twenty fathoms
Yesterday was dreary and a bit lonely here in Montana. I lumbered from the Team Yeshua mission house over to an empty meeting hall in accordance with Eastern Time and set up my iPad and little Starlink satellite. You see, exactly 20 years ago yesterday was a Wednesday night. There was a small gathering that night in Catawba County, and one of the individuals involved had just dropped me, Jamie, and little Bethany off at the airport. We flew to Ladakh for the very first time and didn’t return home for more than a year.
workings of providence
The divine workings of Providence, its diligent Hand, are such that seemingly insignificant decisions we make for one purpose are often the means whereby another far greater purpose is accomplished, hardly related to the matter that first foisted a fork into our road. Hence, the Scriptures ask a poignant rhetorical question, the answer being obvious: “Who hath despised the day of small things” (Zechariah 4:10)?
twenty years of local church testimony
It is such a blessing to be back home and to be with the brethren this morning as we celebrate 20 years of local church ministry here in Catawba County, North Carolina. On September 6, 2006, a Wednesday, Jamie, Bethany (2 years old at the time, and I flew to India and Ladakh for the very first time, long before Team Yeshua was even a passing thought. We would not return home to the States for many months. Interestingly, that same evening, a gathering of believers that became New Testament Christian Fellowship met for the very first time in a home off Springs Road in Hickory.
ol' man river and ol' mama lake
The Jews are lost and in need of their Messiah. The Gentiles are lost and in need of the Gospel. The Church is floundering and in need of genuine revival. So, we row WITH and NOT AGAINST the tides of ministry, and we take what the LORD in his sovereign Providence chooses to give to us, even it is a long walk up OL’ MAN RIVER or a quick jaunt down to OL’ MAMA LAKE. If you, dear brethren, will endeavor to do the same, you will find peace amidst the chaos. And soon, our Bridegroom will come for us in the clouds!
murphy 563
There it is, the Murphy 563 sign to the Manteo 563 sign via an unbroken walking route more than double the 563 miles! And not even a hostile encounter and it’s empty threats, a real jerk who responded to kindness with vitriol (a form of what the Bible calls “without natural affection” in the last days—2 Timothy 3:3), were going to stop us. I was born in the Old North State. I have lived in the Old North State State most of my life. Now, I can say with my children: “We’ve HOOFED it, preaching Christ all along the way!”
#TheLongWalkUSA_BigRiver
If you familiarize yourself with the geography in Acts 16:6-10, you’ll see that Paul wandered about over a lot of miles in Asia Minor, waiting for direction from the LORD. He tried to go places but was “forbidden of the Holy Ghost” (16:6) and “the Spirit suffered them not” (16:7) He finally ended up in Troas where Luke joined up with him (note the change from “they” in verse 8 to “us” in verse 10) and where he got the notable Macedonian Call. His plans were changed multiple times, but it all redounded to the glory of God and an incredible work of the Great Commission.