World Missions Advance

Are you in the Gainesville, FL area? Susan Reineke Bozarth will be speaking at The Rock of Gainesville this Sunday! Hope to see you there!

Pastors George and Suzanne are thrilled to welcome their dear friend Susan Bozarth to guest speak this Sunday, September 13th. We are looking forward to our time with her and all that Holy Spirit will minister through her.

“The promise, made when I am in love and because I am in love, to be true to the beloved as long as I live, commits me to being true even if I cease to be in love. A promise must be about things that I can do, about actions: no one can promise to go on feeling in a certain way. He might as well promise to never have a headache or always to feel hungry.” -C. S. Lewis

This past month, August 17th to be exact, Angela and I celebrated 13 years of marriage. I’m so thankful God brought us together. We have three beautiful kids, Penelope 8, Jack (4), and Margot (2). Angela is my biggest cheerleader and we make a great team. She still laughs at my jokes, most of them anyway...a lot of them...some of them. Angela is intelligent, beautiful, and filled with a particular type of regal grace that you would know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever been in a room with her. Marriage is a wonderful thing, I highly recommend it.

We had the above C. S. Lewis quote read at our wedding. I love this quote because it reminds me, it reminds all of us, that life is about commitment, not just feelings. Feelings are wonderful, but it can be dangerous to rely too heavily on them. How many people “feel” something special during a worship service only to think something is wrong with their relationship with the Lord when the next time they’re worshiping they don’t “feel” the same way. It’s dangerous to chase a feeling.

God created feelings, but our faith is rooted in facts and the promises of God. Like C. S. Lewis says elsewhere, if you always felt in love then there would be no need to make a promise. Tim Keller wisely wrote that it is not the strength of our faith that saves us, it is the object of our faith that saves, namely Jesus. Your salvation is not based on how saved you feel, but on the promises of God.

Feelings are great, but they can be subjective. We can misread and misinterpret situations. We get tired, hungry, cranky, angry, and all of the feelings in between. We are all sinners saved by grace pressing on in our individual races that God has called us to.

Be encouraged today, regardless of how you feel. Faith is not feelings. Faith is substance. Faith is based on a promise. Our faith is sure because of His promise.

So, no matter how you’re feeling, remember the promises you’ve made. Remember the promises that He’s made. Rest in that.

Update from WMA Associate Missionaries Ryan and Melissa Humphrey in El Salvador.

"If you had the cure for cancer in your pocket, 100% cure… what wouldn’t you do to get it into every hospital… Not everybody has cancer… but I promise you this —everybody has an issue called death. And in Christ… He is the cure for death.” -Trog Trogdon
(see podcast below)

Have you ever been in a great revival service where the evangelist was preaching and sharing stories about personal evangelism and it got you excited about sharing your faith? You were so excited that for the next week, maybe even two, you looked for every opportunity to share your faith with someone else? And then…a couple of weeks went by and you got busy with life? I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, but it sure has happened to me.

I recently interviewed Trog Trogdon of Kingdom Focus Coaching. We talk about evangelism and how to share the Gospel, naturally, in our everyday lives. We can all use a refresher on personal evangelism.

I pray that this discussion will encourage you to go out and share your faith with others. Our job is to be obedient to plant the seeds. The results belong to God.

In this conversation you will learn:
• A simple, clear presentation of the Gospel
• Natural bridge statements you can use immediately
• Overcoming fear and the pressure to “close the deal”
• Practical tools, resources, and everyday opportunities
• Why faithfulness matters more than immediate results

World Missions Advance exists to provide administrative and spiritual support to both domestic and international missionaries and Christian organizations. WMA Associate missionaries are planting Gospel seeds all over the world. Thank you for your continued prayers and financial support.

Let’s go out and share the Good News to a dying world!

How to Share the Gospel in Everyday Life | Chad Bozarth Show #051 w/Trog Trogdon In this episode, I talk to Trog Trogdon — founder of Kingdom Focus ...

Our very own WMA Associate Missionary, Pam Berry Anderson has written a book! Check it out below!

"Missionary Shorts is a heartfelt collection of true stories from Pam Berry Anderson’s years of serving the Lord across the globe. With honesty, humor, and deep faith, she recounts unforgettable moments from the mission field — times of joy and hardship, danger and laughter, culture shock and divine provision.

From Africa to the Caribbean and beyond, these short stories reveal the everyday realities of missionary life: trusting God in unfamiliar places, navigating challenges with grace, and discovering His faithfulness in every circumstance. Whether facing language barriers, unexpected adventures, personal loss, or miraculous answers to prayer, Pam’s journey is a testimony to the power of obedience and the goodness of God.

More than a memoir, Missionary Shorts is an invitation to see missions through the eyes of someone who lived it — one story, one lesson, and one act of faith at a time. These pages will encourage believers, stir compassion for the nations, and remind readers that God uses ordinary people who are willing to say yes."

Missionary Shorts: Short Stories From the Mission Field is a heartfelt collection of true stories from Pam Berry Anderson’s years of serving the Lord across the globe. With honesty, humor, and deep faith, she recounts unforgettable moments from the mission field — times of joy and hardship, danger and laughter, culture shock and divine provision. F.....

What if you made Gospel goals? What if you prayed that God would send at least one person your way this week in order to share the Gospel with them?

If you’d like some practical strategies to share the Gospel with people in your everyday life then check out my conversation with Trog Trogdon below! 👇

How to Share the Gospel in Everyday Life | Chad Bozarth Show #051 w/Trog Trogdon In this episode, I talk to Trog Trogdon — founder of Kingdom Focus ...

NEW WMA ASSOCIATE MISSIONARY
Issac Sastry Tagaram | INDIA

Issac Sastry Tagaram is from India and has a passion for raising up the next generation of Christ-centered leaders. His ministry focuses on teaching, mentoring, and equipping Bible college students, young pastors, and vulnerable children to become faithful followers of Christ who will positively impact their communities and nation.

After graduating from Christ For The Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas, Isaac had the opportunity to serve at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. It was a season of tremendous learning, growth, and ministry. During that time, however, God began speaking to his heart about returning to India.

As he meditated on Joshua 1, Isaac sensed the Lord asking him a personal question: "What in your life has to die so that you can experience the call of God?" Realizing that he needed to surrender his own plans, comfort, and security, he chose to obey God's call and return home.

Today, Isaac teaches and mentors Bible college students and young pastors, equipping them to become effective leaders who faithfully serve God and their communities. He also has a deep burden for children living in the slums. During prayer, the Lord impressed another question upon his heart: "If the enemy can see the potential in these children, why can't God's people?"

That question became the foundation of a ministry dedicated to rescuing vulnerable children, providing them with a safe and loving environment, supporting their education, discipling them in God's Word, and helping them develop practical life and vocational skills. Isaac's prayer is that each child will grow into a mature follower of Christ who becomes a blessing to both God and the nation.

Looking back, Isaac can clearly see God's hand leading every step of his journey—from India to Dallas, from serving in America to returning home, and from personal calling to investing in the next generation. His life is a testimony that when we surrender everything to God and obey His voice, He is faithful to fulfill His purposes through us. To God alone be all the glory.

If you would like to partner with Issac and his ministry in India, please go to: https://www.worldmissionsadvance.org/sastry

"the Bible is indeed historically reliable and a worthy investment of [your] time...If the Bible is inspired and inerrant (and it is), then the archaeological record will affirm it. And it does!"

-Dr. Paul Weaver, PhD, "Faith-Affirming Findings: 50 Archaeological Discoveries that Validate the Historicity and Reliability of Scripture"

Check out our interview below 👇

Archaeology and the Truth of the Bible | Chad Bozarth Show #050 w/Paul D. Weaver, PhD In this episode, I talk with Dr. Paul Weaver, Associate Professor o...

In our last newsletter, we discussed that when we approach Scripture, it is a great idea to use the Inductive Bible Study Method: 1) Observation, 2) Interpretation, 3) Correlation, 4) Application. This is not a magic formula to arrive at Scriptural truth, rather it is a guard rail that keeps us from “going off the rails” when we engage in the art and science of biblical interpretation.

We now turn our focus, briefly, to the second step of this process, Interpretation. Once we have spent time observing the text (which would of course include prayer), we then seek to interpret the text. We can’t apply a text that has yet to be interpreted. So often, we jump to application. The problem with doing so can quickly become clear. Joshua was instructed to walk around the walls of Jericho and then make a loud noise and then the walls would come down. Is this prescriptive for us today? Are we to say “the Bible says it so I’m going to do it,” and then walk around the walls of a building and yell? It seems funny to think of such a thing, yet often, this is exactly how we apply Scripture. Cherry-picking can be a harmful and dangerous thing. We wrongly interpret and apply a verse and then get mad at God when He doesn’t do what we thought He promised to do, only to realize in retrospect, that God didn’t fail, it was our faulty interpretation of His Word that caused the problem. Don’t indict God for your mistaken interpretation. He ALWAYS keeps His promises. If it seems like He has not, then the issue is on our end, not His.

As one of my professors explained, we don’t have access to the events of Scripture, we only have access to the text. The events are 100% true, but we have the inspired text not a time machine. The written word is the medium God chose to communicate His Word to the immediate readers and to us today. Proper interpretation begins with the hard work of studying to see what the original sender of the message intended for the original recipient to understand. Only after we spend time in interpretation can we move on in our journey of methodical Bible study to correlation and application and, I will add, transformation. -Chad

“A reader cannot create any meaning [he/she] likes. In any intelligible verbal or nonverbal communication, the sender communicates a message to the receiver with the assumption that the receiver will understand the intended meaning of the sender.” -Dr. Cornelis Bennema, “Encountering Jesus: Character Studies in the Book of John”
(see podcast below)

YouTube: https://youtu.be/Q-I46Uyo98g?si=E1Z1lprdrU0awtup

ApplePodcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finding-ourselves-in-the-gospel-of-john-chad/id1814853643?i=1000759640156

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3PKCdzBTN65soM3WFMY6Qt?si=3e58203286674ac3

Finding Ourselves in the Gospel of John | Chad Bozarth Show #044 w/Cornelis Bennema, PhD In this episode, I talk with Dr. Cor Bennema, Head of Research and Professor of New Testament Studies at London School of Theology. We discuss his journey fr...