hiatus no more
Praying & Preaching at the Western Wall in Jerusalem (2019). In a few day, Lord willing, we shall be back.
Greetings, beloved brethren. Spiritually speaking, it’s dark outside all day, every day. “What can the righteous do” (Psalm 11:3)? The answer to this very biblical question is not found within us but in the very next verse:
The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men (Psalm 11:4).
Therefore, let us follow the example of King Saul (yes, there were a few times when his example is to be modeled) and sit still awhile:
And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God (I Samuel 9:27).
Perhaps the best thing we can do in these times is be still and hear the Word of God (i.e. instead of being still in front of a television screen, a tablet screen, or a phone screen) … and keep on preaching the Gospel, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some us” (Hebrews 10:25).
I do want to apologize up front about lack of communication, for these ministry newsletters have been on hiatus many months. Last year was one of Full Proof Gospel Ministries’ most difficult and trying years since this work got off the ground in 2003. The malicious law-fare persecution out of Montana continues to drag on and on, and at times, it has seemed as if we are surrounded by enemies, both within and without, on every side. Frankly, I just didn’t feel like writing any newsletters … and yet the ministry has marched forward. What else can we do? Where else can we go? “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).
By God’s great and abundant grace, #TheLongWalkUSA continued in 2023 from the very spot of the notorious 11/12/2022 hate crime committed by a domestic terrorist, furthered by dirty cops, and since aided and abetted by the State of Montana. Our team walked from that spot in Madison County all the way to a spot on an obscure dirt road in Stevens County, Washington. We stopped on November 8th, exactly 1,000 WALKING MILES from that terrorist attack. And along that thousand-mile route, which included a 150-mile LOOP around Madison County, Montana, we enjoyed nearly 500 Gospel encounters WITHOUT INCIDENT and “no man forbidding” (Acts 28:31). My friends, that is great victory, despite the ongoing persecution, and undoubtedly the answer to many prayers of the saints. Thank you in Jesus’ name.
This spot in Stevens County, Washington was exactly 1,000 walking miles from the spot of the Madison County terrorist attack.
The original cross we carried 5,543 miles is still being held as a “dangerous weapon” by the Madison County Sheriffs Department (funny, like Caiphas in John 11:50, they speak the truth IN THE SPIRITUAL). Notwithstanding, the same brother who made us that first cross made us a second one just like it, and it has truly been broken in—1,000 miles of walking and hours being held aloft as a testimony outside courthouses, government buildings, abortion mills, and on street corners.
Back on April 26th of last year, the LORD gave me Isaiah 41:15 just before we left to go back out to Montana for the first time since the hate crime. On that day, there was doubt as to whether or not we would be allowed to continue the walk and whether or not we would have a cross like the one stolen from us. God’s Word was clear that morning:
Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains (Isaiah 41:15).
And truly, “The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken” (II Chronicles 6:10). He did give us a new threshing instrument, and with it, we literally did thresh the mountains. LOL, that thousand-mile route included more than 100 miles of walking in the mountainous backcountry of Glacier National Park, and we passed the 6,000-mile milestone at the foot of the mountains in the Flathead Valley. My friends, seek the LORD in His Word. Ask for comfort, answers, and guidance in it. He will give it to you. Like with Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13:47 (cf. Isaiah 49:6), He will make it personally applicable; and He will fulfill it. Hallelujah!
A New Sharp Threshing Instrument to Thresh the Mountains, Northern Idaho
6,000 total miles (Bigfork, Montana)
There was joy amidst the trial last year. My oldest daughter was married to a fine young man who I am privileged to now call my son. There was also sorrow upon sorrow amidst the trial. My best friend on earth, my father, was suddenly and unexpectedly taken home to be with Jesus. My mom is now a widow before her time, and our family is left with a giant void where there used to be a great Christ-like anchor in the storm. And yet, in that storm of sorrow, there was also the wonder, awe, and joy of God’s marvelous Hand of Providence. My dad was able to preach Carter & Bethany’s wedding on August 5th, and he preached his last sermon on earth on September 3rd. My younger daughter, Charlotte, for whom we had prayed for many years, was converted upon the preaching of that sermon out of Hebrews 4:9-11. I’m so undeserving, and yet the LORD has now blessed me with the blessing He bestowed upon Cornelius (Acts 10), Lydia (Acts 16), and the Philippian Jailer (also Acts 16). The Lord has saved my whole house. The following Wednesday night, our church gathered, and I was privileged to baptize Charlotte with my father looking on, bearing an expression much like that of Stephen in Acts 7. We were all together with our church family and its beloved pastor. Though none of us had a clue, that was his last earthly assembly. Early the next morning, my mom found him dead on the floor. As difficult as it was, the first words out of my mouth when I received the news were: “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). It’s been a great loss … but the timing of everything is also a great source of comfort.
Gone to be with Jesus … Paul M. Boyd (1952-2023)
My dad walked the last few miles of North Carolina with me on #TheLongWalkUSA. I miss him.
If you were a preacher and knew the last Scripture verse you would ever exposit from behind a pulpit was Hebrews 4:9-11 and that the Spirit of God would use it to draw your granddaughter to Jesus … If you knew the last thing you would experience here on earth was her baptism and public testimony of faith in Christ amongst your local church flock, would you choose any other pilgrim’s path to go to the Celestial City and hear “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord” ?
My dad’s last earthly sermon was truly a powerful one. It’s as if he preached his own funeral (LISTEN HERE). Hallelujah, “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). My dad has found it. May we all sooner rather than later.
The next week, I had the great joy of preaching his funeral as I did for his mother 20 years before. I pray I did the opportunity justice. You can listen to that funeral message HERE.
My father was the primary caretaker for my 91-year-old widowed grandmother and did a great service by her, of very high price in the sight of God. My brother and I now have the great privilege and responsibility of taking care of two widows in their affliction, my mom and her mother. It’s one of those difficulties that is also a great blessing and the essence of “pure religion and undefiled before God” (James 1:27). I’d much appreciate your prayers in these things.
What a blessing it is to care for Christian widows!
In January, Eric Trent represented FPGM down in Peru, helping with a ministry we support there in one of the poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods in all of Lima. It was a glorious time preaching Christ and teaching slum children out of the Word of God while encouraging the pastor of a local church recently planted in that neighborhood. Upon Eric’s return to the States and by a February 10th email from a Christian brother in Russia who asked: There haven't been any of your updates for months, are you guys ok? … I was suddenly struck by a spiritual 2x4 in the back of the head. It was as if the words “HIATUS NO MORE” were inscribed upon it. The last thing on earth I have wanted to do over the past year is write another ministry newsletter, foolishly reasoning: “Very few, if any, probably read them anyway.” Someone in Russia obviously does and missed them. The Lord merits praise and my Christian brethren are blessed by encouraging testimony in these dark times. Therefore, HIATUS NO MORE. We press on, and we’ll continue to give testimony as we have the past two decades. Thank you for all your prayers and support over the years.
Eric Trent preaches and teaches in Caja de Agua, one of the poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods in all of Lima, Peru
HIATUS NO MORE … please pray for ministry. In less than a week, Eric and I will be leaving for ISRAEL. By God’s grace, we shall be in the Land for a month and hosting at least two teams of volunteers from our local church. We have secured an apartment in Jerusalem to host these volunteers, and there is much in the works. Word on the ground is that the present conflict has opened many doors of opportunity for the Word of God. There is much openness to the truth and much curiosity about the Messiah. It’s an opportunity we cannot let pass by, despite any inherent danger. We will be laboring with a Jewish brother in Christ that I used to preach with on the streets of San Francisco many years ago. He and his family live in Jerusalem. I’m so excited. We will also be attempting to connect with Israelis we have hosted in our homes in both South Asia and South America over the years. Many of these have been called up as reserves into military service since October 7th. Tourism is completely dead in Israel these days, so it will be interesting to see and sow seeds at biblical sites without the tourist crowds. And what greater way is there to show a people the love of Messiah than by going to them when everyone else is running away? The very first New Testament churches were Jewish. The very first New Testament pastors were Jewish. And, the very first New Testament missionaries were Jewish. And all these, in great trial, distress, and persecution labored to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles, so that we, all these many years later, can know the true God, the God of Israel, and the true Messiah of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ. How can we not be willing to return that great favor?
These days, Israel is one of the most expensive countries in all of the world. The plane tickets weren’t cheap. The apartment was definitely not cheap. None of it will be cheap … but the opportunity is more than worth it. Please pray for this journey, for many open doors. And please pray for the Lord’s provision for all our needs. Stay tuned.
We pray for more encounters like this next month. This was in 2019 very close to where the October 7th massacre occurred.
Our trial in Montana has been scheduled for October 28th, the week before the national election. Heretofore, as Christians, we have been denied our 5th Amendment Constitutional right to grand jury presentment of evidence (astoundingly, there is no grand jury in Montana); we have been denied our 6th Amendment Constitutional right to a speedy trial (October 28th is nearly two years after the hate crime done upon us); and it appears we may be denied our 6th Amendment Constitutional right to a PUBLIC trial. Because of a broken pipe in the county courthouse that has not been fixed (for some reason) in more than a year, we have been told that our trial must take place in a small meeting room and that “the courtroom will not be open to the public during the trial” (judge’s 1/25/2024 order) How egregious! The judge did say “The entire trial will be broadcast via Zoom and open to the public,” and I guess he thinks this constitutes a public trial. WRONG. Even the federal courts being used to target pro-life Christians by the Biden Administration have allowed their courtrooms to be open to family, friends, and supporters of the persecuted. I had the privilege of sitting in one just a couple of weeks ago in Nashville. Notwithstanding, the judge has shown deference to us in other ways, and he may yet prove himself honorable and righteous in this case. The positive thing about a trial in October is that it frees up the good months of the year for ministry both at home and abroad. After Israel, we shall have the entire summer to finish #TheLongWalkUSA. One more leg, of perhaps a thousand miles, will complete that commitment to the LORD; and by His grace, our feet will get wet in 2024 in the waters of the Pacific somewhere along the Northern California coast with that “new threshing instrument.”
Please keep these matters in prayer, as well as the persecution we continue to face in Montana. Our former attorneys tried to extort us and bribe us into a plea deal with those wicked prosecutors. We refused; they dumped us like crooks. Beware the National Constitutional Law Union (NCLU) and Attorney John Pierce. There are evil and covetous people in this nation who parade themselves as friends of liberty and friends of righteousness. Remember this when you go to the ballot box in November. May God give us eyes to see the tares that appear as the wheat when first sown. We are thankful to be delivered of those shysters who attempted to use our persecution for their own political and personal gain. For now, we have four Montana public defenders representing us. There appears to be no other option, so we are trusting the LORD in it. Moreover, this has allowed us to be a witness to four individuals who, we never would known otherwise. Trust me, these folks have never had clients like us.
In case you haven’t seen the leaked whistleblower footage of the attacker openly admitting what he did to us and those dirty cops mocking us as Christians and conspiring to make us the aggressors, it can be viewed here:
Also, all information regarding this hate crime has been assimilated here (interviews, articles, and tv reports):
https://fpgm.org/montana-sabotage
This is a great summary article from Montana1stNews:
Only the Lord knows what a trial in October holds, if it even gets to that point. No pleas, no deals, to the end without apology. As for me, I’ll say it just like General Robert E. Lee spoke after the War for Southern Independence (1861-1865):
I did only what my duty demanded. I could have taken no other course without dishonor. And if all were to be done over again, I SHOULD ACT IN PRECISELY THE SAME MANNER.
For the record, I was offered a “plea deal” back in August. It basically stipulated that I plead “no contest” and undergo unsupervised probation for 18 months, no fine. If I acted a good little boy, the sentence would be deferred, and I could have my record expunged. They claimed they were doing me a “special favor” that normally is only done for underage youth. Of course, if I was guilty of some wrongdoing, it would be a sweetheart “slap on the wrist.” But, I’m not … so I cannot in good conscience before the Lord accept it, in effect committing a terrible sin by calling evil good and good evil, the mark of a defiled nation. The Lord says WOE to those who do such things (Isaiah 5:20). Later, they said if I would accept this “deal,” they would defer further of the three who came to my aid on the side of that highway. Now, I am more than willing to take unjust punishment so that others can escape, and yet … Eric’s pregnant wife told me she would be greatly disappointed in me if I took that “deal.” My own son said, “I’d be disappointed in you dad.” My entire local church body said, “We’d be disappointed in you, Jesse.” Now, those are some folks I never want to be disappointed in me. No pleas, no deals, to the end … even if it means a jail ministry in a time when the courts are being weaponized against Christians.
Speaking of Eric’s pregnant wife, she gave birth to their third child back in November, a precious little girl named Edith. After the C-section with their second child, they enjoyed a home birth for this little one without incident. Praise the Lord. The Trent Family is doing quite well. Aside from his recent trip down to Peru, Eric has also been very busy heading up the abortion mill outreach for our local church, going to Charlotte and Asheville weekly to lift up a voice in defense of the defenseless. One Friday morning, my children and I joined him and another faithful brother who regularly preaches outside the Planned Parenthood in Asheville. The Google car drove by as we stood there, and lo and behold … we now have left our mark on Google Maps street view. LOL … they blurred out our faces, but not the signs. Just recently, while Eric and another brother were out at the same PP, a baby was saved. The mother heard the preaching, reconsidered going into that murder mill, took some Gospel material, and then left, communicating to these preachers that she realized her baby is a “grace” that she should keep and love.
Google Street View, Planned Parenthood (Asheville, NC)
Carter & Bethany bear witness outside Planned Parenthood in Charlotte, NC.
Josiah attempts to reason with death-scort (not escort) outside an abortuary in Charlotte, NC.
I should probably sign off, but not before one final appeal: Please don’t lightly esteem the rising persecution of Christians in America. Our Montana situation is one of many and actually QUITE MINOR when compared with the federal government’s targeting of pro-life Christians and arrests of Christian preachers by local authorities in places like New York, Oregon, and Florida. Not many months ago, there was even a pastor shot in the head in Arizona while preaching on the street corner outside his local church. The outlook for this faithful pastor, husband, and father seemed grim for a while, but I recently read that he is out of the hospital and back with his family. Hallelujah! Christian persecution isn’t coming to America, my friends, IT’S HERE ALREADY. How shall we respond? With fear and like seeds in stony places (Matthew 13:20-21)? Or, with BOLDNESS like the early Christians in Jerusalem. Pay close attention to their prayer in Acts 4. They don’t pray for deliverance from persecution. They pray for boldness to preach the Word in the persecution. And then note what being filled with the Holy Spirit actually looks like:
And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word … And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:29-31).
All that being said, please pray for the pro-life Christian heroes recently found guilty in a kangaroo court in Nashville, Tennessee:
Cal Zastrow
Coleman Boyd
Dennis Green
Paul Vaughn
Chet Gallagher
Heather Idoni
We went to stand with those believers during their trial, and I was simply astounded by the LAW-FARE I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears. Even more profound is that it wasn’t a jury made up of up woke Washington DC liberals that found these believers “guilty” of a felony “conspiracy” for simply praying and singing hymns in a hallway outside an office that slaughtered babies. It was a jury made up of average middle-class Americans from Middle Tennessee. Most of them probably went to church the next Sunday, thinking they had done the country some great service, just like those so-called “Christians” in Romania who aided the Communists in rounding up their brethren. I was astounded. No discussion, no debate, a unanimous verdict after a very short period of deliberation following false testimonies that couldn’t even agree one with another and a judge’s order that literally re-worded and re-defined the English language. The harpie in a black robe literally declared by fiat to a jury that the word “AND” in a law had to mean “OR.” And those 12 dolts bought it. My friends, the ballot box is broken. The jury box is broken. Christian persecution is here, and it just might stem from your neighbor or someone who sits in the next pew on Sunday morning. That was some sick tyranny I saw in Nashville, like something right out of East Germany; and it involved 12 pathetic average American who couldn’t even look those Christians in the eye, the precious ones they found “guilty” of “conspiracy to violate civil rights” simply because they planned to get together to pray, sing, and plead for unborn babies.
Please pray for these brethren. Heather Idoni is sitting in prison (freeheatheridoni.com), and I have had the privilege of knowing and preaching with some of the others. They are good people, faithful brethren, and true heroes of the faith. As soon as the ridiculous verdict came down, I heard brother Cal Zastrow, one of the defendants, simply reply: “WORTHY IS THE LAMB.” Amen, He is worthy. In a strange twist, the jury shuffled out, the judge grabbed her stuff and left, and everyone, including the defendants, just filed out of the courtroom. There is a sentencing hearing in July, and these face up to a decade in prison for simply planning a gathering inside a hallway outside an abortion clinic to sing hymns, pray, and encourage women not to murder their children.
It was a privilege to go stand and support heroes of the faith in a federal kangaroo court. Here we are with “defendants” Coleman Boyd (right) and Cal Zastrow (left) in Nashville.
I would highly encourage you to listen to this podcast. STIFLED CRY tells the story of these defendants, and their testimonies are very encouraging and convicting. I’ve found them very helpful in strengthening our resolve in these dark days. The following are also two good articles that covered this trial. The title of the first one is actually my brother Matthew’s exact words to the reporter as he was interviewed following the verdict. They talked extensively after the Nazi show-trial and while a large group of Christians were singing hymns and praying in the plaza outside the federal courthouse. I was greatly honored to stand in that crowd, singing and praying with them.
Here’s another good article on the matter. The title says it all:
Christian Heroes Prosecuted for Saving Babies
It true, Christian, whether you think me exaggerating the issue or not: According to your United States government and twelve dolts from middle Tennessee who played the fools, YOUR CHURCH MEETING IS NOW A CONSPIRACY. It's true, your federal government, a judge, and a jury made up of middle-class Americans from Middle Tennessee have determined that a church meeting is now a conspiracy. A planned Gospel outreach in your hometown is now a felony conspiracy. Walking with a cross through a Montana county as part of a planned and organized missionary journey is now a conspiracy. And because you planned Christian worship and outreach, you deserve to be attacked, and you deserve to die or rot in jail for life. And God forbid you would dare to speak up for the little unborn babies and try to convince a mother not to murder her child. God forbid you would dare try to protect your child from a raging maniac on the side of a remote highway despite acting in complete by-the-letter accordance to very clear and established laws. According to your federal government, a judge, and a jury made up of middle-class Americans from Middle Tennessee, you, the peaceful Bible-believing Christian, are a dangerous criminal conspirator and public enemy #1 ... simply because you planned some ministry with other peaceful Bible-believing Christians. Moreover, out of the mouth of the harpie (Amanda Klopf) representing the United States government in its prosecution and persecution of the Christian Rescuers in Nashville, “There is nothing peaceful about breaking a law.” So, in other words, you are a violent criminal if you go 56 mph in a 55-zone.
My friends, HERE ME NOW … John 11:46-48 sums up precisely why so few churches care about persecuted Christians in America, why not a single church in the Nashville area, the buckle of the Bible belt, showed up in support of the 10 Rescuers (used to be 11 until one—CAROLINE DAVIS—spit in Jesus’ face and betrayed her brethren with a kiss, just like Judas Iscariot in the Garden). It’s precisely why professing Christians who talked such a big talk in the beginning about the hate crime against Christians in Montana no longer seem to care. Look no further than these three verses in John, and remember there is nothing new under the sun:
But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: AND THE ROMANS SHALL COME AND TAKE AWAY BOTH OUR PLACE AND OUR NATION.
The religious leaders denied what they had seen with their own eyes and what they had heard with their own ears because they were AFRAID of what MIGHT happen. They were AFRAID of the Romans and what they might do to them. DITTO … American churches are afraid to stand with their persecuted American brethren because of what might happen to them. It’s plain old fear of man, and that from many who have talked a big talk from a pulpit about what they would or wouldn’t do when such things come. Fear of man is a funny thing. It brings a snare (Proverbs 29:25) AND breeds a great irony, the IRONY OF HISTORY. The Jews killed Jesus to keep the Romans from coming and taking away their “place” and their “nation.” And yet, when they crucified Him, that is exactly what happened (AD 70). They ceased to be a nation from AD 70 to 1948 because for fear of man, they adopted Caesar as their king (John 19:15). Oh, what a snare! (Same thing today, Israel fears the United States and what she might think far more than she fears God).
The same IRONY OF HISTORY will be the result of those professing American Christians who think they are protecting themselves by hiding and keeping quiet about Christian persecution in America. What we fear most will come upon us (Isaiah 66:4). And those who have stood in the gap for us will no longer be around to help. We keep quiet to keep our “place” and our “nation,” but in our silence, we shall lose them both, and that right tempestuously.
THE ONLY THING MEN EVER LEARN FROM HISTORY IS THAT MEN NEVER LEARN FROM HISTORY.
And please consider that I say such things with conviction as I pack my bags to go to a people who did lose their place and their nation in AD 70 and are now in a war over what God brought back to them in 1948. Stay tuned for an update from those front lines.
Our country is in peril. Our liberty is at risk. Jesus is the one-word answer. I believe this so strongly that I put it up in my front yard for all to see:
Take heart, my brethren, regardless and notwithstanding the evil days, anyway you slice it … THE FUTURE IS INDEED CHRIST THE KING.
One more thing …Death comes for all, for some unexpectedly and at moment’s notice. My dad was READY. Are you? Repent and believe the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only hope and merit for the sinner’s soul. He is the only answer for this cruel world.
Hiatus No More,
Full Proof Gospel Ministries