Category: Thoughts

Miscellaneous/Thoughts

Full Quiver! (Psalm 127)

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After lunch today, we watched this great documentary of the Bates Family–a homeschool family with 18 kids from Tennessee. We appreciated the good job ABC did with the documentary and praise the Lord for the beautiful testimony this family has!

Click HERE to view the 8 minute clip. I think you’ll enjoy it! 🙂

“Rebekah and I regret that we did not have a more Biblical view of family when we were younger. Many years ago the Lord used Psalm 127 and some hard lessons to drastically change our perspective about children and families. He corrected our misconceptions and errors and gave us a love for children. We went from wanting no children to wanting many. We do not deserve any but God gave us three, and we are so grateful for them.

Families are important to God and this concept has become a major ministry message for us. Over the years it has been one of our objectives to communicate to other parents how much God loves children and how much he desires for parents to raise up a “godly seed” for His kingdom. We are thrilled now every time we hear of a large family being brought up to serve the Lord.”
-Harold Mally

“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” (Psalm 127:3-5)

Thoughts

God My Exceeding Joy

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Christmas is supposed to be time of joy. That’s why so many especially struggle at Christmastime if there is pain in their life. So if there is something in your life that hurts right now, take a minute to pray Psalm 43 — a psalm that has really blessed me recently!

“…O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling places.
Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.
Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.”

When God is our joy, our joy is secure. God made us with deep needs so HE Himself could satisfy those needs. May we long for Him and delight in Him as we should.

“Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” (Jude 24-25)

“Gladden the soul of your servant, for to You, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon You.” (Psalm 86:4-5)

“You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Psalm 16:11

Christmas Ministry Ideas/Family News/Thoughts/Witnessing Stories

Simple Christmas Questionnaire

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Merry Christmas Everyone! Christmas is such a great time for sharing about Jesus with unbelievers because people are in a festive mood and willing to talk! Here is a simple questionnaire that can be used to get conversations started:

1) What is your favorite Christmas tradition?
2) Why did God choose to be born as a baby and enter the human race?

Just grab a notepad and pen, find someone on a bench at Wal-mart who looks bored, and see if they are willing to take your Christmas questionnaire! 🙂 After they answer the second question, you can ask them if they’d like to hear what the Bible says about why Jesus came. (Consider sharing these Scripture verses: Matthew 1:21, Luke 19:10, John 18:37, Philippians 2:7-8, Hebrews 2:14)
And be prepared with a Christmas tract to leave with them!

On a different note, this afternoon my dad and I bundled up and picked out our Christmas tree at a local tree farm. We picked it out in record time this year! (The temperature probably had something to do with that!)

Thoughts

Intercession

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If you have not yet seen Eric Ludy’s video clip, “Intercession” please take the time to watch it! I love this clip. What a powerful message. And what an awesome Savior Christ is.

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16)

Thoughts

The Greatest…

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“For the church:
The greatest price was paid: the death of Christ;
The greatest honor was extended: to be co-regents with Christ;
The greatest intimacy was introduced: as the body and bride of Christ;
The greatest blessing was assured: eternity with Christ.
When He gave His word, it was to her;
When He gave His life, it was for her;
When He expressed His will, it was that He might spend eternity with her.
The church was in His heart and mind and will from before the foundation of the world and shall be in His embrace forever.” –Author Unknown

Miscellaneous/Thoughts

Watch and Pray Conference

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Earlier this month we attended the annual “Workers and Elders Conference” in Cedar Falls, IA. (In connection with our Bible chapel) I had been praying that the Lord would teach me to pray, and what did He do? Send me to a 3-day confernece on prayer!

Here are a few tidbits:

– “Watch” means to keep alert, just as Col 4:2 tells us to “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it…

-Prayer cultivates intimacy with the Lord. We pray because we want to become closer to Jesus –because we want to draw near.

-Praying is like building muscle. The more we pray, the more we want to pray.

-The word “fervent” could be described as “boiling.” God wants hot, boiling prayers, not lifeless, cold repetitious prayers. We must get close to the source of heat in order to boil.

-If our heart longs for the same things as Christ longs for, it won’t be difficult to pray in His will.

-Paul truly believed his ministry would be more effective if people were praying for him, because he asked for prayer so often in his letters! Prayer makes a difference.

-Church revivals in history start with prayer

-“When we talk to God, all other things that scare us begin to melt”

-We pray, not only because prayer changes things, but because prayer changes us.

To hear audio messages from the conference, click here.

This summer, one of my good friends (and great example to me) from church, Augusta, suggested that us ladies have more prayer time together. She’s from India and she told us about the frequent all night prayer meetings and times of fasting her believing friends in India held. So a few of us ladies decided to start coming to church at 7:30am to have a prayer meeting before the service started. It has been such a sweet, powerful time. We have become closer friends with each other, our hearts are more prepared for the service, and we have already seen the Lord answering prayers. How exciting to have a God who listens and acts!

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20

Thoughts

Draw Near!

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122908_1 James 4:8 has been a special verse to me recently. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” How often do we pray, “Lord, please draw me nearer to you,” without realizing that in many ways the ball is actually in our court now! (Hebrews 10:19-22) Anytime we want to, we can draw near to God through prayer or studying the Word.

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Zec 1:3) Jesus was always saying things like, “Come to Me,” “Follow Me.” God has officially given the invitation. Now it’s our decision how much we are going to respond!

It’s obvious that God likes it when we search hard for Him. That’s why He hides things in Scripture and makes us work to find them. Like digging for gems. “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) The more we respond, the more “gems” we find. And often when we have to work hard for something we have a greater sense of appreciation for it.

“O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy…” (Psalm 43:3-4)

Family News/Thoughts

Iron Sharpens Iron Conference

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Last weekend our family went to Dubuque, IA to Emmaus Bible College for a conference called “Iron Sharpens Iron.” This year’s topic was “Quest for Holiness.” The speakers were great, and it was a really profitable time. I was encouraged and challenged!

The fellowship time in the dining hall was one of the highlights. Seeing old friends again and meeting new…here Sarah is talking with some new friends from the Dominican Republic.

We enjoyed meeting Alex Strauch and appreciated his great messages on Rom 6-8. We carry many of his books in our bookstore, including Biblical Eldership, a well-known book on church leadership which we feel is important. We are so grateful for the many ways he has strengthened the body of Christ.

Here are some tidbits from a session by Mark Stevenson on the sin of idolatry:

-The human heart is an idol-making factory, and anything we love more than God is an idol.

-Even good things, such as a clean house, can be an idol if we are placing it above the Lord in our affections.

-Your affections can be determined by what you do in your solitude — where your mind goes in your spare thoughts, what you delight to think about as you fall asleep.

-Just as in Romans 1 they “exchanged the truth of God for a lie,” so sin is exchanging the glory of God for lesser things.

-False gods lose their hold on our hearts only when we are captivated with Christ.

-It’s by beholding Jesus that we are changed. (2 Cor 3:18) We become like what we worship.

-When we fall at Jesus’ feet in surrender and worship, we gradually begin to understand what Paul meant when he spoke of how much he valued Christ: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ…” (1 Cor 3:7-8)

-May we see how much we have been forgiven and how desperate we are for His mercy. And may we relish in Christ’s love, which is greater, stronger, deeper, and infinitely more satisfying than any earthly pursuit. May we give Him the worship He deserves!

Thoughts

Are We Praying? Are We Praying Hard Enough?!

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Photo: Stephen Mally

“These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.” -Thomas Paine

Many in our area are praying and fasting tomorrow (Saturday) for the urgent crisis we are facing in Congress. Please consider joining us!

“Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him…”
Joel 2:12-14

Thoughts

“Hast Thou No Scar?”

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Last week I went to an Emmaus Bible College extension class that’s held on Monday nights at a nearby church. The topic was Daniel. I’ve just been reading Hebrews, and the comments made at the class pulled together some thoughts for me…

Imagine the pleasant surprise that awaited Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they were thrown into the fiery furnace. Instead of feeling the flames, they found themselves in the presence of the Son of God! What incredible joy they must have felt. When King Nebuchadnezzar called them out, I wonder if they thought, “Aww…do we have too??!”

How often do we fear suffering for Jesus–when actually God richest blessings and joy fall on those who are “counted worthy to suffer for His Name”. (Acts 5:41) Paul expressed how he wanted to suffer with Christ so he could experience a closer fellowship with Jesus through it. (Phil 3:10)

This life is too short to live “comfortably” here on earth. Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses (Heb 11:1 – 12:1) who have gone before us and found God faithful (even in great trial), let’s embrace their same faith–knowing that we have the same God. And may any wound or scar we receive along the way be counted as an eternal treasure. (1 Peter 4:12-14)

“Hast Thou No Scar?”

Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,
I hear them hail thy bright ascendent star
Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers, spent,
Leaned me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that encompassed me, I swooned;
Hast thou no wound?

No wound? No scar?
Yet, as the master shall the servant be
And pierced are the feet that follow Me;
But thine are whole: can he have followed far
Who has no wound nor scar?

Amy Carmichael,
Gold Cord: The Story of a Fellowship

Photo: Abby Kramer