for Christ after being saved to take the Good News beyond the walls of a local church to all the world. It’s not a matter of either/or but of both/and. We need both the church and evangelical methods beyond the walls of a church to seek impact the world in a positive way for Christ.
In the next issue of The BTTBM Update I will share how the Lord “dropped in my lap” a TV ministry and why I must be a good steward of what He has given me the ability and resources to do. I thank those of you again who, through your donations to Back To The Basics Ministries, have partnered with me in doing our part to fulfill The Great Commission.
Blessings,
Bobby Mullins
Bobby Mullins
February 23rd, 2016 — Uncategorized
THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF JUDGING OTHERS
MATT. 7:1-6
I. THE LORD IS NOT TELLING US THAT WE SHOULD NOT EVALUATE OR MAKE DECISIONS IN WHICH WE MUST LOOK AT SOMEONE’S STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES, BUT HE WARNED AGAINST SELF-RIGHTEOUS, OFTEN UNMERCIFUL CONDEMNATION OF ANOTHER HUMAN BEING – Matt. 7:1
1. AGAINST THE KIND OF HYPERCRITICAL, JUDGMENTAL ATTITUDE THAT TEARS OTHERS DOWN OFTEN IN ORDER TO BUILD ONESELF UP
2. THAT KIND OF CRITICAL SPIRIT HAS A WAY OF BOOMERANGING
3. A CALL TO BE DISCERNING RATHER THAN NEGATIVE
II. GOD’S JUDGMENT IS WHAT MATTERS THE MOST – Exo. 20:1-7
1. EVERY WORD YOU SAY WILL BE JUDGED – Matt. 12:36
2. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD – 1 Cor. 10:31
3. GOD WORKS IN YOU BOTH TO WILL AND TO DO ACCORDING TO HIS GOOD PLEASURE – Phil. 2:13
III. CORRECT YOUR OWN FAULTS BEFORE YOU CRITICIZE THE MISTAKES OF OTHERS – v. 1
1. JUDGE YOURSELF FIRST
2. IT’S EASY TO SEE A SMUDGE ON SOMEONE ELSE’S FACE AND BE OBLIVIOUS TO THE UGLY SNEER ON YOUR OWN (MSG)
3. DON’T CRITICIZE AND YOU WON’T BE CRITICIZED
IV. THE YARDSTICK YOU USE TO JUDGE OTHERS WILL BE USED TO JUDGE YOU – v. 2
1. THOSE AROUND YOU WILL PICK UP THE PECK MEASURE YOU HAVE BEEN USING AND MEASURE YOUR OWN CORN WITH IT
2. DON’T PICK ON PEOPLE, JUMP ON THEIR FAILURES, CRITICIZE THEIR FAULTS UNLESS, OF COURSE, YOU WANT/ARE OPEN TO THE SAME TREATMENT
3. YOU DON’T MIND A FAIR OPINION OF YOUR CHARACTER; NEITHER ARE YOU FORBIDDEN TO DO THE SAME FOR OTHERS
V. NEVER TRY TO OFFSET A WRONG WITH ANOTHER WRONG; IT’S ALWAYS RIGHT TO DO RIGHT – v. 3
1. BE NOT AS A JUDGE WHO PAYS NO ATTENTION TO HIS OWN PROBLEM, BUT FUMES OVER THE OTHER PERSON’S
2. WHEN YOU ARE READY TO LET SOMEONE HAVE IT OVER SOMETHING YOU FEEL THEY HAVE SAID OR DONE WRONG, AGAIN JUDGE YOURSELF FIRST AND THEN LOVINGLY FORGIVE AND SEEK TO HELP THAT PERSON IF YOU CAN
3. LET GOD DEAL WITH THE PERSON WHO HAS ANGERED YOU AND GIVE HIM TIME TO WORK
VI. DON’T BE GUILTY OF THE FAULT, OR A SIMILAR KIND OF FAULT, THAT YOU CRITICIZE SOMEONE ELSE FOR – v. 4
1. THE TRAITS THAT BOTHER US IN OTHERS ARE SOMETIMES THE HABITS WE DISLIKE IN OURSELVES
2. OUR UNBROKEN BAD HABITS AND BEHAVIOR PATTERNS MAY BE THE VERY ONES WE MOST WANT TO CRITICIZE OR CHANGE ABOUT OTHERS
3. DO YOU FIND IT EASY TO MAGNIFY OTHERS’ FAULTS WHILE IGNORING YOUR OWN
VII. DON’T FORM AN OPINION BEFORE KNOWING ALL THE FACTS – vs. 4-5
1. THERE ARE THREE SIDES TO EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE THAT CAUSES YOU TO WANT TO JUDGE SOMEONE—YOUR SIDE, THEIR SIDE, AND GOD’S SIDE
2. GOD’S SIDE IS THE ONE WE ALL SHOULD DESIRE TO BE ON
3. WHAT WOULD JESUS DO—WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
VIII. BEFORE YOU TEAR APART SOMEONE ELSE’S HOUSE FIRST MAKE SURE YOUR OWN HOUSE IN ORDER – v. 5
1. JESUS TELLS US TO FIRST EXAMINE OUR OWN LIVES INSTEAD OF CRITICIZING OTHERS
2. IF YOU ARE READY TO CRITICIZE SOMEONE, CHECK TO SEE IF YOU DESERVE THE SAME CRITICISM
3. OUR FIRST RESPONSIBILITY IS THAT JUDGMENT MUST BEGIN WITH GOD’S HOUSEHOLD/CHILDREN – 1 Peter 4:17
IX. WATCH OUT FOR LOGS, DOGS, AND HOGS AND KEEP IN MIND IT IS SOMETIMES BEST NOT TO SAY SOMETHING– v. 6
1. THERE ARE SOMETIMES IT IS BEST TO REMAIN SILENT INSTEAD OF VOICING YOUR OPINION BEFORE THOSE WHO DO NOT HOLD THE SAME CONVICTIONS NOR UNDERSTAND WHY YOU DO
2. WHERE THERE ARE THOSE WHO ARE UNABLE TO PERCEIVE THE PURITY OF GREAT TRUTH, BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT SETTING IT BEFORE THEM; WHEN BY CONDUCT THEY ACT AS SUCH, DON’T PUT AN OCCASION IN THEIR WAY FOR DISPLAYING EVIL CHARACTER
3. BE DISCERNING AND DON’T PROVOKE AN ATTACK UPON YOURSELF OR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST
X. LIFE GIVES BACK WHAT YOU PUT INTO IT, SO FIRST PRAY IT THROUGH
1. AVOID IMPULSIVENESS
2. THINK THINGS THROUGH
3. DON’T PROCEED UNTIL YOU KNOW YOU HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST ON A MATTER
© 2016 Bobby Mullins
First preached at Fellowship Baptist Church on Sunday February 14 & 21, 2016
December 12th, 2015 — Uncategorized
BTTBM DECEMBER 2015 UPDATE
Back To The Basics Ministries
P.O. Box 32486
Knoxville, TN 37930
You can make a donation online at:
(Click on Donate link)
WISHING YOU A JOYFUL CHRISTMAS
The Mullins Family wishes for all of you a joyful Christmas. I like to think of JOY as Jesus Over You and being JOYful as being Jesus Over You Full! The Bible says that The Wise Men “rejoiced with exceeding great joy” (Matt. 2:10) when the star they were following led them to the birthplace of Jesus. When they came to the place where they first looked upon Jesus the Bible says they “fell down and worshiped Him” (Matt. 2:11). The Wise Men were Jesus Over You Full and they turned that place into a Palace Of Praise as the shepherds had earlier turned a hillside into a Cathedral of Praise when they learned of the birth of Jesus.(Luke 2:20).
POSSIBLE AIRING OF A FRESH START IN NASHVILLE
One of my desires not yet accomplished is to air A Fresh Start TV Program on WHTN in Nashville, Tennessee. The Nashville television market is the largest in Tennessee and ranks 29th nationally (Memphis is 48th and Knoxville is 59th). I contacted the station manager recently and she was delighted to hear of our interest to air A Fresh Start on WHTN. Among the times available for airing the program are 6:00 p.m. Sunday (my first preference) and 4:00 p.m. Saturday. The Sunday airing costs $65 a week more than the Saturday time because the Sunday slot is during Prime Time Because we air A Fresh Start on WVLR in Knoxville, a sister affiliate station of WHTN, we will receive a 50% discount from normal airing costs. For $12,000.00 a year, we can air A Fresh Start at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday in Nashville at one of the highest viewed times for television each week. Please pray with me that the Lord will make the way financially for us to expand A Fresh Start to Nashville.
PRAYERS APPRECIATED FOR MELODY’S UPCOMING TONSILECTOMY
Our daughter, Melody Mullins, and a regular soloist on A Fresh Start, will have her tonsils removed on December 17 at the Tennova Hospital Turkey Creek location (Turkey Creek Medical Center; 10820 Parkside Drive; Knoxville, TN 37934; Phone: 865-218-7011). Everyone who has had it done at 31 years of age (Melody’s age) or older or who knows someone that age who has had a Tonsilectomy has told us that it is not an easy surgery. And, unlike children who have a Tonsilectomy, and are pretty much over it in two or three days, it is more like a two or three weeks healing process for an adult. So, Wanda and I will be going to Knoxville on December 16 and stay until December 20 to “nurse” Melody through some of the rough days. .
Please pray that the surgery will go smoothly for Melody and that her recovery time will go better than expected. Also, Mallory will be having a procedure in Knoxville on Wednesday to help identify a recurring physical problem she has had for awhile, so please pray, too, that all goes will with her situation.
PLEASE CONSIDER AN END OF THE YEAR DONATION
I do not plan to send out a reminder the last week of December concerning end of the year giving to charities/religious organizations and it being the last chance to make a tax-deductible donation for the year. So, I am reminding you of that tax break as I close this BTTBM Update. I have been blessed by the generosity of some who give a donation to Back To The Basics Ministries the last week of every year and I thank you if you are able to do so again this year. And, thank you to those of you who give regularly during the year. Your giving has helped to advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Looking Ahead With Great Anticipation To What The Lord Has In Store For 2016,
Bobby Mullins
Bobby Mullins
“Keep in the Word, on your knees, loving God, loving each other, building godly homes, worshiping together, sharing the faith, supporting the Lord’s work financially, living life abundantly”
November 2nd, 2015 — Uncategorized
BTTBM OCTOBER 2015 UPDATE
“Keep in the Word,
On your knees,
Loving God, Loving each other,
Building godly homes,
Worshiping together,
Sharing the faith,
Supporting the Lord’s work financially,
Living life abundantly”
P.O. BOX 32486
KNOXVILLE, TN 37930
TAPING NEW PROGRAMS IN NOVEMBER
The A Fresh Start Set at the DDXmedia Studio is pictured above. Bob Denney owner and operator of DDXmedia has a new studio, near the previous one in Pigeon Forge, so I am looking forward to taping programs there in a couple of weeks. Taping will be in the afternoon for three hours two days in a row. The Lord has given me some relevant and timely messages for the eight new programs which will result from this taping. I also have three songs to sing, that I sang in years past, that will be taped for future airing. We will also use some songs that Melody has previously taped to provide special music on some of the programs.
A FRESH START NOW AIRING ON IHOPE TV KNOXVILLE
A Fresh Start is now airing at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night on IHope Television (
http://www.ihopetv.net/), a new television station in Knoxville. IHope can be seen on Comcast in Knoxville and the surrounding areas on Channel 241. IHope is Knoxville’s only Christian Television station broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. WVLR, on whose station A Fresh Start airs 3 times a week, is also broadcast in Knoxville on Comcast and their viewing range covers most of East Tennessee, but the station is actually located in Kodak, Tennessee.
CREATIVE CHRISTIAN NETWORK
A link has been provided to the Creative Christian Network web site,
http://creativechristiannetwork.com/HOME1.html, so you can read at your convenience about this TV network that Bob Denney of DDXmedia founded. ROKU, to which there is a link on the web site, is going to be a way many people will watch television in lieu of cable stations. The viewing capacity via this means for CCN aired programs like A Fresh Start are phenomenal.
The broadcasts can be viewed worldwide.What a day we live in! I preach to more people in a single airing of A Fresh Start that I have ever preached to in a year’s time at any of the churches I have pastored. A local pastor in the Memphis area I talked to recently, who pastors a church much larger than Fellowship Baptist Church, Hernando, told me he watches A Fresh Start and wants to talk to me about how to start a television ministry. I told him that a television program is the best way I know of to reach the most people possible by which to take the teachings of God’s Word beyond the walls of a local church. THANK YOU FOR PARTNERING WITH ME THROUGH YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND YOUR PRAYERS TO BE ABLE TO AIR A FRESH START TV PROGRAM and for allowing the ministry via other ways of outreach to help countless numbers of individuals who need to be saved or who need help spiritually in making a fresh start in life.
Blessings,
Bobby Mullins
August 28th, 2015 — Uncategorized
PRAYER GARDEN
Fellowship Baptist Church
Hernando, Mississippi
AN INTERCESSORY CHURCH
About three months ago, a lady stopped by Fellowship Baptist in Hernando, Mississippi, where I am pastor, whom Wanda and I thought probably needed help financially. But, she was not here to get money from the church; she stopped by to give money to the church. She asked if she could give her tithe to Fellowship until she found a church home. She lives several miles away and prefers attending church close to where she lives, but, she feels led until she makes a church decision to give her tithe for the Lord’s work to Fellowship.
The lady moved to this area a few months ago from Knoxville, Tennessee, where she lived for 16 years. She watched A Fresh Start TV Program while living in Knoxville. I do a one minute promo for Fellowship at the end of each program. Pictures of the church are shown on the TV screen as well as graphics giving church information and how to get to the church. That’s how she knew about us. She has been back two more times to the church since then to drop off her monthly tithe check. But, a statement she made the second time she came by has stuck with me. She and Wanda had talked at length the first time she came by and Wanda told her we were mostly older members with no youth or children attending our church right now. The lady thought about it and the next time she stopped by the church she said, “Your church is meant to be an intercessory church.” I like that!
And, we are seeking to be an intercessory church. The picture above is Fellowship’s Prayer Garden that we dedicated a few weeks ago. Whether it is at the Prayer Garden, our Prayer Room, at the Worship Center Altar, or in our private prayer closets, Fellowship is doing what we can for Christ from our corner of the world to impact the world for Him through intercessory prayer, especially for our fellow churches.
BACK ON THE AIR AGAIN IN THE GREATER MEMPHIS AREA
A Fresh Start TV Program will begin airing again on WTWV Memphis on Monday, August 24 at 9:00 P.M.
A repeat airing will be at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday night each week. Previously, when the program was aired on WTWV in Memphis, the station manager aired the program two or three other times during the week. Sometimes, we were on in the middle of the night at 2:00 A.M. or early morning at 4:00 A.M. or later in the day. You never know who may be viewing TV at times like those. Glen Campbell was saved, after years of alcohol and drug abuse, when he would regularly view a late night TV preacher who had a national broadcast. The preacher was eccentric by what most of us would consider a preacher/teacher of the Bible, but he got through to Glen Campbell. Eventually, Glen and his family moved to the Phoenix, Arizona area and joined First Baptist Church in Phoenix.
In reflecting back on the backgrounds of viewers of A Fresh Start, the program makes a difference in the lives of mature believers as well as unchurched and unsaved individuals. I have shared in a previous BTTBM Update about a letter I received from two prison inmates, one at a facility in Mountain City, Tennessee, and the other who was in the Sevier County Jail when I received his letter. The one in the Sevier County Jail wrote that he was saved as a result of viewing A Fresh Start. I wrote him back, but I received my letter back indicating that he had been moved to another prison facility, and no forwarding address or the name of the facility was given.
A few weeks ago, I needed to go to the Shelby County Clerk’s office in downtown Memphis because Wanda and I needed a copy of our Marriage Certificate in order to get new health insurance. Our original Marriage Certificate is packed in a box in a storage unit in Knox County. After the Clerk’s office representative had helped a couple get their Marriage License, when I stepped up to her desk, the African-American representative said, “Bobby Mullins, you are a preacher.” I asked her how she knew who I was because I did not know her. She then told me that she had watched A Fresh Start TV Program when we previously aired it in Memphis. She shared with me that her husband has pastored a church in North Memphis for 30 years. Then, just this past Sunday, a guest singer sang in our evening worship service at Fellowship. When I met her husband, he said “I feel like I’ve known you for awhile.” He shared how he and his wife, who live in Hernando, vacationed in Gatlinburg after I came as pastor to Fellowship in January 2012. They were in their hotel room on a Sunday morning when A Fresh Start came on TV. He knew that a Bobby Mulllins had come as pastor to Fellowship Baptist Church in Hernando, so he watched the program, and sure enough at the end of the program, when I do a promo for Fellowship, he knew I was the Bobby Mullins who was pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church, Hernando.
I get responses regularly from people like those I have just shared with you when I am somewhere where A Fresh Start airs. Although I am grateful that people let me know how the program has blessed them, the reason we air the program is to help people from a Biblical perspective to make fresh starts in life which we all need to make at some time. And, we do so for God’s Glory and that souls will be saved and Christians will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
EXTRAORDINARY MID-YEAR GIVING AND THE CONTINUED NEED FOR IT
Usually, the slackest months for donations to Back To The Basics Ministries are in the middle of the year during June, July, and August. But, our TV costs and ministry costs are not less during those months. We have aired A Fresh Start on WTWV in Memphis on two other occasions, the first time for over a year, and the second time for four months. The donations needed from local Memphis area residents to fund the program’s airing were not enough to cover the needed costs so we discontinued the program in Memphis. But, I felt that we needed to air the 20 newest programs of A Fresh Start that have aired on WVLR in Knoxville but not in Memphis/Hernando. So, I asked the members of Fellowship to help me raise the 20 weeks of funds to air the program in our area. Within three weeks, we had the funds in hand, Praise the Lord! It took extraordinary giving in the middle of the year to provide the funds to get A Fresh Start back on the air in Memphis.
It costs $187.50 a week to air A Fresh Start on WVLR in the Greater Knoxville area with three airing per week, two in prime time. It costs $200.00 per week to air A Fresh Start on WTWV in the Greater Memphis area. To tape, edit, and produce each new program of A Fresh Start costs $250.00. As I already mentioned, the cost to air A Fresh Start TV Program is the same each week, even during the slack time period for ministry donations. I am thankful for the regular monthly givers to Back To The Basics, whose gifts I can count on to cover the monthly cost of TV airing. The end of the year donations mainly go toward helping to produce new programs of A Fresh Start. We can usually get to May or June with new programs of A Fresh Start before we begin repeating programs due to lack of funds to produce new programs. The donations that come in from supporters once or twice or so during the year help us to be able to tape new programs of A Fresh Start after the end of the year donations have run out.
I feel a sense of urgency to tape some new programs of A Fresh Start ASAP because the Lord has given me messages that are timely and needed in addressing the spiritual needs of today. I need at least $2000.00 right now to tape eight new programs. If you have not given in awhile, will you consider making a donation to Back To The Basics Ministries P.O. Box 32486 Knoxville, TN 37030
I pray that God’s richest blessings will rest upon you and abide within you,
Bobby Mullins
Bro. Bobby Mullins
“Keep in the Word, on your knees,
loving God, loving each other,
building godly homes,
worshiping together,
sharing the faith,
supporting the Lord’s work financially,
living life abundantly”
BACK TO THE BASICS MINISTRIES
P.O. Box 32486 Knoxville, TN 37930
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June 29th, 2015 — Uncategorized
This is the outline of a sermon I have not preached at a church but only on A Fresh Start TV Program. It was first aired on April 13, 2010 on WVLR in Knoxville and was aired twice that week. It has not been shown again on WVLR. The sermon aired on A Fresh Start on WTWV in Memphis the first and second week (three times each week) in January 2013, and has not been aired again on that station.
Every week now I read or hear about things that have become issues in churches that are in no way representative of what God meant for a New Testament Church to be. Too many churches have become ingrown, full of church members who are more concerned with their personal wants and desires being met instead of being committed to doing what God desires and wants us to do.
If any of the characteristics listed below are representative of a church, that church has “ingrown eyeballs.” Were any of these characteristics in a church I pastored? I wish I could say they weren’t, but I experienced firsthand being a part of a church with ingrown eyeballs a few times but did what I could do to help lead that church back to “20/20 vision spiritually.” For most of the characteristics given below, I am thankful that I did not have to experience them firsthand but was enlightened about them from fellow pastors who did experience them firsthand. I already have learned of more characteristics of churches with ingrown eyeballs than those listed below, so there will be a Part Two down the road.
THE CHURCH WITH INGROWN EYEBALLS
I. MORE CONCERNED WITH BEING MINISTERED TO BY THEIR PASTOR THAN BEING MINISTERS TO ONE ANOTHER, EXPECTING THEIR PASTOR TO DO THOSE THINGS THAT ANYONE ELSE CAN DO THAT KEEP HIM FROM DOING THE THINGS HE CAN DO THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN DO
II. MORE CONCERNED WITH THE RUNNING OF THE CHURCH AND RUNNING THE CHURCH THAN THE REIGNING OF CHRIST IN THE CHURCH AND OVER THE CHURCH
III. MORE COMMITTED TO TALKING MISSIONS AND EVEN TAKING MISSION TRIPS YEARLY OR EVERY FEW YEARS MORE THAN WALKING WITH THE LORD DAILY WHERE THEY LIVE AND LOCALLY IMPACTING THE WORLD AROUND THEM FOR CHRIST
IV. MORE FOCUSED ON THE FORMALITY OF THE WORSHIP SERVICES, GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS, AND GETTING IT OVER THAN MEETING WITH GOD, GIVING WAY TO THE SPIRIT, AND GETTING A WORD FROM GOD
V. MORE INTERESTED IN CHURCH AS THEIR SOCIAL ACTIVITY CENTER THAN A SPIRITUAL LIFE CENTER WHERE THEY ARE CONTINUOUSLY MOTIVATED TO GROW IN THE GRACE AND KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST
VI. MORE ABLE TO DRAW SOME OF ITS LARGEST CROWDS EVER ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT, NOT FOR THE STANDARD PRAYER SERVICE MANY CHURCHES CONDUCT FAITHFULLY EACH WEEK, BUT FOR A BUSINESS MEETING DEALING WITH CONFLICT CAUSING ISSUES WHICH ENDS WITH THE WINNERS BEING THOSE WHO WERE THE MOST EFFECTIVE IN THEIR GETTING OUT THE VOTE CAMPAIGN
VII. MORE KNOWN FOR SPREADING GOSSIP THAN PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL
VIII. MORE LEGALISTIC THAN WAS EVER INTENDED IN FOLLOWING THEIR CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS BUT WILL IGNORE AND EVEN CHANGE OR OVERRIDE THEM WHEN THE BY-LAWS ARE NOT TO
THEIR ADVANTAGE
IX. WILL NEVER ACCEPT THE BLAME FOR WHAT’S WRONG OR WHAT’S NOT RIGHT IN THEIR CHURCH BUT ALWAYS BLAME SOMEONE ELSE OTHER THAN WHERE THE PROBLEM REALLY IS WHICH IS WITHIN THEMSELVES
X. THE BEST PASTOR THEY’VE EVER HAD IS THE ONE THEY’VE NEVER HAD OR ONE OF THE PREVIOUS ONES THEY RAN OFF
Christians are among the most vocal today about what’s wrong with what they don’t like in our country, especialy regarding political issues, but it is time for “judgment to to begin at the House of God” (1 Peter 4:17). We need to get the church back to what God meant for it to be from what it has become.
A reading of how the Lord dealt with His people over and over again in Old Testament Books like 1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles reveals that God allowed pagan and corrupt political leaders to be over His people at times when they strayed from their dedication and obedience to God’s Word. God’s purpose was not for them to put the blame for what was not right in their lives on the political leaders they disliked and what was wrong with those political leaders, but for God’s people to focus on what was wrong with them and to get their lives right with God. Christians in America need to get their focus on what’s not right with our country off The White House and get it on what’s not right in God’s House. From Capitol Hill to Calvary’s Hill is where we need to take our plight.
June 5th, 2015 — Uncategorized
“THE THREE TREES” at Halle Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee where I met with the Lord and prayed most every day after jogging from June 1977 – June 1981.
BACK TO THE BASICS MINISTRIES
JUNE 2015 UPDATE
“Keep in the Word, on your knees, loving God, loving each other,
building godly homes, worshiping together, sharing the faith,
supporting the Lord’s work financially, living life abundantly”
P.O. Box 32486 Knoxville, TN 38632 www.drbobbymullins.com
100th EPISODE OF A FRESH START
The second week of May I taped the 100th episode of A Fresh Start, which was titled “The Best Is Yet Ahead”. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! The first broadcast of A Fresh Start was the first Tuesday in November, 2009.
On network television, getting to the 100th episode is a milestone. Twenty-six new programs a year was once the standard number for most network TV programs per year, but now it has tapered down to 13 per year for some TV series. Our goal has been to tape around 16-20 new programs per year. We do not mind repeating every new program at least one other time each year because to the thousands of vacationers who view the program in a hotel, cabin, or chalet in the Smoky Mountains corridor of towns, they don’t know if a program airing is a new one or one previously aired. I do tell some of our faithful weekly viewers that we don’t show as many repeats as network programs like NCIS, Duck Dynasty, or 19 Kids and Counting, etc., so please bear with us in being good stewards of the Lord’s money and getting more than one week of airing out of each program of A Fresh Start.
We usually get four new programs from a three hour taping session, but a handful of programs have been edited without a taping session by editing portions of previously aired programs into a new program. So, to get to the 100th episode of A Fresh Start has taken about 23 separate taping sessions and $23,000.00 to cover the costs of those taping sessions. Your generosity through your financial donations to Back To The Basics Ministries has made it possible to tape those programs and to provide for the $100,000.00 it has taken to air just over a thousand broadcasts of the program on WVLR in Knoxville and WTWV in Memphis. The airings of the program on the Creative Christian Network are free. Thank you, Lord!
Click on the following link for a special preview of the 100th episode of A Fresh Start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8te30XcI5Fc
BETRAYED BY A FELLOW CHRISTIAN
The message for the 99th episode of A Fresh Start is titled “Betrayed By A Fellow Christian”. I have only preached this message twice prior to its scheduled airing date of June 11, 13, and 14. I preached it initially on Sunday morning March 29 at Fellowship Baptist Church in Hernando, Mississippi, then for a revival service at White Hall Baptist Church in Trenton, Tennessee on April 21. From the response at both of those churches and from those who heard me preach it while taping the TV program this past May 13, this message really hits home with those who hear it. I had wanted to preach such a sermon for many years, but I wanted to do so at a time when I was not mad at anyone or about anything that had happened at a church where I was serving or what had happened to one of my ministry friends.
Every Christian has been betrayed at some time by a fellow Christian, and often by one of their closest friends. I don’t really have anything profound to say about how to deal with someone who has betrayed you in some way. It is just pretty basic Bible principles that we need to follow on how to get through it. But, the first point of the message is one that does catch some off guard who want a quick fix for overcoming what devastates too many Christians, the point being that in most cases there’s nothing you can do to change their mind that caused them to betray you; only God can do it. You can, though, become better, not bitter because of it, and move on beyond it.
The following link should take you to a special preview of the A Fresh Start TV Program “Betrayed By A Fellow Christian”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV2oRZOUTj0
AT SOME TIME WE ALL NEED A FRESH START
Please help us continue to help others to make a fresh start spiritually by sending a tax-deductible donation to the address at the top of the top of the page or going to the web address listed above and clicking on the Donate link.
Blessings,
Dr. Bobby Mullins, executive director
drbobbymullins@aol.com
