Austin Gardner

Mark Tolson was ordained to the gospel ministry at Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia on February 18, 2010.

The presbytery consisted of Charles Blackstock of Lighthouse Baptist Church, Dawsonville,

Mark Coffey, Wayne Cooke, Trent Cornwell, Warren Frick, Austin Gardner, Chris Gardner, all of Vision Baptist Church,

David Gates,

Mike Gray of The Baptist Tabernacle,

Kevin Hall of Whitfield Baptist Church,

Patrick Henry of Victory Baptist Church,

Tony Howeth of Whitfield Baptist Church,

Doug Kraus of The Baptist Tabernacle,

Derik Lawrence of Victory Baptist Church, Loganville,

Tyler Masters of Vision Baptist Church,

Brian Rhodes of Lakeland Baptist Church, and

Ray Warren of Forrest Hills Baptist Church.

Mark and Natasha have been a great blessing to all of us at Vision Baptist. God has used them in great ways. Last night was an exciting night as we watched God move through the different preachers and speak to all of our hearts.

Philip Bassham as always did a tremendous job with the music. He sang what we call the Job song at the request of Mark and Natasha. They are serving God in hard times now as they know that their baby will not live after birth. Yet as the song says they served Him yesterday and they will serve Him tomorrow.

The picture is a little to small to see all those that participated in the ordination but their names are above. God blessed us with a wonderful group of His servants.

Please pray for Mark and Natasha as they finish their deputation and soon make their way on to China and language school.

Doug Kraus was Mark’s Youth Pastor. He brought a tremendous message and was a great blessing in the council and the main service. He has many stories to tell about Mark as a young man. Even as a teen Mark showed a great heart for God and for the work of God.

Tony Howeth is always one of the favorite preachers of our young men and our church. He did a great job as he preached.

Pastor Mike Grey was a great blessing. He was Mark’s pastor as young man. I loved meeting him and seeing his great heart for God and the work of God. In meeting Pastor Grey we met a true Christian gentleman and a man of like heart and passion.

Mark and Natasha’s families made the trip from Ohio and Tennessee. They are wonderful people. It was great to show them how much Vision loves their children.

The prayer for Mark as the men laid hands on him lasted for more than 15 minutes. As the men prayed the Vision singers sang Our Heart Our Desire and Worthy is the Lamb. It was beautiful to know that pastors and missionaries would pause so long to pray over Mark as an entire congregation waited and prayed with them.

Here is the Chinese Bible Vision gave to Mark as his ordination Bible along with his Ordination Certificate.

Chris Gardner opened the laying on of hands and prayer over Mark Tolson. It was a truly God blessed moment. We were reminded all night that it is Jesus and the grace of God that makes it all happen.
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We were blessed as a church and staff to participate in such a wonderful night in the life of a truly remarkable young man.

Mark, we love and respect you. Thank you for allowing God to have your life. Thank you for being a part of a most wonderful congregation, Vision Baptist Church.

Every church needs to realize that God did not give the commission to the mission board, the Bible College nor the denomination. It was given to the church. Every pastor and church must get a world vision. They must set out a strategy whereby their church can reach the world with the gospel.

i. They must prepare missionaries and send them out from their church.

ii. They must develop a strategy with their own people to reach the world.

1. Key men in key cities with key materials.

2. Do all that the mission boards have done.

a. A key man or director for each continent. Then a leading man in each country.

b. A plan for that man to reach that country

c. Support and supplies to help the man get the job done

d. Stay out of the way and let God use the man

e. The church must realize that it is personally responsible for the world. It must then pass this burden on to its people so that all will feel responsible to get the gospel to the world

A man ought to be so much larger than anything he piles about himself; he ought to tower so far above his possessions that they would scarcely be noticed because of the superiority of his own great dominant character.

When one allows mere things to dictate his entire career, his coming and going, his life policy, he evolves a pretty small specimen of a man.

A human being who is a mere puppet tossed hither and thither by his fortune, who is its slave, as it were; merely a guard to watch over it is indeed a pitiful sight.

On the other hand, what an inspiring sight is a real human giant, a noble soul, a great manly man who so towers above and completely dominates his possessions that they are mere tools in his hands, which he uses to help and inspire others.

If he has a fortune, he makes it a power for good because he is himself a superior force.

O. S. Marsden