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Donations

Donations

by Rick Shrader

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Thank you for your financial and prayer support of this ministry.  All proceeds go to Aletheia Baptist Ministries.

Donations may be made in two ways:

By Check:

Checks payable to “Aletheia Baptist Ministries” should be sent to:

Aletheia Baptist Ministries
103 Kinsley Ct
Smithville, MO 64089

By PayPal:

You may donate to Aletheia Baptist Ministries via PayPal by clicking here:

If you would like to receive our Aletheia articles and book reviews please subscribe by clicking here:

I would like to thank all of you for reading this publication and also for your end of the year gifts which you have so generously given throughout the years.  We have never wanted this to be a support ministry that takes needed money from church budgets. We appreciate your freewill gifts.  Please follow us on Facebook and on this blog.  Thank you!

Rick & Ann Shrader

**Please contact our office (aletheiaoffice@gmail.com) if you have any questions about ministry support.

 

 

Mary Slobodian: 1931 – 2014

Mary Slobodian: 1931 – 2014

by Admin

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maryOn July 22, Mary Slobodian, wife of BIEM and Baptist Global Mission founder, Peter Slobodian, passed into eternity. She went to join her husband, Peter, with the Lord, peacefully at her home in Gladstone, Missouri. She was 83 and is survived by 3 children, 11 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. 

The funeral service was on Saturday, July 26, 2014.

Interment at Lincoln Memorial Gardens, Zionsville, IN.

 

A pictorial history of Dr. Peter and Mary Slobodian from BIEM Missions on Vimeo.

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day:and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing”  (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

 


 

giving-God-the-Glory-148x226This is Peter Slobodian’s biography, “Giving God the Glory.”  It can be purchased through Baptist International Evangelistic Ministries.

 

ABM–20 Years of Leadership

ABM–20 Years of Leadership

by Rick Shrader

In the December issue I gave some of the history of Aletheia Baptist Ministries but I did not tell it all.  From the beginning in 1997, when Dr. Peter Slobodian started the original mission board called Baptist Global Mission, this ministry has been blessed to have been led by godly and qualified men who have served on the board of directors.

Dr. Slobodian’s good friend Rev. Dick Steinhaus (and mine) served as the first chairman of the board for ten years.  He loved Dr. Slobodian’s desire to take the gospel to Russia and Ukraine.  During those years also we were privileged to have serve as the first board of directors, Dr. Lance Ketchum, Elbert Dean, Rev. Roy Chestnut, and myself.  In 2001, Rev. Don Cox joined the board and served until 2009.  He was a good friend and overseas traveling companion with Dr. Slobodian.  In 2004 Terry Conley joined the board and, upon Rev. Steinhaus’ resignation, became the second chairman of the board, which position he still faithfully holds today.  In 2010 Bill McPherson joined the board and remains on the board today also.  Others who have served from time to time are Rev. Bernie Augsburger, David Curry, and Rev. David Zempel.

 

Twenty Years of Aletheia

Twenty Years of Aletheia

by Rick Shrader

 

 

My parents were school teachers so reading and writing was a given in the Shrader household.  Participation was also expected in the often protracted, sometimes volatile, but usually hilarious, dinner discussions.  My siblings are far more gifted in these things than I which caused me to have to work at school a lot harder.  Nevertheless God called me into the ministry and blessed me with wonderful opportunities in Bible colleges and fundamental churches over my early ministry years.

In 1993 I began to see a need to speak out about a failing culture.  Returning to the great state of Colorado, I started writing my thoughts and convictions in a small monthly paper and including short reviews of books I had read that month.  I chose the name “Aletheia” because it means “truth” in Greek, and because I had seen it used as a society name and liked it.  Second John verse two seemed to fit well, “For the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.”  And so I began.  I’ve never expected more from these writings than to be a blessing or encouragement to God’s people.  I hope I have at least accomplished that.  At the same time I started collecting quotations from those books and saving them in computer programs which my daughter Rebekah and son Michael have written. Articles and book reviews have become the major part of my website which has been managed by Rebekah for all these years.

By far the smartest thing I’ve done in life is marry Ann.  Her father, Peter Slobodian, was a Ukrainian immigrant first to Argentina, where Ann and Sam were born, and then to the United States where Debbie was born.  He was one of those original short-wave radio broadcasters from the 70s and 80s who sent gospel messages across eleven time zones and helped crack the Iron Curtain and allow the gospel to spread across that dark land.  His greatest accomplishment was to start BIEM (Baptist International Evangelistic Ministries) of which Sam now is president and which is responsible for hundreds of churches, church buildings, and other ministries from Russia  and Ukraine to Turkey and the Middle East.

Late in life, having retired from BIEM, Peter started Baptist Global Mission to help manage his ongoing retirement ministries.  I was the first Secretary of that ministry and when Dad passed away (June 24, 2005) I became the president.  From the beginning, Terry Conley has been with the board and is now the chairman of the board of Aletheia Baptist Ministries.  Dad’s vision was always for his homeland and countries behind the old Curtain.  He never met a young missionary that he didn’t try to convert to Russia or Ukraine.  But that couldn’t be my vision (and BIEM is still doing a tremendous job of it) so we changed our objective to helping churches in the USA and eventually changed the legal name to Aletheia Baptist Ministries.  Having written this paper for quite a few years as my own project, I continued writing under the common name.  Churches I have pastored have been gracious in allowing this ministry to continue with their kind help.  With my sister’s (Debra Conley) help we also began Discovering Baptist History Tours in England and Scotland.  We have completed ten trips so far.  For the last few years my youngest son Matthew has been our Educational Consultant as we have developed Bible Institute classes, helped start churches, and expanded our web site.  We are hoping that we can offer Institute classes online in the future.

My original goal was to write for at least twenty years.  Having come to that mark I think I may have a few years left to continue with God’s help.  We hope to print more materials, have a Bible Institute curriculum ready for use, and expand our website to include more access to things that will help the local churches.  Thank you for your interest in this ministry.  Your prayers are greatly appreciated.

 

Philosophy Statement

Philosophy Statement

by Admin

Philosophy Statement

Biblical. Aletheia Baptist Ministries believes that the Bible is our sole authority for faith and practice.  It is inspired and infallible and therefore must be followed specifically and to the best of our ability.  We believe that we will be judged only by Jesus Christ at His Bema Seat for the things that He has told us in His Word.  Believers of Jesus Christ are stewards of the Word of God.

Fundamental Baptist.  ABM considers itself to be a Baptist ministry which can be identified with the historical label, fundamental.  We believe that denominational names still have a great advantage in ministry over nondescript names and that a conservative approach to ministry is more honoring to God than a contemporary approach.  We identify ourselves with Baptists who are within this mindset.

Local Church.  We believe that the local church is God’s honored institution to carry out His mandates for this dispensation of grace.  Therefore our focus is on winning souls to Christ and establishing local churches.  It is through one’s local church that the believer can carry out the great commission, grow in grace, and practice the ordinances which our Lord commanded us to practice.

Gospel Outreach.  ABM supports not only the local church first, but also those fundamental, conservative agencies that promote the church, the gospel, and a conservative approach to ministry such as Christian schools, Bible colleges and seminaries, mission boards, publishing companies, and other ministries that help but do not compete with the local church.

Our Mission Statement.  Aletheia Baptist Ministries exists for the purpose of propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ specifically by planting and/or supporting local independent Baptist churches that are fundamental and conservative in their philosophy.  Our strategy in accomplishing this mission is to plant new churches in our ministry area.  Our tactics are to investigate locations within a broad radius of Kansas City, operating a Bible Institute, maintaining an informative web site, publishing materials, searching out like-minded men, and raising funds necessary to this ministry.

[Many of the issues mentioned in this statement have received a fuller treatment in various articles which can be found on this website]

 

Brief History

Brief History

by Rick Shrader

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Ministry Description

 

Aletheia Baptist Ministries is a Baptist organization that is fundamental and conservative in its philosophy, local church in its emphasis, as well as premillennial and dispensational in its theology.

ABM believes that the present trend among Baptist churches toward contemporary methodologies is a detriment to the gospel ministry and an affront to the holiness of God.  We do not believe that methods alone, no matter how pragmatically successful they may be, promote true belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Brief History

 

In 1993, Dr. Rick Shrader, then pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, Ft. Collins, CO, felt the need to begin writing a paper which he called Aletheia (the Greek word for “truth”). Seeing the growing trend toward compromise of godliness in conservative churches, Dr. Shrader began speaking out in a monthly publication to local church pastors and Christian educators. The paper is now in its twentieth year.

In 1997 Dr. Peter Slobodian (Dr. Shrader’s father-in-law) began Baptist Global Mission of which Dr. Shrader became the secretary. This was a foreign mission board actively involved in Russian and Ukrainian missions until Dr. Slobodian’s death in 2005. In the early years of that mission, Dr. Shrader made his Aletheia paper the writing arm of the mission board. Upon Dr. Slobodian’s death, Dr. Shrader became the president of Baptist Global Mission and suggested that the mission change its name to Aletheia Baptist Ministries and focus exclusively on home missions within the United States. This was unanimously accepted by the board of directors.

In 2005 ABM began a home mission emphasis using Kansas City as a geographical base for the project. The immediate goal was to plant 10-15 churches in 20 years within a 200 mile radius of Kansas City. This would be done by building a basis of education through a Bible Institute, promoting a conservative local church philosophy through an interactive website and other literature, and continually seeking men who would join in this endeavor.

As these goals are achieved, our prayer is that churches will be born and built to God’s glory, and that the gospel of Jesus Christ will be preached in more areas because of this ministry.

 

Core Beliefs

Core Beliefs

by Admin

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Statement of Faith

 

 

 

The following is our statement of faith. For each doctrine we give a brief but direct statement of what we understand the Bible to abundantly teach in that area. Verses are included for reference and are not intended to be exhaustive but exemplary of the Bible’s teaching.

 

 

Section 1 – The Bible

We believe that the Bible is God’s only written revelation to man (1 Cor 2:9-10); that it was supernaturally inspired by God’s Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21) and, therefore, is the perfect and infallible rule for doctrine and practice (2 Tim 3:16-17).  We believe that the Bible is to be interpreted literally (2 Peter 1:20), or normally, in its grammatical and historical context. We believe that it is inerrant and infallible in all subjects it addresses (Heb 4:12).

 

 

Section 2 – God

We believe there is one and only one true and living God (Deut. 6:4). He is the eternal Being who, being completely separate from the world, created the world and everything in it (Eph. 3:9). He has made Himself known to His creation as God the Father (Eph. 4:6), God the Son (John 14:9-10) and God the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:4,9), commonly called the Trinity. He is not three gods in one but one God manifested in three persons.

 

 

Section 3 – Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God (Jn 10:30) and has existed with God throughout eternity (Mic 5:2). He is the second person of the God-head who voluntarily laid aside the prerogatives of His position (though not His divine essence) for the sake of incarnation (Phil 2:5-8). He was born of a virgin (Isa 7:14), lived a sinless life (Acts 3:14), died and rose again bodily for our redemption (Acts 3:15). He ascended back into heaven and is now seated at God’s right hand (Heb 10:12) making everlasting intercession for the saints (Heb 7:25).

 

 

Section 4 – The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is fully God (Acts 5:4, 9) and exists as a divine person in the God-head (Rom 15:13). His unique job is to convict the world of man’s sinfulness, God’s righteousness, and the world’s coming judgment (Jn 16:8-11). He is the regenerating agent for salvation (Jn 3:5-7), the baptizing agent at salvation (1 Cor 12:13), and the intercessor in salvation (Rom 8:26).

 

 

Section 5 – Human Beings

We believe that man was created directly and immediately by God in His image and likeness (Gen 1:26-27). Man, therefore, unlike any other creature, is created to find his life’s fulfillment and fellowship in God (Acts 17:28). By man’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden, he forfeited that fellowship and became a sinner separated from God’s favor (Rom 5:12). Because man is an eternal being, possessing a soul made in God’s image, he will live eternally (Rev 20:12).

 

 

 

Section 6 – Spirit Beings

We believe that God created spirit beings called angels (Psa 68:17). From among these holy ministers of God, some fell into sin following Satan as their head (Isa 14:12, 2 Peter 2:4, Rev 12:9). We call those that remained holy “angels” (Rev 5:2) and those that sinned “demons” or “devils” (Rev 16:14). These beings, good and bad, are the only created beings that exist in purely spirit form without the need of a body (Heb 1:14).

 

 

 

Section 7 – Sin


We accept the fact that Adam and Eve were real persons (1 Cor 15:45-47). Their transgression was in direct disobedience to God’s command (Gen 2:17) and by that disobedience, death, including physical, spiritual and eternal, came upon them and all of their posterity (Rom 5:12). All human beings, therefore, are conceived carrying Adam’s sinfulness and are thereby sinners by nature (Psa 51:5). Man’s present state without Christ is one of being spiritually dead in that sin (Eph 2:1).

 

 

Section 8 – Salvation

Salvation is provided by the person (deity) and work (bodily resurrection) (Rom 10:9-10) of Jesus Christ for any sinner (1 Tim 2:1,4,6) who will repent of his sinfulness (2 Cor 7:10) and trust Christ as his Savior (1 Thes 1:9). This trust is not a work that man can do of his own merit (Eph 2:8-9) but is rather an act of acceptance of the work already done on his behalf by Christ (Titus 3:5). When a person has received Christ as Savior, it is God’s will for him to live a holy life (1 Thes 4:3). We believe that once a person has received Christ as Savior he is eternally secure in the keeping power of God (Jude 24).

 

 

Section 9 – The Church

The Church is God’s unique plan for this dispensation of grace (Eph 3:2, 3, 10). All those who have been saved since the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ have been placed into Christ’s body by Holy Spirit baptism (Jn 14:20, Acts 1:5, 1 Cor 12:13). It is God’s will, therefore, that every believer assemble together with other believers in a local church body (Heb 10:25, 1 Cor 5:4) and practice the ordinances of baptism (Matt 28:19-20) and the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:23-26). The church must take accountability for its members to keep them from falling back into a life of sinfulness (Matt 18:15-17).

 

 

 

Section 10 – The End Times

 

 

We believe that the next event in biblical prophecy is the imminent rapture of the church (1 Thes 4:13-16) in which those who are saved will escape the Tribulation (1 Thes 5:9). After the rapture, the seven year tribulation period will take place on the earth (Rev 7:14) in order for God to judge those left in unbelief (Rev 6:17). At the end of the seven years, Jesus Christ will return to the earth with the redeemed (Rev 19:11-16) to bind Satan (Rev 20:2) and to establish a thousand year kingdom (Rev 20:3-7) promised to saints of all ages. After the thousand years, God will judge the lost of all ages at the great White Throne judgment (Rev 20:11-15). The lost will be tormented forever in the lake of fire (Rev 20:14) and the redeemed will then live forever in heaven, the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:2).

 

 

 

Section 11 – The Eternal State

We believe that the Bible teaches a literal heaven (Rev 21-22) and a literal hell (Rev 20:14-15) and only those two destinations for the souls of all mankind. We believe that both are real to the senses and that both last forever (Matt 13:42-43). The New Jerusalem is equated with heaven (Rev 21:2) and will be the eternal abode for the righteous (Rev 22:1-6) while the lake of fire will be the eternal abode of the lost (Rev 22:18-19).

 

 

Conclusion

 

Our hope is that these beliefs will be a source of encouragement and will find a common bond in the hearts of other believers so that they may desire to join with us in fellowship.

 

ABI Homepage

ABI Homepage

by Admin

Aletheia Bible Institute

 

          Aletheia Bible Institute is a college level course of study for Christian lay people who want to increase their understanding of the Bible and its doctrines. Classes run for eight weeks consecutively in the Spring and again in the Fall. Our brochure provides further information concerning the upcoming classes as well as an overview of the ABI program. Our catalog provides a more detailed explanation of our various classes and of our program.

           We began offering classes in the Summer of 2011. Our brochure provides further information concerning the 2012 course dates and offerings.

          Aletheia Bible Institute exists for the purpose of helping believers increase in their understanding and use of God’s Word. The Apostle Paul instructed the Ephesian church to perfect the saints for the work of the ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). The writer of Hebrews commanded the believers to leave the basic principles of the doctrines of Christ and to go on further to perfection (Heb. 6:1). This perfection is what Christ is. The believer ought to strive for the remainder of his life to be more like Christ. Aletheia Bible Institute exists to help in this endeavor.

 

 

More About ABM

More About ABM

by Admin

Aletheia Baptist Ministries exists for the purpose of propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ specifically by planting and/or supporting local independent Baptist churches that are fundamental and conservative in their philosophy.

Aletheia has been publishing a monthly article since 1993 with the goal of providing a resource for those who are of similar convictions. Each month an article is posted on this website along with a few book reviews. We also have subscription information for those who would like to receive a paper copy in the mail. For nearly 20 years Aletheia has been a source of encouragement, information, and exhortation through the resources provided within this publication.

In recent years Aletheia has organized several trips to the UK. These trips are put together in order to learn more about our Baptist heritage. Aletheia has also grown to include Aletheia Bible Institute. The institute is located in Kansas City, Missouri and provides the believer with a chance to deepen their understanding and use of God’s Word. Information regarding the UK trip and the institute is available on this website.


Aletheia Baptist Ministries is a ministry dedicated to helping the local church grow in maturity through its various ministries.