Sunday's Coming

Good morning once again from sunny and finally warm Arizona,

I pray all is well with you and yours. We have had a few of you share prayer needs with us. I want you to know that we do pray and continue until you tell us the results. If you have prayer concerns please let us know so we can pray with you.

The sermon last sunday was on love and I would like to share a little more on that subject today.

Illustration: A salesman complimented a young woman on her well-behaved son, adding, "I have eight children of my own."
"Eight kids," she exclaimed in disbelief. "I can't imagine dividing my love by eight."
"I don't divide my love, I multiply it."

This reminds me of God's love, John 3:16. His love is unlimited and all inclusive. We would never know how much He loved us until it was seen in Jesus and stated in scripture. Love began with God, was seen in Jesus and ends with us.... we can help multiply His love by sharing it with others.

Illustration: Everyone seems to love Charlie Brown. One day he and Lucy were strolling along when she stopped and picked a flower and began to pluck the petals one by one saying "He loves me! He loves me not" Plucking the last petal she said, "He loves me! Charlie Brown you love me!"
"Well , he said, I could have told you that."
Sadly she asked, "But why didn't you?"

We are commanded to love one another. So I urge you to look to someone today and tell them you love them. It may be your spouse, neighbor or a stranger, but whoever, tell them "I Love You!"

Have a great day, I love you, pass it on.
Don

Sunday's Coming

Good morning,

It seems like Wednesday gets here faster every week.

We pray all is well with you and if not we would love to pray with you; please let us know how.

Since it is Valentine's Day week, I am compelled to say something about love. I preached two weeks ago on the the Greatest Love Story Ever, John 3:16. This morning, I want us to focus on our love to Him.

Illustration: A little girl showed me her doll. She pulled a cord and it said, "Hello." She pulled it again and it said "I love you."

God could have made us like that, but He doesen't want playthings. He wants people who really love Him.

God has given you free will. You may choose to love Him and serve Him or to seperate yourself from Him. That is why the bible says; "Choose this day whom you will serve." (Joshua 24:15)

Will you choose to love and serve the Lord?

Have a Happy Valentine's Day and remember to show that same love you have for God to those around you. "And this is his command; to believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us." I John 3:23

Have a great day, love you, pass it on.
Don

Sunday's Coming

Good morning from warm and sunny Arizona,

Well, almost. It has been cloudy with a chance of rain and cool. I know, I should be where you are. My prayer for you is to be safe, warm and dry. May the Lord bless you today.

As the title of my post is, Count It All Joy, we should meet each obstacle with the attitude of "what am I to learn, Lord?"

Illustration: A man bought a boat and begged his wife to join him for a ride.

“Look,” he said,”I know where every rock and sandbar is.”

She got in and presently he struck a rock. “There, he said that's one of them.”

You and I strike many rocks in our lives, don't we?

We have problems and obstacles in our lives all the time that we can't fix. So what do we do, and who do we go to? We go to God. He is not only all-loving and all-powerful, but He's, also, all wise.

The Bible tells us in James 1:5, “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

So when those trials or rocks and sandbars come your way, ask the Lord for wisdom and He will navigate you through.

As always, thank you, first of all for reading this post faithfully, for praying for us that God continues to guide us in the right direction and protects us on our voyage, for your e-mails and phone calls, how they encourage us to continue on the journey, and for your financial support, because without this we couldn't continue. Thank you and may God bless you!

Have a great day, love you, pass it on.

Don

Sunday's Coming

Good morning again,

I know, I am late but this has already been a busy week, I pray you forgive me and continue reading this post.

Last Sunday, I preached on the Bible, the inerrant word of God. How one in the hand is better than two on a shelf. How we get more out of the Bible when we let more of it get into us. This morning I would like to continue that thought by reading this passage;

…be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. 2 Timothy 4:2b

Seldom in our lives do we get to see what’s coming next. I think about a sister in Christ who is sharing her life with the people of Haiti in a medical crisis; I think about our friends daughter with problems with her son, another friends daughter that has a friend who just lost her baby daughter,I think of a friend of our daughter who's mother has been taken off life support. My question this morning is: Will we be ready to help?

Are we actively seeking to further understand and gain knowledge of who God is through study and application of His word? Are our spiritual “gas tanks” daily being filled up with the Source of our Power through reading His Word and sharing our hearts with Him through prayer? God is so very kind – He regularly blesses our private time with Him by giving us opportunity to share that very day what we’ve learned from Him in the quiet moments. What a sweet way to anticipate, be ready, keeping our tanks filled up and available to His call… whenever it comes.

I pray daily for God to show me were He is at work and let me help, but also ask Him to give me the words to say and the demeanor in which to say them.

My prayer for you this morning is that you are reading His word and are ready to be used when someone ask you for help.

As always, thanks for your emails, phone calls, prayers and financial support... by these we can continue this ministry that the Lord has called us to.

Have a great day, love you, pass it on.

Don

Sunday's Coming

Good morning again,

It seems like the weeks are going by faster and faster.

As I was reading this morning thinking, "what will I write about?," I read this:

What I Believe

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? — Romans 10:14

"Sometimes people ask me why I do what I do. I have a very simple answer to that question, which is that I really do believe the things that we read in the Bible are true.

For example, I really believe what the Bible says about our lives being "a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" (James 4:14). I really believe there is an eternity, there is an afterlife, there is a heaven, and there is a hell. I really believe that only those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ will go to heaven. And I also believe that I need to share this message with as many people as possible."

I also believe the Lord answers prayers and He puts people in our lives to minister to. We pray every moring and ask God where He is working and can we go with Him.

Monday we went to the hospital with one of the sweet people here in this park and while we were in the waiting room, I over heard a man talking on the phone, his wife of 62 years was not doing good; they were not giving her much chance to make it through the night. We went over and introduced ourselves and prayed with him and for his wife.

Yesterday, LaVon rode back up with Linnea to get Fran and while she was waiting, this gentleman came by; saw LaVon and his face lit up. They hugged and he told her his wife was doing much better and thanked us for caring and praying.

That, my dear friends, is why we do what we do and YES! I believe the Bible is God's word and it IS alive!

Today, I just want to tell you "thank you" for your support: emails, phone calls and financial. Without any of these we couldn't continue. As we continue asking God to lead us to where He is working, will you pray for us?

Have a great day, love you, pass it on.
Don

Sunday's Coming

Good morning,

We pray you are well today. If you have a prayer need, please email us and we will pray with you.

LaVon bought a wall art this week and it says, “The Best Things in Life Aren't Things” as I sit and think on that, one question comes to mind, especially since I like gadgets and things, what is better than things? The answer that came to me is relationships. The relationship between a husband and wife, the relationship with our children and grand children, our parents and our dear friends, the ones back home and the ones we have met on this journey the past three years.

You all with your emails, phone calls, and finacial support make each day possible. Thank you may God bless you!

I have left out the most important relationship and that is our relationship with the Lord Jesus. The Bible says; Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Nothing in this world is important, wealth or material things, until you have a personal relationship with Jesus.

Have a great day, love you, pass it on.

Don


DL Moody was a great evangelist from Chicago. He went to England once and met a young man there that wanted to preach in his church. Moody agreed thinking that he would never see him again. To his dismay he recieved a letter that said the young man would be in his town shortly and wanted to take him up on the offer. Moody was going out of town that week and agreed to let the man preach, but he warned the deacons to be ready in case it was a real flop. When Moody returned from his business his wife informed him that revival had broken out in his church and that "he needed to be converted". The young man preached every night on the same text, John 3:16, speaking of the love of God, from his heart. Moody went and he said he was indeed converted. He said I used to preach the judgment side of the cross, now I focus on the grace side of the cross, I used to preach mainly on the wrath of God, now I preach, he said, on the love of God. His life and ministry were forever changed. We need to experience a renewal of the love of Christ in our lives; a relationship with Him.


What is prayer to you? Why do you pray? A new inspirational movie, "A Time for Prayer" is a wonderful reminder of the power of prayer, its significance, and our daily need for it. Click here to watch.

Sunday's Coming

Good morning,

I pray you are well and warm. As we begin a new year let's join our hearts together in prayer: pray for our nation, our troops, and we ask you to keep LaVon and I in your prayers for this year. Without your prayers, emails calls and finacial support we could not continue this work that we truly believe the Lord has called us to do.

When we pray we need first to know we are one with Christ, that we are praying for God's will and that we pray with the right motive.

May this year be everything you need and may God be with you.

Have a great day, love you, pass it on.
Don

Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo

A fifth-grade boy who had heard a sermon on persistence in prayer was praying by himself in his room one night. As his dad passed his door, he heard the boy praying over and over again, "Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo." The next day, the dad asked his son what we was doing. The boy replied that he had given the wrong answer on a test for the capital of Mexico, and he was praying that God would make Tokyo the capital of Mexico. I think the boy was a little unclear on the concept, don’t you? But sometimes, we do the same. We want God to adjust to us rather than our seeking what God wants and adjusting to Him. Contributed by: Robert Garrett