The theme for one of the conferences was “give and go.” This is right where we found ourselves several years ago as the Lord has transitioned us from just giving to missions to actually going to a foreign field. The Lord Jesus said “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations...” The Lord said to “ye” to “go.” Each one of us is directed to “go” and reach the lost right around us. A great quote I heard says that “either you are a missionary or a mission field.”

My challenge for you is what are you doing to advance the kingdom of God in your corner of the world. The Lord is always faithful in working in the lives and hearts of people and we need to be ready and willing to do our part.

What is your part this week in God's work?

Time is a funny thing. It seems to be a physical property that we either can control or it controls us. It is something that every one of us has the same amount of each day and yet no one is guaranteed any in the future. Some days it seems as if I can accomplish three times as much as another time and yet there are "times" that I fell like I am accomplishing nothing working hard. Almost as if I were toiling all the night and nothing to show for it.

James 4:14 says "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

God is not controlled by the element of time but He is outside of time and controls all things. His Sovereignty reigns now and forever. He has a plan that will be worked out. His will will be accomplished. If we can avail ourselves to Him and him only and what He is trying to accomplish in us then time will not seem to be working against us. We are told that "time is short" and that we are to redeem the time because the days are evil.

How are you doing at redeeming the time. Are you making up for lost time and seeking to do the Fathers will or are you wasting your allotment of time away?

We only have one life to live and twill soon be past. Only what's done for Jesus Christ will last.

I want to praise the Lord for his faithfulness in our lives. We are finishing up a three week trip in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. We have been blessed in missions conferences, visiting old friends and meeting new friends in new churches.

We went to be a blessing to some old friends who are going through a rough time and we were the ones who ended up being blessed. As my dear friend Andy who is learning to deal with the amputation of his right foot and ankle has said that "it must be that God has him going down a path that is too narrow for two feet." There is a great example of someone who sees a way to glorify God in the situation that he is dealt. Praise the Lord!

As we travel there always seems to be some type of automotive repair needed. But Praise the Lord once again as we started this trip with a transmission leak that I was able to diagnose and replace the part myself for less that $20. Now the air conditioning isn't working right and a brother from the church we were at took a look at our van before the service and found a leaky pressure switch that should be fairly inexpensive to fix.

As we begin our journey back to New York early tomorrow morning we look back on a wonderful few weeks with people encouraged, challenged and people being changed from the power of darkness into His marvelous light.

Once again we praise the Lord for His faithfulness.

Continuing on...

As we continue to present the ministry in churches all across the eastern half of our country, it becomes more and more clear that truly this calling is from God. We are excited to have people commit to pray for our ministry, and humbled because they would take their time to do so. We realize it is for the Glory of God, and do not take that lightly. We pray like Paul that we would walk worthy of this calling, and know that it is only by his mercy and grace we are enabled to do this.

We are also impressed by the fact that many things will be traded for following Christ. We are right now missing our college student's home coming for a short break from school, in hopes that presenting our vision to a church on Sunday will generate support. We have missed family birthday parties, weddings, memorial services, and camping vacations because we are pursuing Christ in the path he has called us to.

Please don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. Merely counting the cost. Is HE worthy? Yes. That needs to be the only answer. While many may not understand, our focus needs to be Christ, and that will have to be enough.

Also, just saying "yes" cannot be the end of it. Actions must follow. Daily committing the steps we take to the furthering of the Gospel, and getting to our destination... Zambia!

It has been a long time since I updated you'all on this blog but if you can't tell I have been down South a few times in the last couple of months. We were blessed to be in Georgia and Florida for some missions conferences and back home in New York for a few other meetings.

We will be heading back down to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama from mid May until June.

We covet your prayers for a dear friend of ours that I graduated Bible Institute with that was in a serious motorcycle accident on New Years Eve. This week he will be having his foot and ankle amputated because of the accident. There is no doubt that this is traumatic for everyone involved but it is also encouraging to see someone truly live out their faith in the face of adversity. Some people can handle adversity better than others and while trials will happen to all of us sooner or later, I believe that God gets more glory from those who are able to trust him with their life and circumstances. I have seen how God is still glorified and praised through this family and what an impact that has left of the unsaved family and neighbors.

II Cor. 4:17 "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." When God's children are doing what they believe God has called them to do and doing it faithfully then how they glorify the Lord is truly up to them. The harder the trial and the more impossible the situation the more God receives the glory.

Our focus should be and should remain on eternity with Jesus Christ for that very next verse is

verse 18 "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Is God able to do in your life what you can't? Are you willing to let him?

To the human mind it seems impossible what God may want us to do but to a man like Abraham it is said in Romans 4:21 that he was "fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform."

Let God do his perfect work in your life today.

Winter Wonderland

We (my wife and I), were able to spend three days in the Adirondack Mountains with Missionaries Kevin and Savannah Pestke. It's a blessing to be able to enjoy the hospitality from the owners of the “Lodge on the Cliff” in Old Forge, NY. What a great time enjoying the scenery of the lakes and the mountains along with some cross country skiing.

The four of us spent some time in planning for ministry in the upcoming years in Zambia, Africa. We also took some serious time in prayer and Bible reading and true fellowship around the Word of God. Iron sharpeneth iron.

Every once in a while, everyone needs to have time away to rest, recoup and plan so you can get back into the work with a renewed passion and your spiritual saw sharpened.

The normally short three hour drive back home was met immediately with blizzard conditions and zero visibility. What a blessing to see God’s beautiful snow blanket the landscape and turn an otherwise normal scene into a winter wonderland. After having to stop several times to see where the road is and then continuing on at a snails pace all the while dodging stopped cars and trucks, we finally made it home in five and a half hours. I sure am glad I rescheduled the evening plans to another day.

Times like these are sometimes difficult to schedule but afterwards you realize the importance and productivity that comes out of these special times. The Lord has instituted the Sabbath to give us a time of rest, which mirrors the seventh day of creation, and we need to work to make sure this rest happens.

This is a great picture of Jesus Christ doing the work on the cross to pay for our sins and us accepting this work by faith. We are now to “rest” in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Now the work we do is done for the honor and glory of the One who purchased us. May the name of Jesus Christ be glorified in your lives today.

January update:

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I hope the New Year finds you well with the Lord. We were grateful to have spent the Holidays at home with our family and friends. We were able to spend much needed time with some of our closest brothers and sisters in Christ in fellowship and prayer during this time and were encouraged with the wonderful support from our church family and challenged to new heights with our walk with the Lord. As we continue this journey we find ourselves being uncomfortably stretched. But as we all know, once we are used to this new position we will be stretched again so we can walk closer with the Lord.

We would like to say a sincere “Thank You” to all our prayer partners and supporters who are there for us in so many ways. We are able to continue the path God has laid out for us in great part because of your faithfulness. May God richly reward you according to his riches in Christ Jesus.

This past weekend was a bit of a blur as we visited some dear friends and their church in Maryland for Sunday morning service, and then traveled to Pennsylvania to present our ministry and preach in another church for the evening service. Praise the Lord we had NO problems with our vehicle this time. (Of course this time we took our small van.)

We look forward to visiting more churches closer to home for the next several weeks and reaching out to make new friends and begin new relationships.

Thank you once again for your continued support and prayers and let me encourage you to stay focused on the reason we are still here, to bring honor and glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are to testify as witnesses to his grace and mercy in our lives so others may come to know him and truly worship him as their Lord and Savior.

Phil. 2:10-11 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow...And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”