Pastor's Psyche

Recently I just returned from a preaching conference in St. Clair, Missouri at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church pastored by Tom Smith. What a wonderful time of fellowship and challenging from the Word of God! 

I always enjoy the fellowship and meeting with other men of like mind. I always enjoy catching up with friends I have not seen in quite a while. I always enjoy meeting missionaries who stand the same way we stand. But, the best part to me is hearing the preaching and being challenged by the Word of God. Almost every pastor this year preached on being broken or hurting in the ministry. Nearly each of them shared the typical thinking of most pastors. Upon first becoming a pastor, one can not imagine anything being wrong. Sort of like Wilbur when he first arrives at the Zuckerman farm. Every one loves you, your ideas, and your visions. Then one day Wilbur hears of the "conspiracy" and soon fears for his life! Seems like the 'honeymoon' period last a while, but then people get used to their pastor and pastors get used to their people, and soon each is constantly looking over their shoulder. People leave, people grumble, people have problems, people are discontent, people start looking for 'greener grass,' people look for faults, and the pastor grows weary, pastor gets discouraged, pastor sees people's faults, pastor starts looking for 'greener grass,' pastor is discontent, pastor has problems, pastor grumbles, pastor is discouraged, and soon pastor leaves. If it wasn't so sad and destructive, it would be humorous to watch this vicious cycle keep repeating itself. There is much that could be said here, but we are focusing on the pastor and his thinking. I know I have only pastored for 8 years, but in those eight years I have learned a lot. I also served 7 years as an assistant pastor, and had the privilege of growing up in a pastor's home. So, I feel though still younger, I have more than normal experience and authority to speak on this matter even at my age. I've seen and studied the pastor's psyche. I've seen the thrills, visions, and excitements; I've seen the depression, grief, and isolation. I believe first the power of possibilities thrill a pastor. Paul shares in 1 Cor. 16:9 how that while in Ephesus "a great door and effectual is opened unto me..." For Paul, this was the festival for the worshipping of the goddess Diana. History teaches that over 2 million people would visit Ephesus during these days. Can you imagine Paul salivating at this opportunity to witness? No wonder he says, "I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost!" There are times when a pastor can only see the possibilities and envision what God can do! In these days the pastor has a smile on his face, a hop in his step, and is fellowshipping with all his members sharing that burden and getting them on board! Then come the adversaries! Paul would then say after sharing his vision, "but there are many adversaries." Demetrius, the silversmiths, and a great host of people would soon oppose Paul. The Devil hates visions and soon sends his attacks. These attacks come through opposition, health issues, family issues, finances, and depression. Study Acts and how many times in Paul's life that the Lord stood with Paul and said to "Be of Good Cheer." Paul would no doubt fight these things. In these days the pastor is quiet, withdraws himself, teary eyes, quiet, and even stern, "matter of fact" and performance motivated. It is at these times a church can help by encouraging him in prayer, words, cards, and expressions of love. At other times there is Doubt. I can't explain why, but the Devil whispers in pastor's ears frequently, and one of his most used messages is that the man of God is failing, inadequate, and some one else could do better. Jeremiah examples this after his calling from God in Jeremiah 1:4-10. Jeremiah heard God, but replied "Ah Lord God! behold I cannot speak; for I am a child." He sees himself as: 1. Injured "AH". This word is a Hebrew word used often to show pain. 2. Impaired "I cannot speak". Here Jeremiah sees himself as being impaired and unable to meet the required task. 3. Inadequate "I am a child" Surely Jeremiah thought others more mature and knowledgeable could do a better job! These same three areas are a battle with every pastor. In these three areas every pastor is fought. There are times when serving as a pastor brings hurt. None can grieve you more than those you love. The hurt is great when people fall into sin, quit, go elsewhere not led by God, complain, cause divisions, and such. Many times the hurt becomes to great and pastors get their eyes off the Lord. At other times, the Devil tries to convince the man of God that they "cannot speak." or that they "are a child." We see our faults, our weaknesses, our lack of knowledge, ability, or strength. Pastors hear all the 'blessings' of the other men of God and feel they have failed. Pastors see all that have left and miss all that have stayed. Pastors get caught up in numbers and feelings and forget promises and facts. There will always be hurt, there will always be others who can speak clearer, louder, bigger words, better personality, funnier jokes, more stories, better alliteration, more Scripture memorized, larger churches-but they are not you. The Lord told Jeremiah to shut up and encouraged his heart by telling him: 1. God gave him the people to minister to 2. God gave him the preaching to speak 3. God gave him the power to do it 4. God gave him His presence at all times If you are a church member, encourage your pastor at all times, pray for your pastor, and understand he is a man too who the Devil wants to discourage. If you are a pastor, realize who the enemy is, encourage yourself in the Lord, claim to the promises in His Word, and go on and thank the Lord for the people He has given you to minister to, and do your best with the promises of God on your side. If you are one of those people God has blessed me with to minister and serve, know I love you and thank the Lord for you and remind me of these same things when discouragement comes my way!

The Precepts,Priorities, and Practices of the Pastorate

As we have stated previously, in our opinion, there is no higher calling than the ministry. Knowing that we also read that the Bible states that a man that desires the office of a bishop (pastor) desires a good thing. What a blessing to have the privilege of pastoring God's people. We ended the last time discussing the qualifications for a pastor. We stated that we know of men who have left the pastorate due to circumstances beyond their control that caused them to be unqualified. We also stated that there are some men who have ignored and rationalized the ignoring of the Qualifications set forth in the Word of God.We must reiterate that it is man that has failed not God and God does not change His qualifications regardless of the circumstances. This week let us quickly look at the qualifications in the Bible for the office of pastor.
There are about 22 qualifications set forth in I Tim. 3 and Titus 1. Look at them with me individually. In I Tim. 3:1-7 we see the first qualifications. We first see that a pastor must be blameless. Does this mean he is perfect? Of course not. It means that in the course of his ministry he will be blamed for everything under the sun. He must live above those things and insure that none of them are true. It is a holy thing to be in the office of the pastor. It is important that the pastor be and remian "squeaky clean."
Secondly we see the qualification of being the husband of one wife. This qualification is misinterpreted, sometimes intentionally, so many times. It very plainly says he is to be the husband of one wife. When a man marries a woman, in the eyes of God they are married until separated by death. Note several things concerning this qualification. A man cannot be divorced and pastor. He can do other things such as teach S.S., usher, etc. but he cannot serve as a pastor. Now if his wife has died or does die, he is free to marry another. It does not mean though one wife at a time. This was never in the mind of God! Also, this qualification eliminates a woman from serving as a pastor. Of course there are other scriptures that support that such as a woman not teaching or usurping authority over the man. Face it - the office of the pastor is a position of authority. This again has been intentionally misrepresented to meet someones circumstances. Many would say but it is God that calls to the ministry. We do not intend to lower the status of a woman but to the contrary. God and the Bible elevates womanhood. We are simply saying that we cannot change the qualifications for any reason.
Next we see the qualification of a man being vigilant. This means to be calm and on guard at all times. It goes with the next one and that is sober. A man must be sober or serious or level in his attitude and actions.
For our final one this week let us look at the qualification of good behavior. This means he should be orderly in his conduct and his integrity above question at all times. He cannot do questionable things. Many men are not in the ministry today because they were careless. Careless with money, around females, in their behavior. Kidding is fine but not when it leads to questioning his character. We will link this to the next qualification next time. God bless and pray for your pastor!

Ordained Staff of Cozaddale Baptist Temple

We have seen the senior pastors, the missionaries and the evangelist of Cozaddale, this week we are going to look at the pastoral staff who have served  Cozaddale Baptist Temple over the years. In May of 1980, Pastor Ted  Woody traveled to Baptist Bible College in Springfield, MO to look for someone to fill a need of a growing church in the position of associate pastor. While there he met and interviewed Bro. Roy Keiter. The following January of 1981, Bro. Keiter and his wife Karen moved to Goshen, Ohio and Bro. Keiter became the first full time staff member of the church in addition to that of the pastor. Bro. Keiter's duties as associate pastor were, youth director, overseeing the Junior church, cleaning and maintaining the buildings, he and Bro. Richardson led the choir, Bro. Keiter led the congregational singing and was very instrumental in the building of the present auditorium. Bro. Keiter  had a strong desire to faithfully serve the Lord and he allowed the Lord to use the various  talents He had given him to do so. Bro. Keiter and his wife had two children  (Ryan and Cindy) while at Cozaddale. They faithfully served until the spring of 1990 when they left under the ministry of Bro. Williams.  Bro. and Mrs. Keiter now have four children and he is currently pastor of Gospel Light Baptist Church in Loveland, Ohio where he has served for 22 years. Pictured on the upper right hand corner is  a photo of Bro. Keiter and his wife Karen taken around 1982 or 1983.

The second full time associate was Bro. Rick Sallee. Bro. Sallee began attending  Cozaddale in 1972, when he and his family moved from Cincinnati to the Goshen area. Bro. Sallee was 12 years old when he first came to church. He was saved at the age of 14 under the ministry of Pastor Bill Webb and was very active as a young person around the church. Under the ministry of  Bro. Ted Woody  he went to Baptist Bible College in 1977, where he  met his wife, Lydia.  After college Bro. Sallee served  churches in Texas and Ohio from 1981 till 1987. His hearts desire was always to return and serve the Lord through the ministry of Cozaddale Baptist Temple.  After counseling with  Bro. Woody he returned to Cozaddale in 1987, found a job in a local factory and became busy  in the church ministries. On April 1, 1990, the Cozaddale Baptist Temple under the direction of Pastor Rick Williams extended a call to Bro. Sallee to become  assistant pastor. Bro Sallee accepted. Bro. Sallee and his wife have now been  involved in the ministry of Cozaddale for 22 years . Bro. Sallee and his wife Lydia are pictured on the left. 

          The third full time staff member  was Bro. Jordan Green. Bro. Jordan Green came on staff in August 1996. Bro. Jordan was a graduate of Ambassador Baptist College in Lattimore, NC.  While serving at Cozaddale Baptist Temple, he was involved in many aspects of the ministry.  He worked in the Christian school, had a bus route, and visited the elderly.  The Lord blessed Bro. Jordan's ministry while he was at Cozaddale by allowing him to meet his wife Bethany Gabbard who was a pastor's daughter from Indiana.  Mrs. Beth faithfully served along side her husband while they were at Cozaddale until the Lord called them to serve as missionaries in Mexico in 2004.  Pictured on the left is a picture of Bro. Jordan and his wife Bethany.  

 The fourth full time staff member was Bro. Travis Burke who came in 1997 to organize and be the administrator of Cozaddale Baptist Academy, one of the ministries he faithfully served in until the church called him to be the senior pastor in 2004. More of his ministry can be seen in the section about pastors of Cozaddale.

     Bro. Lee Carr was the fifth person to be called to serve as an associate in the ministry of Cozaddale. Bro.Carr was raised in a Christian home and surrendered to the ministry during his teen years. Bro. Carr went to Fairhaven Baptist College, where he graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Education degree majoring in English.  It was during this time that Bro. Travis Burke was looking for a staff member to fill a spot in Cozaddale Baptist Academy which had now grown under his leadership. Bro. Carr had completed his schooling in December of 1997, and would not be graduating until the next spring. Bro. Carr came to Cozaddale Baptist Academy in January of 1998, to work with Bro. Burke  and returned to Fairhaven in the spring to receive his diploma. Upon Bro. Travis Burke's call to the pastorate of the church in 2004, Bro. Carr became the administrator of Cozaddale Baptist Academy where he continues to serve. Pictured on the right is Bro. Carr with his wife Shanda whom he met while serving at Cozaddale.
As the needs of the school and the church continued to grow Bro. Ben Souza came on full time staff in August of 1999 . Bro. Souza served as a school teacher and was very active as  staff worker.Bro. Sousa served until August of 2001.
 These are the men who have been ordained into the Gospel ministry and have served the Lord at our church. There have been many others who have faithfully served as teachers at the Cozaddale Baptist Academy and we are very grateful for the time they have spent with us.

The Precepts,Priorities, and Practices of the Pastorate

We wrote last time of the priorities,precepts and practice of the local church. It is necessary then to begin with the pastor. We see in Eph. 4:11 that God gave to the church pastors and teachers. It is God that calls a man into the ministry. Much to the detriment of the cause of Christ and the power of the church we have observed over the years too many men in pulpits that will admit God never called them into the ministry. When I speak of being called I mean that urging, desirous and undeniable speaking to the heart by God. I do not mean an audible voice but the voice of the Holy Spirit. Personally God called me to preach at the age of 17. I had only been saved about a year. One evening in the middle of the night I was awakened by such a burden that I began to weep and knew not why. Being a young Christian I thought you were supposed to talk to the Lord so I began to pray (Oh that we would stay in that condition.) I slipped out of my bed at 4 am and simply asked the Lord as to why I was so burdened and distressed. He did not speak to me audibly but He might as well have as the the Lord instantly gave me the answer. He wanted me to preach and go into the ministry full time. I surrendered that morning to the call of God, walked the aisle the next Sunday and made public God called me to preach. I preached my first sermon the next Sunday and have been preaching ever since. Now if a man is called then I am puzzled at the multiplied hundreds of preachers who just quite! The Bible teaches in Romans 11:29 that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. In other words, God does not change His mind when He calls a man.
A man that is called to pastor of course must meet the qualifications outlined in the Bible. Perhaps many quit because they are not qualified. If so then I respect their character to leave the ministry. However, it is MAN that failed not God. God called and man failed. We have all heard for many years that the pastor is "Momma called and papa sent." Unfortunately that too is sometimes true. Many enter the pastorate without the call of God. He has become a hirling. Much respect and reverence for the man of God has been lost due to men in pulpits that should not be there. It is not my job to determine that in a person's life but 45 years of service and observation makes me know it is true.
We stated that a man that desires the office of pastor desires a good thing. Then certain qualifications are set forth in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1. We have seen men who have become unqualified through no fault of their own. That is of course a tragedy but it does not change the facts given in the Word of God. Again many men stay in the ministry after they are disqualified for a number of reasons - money,comfort, desire of the church,etc.
There are 3 words used to denote the pastor and they are interchangeable. They are bishop, elder and pastor. Each of these terms can denote the different duties of the pastor. Biblicaly he is the overseer, ruler and shepherd. He is given the duty of overseeing the church of God. He also retains the dignity of the office as an elder. As the pastor or shepherd he shows the design of the office.
We must keep in mind that it is God that calls men into the ministry, the church that ordains them and sends them out and the Holy Spirit that places them in the position. We will expound on that and continue with the precepts, priorities and practice of the pastorate. However if we stoped now it is evident that the Lord intended the church to follow, respect and reverence the office the man of God holds.

A Pastor's Duty to Protect

Matthew 7:15 reads, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." Here, Jesus was warning His disciples that they would need to be constantly on alert for false prophets. He describes the false prophets as ravening wolves; but He warns them, that these wolves will at times make themselves appear as sheep. Discernment according to the Word of God is demanded.
We later read in Acts 20:28, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Here Paul is warning the elders from the church at Ephesus concerning the same pastoral duty. Notice, the pastor first must "take heed unto yourself". A pastor must be right with God. A pastor must constantly be on his knees, examining his heart in accordance with Scripture, and making absolute sure that what he is teaching is founded in the Word of God. It is then that Paul says a pastor has the duty to watch over the flock as an undershepherd. A church is the Lord's, not a pastors; but the Lord has given to each church an undershepherd to care it. The pastor is to oversee the work, to feed the church, to respect the church in light of its value (His own blood). Paul would go on to write that "grievous wolves" would try to enter in and would not spare the flock. He even warned in verse 30, "also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." Paul here warns that there would even be pastors who would 'rise up' speaking lies and "draw away disciples after them." Be weary of every pastor who has a cultic following, whose followers look to him as a spiritual guru, who lords over God's people. These men are wolves.
Peter spoke of this in his first epistle in chapter 5: "The elders which are among you....feed the flock of God which is among you...neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock." A pastor is to lead, but as an ensample. Their life should be one to pattern after, for it should be one in harmony with the Word of God.
A pastor's duty to protect is taught in Scripture; but it should be pointed out that this duty is limited to "the flock of God which is among you..." and "to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers..."
It seems like some men of God today have taken upon themselves to protect "the flock" that God did not put them over. While I am thankful for men who will stand for truth and point out error; when dealing with the Lord's churches, one must be careful.
God did not make me the overseer of any Baptist church but one-the Cozaddale Baptist Temple. As her pastor, one of my Biblical duties is to warn her of false teachers and error. I seek to do just that. I do not see it as error to use platforms such as this blog to point out anti-christs and false churches; but those of the household of faith, we must respect the fact that the Lord set the members, the powers that be are ordained of God, and the it was the Holy Ghost which made that man the overseer of that church.
The root of the problem is what is being ignored. It is the false teaching of the Universal Church and fundamentalism that has dragged the Lord's churches into this mud slinging. A proper understanding of Scripture would forbid the Lord's churches into joining with the fundamentalist movement. A proper understanding of Scripture would point us to the fact that a pastor's overseeing is for the local church that God has placed him in.
I may not agree with _________ Baptist Church, and I may warn my people of the errors in ___________ Baptist church, but outside my people, where do I have that responsibility? Paul's exposing must be considered in light of the fact that he was God's evangelist sent to establish that church and the Holy Spirit was using Paul to write His Word for our learning in how to handle these matters.
The bottom line is found in a gross misunderstanding of the local church and pride. I say this because when it comes to all the "protecting" of God's people going on with pointing out the errors of other local churches publicly-how much is based upon DOCTRINE?
Seems like all we hear about is dress, music, and standards; but doctrine is never mentioned. Don't get me wrong, the Bible teaches standards and high standards for God's people; but how about doctrine? Why is it that we must point out and "Warn" every other fundamentalist about this church allowing rap music, but we ignore universal church teaching, open tables, close tables, and alien baptism? We can live by "well we don't all see it the same way" philosophy when it comes to these matters, but not if that church sings a Gaither song.
Again, don't get me wrong-I teach to the church the Lord has made me an overseer, holy living and I mentioned to our church yesterday the danger of the Southern Gospel INDUSTRY, but it was to my people and I also believe that doctrine matters too.
Seems somewhat hypocritical to separate over "standards" but not "doctrine"; or maybe, just maybe, we should spend more time doing what God told us to do-"take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers..."
It is a pastor's duty to protect the church the Lord has made him an overseer of; and I just believe that if our efforts and energies were spent on that and not so much trying to "lord over God's heritage," our local churches might be stronger and more pure.

If interested in playing fantasy baseball with some Baptist only for free, there is a league forming

Very early on in the life of Cozaddale Baptist Temple she had a heart for missions. One of the very first missionaries she supported is still on the field and is still supported by the church, Bro. John Bacon and his wife Elisa have been working with the American Indians for forty-four years.  The Lord has blessed Cozaddale with missionaries out of and through the local Church. Bro. Steven Harris, being the first, was born and raised  in the Central Africa Republic. His parents, Ward and Sarah Harris, were missionaries there. In 1979, Bro. Steven Harris returned to the United States to finish high school and lived with one of the families attending Cozaddale Baptist Temple and thus began his relationship with Cozaddale. Bro. Harris met his wife Peggy at the church and they were married in 1984. Bro. Harris was ordained and sent out of Cozaddale as a missionary March 16, 1986. He  and his family are pictured on the right.  The picture shown is of Bro. Harris and his family shortly after that time (his wife Peggy, daughter Sarah and his son Simon).   Bro. Harris and his family left for the field of New Zealand in May of 1989, where they served until their third child, who was born in New Zealand, was diagnosed as having an inoperable brain tumor. Due to Social Health regulations they were required to return to the United States. In April of 1991, their daughter died and that same day they were informed that their visa to New Zealand had been revoked.  After much prayer they were led to Bullhead City, Arizona to plant a local church. On February 5, 1993, they arrived in Bullhead City and immediately began knocking doors from the Colorado River and the California border and working north. The plan was to hold services in the home but no visitors ever came to their home so they moved to a store front building. On May 2, 1993, the first service at the store front (pictured on the left) was held. After ten years of labor it was time for the mission work to become a church. On the first Sunday, May 4, 2003, Pastor Wayne Burke, Bro. Larry and Ruth Wilson were present for the organization of the church. Bro. Wayne Burke preached  and Bro. Larry Wilson signed the charter as a witness. There were forty people who signed the charter membership of the Mohave Baptist Church and was now an autonomous church. Bro.Harris did not feel led to stay as pastor. On November 23, 2003, the pastorate was passed on to Bro. Johnson. Bro. Harris and his family returned to Cozaddale Baptist Temple November  29th, where they served  out of until going to the field of Mexico on March 3, 2005. They presently serve  in the city of Magdalena in the state of Sonora, Mexico.

On July the 8, 2001, the Lord blessed Cozaddale Baptist with another missionary family.  Bro. Colin Christensen, his wife Sandi, and their daughter, Candice, united with  Cozaddale Baptist Temple. Bro. Christensen and his family have faithfully served on three foreign mission fields. They had served in Mexico (1970 until 1974) , the Philippines (1978 until 1988) and Hungary (1993-2007). They were planting a church in Tata, Hungary when circumstances dictated a need to leave for their own safety. With the counsel of their Pastor, Bro. Travis Burke, they returned to their church and awaited God's direction. An opportunity arose for Bro. Christensen to serve in a ministry he had a great burden for and had been trained for. He began assisting in the translating of the Word of God into languages that had no pure text. (He had received training from and served as an instructor with Baptist Bible Translators Institute  between his ministry in Mexico and the Philippines.)  It was through this ministry he was able to see a dream become a reality.  He had begun a translation into the Cabuano language before he left the Philippines. The last ministry Bro. Colin was in was Bearing Precious Seed Global.  As part of the ministry he and Bro. Steve Zeinner took a trip back to the Philippines. Bro. Colin was received by the local churches with an enthusiastic welcome and was able to see the New Testament he had began translating many years ago completed by the nationals and in the hands of the Filipino but  more importantly to Bro. Collin was to see the blessing of God upon it. Shortly after this visit he was diagnosed with cancer and he passed away on Saturday, September 3, 2011.

On November 10, 1996, Bro. Bob Hottle and his family joined Cozaddale Baptist Temple. Bro. Hottle had a strong desire to serve the Lord and quickly became involved in the ministries of the church. Bro. Hottle continued to grow in the desire to serve through the local church. Pastor Travis Burke has a desire to begin to plant churches not only through our full time missionaries but also through the hands on ministry of the local church. The Lord led to a small town in  Highland County, Ohio called Lynchburg. An old Methodist  church that was no longer being used was located and secured. The Lord worked mightily not only in being able to secure the property but also in the growth of the church. The members from the Cozaddale Baptist Church were able to go sit in the services and to assist in any needed areas. The mission was now ready to become its own church. On January 20, 2008, at 2:30 in the afternoon Cozaddale Baptist met with the mission in an organizational service. Bro. Hottle opened in prayer, the congregation singing was led by Michael Hottle, then Bro. Hottle recognized local pastors and turned the service over to Bro. Travis Burke. Bro Burke recommended to the Cozaddale Baptist Temple  forming Anchor Baptist Church. The vote was  unanimous. 

With six years now past the Anchor Baptist Church has continued to grow not only in number but more importantly in spiritual maturity. Bro. Burke and Cozaddale have now  placed their  eyes upon a new area for another church plant. Here again the members will be involved not only in the praying and monetary support of the work but once again in a hands on experience. The new mission is to be called Hope Baptist mission and is located about forty-five minutes from the church. The street address 5914 Vine Street, Elmwood Place, Ohio. The storefront is pictured to the left side of page. (As you can tell by the picture Elmwood has become a very run down area. The businesses have all moved away. Elmwood is a place desperately in need of the gospel.) The entrance is on the side of a day care building. The first service will be held on April 1, at 2:30 in the afternoon. Bro. Wayne Burke, evangelist out of Cozaddale Baptist will be preaching and the church will be taking a group of members down to participate. The verse that came to Pastor Burke's mind as he and some other men walked through Elmwood seeking God's direction was Romans 15:4 "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scripture may have hope." 

Cozaddale Baptist Temple was again blessed on October 31, 2010, when Pastor Wayne Burke and his wife, Rhonda, returned to minister to and out of the church.  Bro. Wayne Burke had served as senior pastor of Cozaddale for ten years before moving to Arkansas City, Kansas to help a struggling church. While there the Lord blessed his ministry and the church grew in every area of ministry. Because of health reasons he resigned the church in Kansas and returned to Cozaddale Baptist Temple. Since his return Bro. Wayne Burke has served by teaching the adult Sunday school class, teaching institute, teaching Bible in the Christian school, always being an encouragement to the church, preaching revivals for other churches and filling pulpits as area pastors need to be away. Bro. Burke returned to Cozaddale with many fond memories of pastoring  at Cozaddale, one of them was for 10 years of freedom to preach the whole counsel of God without reprisal and great response. The Lord blessed his years of pastoring here and is once again blessing his years here as staff evangelist.