This letter was read to Heritage Baptist Church in Barrie on January 20th for Dr. Jessup.

Dear Church Family,

God ordained two families. He ordained the family called the home for the well-being of our physical bodies and He ordained the family called the church for our spiritual well-being. As a family we rejoice together, and we weep together. Beth and I are thankful to be a part of the family of Heritage Baptist Church.

We are now facing another major adversary in our lives. As a physical family we intend to let the Lord use this for His glory to help us to grow and change to become more like Christ. We want our spiritual family to do the same. Now is not the time to question His plan for our lives nor to allow this to keep us from serving the Lord. Now is the time to trust Him more than ever before; knowing that we are in His keeping and care. May this be a time that you will grow and change to become more like Christ, to cling less to physical things and give more attention to spiritual things.

We have learned from the CT scan that another tumor is in the left lung and that this tumor is inoperable. The chemo may reduce the size of the tumor but humanly speaking this cancer is incurable and will take my life. They expect more tumors to show up in other organs at anytime. The chemo may slow their growth as well. My life expectancy is between 12-16 months if I take the chemo I am taking now.

We are preparing for the worst case scenario, and we are praying for the best case scenario. We can pray for healing, for only God can heal. It is completely in His hands. Please pray for strength and wisdom for Beth and me over these next months. We have much to do to prepare for this. Pray for our ministry and the workload that will fall on Pastor Pennell, Brother Moore, Brother Rowland, and Brother Steven. Most of all pray for our son, Jay. He is struggling with this but is opening up to the gospel. Please pray for him.

We love you, and we want this to be a help to you in your spiritual lives. God has not forsaken us, and one day we will know why He gave us this road to take. We accept this as from the hand of a loving God who loves us more than we will ever know. “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: Forsake not the works of thine own hands.” Psalm 138:8

“First, He brought me here. It is by His will I am in this strait place, in that fact I will rest.

Next, He will keep me here in His love, and give me the grace to behave as His child.

Then, He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends me to learn, and working in me the grace He means to bestow.

Last, in His good time He can bring me out again – how and when He knows.

Let me say I am here,

(1) By God’s appointment,

(2) In His keeping,

(3) Under His training,

(4) For His time.”

-Andrew Murray

Dr. and Mrs. Earl Jessup

One of the board members from BCPM will be contacting each supporting pastor to answer questions regarding Dr. Jessup’s situation.

In looking at the revivals of the past and the strength of believers in times past one aspect of their walk with the Lord sticks out more than any and that is Prayer. God’s people used to pray fervently and earnestly to get things from God. When we listen to sermons and read books of old they made much to do about prayer.

John R. Rice used to preach his most famous sermon, “Prayer is Asking and Receiving” and would be used by the Holy Ghost to bring an awareness of what biblical prayer really is. I am convinced in this day and age that most born again believers in Christ have no idea how to get things from God.

My friend, if you have never had a direct answer to a specific need being met through prayer you do not have the walk with God that you should have. You are missing a deep spiritual relationship that your Heavenly Father longs to have with you. Please allow me to brag on Christ Jesus for supplying a need just moments before this blog was written.

I had a need of $500.00 that had to be met by a particular day. I went to the Lord that morning and cried out to him that it was the end of the road and time was running out, and I needed him to provide for me. Just thirty minutes later the exact amount of money that was needed came right into me as if I had told this person my specific need. (I did not, but the Lord moved).

It appears the publishers of the New International Version of the Bible are at it again.

They now are going to make the new NIV Bible gender neutral. It is important to note that the translators of the NIV never claimed to translate the Scriptures word-for-word, but rather translated them concept-by-concept. Whatever they thought it meant they translated it that way.

To make a long story short, they are going to further tamper with the order God has laid down in Scripture for man and woman or husband and wife. Millions of people read this version of the Scriptures and will be swayed into believing that God has no proper order for the sexes.

In a recent article from the Associated Press, the publishers are quoted as saying that they would change Sons of God to children of God. This is nothing more than an attempt to pander and be politically correct. God was clear when He said in Revelation 22:18-19, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.”

Scripture also goes on to say on Proverbs 22:18, “Remove not the ancient landmark , which thy fathers have set.” We are not to remove those sacred and ancient words that God Almighty laid down in his eternal Word. These compromisers want to remove the role of the sexes. But God made them male and female. If we change everything to gender-neutral then we take away the importance of the father being the leader of the home, and the mother being a sweet submissive wife. We see the devil’s attempt to destroy the family unit, and now there are Bible revisionists out there that want to help him do his job.

This is why at Old Paths Baptist Church we stick to the good, old, Black Book, the King James Bible. God made the Bible gender-specific, and we will keep it that way by the grace of God. We are not looking to change the message to fit the world, but we are looking to use the Word of God to change the hearts of men and bring them out of the world system.

We have read in our news recently that a major denomination voted and approved an amendment to allow homosexual clergy in the pulpit. It is a sad testament to our times that some would name the name of Christ and not depart from iniquity. The Bible says in 1Timothy 4:1, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” A church never has the right to vote on something that God Almighty has already spoken against in Scripture. In Leviticus 18:22 the Lord says, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” Then in the New Testament, there are qualifications for a bishop or pastor. 1 Timothy 3:2 states, “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;” No man can be a wife, that is a woman’s place alone. So then a church cannot vote on a homosexual pastor. This would automatically disqualify themself from the pulpit.

Furthermore, the Bible says a pastor should be of good behavior. Homosexuality has never been deemed good behavior. It has always been perverse in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their practice of homosexuality. Now, we have churches out there putting men in pulpits that are supposed to have the highest moral authority. In the Old Testament, when the nation of Israel put Levitical priests in that were of the baser sort, it brought down God’s judgment on Israel. We believe judgment from God will fall upon the denomination that votes and approves of homosexual pastors.

On Tuesday night, August 4, 2009, Pastor Cooley had the opportunity to preach to the junior and junior-high-age campers at Camp Jim near Brainerd, Minnesota. Pastor Clear asked Pastor Cooley to join a few other preachers for the week of camp.

Pastor Cooley preached on the topic, “David Chose to Love King Saul.” The theme of camp this year was “Brotherly Love.” There was a contest all week, and each camper was either a Hatfield or McCoy. Pastor Clear wanted to emphasize brotherly love all throughout the week. This was evident in each of the nightly sermons as each preacher spoke. Pastor Cooley emphasized how love is a choice and not an uncontrollable emotion that Hollywood portrays it as. The kids were very receptive and many came forward making the decision to love their friends, families, and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ no matter what happens.

Camp is a setting for young people that often takes advantage of being isolated from outside influences that ordinarily cause a distraction to many. This was no exception as young people were able to “get away” and focus on what God was preparing in the hearts of Pastor Clear and each of these preachers and the emphasis was to love one another. We thank God for the decisions made for Christ.

Please pardon the “technology” mess. Old Paths Baptist Church in Northfield, Minnesota is getting a brand new website. In August of 2009, our site is currently being worked on. While you still may visit, we encourage your input as well as your comments.

Technology has made it allowable to receive information very quickly. Pastor Cooley’s updates can be view in the right hand column of our website. This is called Pastor Cooley’s Column! Check back often as our pastor keeps you updated about the life and ministry of Old Paths Baptist Church.

We are pleased to offer you information via the world wide web at www.oldpathsbaptistchurch.org. We encourage you to subscribe to our weblog’s feed by clicking the “SUBSCRIBE TO RSS” button in the top right corner of the site.

Thank you for visiting www.oldpathsbaptistchurch.org.