Teach with Wisdom; Preach with Power

ANDERSONVILLE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY NEWS

April 2013

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UPDATE ON MAY GRADUATION

(Not too late to sign up!)

The April 15th deadline has passed and we still have many people who have said that they would be attending the May graduation who have not completed a part of the process. This could be finishing your coursework, paying off your account, paying the extra fees, such as diploma, attendance, cap and gown etc.  It is very important that we hear from you as to your final intentions.  If you need time extensions for finishing your courses, we can work with you on that; but we need to know your individual situation.   Julie has tried to keep each person informed as to what they need to send in to complete their file, but we certainly do not want to skip anyone.  It is also not too late for anyone who had not planned to attend to add your name to the list and join us.  You can find all the information on our website, www.andersonvilleseminary.com under the Forms tab or by calling Julie Weeks at 1-800-525-1611.  May 1st is the absolute deadline to sign up to attend.  After April 15, 2013 all fees have to be paid by money orders or certified check.

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Four years ago when I was out to sea with the Coast Guard, we got into some heavy seas; 20+ feet, and well…long story short…that was the storm that broke my back, literally.  Surgery happened December 2008.  Two rods and six screws.  I was in the hospital for 5 days, learning to walk again; 5 steps out, 5 steps back, then sleep for 24 hours.  The next day 10 feet out, 10 feet back, sleep………

Finally, by the end of April, I was walking up to 5 miles at a time without any problems.  No pain, no nothing, and I was on my way to recovery and actually was scheduled to go back to my boat in August 2009.

My back surgeon told me to go get on my bicycle and start to get strengthened for riding.  Two days after, on Saturday, May 2nd, I was riding my bicycle and got hit by a Dodge Truck in a hit and run accident.  First, I was on the ground, then back to the hospital and sort of had to learn to start walking again.  It was so painful to walk that I really had (and am still having) a hard time.  The police never found the man that hit me.  My life as a captain in the Coast Guard and at sea was pretty much gone now.

By July, the physical pain was too much to handle, as well as the mental anguish of my life being over, forcing me to bend my knees to ask God to help me.  Not long after, I started seeing signs from God that I knew was Him trying to communicate to me but I didn’t know what to do.  Signs, something as small as a license plate that said HEAVENS, or a road sign to “Surrender Road,” (that I had driven by every day and I had never noticed before) and it had never occurred to me to surrender my heart to God.

As I was walking in the woods, I was about a mile deep in the woods and stopped at the same bench I have stopped at a  hundred times before, I saw the words scribed on the bench “Jesus Loves You.”  I put my hand on those words and I could feel something in me stir right then and there; God was calling me.

I told my wife for these few weeks, more than once, that God was calling me.  She asked me, “For what?”  I said I do not know, but He is calling me.  So I called the only friend I knew who had given his life to Christ, right in the middle our crazy partying days, and told him, “God is calling me and I do not know what to do.”

He asked if I had asked God into my life and I had.  Then he proceeded to tell me God was trying to answer my request and I needed to draw near to Him too.  He told me about John Bevere’s book, “Drawing Near” so I read the prayers and the first chapter. I was completely overwhelmed by the love of Christ immediately, and the tears flowed like a river for an hour.  The Holy Spirit had descended on me.  The last words I read after the prayer were “Welcome Home.”

Our neighbors had asked us to join them at church more than once for 18 months.  Well I needed to go to church that morning (Sept. 13) so I went by myself.  The 1st service was still going so I stopped in the lobby area and the first person I saw was a big black man by the name of Coach.  He came up to me, gave me a huge hug and said, “Welcome Home.”

I knew I was in the right place and that all of this was real, and that Christ was alive, and I belonged to Him.  I did not believe in Christ until that day.  Though there is still a lot of back pain, it is only a reminder that I am part of God’s wonderful plan.

Around the September/October 2010 time frame, a year and a half after my salvation and accident, a friend of mine was trying to get me to go to a Tuesday night men’s group at the “Garage.”  The first time at the Garage, I sort of listened, did not join in much, and wanted to see if the Lord’s presence was there.

Although I did not immediately feel God’s presence, I met a few nice people, one of whom had asked the group to pray for him as he had a court date for that

Thursday.  His name was Kevin.

I decided to go back a couple of weeks later to try again.  Again, I did not feel His presence but asked about Kevin.  For some reason he was on my heart but he was not there.

After that second group meeting, I was driving home and was thinking that I would not come back to the Garage again, as I did not feel the Lord’s presence and felt that this was not the place for me.  When I got home I went to my knees to pray when God spoke to my heart “You have to go back to that group in two weeks.”

I told my small group leader from church and my wife about this.  Of course they said, “Well, you have to be obedient and go back in two weeks.”

During this time, I was reading a book about forgiveness, given to me by my neighbor’s (pastor’s) wife.  Through this book, Jesus cleansed me of all of the past hurts and anything else I was harboring that would be in the way of our relationship.

Two weeks had come.  The date was Dec. 28, 2010.  I remember telling my wife I really did not want to go and she told me, “Then don’t go.”  But then something reverberated inside of me; something my small group leader said:  “God told you to go, you need to go, you have to be obedient.

So, I went expecting something, but not knowing what, as God had a reason for me to be there this particular evening.

I stopped and chatted with Kevin, as he was back.  Another guy was in a wheelchair and was asking why I had such a hard time standing up and walking.  I proceeded to tell my story about being hit by a truck and my coming to God.

By the end of the story about 6 or 7 people were around listening.  The guy in the wheelchair asked where this had happened and I told him the intersection and I described the mid-1908’s Dodge truck that hit me.  I proceeded to tell them the whole story.  But I finished the story with my appreciation for being struck by the truck, as God used this to bring me home to Him.  That was the end of that.

The group meeting started off with some worship music to invite the Holy Spirit.  During our music worship time that evening, I started praying and worshipping God when God again said to me, “Things are getting ready to get difficult, but I am here with you, do not worry.”  I was freaking out a bit by this time as I never hear from God, especially when it is about me, but I know He is with me.

Nothing happened after the worship music, even though I had come expecting something and we continued to talk about any praise reports, specific prayers needed, or anything else that was on their minds.  The meeting ended without anything extraordinary happening.

After the meeting and a little small talk, I walked outside to go home and Kevin (the guy who went to jail) stopped me outside and said, “I need to tell you something.  But I do not know how.

I told him, “It is just you, me and God here.  You can tell anything.”

He said, after about a 10-second hesitation, “I am the one that hit you.”

I was awestruck, dumbfounded.  A jaw-dropping pause would have been appropriate.  A thousand emotions may have stirred in a split second but settled on one.  And in that split second after, as if I was not in control of myself, I threw my arms around him and said, “I forgive you, completely” and I did immediately.

He apologized from the bottom of his heart and asked if he could do anything for me, and even offered money.  I just told him to draw closer to God.  I also told him to forgive himself, as I had.

There are no coincidences.  Truly a miracle, if ever I had experienced one.  This is my story of coming to God and proving to the world God is real, and that He is still in the miracle business.

J. A. Elliott

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

Please do not put your payment and tests in the same envelope-there is a possibility that your payment might get overlooked in the paperwork.

• ?Students are confused over our new course The Epistles of John.  It is not the same course as I John – Jude.  So if you receive the new course, you are to do it like you would any other course.
• ?Please remember to put your complete name and address on all correspondence with ATS to ensure proper credit on your account and your coursework.
• ?Transcripts cannot be issued to any student who has a balance on their program.
• Please make every attempt to keep up with your progress as you are working through your courses.  We have many students who call and ask us to tell them how many courses they have or have not completed and with over 8,000 students, it is very time consuming to have to look up your record.
• When you send in a test, please do not use colored ink to denote your answers.  Our printer is black and white only and does not pick up the color; this delays our grading your paper and getting you your results.
• When a student retakes a test to improve his/her grade, you will receive an average of the two grades.  The cost to retake a test is $50 for all students.

• ?If you pay for a student to take courses at ATS, please be sure to put the student’s name on the check, so that we can ensure proper credit is given.
• If you send in an envelope to have your test paper sent back to you, PLEASE put enough postage on the return envelope.  We cannot fit a 50 page test in a 46 cent envelope.
• ?Please remember to give us your new address when you move.  There is a Change of Information Form on our site that you can fill out to inform us of this.
• Please keep an eye on your automatic deduction credit card to make sure that your card is not expired.

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ADD ATS MEMORABILIA AND APPAREL TO YOUR SHOPPING LIST

Featured Product of the Month – Computer Bag

Computer Case Order Form

Other ATS Memorabilia and Apparel

ATS Medallion Order Form

Class Rings Order Form

Bumper Sticker Order Form

Frame Order Form

T-Shirts Order Form

T-Shirts with Graduation Year – Order Form

Polo Shirts Order Form

Jacket Order Form

Bible Holder Order Form

ATS Cap Order Form

ATS Long Sleeve Red T-Shirt Order Form

ATS Sweatshirt Order Form

ATS Clear Tumbler Order Form

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ALL STATEMENTS NOW GO OUT BY EMAIL AND REGULAR MAIL

If you are not receiving a statement by email, the finance department does not have your email address.

Please email the finance department your FULL name and your email address.

If your statement only has first and last name, please email finance@andersonvilleseminary.com and give the finance department your full name.  You would be surprised at how many students have the same FIRST and LAST name.

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EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR YOUR INFORMATION

A.  finance@andersonvilleseminary.com for money related questions.

B.  grades@andersonvilleseminary.com is where students need to send tests, grade questions, and grade report questions

C.  advisor@andersonvilleseminary.com to ask general admission questions

D.  advisor2@andersonvilleseminray.com to ask general questions

E.  ccd@andersonvilleseminary.com to ask counseling questions/NCCA department questions, and for emails you need to send Cherry Hayes; also use this email address to email any churches that need pastors, youth pastors, music/song leaders, etc and we will post this to our next newsletter and on our face book site.

F.  info@andersonvilleseminary.com to send complaints or praises to be passed on to Dr. Hayes

G. www.andersonvilleseminary.com to put in a free online application/evaluation

H. sdavis@andersonvilleseminary.com to ask how many courses I lack/ask for a test to be emailed to you

Emails are answered in each department in 48 hours or faster on Monday-Friday.  If you send an email on Friday, it may be Monday or Tuesday before it gets answered since we close at 12 noon on Friday.

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?  Churches that need pastors

?  Churches that need song leaders

?  Poems or encouraging stories written by ATS students

?  Comments about ATS/comments about your courses

We need your help in sending us those items!  We would love to put in our newsletter about churches in your area that may need a pastor.  Please help us with this information!

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

• ??If you do NOT put your name on your work, we regret that it will have to go in the trash!
• Keep a copy of all work that you send in during a program until you have your degree in your hands!!!  Clerical workers can make mistakes.  We are not perfect, even though we would like to be.  Therefore, we cannot over stress; DO NOT SEND ATS THE LAST COPY OF YOUR WORK.
• ATS is not responsible for work lost in the mail.
• When the grade department receives an exam by email which does not have the test form number, it will be emailed back to the student so the proper information may be included.    Exams without test form numbers will not be printed or given to the graders.
• THANK YOU  for putting your first, middle, and last name on exams.  This helps so much since many students have the same first and last name.
• Grade reports are mailed out by regular US Mail every Thursday.  Please allow 3 weeks for grading of your exams.
• Check out the ATS items for sale by visiting http://www.andersonvilleseminary.com/  On the home page, click on ATS Apparel and Memorabilia (There you can see all products in COLOR)

Office hours (EASTERN standard time)

Monday to Thursday 9 to 4

Friday 9 to 12 noon

If you have bought a frame, t-shirt, or any ATS apparel please email grades@andersonvilleseminary.com and let us know how you liked your product so we can put your comment in the next newsletter.

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ATS goal is 150 graduates to participate in the May 24, 2013 graduation.  Please pray that ATS meets or exceeds that goal!  Add ATS to your prayer list!  

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CHURCHES IN TEXAS THAT NEED PASTORS

Pastor–Antioch, Cassville, Missouri is seeking a pastor. Contact us at oakwoodchristian@yahoo.com or 417-847-5555.

Pastor–First, Beckville is seeking a bi-vocational pastor. Send resume to P.O. Box 329, Beckville, Texas 75631 or fanninc@yahoo.com.

Pastor–Clover Hill, Quitman is seeking a bi-vocational pastor. Send resume to the church at P.O. Box 1426, Quitman, Texas 75783.

Pulpit Supply–Carlos Missonary, Carlos, 20 miles north of Bryan/College Station. We are a small country church. At present we have no pastor and we are prayerfully looking to fill the pulpit in search of the pastor that the Lord is to send us. We do have overnight accomodations if our visiting pastor is in need of at the church’s fellowship hall. Call 281-924-6942 or email cheryllangford@comcast.net.

Pastor–New Home Missionary, Lansing, Michigan is seeking a full-time pastor. Send resume to the church at 3133 Pleasant Grove Road, Lansing, Michigan 48910 or mankeygary@aol.com.

Youth Minister–Afton Grove, Jacksonville is seeking a bi-vocational youth minister. Must be a man of strong spiritual character, purposefully called to lead our youth into a closer walk with Jesus Christ. We are looking for someone who is spiritually gifted, as well as a hard worker. The church is situated close to Jacksonville College and BMA Theological Seminary. Send resume to the church at P.O. Box 1328, Jacksonville, Texas 75766 or oneilbet@yahoo.com.

Pastor–South Park, Fort Worth is seeking a pastor. Visit fortworthbaptistchurch.org/PastorSearch/ for more information about the church or to submit a resume.

Pastor–Elwood, Wills Point is seeking a bi-vocational pastor. Elwood is a smaller congregation with a rich 115 year history. Send resume to Larry Black, 3922 VZCR 3504, Wills Point, Texas 75169, lblacksr47@yahoo.com or call 903-873-8184.

Pastor–Pastor Fred Heath is retiring as pastor of Eighth Street, Grand Prairie. We are seeking a new pastor. Send resume to the church at 705 Skyline Road, Grand Prairie, TX 75051 or e-mail gardnmaster1@aol.com.