New Family Photo

A Pastors Perspective

My father-in-law, Bro. Dexter Truesdell has been a great source of encouragement to me and my ministry. I asked him if he had any articles that I could post on my blog. So from time to time I will be posting these articles on my blog. if you are an Independent Baptist Pastor and have written an article that you feel would be a blessing to the readers than email it to me @ missionarykr@hotmail.com. Please keep them short so that our readers do not get tired of reading them.

Too young? Too Old?

Many things in life are determined by a person's age. A child starts attending school at a certain age. A Citizen gains the right to vote when he or she reaches a certain age. Senior Citizens are entitled to receive Social Security benefits at a certain age.A person's age also can also limit a person's activities. Men and women are not able to join the military once they reach a certain age. Some companies have mandatory retirement rules that force employees to retire once they reach a certain age.

Perhaps that is the reason people often use their age as an excuse for not serving God. Many churches are filled with people who feel they are too old to serve God and some churches are filled with people who feel they are too young to serve God. Multitudes think they are excused from Christian Service because of their age.

How sad. For if you look in the Bible you will see a person's age has nothing to do with Christian service. People of all ages played an important part in God's Kingdom.
Notice a few examples...
1. Caleb was eighty-five years old when he began to conquest of Caanan.
2. Abraham was seventy-five years old when he left Ur of the Chaldees.
3. Moses was eighty years old when God called him to deliver Israel.
4. Timothy was a young man, probably in his teens or early twenties, when he began to assist the Apostle Paul.
5. Mary, the mother of Jesus, she was a young girl (teenager) when God chose her to be the avenue of our Savior's birth.
6. David was just a boy in his teens when he faced and defeated the giant Goliath.
7. A small boy, not yet in his teens blessed the multitude when he gave his lunch to Jesus.
8. God used a little Hebrew girl to deliver the message that Naahman could be cured from his leprosy.

The old the young and those in between; they all played a part in the work of God. No one was over looked or neglected. All who wanted to serve God were used of God, regardless of their age.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 "Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth..."
Psalms 23:6 King David said"... and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

From childhood to the grave, God has a place for everyone in His church. Your never too old or too young to serve the LORD.

Deputation

While doing our taxes this year we were amazed at the fact of the US Government is giving money back to us. We took our taxes to H+R Block and yes they told us that we were to get money back. Praise the Lord.

Well my wife and I were thinking of ways to be prudent and frugal with our money, and the thought of Africa came to our mind. We were so excited to know that we could actually afford to go to Kenya for a second time. But as God usually does, he had other plans for our life. He shut the door to go to Kenya (aka "filled our calender up") and opened the door to go to Alaska in October and November. Hey Africa=Alaska whats the difference.... Just kidding. Well it turns out the money we were going to use for Africa is now going to be used for Alaska. And you guessed it it is the exact amount we need to get there and back.AMEN! Now I would like to say thanks to Faith Baptist Church in Gulfport, Mississippi, they felt led of the Lord to give us 500.00 to help on this large expense, we are so thankful for this much needed blessing.

We will be in Six different churches, presenting the ministry while in Alaska.

God always sees the big picture of things. So next time your plans don't work out except it as the Will of the Almighty God. God knows what we need before we need it.

Ministry Update

We had 3 cancellations for all kinds of reasons. But I am comforted if the fact that God knew about it before I did. We dropped in on two other churches that were in the same area and scheduled meetings with both of them. Praise the Lord! On Monday morning we headed up to Georgiana Alabama for a tent meeting with Bro. Dexter Truesdell and Bro. Dan Carr. We had 73 Monday night 84, Tuesday night, 59 on Wednesday night, and 85 Thursday night. Over the hole week we had 74 people say that they got saved 6 of those were in a back yard Bible club; 9 walked down the isle during the night services and the other 59 were saved as a result of an estimated 16 hours of soul winning. So now we will prepare to leave out for Grove Hill tomorrow. Please Pray for me I will be preaching at a youth camp tonight in Pearl Mississippi.

Well today is our last day in Georgiana AL. After Bible clubs we will be heading out to Jackson MS. We will be preaching in a Youth Camp Friday night. I intend to preach "How to make it in an unstable environment" We will be there just one night before having to head back to Grove Hill, AL. So far we have had 24 profess to be saved. AMEN!

Praise God the meeting in Grove Hill went well. We had the privilege to meet and fellowship with Pastor Dunn, As well as present the ministry to Kenya and preach Amen! I did forget to turn on the recorder so the pastor is having me back in to preach this Sunday morning.
You can visit there website at http://cbcofgrovehill.org. Thanks so much for praying for us...

We are now at a old fashioned tent meeting in Georgiana Alabama. We will be leading the music while Pastor Dexter Truesdell and Pastor Dan Carr will be doing the preaching. We are helping a church " Bible Baptist Church " get there feet on the ground by Soul winning 5 hours a day with teams of 12-15 people in pairs of two. Then at 7:00 nightly we have preaching and singing under the tent. Praise the Lord, this is our first day here and already we have had 12 professions of faith... We pray that the Lord will show up again tonight and some will be saved as well as the rest of the week.

What is MIssions???

Tonight the Ralph Family will be in Grove Hill AL. Presenting the ministry where unto the Lord has called them...

Well its true we have to leave Mississippi and go to AL for a week and a 1/2. During this time I will be in 5 Churches that could Lord willing support us. Please pray that we would line up with there vision to reach the world, in our generation. this is what I plan to preach tonight...

What is Missions???
Act 13:1-3
Dr. Wilder, a dynamic missionary leader in India, was dining with three naval officers. During the course of the conversation one of the officers remarked, “Why don’t these missionaries stay at home and mind there own business?”
Dr. Wilder replied, “suppose you were ordered to take your battleship to Constantinople tomorrow, would you choose weather to obey or not?”
The Officer retorted, If we are ordered to go we must go, even if every ship is sunk and every sailor killed.”
“Quite right,” said the missionary. “I have orders from the divine Government:’ go and preach the gospel to every creature.’ ”

“The Requirement” of Missions
A. You must be Saved (Rom 10:13-15)
B. You must be Serving (Acts 13:2)
C. You must be Sent (Acts 13:3)

“The Reason” of Missions
A. Because He Came (Luke 19:10)
B. Because He Commanded (Matt 28:19-20)
C. Because He Called me ( Act 13:47)

“The Result” of Missions
A. Ever abiding Presence (Matt 28:20)
B. Ever existing Promise (Is 15:11)
C Ever available Power (Matt 28:18)



Christ Has No Hands But Ours!!!
Christ has no hands but our hands
To do his work today;
He has no feet but our feet
To lead men in His way;
He has no tongue but our tongues
To tell men how he died;
He has no help but our help
To bring them to His side
We are the only Bible
This careless world will read;
We are the sinners Gospel
We are the scoffer’s creed;
We are the Lord’s last message
Written in deed and word
What is the line is crooked?
What is the type is blurred?
What if our hands are busy
With other work than His?
What if our feet are walking
Where sin’s allurement is?
What if our tongues are speaking
Of things His lips would spurn?
How can we hope to help Him
Unless from Him we learn?