Illusions!

If you have visited my weblog before, you may have noticed that, for a while, I had a… uh, a gadget… (or is it a widget?? Oh, well…) I had added a “gidget” (my new word) called “Illusion of the Day” which was made up of photos, art, or drawings that were optical illusions and each day it automatically posted a new optical illusion. I love optical illusions, and so I thought "Illusion of the Day" on my web page would be an interesting addition. I looked through dozens of the site's illusions and never saw one objectionable thing.... so, I added it to our site.

Then, few days ago, while we were traveling down the road, we got a call from our son. He was asking me about the illusion widget, where I got it, how it worked, etc. Silly me. I thought maybe he wanted to check it out or add it to his desktop or something. However, he was calling to let me know that the illusion for that day had a drawing on it that was not good at all!! (For those who may have noticed it, I’m sure you were shocked and offended.) Because we were on the road, I had to give my son directions over the phone on how to delete it. I never saw it, so I'm not exactly sure what it was, but I hate that it happened. I am so embarrassed and I would like to apologize to each of you that saw it. I thought I had checked it out well, and that it would be something fun that would add interest to our weblog… but apparently, I was mistaken. But you know, illusions are like that!


When I was in grade school, there was a boy in my class who came to school and amazed the rest of us kids with a card trick that his visiting uncle had taught him. I don’t remember now, exactly what the trick was, but what I do remember is, whatever it was that he did, we were all WOWed by it!!! We all just knew that it HAD to be real magic, because none of us thought Bobby was clever enough to pull something like that off without some "real magic"!


Well, we watched Bobby do that trick over and over all day long, but none of us could figure out how he was doing it… and he wasn’t telling! (His uncle told him that “real magicians” never revealed their secrets.) But, this boy liked me, and I used this “newly realized power over the opposite sex” to make myself the exception to his “real magicians” rule! I convinced him that, if he really liked me, he would show me how it was done! So, after school, we went around to the side of the school building where no one could see, and he explained to me how he did it.

Well, let me tell you, I was so surprised (and disappointed!) at how easy his “amazing magic” really was! I had been following him around all day, watching him do this stupid trick, and I hadn’t seen it! Now that I knew how he was doing it, it was… uh... it was… so…… It was so…… OBVIOUS!!

Suddenly, I felt dumb… and angry!! Furthermore, I’m ashamed to say, I wasn't sure if I was angrier at myself for not catching something so obviously simple, or angrier at Bobby for impressing us big time with such a stupid little trick!!


However, I have to tell you, that after that day, (of which I have since repented) I have been fascinated with all kinds of various kinds of tricks and illusions, as well as the illusionist who can make impossible things look so convincing and real!


I still love card tricks. I love to watch illusionists or “magicians”, as they are otherwise known, do their thing, whether it’s pulling coins from someone’s ear, sawing someone in half, or making an elephant seemingly disappear. I also love to rent movies with lots of “movie magic”, or computer generated graphics in them. It is astounding to me how these computer “magicians” can make their world look so believably real on the big screen! I even love how, with clothes, makeup and/or wigs, you can make someone look totally like another person!


I looked up the word “illusion” in several sources to get the official definition of the word. Here’s some of what I found:              


       n.) il•lu•sion (plural il•lu•sions)

      

1. Something with deceptive appearance: something that deceives the senses or mind, e.g. by appearing to exist when it does not or appearing to be one thing when it is, in fact, another.


2. A false idea, conception, or belief about somebody or something


3. deceptive power of appearances:the ability of appearances to deceive the mind andsenses, or the capacityof the mind andsenses to bedeceived by appearances

       Another dictionary said:

       n.) The word basically refers to something which deceives by producing a fake or misleading  impression of reality.

We encounter illusions every day without giving them much thought. For example, the moon gives the illusion of shining brightly to light our way in the night, but that is a "fake or misleading impression". The "reality" is that the moon has no light of its own and really doesn't shine at all! What we see at night is the light from the sun reflecting on the surface of the moon! A crescent moon is seen when the earth gets between the moon and the sun and limits that reflection. Although I'm certain we all know this fact, still, we make misleading statements such as, "Wow, the moon is sure shining brightly tonight!"
 Did you know that God’s Word has many stories where people were deceived by a fake or misleading impression of reality or, in other words, an “illusion”? Let me give you a couple of examples. This initial example is a story involving the very first “illusionist” and an example of how he works.

Example one: In Genesis 1 and 2, we have the amazing, but TOTALLY TRUE and FACTUAL account, of how God made our unfathomable universe, our wonderful world, and every single living thing within it! What He did was no illusion, trick, or “sleight of hand. It was a “miracle”!

Our awesome and omnipotent God didn’t need an amoeba, a germ or a speck of ANYTHING to get started, either! He created EVERYTHING from absolutely NOTHING!!! He SPOKE it ALL into existence. All, that is, except for man.


When it was time to make man, the Great Creator of the universe, knelt in the dust of the earth and using such gentleness, care and attention to detail, formed man with His own two hands! Then, He tenderly lifted the lifeless form until He held man’s face very close to His own and using His own sweet, holy breath, He softly blew into the man’s face. It was in that moment that God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen. 2:7) How do I know all this to be true? Because God’s Word tells me so!!! AND GOD CANNOT LIE!


God created man because, even though Scripture tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:16), He had no one on whom He could focus that love and sadder still, no one to give Him the love He so needed and deserved!
 
That first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived in perfect bodies in a perfect world with a perfect climate. EVERY plant and animal, fish and fowl were created for their pleasure. EVERY need was provided for them. And on top of that, God Himself was not only their Creator, but also their Father and Friend. Life was good… No, wait… Life was great!… Better than that… it was PERFECT!


Even so, then, in Genesis chapter 3, the great “illusionist”, Satan, enters the picture. He deceives them into thinking that just maybe their perfect little world isn’t so perfect after all. He gives them the illusion that God has lied to them and is keeping something from them that is even better than their perfect world. And what would that something be? It was power! He told them that God did not want them to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because, basically, God was selfish! He told them that if they ate the fruit of that tree then they, too, could know, not only good, but also evil! He said that once they knew that, they would be as gods and that God was just trying to keep all the power for Himself. THIS was the first “great illusion”. And so… they believed Satan rather than God, ate of the fruit and sin entered the world! (Gen. 3:1-6; Romans 5:12)

 Another example:  The disciples and many of Jesus’ followers had Him heard talk of certain future events, namely, His resurrection and His coming Kingdom. They hated the Roman oppression, and so this was exciting news for them! They just couldn’t wait to get “on the Jesus bandwagon”! (Of course, Satan knew about these things, too.)


Nevertheless, one day, Jesus was taken prisoner by the Roman soldiers. He was falsely accused and sentenced to be crucified! After He was mocked and beaten, His followers saw the soldiers drive the nails into His hands and feet. They also saw the cross raised into the air and Jesus’ mangled body hanging between Heaven and earth. They saw the rivulets of blood running down the splintered wood of the cross and the ever widening dark stain of it soaking into the earth. They were there when He proclaimed, “It is finished!” and they heard that last ragged painful breath leave his body. Later, they saw the spear as it pierced His broken heart! Then, some of these same followers, lovingly removed Jesus' from that bloody tree and prepared His lifeless body for burial. Carefully, they laid Him in a borrowed tomb and watched as the boulder was rolled in front of the opening and sealed. With heavy hearts made their way home to wait. With each passing minute and hour that Jesus lay in that grave, their despair... and their hope, sank lower and lower, while Satan’s smug smile, spreading across his evil face, got wider and wider.


By the morning of the third day, it certainly seemed to them, that all that Jesus had said and claimed to be was nothing more than a cruel joke and all was lost. By this time, Satan’s smug smile had turned into a triumphant laugh! He had won!!! God’s Son was dead!!! The world was his!!!


But, imagine his rage when he realized that his victory was just an “illusion”… or, in other words, a “fake or misleading impression of reality”. The truth was… the resurrection story was real!! Instead of Jesus being dead and Satan victorious, Jesus was alive and Satan had been defeated! All that Jesus had said was true, sin, and the grave had been conquered. Satan had lost and Jesus, along with His plan of providing redemption for lost sinners, was victorious!!!


In our world today, so many are still being deceived by illusions! You may ask, “What do you mean by that, Debbie?”

Notice:

Of course, the list could go on and on! Nevertheless, something that is very disturbing to me is, nowadays there seem to be so many Christians seemingly deceived, or at least in denial, and there is a great illusion surrounding our world today.


I don’t think anyone who loves the Lord would disagree with me in saying that, all around us, we see things getting worse and worse. We look at the decline in our economy, the moral decline, the horrendous abortion rate, the rampant homosexual problem, incest and cruelty to children, corruption in our legal and government systems, alcohol and drug addiction, pornography addiction, etc., etc. Wrong is being touted as right and right as wrong! We could go on and on! Even “mother nature” seems to have turned against us! It seems like every week we hear of earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, volcanoes, and other extreme weather and natural disasters. .People are angry and frightened and some are beginning to feel desperate and hopeless! It certainly looks as if Christianity, God's Word, and even God Himself is losing the battle!! Nevertheless, I’m here to tell you it's not true!! IT’S AN ILLUSION!!!

God’s Word tells us that as Christians (those who have acknowledged their sin, repented, and accepted Jesus free gift of salvation) we have already won!

       “But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:57

       “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith.” 1 John 5:4

       “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, [and] over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” Revelation 15:2

That does not mean that we should give up and give in! That just means that we should not lose hope, but continue to fight!  We need to fight for Biblical principles and the truth of God’s Word and stand tall and firm upon that foundation!! And we need to fight, not for victory, but IN victory!

Like the moon, we need to reflect brightly the light of the Son! We must not allow the world get in the way and block the Son in our lives, dimming our light! The more light that we reflect of the "Son-shine", the more likely we are to lead them out of the darkness and into the "Son-light"!

Dear child of God, please, don’t believe the “illusion” that Satan has put before the world. It is a “fake or misleading impression of reality”. Read the end of The Book, my friend!

WE WIN!!!

And as my husband said yesterday morning in his sermon, “The final score is

GOD – EVERYTHING! SATAN – NOTHING!

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” Romans 8:37

NOTE: Dear friend, if you are reading this and you are not sure whether or not you are on that winning side, if you are not sure if you will go to Heaven when you die, you CAN BE SURE! To learn how you can KNOW, please click on the tab above that says “How you can KNOW you’re going to Heaven” or if you will leave your info, I will be happy to personally contact you and show you what God’s Word says. PLEASE, don’t be deceived by Satan’s illusions!

New Friends, Old Friends and Robbers!

Dakota on Career Day
at school

Once again, I am writing as we travel down the highway. It’s nearly 3 p.m. on Sunday, August 15 and today is our oldest grandson’s 8th birthday! Dakota is the first born of our son’s two children. It’s hard to believe that it’s been eight years since I first held him in my arms and whispered that first of many prayers, that he would accept Christ as his Savior early in life and follow in his dad’s and granddad’s footsteps by serving Him.

Well, in 2007, while we were on furlough and visiting some of our supporting churches in Alaska, Dakota called us and told us that he had asked Jesus into his heart! Some may think that that is too young, but for a child who has grown up hearing about Jesus’ great love for us every day of his life, it is not too young. That is about the same age both of our children accepted Christ as their Savior and our two oldest grandchildren were also saved around that age. Dakota has been in church since “before he was born” and continues to attend faithfully the church where his mom and dad are both on staff. (This just happens to be the church where Mike was pastor for 14 years and where our children, Kristy and Brandon, grew up.) Dakota also attends a Christian School, the same one that we started 20 something years ago and from which his dad and Aunt Kristy graduated.

Of course, I realize that all this wonderful training is no guarantee that he will grow up loving the Lord supremely and want to give his life serving God, but nevertheless, that continues to be my prayer for Dakota, as well as for the other of our five grandchildren.

It’s hard to believe that, just a week ago, we were in Las Cruces, New Mexico, sharing our ministry with the precious people of Scripture Baptist Church. Since then, so many things have happened.

Mike at the Grand Canyon

On Monday, we began our day of traveling early so that we could stop in Tombstone, Arizona, for a few hours. This was the famous western town where Wyatt Earp was lawman and also where the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was fought. After lunch, we traveled on and spent the night in the historic town of Williams, Arizona. Then, on Tuesday morning, we took a train from Williams to the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon Railway provides a lot of fun and entertainment and during that 2 ½ hour ride to the Canyon we were entertained with lots of cow jokes (which I thought were “udderly” ridiculous!) and a guy with an accordion that played and sang. He even played a little harmonica music with a harmonica about an inch long. (Get it? A “little” harmonica music? Okay, okay! I hear those groans!)

Train Robbers!!

After spending some three hours or so viewing that awe inspiring canyon, we caught the return train to Williams. This time, we were serenaded by a guitar player, followed by a short delay as the train was stopped by comical and bumbling masked bandits on horseback who proceeded to board the train and “rob” us and “torture” us with more lame jokes if we had nothing of value.

After a such a wonderfully fun and relaxing day, we got in the car and drove about an hour farther to Prescott, Arizona to spend a couple of days with some dear friends that had been members of our church in Tacoma years ago. It was on our way to visit Barry and Debbie Cooney that we began to hear that strange “death rattle” on the car that was later fixed by disconnecting the front wheel drive. (Thank the Lord, it wasn’t a death rattle after all!)

Not too long after arriving in Tacoma in 1980, we had our first Vacation Bible School. Among the children that we picked up on our bus were three beautiful little girls, sisters, named Regina, Rachel and Roena. (We found out later that there was also a baby sister, named Andria.) When Bible School was over, we continued to pick them up for Sunday School and eventually their mother, Debbie, was also attending. Later, Barry came into the picture and after a time, Mike performed the marriage ceremony for Barry and Debbie. In those early years, there were many struggles for Barry and Debbie, but Debbie continued to be faithful and made sure that her four girls, as well as Barry’s two children when there, were in church. When we started our Christian school, the children were enrolled and Debbie, volunteering her time and working without pay, worked by my side in the school for many years.

Debbie & Barry Cooney

Even during the most difficult of times, she continued to trust the Lord… and oh my!... how God has blessed them and how mightily God is using the both of them! Barry, for several years now, has worked as a counselor, helping those with alcohol and drug addictions and witnessing for the Lord at every given chance. Debbie continues to work in a school setting with special needs children. They are faithfully attending a wonderful Baptist church in Prescott, where Barry serves as music director and Debbie is in charge of the nursery. (The pastor of their sweet church graciously allowed us to present the field of Honduras at their Wednesday night service.) Barry and Debbie’s love for the Lord and each other serves as a testimony of God’s mercy, love and faithfulness. To all those around them, especially their children and grandchildren, they are examples of how God honors and blesses those who put their trust in Him.

Me and my beautiful Corrie

While visiting them, we also got to see two of their children, Corrie and Bobby (they will forever be my children, too!), and meet two of their precious grandchildren. I truly believe that God has a very special plan for their beautiful daughter. I can’t wait to see where He will lead her. Hang in there, Sweetie, and keep your eyes on Him!! God is good and serving Him is ALWAYS worth it!

A big “THANK YOU” goes to Barry and Debbie for their hospitality and for being such a tremendous help and blessing to us. May the Father repay your generosity as only He can! We love you!

We left Prescott on Friday morning and it was on to Phoenix, and quick visit with Mike’s cousin, Stacey, and her family. We had seen Stacey only once since she was a little girl. Now she is a beautiful and godly young woman with a wonderful and godly husband and three precious children! It was our first time to meet Russ and the children and to be in their beautiful home. What a sweet time it was, too! We so appreciated them taking time out of their busy schedule to accommodate us and allow us time to get to know them and stay in their beautiful home. They, too, have been such a tremendous blessing and help to the work in Honduras and will share in the Heavenly rewards of those won to Christ!

Saturday morning we were off again, on our way to Chula Vista, California and the Bible Baptist Church. This precious church has supported us for 16 years, even though this is the first time we have met them face to face. Pastor RC Wetzel was raised in the same church as Mike and I under the ministry of Dr. E.K. Oldham, even though he is the same age as our parents. When Mike and I were first missionaries and trying to get enough support to go to the field, Bro. Wetzel took us on as their missionaries just on a recommendation. Since we had no other supporting church within a thousand miles of Chula Vista we have never made it that far south and west. It was SUCH A JOY to finally meet this church and their dear pastor who have so faithfully supported us for so many years! There are no words to tell them of our appreciation for what they have done over the years.

After enjoying lunch and visiting with Pastor Wetzel, his sweet wife and two of his grown daughters, we once more, with the car loaded and ready to go, took off toward Mojave, CA, to visit some other dear friends and past co-workers from our church in Tacoma!

On the Road Again!!!

Car tuned up and ready to go?....Check! Video presentation and DVD player?....Check! Display?....Check! Computer?....Check! Hot and cold weather clothing?....Check! Church directory and appointment book?....Check! GPS and maps?....Check! Emergency tools?....Check, check and double check!!!! Okay, let’s load up and head out!!

Saturday, August 8, at 4:00 a.m., Mike and I got into our ’95 Jeep Grand Cherokee and left my parents home in Grand Prairie, Texas, to begin an 8,000 mile trip around the perimeter of the United States. Since Mike has to see the doctor in New York again in October, we felt that, rather than go back to Honduras and then return to the States so soon, the wisest thing would be to just stay in the States and report to some of our supporting churches. Because of ministry and health issues, it has been nearly ten years since we have visited some of them!

Being Independent Baptist missionaries, there are certain things that are required of us that are not necessarily required of other missionaries. For example, in Southern Baptist circles, after being approved, missionaries are given a salary by their convention of churches and after some training and/or language school, they can go on to their field of service. The advantage of this system is that they usually get to their appointed field fairly quickly. The disadvantage is that, many times, the missionaries and the churches that support them never meet and they may or may not ever see the faces of those who have been reached by their cooperative ministries.

Before we went to Honduras, it was necessary for us to go on “deputation”, or in other words, to make appointments and visit churches all around the country and share with them our call and burden for the people of Honduras. These churches were then given the opportunity to join us in reaching the lost and establishing churches in Honduras by supporting us with their prayers and/or monthly finances. If they decided to help us, then it was up to each church to decide how much they would or could send each month. It is also customary that, after serving a term (usually three to four years) on the foreign field, you return to the States and personally report to those supporting churches, sharing with them how their mission money is being used and what God has done. Most missionaries are usually eager to share slides or videos of their ministries and the people in their chosen field of service.

The one “negative” of getting mission funds in this way is, that it takes longer to get to your field and begin the work to which God has called you. I believe that the average time needed for most missionaries to raise their support is about two and a half to three years. I have heard of it taking up to as long as four years for some. When your heart longs to be where God has called you, doing His work, this can be a bit discouraging. But, God blessed us and we had our necessary support within about a year and a half. (I think one thing that we had working to our advantage, was the fact that we had been in full time Christian service for a little more than 20 years, 14 of which Mike had served as the pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Tacoma, WA.) Even though this way of getting support money takes more time, I believe missionaries under this system receive many more benefits and blessings, blessings which those “non-traveling” missionaries miss out.

One of the blessings for us was that we got to travel and see the United States! We have been in every state but Hawaii! Our children were older teens during this time and we looked at this as a great opportunity to visit many of the well known sites of which all four of us had studied about in history books, but had never seen them personally. We tried to take the time to visit these places that had played such an important part in the history of our nation. And as we did so, many times, I felt overwhelmed and close to tears as I thought of the struggles, the great sacrifices and lives lost to, first, give us our freedom and then, to help guarantee that future generations could live in freedom. We visited places like Gettysburg, the homes of Washington, Jefferson and Lee, our nation’s first capitol, Philadelphia, which was where the Declaration of Independence was drafted and signed. We also visited the Lincoln Memorial, Statue of Liberty, Vietnam Memorial, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, just to name a few! What a tremendous thrill and blessing this was for, not only our children, but for Mike and I, too.

And more importantly, through the years, as we have visited churches all around the nation, we have had the privilege of meeting some of the greatest and most faithful servants of God in America! Some are pastors that have preached the unsearchable riches of Christ Sunday after Sunday, year after year.… and they have preached without compromise or apology.

And it’s not just these pastors that have made a difference in our lives, but we are also speaking of many of the men and women, teens and sometimes even children, who so generously have given and who faithfully pray for us!  What a joy it is to see the faces of these people who are still faithfully serving in their churches each and every time we are there! What an encouragement it is, when some dear lady hugs my neck and tells me that they are so glad finally to meet us because they have been praying daily for my husband’s health, our ministry and the people of Honduras. When we are going through some difficulty, some heartache, or just feeling a bit lonely or homesick, you better believe that God brings to mind one of these dear saint’s faces and their encouraging words. Or many times, we may get a card or letter assuring us that their church or prayer team is faithfully praying for us.  I remember a little girl I met in Alaska who used all her birthday money to buy something to donate to their church’s mission closet, and the teenage girl in Washington who took a job cleaning her Aunt’s house to earn money to just so she could give it to one of our young Honduran girls to buy the school supplies she needed.  Then there is the precious group of teens with their leaders from Tulsa, who came to Honduras to work and minister and made us cry with their beautiful songs of praise! There are so many precious people all over the United States that have shared their homes, meals, resources, and testimonies with us! I may not remember every name, or even every face, but their acts of kindness, their unselfish generosity and their love for the Savior, for missions, and for Mike and I will never be forgotten!!

Yes, the travel is time consuming - and living out of a suitcase for months at a time can be difficult. But, the blessing of going into so many wonderfully strong churches and meeting so many of our “family members”, our brothers and sisters in Christ, far outweighs any so called hardships we may go through.

So far, we have been in three churches in three different areas to present the ministry: Mesquite, TX; Grand Prairie, TX; and Las Cruces, New Mexico. What tremendous blessings to us all three of them were!Tonight we will be in a church in Prescott, Arizona, and Sunday in Chula Vista, California! This is just the beginning of our journey, a journey in which we will just be meeting more “family” along the way! 

On another note, we have received word that Arlen and Jason Stephens are now feeling better and are in La Esperanza, thrilled to be working again among the Honduran people. The work continues there, and once again, we praise the Lord for the faithful workers He has given us.

Another praise item!!! This morning, Mike’s doctor in Arlington, TX, called him with the results of the PSA he had done a few days before leaving on this trip. You may remember that in May it was 4.9, in June 3.4 and this last one was 2.7!! Even though a PSA reading does not tell you if you have cancer or not, for Mike it is a good indicator as to which direction things are going. He will continue with his medication and we ask that you continue with your prayers! The Great Physician hears!

Also, PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR CAR! I am typing this as we travel and just in the last 20 minutes we have begun to hear a strange and unnatural rattle under the hood. Please pray that it is not a “death rattle”.

We will keep you posted as often as possible as we continue on this adventure for God!

God bless you all!!

An UP-lifting Message for You

In my life, I have been blessed to have sat under the preaching of some great and godly men, some real heroes of the faith! Some had names that were well known in the broad circles of Christendom, and some were known in only in the smaller circles of their own respective “ponds”. I grew up under the powerful preaching and teaching of Dr. Earl K. Oldham. I have personally sat in services and listened to men such as B. R. Lakin, Jack Hyles, David Jerimiah, Tim Lee, Bill Rice, John R. Rice, Harvey Springer, Curtis Hudson, Lee Roberson, Adrian Rogers, Clifford Clark, J. Oswald Smith, Paul Chappell, Johnny Pope, and David Gibbs. I have also heard men, just as great and godly, but lesser known. Men such as Charles Dunn, Doug Duffett, F. E. Baughman, Claude Cravin, Dale Chambers, Bruce Hamilton, Marshall Hamilton, Mark Smith, Stan Roach, John Lividais, Rick Austin, Gary Prisk, Tom Minnick, Jim Withers, Rocky Harrill, Rick Adams, etc., etc., etc. In this list, there are so many, that there is no way I can list them all.

But, for the last 30 years I have sat under the preaching of a man that could, in my humble opinion, stand next to any and all of the above as an equal. He truly loves the Lord and His Word supremely. Nothing gives him greater joy than to impart the truth of God’s Word and the hope of salvation. He has been in full-time Christian service for thirty-six years and first began pastoring in 1980. He is also a deep thinker and a man who loves to read and study. The person of whom I am speaking is my husband, Mike. And I am not saying this just because he is my husband.

I truly LOVE to hear him preach, and yesterday the message was exceptionally powerful as he allowed God to speak through him. There was one part of his message that was especially powerful and inspiring. I thought he was reading a quote from someone, but found out afterward that it was his own words!  The following is an excerpt from Mike’s message yesterday, a sermon which he entitled, “A Sure Thing!”

“I am Christian. I am a saved, born again, blood bought, repentant sinner, saved by grace through faith unto good works. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. From a miry pit of sin I have been plucked up and my feet set up on the Rock of Ages. Because of this, I am determined, by God’s help and grace, that I WILL NOT give up, back up, let up, or shut up! But, I WILL stand up, put up, step up, pray up, show up, stay up and speak up until my Savior says, “Shut up and come up”! And I must add, that I will be glad when the Devil, his demons and all the God and Christ haters get their comeuppance! It is high time for Christians to grow up, man up, ‘fess up, and pick up where they left off serving God!”

In this day and age, we seem to see more and more people, including those who call themselves Christians, that just seem to “go with the flow” instead of standing and fighting for what they believe. This is truly sad in any circumstance, but in the Christian realm, it is not only sad, it is a sin!  Let us determine in our hearts to never back down, but to stand up for Christ and all that is right, no matter what!

“ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” ~1 Corinthians 15:58

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” ~Galatians 6:9

“But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~1 Corinthians 15:57

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith.” ~1 John 5:4