Memorial Service for Stan Smith - Manlius, NY

There will be a memorial service for Stan Smith on Saturday, June 30 at 11:00 A.M. The service will be held at:

Community Covenant Church
107 Pleasant St.
Manlius, NY 13104

Manlius is located about ten miles outside of Syracuse, NY

Stan Smith - Home with the Lord



Stan Smith



As many of you may already know, Stan Smith went home to be with the Lord on May 3, 2012. Stan was a graduate of Pinecrest Bible Training Center and started his ministry at Pinecrest Retreat Center in Setauket, Long Island, New York. Stan was never religious, but was truly a lover of God and of His people. He will be greatly missed by all thosed who loved and knew him.

Along with the memorial service, held at Agape Church, there will be one in the south hosted by Bob Lake and another to be held in the north hosted by Tom Worth. As the dates and locations are set, we will post them here on this blog.

Below you will find a copy of the obituary written by Stan’s lifelong friend, Dr. Tom Worth and revised by his wife, JoAnn DeJoria Smith. You can also read the article written by Dr. Tom Worth on Charismanews, an online publication of Charisma Magazine.

Please be mindful of his wife JoAnn and the ministry they started, and in lieu of flowers, please consider sending donations to:

Gospelsmith

1168 Kristen Court

Nipomo, CA 93444

You may also donate on gospelsmith.com. Your donations would be greatly appreciated.

“Stanley Roland Smith, Jr., 59, died at home, early in the morning, May 3, 2012, with his wife, JoAnn by his side. Stan was born November 11, 1952, the only child of Stanley Roland Smith, Sr., and Charlotte Hale Smith. His father was a musician who had played the French horn under Toscanini and his mother is a well-regarded Christian writer. He was born in New York and grew up in Georgia. He graduated from Druid Hills High School in Atlanta in 1970. He was a graduate of Pinecrest Bible Training Center, Salisbury Center, NY, and had his B.A. from Canada Christian College, Ontario. After graduating from Pinecrest in 1975, he served faithfully as a Minister of the Gospel for the rest of his life. He began his ministry in Setauket, Long Island at the Pinecrest Retreat Center.

Then he was a Bible teacher at Faith Haven in Woodstock, Ontario, where his son, Christopher was born to him and his wife, Deborah Smith. He served as a pastor in Adrian, Michigan, and then pioneered a church in Detroit where he served as a pastor for well over a decade. There, he would go into the roughest areas of Detroit, such as Clarke Park and tell people about the Savior.

He made mission trips overseas to places as various as India, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Latin America, and England. Throughout his career he was in demand as a visiting preacher in many churches. He spent the last twelve years of his life in the Central Coast of California with his wife, JoAnn DeJoria Smith, whom he married in 1999. During those years he and his wife JoAnn attended Agape Church. Stan was often called upon to preach or minister prophetically during their time at Agape. They also travelled on various mission trips to China, Peru, Korea, Switzerland, England and spoke in many churches across the United States. When Stan was no longer able to travel they planted and pastored a church in Nipomo called The Gathering.

He also wrote books and tracts on practical Christianity and a memoir of his wife, telling of her conversion. In his later years, he strengthened and taught many believers over the Internet through his website www.gospelsmith.com and on Patricia King’s television programs. Several of Stan’s articles were and are posted on Elijah List, Patricia King’s site and Identity Network. Not the least of his gifts was his original musical ability on keyboard, guitar and vocals. He wrote songs and choruses, which are still being sung in congregations to this day. But his great interest was in exploring spontaneous musical expression in worship services, seeking to convey creatively what he sensed the Spirit was saying. He was a midwife in that sense, helping many into greater freedom of expression and deeper creativity.

And yet all these descriptions and accomplishments hardly convey the mystery of the man. Those who knew him would all alike confess that he was one of the most original characters we have ever known. He was a man of the Spirit and yet he was very down to earth. He centered his life in Jesus Christ. He was a deep thinker and a capable and practical theologian. All who heard him preach and teach and prophesy were brought into fresh focus on the Lord Jesus. He was not perfect, and he had his blind spots, and he was deeply sensible of his faults, but the difference was that he freely admitted as much and had a disarming candor in confessing those things. None of us will forget his infectious sense of the absurd and his kindly humor. He was a delightful conversationalist. He was a loyal friend. He coped gracefully with brain cancer for the last two years of his life. During those years the two paramount aims of his life came into clearer focus: he loved God and he loved people. He may have been the smartest man many of us have ever known, and yet—all of that was eclipsed by love, the love of Jesus.

He is survived by his wife, JoAnn DeJoria Smith, of Nipomo, California, his mother, Charlotte Hale Pindar, of Savannah, Georgia, his son and daughter-in-law, Christopher and Danielle Smith, his grandson, Garrett and his granddaughter, Sydney, all of Three Rivers, Michigan. His stepdaughter and her husband, Heather and Bryan Hutchens and their children, Robert and Kathleen, also survive him.”



Stan Smith's Memorial Service will be held at:
Agape Church
950 Laureate Lane
San Luis Obispo, California 93405
(805) 541-0777
May 19, 2012 at 11 a.m.

God is Love

I Corinthians 13 is probably one of the most well known passages of Scripture in the Bible. Personally, I have always been drawn to it, and I couldn’t help but wonder why. Why do people like it so much? Is it because of the beautiful words, or the poetic nature of it? I tend to think that people are drawn to the idea of love.

You see it everywhere you look. From the time children are little they see it in fairy tales; the princess is swept off her feet by Prince Charming and they live happily ever after. You see it in school, girls and boys looking for love to make them feel “loved.” We see it now every time we turn on our televisions, people wanting to be equal and “just love each other.” Everyone wants to love and be loved. But really, do we even know what love is?

Love isn’t anything that we could conjure up on our own. Love isn’t butterflies in your stomach, or roses on your doorstep, or doing the dishes after dinner. Love is something from God’s heart, not ours. The concept of love has been so polluted, that when true love is sitting right in front of people, knocking at their door, they turn away.

In I John 4:8, it says that God is love. Take the portion of scripture in I Corinthians and replace the word ‘love’ with the word ‘God.’ Our whole walk with the Lord is our own personal love story. God is the very meaning of love. So, in the times where we feel as if we can’t love someone, remember that God has put his very heart inside us; we need to depend on that, and not our own hearts. This world needs a heart, it needs His heart – that with each heartbeat pulses a love that nothing else can compare to. We need to lay down our hearts of stone and flesh, and take on the heart of love itself – Jesus Christ.

- Alissa Stupiello, Second Year student

Where is Jesus?

Recently, I was reading my Facebook page and noticed what a recently married young woman I know had written on her wall. Apparently, she was decorating her home for Christmas and had put out a nativity set complete with shepherds, sheep, some wise men, Joseph, Mary, and of course, baby Jesus. Now, we get to what she posted on her wall. She said, “My cat stole baby Jesus and now we don’t know where He is.” Of course, I smiled at the thought. Then I quickly thought, “I know where He is. He is all grown up and living in your heart!” How quickly we lose sight of who Jesus is today and where He really is: alive and well, fully mature, and ever making intercession for each and every one of us He calls His own. Now, if we really take a moment and reflect on that one thought, it tends to give us peace and assurance. Ahh… all is well. He knows where I am and I know where He is.

Personal struggles, relationships, the busyness of the Christmas season, and life in general have a way of stealing Jesus from us to the point where we too can say we don’t know where He is. Maybe for some of us, it’s the little things that steal Him away from our hearts and minds; wrapping presents, preparing for a test, our favorite show on television, staying a little longer in bed in the morning, or even a good book. How easy it is to let our thoughts, emotions, people and events steal Jesus from us. Now, I can hear what you are saying - “I thought He never leaves us or forsakes us.” It’s true. He never does. But we often let things into our hearts that crowd Him out to the point where there is no room for Him. You see, He really is all grown up. He doesn’t just need a small manger anymore, but rather the totality of each and every one of our hearts. Little baby Jesus is now the mature Son of God. And He still seeks a place to lay His head and His heart. Neal A. Maxwell said, “Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus.”
This Christmas season, consciously make room for Him. Don’t let Him get lost in the trappings of the season, or buried beneath the circumstances of your life. Welcome Him afresh with wonder and awe of who He really is – King of kings and Lord of lords!

- Wendy Levey, Faculty

Fall Coffeehouse

Students, staff and faculty enjoyed coffee and performed specials during this Fall's coffeehouse

Annette, Wendy and Rod

Shane, Jordan, Sam and Luke

Luke and Josh

Victor and Mark

The Kitchen performs a special

 

Thoughts on the New School Year

Each school year, I have heard it said by someone here at the Bible school that this looks like it’s going to be the best year we have ever had. This time I’m not going to say that, but I do want to say that this year the students have come in with great desire for the Lord and real anticipation for Him to come and meet with them. I also believe that God loves to see that in our hearts because it gives Him a platform upon which to come and meet with us – in the worship, in the classroom as well as our prayer closets.


One aspect that has really excited me personally this quarter is a class I am teaching to Second Year, called The New Covenant (formally Hebrews). So far, this year we have had a few times of going around the table discussing different topics. The participation of the class, and their thoughts on the different subjects, has just been outstanding. Today our topic was, “Just who is this priest called Melchizedek?” It was great to hear what they thought. At the end of class, one fellow commented that after hearing all the different thoughts and ideas, he felt like his head was exploding. It was dizzying. Some said Melchizedek was a man, he was a vision or he was a type of Christ, and others said he must be Jesus. They were truly thinking and changing their minds as the topic went around the table.


To me, this is what Bible school is about. Us taking a subject and allowing the Holy Spirit to come in and teach us through the use of each one of us adding what we each feel He is showing us. For me as a teacher, there is no better outcome of a class than to get them all thinking and speaking into the subject, and then the Holy Spirit taking all of our thoughts and what is right from each one and teaching us.


I have one other thought concerning our chapels. The presence of the Lord has been coming in and our worship has been holding at a really high point. So, when we get to class, I feel that it gives us a great platform from which to begin.

- Jack Picataggi, President

Internship Report

Vangast Bitukenja is the pastor of Tanzania Assemblies of God Upendo Revival Christian Center in Dodoma, Tanzania and has spent more than twenty years in ministry. He has a heart to reach the Muslim people with the love of Christ and has travelled on missionary trips to the Muslim nation of Zanzibar, despite being previously jailed for sharing the gospel there.

Vangast and his wife, Rehema, are the proud parents of four biological children and three adopted children. He graduated from Bethany’s Advanced Biblical Studies Program in May 2011.

Vangast recounts his second- and third-quarter internship experience with New Jerusalem Church of God in Christ in Buffalo, N.Y., pastored by Willie and Verdis Griffin and presents a call for the American church to pursue godliness and holiness.

I have learned many things during my internship at New Jerusalem Church. One of among many is the life of Pastor Griffin and his wife, Verdis. To be honest, these servants of God have taught me a big lesson through their lives about true love. Their church has been a place where I have experienced the extraordinary presence of God and have sensed, felt, and touched the true love of God. In this church, love is not only spoken, but is being put into action. For the people in this church, love is the lifestyle of their daily activities.

The second thing I learned from the Griffins is how they teach their people through example. They also do before they tell their people to do something. I have seen the way they devote themselves to God and the work of ministry. They are ready to help their people anytime, are so humble, and they help people and work as if they were many years younger than their actual ages.

On another note, from my time in the United States, it grieves me to say that I believe that much of the church in America is now in compromise. Instead of the church influencing the world, to a large extent the world is influencing the church. I am saddened when I see church leaders who fear to correct and rebuke sin because they don’t want to offend people. They want to have big numbers in their churches. Of course, not all are like this, but I have seen it in some churches which I visited and in how some pastors treated their people. That is why I say this.

In some churches I visited, I didn’t experience the move of God; I saw how to collect money. Many plans were made only to honor people rather than God, and bishops were mentioned more often in conferences than the name of God. When we elevate our money, plans, and people above God, this is a great sign of a dying church.

I urge American churches to change their vision and start planning to receive missionaries from other countries. To be honest before God, America as a nation has gone down spiritually. I don’t mean that American churches should stop sending missionaries to other countries, but I am challenging them to see the reality. Many people are focusing on sending missionaries, but I believe that there is also a need for missionaries to come from other nations who may help America to rise again.

May God continue to purify His church around the world and raise up godly leaders, like the Griffins, who will shepherd His people into the fullness of God’s purpose for this hour.