Amazing Bethany Part II

     A year or so ago I wrote an article titled "Amazing Bethany".  I want to follow up.  This place, this property, this people called Bethany Holiness Church never cease to amaze me.  There are not a lot of us.  Maybe 300 if we were really all in one place at one time.  But it seems to me that the impact is always much greater.  There are so many things getting done here.  So much being accomplished here and so many being touched from here.

     I am the kind of guy that is always trying to put things into perspective.  I like to see the "whole picture".  And here is just a glimpse.  In a matter of just a few short days.  Our Pastor, Darrell Toliver, our Assistant Pastor, James Burgess and some other ministers have preached some of the most incredible sermons from theses premises.  Understand what makes them so incredible is not necessarily their intellectual level, their charisma, their rhythm and rhyme or their persuasive power to control and cause people to see it their way.  Rather it was the spirit behind the men and messages that was so great.  Humble, Godly, praying men with clean hands, right spirits and intentions to present a pure gospel.  One where the sweet Holy Ghost of Heaven would be allowed to use them and do his marvelous works in the hearts of men, women and children.

     Many of these sermons were broadcast literally around the world by the sound booth staff, live as they were being preached and archived for future listening.  Broadcast to regular followers and those whom the Lord might lead to "randomly" intersect with.  All the while this is happening there are wives, children, co-laboreres and faithful followers listening, gleaning, absorbing and praying in the wings.

     During the same days there are about 60 students from pre-K to 12th grade that are attending full time accredited Christian Schooling on the premises.  Board members, principal, teachers, teachers aides, cooks, etc all doing their part to further the education of another generation in a way much more fitting to a once great and Godly nation than what the federal government is currently providing.

     While this is happening we are in a complete remodel of our primary sanctuary with new carpet, paint, pews, fixtures, pulpit, sound booth, entry, classes and offices all being redone.  Men are coming in through out the day and staying up to all hours of the night doing their part and donating their expertise.  The saints are meeting in a very nice make shift sanctuary set up in our gymnasium and the school is having to alter it's daily routine to conform to not being able to use the gym or the full kitchen facilities.

     As this all goes on there are special guests being brought in to teach and preach Chapel services during the day to further the well rounded Christian education of our youth.  This is all compounded by the fact that some awesome young men and women of our faith spend hundreds of man hours putting on a Fall Harvest Party Fundraiser to generate money for our school, Bethany Christian Academy.  Many of the people that were involved in the Harvest Party are doing double time or even triple time at the school and at full time jobs and other outside affiliated ministries.

     While all of this continued our church raised almost 4,000.00 this weekend for our Pastor to take on a trip with him to Panama this week.  He is the President of an international mission organization that is sponsoring a large Pastors meeting in Panama right now.  While most in the home church were having church in our evening service last night, several were with my family and I in Tulsa where I was preaching for Full Gospel World Mission Church.  We had many representatives from churches all around the United States in the form of Bible College student from Ozark Bible Institute.  They were traveling with Servant's Heart Outreach and stopped to be in service with us.

     Some of the ladies that were in that service were from Bethany, visiting Full Gospel and work at our HMA affiliate women's and babies home Martha's Heart.  Others that were in the service attend church regularly at Landmark Tabernacle in Sand Springs, OK, have direct ties with Bethany and work full time at The Saving Place where they help generate income for MANY MANY outreach ministry projects and support me and my family to do our ministries.

     There are ladies going into jail services and making contact with women that have horrible life struggles and these ladies are advised by myself about how to help the women.  We provide food, counseling, shelter, jobs, prayer, etc for people getting out of jail, struggling with addictions and much much more.  Much of which is financed by the regular weekly and monthly donations from families all around the country including a large number of the families from Bethany Holiness Church.

     There is a weekly county jail service put on by our Pastors brother, David Toliver that is also the county chaplain.  Many different men from the home church have attended these services regularly or at least from time to time when they can.  They also take a group at intervals into a state correction facility to present the gospel there.

     During this exact same time frame we have been raising money to fix up some churches, vans, buses and outreach buildings across the country.  We are attempting to distribute outreach, discipleship, church growth, addiction and biblical marriage material all around the United States.  We have partnered with some people to help us reproduce these materials in Spanish so that we can begin to distribute them into South America.  We are moving a Sister from Virginia to Sapulpa, OK during all of this.  She is going to help in multiple outreach programs and attend church at Bethany.  We had a minister move to Sapulpa this week from Texas to begin the process of integrating back into the "Body Bethany".  We are daily on the phone and the computer with young pastors, currently from 17 states, working with them on their doctrine, outreach, discipleship, fellowship and church growth.

     ARE YOU GETTING THE PICTURE?!?!  We have missionaries, evangelist, preachers, teachers, organizers, helpers, financiers, workers, followers, parents, leaders, business owners, prayer warriors and educators all hailing from Bethany.  Some work here full time, some come and go from here, some base out of other places but purpose to stop and spend what time they can here.  It is a testament to the leadership, the leadership styles, the history and especially the diligence to being like Christ that the men and women that worship here belong to!!!

     I have been asked at least 100 times in the last decade.  What makes Bethany like that?  Why is it working like that?  Tell us the key, etc?  First of all.  I have only been here for 10 years or so and I am only one small part of it all.  So for me to answer for Bethany as a whole would be ridiculous.  But this much I know.  People at Bethany tend to think before they speak, more than a lot of places that I know.  In the leadership for sure.  There seem to be less chips on shoulders, more big picture thinkers and more time and room to let things go before having to make a big deal out of them.  Bethany people tend to be "benefit of the doubt" people.  Less cultic and more cultural.  Less "my way or the highway" and more inclusive.  They are the kind of people that would often be described as easier going, sweet spirited, kind, helping, "real".  Bethany has not traditionally been a safe sanctuary for people that want to tell tales, gossip, crank it down and make people toe the line.  It is a place of refuge.  A place to learn, to better, to grow to pull up.

     Bethany, as always, I muse...YOU AMAZE ME!!!





Your humble servant,
Rev. D. Todd Sloggett