From the Pastor’s Table

Greetings friends and family, Rick and Crystie Welte here.

We oversee the pastoral work in Antioch International, with a strong focus on the care of the flock, the shepherding of our leaders, strong marriages, and healthy bodies. We also join in with the rest of the pastoral team in setting the captives free (Luke 4:18), focusing on healed hearts and minds and the need for Biblical and Holy Spirit led deliverance.

Today we would like to share a message of hope and show you the passion we have for families.

The enemy, starting with the first family of Adam and Eve and their children, has always had a goal of destroying families and creating generational divisions in the family unit, to create generational dysfunction, and dismantling kingdom families that were designed to advance the kingdom of God.

We were never meant to crumble under pressure and temptation, instead we were made to endure to the end as an intact tribe.
We, the Welte’s have been together through thick and thin for almost 30 years. Even as overseers of the flock (1 Peter 5:2–4, 1 Timothy 3:1–7, Titus 1:5–9), we have experienced a lot of trials in our marriage & family and we have faced many things that should have ended our marriage and any hope of a Jesus-centered family. Being pastors does not stop these trials coming to test as at every opportunity, we are just people at the end of the day.

Our relationship with Jesus and knowledge of the Word has been our only answer to help us overcome. We are taking those experiences and testimonies to glorify God and birth a hope into others to take back what we allowed Satan to steal.
It's a battle, but a battle we can all win knowing who we are in Christ, knowing the Word, and trusting in the Holy Spirit for instructions. We point people to Christ, not ourselves. We are victorious because He was victorious first.

It's not just a battle to retrieve lost children, repair broken marriages, or regain dysfunctional homes. We're here not only to deliver people from the powers of darkness but also to walk in unity, serving our purposes of being kingdom minded and helping others to do likewise.

Satan wants to duplicate the ineffectiveness and dysfunction of the family for generations; we are here to help restore and advance marriages, families and children. We are here to break the cycle.
There will be no generational curses allowed to succeed on our watch!

We ourselves are a work in progress and strive to go deeper with the Lord.
A good leader will duplicate who they are to others. We purpose to duplicate how God intended the family to be.

We often try to figure things out for ourselves when we were the ones that got us into this mess in the first place. When we step out of the way and let Him download the answer and seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33), He will work these things out for our good, even if we are complicit in the dysfunction in the first place.

We have given in way too easily to divorce, resulting in our children falling from the faith, and have weakened what is precious to God. We are going to build our families on the Rock, not sand. Some Christian families have compromised and adapted and approved of what the world deems as acceptable.
We justify our decisions based on the flesh and not the finished work of the cross. There is never a time when things can't be turned around, and with Jesus all things are possible.
Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between a worldly family and a Christian family. We often react the same way as the world and expect a different outcome because we're Christian. Each day we must die to self. We need to be an example to the world and stand apart, not blend in.

When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness in Luke 4, Jesus replied, "It is written." When we face the enemy with regard to our family, our first response should be the same as Jesus’s, "It is written." When we stay the course, resist Satan, and stand on His Word he will indeed flee (James 4:7).
What could you possibly say that supersedes the Word? Nothing!
We're going to rebuild our families the same way, and we want to journey with you in building and rebuilding… build a testimony of Jesus in your life that will help others be set free.

He is the sustenance we need for a deep and meaningful life with our loved ones.

Blessings of peace to you all.

Rick and Crystie Welte.