Future Plans for South Beach Hope Ministries

There are four areas in which SBHM hopes to advance the kingdom of God: In Print, On-Line, In Person, On Site.

In print

SBHM already has The Art of Wisdom available in both a PU leather readers’ version and as a study journal.  The following are other books in various stages of development.  The first three should definitely be developed.  The cost to get one book into print approaches $10,000 and can take up to 3 years to break even.

Becoming God’s Family.  Fully developed in workbook form for classroom use by pastor and theologian Rick Henderson, it would require only minimum additional writing and editing to be a standalone work.  The class, and notebook,  has six sections, Adoption, Moving In, the Family “Play‑Book”, Family Values, Family Tasks, and the Family Reunion.  The first deals with becoming a member of God’s family and leading others into this great relationship.  Moving In has to do with the basic parts of Christian life – what you do at first and what you do to grow up in the family.  The Family Play‑Book explains why we believe the Bible is God’s Word and how it should instruct us in living in the family.  Family Values explains the basics of the Christian faith and the distinctives of different Bible believing churches.  Next, we delve into some of our Family Tasks – what is expected of Christians in God’s family?  Last, is our coming Family Reunion – where did we come from and where are we going?  What is our mission?

Theology Notes, Dr. Jack Willsey. Full notes covering the core theological training necessary for anyone who wishes to be “rightly handling the word of truth”, particularly pastors.  These notes were used by Dr. Willsey as he taught at Northwest Baptist Seminary and Corbin School of Ministry and used with permission by Pastor Henderson for teaching theology, which he has done many times.  Explanatory text and a glossary are needed to make these notes fully usable in standalone form.  Then, as always, it will need to be typeset for printing.

A Wise Constitution for a Renewed America.  A takeoff from The Art of Wisdom, notes for this project were started in 1976 in a government class at college and have been accumulating since then.  The idea is to take the US Constitution, integrate the necessary parts of the Declaration of Independence, and amend it to match the wisdom of Solomon (and the rest of scripture).  Then explanatory notes for each of the articles and changes (effectively resulting in an amended constitution) would help people to understand what God’s wisdom is, and how it should be applied in a sinful, fallen, world.  Like The Art of Wisdom, this would be created for the general public and not be a Christian work per se, but one compatible with Christianity and demonstrating the wisdom of scripture.  Although much work has been done many experts will need to be consulted to ensure legal accuracy and practical use.

Conversations through - John, Acts, Ephesians, and Philippians, Rick Henderson ThM.  These four books would be created from the sermon notes of pastor Henderson.  Every sermon was written out in full, and in a conversational form.  Minor modification of the text for readability and editing for print typesetting are the primary efforts needed.  Many thousands of these notes in digital form have been downloaded from Sermon.net for use by people all over the world (both text and audio).  Hopefully in book form it will be helpful for many more Christians as well as those considering Christ.  There are a number of shorter sermon series that could be combined into another book.

A Light in the Night: and other (Mostly) Short Winded Tales. Engaging life stories, many were custom written sermon illustrations.  Mostly just needs formatting and setup for printing, as this is already available in Kindle format, although a number of additional stories would be added.

Fiction works. There are three, one of which is, once again, already available in Kindle format.  The second in the series is nearly finished and the third conceptually laid out with probably 25% written.  These give a potential reality look into an America that has lost its power and collapsed financially and how that might look as the government abandons many parts of the country (making them “autonomous zones”).  What would a small group of prepared believers do in this world?  How would the privileged, the downtrodden, the criminal and the good react to our heroes?

The cost to bring a book into printed form is $5-10,000.  Usually it takes a few years for it to pay for itself.  You could donate to produce a specific book, books in general, or just support South Beach Hope Ministries in general, allowing us to drive the ministry forward.

On-Line

The primary goal for SBHM is to supply everything a man, called by God, needs to start immediately to bring messages of biblical accuracy, and receive the training needed to pastor – all at no charge.  The core of this ministry are the fully written sermons mentioned above.  (Which already have over eleven thousand downloads.)  Each sermon will have supporting documents explaining the theology and preparing this leader for teaching and pastoral care.  A person can simply deliver the sermon as written, or modify it for his flock.  Over four years of these sermons are ready to be added to the system - it just takes time to do.

It would answer many prayers if experienced pastors could be available to answer questions.  With proper funding, retired pastors could supplement their income all while using their considerable skills and experience to mentor young, enthusiastic pastors.  Technology makes possible direct connections via video or typed messages for those who need translating (available on-line for free).

In-Person

Talks for churches, schools, businesses and civic organizations are ready now.  There is a weekend conference available “Guiding a New Generation in a World Gone Mad”.  We will do either single talks/sermons, or the full conference for no charge beyond actual costs. Customized talks/sermons or conferences are possible with proper planning. We will normally ask for, and outline the ways to, support SBHM, with each talk.

On Site

A young man graduates from Bible College with $75,000 in student loan debt.  An established church offers him $35,000 a year to be their youth pastor.  His goal of planting a church is fiscally impossible, and even this job is not truly workable.  Besides, he has almost no real experience in ministry: no understanding of administration, a vague idea of leadership, limited grasp of pastoral care, and woefully inadequate teaching skills. How can he survive this crushing debt, while learning all he needs to care for the flock of Christ?

A long term goal of SBHM is to return to the Biblical example of pastoral development – similar to what the Apostle Paul did with Timothy, Titus, Silas and John Mark.  Although this could take many forms, the best balance may be a Christian retreat and camp.  Straight out of high school the student makes a 3 year commitment to work at a SBHM camp.  In return he or she will have a place to stay, the food they need, a small stipend, actual ministry experience – and all the basic training in theology and administration that they need to plant a church or take over the leadership of an existing local body of Christ.

While the student is able to start ministry without any financial burden and equipped sufficiently, the camp gains by having lower employment costs for the summer, while utilizing the grounds for useful ministry throughout the winter – the training of these young people called to the ministry.  And the quality of help the camp has will be much higher as these young believers have a vibrant call and clear goal for ministry and thus a greater motivation than those just looking for a summer job.

It would be wonderful if every future church leader could attend an established Bible college, and then seminary, while working in a local church, all without accumulating debt.  But this path is available to only a very few people.  And – would it really be better?  Is not the struggle to achieve the goal itself of benefit?  Would John Mark have been as useful for the ministry if he had not had the struggles he did?  Would Timothy have been able to establish leaders for the new churches if he, with Paul, had not suffered the hardships of ministry constantly?  The costs to achieve a goal like this are, understandable, very high.  It may work for us to join forces with an existing organization to help us both reach our goals.  

How can you help support the mission and ministry of South  Beach Hope?