No king but King Jesus!

In Duluth there is an on going event called "Bentleyville Tour of Lights" which is a large area decked out in lights. We saw an opportunity to proclaim the name of Jesus, but just as the event began my brother and I fell sick. We were sick for some time, ending up with sinus infections and such. Praise God that He has healed us and we are back on the streets singing the praise of our King! On Thursday we did a "Health Partners" witness and a "Planned Parenthood" witness, then headed down to Bentleyville. My Mom and I held signs that said: "Jesus Came to Give Life" and "The Lord our God, He is Mightily to Save!" We sung carols while Michael and our friend and brother Steve handed out gospel tracts. Before long Mr. Bentley showed up. He was furious with us for being there! "Why are you here?" he yelled. "This does not belong at this event!" He told Steve: "The police told me you would come, but it took you two weeks to get here!" This reminds us of a verse "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also...!" (Acts 17:6) Mr. Bentley tried all he could to get us to leave, even bodily blocking my brother from handing out tracts! One of his volunteers said she is a Christian, but also said that when someone hands her a tract it "makes me sick"! Another volunteer began to tell those coming to the event who were about to take a tract: "We're sorry they are not part of Bentleyville, they're just soliciting." Over and over. My brother responded by saying "These are free, we are not soliciting." Thankfully a police officer arrived who knew the law and told Mr. Bentley that we have "a Constitutional right" to be there. Praise God!

We returned on Friday night, and hope to go again for many nights to come. What an opportunity to glorify the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! Obviously Mr. Bentley wants his event to be all about HIM and cannot tolerate competition. We are there to proclaim that there is no king but King Jesus! Please pray for us, and for the many people that accept tracts, hear the songs, etc. that they will be convicted by the Spirit of God and come to repentance and faith. One young man named Dan, was very open to hear the gospel, please pray for the salvation of his soul.

Also on Tuesday this week a baby's life was spared at the abortion mill in Duluth! We are praise God! To read that story go here: http://www.sarahsprolife.com/blog/

God is Worthy to be Praised!

We were at the abortion mill today. The gospel was clearly given to the eleven mothers who went in to destroy the lives of their little ones. We read the Word of God out loud, and sang praise to our Lord Jesus Christ because He is worthy. What a joy to lift up His name!

I was able to preach for some time to a group of eight woman who gathered in the "gated" area. There were two mothers in the group who seemed to be sobered as I shared with them on sin, righteousness, and judgment. One loud woman came over to tell me that she had an abortion once because "the baby was not right", and when I expressed sympathy and regret that she had done that, she said that she was not sorry. She also said that she had "Jesus in her soul". At which I began to share that God does not forgive those who will not repent. She called me a "Bible preacher" and wished I would stop. Glory! What a name to be called!

As we prepared to leave, a couple came out. We asked them if they had changed their mind, The woman answered, "Yes". Praise God! We rejoice, and give glory to God! They would not stop to talk, but drove away, and she waved. Please pray for them, that God will convict them of sin and save their souls.

Our God is great, and worthy of all praise and glory!

You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for you have created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created.
(Revelation 4:11)

A Witnessing Opportunity

On Tuesday this week Michael and I went to the abortion clinic early to sidewalk council. It was not open, so we prepared to hold signs and pray. Then this young woman came to us asking if we knew when the place opened. We asked what she wanted there, she said to get a pregnancy test. We offered to take her to a life care center for a free pregnancy test, and she agreed. The LCC did not open until 9am, so Mr. Tuttle asked myself and another sidewalk councilor to take her to breakfast.

I began to share the gospel with her and found that she had heard about Jesus, but she did not know about judgment. She had heard that Jesus was her only hope, but did not know why! At first she would not look me in the eye, but as I shared about sin, righteousness and judgment, she became very sober and looked me in the eye. When I told her about Jesus coming back to destroy the world with fire, I had to go back to the flood of Noah's time and explain why God judged the world then, and why He will judge it now.

People used to have a foundational knowledge of Scripture, but now there seem to be few who do. We have to do as Paul did at Athens, begin at the beginning and lay the foundation, the reason for Christ's sacrifice. When I told her that the earth will be destroy by fire, she looked very sober and asked, "So then none of us are going to make it?"

I rejoice and praise God for the opportunity to share with her the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We exchanged phone numbers, so I hope to keep in touch with her.

Please pray with me that God will get glory for His name by saving this young woman.

Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto your name give glory, for your mercy, and for your truth's sake. (Psalms 115:1)

OSA 2009, July 21 and 22, Tuesday and Wednesday

If you have not already read the introduction to this mission trip report please read it, Here.
Read Day 1
Read Day 2
Read Day 3
Read Day 4
Read Day 5
Read Day 6

On Tuesday morning, my brother Michael went with a team to a hospital which claims to be pro-life, but has an abortionists on staff. I went with the Yoders', and a large team to an abortion clinic called "BCC". This murder mill is at the end of an alley, and to get there you have to drive past a church (which was very supportive of us) and a crisis pregnancy center. "Our people" had set up, in the parking lot of a business building, some of the signs which we had used on Fremont street, and a sound system from which to preach. The clinic was open and mothers were going in escorted from their cars by clinic workers. There were a several ladies sidewalk counseling, and I joined these to offer literature to the mothers as they drove down the ally. It was very saddening to see those mothers going into that place of death despite the cries for mercy that they heard. I am sure that there were many more mothers who decided not to go in because we were there, and when that happens they are more likely never to come back. We pray so.

As I waited for cars to come, an older man road up on his bike and stopped when I offered him literature. He kept glancing at the large signs of babies killed by abortion, so I asked if he had seen those pictures before. He said no, but he did know that abortion was very bad. I then asked him, "Do you know Jesus?" He said, "No, but I know I need to." So I began to reason with him about the Law, Righteousness and Judgment, explaining sin, and our need for a Savior. He agreed about his need and seemed truly broken and tender hearted. He said, "I wish you had talked to me two days ago. But, I guess it's not too late for God." I told him, no it was not too late, but he needed to repent and cry out for mercy now and not wait. I asked if I could pray for him, he agreed and told me his name is Dennis. When I prayed, God broke my heart and I began to cry out to God to for Dennis. He began to cry and say "thank you God, thank you God." He did not own a Bible, so I ran to get one from one of the ladies there who had several to give away. As I walked back to him, I saw that it was in Spanish, oops. But instead of going back to see if she had an English one, I handed it to Dennis and asked if he knew Spanish, he said "yes". Then I realized he was of Mexican decent, I had not even noticed! After thanking me, he turned back the way he had just come and began to ride away, he said "I will not forget you."

Please pray for Dennis. I pray that the seed fell on good ground that day and will bring forth much fruit.

After this we met back up with Michael and his group, then headed off to Planned Parenthood. Our leaders thought that we would not be able to stay very long, because this PP is in a mall complex and we set up with our signs on their property.


PP shared a balcony with a coffee shop called "reJAVAnate", and many of our people went in to buy lattés. (Michael and I had one of their slushies and it was really good :) The manager was very friendly, saying that he did not like having PP as a neighbor, and set up extra tables and chairs for us. One PP worker came out with a vest that said "Escort".
Soon the police arrived. We expected to be told we were trespassing and needed to leave, instead they just stood around and watched us.

We stayed for a whole hour! I remember looking at some friends as we exclaimed to each other, "Can you believe what we are doing?" It was absolutely incredible.

Some mimes who had been doing their acts at other place with us, began to do their skits right there. It was amazing. I still can not get over the fact that we were allowed to stay!

After lunch, and a cool down, the Yoder "kids", Zastrow "kids", Michael and I gathered in the park by our hotel for a good old fashioned game of "Prisoners base". We had a blast even though it was around 115 degrees!

The Zastrow family

The evening rally was a time of rejoicing, and sadness as we said goodbye.

As I looked around that night at all those people whom I had come to love, my eyes filled with tears. Yet we all rejoiced at the thought that there is coming a day in Heaven when we will not have to say goodbye any more!
Michael and I met a dear brother from Jamaica who encouraged us in the Lord and invited us to visit him in his country. Wouldn't that be neat? What a blessing to fellowship with the brethren, I do so love the family of God.

Michael, brother Levi, me

At 3:00 am, Michael and I both got up to say goodbye to the Yoders' as they left for Missouri, it is hard to say goodbye. We were taken to the airport around 9:00am with Mr. Tuttle and made an uneventful flight back to Minneapolis MN airport where our Mom picked us up.

Mr. Tuttle waiting at our gate; notice the slot machines behind him.

From the Las Vegas airport, I love those mountains.

Here are some pictures from the plane...

Las Vegas from the air.

Leaving Las Vegas.

A storm over Minneapolis, our flight was delayed for five minutes because of it.

It was good to come home, and we do not miss Las Vegas! :-)

We praise God for a wonderful trip, safety, and pray that He was glorified in it.

Check out Michael's blog for his take on the trip.
Check out our Picasa Web Album for many more pictures, too many to post.
Also check out Ken and Jo Scott's Web Album for more pictures.

And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
(Matthew 28:18-20)

Operation Save America 2009

One week from today my brother Michael and I will, Lord willing, be leaving for a week long mission trip to Las Vegas. There we will join a group called Operation Save America (OSA), this is a gospel oriented gathering of believers to expose and reprove the works of darkness. We stand with signs at abortion clinics, street preach, share the gospel, have rallies every night, and overall seek to glorify Jesus. Michael and I went in 2007 when the event was held in Birmingham Alabama, and that was an amazing and edifying experience. But now...Las Vegas....? This is going to be interesting.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is a God ordained trip. I really don't know why He wants us to go, and what He wants to do or teach us there, but God IS sending us. It began with Michael wondering if there was the slightest possibility for us to go. Truthfully the answer was no. There was no way we could go, we simply do not have the kind of finances it takes to travel that far. But we decided to pray about it. We told the Lord that if He wanted us to go, He would have to send us, because it seemed impossible, and we covenanted not to ask anyone for financial support. Within a few short days, Mr. Tuttle, (a friend and brother in the Lord and the head of the pro-life ministry in Duluth) informed us that he intended to buy our tickets to Vegas! Whoa! Step by step God has opened the doors and we are now packing for that "impossible" trip. Needless to say we are a wee bit excited, and looking forward to seeing what God does.

I don't know if I will be able to post until we get back, we'll have to see how things go, but I do intend to tell you all how it goes. Please pray for us.

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name forever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. (Psalms 72:18-19)

...Edited to add...
Read about the trip here:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7 and 8

Do You Have a Wedding Garment?

And Jesus answered and spoke unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, who made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them who are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and treated them shamefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was angry: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then said he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they who were bidden were not worthy. Go you therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment: And he said unto him, Friend, how came you in here not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matthew 22:1-14)

This passage of course refers to that great day, the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) where we as the bride of Christ will be united with Him. It is said that "his wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." (Revelation 19:8) So what does it mean that this one man did not have on a wedding garment? He obviously was poor, since he had been pulled off of the streets, but the others were in the same state and they seemed to have on wedding garments. Where did they get them?

First we must see that we ourselves are these people off of the streets. We were found dressed in filthy rags, destitute and without hope, until God in His incredible mercy saved us and brought us out of the miry clay, setting our feet upon the rock. There was nothing in us that would cause God to have pity on us or that would make Him want to save us, in our flesh is no good thing. And yet, unto the bride it was "granted" to dress in... the "righteousness of saints." In Scripture we learn that we in ourselves cannot be righteous, "there is none righteous no not one" (Romans 3:10-12). God is the only Righteous one. In Ephesians 6:14, we are told to put on the Breastplate of Righteousness. Where does this righteousness come from? We find the answer in Jeremiah 33:16 "...and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness." !

"He saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment; by which is meant, not good works, or a holy life and conversation, nor any particular grace of the Spirit, as faith, or charity, or humility, or repentance, or any other, nor the whole work of sanctification, nor the Holy Ghost, but the righteousness of Christ: for though good works are the outward conversation garments of believers, and these greatly become them and adorn the doctrine of Christ, yet they are imperfect, and have their spots, and need washing in the blood of Christ, and cannot in themselves recommend them to God; and though the Holy Spirit and his graces, his work of holiness upon the heart, make the saints all glorious within, yet not these, but the garment of Christ's righteousness, is their clothing of wrought gold, and raiment of needlework, in which they are brought into the king's presence: this, like a garment, is without them, and put upon them; and which covers and protects them, and beautifies and adorns them; and which may be called a wedding garment, because it is that, in which the elect of God were betrothed to Christ; in which they are made ready and prepared for him, as a bride adorned for her husband: and in which they will be introduced into his presence, and be by him presented, first to himself, and then to his Father, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. This man had not on this garment, this robe of righteousness; it was not imputed to him; he had no knowledge of it; or if he had any, it was only a speculative one; he had no true faith in it; he had never put on Christ, as the Lord his righteousness; he had got into a church state without it, though there is no entrance into the kingdom of heaven but by it." -Gill

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believes in Jesus. (Romans 3:20-26)

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: (Philippians 3:9)

We are to be clothed in the righteousness which is by faith in Jesus Christ. "For if Abraham were justified by works, he has something in which to boast; but not before God. For what says the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." (Romans 4:2-3) Jesus took our filthy garment of sin on Himself and gave us His glorious garment of righteousness. We can now come into the most holy place because the sacrifice has been made and we no longer are clothed in sin, but in righteousness. (Hebrews 10:19-22)

So, why did the man in the parable have no wedding garment? He had not been given one! He did not have the righteousness of Jesus covering him, and he was bound hand and foot and cast into hell. This is a great warning to us! This man fully expected to be a partaker in the wedding feast, he was like those in Matthew 7:22 who cried Lord Lord, have we not done all these wonderful things in your name? They were saying "we know you Jesus, we love you"! But what did He answer? "I never knew you: depart from me you who practice lawlessness (or, unrighteousness)."

What about you? Do you profess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but continue to live as though He is not? Jesus gave a very strong warning: "Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)

Many will probably say, "but we are not saved by our works, only by faith in Jesus Christ!" This is very true. "For we ourselves also were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit; Whom he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I desire that you affirm constantly, that they who have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men." (Titus 3:3-8)

If God has saved you, then you will be bearing fruit, you will be keeping His commandments. When you sin you will hate it and repent, turning away from it to God. Please, examine yourself. If there is little or no fruit in your life, fear! Fear God, and cry out to Him for mercy! Do not go on living without fruit and expect to go to Heaven. Jesus said, "Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." (Matthew 7:19)

Many do not understand how they can bear the good fruit of righteousness, they try and try to obey but more often than not, when temptations come they fall right into them. Are you like this? Do you find it hard to believe that those who are saved will bear good fruit?

The answer again is in the Bible: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) When God saves us, He creates within us a new person, we are not the same! If you are the same, then again, I say: fear! Fear God and cry out to Him for mercy!

Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith; prove your own selves. Know you not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are counterfeits? (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Spared from Destruction!

Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed for destruction. Proverbs 31:8

On October 28th last year, a little girl was appointed for destruction. Her mother had been lied to and believed her to only be a blob of tissue, yet this precious girl was fully formed and only needed time to grow. She never guessed that within a couple of hours her life would painfully be snuffed out. Yet God intervened. He sent my Mother and Lori, another Sidewalk Counselor to talk with Dana, to show her pictures, proving that her baby is a person. Dana changed her mind about getting an abortion and on May 21st gave birth to her little girl...

Taylor LeAnne

God has a purpose for this little one to be alive, we pray that He will use her to glorify His name. This was the first time our family has been able to hold a baby that God has directly used us to save, we are so thankful and we are praising God!

Two weeks later...Dana, her son Nolan, and Taylor

"He that goeth forth and weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Ps. 126:6

Dana seems to be seeking the Lord, and we are praying for her salvation. Those of you who pray for us should know that you have a part in this as well. God is answering prayer!

My brother Michael also wrote about this Here.

If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?
(Proverbs 24:11-12)

(Pictures used with permission)

Trials

I have been sick, especially this past weekend. One moment I was feeling fine, the next my throat began to hurt and within thirty minutes I was full blown sick, even starting a fever. Weird.
Thankfully I am doing better now, not quite over it, but much better. Meanwhile, I missed the big day at my Grandma's house. Which turned into two BIG days of moving her things out, while a renter was moving her things in. Wow. My poor family, they came home completely exhausted and spent and very glad to have that over with.

My Grandma is doing better, healing and recovering from the operation. It is hard to have her here, I won't mince words about that. She is not saved and finds it difficult to hear us always singing, praying and talking about the Lord. There are many wonderful opportunities to minister to her and she hears the gospel every day now, in one form or another. We are praying that the Lord will draw her to Himself and save her.

We have been going through an extended trial and just the other day I was praying, asking the Lord why it seemed that He was not answering my prayers. Quietly He spoke to me, showing that indeed He is answering. I had asked for patience - He is teaching that to me. I had told Him that I wanted to be closer to Him, no matter how hard a trial would have to be to get closer - He is answering that prayer as well. These trials drive us to our knees, He becomes our only refuge and we learn to fly to Him. Oh, how sweet is His love, when we look on His face in the midst of trials. He wants us to take our eyes off the waves and place them on Him. Faith IS the victory, praise God for giving us faith.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. (Proverbs 3:5-7)

Faith is the Victory

Words by John H. Yates
Music by Ira D. Sankey
1891

Encamped along the hills of light,
Ye Christian soldiers, rise.
And press the battle ere the night
Shall veil the glowing skies.
Against the foe in vales below
Let all our strength be hurled.
Faith is the victory, we know,
That overcomes the world.
Refrain
Faith is the victory! Faith is the victory!
O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.
His banner over us is love,
Our sword the Word of God.
We tread the road the saints above
With shouts of triumph trod.
By faith, they like a whirlwind’s breath,
Swept on o’er every field.
The faith by which they conquered death
Is still our shining shield.
Refrain
On every hand the foe we find
Drawn up in dread array.
Let tents of ease be left behind,
And onward to the fray.
Salvation’s helmet on each head,
With truth all girt about,
The earth shall tremble ’neath our tread,
And echo with our shout.
Refrain
To him that overcomes the foe,
White raiment shall be giv’n.
Before the angels he shall know
His name confessed in heaven.
Then onward from the hills of light,
Our hearts with love aflame,
We’ll vanquish all the hosts of night,
In Jesus’ conquering Name.
Refrain

God is so very Good!

By the way, how do you all like this blogs new look?

Water from the Rock - Days of Praise

Water from the Rock

April 8, 2009

"Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel." (Exodus 17:6)

This amazing provision of drinking water for the Israelites in the midst of a barren wilderness is surely one of the most remarkable miracles of creation recorded in Scripture. Furthermore, it was not a one-time event, but somehow continued to provide water for them during the entire 40 years they spent in the desert. God provided daily water just as He provided their daily bread. "Our fathers . . . did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:1, 3-4).

The provision was an act of pure grace on God's part, for even after God created the manna for them, the people were about to stone Moses (Exodus 17:4). But their complaint was really against God, so God "stood before" Moses as he smote the rock at Horeb, and a great spring of water burst forth.

This is the first mention of the word "rock" in Scripture, and it is surely significant that the apostle Paul calls this rock a type of Christ. Just as Moses smote the rock with the same rod of judgment which he had used to smite the river in Egypt (Exodus 7:20; 17:5), so Christ had to be "smitten of God" (Isaiah 53:4) because of our sins, before He could fulfill His promise: "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink" (John 7:37).

But once our Rock was smitten, the water of everlasting life was made available freely to all who will drink. The very last invitation of the Bible is: "And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17). Then, "whosoever drinketh . . . shall never thirst" (John 4:14).

Henry M. Morris

Institute for Creation Research

I am busy painting cabinets today....

So I have to make this quick, but I wanted to bring to your attention that one of the guys we go out witnessing with, Steve, has written a couple of great posts on his Street-Preaching Journal ....check it out!


Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
(Proverbs 3:5-10)

Day of Mercy - Part Two

Read Part One first!

"And there they preached the gospel." Acts 14:7

After the abortion clinic we went to the University of Minnesota Duluth, where Steve and Josh had already been for an hour with a gospel sign. We joined them and the three guys began taking turns preaching to the crowds of students coming off the busses. Sue, who we had talked to on Friday, came by again but did not want to talk to my Mom and I. Instead she talked to Steve and Josh who were answering questions and giving the gospel to a group waiting for a bus. She asked them, why did they want to go to Heaven. Steve answered, "Because God is there." She mentioned needing something more and Steve asked "Why would anyone want anything more than God?" She seemed to be on the defensive and we hope that this is because of God's conviction in her heart. We have been praying for her.

God really does prepare us for the particular people He will bring for us to share the gospel with. He brings the ones who have the questions and needs which He has prepared us to answer. It is very comforting to know this, but amazing to experience. My Mom and I were handing out tracts, when an older man began talking to my Mom about how "turned off" he is by "all this born again stuff." He shared his story of a wound inflicted by a loved one claiming to be born again and how he did not want anything to do with being born again, because of it. My Mom was able to share with him a similar experience of hers and told him that we cannot blame God for other peoples actions. At that he seemed to soften and wanted to read one of our tracts! Please pray for Tim (name changed).

As one group of students got off of a bus, I noticed a young man who was looking at our signs. I walked over and handed him a tract, which he took and immediately read from cover to cover. I asked him what he thought about it and he said that he had grown up hearing that God is not as "harsh" as we were portraying Him. I explained the gospel to him using an example Steve had been using, which I think is really good. We can see how much God loves us by looking at Jesus on the cross, that He would take our sins upon Himself and suffer for us like that, the just for the unjust, shows how much He loves us. We can also see how much God hates sin by looking at the cross. When Jesus, God's first begotten son, hung on the cross bearing our sins, God, His Father, crushed Him. Isaiah fifty-three says that in pleased the Lord to bruise Him. God hates sin so much that He poured out the fury of His wrath on His own Son when He was bearing our sins. If God would do that to His own Son, what will He do to unrepentant, unbelieving sinners?

Bryan (name changed) asked what "repent" means. I said "It is a turning away from sin, to God." then explained a little what that means. He wanted to know who he could contact later and talk more about this stuff, so I motioned Steve over who began telling Bryan many of the same things I had already said but in more detail. Bryan asked if he could be saved today! Steve told him, "Yes! The Bible says "Today is the day of Salvation!" Bryan asked if it was not too late for him, because he had lived a rough life. Steve told him that God is merciful and that Jesus bore all his sins on the cross. Bryan said he has many questions, because it is all so new to him. He said that he had been an atheist and that he had just recently started seeing his need for God and had begun to read the Bible. He said that his Dad is an "evangelical Catholic" and that just then he had been on his way to talk to a priest, because they told him that he had to go through classes to get baptized. But he had seen our sign and thought he should talk to us first! Steve told him that he should steer clear of the Catholic church and that one reason for that was even in what Bryan had just said. They told him he needed to go to classes to be baptized, Steve explained, "Jesus said that we need to repent and believe, then be baptized." there is nothing about needing classes in the Bible. Steve offered to take Bryan out to lunch some day soon where they could talk more about all of this, they exchanged contact information and I pray that they will be in touch soon.

I cannot explain what it was like to see someone so tender to the gospel, someone on whose heart God has been working, someone who is on, what I would say is the brink of salvation. We could just see God working on him and I did not want to say or do anything that would turn him away from the Savior. As Steve was talking with him I was strongly impressed that we needed to pray for him before he left. Just before he left, Steve asked him if we could pray for him, then asked me to pray! God is so good!

Please pray for Bryan! Pray that God will save him and will not let the enemy snatch him away.

After that, a guy with a sign came out. His sign said: "Bob loves you, no not like that, embrace Bob" He was an atheist mocking God and the gospel. My Mom spoke with him and found out his name is Saul (name not changed) We pray that God will turn him to be like Paul.

Shortly after he came out, five girls went across the street from us with their own signs which said: "Doesn't God love everyone?" and "I will think what I want", "This is a School, not a Church, keep it to yourself" and some others. Steve began preaching to them, then my Mom, Josh and I went over to talk with them and my Mom gave them the gospel. They claimed to be Christians who did not like our message and did not believe you need to repent to be a Christian. My Mom explained that repent and believe are tied together, you cannot have one without the other and be saved. We left them and Steve went over to them and began preaching very earnestly.

Meanwhile, more atheist had gathered around Saul. They began to mock preaching and to mock God. One falsely accused Michael, turning away, Michael began to pray out loud, thanking God for being counted worthy of false accusation for His name's sake. My Mom and I began to pray out loud, praising God and reading the Bible. The spiritual battle was intense.

We crossed the street to stand with Steve and Josh and to hold signs while Josh caught the action on video camera. Their lawyers have told them to keep the video camera rolling while on the streets, so that if someone does something to hurt us, or the police act against the law, we will have evidence. By this time a crowd had gathered around Steve and more signs had been brought out, one of which said: "I will forgive you for $1" Steve told the guy holding it, "The goodness of God is that His forgiveness is free!" At one point in his preaching, Steve said, "We are out here to warn you. If you were in a burning building, it would be the loving thing to do to warn you. That is what we are doing." A guy on the edge of the crowd said, "You're out here to warn us?" He seemed surprised. We gave him a tract which he took away with him. He seemed to be in a very serious state of mind. As I watched all this taking place and saw Steve pleading with these people and reasoning with them for their souls, I thought "This is the goodness and mercy of God!" 1 Corinthians 1:21 says: "For since in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased god by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." Also read through to verse 31 !

Another guy began asking Steve some very good questions, which Steve used to preach to the crowd. This guy talked with Steve for a long time! I did not get to hear how it ended.

Still another guy talked with my Mom for a good while, asking many questions. He was very surprised when she quoted Psalms 66:18 "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." He had never heard of that before. Neither had he heard that you can be saved at once ( as in 2Cor. 5:17 "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.") and do not need to work your way to Heaven and eventually hope to get it right in purgatory. Please pray for him as well.

One lady told me that she is a Christian but thinks our message should be "more loving". I mentioned what I had just read in Mark chapter one, before Jesus even got His disciples, He went all throughout Galilee preaching, "repent, and believe the gospel." She said that He did not tell people like the adulteress that they were going to hell. (For the record, we do not say to specific people, 'you are going to hell', we tell who the Bible says are going to hell. Using verses like, 1Cor. 6:9-10 and Galatians 5:19-21) I told her that those people already knew. The Jews knew the law, they did not need to be told that they were sinners, had broken God's law and were under God's wrath. They needed to be told that the Messiah had come and to believe. Later when Paul preached to the Greeks, he went to the public places and debated with them, beginning at creation, then to the law and finally to the cross. If people do not know their sin and their need for a savior, Jesus will mean nothing to them. He will need to be as He is now being portrayed in most modern evangelism, an accessory to your life, someone who will help you and give you good things. What we have lost is the understanding that these people, who have no concept of the Bible, the Laws of God and the history of those who obeyed and those who did not, do not know they need a savior. We must begin where Paul began, at creation and take it from there. Remember that tribe in Papua New Guinea? Our nation has become much like those people.

O.K. I did not quite say all of that to this lady, the gist of it was there though and after I was done she said, "I guess I see what you're saying. God bless you!" Then she left.

This was the longest time we have been out pleading for the lost, to date, eight hours! With a one hour break in between. We got cold! We praise God for the opportunity and for His direction throughout the day! I cannot tell you how happy and excited we were on our way home! When we obey the Lord, it sure makes us happy! Perhaps one thing American Christians are lacking is the joy and happiness in obedience?

"For you remember, brethren, our labor and travail: for laboring night and day, because we would not be a burden unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God. 1 Thessalonians 2:9

About My Grandma and More Witnessing Opportunities

This past Wednesday we received news that my Grandmother needed to have triple bypass surgery, the next day. Her heart was so bad that the artery on one side is completely blocked and the other is eighty-five percent blocked. So, on Thursday morning she had the operation. We praise God that she made it through and is beginning to do a little better, though she is still in the ICU. She is in Illinois so we are not able to be with her, which is hard, especially for my Dad. Thankfully, my two Aunts are with her. Please pray with us for her salvation, God is able to bring her to Himself.

On Friday we were at the abortion clinic early to plead for the babies lives who were appointed to die. When one young mother and her mother parked their car across the street, my Mom went over to offer them information. The young woman rolled down her car window and said she would call the police if my Mom did not leave. My Mom told her that her baby is a person, then showed her a picture of an aborted baby. This made the babies Grandmother jump out of the car and tell my Mom that she would call the police, my Mom told her "Go ahead, I'm not doing anything wrong. This baby is your Grandchild!" Then my Mom showed the young mother, through the closed window, some pictures of developing babies. She looked at them, then began to cry. Her mother jumped out again, yelling at my Mom who continued to calmly answer, "This baby is Your Grandchild." They then drove away and they never came back, as far as we know! We hope and pray that the child was spared. God knows.

When we were done at the abortion clinic, we went to the University of Minnesota Duluth with Josh for a witnessing outreach. We held two gospel signs, while Josh and Michael preached.

One student made his own sign to protest us, which said: "Don't Worry God Loves You No Matter What". Josh had a good conversation with him and found out that he believes the teachings of a certain professor who takes all the "good out of different religions" and believes that, not the "bad". Josh was able to ask some very pointed questions showing the faultiness of that faith and expounded on the resurrection of Jesus as difference between other religions and the Bible. We pray for this young mans salvation.

Remember the lady I talked to on Tuesday the Twentieth? That short conversation had made me think more about our obedience to the gospel versus trying to make the gospel more appealing to the carnal mind. She came back to talk with me this Friday, I'll change her name to Sue.

She told my Mom and I that she is a pantheist, believing that everything is god and that god is everything. My Mom gave her the gospel, which Sue clearly could not understand. She does not believe in life after death and thinks that life is an end in it's self, because it is so "full and beautiful". My Mom explained to her that she is in the darkness and does not know it, using the example of a room that is slowly growing darker and you do not know it is so dark until you turn on the light. We told her that what she believes does not change the way things are, that in the end she will stand before Jesus who is the judge and she will confess that He is Lord. We said that people have so many ideas about the way things are, but what really matters in the end is what God says about things and whether or not we obeyed Him.

At one point I asked her, "Why are you alive? Where do you come from?"

She answered, "From my parents."
"In the beginning where did it all start?"

"With the Big Bang."

"Nobody knows who started that?"

"No, there are some theories, but no one really knows."

"God tells us what happened. He was there, He tells us what He did. You see, the Bible is a history book, written by God who made every thing."

She wondered how anyone could not believe in the big bang and said "Evolution is so beautiful."

"Millions and Billions of years of death, bloodshed and cancer, is beautiful?" I asked.

"Yes, it is."

"By what you are saying, you are showing me that you are in darkness. It does not matter what we tell you or if we are able to answer all your questions and explain everything to you, you would still not believe unless God opens your eyes. It has to be God who shows Himself to you."

She left then but short while after leaving she came back saying that she had thought of some more questions.

She asked, "Does God ever change?"
"No, in His Word He tells us that He never changes."

"Do people change?"
"Yes, all the time."

"Will people who are redeemed still change in Heaven?" She had earlier told us that she thought Heaven was pointless and boring.

I answered, "When we die, our bodies are changed. We will not have flesh and blood like we have now, we will be different. We do not really know what Heaven is like, it is not something we can understand or grasp with our human minds. If God told us what it is like we would not understand, it is too wonderful. We know that we will be praising God and that we will have work to do, but what it is I do not know."

She asked, "If God is all powerful, then why did He make man, since He does not need us?"

We told her that it is true that God does not need us, yet He made us for His glory. Life is not about us but about Him. We ended by saying, that we would pray that God would show Himself to her. Please pray with us for the salvation of Sue.

The thing I love about this conversation was the peace God gave me to just stay true to the Word. It did not matter to me that she said and thought it was "silly" and that it made no sense at all to her. I did not have to think up witty things to say or remember tons of facts to throw at her about the validity of the Bible. I just spoke as God led me, staying true to His Word, knowing that she would not understand unless He opened her eyes. I even told her that her reasoning proved to me even more that God's word is true because He told us that the carnal mind would not understand these things unless He opened their eyes! There is such peace knowing that it is God's work to cause her to understand, not mine! Praise God!!! I love it!

Here is a short clip of me talking with Sue:

Here is the link to our teams YouTube sight where you will find more videos of us: The Way Ministries

The BEST 10 Min. Video I Have Ever Seen!

This is truly amazing and left me weeping for joy at what our God has done!

I am sure you will want your whole family to see this - It is 10 minutes 31 seconds

Learning to Wait on God for Marriage

As a young lady seeking to serve my Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord has shown me the joy and blessing of Biblical Woman-hood. Ever since I was very young, I have prayed for the man God would some day bring into my life for marriage and I prayed and still do, that we will have as many children as God will give us - twelve or more has been the number I put before Him. Growing up into a young lady I have struggled, as I am sure we all do, with the concept of waiting. What if he never comes, what will I do then? What if he comes when I am older, will my life have been wasted? Should I go to college and get a job while I wait? All these questions and more have swarmed through my head.

From what I have read from other godly young ladies, these are common to our kind. But what is the answer? What should we do as we wait? I know that this topic has been covered many times before, but I would like to share some of the things God has taught me.

First of all let me make mention that there are many godly woman out there who have gone to collage and others who feel they are led to go, or their fathers want them to go. Please know that I am not saying that is wrong. God leads each person differently to best get glory for Himself through their life. Each of us stands before God for what we do and do not do, we are the Lord's. With that said, I do believe that the model of woman in the Bible is that woman stay at home, as helpers for their parents and later helpmeets to their husbands. (Titus 2:5) (Gen. 3:16) etc.

"Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt. 6:33

These years of our lives are so precious! We have time right now to seek the Lord, to get to know our Savior and to seek to please Him. (1 Cor. 7:34)

We can learn to abide in Him, living with Christ daily. (John 15: )

We can learn to be a servant of Jesus. (Matt. 10:43-44)

At this time in our lives, our hearts are solely the Lord's. There is no competition for our love and devotion. We are His and He is ours. Here we learn to delight in His presence and to listen to His voice. We are fulfilled in Jesus and He is our life. No one is taking our attention away from our Redeemer, we are at His service to do as He pleases. This is a joyful place to be!

As young ladies at home under our Father's roof, we can be corner pillars polished like a palace! (Psa. 144:12) We are helpers to our Father and Mother, servants for the Lord. What a blessing it is to be quietly working for our family, our worth and work unseen by the world. Working only for the eyes of the One in whom we delight. No wonder the world scoffs at us! No wonder they ridicule and try to make us look stupid, lazy and weak. They cannot see what God sees! They cannot see the jewel He is creating in us, the rose that is forming beneath the surface! Sisters, we are God's and our work is for His eyes! Give no head to the world. They scoffed at Jesus, they called his life and death a waste and we are not greater than our Lord. (John 15:20)

As daughters keeping at home, we are giving glory to God. We are proclaiming by our actions that His way is best, that He is worthy to have our lives and that we can entrust Him with our very breath, it is not a waste when spent in His service. We can be confident that no matter how menial the task, if it is "as unto the Lord", it is no waste! (Col. 3:23-24)

"And he (Jesus) said unto them, 'Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.'" Mark 16:15

Sisters, we can obey this command! Ask God to prepare you to give His glorious Gospel of peace. (Eph. 6: ) He is the One who can make you ready. Draw near to Him, seek His face, read His word and learn to love His gospel! Pray for the people that He will bring your way and ask for opportunities to share the gospel with them and pray for boldness. If I may add here, perhaps an often overlooked opportunity is your brothers and sisters? They are your first mission field and even the very smallest can be taught the Bible and through play many good things can be instilled in their small minds. We need to ask God to open our eyes to the opportunities we are missing. Finally trust that God is the one who will do the changing of hearts and minds, we are only to obey.

There are so many practical things we can do as daughters at home, one thing that has worked out for me to do, to help my family, is to grow much of the food we eat. For others it may be something different, seek God for the answer and ask your parents what you can do that would be the most helpful to them.

"What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in you spirit, which are God's." 1 Cor. 6:19-20

"So likewise you, when you shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do." Luke 17:10

Perhaps all this sounds simple, to my ears it does, but I think it ought to be simple. Pray, pray and pray for wisdom, we are bombarded on every side by the world. To them, life is complicated, they are trying to make sense of their lives outside of Christ. For us, our lives make sense and we have a very simple goal, to glorify God.


Here is a poem which has helped me greatly with the concept of waiting.

Desperately, helplessly, longingly I cried.

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate.

And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait."

"WAIT? You say, 'wait,'" my indignant reply.
"Lord I need answers, I need to know why!
By faith I have asked and I'm claiming your word.
My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in a balance and YOU tell me to 'WAIT?'
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no', to which I resign.
And Lord, you promised that if we believe,
We need to ask and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking! I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly I learned of my fate,
As the Master replied once again, "You must wait."

So I slumped in my chair defeated and taunt
And grumbled to God, "So I'm waiting...for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,
And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign,
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun,
I could raise the dead, cause mountains to run.
All you seek I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want, but you wouldn't Know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You'd not know the power I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to trust Me, just knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.
You'd never experience the fullness of love,
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove.

You'd know that I give and save (for a start)
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
The glow of My comfort late in the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask,
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.
You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that, 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'
Yes, you dreams for that loved one overnight would come true,
But oh, the loss! If I lost what I'm doing in You!

So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know ME.
And though oft, My answer seems terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still, 'WAIT'."

--Author Unknown


Let us abide in and delight in Christ!

Trevor's Story

Friday we went back to the Duluth Skywalk system with our witnessing team. We handed out close to a hundred tracts and had some really good conversations.

Several months ago a rough looking man walked past Steve and Josh as they stood outside at the Holiday Center in Duluth, he cursed and swore at them and continued to do this every time he walked by. So on Friday when Steve saw this same man walking towards us in the skywalk, he thought "oh boy, here we go again." But as Trevor (name changed) passed by us, he quietly said, "Thank you for what you are doing." Steve was surprised but managed to ask, "Are you born again?"

"Yes"

"When did this happen?"

"About a month ago."

He seemed to be in a hurry but later sought us out and took a tract. He stood near us reading it, then Steve began talking with him and Trevor's story unfolded:

A month ago he had come to the very end of his rope. He was going through a painful divorce, was doing drugs and drinking and had hit rock bottom. He took a gun, put it in his mouth and pulled the trigger-- it did not fire. He put the gun down, looked up at the sky and said "I've never talked to you before" and there, weeping, he found grace before the throne of God through Jesus Christ. He told Steve "Jesus is all I have, no one else can help me."

Please pray for Trevor, I wish I could paint for you the picture of that serious, sober look, that was in his face and eyes. I have not seen much like it.

Do you see the power of God in this man's life? Oh, how our God loves to use the foolish things of this world to confound the wise and the weak things to confound the mighty! Where is the disputer of this world? has God not made foolish the wisdom of this world? Praise God that He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy and whom He will He hardens!

To God be the Glory!

Please watch this Street Preacher's video: This is Kevin from Cry to God, --- this video is the best street preaching I have heard yet!

Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in Duluth MN

Praise God for more witnessing opportunities!

On Sunday, my brother and I went out with Steve and Josh to go witnessing at the Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in Duluth MN. Josh had fixed up his car with a sign holder on top which carries four gospel signs. As we drove around for a while looking for a good place to set up, it was fun to watch peoples heads turn to read the signs. After a while we began to wonder if we would find a good place to park since the area was packed, then we came to a barricaded section of the road where the police were allowing people to park. At the very end, in front of some more barricades and in sight of the race track we found an open parking place all by it's self and in a location which could hardly have been better. It was definitely God picked!

Steve began by preaching out of the car window with a manual bull horn. Soon, two reserve police officers showed up saying that they had received complaints from people who did not want their children to hear the word "hell". (I'm thinking: With all the things people allow their kids to hear on tv, you have got to be kidding me!) The officer said that Steve should be a "good person" and stop doing what he was doing. She said to the effect, that as far as she knew we were not breaking the law but since people were offended we should stop. Of course we could not agree to that! They left and called an in service officer who came and told us that using the bull horn was "disorderly conduct" ! Though this was a bogus claim, we did not want to lose more time and agreed not to use it. The officer then left and Steve got out to preach in the open air while I handed out tracts. The temps were bellow zero, so when we got cold, we switched with Michael and Josh.

It went very well and the gospel was given. This is the first time I have heard Michael preach and it was a great joy to him reasoning with the lost.

Please visit Michael's new blog for a video of the proceedings: Operation Save Duluth : Preaching at Bear Grease Marathon 2009

Seed Sowing

On Thursday last week we had the blessing of getting back on the street with our friends who are street preachers! Because of the cold, our "street" this time was a heated pedestrian over pass. Very nice indeed! We handed out quite a few tracts and had several good conversations. One man who had already been given a tract walked by again and Steve asked if he was going to read it, he said "Yea". Steve said "that didn't sound very convincing", the man turned around and said "oh, then you better give me another one". Steve handed him another one and said "you threw it away didn't you?" The guy laughed a little and said "How did you know?" Steve said "The Bible says that all liars will be cast into the lake of fire." That started a conversation that lasted fifteen minutes with this Jewish man named Kenny. Please pray for him, he said that he was going to think about what Steve had told him.

Yesterday, (Tuesday) we went out again, this time to the University of Minnesota Duluth. We had one gospel sign and two graphic abortion signs. Steve and Michael preached to the crowds of students getting on and off the buses and I handed out tracts. One campus police officer came because of some complaints and told us that we were fine where we were and it was our legal right to be there.

An atheist tried to reason with us and was given the gospel along with some things to think about. A young man came by taking our pictures and talked to us for some time. He was upset by the abortion pictures saying that we were showing them to "play on peoples emotions and to make people angry". Steve told him that we were showing them to let people know the truth of what abortion is and what it does to people. I told him that it is the same as the holocaust and there he interrupted along with two other young men who had joined him. "You are saying that abortion is equal to the holocaust?" He asked incredulously. "Yes, even worse" I answered. "almost fifty million babies have been killed"

"There were millions of Jews"

"Yes, six million Jews, fifty million babies." I compared.

"But they were a specific group of people that were targeted" one of them added.

"Exactly!" I said, "A specific group of people, babies."

They had to concede the point and quickly changed the subject. Steve repeatedly turned the conversation back to the gospel and they kept trying to turn it back towards their anger at the signs. The first guy told us that he did not agree with that type of abortion but there were other types. We told him that either way a person is killed. He said that he did not believe that there was life until birth! I told him that such a statement was only his personal opinion because the scientific research of many doctors, including pro-abortion doctors, showed that life begins at conception. He said that he did not know that! Praise God! Even though he went on to say that it would not change his mind on abortion, at least there was something planted that God can use. He and the others heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and we can pray that God will use it.

At one point God prompted me to go talk with a lady who stood near us. When I offered her a tract she refused and I asked if she had ever read the Bible. Our conversation was short but I pray that God will use that seed planted as well. She even gave me a quick hug before leaving.

It was that conversation that set me to thinking, because I felt like I stumbled around at some points and probably sounded silly to her. But, it is not up to me to save people, my job is to obey. God has told us to preach the gospel and we need to stay true to that command, it is easy to try and embellish it making it look more attractive to the carnal mind. We often want to build up strong arguments to show that we are really not as foolish as we sound, but what if someone believes those arguments? Their faith is then grounded in mans reasoning and not on God Himself. Apologetics is good and we need to know what we believe and why, but God told us to preach the gospel and He said that it would seem foolish to the world. Were you saved because of historical proof for the Bible and it's accuracy? I wasn't, it was the simple message of the gospel through which God led me to repentance and faith on Him.

So, I need to rest knowing that it is God who brings the increase. We obey, sowing the seed and watering the seed and God brings the increase. It is up to Him who will be saved, we need only to obey.

Yeah!

What a blessed rest we can have knowing that!

We stood out there for about three and a half hours and towards the end another young man brought out a home made sign and stood near us. Here is a picture:

His sign says "Love and rejoice for paganism. To be heathen is heavenly"

It was more like a cry for help than anything else. Michael felt prompted to go talk to him and they talked for a long time, then Steve joined in and without having heard what Michael had already said, began to say the exact same things! We pray that God will use the seed planted there as well.

Praise God for a great seed sowing day and we pray for many more to come! May God bring some fruit though our labors, for His glory!

Newsy Things

We had a wonderful day on Thursday spending time with my Grandma and some friends. We really do not celebrate Christmas because of it's pagan origins, but we do enjoy spending time with family.
It turned out to be a beautiful day with the sun shining and the snow sparkling like diamonds. My Dad took this picture in the morning, I love it!

Yesterday, my Mom, brother and I went cross-country skiing down our gravel, now snow covered road. We had a blast. The temperature had risen to hover around the freezing point, making lighter jackets the garments of choice. Since the temps have been around zero and below for some time, this warmer spell feels pretty nice.

Tomorrow Lord willing I will be heading out to stay with a family who just had a baby (remember Jesaias?) and need help with their two other children. I will be gone for a week or more, depending on how things go. So, I will probably not be posting at all next week, (unless I can get to a computer, which is unlikely).

I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve the Lord and to obtain some more experience with small children. What a blessing! Children are so precious and are gifts from God, it is very sobering to think of how easily they can be influenced. Oh, that I might point them to Christ! Their minds are like sponges and they learn so quickly, things that will stay with them the rest of their lives. What a responsibility is given to anyone who is around small children. Yes, the Father and Mother have the most responsibility, but those who are around them are also responsible before God how they act and talk.

I remember when my brother and I were very young, my Mother would march with us around and around the house reading a chapter of the Bible over and over again. Soon we began to repeat after her and within a couple of weeks we knew the whole chapter. In this way we memorized (chapters) Proverbs 1-8 and Psalms 1-9 . My dear Mother was instilling within us the word of God at that tender age where memorization comes easily. Small children love to repeat things over and over and memorize things so quickly, why not have them memorize the Bible? I still remember how fun those times were and the scripture has helped me so much and though I cannot now recite verbatim because I did not keep it up, yet it is "in there" and the principles are there. I am so thankful for that!
My mother would all throughout the day point us to the Creator, she would show us flowers and exclaim how beautifully God had made them and lead us to thank Him for what He has done. At home and every where we went, we heard the praises of God. Everything was in the context of 'Look what God made and how it works, isn't He wonderful? Let us thank Him!' I praise God that my formative years were spent learning about my Lord Jesus. There is nothing better to teach a child! My family claimed the verse: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)
And do you know what? God IS Faithful! When we put Him first and learned about Him first, He added all the other academic and social skills needed.
Remember:

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones." (Proverbs 3:5-8)

Let us keep on seeking the Lord. Difficulties come and things get in the way, but who and what is most important?

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." (Matthew 6:19-22)

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth..." (Colossians 3:1-5)

Have a blessed week and New Year!