A Publication of the
Carolina Forest Church Plant in
Myrtle Beach, SC
Horne Family News
SPIRITUAL GAMECHANGER
Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. (John 14:1)
Over the Thanksgiving holidays I had the chance to watch a 30 for30 ESPN special on Christian Laettner titled “I Hate Christian Laettner.” It was pretty interesting to say the least. And for the record, I don’t hate Christian Laettner. I don’t particularly like Duke basketball, but I don’t hate it, or any of its current/former players. However, this was what I took from the show. Basically, the hate of this young man was, and is still, because the kid had game. He could play with the best collegiate basketball players of his era. He worked hard, motivated his teammates (and some say even Coach “K”), got into his opponents’ heads, and pushed everyone around him to believe in the system. Even in March 1992 when things looked bleak for Duke and they might lose to Kentucky with 2.1 seconds left, after an insane Sean Woods one-handed lay-up, did “The Shot” from Hill-to-Laettner become a real gamechanger for the tournament and Duke basketball history.
You know, as Christians, we have gamechangers that happen in our lives that spiritually impact us as well. Sometimes those gamechangers are super-exciting, mountain-top experiences, like “The Shot” by Laettner. Yet, there are times when the gamechangers are on the Sean Woods side of the game. There is disappointment and sometimes a sense of failure. We’ve done everything we could. We put time, effort, and tears into the process; but the labor of not having “results” are just too much to bear. The sense of failure and the sense of not being good enough haunts our every fleshly fiber. And believe me when I say this, starting a new work brings those thoughts and feelings out just like any other work.
Thankfully, God’s Word gives us great encouragement in those times of despair. We shouldn’t be troubled when Jesus is in whom we believe. He is the One who has already won the game. He has defeated death and Satan and invites us to “come...and abide in Me” (John 15:7). It is in Him that we keep going in our personal lives. Whatever the outcome, or wherever the place, God engineers the goings.
We all have worthy goals, and many we did not, nor will not meet. However, when we abide in Christ, when we put our whole trust in Him, then we know the reality of not having a troubled heart. We know the spiritual “gamechanger” was not in the middle of the game, but at the end of the game when Jesus Christ rose from the grave and won the victory, which affects our lives eternally. That’s blessedness!! That is the greatest thanksgiving we could ever know and have.
Missionary Focus on Ion Keith-Falconer
By Mark A. Horne
Last month the first “Missionary Focus” began with CT Studd. I think it fitting to share about Ion Keith-Falconer this month.
Keith-Falconer (1856-1887) is not a house-hold name as most missionaries go. At least I had not heard of him until recent years. However, he became one of which I identified quickly as a favorite. He was smart, athletic, loved to learn different languages, and was a missionary at heart.
Born in Scotland, he was of noble descent. The third son of the 8th Earl of Kintore, his family line of heroic men dates to the time of keeping the Vikings at bay when they tried to attack Scotland. His academic prowess earned him the invitation to lecture and be lead examiner of Semitics for Cambridge.
Although I love the fact that he followed his heart to world missions in Aden (1885-1886) of the Arabian Peninsula, it was the beginning of his evangelistic ministry that encourages me. Mission work for Keith-Falconer began with a missionary project (1875) in an area outside of Cambridge known as Barnwell. There, they rented a theater and preached to the poor, blue-collar workers of the area. This month –long trial would be deemed a success and turn into a three and a half year work. Indeed, a great home and world missionary
1 More information about Ion Keith-Falconer can be found at http://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/i-k/keith-falconer-ion-1856-1887/"I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light" — Ion Keith- Falconer
Family Time
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Katherine (left) holding the cake Emma (right) baked for her.
We had a couple of special events this month. First, Lisa’s brother was baptized. All of us went to witness this and are so excited to see his continued growth in the Lord. He is a great man and a good friend. And we are so proud to see what God is doing in his life right now.
As most of you did this past week, we had the opportunity to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family. We enjoyed a special time with Lisa’s family and with mine. I can’t express the value of support from one’s family when one is in ministry, and especially when one is stepping out in faith to begin a new missionary work like starting a church.
Second, our Katherine celebrated her 11th birthday. She is pictured below with her cousin Emma who baked her birthday cake this year. I can’t express what a true gift Katherine is from the Lord to our family. She has such a sweet disposition, a wonderful personality, and a BIG heart for serving others. She also has a heart for world missions. She saved coins in a jar this past year specifically for a gift to world missions. She has been praying for and studying the country of China and thinks she may be a missionary there one day. We pray that God’s Spirit will continue to lead and guide her in His Sovereign will.
But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children. (Psalm 103:17)
Financial Update
God has continued to bless the CFC plant this month. Through your efforts and prayers, our account went from 42% to 58%. We broke a fundraising barrier by moving past the 50% mark. We still need churches, small groups, and individuals to partner with us. Thank you for your continued love for this ministry. |
Our family roasting marshmallows and enjoying one another around the fire pit.
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Sharing the Gospel: Lovingly
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This month Mark preached at the beautiful
New Covenant, PCA church in Manning, SC
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I had a discussion recently with a young person, who is a Christian, which was in a rather difficult predicament. For the sake of keeping the story straight we will call him Samuel. Samuel shared the gospel with someone that we will call Willie. Samuel learned that Willie is in gross sin and Samuel cares about Willie’s soul greatly. Initially, Willie genuinely thanked him and said that if he ever needed to talk about that kind of “stuff” he would be sure to let Samuel know. However, the next day, when Samuel saw Willie in the hall, Willie would not speak to Samuel. To make matters worse, throughout the day all of Willie’s friends acted mad at Samuel and wouldn’t speak to him. Samuel came to me to ask if he had did anything wrong and if he should take any further action?
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Jonathan aggravating his sister.
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My response was...yes! Samuel definitely needed to take action! And that action is to keep on loving Willie. We talked for a little bit about 2 Corinthians 4:4 and the fact that Willie just don’t know his true sins. He is blind. He cannot in any way see ,by his own effort, who Christ is and what Christ has done for Willie. Willie’s god, and the god of his friends, one which at this point is the acceptance of each other, has blinded their minds; and unfortunately, that is the cost of being a follower of Christ. I told Samuel to keep planting seeds, keep watering, and allow God the Holy Spirit to change the heart.
I know that many times we find ourselves in these difficult circumstances when we do what is right, or stand up for what we believe. Rejection is a byproduct of being a follower of Christ. However, just as He did not give up on us, neither should we give up on others. Let’s keep sharing the gospel in a loving way, showing how our Savior lives in us, and praising God for when He reveals Himself to others.
Into the Carolina Forest Podcast
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Tanner enjoying Thanksgiving with family
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After we received some positive feedback from our first ever podcast, I am proud to announce that Tanner has agreed to help me continue this venture. To start with, we will mostly discuss the “happenings” of the church plant. However, we desire to explore deeper subjects such as theology, church life, family life, and sermons among other things. It will be sporadic for a while as we will have to work around Tanner’s school schedule and the wild and crazy life of starting a church. However, when we do it, Tanner is going to produce a quality product that I think our listeners will enjoy. If you haven’t heard what he put together the first time, go and check it out at the following website:
Prayer Items
- That God will continue to go before us working out His providence and revealing His will.
- That God will give direction to the MNA committee this month as they make crucial decisions.
- That God is working in hearts so that we can bring together a core group when we get there.
- That God will show us the home that will be suitable for the ministry of hospitality.
- That God will be working in the hearts of men that committed to be our provisional Session.
- That God will raise up a musically gifted worship leader for the work.
- That God will help us to effectively share our vision with churches/individuals who will partner with us through prayer and finances.
- That God will give us safe travels to and from these churches we visit.
- That our new website will be up and running smoothly.
- For school (Lisa, Jonathan, Katherine – homeschooling & Tanner – college) to be diligent in all they do.
- That we will find a good homeschool association when we get to Myrtle Beach.
- That we will be patient and remain faithful when things aren’t “happening” as quickly as we would like.
Praise Items
- The work of Pee Dee Presbytery as they continue to guide and direct the ministry.
- The prayer and financial partners that have already committed to this work.
- For the new financial partners who committed this past month.
- The interest that is growing for the work God has called us and those who can’t wait to see a church in Carolina Forest!
- All of the churches that allowed us to come and share our vision with them.
- Lisa, Jonathan and Katherine as homeschooling has gone extremely well so far this year.
Carolina Forest Church - A Little History
This church plant began with a vision some seventeen years ago. Faith, PCA in Myrtle Beach heard that Horry County and a national company in the area wanted to develop the Carolina Forest community. With this development tracts of land would be sold for churches to start for the residents. Through much prayer, patience, and partnership with Surfside, PCA God has revealed that now is the time for this church to get going.
CFC is a church in the Presbyterian Church in America denomination whose distinctiveness lies in our stress on both reformation and revival and our commitment to the Scriptures and the historic Westminster Standards based firmly on a biblical theology that answers the questions and issues of each culture and people to which we minister. (www.pcanet.org)
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