Welcome to Always Abounding. This podcast will encourage you as a believer to continue on and always abound in the work of the Lord. Now your host, Keith Stensis. And welcome once again to our podcast, Always Abounding. This is your host, Brother Keith Stensis, here in Milton, Florida. Milton, Florida, right outside of Pensacola, Florida, in the panhandle of Florida. We are having a great time here at the Victory Baptist Church. Pastor Tim Fuller is the pastor here, and we are involved in attending their Emerald Coast Jubilee Conference. And we're excited about being here and already had some great, great preaching. And I'm so excited about what the Lord has been working in my heart about and even what he's going to continue to do in the meetings to follow. I do want to thank you so much for your prayers on our behalf. I tell you what, God has just blessed so much in our travels. And as you know, if you've been following along, we are just finishing up our Florida meetings. We'll be heading up to Mississippi right after this for a couple of meetings, then on up to Missouri and Nebraska as we finish out the month of January. And then Lord willing, the rest of February will be in meetings in the state of Texas. And so your continued prayers on our behalf would be so appreciated. And so, I mean, we're just so thankful for what you have done for us in that regard. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse number 58, therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. And how true that is. Our labor is not in vain. It is a taxing labor sometimes. Sometimes it can be discouraging. Sometimes there can be a lot of issues and problems that come along the way. But if we are abounding in the work of the Lord, we can rest assured that our labor is not in vain. Well, since the last time I talked to you, we have been at the Bible Baptist Church in Bartow, Florida, Pastor Jesse Maxwell. We had a great, good meeting there with them. And that was actually a surprise meeting. We didn't have that on the schedule, but God worked it out and we were able to be with them and present the ministry of what God is doing there. And so we thank the Lord for that. And then right after that, we traveled up and we were part of the Bible Baptist church. in DeLand, Florida, Pastor James Knox. And just, I tell you what, we had a great, great time there. And as you know, we've been praying for Brother Knox and his health and his battle with cancer. And I would ask that you continue to pray for him. He is a long way from being out of the woods. and had the opportunity of going out with him for breakfast with his associate, Brother Brown, and also went out with Brother Holt, a missionary from Sierra Leone, and just had a great time of fellowship with them. So just continue to pray for Brother Knox. And just shortly before we came, Brother David Brown, just because of the situation with Brother Knox and his health, He is now the co-pastor there at the Bible Baptist Church. And so we would have a good time with them. We stayed with the Browns in their home and just treated us so wonderfully. And I do want to give a shout out to them. I know that both. Brother David and Lauren listen to this podcast and I just thank you for your friendship and thank you for your prayers and and Appreciate all that you're doing there for the Bible Baptist Church as well as for your pastor brother Knox and And I know that you have a great part in holding his hands up and helping the Bible Baptist Church literally reach and have an impact for the Lord Jesus Christ all around the world. Also, I want to give a shout out to Brother Eric and Rebecca Dillevaux. They're at the Bible Baptist Church. Again, faithful listeners to the podcast. We had a great time with Rebecca at the youth activity and just had a a joyful time with them and brother Eric wasn't able to be there at the church. But I do want to just send a shout out to them and thank the Lord for them and what they're doing for the Lord there at the Bible Baptist Church. And we sure appreciate your faithfulness. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much as well. for praying for us. That is so much appreciated. Just to give you a brief update on Uganda, I would ask that you continue to pray for our property that we're trying, as you know, these last couple of weeks we've been able to see actually three of our churches finalize on their church properties. We're excited about that. Continue to pray for the Chasenya property. for Chausenia Independent Baptist Church. We have someone who is willing to help us out with that property. So we're excited about that. But the owner is still just kind of hedging back and forth as far as what he is wanting to charge for the property. And so just pray that that goes through. Brother Simaganda Francis is the pastor there and he is just doing a wonderful job. He is a soul winning machine and I really, really appreciate him. And I believe that The work that he has done there and the effort that he is putting in for the cause of Christ, I believe that they are worthy of this property and worthy of developing that structure there to house the people that they have been reaching with the gospel of Jesus Christ. So pray for Brother Semagonda Francis and the church there that we can get that property finalized. Also Pastor Paul Saranjoji there at Masaka Independent Baptist Church just this week finished up the Tri-Annual Bible Institute and they had a great time. Sent me a picture of the men that came. There were 19 pastors and church leaders that came for that Tri-Annual Bible Institute and just had a great time. I got a lot of good feedback from there and excited about what the Lord is doing there. Also continue to pray about the the pickup truck that we're finishing up raising the funds for and pray that God will continue to bring that in and as we try to make our ministry up in Caledo much more efficient so pray that God will provide that. You know, it's amazing to me, and let me just say this, we'll get right into our podcast. It is amazing to me, and I've told you this so many times, that when you get people involved in the ministry, and when as a missionary we don't go over there, and do all the work for them. And they begin taking ownership of their property and ownership of their structures and their buildings. It is amazing to me how much they will do on their own to see the work of God accomplished. And I just want to give you a couple of examples because I just heard about these from this last week. Our church in Buzidongo, as you know, they just finished putting up their building there. And we did that reciprocal thing that I talk about so many times. They made the bricks for their building. We provided the cement. They provided the poles. We provided the iron sheets. And now it is interesting that they have come. They just sent me pictures of on their own. They painted their entire building inside and outside their building. And they did not ask for a shilling from me, not a dime from me. They did it all on their own. It was just so exciting to be able to see that. Also our church in Garumide that we follow the same principle. They just sent me pictures of them completing a front porch or a front veranda there in the front of their building. Once again did it all on their own and it is just so encouraging to me to see these guys look at their buildings, look at their properties. This is what God has given to us. We're not going to wait for somebody else to do this for us, but we are going to get involved and our people are going to get involved. And I've seen this work over and over and over and over again. And so I am very, very excited about these two churches, as well as other churches that we will be involved in when we get back to Uganda. So continue to pray for us. Again, our goal, we have airplane tickets for March the 19th. And so we're excited about getting back to Uganda and continue the work there that God has called us to do. Well, today we're going to take a little break from our verse-by-verse study in 2 Timothy, and I'm gonna introduce you to a friend of mine that I've known for many years now, someone that I highly respect and admire. And I just, so thankful for the work that he is doing for God here in Milton, Florida. And that is Pastor Tim Fuller. Pastor Fuller, thank you so much for being on the podcast today. And thank you for, I know you're busy. You've got a lot going this week. And so thank you for taking a few minutes with me. I appreciate it. Well, Keith, I'm honored to do this and love you and love the ministry the Lord has given you. Amen. And it's a blessing to be able to spend a little bit of time together. Amen. Now we came this week, I remember a year ago I called you and just to see if we could set up a meeting with you. And the time that I was coming through, you mentioned that you were going to have your Emerald Coast Jubilee that you have every year. And so you invited us to come. I'm so thankful you did because I need preaching as much as anybody else does. And so it's been great to just be able to sit back and be preached to. Tell me a little bit about your Emerald Coast Jubilee. How did that come to being? What do you do with that ministry? Sure. So when I came to the church 30 years ago as pastor, Wanted to have an annual meeting, emphasize strong preaching, great music. There weren't a lot of, really weren't any meetings of this kind in the panhandle that we knew of. The kind of preachers that I wanted to bring in. There were good meetings, but a little bit of a different flavor. And so we started it really that, my first year I came in May, and so January of the following years was when we started it and having it ever since then. And just trying to bring in what I consider to be some of the greatest preachers in America right now. And it has just grown and it has been a great blessing, a wonderful way for us just to start the year off with a spiritual bang. And that's really how it came about. And you have people that come from all over the country to visit. We do, we do. Carolinas, we have a pastor from Illinois here. Yeah. Yeah, come from quite a ways. Yes, sir. That's great. Well, again, I am so grateful that we have an opportunity to be a part of it. Now, you mentioned that you came here 30 years ago. Maybe take us back a little bit further and tell us how you came to know Christ. How you, from the time you got saved to getting in the ministry, how did all that come about? Sure, sure. So my testimony, Brother Keith, is I was raised in a pastor's home. My dad was a pastor in Northwest Florida, not far from here. And I trusted the Lord when I was seven years old. I can remember it just as clear as it was yesterday, September 27, 1976, back bedroom of a little white country frame house on Muskogee Road about an hour from here. And then just the year after, I surrendered to preach as just a kid and just felt in my heart, that's what the Lord wanted me to do. And so really, my testimony is that I grew up in a preacher's home, around preachers. Ministry and preaching was pretty much the only thing that I knew. It is the only thing that I ever wanted to do. Went off to Bible college, Pensacola Christian College, graduated in and worked for a year for a pastor friend, the other side of Tallahassee and eventually made our way. And I can tell you how we got here, but eventually made our way to this ministry. So in a nutshell, that's how I came here. Kind of reminds me of, you know, I always hear of guys and I know that they're legitimate and there's nothing wrong with it, but guys that, you know, fought the call of God to preach and ministry and, you know, you know, just, you know, they're there, but that wasn't their desire. But I was like you were, I didn't know anything else. You know, there was, there was no other, you know, it's not that my dad forced us into it. It's just that we were raised in an environment of ministry that I couldn't think of doing anything else, you know. All of our life growing up, and my dad pastored several churches, but, But the whole church life and our home life was so meshed together. It was just such a part of everything that we did. You couldn't imagine not being involved in ministry and church and visitation and everything. And the exposure that we got, the meetings that we went to and the preachers that dad would have in. We were exposed to the greatest preachers of our childhood. They were my heroes. And so I think when you're raised in an environment like that, I know there is a call, and God doesn't call every child in that, but when you're raised in that environment, it's almost natural, if I could say it that way. to want to be in the ministry and it's fertile ground for the Lord to call you. Amen. And so how did you, how did you arrive here in Milton, Florida at Victory Baptist Church? Sure. So, so my dad, um, was in evangelism. Um, and he knew the founding pastor of this church, Dr. Tom Woodward, uh, from way back in the seventies. They knew each other for a long time. And Dr. Woodward had started this church. He had started the printing ministry. Back then it was called Victory International Printers of Scripture. Rather small, didn't have any name out. And so, well, Woodward asked my dad if he would start representing that ministry in his meetings and going out. And so dad, that's how dad did that. Well, about that time we got married, like I said, I was on the other side of Tallahassee in a church, and was there for a year, assistant pastor, teaching school. It was kind of a, the Lord put us there, taught us some great things under the man that was there. We knew that it was not a longterm. And then Dr. Wilbert called and asked if we would go on the road representing the ministry as well. And so felt the burden to do that. And so in 92, August of 92, my wife and I put everything in storage, packed our car and basically did deputation. Joined the church, we did deputation. So we did deputation for two years for the ministry, raising support for it. And about the time that we, became affiliated with the ministry, Dr. Woodward found out that he had cancer. And so he began a two year battle with cancer. And really got it late, is what he did. So he knew he was losing the battle. This was 30 years ago. And so, long story short, May of 94, he dictated a letter from his bed to the church. And the letter basically said, I'm eventually gonna lose this battle. You need to think about the future of the church, but somebody has a burden for the printing ministry to keep it going. So he recommended that they call me as interim pastor for as long as he lived. And then when he eventually passed, for me to step in as pastor. And I remember the night, my wife and I, we were in Grand Prairie, Texas, right outside Dallas, a meeting. And two of the men called us that night. And I'm trying to think, I don't think I knew that that was going to happen. But they called us that night, what do you do? This is your home church, what do you do? So we felt like it was the Lord, prayed about it. I told the men that we would accept it. The plan was for me to finish out the summer of meetings, cancel the fall, and eventually make our way home. That was on a Sunday night. He passed away on Wednesday. So we packed up, we came home on Thursday, I preached his funeral on Saturday, and the next Sunday stepped in as pastor. 48 years, 49 years, church has not yet been a Sunday without a pastor. And so that's basically how it happened. I don't know that I would have taken the church, because I didn't have a hankering to pastor. We liked what we was doing. But the influence of your pastor, the need, we just knew it was the Lord. And so if we make it to May, we'll be 31 years. So that's how it happened. So you represented, you and your dad represented Victory Baptist Press before it was Victory Baptist Press. We did, yeah. And wow, I did not know that. Wow, praise the Lord. You know, somewhere along the way we changed the name, just make it shorter, easier to remember. Right, yeah. Now, so let me ask you this. I came to know you through my home church, through my pastor. So how did you come in contact with Capital City Baptist Church? Do you remember? I do, I do remember. So Brother Jack Wood was kind of a hero for me. In fact, I was able to have him here a couple of times. And I think that Brother Wood saw what we were trying to do here at the church, the style of ministry and whatever, and Brother Wood told me several times, he said, you need to go to Capital City Baptist Church and see their ministry. This was when Brother Hank Thompson was a pastor. And so just on his influence, I think we went out to a mission conference. And that's how I, that was the first time I ever went to Capital City, met Brother Thompson. And so that began a friendship. Uh, when brother Adam was in Pachuca missionary, it came through on deputation, we supported him all the time. It was in Pachuca. And so the friendship just, just from there, but, but yeah, it was really through the influence of Jack would to get me to meet. Hank Thompson, not for his benefit, but for me to meet Hank Thompson. And so that's, that's how it was, how it came about. Amen. Amen. Now you have, you told me the other day, and I'm not interested in the details, but you've had challenges in your church in the past and, you know, just as any church does. And, and yet right now you are, You're in a situation where you're literally out of space. I mean, you've got to build. Tell us how we can be praying about that and just briefly what your situation is here as far as what you can do, what you can't do, what's going on here as far as your building situation. The Lord never ceases to amaze us in how he blesses us. Of course, you see the spirit of the church. You see the buildings packed out. Absolutely. It's a great problem to have. So we're full. I don't know what we run. A couple hundred, 250, I suppose. But we do have to build. We know that. We have four acres of land here. We're pretty much landlocked. There is a parcel of land, but it's not even on the market. Land's very expensive here, as it is everywhere across the country. So we are limited. Really, the thing that we need prayer for most is wisdom, is wisdom. I told our church just last Sunday, I said, we know two things. One, building is in our future somewhere. Secondly, it's gonna be very expensive, whatever we do. Whether we expand the auditorium, which seems to be like an expensive Band-Aid, whether we, the campus has kind of sprawled out, whether we start over with a master plan. We have had a megachurch group contact us asking if we're interested in selling our property. We're not, but everything is for sale. I just don't think they can afford me right now. So we don't know. We don't have a blueprint. We don't have a sketch. We just know we've got to do something. And so kind of the same boat probably a lot of churches are in. And I'm not a church growth expert or anything, but I do know that when you get to a certain capacity, then it pretty much stops the growth. It's hard to grow beyond your capacity. We've been there for quite a few times. We've had two times in the history of the church since I've been here that we've had an exodus. One was some church issues. The other was a children's home that moved out of state. But in both cases, a large group of people that moved out, which gave us space. And within a year or two, We went right back to where we were before. And that just kind of tells me you get to that level, that capacity. And if you're going to grow more, you're going to have to do something. You do something. Now, also on the property here, you have, we've already talked about Victory Baptist Press. How's that going? I know your dad has not been in the greatest of health. He's been running that. How's that ministry going? What's happening with Victory Baptist Press? Victory Baptist Press, I think, is having its greatest years. Last year was a great year with the Bibles, the John Romans, the EDDM cards that we put out all over the country, probably in 2025. So we just shipped last week a 20-foot container that's headed to Peru of Bibles and John Romans. And we have a truckload of paper be either delivered this weekend or early next week. That will be a container of about 25,000 Spanish Bibles that will go to South America. And then right after that, we'll print a truckload of John and Romans. that will go to New Zealand, where Brother Joshua Warga is. He's doing a campaign, putting a John Romans in every home by mail in New Zealand. And I believe that we've shipped 100,000 to him already. I think he needs 1.2 million. I may be wrong on those numbers. So the next truckload. So we hope this year to put out at least three containers of scripture around the country. And so it, Dad has ran this ministry for 30 years. When I took the church, I asked Dad, I said, would you run Victory Baptist Press so I could focus on the church side? And he has. And so that whole ministry over there, everything there, the presses, the building, the workers, the vision, that's his fruit is what it is. That's his leadership. And he's at a place now where, He's having to slow down and I'm taking a little bit more of the helm. We're a little bit in that transition, I suppose. He still is very hands-on. But it has been amazing to watch the Lord take that ministry from where it was 30 years ago to now. And it is all the Lord. It really is. And we have been the product of that as well. We've had a container of scripture in Uganda, and I can't thank you enough. I mean, just the amount of scripture that has gone around the world from this property. It's just- It's crazy when you think about it. It is, it really is. And so VBP is staying as busy as it can. Yes, sir. Yeah, with the presses you have. You couldn't go faster unless you, the only thing we can do is go to two shifts. Yes, sir. It's just as they come in at seven o'clock in the morning, turn the presses on and go all day long. And so if people wanted a part in maybe donating for paper or things of that, how could they go about doing that? We have churches, individuals, businesses around the country that support the ministry, just like a Home Mission Project. Obviously, we couldn't turn the lights on if it wasn't for their help. Right. We are so grateful for anybody that sends anything to help us. It really is a ministry of many hands. And if somebody wanted to have a part in it, Victory Baptist Press, you can find victorybaptistpress.com. You can give online there or here to the church and be a great help. And you also have a bookstore as well that I believe the profits of that goes to printing more Bibles. We have, along with the scripture printing, we have published quite a few works ourselves. Some reprints, some old works, bringing them back. And then we have quite a bit of inventory in the bookstore. And Victory Baptist Press does own the bookstore, so all of the profits from that goes to help buy paper and what have you. It's been, it's been a great, it's been a great help to a lot of people, but it's been a great, great help to us as well. And again, that's my dad's brainchild. Yeah. I just, uh, he had sent out a, uh, the newsletter, um, not really the newsletter, but the email that he sends out periodically. And, and, uh, so I just bought the other night, the, uh, the book that they just printed, 17 words. Yes, and I read that today and that was a blessing for sure. So lots of good material that can be gotten through this bookstore. Amen. Well, Brother Fuller, I've got to tell you that since I met you there at Capital City and then had the honor of coming here as well, I remember the first time we came and the many times that we have come, I can't tell you how many times When I'm running in the morning, I'm listening to your YouTube videos and things. You have just been a tremendous blessing to me spiritually, an example, and I thank you for that. You're one of my heroes, and I really appreciate your faithfulness to the Lord. And as I always do on this podcast, because the podcast is about understanding that in these last days, we can't go backwards. We've got to be moving forward. And though we might get older, and though we may not be able to do what we used to do, it still doesn't mean that we go backwards. We might go forward a little slower than we used to, but we can always be moving forward. And you've been here for almost 31 years now. You've got the church, the press, all that's going on here. What is it in your life, Brother Fuller, that motivates you to always abound in the work of the Lord? What is it that motivates you to keep going? Let me address the abounding part, if you don't mind. Yes, sir. Because I have a philosophy and I was talking to Jacob, my assistant pastor, the other day about this new year. And my philosophy is that if you're not going forward, you're going backward, you're not standing still. Yes, sir. If you're just stagnant, then you're going to digress. Yes, sir. You may be able to lift 100 pounds today, but if you don't continue to exercise those muscles, next year, you won't be able to do that. So I live in a constant state of dissatisfaction. Every ministry has got to be growing, not necessarily numerically, but improving, stretching. And so that does strike a chord with me. Now, personally, what motivates me And I don't want this to sound cliche, but two things, the cross, what Christ did for me, I'm overwhelmed by it. And when I think, I'm preaching to the Gospel of John right now, and Sunday will be, it is finished, okay, I'm right there in that text. So I'm, I mean, I'm every day at Calvary, And when you dwell on Calvary and the cross and the sacrifice of Christ and grace and love and all of that, how can that not compel you? How can that not drive you? But then the opposite side of it is when I think at 30 years here, but how little I have done for him. I'm not ready for the judgment yet. There's so much more to be done. I should give him so much more. And so I guess for me, it's just thinking, His sacrifice, so great, and so far my sacrifice, so little. And I suppose that's probably the thing that stays on my mind the most. Amen. Amen. Well, I appreciate that. And I don't know how you preach this. I have not listened to your recent messages, I looked at the, when Jesus was there in John and he is looking down and he literally blocks everything out and he focuses on his mother and focuses on John. And the message that I've preached here in the past is, you know, when Jesus said, take my mother home and take care of her, and here's John looking up, is there any way he could have said no? Is there any way he could refuse that? And thinking of the cross and what he has done for us, and whether it's living on the mission field or pastoring a church or giving a certain amount of money or whatever it takes, how can we look at the cross and say no? I just... I just preached that text about two or three weeks ago. I'm right there, John 19. And my thought was substituting for the substitute. He's on the cross, sacrificing his life for us, and he asked John, in my place, you be her son. I can't now, so now you, and that's really what we do, is substituting for the substitute. My life spent, I, It's a great motivator. How can you not be motivated when you view the cross? Amen. Well, do you have any big events coming up? I know we're right in the middle of one here. Anything coming up here at Victory? So our next big event will be in April, Bible Conference. We have it every year. We've got a great slate of preachers coming, great music coming in. And it's always, it's a little bit after the tenor of this meeting, just great Bible preaching. So that's in April, second week of April. Now, how does somebody, how would somebody be able to get on your dad's mailing list, that big email he sends out? I think victorybaptistpress.com. If you would go to victorybaptistpress.com there should be a sign-up sheet there or sign up a place to sign in, enter your address and then it would go through and he'll get that and he does he sends out the emails and updates and things that are going on with the ministry. It's a great way to keep up. It is, it is. And I enjoy just reading through it, see who's preaching where. I'm way or halfway around the world. I've been in meetings and people have come to the meeting because it was advertised by that email. Amen. Well, Pastor Fuller, thank you so much and appreciate that and appreciate you taking the time. And I would encourage any of our listeners, if you are passing through the Pensacola area or moving to this area, whatever, I could not more highly recommend a solid independent Baptist church. here, Victory Baptist Church right here in Milton, Florida. Pastor Tim Fuller, and if you get a chance, if you can get a hold of some of these meetings and come and hear some of the preaching. I've never, this week we have Brother Tony Finney, Brother Bo Wagner, and Brother Joe Arthur. And I've heard of Joe Arthur, but I've never heard of the other two. And so even last night I text Pastor Adam, I said, have you ever heard of Tony Finney? And he said, yeah, I've heard of him. And I said, man, I just. Last night was classic. I'm telling you, Pastor. And I would encourage, I even, I got on the website last night to see if they had uploaded it yet and they hadn't done it yet. Um, but I was going to forward that to a couple of friends of mine that, that was a classic message on believable message. And, uh, if you, if you're out there and you want to listen to a message that will just challenge your heart, uh, go to the, uh, Monday evening message. here at Victory Baptist Church, and it's right there on YouTube. It's very easy to find Victory Baptist Church in Milton, and listen to that message by Brother Tony Finney. It'll bless your heart. I mean, I just, wow. I don't even know what else to say. But thank you for reminding him of that. And there are just some messages that stick to your heart that you know you need again and again. Well, thank you so much for tuning into this week's podcast and we sure appreciate you following us and praying for us. And again, I want to thank our listeners. I just checked before I came today and the listenership is continuing to grow. And I really, really appreciate you and many of you out there that are putting this on social media and letting your friends and family know about it. Thank you so much. The, the more prayers that we can get and the more people that are involved in our ministry. It is just such a great thing to have a family that is out there that is behind us, praying for us, supporting us, encouraging us, as well as hopefully in this podcast, being able to encourage you through the word of God and through different interviews that we're able to do, encouraging you as well to abound in the work of the Lord. Don't forget the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse number 58, therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast. Unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Remember today is the day that the Lord Jesus Christ may come back. So keep your eyes on the sky. And I hope and pray that you're ready to meet your Lord and savior. If you haven't done so already, let me encourage you to subscribe to the podcast. Just simply go to your podcast platform of choice and look up the always abounding podcast or my name Keith Stensis. If you'd like to be on our mailing list, then please go to our website, kstensesfamily.com, and we'll add you to our website there, our mailing list, and you'll be able to get our prayer letter as well as an update on each time that we upload a new podcast. Well, God bless you so much. Thank you for tuning in once again, and we look forward to seeing you next week. We want to thank you for listening today. We trust that this podcast was an encouragement to you to always abound in the work of the Lord. For more information about your host or simply contact us, visit kstensisfamily.com.