My childhood Bible and what I want to pass on

The other day I found the Bible I had as a kid packed away with some books. I don’t remember when, where or how I got it and there is nothing special about it other than the content. Many emotions and memories came to me as I looked it over. I remember in many hard times I read it, no rhyme or reason, I just read parts flipping through the pages hoping God would answer me somehow. In that time, I really had no idea how to approach reading the Bible, which I think is something many people can relate to. I knew there was much to learn and know, but I had no idea how to gain this knowledge. This was the beginning of my love for the Word of God.

In the last several years I have been feeling the call to teach from the Bible. So in trying to work out what I felt was a call 4 or so years ago, I started a Christian blog and a little later a bible study podcast on the book of 1st Peter. Now I may be a terrible writer, bad speaker and lacking as a teacher, but I love doing it. I love talking about the Bible and what Jesus did for us and more personally, what He did for me. I am very much a work in progress and I thank God at minimum, every morning when I wake up and every night before bed for what He has blessed me with. I love my family more than anything on this earth and if I can pass on something to all four of my children, it would be my passion to love and learn more about Jesus. I hope they will always stay on the narrow path.

I love looking at that old bible because it reminds me of where much of my curiosity for learning about God came from and how far I have come as a man and how much more I have to go. More importantly it reminds me how forgiving, loving and awesome God is and how far He has brought me as a Christian. In this life I will never be worthy of what Christ did for me, but I don't want it to be for a lack of trying.

So go dig out your bible and read it. Find out why after 2000 years, Jesus, a poor carpenter who never traveled more than 200 miles from home, is still the most important and compelling figure of all time. It could change your life.  May God bless you.

Merry Christmas everyone, thanks for checking in >>John

Be a man Biblically - Wake up call for all of us

Men, are you the leader of your family? Not a leader in the “Do as I say, or you’re going to get it!” leader, but as in a father leading his family to be Godly, loving people kind of way. Do you respect and honor your wife as your co-heir?

Music: “Dance in the Desert” by the Ken Ferguson Band. Check them out at KingdomTunes.com! Contact me at : biblestudypodacstsJohn@gmail.com

1st Peter 1:17-19 - Fear in God?

Fear in God? God does love you, but do you think you can live your life as if the blood of Christ sacrificed for us was not something of infinite value?

Music: “Lovesick” by the Ken Ferguson Band. Please support his ministry over at KingdomTunes.com! Visit the rest of BibleStudyPodcasts.org podcast lessions...

1st Peter 1:13-16 - Where do you find your joy?

Where do you find your joy? Is okay for Christians to continue the sinful activities they found pleasure in before they committed their lives to Jesus Christ?

Music: “Only you are Worthy” by the Ken Ferguson Band. Please check out and support their ministry at KingdomTunes.com!

1st Peter 1:10-12 - What brings you Joy

What brings you Joy? – When you think about your life, what brings you the most joy and happiness? Is it family, your job, work, money?…some activity? What if I were to tell you what should give you the most happiness and joy in your life should be what Angles even long to look into.

Music: “Only you are Worthy” by the Ken Ferguson Band. Please check out and support their ministry at KingdomTunes.com!

1st Peter 1:8-9 - Love without Seeing

Love without Seeing – Though we don’t see Christ face to face with our physical eyes, we do see Him in another way that is even more important.

Music: “Lovesick” by the Ken Ferguson Band. Please check out and support their ministry at KingdomTunes.com!



Check us out on  biblestudypodcasts.org.

1st Peter 1:6-7 - Get refined!

What does your faith prove? When you face hardship in life, how do you react? Life is filled with many pains, it is not enough to simply endure them.

Music: “Psalm 91–Beautiful My God” by the Ken Ferguson Band. Check them out at KingdomTunes.com!



Check us out on  biblestudypodcasts.org.

1st Peter – 1:3-5 Born Again

Episode 3 of the study of 1st Peter – Born Again: The blessing, mercy and hope in our salvation.Music: “Walk on the water” by the Ken Ferguson Band. Check them out at KingdomTunes.com! Contact me at : biblestudypodacstJohn@gmail.com


Reminder : I have joined BibleStudyPodcasts.org and I am re-releasing the 1st Peter Podcasts. Sorry for those of you who have listened to all the first 12 Episodes of 1st Peter. I will be rerecording some of them, so they might not all be the same. You could also check out some of the many other studies on BibleStudyPodcasts.org until week 13 and pick up the 1st Peter study then.For those of you who are new, glad to have you!!

1st Peter – 1:1-2 Christian Discrimination?

Reminder : I have joined BibleStudyPodcasts.org and I am re-releasing the 1st Peter Podcasts. Sorry for those of you who have listened to all the first 12 Episodes of 1st Peter. I will be rerecording some of them, so they might not all be the same. You could also check out some of the many other studies on BibleStudyPodcasts.org until week 13 and pick up the 1st Peter study then.For those of you who are new, glad to have you!!

Episode 2 of the study of 1st Peter – Christian Discrimination?.

Have you ever felt people think of you or treat you differently because you are a Christian? Have you ever felt the pressures of staying true to your faith and still trying to fit-in in an ever growing secular world? Peter has some words for us concerning this topic and more as we move into Episode 2 of the study of 1 Peter.

Music: “Lovesick” by the Ken Ferguson Band. Check them out at KingdomTunes.com! Contact me at : biblestudypodacstJohn@gmail.com

Did God choose individual Christians?

Did God choose individual Christians because He knew they would believe in Him? Or God choose them and that’s why they believed in Him?

Salvation (election) is not an accidental event, but it is a part of God's salvation plan from the very beginning. It is God who initiated a person's salvation by choosing them first before they chose Him, “Through the sanctifying work of the Spirit”.

We are the elect based on God's foreknowledge of our acceptance of the Gospel, given that God's desire is to save all persons (1 Pet. 3:9), and that, in accordance with His desire to save all, God has provided the means for saving all (2 Pet. 2:1). If God has the desire to save all, and the means to save all, then why are only some elected? "Individual choice".

God has let us have the choice to choose him, to love him. Love cannot be forced, so if God had already decided that we would just all come to him, with no choice, then this would not be love. God loves us enough to let us chose. God does know what we would chose if given the choice to accept him. God wants to save all of us but only the chosen or elect, because of their faith in Him will be. Of course remember, God must first draw us in order for us to respond but everyone has at least a momentary opportunity to choose him.

Jesus said in (John 6:44), “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.''

Hope this helps!

Thanks for checking in and God Bless >> John

Essentials - this is what's important

Having been a Christian Blogger and Podcaster for over three years now, I have received many different reactions to my posts and Podcasts; from the very positive to the very negative. The negative is almost always someone who is a Secular Humanist or a Christian who wants to argue over non-essentials.

The only thing that really bothers me is when Christians argue over non-essentials. These non-essentials are the things that have created so many denominations in the Christian Church and what caused some of the worst bickering between Christians. Many people cling, I mean really cling to tradition or routine like they are scriptural essentials, when in fact they are not.

Examples of the non-essentials are, what day we worship, type of baptism(full immersion or Sprinkling of water), frequency of communion, type of music in service, instruments in service, dress code, King James Version only, I could go on and on. People get wrapped around the wheel over non-essentials more than anything else.

Below is a list of essentials...or in other words, this is what's important.

The deity of Christ. - Jesus was fully God and fully man. (John 10:30 , John 20:28, Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33, Heb. 1:8,Col. 2:9)

Salvation by grace - There is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor or gain access to heaven apart from His grace. Salvation is by grace through faith alone. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Salvation through Jesus Christ alone -  HE IS the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through HIM. (Acts 4:12, John 14:6, Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 3:1-2)

The gospel - The resurrection of Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ—His death on the cross for sinners and His resurrection from the dead to everlasting life. This is the bedrock of the Christian faith. To believe Jesus did not resurrect is to deny that Jesus’ work here on earth was a satisfactory offering to God for the sins of mankind. Jesus rose from the grave physically. (1 Corinthians 15:14, John 2:19-21,1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Galatians 1:8-9)

Monotheism - There is only one God, you are to put no other “gods” before Him. (Exodus 20:3,1 Corinthians 8:5-6, Isaiah 43:10; 44:6,8)

The Holy Trinity - All three Persons ARE represented as one in the Bible. - (Matthew 28:19, 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, 2 Cor. 13:14, Isaiah 6:8, Gen. 1:26)

As we mature as Christians we can see Gods work more clearly in the small things. Faith is essential in Christianity. Hebrews 11:1 tells us “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. We believe in a God we cannot see, but we can see Him in things around us and in our life when we earnestly seek Him out. “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Thanks for Checking in and God Bless >>John

This is the REAL way “Love Wins”

Serve God with Spiritual Gifts

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Behave Like a Christian

    9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. -  Romans 12:1-13 (NKJV)
I was reflecting on Romans 12:3-13 today and it got me thinking about how many people we take for granted around us that allow our lives to go so smoothly. I’ll give you this, my smoothly may be much different than your definition, but we in America have it pretty easy compared to most around the world.

For now, we can worship freely without fear of violence. We are protected by the most advanced military in the world. Most of us live pretty close to hospitals, EMS, Fire and rescue (many of them volunteers). We have Police to protect us, people to come pick up our trash, water treatment plants that make sure we have clean running water and sewage treatment plants that make everything else “goes away”. Here is a biggie, we have food everywhere. I can drive 5 minutes and pass 20 places that serve food.

We can live our lives the way we do because of the love, caring, talent and hard work of people of the past and present. I have heard the term that “we stand of the shoulders of giants” that so many greats came before us. There are so many great people in this world that do so much for so many. We Christians owe so much to so many, so shouldn’t we live lives worthy of the sacrifice of so many?

        In verse 9 it says “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil.  Cling to what is good.”

We hate evil, we should serve and thank one another, love and lift each other up. We should not be self absorbed shut-ins spending our time trying to avoid contact with the “outside” world.

        Verse 2 tells us “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Let’s change our hard coded mind sets to think outside the box when it comes to helping others. Lets humbly and thankfully serve each other. Think of someone who makes your life easier day in and day out. They don’t do it for praise or thanks....but why not make their day and do something for them, not just a “thank you”, but a gesture that shows you care about what it is they do and who they are? In using our individual talents in helping and loving each other, we can lift each other up as one in the body of Christ.

This is the REAL way “Love Wins”.

        “Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:11


Thanks for checking in and God Bless>>John

Haiti mission trip support and Prayer request for a good friend. Update 5

For those of you that have been following the update from my friend Anthony and his fellow team members from Berean Community Church in Rochester, Michigan. They are all back from Haiti safe and sound!! Anthony sent me this slide show/video that was put together. Please continue to pray for that message and work in Christs name that they did will continue long after they have gone. Enjoy! Great Job and God Bless you all.

Thanks fro Checking in and God Bless >>John

10 Resolutions for Mental Health

 Great article by Pastor John Piper:

On October 22, 1976, Clyde Kilby, who is now with Christ in Heaven, gave an unforgettable lecture. I went to hear him that night because I loved him. He had been one of my professors in English Literature at Wheaton College. He opened my eyes to more of life than I knew could be seen. O, what eyes he had! He was like his hero, C. S. Lewis, in this regard. When he spoke of the tree he saw on the way to class this morning, you wondered why you had been so blind all your life. Since those days in classes with Clyde Kilby, Psalm 19:1 has been central to my life: “The sky is telling the glory of God.”

That night Dr. Kilby had a pastoral heart and a poet’s eye. He pled with us to stop seeking mental health in the mirror of self-analysis, but instead to drink in the remedies of God in nature. He was not naïve. He knew of sin. He knew of the necessity of redemption in Christ. But he would have said that Christ purchased new eyes for us as well as new hearts. His plea was that we stop being unamazed by the strange glory of ordinary things. He ended that lecture in 1976 with a list of resolutions. As a tribute to my teacher and a blessing to your soul, I offer them for your joy.

1. At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.

2. Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle, and an end. I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death when he said: "There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing."

3. I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence, but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood.

4. I shall not turn my life into a thin, straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do.

5. I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.

6. I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their "divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic" existence.

7. I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the "child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder."

8. I shall follow Darwin's advice and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good literature and good music, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music.

9. I shall not allow the devilish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Charles Williams suggested, "fulfill the moment as the moment." I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now.

10. Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the architect who calls himself Alpha and Omega.

>>By John Piper

Daily Devotional : The Spirit of God will not forsake you.

"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." - Philippians 1:6

Paul remained confident as he wrote this to letter to the Philippians. He was confident in God’s desire and ability to continue His transforming work in the lives of the Philippian believers.

Remember: The Spirit of God will not forsake you, HE will see you through to the end, until your mortal bodies will appear before the judgment of Christ to be glorified. Be strong and confident in your faith; let your witness to the world be the fruit of your faith and trust in Jesus. All glory be to God.

May God Bless you and keep you. Thanks for checking in >>John

Haiti mission trip support and Prayer request for a good friend. Update 4

Hello everyone. I am 6 days late posting this, but here is an update from my friend Anthony. He leaves this week for Haiti, please keep he and the rest his team in prayer:

Friends and Family,

I am 1 week away from departing for Haiti with a team of 14 from
Berean Community Church from Rochester, Minnesota.

A few tidbits to update everyone:

-Presidential elections are taking place in Haiti today. Please be in  prayer for the country. Amidst the election, former President Jean Aristide has returned to the country after being exiled several years ago. There is speculation by the media that his presence could create unrest in the country. Pray that the country stays calm while we are there.

-Water is Life, an organization that we've partnered with is indeed going to drill three wells – They are bringing in the heavy equipment in September to do the actual drilling. In typical Haiti fashion everything is still a little bit up in the air as to how things will happen. But there is a firm commitment to drill the three wells.

-While we are in Limbe there is some work they need help with: Putting up a chain link fence around the orphanage and there is a cement floor on the compound they need put in. There might be some kitchen remodeling to be done as well.

-Praise the Lord we are at 108% of the funding we need. The Lord will guide how we are to give the extra 8%

-As I have mentioned before and I mentioned at the top of this note, we have a team of 14 people going. I have concerns about a group this size in that sometimes people are tempted to want to do their own thing and stray from the group. Please pray for our team leader Paul and for those in the group - that they will put the group's needs before their own.

-Lastly - there is a girl with dwarfism (achondroplasia - the same type as me) who resides in the town Cap Haitien where our team flies in and out of. I've seen her standing on the sidewalk every time we are on our way out of Haiti. She's been at the same spot both times. Pray that if it is in God's will, He would give me the opportunity to stop and share the joy and good news of the Lord with her. It is very likely that she has never met another little person in her life or if she has, only a few occasions. I want her to know that she is not alone and that she is loved by God. You can pray that God brings me in contact with other little people as well while we're down there ;)

Blessings in Christ!

Anthony

The world did not know HIM...so it will not know us.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. -1 John 3:1

The more news I read, the more nonsense I see in our schools(US), TV, movies and hear in music, the more my heart hurts for this world. It is depraved...it hates God. People are happily marching toward a cliff unwilling to hear that they are going to fall.

The last thing non believers need to worry about is so called "judgment" or "intolerance" from Christians; for we happily admit WE are not the judge. I place this question to you Non Believers; believing what we Christians do about salvation and Heaven, how much would Christians have to hate you to say nothing about your impending fall? How much would we have to hate someone to not help them get to Jesus and salvation?

One difference between a Christian and Non believer is Christians want to stop you from falling off that cliff(that you choose to say is not there); your belief system would let everyone walk off the cliff just to not sound judgmental or intolerant. Christians are about love, yes we are all sinners and we are all broken. You must remember that people can call themselves anything they want; you WILL know a Christian by their fruit. Don't let the hateful people put a wedge between you and God.

Thanks for checking in. God Bless>>John

Japan: After Empathy and Aid, People Want Answers - John Piper

Priorities

First things first.
When Christians see suffering they feel empathy. We too have bodies (Hebrews 13:3). Therefore, love commands, “Weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).
Then comes aid. We want to help relieve human suffering—all of it, especially eternal suffering:

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10).

And that includes enemies:

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you (Luke 6:27);
If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink (Romans 12:20).

But sooner or later people want more than empathy and aid—they want answers.

Proclamation and Power

When love has wept and worked, it must have something to say about God. It doesn’t need to have all the answers. Only God does. But it has the Bible, and the Bible is not silent on this matter.
No earthquakes in the Bible are attributed to Satan. Many are attributed to God.¹ This is because God is Lord of heaven and earth:

He commands even winds and water, and they obey him (Luke 8:25);
He sends forth His command to the earth. . . . He gives snow like wool; He scatters hoarfrost like ashes. He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before His cold? . . . He makes his wind blow and the waters flow (Psalm 147:15-18);
He looks on the earth and it trembles . . . touches the mountains and they smoke! (Psalm 104:32);
[He] shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble (Job 9:6).

Earthquakes are ultimately from God. Nature does not have a will of its own. And God owes Satan no freedom. What havoc demons wreak, they wreak with God’s permission. And God has reasons for what he permits. His permissions are purposes. That's the point of Job 1-2 and Luke 22:31-32.

Purpose

God does nothing without an infinitely wise and good purpose:

He is wise and brings disaster (Isaiah 31:2);
The Lord is good (Psalm 100:5);
All his works are right and his ways are just (Daniel 4:37).

Therefore, God has a good and all-wise purpose for the heart-rending calamity in Japan on March 11, 2011 that appears to have cost tens of thousands of lives.
Indeed, he has hundreds of thousands of purposes, most of which will remain hidden to us until we are able to grasp them at the end of the age:

How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! (Romans 11:33);
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Yet there are possible purposes revealed in the Bible that we may pray will come to pass:

1. The end-time earthquakes in the book of Revelation (see above) are meant as calls to repentance—to warn people who deny Jesus Christ that a day is coming when unbelievers will cry to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation 6:16).
2. The end-time earthquakes in Matthew 24:7-8 are meant to be interpreted as “the beginning of the birth pangs.” That is, they are a wake-up call to this world that God's kingdom will soon be born. So be alert and prepare to meet Jesus Christ.
3. God's unilateral taking of thousands of lives is a loud declaration that “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away” (Job 1:21). The message for all the world is that life is a loan from God (Luke 12:20) and belongs to him. He creates it and gives it and takes it according to his own will and owes us nothing. He has a right both to children (2 Samuel 12:15) and to the aged (Luke 2:29). It is a great gift to learn this truth and dedicate our lives to their true owner rather than defraud him till it is too late.
4. The power felt in an earthquake reveals the fearful magnificence of God. This is a great gift since “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10). Most of the world does not fear the Lord and therefore lacks saving wisdom. The thunder-clap summons to fear God is a mercy to those who live.
5. When the earth shakes under our feet there is a dramatic sense that there is no place to flee. In most disasters the earth is the one thing that stands firm when wind and flood are raging. But where do you turn when the earth itself is unsafe? Answer: God.

Pray

And let us pray that in this catastrophe the Lord fulfills two other purposes:

1. That Christians repent of worldliness. “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).
2. That Christians in Japan and around the world would step forward with extraordinary, sacrificial love to show more clearly the mercy of Christ who laid down his life in the midst of the Father's judgment. The suffering and death of Jesus Christ for the sin of the world is the one place where empathy, aid, and answers meet. He invites everyone to come for all three.

O how fragile this life is. The world, and all its life-sustaining processes seem so sure and solid. They are not. One thing is sure and solid:

Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:28).

¹ 2 Samuel 22:8; Isaiah 13:13; 24:18-20; 29:6; Psalm 60:2; Nahum 1:5-6; Revelation 6:12; 8:5; 11:13-14; 16:18

by: John Piper 

Haiti mission trip support and Prayer request for a good friend. Update 3

Updates and great news from Anthony,

Two weeks from tomorrow - Sunday, March 27, a team of 14 individuals including myself depart for Haiti.

A few tidbits/updates:

We have raised 97 % of our financial goal for the trip. We have $600 left to raise. I trust that God will provide the remaining $600
before we depart on March 27.

This past week, I have had several opportunities to connect with a
co-worker who is from Port Au Prince, Haiti

On Friday, March 4, 7 of us team members had the opportunity to pack food at the Feed My Starving Children warehouse in Eagan, Minnesota (just outside of Minneapolis). Along with 70 other people, we packed over 90 boxes. That amounted to over 20,000 meals - enough to feed 52 kids for a year! It was an awesome time bonding with those whom I will be going to Haiti and we had the opportunity to serve alongside of others we had never met before. Meeting strangers is cool!

We have connected with an organization that builds wells and water
pump systems in Haiti and they have an established relationship with Grace Missions whom we partner with in Limbe, Haiti. I stated in a previous note that we have hopes of building a well / fresh water supply in Ennery where our sister church is located. Praise God that this organization has visited Ennery and knows where our sister church is located. We do not know if a well or fresh water supply will be built while we are in Haiti, but we pray that this is a good start - establishing a relationship with people who know how to build wells in Haiti and who are familiar with the town of Ennery.

Tomorrow is our bi-weekly Haiti missions trip team meeting. We'll be working on skits and reviewing plans for when we arrive in Haiti.
We'll also work on bible verses and sing worship songs in Kreyol the
native Haitian Language.

Please pray for my stamina. Work has been intense and the days/nights have been long. Pray that God sustains me and provides me rest before we depart for Haiti. I have a couple of projects that are due to be delivered while I am in Haiti, but I trust God will put things in the right hands while I am gone. If not - He has other plans for me :)
Regarding the well we have been hoping to build at our sister church in Ennery, Haiti. We received word today that the organization we contacted has funding to begin building the well and our team will have some involvement while we are in Haiti to get things started.

This is HUGE.

Three individuals from our team will have a conference call with the organization building the well on Tuesday - pray that the phone call goes well and we are obedient to God's plans.

It started out as an idea / thought in passing to look into a way to supply clean water to the town where our sister church is located.

Then we thought this would be a good idea to tie in with the message given in John 7:37-38:
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

And now our desire is becoming reality. It is our hope that people come to the well to receive clean drinking water and they will also receive the message of Living Water as told from the bible from our sister church in Ennery.

Thank you for your support!

In Christ,
Anthony

Thank all of you for your support. Please keep this team in your prayers. God Bless >> John

Sometimes there are no immediate answers. - Psalm 86:6-7

I saw this and was thinking about the people in Japan, please pray for those people suffering right now.

Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.

— Psalm 86:6-7 (NIV)

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

Sometimes there are no immediate answers. We have prayed and cried and tried and gone sleepless and mourned and shouted. Still there are no answers. The days roll by in an agonizing parade of pain. Still there are no answers we can identify. What do we do? We go to the Psalms. We let them raise up our heart's cry. We are honest with the God of the entire universe and yet we can still anticipate mercy from him. We are convinced that in our troubles, he will not only hear us, but he will also care about what is happening in our lives.

My Prayer...

Almighty God, the only true Healer of disease and Mender of broken hearts, please hear the cry today of those I love who are in such desperate situations. May your will be done in every one of their lives with tenderness, grace, and a sense of your presence. And Lord, please be near me, and help me see your answer to my prayers. Forever yours in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Credit: http://www.verseoftheday.com/