Author Archives: mansfieldgac

PASTORAL PERSONAL NOTE OF TESTIMONY AND THANKSGIVING

A SPECIAL PERSONAL NOTE FROM OUR PASTOR:

A fuller (more complete) and more personalized version of the post below is available on our podcast at the link at the bottom of this post…

MY TESTIMONY AND THANKSGIVING FOR THE MERCY AND GRACE OF GOD AND FOR THE PRAYERS, ACTS OF LOVE, AND GIFTS OF SUPPORT GIVEN TO US DURING MY BATTLE WITH CANCER

Since so many have asked about my present health and reports AND because so many have called, sent us cards and have given us such incredible expressions of love (from all around and beyond the country) and have sacrificially sent us gifts of support, I want to give a brief testimony here about the present situation AND express my humble and deeply emotional gratitude to all those how have prayed for me, my family, and church family, and who have so generously given of themselves in supporting us during this time. We received many cards filled with some of the kindest and most uplifting words, as well as gifts and aid of other kinds. Because the conditions at the time were very chaotic (with constant travel to doctors’ appointments, tests, scans, treatments, and surgeries), I was not able to keep track of the envelopes the cards came in and, in a number of cases, did not have a mailing address to send a thank you card. PLEASE forgive me if you sent us something (whether a card, gift, or other communication) and did not hear from me directly, letting you know just how deeply thankful I am for your love and support. I cannot even begin to express the emotion and appreciation I feel for you and for what you have done for me and my family during this time of crisis, and I pray that all those who sent us messages, cards, money, or gifts will read this and know, without doubt, how much you have meant to us. God bore us through this process, as brutal as it has been, on angel’s wings – and you have been the angels He used to lift me up and carry me.

The last year has been particularly challenging for us. After about two years of health issues (that the doctors could not resolve), a scan was finally done in October of 2021 that revealed invasive and aggressive cancer in several parts of my body. The diagnosis at that time was dire, including a very limited period of life as well as no possibility of any surgery or treatment that could remove or bring it into remission. Aggressive chemotherapy was the only option and was presented as, at best, only able to extend my life a short bit longer than without it. Despite that diagnosis, the chemotherapy almost immediately began shrinking the cancer, and my CEA numbers (that can be markers of the presence of aggressive cancer) almost immediately began slowly going down. The doctors were stunned at the progress though they continued to state that this was not a reversible or surgically correctible condition. After about two months of chemotherapy, the cancer (in all parts of my body) had gone down more than 50%. At that point, one of the top liver (where the bulk of the cancer was present) cancer surgeons saw my scans and said that he believed he could remove or burn up (with microwaves) all of the cancer in the liver – which was the principal cancer threatening my life. That surgery took place in April and was, blessed by the name of the LORD, completely successful. I then underwent surgery on the other mass of cancer in my body in July. God be glorified, it was also completely successful, and the scans following it have, thus far, shown NO CANCER presently working in my body.

I will be having one additional surgery in the near future (not yet scheduled) to essentially repair some of what the last surgery required to be done to remove the cancer. Then I will continue to have periodic scans to make sure it has not returned. It is our prayer, and I know you will be praying with us that it remains in remission and I can return to my full strength. Other than when recovering from surgeries for a brief time, I have been able to continue in my normal capacity in the ministry, though, due to several factors which we hope the surgery to come will resolve, and to a slightly compromised immune system, which is getting stronger, I have not been up to traveling yet or to be able to sit in an extended meeting. It is my hope and prayer that will be resolved by the end of this year or early next year since I LONG to see my brothers and sisters in the churches that, between COVID shutdowns and my own health crisis, I have not seen (at least not outside our area in Ohio) for the past 2-3 years – and I want to thank each of you and all of the churches, here in this update, but far better yet in person, when I am able to do so, for your prayers, love, support, shared strength, and all that you have done for me, for my family, and for the church that I pastor. THANK YOU, I LOVE YOU AND DEEPLY APPRECIATE YOU The audio of the complete and more personalized testimony and more detailed thanks can be found at the link below (or through the regular podcast links):

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1939729/11229494-personal-note-health-update-testimony-and-personal-thanksgiving-to-those-who-have-supported-us-with-words-actions-and-assistance-during-my-health-crisis.mp3?download=true

Apple Podcasts / iTunes
https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1609995442
Amazon Music
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b57ed749-0b87-4a4d-a206-86cfa1a67103/the-baer-truth-bible-study-subjects-and-messages-by-daniel-baer
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/62oyshFWrUEHoWArWyguHl
iHeartRadio
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-baer-truth-bible-study-92935591/

The Baer Truth Podcast

The audio of many of our pastor’s messages, Bible studies, and ministerial Bible studies (with the ministers he works with) are NOW AVAILABLE, COMPLETELY FREE to download on our new podcast, “The Baer Truth”. His original description of the podcast explains its name and what kind of materials will be included: The podcast will include Bible studies, messages, and discussions on biblical, typological, prophetic, and cultural issues. “The name ‘Baer Truth’ was chosen not to infer that this is truth that is only relative to one teacher (Daniel Baer), or that it is just one man’s version of the truth versus other men’s version of the truth since real truth cannot be relative, it is absolute. Nor was the name ‘Baer Truth’ chosen to infer that the things taught on this podcast by myself (and others involved in discussions) are inerrant/infallible truth without any potential need for any clearer or greater truth to be revealed or mined out on some subjects. Rather, the title of this podcast is a play on words intended to communicate that the desire of the speaker (Daniel Baer) is to get to the BARE truth in these teachings and discussions; a truth that is not colored or covered over by tradition or manmade interpretations, and which is what the Bible states clearly and/or infers obviously. Any teaching we do or messages we have not only seek to reveal the BARE truth but to remove all the manmade traditions that have tainted its original meaning and message. So, ‘The Baer Truth’ title simply refers to someone named ‘Baer’ seeking to get down to the ‘bare’ truth in any subject under discussion.”

Since its inception in February 2022, the podcast has grown to over 600 episodes and has been downloaded nearly 100,000 times.

You can access the podcast through most podcast channels, including through the links below:

Apple Podcasts / iTunes
https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1609995442
Amazon Music
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b57ed749-0b87-4a4d-a206-86cfa1a67103/the-baer-truth-bible-study-subjects-and-messages-by-daniel-baer
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/62oyshFWrUEHoWArWyguHl
iHeartRadio
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-baer-truth-bible-study-92935591/

OUR VISION and MISSION

The following describes the vision and calling that the Mansfield Gospel Assembly Church is built on, and which motivates and informs the teaching and culture of our church, its order, and the actions that calling compels

OUR VISION and CALLING

We are Preparing a Garner and Building an Ark

  • By building a tower; a city set on a hill with an unobstructed view of God’s word and God’s work
  • By building a haven of rest and rescue for the souls of men
  • By reaching those captive in sin and those imprisoned by religion, whether pseudo-Christian or pagan
  • By building a place of training and development for the preparation of the Bride of Christ

We are Seeking the Truth rather than Settling on Tradition

  • By uncovering the primitive and perfect truth of the word of God
  • By being anchored to and established on unmovable foundational truth
  • By building on a spiritual threshing floor of doctrinal discussion rather than a man-made tower of tradition
  • By developing a taste for the truth in those without the church
  • By developing a hunger for more of the truth among those within
  • By prioritizing a teaching ministry and producing teaching materials

We are Seeking to Walk in the Path of Righteousness

  • By holding a standard of righteousness unbent and unbowed to the pressure and preference of the times
  • By maintaining external standards that express our internal standards
  • By practicing and propagating holiness without and within
  • By presenting an immovable example of spiritual integrity in a day of moral inconstancy

We are Seeking to Develop the Spirit of Christ

  • By living out the principles of the personality of Christ
  • By striving for a will surrendered to God and a spirit of self-sacrificial love
  • By fully producing the fruits of the Spirit

We are Seeking to Restore the Church and Complete the Bride Company

  • By holding fast to an unwavering and unfailing vision
  • By maintaining a spiritually awakened awareness to the conditions and climate of the church and world
  • By preemptive spiritual and natural preparation
  • By developing a strong sensitivity and responsiveness to the Spirit
  • By sustaining a Spirit driven motivation for more of God in truth, in deed, and in power
  • By inspiring and exhorting the Body towards the final production of the Bride company

We are Striving to Present the Full and Entire Gospel Message

  • To call the lost out of the world of sin
  • To call the children of God out of Babylon
  • To call the Body of Christ to produce the Bride

OUR FOUNDATIONAL BELIEFS

“We are Striving to Build a 1st Century Church in a 21st Century World”
It is our strong conviction that the religious system that followed the church that existed in the 1st century fell away (fell into spiritual apostasy and into adulteration with the state) and must be restored back to its early (1st century period) purity in terms of doctrine, order, and operation. Due to this core belief, we are vigorous proponents of biblically based and biblically expressed statements regarding the faith: we prioritize biblical language for describing the faith over any later creedal statements or theological terminology made by church councils or theologians.
Given this spiritual impetus, the following is a general description of our foundational beliefs (using only biblical language, and NOT intended as a man-made creedal statement):
  • We believe in God the Father Almighty: sole supreme origin of all creation, of whom are all things
  • We believe in Jesus Christ the Lord: Son of God, Express Image, Arm, and Agent of the Invisible God, by whom are all things, and through whom exists the only hope of salvation
  • We believe in the Holy Spirit: Power and Presence of God, and the Agency through which man is born again and adopted into the family of God
  • We believe that the Body of Christ (the Church) and the 5-Fold Ministry of that Body is the Divine Order of God in the Earth commissioned and empowered to carry out the salvational operation of Go
  • We believe that the Body of Christ will produce the Bride of Christ: the governmental arm of God to rule and reign with Christ throughout the Millennial Reign
  • We believe the source of life and salvation is the Almighty God alone, and that by His design salvation is available only through His Son Jesus
  • We believe that full salvation is a progressive work that begins with faith and repentance and culminates with perfection: attaining the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: recreation into the image of Christ both without and within
  • We believe in the hope of the resurrection: that the dead in Christ will be raised incorruptible, and that those who have not attained full salvation will be raised to stand before the White Throne Judgment