1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,800 With Appalachians there's a religious culture, but not a Christian culture. 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:11,240 There's a religious culture, but not a culture that knows Jesus. 3 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:15,840 There's a religious culture, but not one that understands the Gospel. 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:20,720 From Tri-State Bible College and the Appalachian Ministry Institute, this is the Level Paths 5 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:21,720 Podcast. 6 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:26,120 My name is Chris Weigel and we're glad you've taken some time to join us today. 7 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:30,880 Once you're already here, you probably have a pretty good idea of what this is all about. 8 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:36,560 We're diving into finding ways to creatively lead effective and dynamic ministries in a 9 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,000 region that is home to nearly 23 million people. 10 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:41,920 It's called Appalachia. 11 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:48,600 And as this very first episode unfolds, you'll get a more clear picture and a lot more details. 12 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:52,880 Level Paths, by the way, comes from Isaiah 40 verses 3 and 4. 13 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:57,040 Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord, fill in the valleys and level the mountains 14 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:01,320 and hills, straighten the curves and smooth out the rough places. 15 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:02,320 Sound familiar? 16 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,960 Well, if you've ever driven the West Virginia Turnpike from Charleston to Beckley, you've 17 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:10,680 seen firsthand what filling in the valleys and leveling the mountains and hills looks 18 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:11,680 like. 19 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:16,700 But how do these verses from Isaiah 40 apply to ministry in Appalachia? 20 00:01:16,700 --> 00:01:21,880 Is the Appalachian region any different than other geographical areas in the US? 21 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,720 Well on this very first episode, you'll meet Rex Howe. 22 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:31,040 Rex is the president of Tri-State Bible College in South Point, Ohio, and he's joined by Matt 23 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:35,200 Shamblin, an Appalachian research fellow at Tri-State Bible College. 24 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:40,800 This episode begins to peel back the layers and spell out what is so unique about ministry 25 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:42,200 in Appalachia. 26 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:43,680 So let's get right to it. 27 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:48,400 Here's Rex Howe and Matt Shamblin. 28 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:52,360 So welcome everyone to the Level Paths Podcast. 29 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,720 My name is Rex Howe and I'm here with my colleague, my partner in crime. 30 00:01:55,720 --> 00:02:01,520 It's good to be here that we could finally get together on this and hopefully be a help 31 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,000 to folks who are in Appalachia. 32 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:05,000 Yes. 33 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,400 We have been planning and praying for this for quite some time and it's exciting that 34 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:11,240 it's finally getting off the ground. 35 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:17,320 We have been talking about engaging Christian ministry in Appalachia for the glory of God, 36 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:19,600 being clear view in Appalachia. 37 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:24,840 And we're going to unpack what the goal of the blog is and some of the other stuff. 38 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:27,360 But Matt, let's start with what is Appalachia? 39 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:28,360 What are we talking about? 40 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:33,920 Well, when we talk about Appalachia, there's a lot of definitions that really come to the 41 00:02:33,920 --> 00:02:34,920 forefront. 42 00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:39,120 The Appalachian Regional Commission, which was a commission that's more than 50 years 43 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:41,600 old now, is going to give us a government definition. 44 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:47,440 It's going to be an area of about 13 states all the way from lower New York all the way 45 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:49,280 into Florida. 46 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:51,560 Not everyone takes it that far. 47 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:57,800 But we're talking about a number of people to the tune of about 23 million people, 200,000 48 00:02:57,800 --> 00:02:59,120 square miles. 49 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:04,240 It's a portion of a large percentage of the East Coast, but is there only one state that 50 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,800 actually is fully Appalachian? 51 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,080 And that's West Virginia, which is where I'm from. 52 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,680 And where Tri-State Bible College is just right on the border there. 53 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:19,520 So this has been a really good fit as we explore Appalachia. 54 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:26,840 Some would say anywhere that there is coal under the ground, that is Appalachia, which 55 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:28,880 makes it a very broad definition. 56 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:30,520 But it's a rural people. 57 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,760 It's a people that have had to strive for identity. 58 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:35,440 It's not a Southern culture. 59 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:40,400 It has a lot in common with the Southern culture, but it's not a Southern culture, nor is it 60 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:41,720 a Northern culture. 61 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:46,880 Appalachia has its own culture, and that's why this podcast is so important. 62 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:52,320 So we are in, I've heard you say this before, we're in Central Appalachia. 63 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:56,040 Is there anything unique about Central Appalachia? 64 00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:01,360 Maybe you watch Netflix and you watch the J.D. Vance's movie. 65 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,720 The book made to a movie called Hillbilly Elegy. 66 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:09,480 And there's been so much backlash because of what's portrayed there. 67 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:16,080 But what is portrayed is often a culture that is found in Central Appalachia. 68 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:18,240 Some have called it America's ghetto. 69 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:24,040 They have given it that title of America's enduring social and economic problem. 70 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:26,900 Central Appalachia has a mix of a Southern culture. 71 00:04:26,900 --> 00:04:29,240 It has a mix of a Northern culture. 72 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:30,720 It is not Bible-belt. 73 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:35,840 As a matter of fact, it's one of the least churched areas in the nation. 74 00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:39,040 But it is an area that is ripe for the gospel. 75 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:40,160 People make that mistake. 76 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:42,000 They see churches on every hillside. 77 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:46,440 There's a lot of assumptions that there's a Bible blanket over the area. 78 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:51,600 Those of us who have ministered in the area and grown up in the area and seen some of 79 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,180 the darkness of the area. 80 00:04:54,180 --> 00:04:55,560 Let's talk about that. 81 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,440 What are some of the unique spiritual perils? 82 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:00,280 That's going to help us in a little bit, I think. 83 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:03,600 Talk about some of the mountains and valleys of Appalachia. 84 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:09,920 What are some of the mountains and valleys of Appalachia, the spiritual perils that prevent 85 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:11,680 us from seeing the glory of God? 86 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:13,360 What are those things? 87 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:19,480 In his book, Appalachian Values, Loyal Jones, who really is the brain trust of all things 88 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:26,520 Appalachia, writes about several values that are identifiable in Appalachia. 89 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,560 One of those is its religion. 90 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:35,600 It's not necessary to say that Appalachia, though it be a religious place, is a Christian 91 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:36,920 place. 92 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:42,920 Religion has found its way into the culture to literally define who we are as a people, 93 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,080 without us even knowing it. 94 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:50,680 When I started to study Appalachian values, not the book necessarily, I'm talking about 95 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:52,360 what makes us unique. 96 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:59,520 I did so really out of the desire to be able to more effectively reach Appalachia with 97 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:00,520 the gospel. 98 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:02,560 That's where I found myself ministering. 99 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:04,560 That's who I am. 100 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:13,160 I hate this phrase, but I had to unpack who I was in order to understand who I am. 101 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:18,280 With Appalachians, there's a religious culture, but not a Christian culture. 102 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:22,720 There's a religious culture, but not a culture that knows Jesus. 103 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:27,000 There's a religious culture, but not one that understands the gospel. 104 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:34,200 That becomes a major pitfall, a major peril in trying to communicate the gospel, because 105 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:41,360 very quickly, very easily, that community Appalachian language steps over. 106 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:45,840 Though we may be using the same language, we're using a different diction here. 107 00:06:45,840 --> 00:06:51,080 Now, we talked about this example of the homecoming in Appalachia. 108 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:53,120 I remember these growing up as a kid. 109 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,080 It was a big deal. 110 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:59,880 You had people showing up at homecoming that it was like a family reunion. 111 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:05,960 People coming from all over, tons of food all day at church, but then the next week, 112 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,160 it was back to normal. 113 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:13,880 What do you mean by religion, but not necessarily Christian? 114 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:16,240 Maybe the homecoming is an example of that? 115 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:23,320 The unique Christian community Appalachian happening is that homecoming. 116 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:29,040 Some of our listeners may not know what a homecoming is, but a homecoming is a gathering 117 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:37,760 of a church community for the sake of community and the sake of getting folks back together, 118 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:39,600 not for the sake of the gospel. 119 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:46,720 It's not uncommon for a church building to exist that does not regularly have church, 120 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,400 but they will annually have homecoming. 121 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:50,900 Think of that. 122 00:07:50,900 --> 00:07:57,560 This gathering that we call homecoming doesn't have in any way the purpose of preaching the 123 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:02,440 gospel, explaining the Bible, applying it to their lives, seeing lost people raised 124 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:03,960 from death to life. 125 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:04,960 That's not the purpose. 126 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:10,680 The purpose is to get the people from that particular holler or that particular community 127 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:14,160 together to see one another again. 128 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,400 So many folks had to leave Appalachia for work. 129 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:22,360 My father tells a story about needing work, and so they went to Ohio. 130 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:27,960 They went north into Ohio in order to find a job, and so they would come back, and that's 131 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:29,880 what homecoming is. 132 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:35,800 Just imagine the center of the community at one time was their little church, and often 133 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:38,800 these are one-room white-brained churches. 134 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:43,320 The center of the community is that church, though the people who come back to that homecoming 135 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:49,400 may be grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins who never actually 136 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:53,960 attended a worship service of Jesus Christ in that building. 137 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:54,960 Yeah. 138 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,640 I'm thinking of Dr. Michael Svego has a book called Retro Christianity. 139 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:03,600 In that book, he talks about the essential marks and works of a local church, and the 140 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:12,760 marks are orthodoxy, ordinances, and order, so leadership, and then the marks are evangelism, 141 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,200 edification, and exaltation. 142 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:20,240 If those things aren't happening week to week, you don't really have a New Testament church, 143 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:28,080 but what you do have is a community, family-oriented, cultural center, but absent of a really great 144 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:30,240 commission type of a ministry. 145 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:35,840 You know, years ago, I was in conversation with some folks in New England, and it's not 146 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:41,560 uncommon in New England for there to be what was at one time church buildings, but they've 147 00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:43,880 become community buildings. 148 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:48,960 No one in the community ever remembers a time when it was a church building. 149 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:56,120 It's a community building, and you see that really replicated in this idea of Appalachian 150 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:57,120 homecomings. 151 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:03,760 We're going back, we're going to get together, and even have a picnic in the local cemetery, 152 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:05,360 which I think is so bizarre. 153 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:07,040 The point is not about Jesus. 154 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:13,280 The point is about community and getting together for those people who were on that hilltop 155 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:19,200 to get together and see one another and relive that tradition that essentially was lost as 156 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:23,320 they went to Ohio, went to Michigan, went away for work. 157 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,240 And so it's kind of the reliving of Appalachia. 158 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:30,200 And the truth is, you also see this in reverse too. 159 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:35,960 It's not uncommon for where these families had left Appalachia to go to a place to work, 160 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:42,640 to go find Appalachian churches in northern places, in western places. 161 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:45,040 So there's an Appalachian church out west. 162 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:50,600 There's an Appalachian church in Michigan in a very non-Appalachian culture, because 163 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:53,240 then we're going to take our culture with us. 164 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:57,200 We're going to take a little bit of Appalachia with us and meet there on Sunday. 165 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:04,320 So again, that religion, but not Jesus, again, is yet bled into that place. 166 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:05,520 All right. 167 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:09,760 So we've talked about some of the mountains, and we'll get into this more throughout the 168 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:10,760 podcast. 169 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:14,720 What are some of those spiritual perils in Appalachia that people who are in ministry 170 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:19,960 or just church members, church people, Christian people wrestle with as they try to seek God 171 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:21,640 and see His glory in this area? 172 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:26,040 What are some of the views of God's glory that we see in Appalachia? 173 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:32,640 What are some of the glorious things about the Lord's work in Appalachia that you've 174 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:33,640 experienced? 175 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:34,880 So we can look to its history. 176 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:41,200 We can look in its culture, and we can see that remnant of religion. 177 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:47,040 Loyal Jones says, religion has shaped our lives, and we have shaped our religion. 178 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:53,640 When you drive through Appalachia, you see little white-framed churches on every mountaintop, 179 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:56,440 up every holler, on every corner. 180 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,800 Most of them are closed, and some of them are dilapidated now. 181 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:04,320 But the reason I bring that up is because that homecoming that we talked about, that 182 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:10,520 religion that shaped lives, tells us that there was an incredible, great move of God 183 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:13,480 in the past in Appalachia. 184 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:18,000 And that gives me incredible hope for today. 185 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:23,840 And that methodology that we've tried to modernize, actually, we need to go back. 186 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:30,400 And instead of trying to bring southern or northern or whatever religious culture to 187 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:34,240 Appalachia, we need to reach Appalachia where it is. 188 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:39,000 We need to contextualize because that's what happened in the past. 189 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,760 This great move of God was that men, missionaries, came on horseback. 190 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:49,480 They would reach people from the community, young men from the community, disciple them, 191 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:54,920 and then send them out on horseback, and they'd be preaching on a charge, one pastor for multiple 192 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:56,000 churches. 193 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:57,600 And God moved. 194 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:04,480 You see these buildings, and you know at one time there was a thriving, growing Christian 195 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:06,000 community there. 196 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,880 And so when I think about the move of God, I think about that. 197 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:15,600 There are people, young men right now all across Appalachia, who are going back to that, 198 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:20,760 young men from their communities who are going back to those communities and doing the hard 199 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:24,240 work of planting churches in those communities. 200 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:27,080 And God is using them in incredible ways. 201 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:32,960 Unfortunately, and this is why Tri-State Bible College matters so much, that a lot of times 202 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:38,240 what happens is guys leave Appalachia, and they go away to seminary, they go away to 203 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:42,600 Bible college, and they don't come back. 204 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:45,960 Because the truth of the matter is, the churches aren't large here. 205 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:50,560 If the average church in America has 60 people in it, the average church in Appalachia has 206 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:51,960 40. 207 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:55,480 It's lags behind in so many different ways. 208 00:13:55,480 --> 00:14:01,120 And so instead of coming back to do that hard work and have to work a job and then be a 209 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,680 Bivocational Pastor, a lot of them don't come back. 210 00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:08,000 But God still has His men on the field. 211 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,080 The fields are still white under harvest. 212 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,960 It's the laborers that are few, but the laborers are there. 213 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:16,920 And so what's happening is these guys are staying in Appalachia. 214 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,840 God's burdening their hearts for Appalachia. 215 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:23,040 And God is blessing their ministries in Appalachia. 216 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:28,320 We see churches being planted, and we see churches multiplying in Appalachia. 217 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:31,880 And so I would say what's old is new again. 218 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:34,200 What God did, He's doing again. 219 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,320 We just need that equipping mechanism once again. 220 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,440 Podcasts just like this to hear, hey, God is at work. 221 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:42,520 He's at work in Milton. 222 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:43,720 He's at work in Huntington. 223 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:45,400 He's at work in Barboursville. 224 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:46,760 He's at work in Morgantown. 225 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:48,520 He's at work in Paintsville. 226 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:49,520 On and on we could go. 227 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:50,760 He's at work in Ashland. 228 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:54,240 I hope with this podcast, to fan that flame. 229 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:55,240 Amen. 230 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:56,680 Hey, is he at work in Wheelersburg? 231 00:14:56,680 --> 00:14:58,600 I'm really hoping he's at work in Wheelersburg. 232 00:14:58,600 --> 00:14:59,600 Is that possible? 233 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:00,600 Isn't that where you live? 234 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:01,600 That's where I live. 235 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:03,000 I don't know. 236 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,880 Can anything good come from Wheelersburg? 237 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:08,880 All right. 238 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:13,960 Well, brother, let's talk about Tri-State Bible College's vision, the Appalachian Ministry 239 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:16,240 Institute's purpose. 240 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:20,640 And then I want to come back a little bit to the history of the church in Appalachia. 241 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:24,600 I think it's something that people are not very aware of. 242 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:30,360 Even those of us who have studied church history at an academic level, we've studied it through 243 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:36,880 the Reformation and then into the modern church and then maybe some of the major modern church 244 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:38,560 movements. 245 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:41,600 When it comes to Appalachia, no one writes about it. 246 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:43,000 What happened here? 247 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:49,360 Even though I'll say this, when I was pastoring out in Little Lisbon, Illinois at West Lisbon 248 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:56,440 Church, the people in the area knew the history of the church movement and how the Norwegian 249 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:01,160 Lutheran movement came over, how the church developed from there. 250 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:06,360 They knew about the revival that happened in Norway that led to the pastor coming over 251 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:12,800 and starting all the churches in the area and the 44-year history of the on horseback 252 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:14,440 going to all the congregation. 253 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:16,160 They knew the history. 254 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:22,000 But being an Appalachian person here, I don't know the history until talking to you. 255 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,920 I didn't know the history of how the movement started. 256 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:30,400 I want to come back to that, but I want to talk about Tri-State Bible College because 257 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:35,080 as you said, I came back here because I feel like it's an essential part of what God is 258 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:37,920 doing in our region. 259 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,800 And we exist to help people fulfill their ministries. 260 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:46,040 That was Paul's final command to Timothy with regard to ministry things. 261 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,200 He told him, Timothy, fulfill your ministry. 262 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,440 And what that means is to complete what remains. 263 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,720 We feel like we have some great churches in the area. 264 00:16:55,720 --> 00:17:01,680 We want Tri-State Bible College to be a kind of a unique community where church leaders 265 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:08,080 and pastors from the churches in the area are coming together in one place to offer 266 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:13,400 access to a community of biblical scholarship and to help people fulfill their ministries 267 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:15,480 and have lives that glorify God. 268 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:17,440 So that's what we're about here. 269 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:21,640 As we've been talking, we've felt the need for an Appalachian ministry institute as 270 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,600 an extension of the Bible College. 271 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:29,080 And you mentioned this, but why do you think that TSBCs uniquely position the meet that 272 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:30,240 need? 273 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:37,320 There is no other academic institution that's focused on teaching the Bible and helping 274 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:44,560 equip men and women for ministry that's situated in Central Appalachia. 275 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:51,160 And what's often happened is young men, young women go away from Appalachia to get educated 276 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:53,520 and they never come back. 277 00:17:53,520 --> 00:18:01,880 What must happen is that Appalachians are equipping Appalachians to do the ministry in Appalachia. 278 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:03,440 This matters so much. 279 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:08,680 And that's one of the things that I hope we have in our Appalachian ministry institute 280 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:14,760 is that we bring people who are currently practicing ministry into our institute that 281 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:20,440 we can hear and we can learn from because the truth is ministry is difficult in Appalachia 282 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:25,480 and those who are finding it not so difficult and God's blessing, we want to learn from 283 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:26,480 them. 284 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:27,480 We want to hear from them. 285 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:34,280 The history of Appalachia is so much influences and informs us where we are, but that being 286 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:38,360 said, old Appalachia is not modern Appalachia. 287 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:43,000 In fact, Appalachia has changed more in the 20th century than the rest of its history 288 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:44,500 combined. 289 00:18:44,500 --> 00:18:50,000 And so when we think about Appalachia, we can't just talk about all of the history. 290 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:52,440 We have to talk about Appalachia today. 291 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,000 That history informs us how we got where we are. 292 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:57,400 It does help us understand who we are. 293 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:00,480 But today we've got to reach this culture. 294 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:01,680 And some folks are doing this. 295 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:05,160 Some guys are doing some incredible work around Appalachia. 296 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:10,080 We just want to bring focus to that and our Bible College is a great place, great way 297 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:11,080 to do that. 298 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:15,440 One of the outcomes that we've been measuring here at the Bible College, between all of 299 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:22,600 our faculty, how many years of ministry experience combined our faculty have? 300 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:26,400 It's hundreds of years because our faculty, they're not just academics. 301 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:31,680 I mean, they are their scholars in their own right, but they are also pastors. 302 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:33,800 They're Christian leaders, Christian workers. 303 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:35,920 We've got people at the Huntington City Mission. 304 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,040 We've got assistant pastors. 305 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:44,640 We've got all kinds of people who have just accumulated years and years of ministry experience 306 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:47,800 that are teaching our students here. 307 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:53,640 And we talked about this as we were dreaming and praying about this ministry, that what 308 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:59,560 we want to do for people who are ministering in Appalachia is we want to affirm them that 309 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:01,680 this is part of Christ's commission. 310 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:03,680 Your ministry is important. 311 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:05,440 We want to affirm that. 312 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:10,720 When we have our Appalachian Ministry Conference coming up in September, so you all want to 313 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:11,840 save the date for that. 314 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:15,400 We're looking at a date in September of 2021 for that. 315 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:19,120 We want to affirm people who are doing ministry in Appalachia. 316 00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:21,720 Secondly, we want to encourage them. 317 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:27,120 As you said, it can be a tough place to do ministry and to serve Christ. 318 00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:28,560 So we want to encourage. 319 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:30,600 There's a lot we could fight about in Appalachians. 320 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,160 God knows, love to fight. 321 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:38,280 But we want to be a place where people can get genuine encouragement. 322 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,640 And then finally, we want to equip. 323 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:42,440 I mean, that's what a school is, right? 324 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:44,080 It's a training place. 325 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:50,960 We want to give skills and resources and relationships because relationships with a good network 326 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:53,360 of Godly men and women equip us too. 327 00:20:53,360 --> 00:21:00,480 And so those are our purposes to affirm, encourage and equip. 328 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:04,680 It's not the North or the South, and it's not the Midwest either. 329 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:09,840 The Appalachian region is without a doubt unique, and it does in fact have its own challenges 330 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:14,000 when it comes to reaching her people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 331 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:18,240 And that's why Rex and Matt are hosting the Level Paths podcast. 332 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:22,520 Are you a pastor or maybe you're at a church in the Appalachian region and you're looking 333 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:27,040 for more effective ways to minister to the people right where you are? 334 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:35,280 You can reach out to Rex and to Matt at Tri-State Bible College by emailing rex.how at tsbc.edu 335 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:39,360 or Matt Shamblin at tsbc.edu. 336 00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:43,220 And if you'd like more information about Tri-State Bible College and the Appalachian 337 00:21:43,220 --> 00:21:49,680 Ministry Institute, visit tsbc.edu. 338 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:54,640 On the next Level Paths podcast, the history of the church in Appalachia. 339 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,760 Many attempts were made by those mainline denominational churches. 340 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:03,880 Basically come in, move into Appalachia and fix what's broke. 341 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:13,360 And that system failed almost instantly in Appalachia. 342 00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:18,120 The Level Paths podcast is an outreach of Tri-State Bible College and the Appalachian 343 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:25,480 Ministry Institute.