Another Son to Thank God For

I've been quiet for a few days and that is because I focused on my wife and our much needed time together. Thursday we were invited to Kip and Sharon Powers home to share Thanksgiving with their family. This was really a blessing because being 10 hours away we were unable to be with our families.

Friday Cary and I took a small backroads trip to Elliots Island and then ended up at the Suicide Bridge Restaurant for lunch. It was a beautiful day in the Maryland countryside and we throughly enjoyed ourselves. Yesterday we continued the ourdoor activity by visiting Assateague Island and walking along the ocean as well as some of the trails. This is our favorite way to have a day together. Cary is quite a photographer and we have a few beautiful pictures of scenes along the way. We saw many deer and a few wild horses on our trek. I really loved the refreshing time with my wife. We don't get much time like that together because usually my day off is Monday and Cary has to work. So we treasure any hours together! Today after speaking at all three services I have a fresh appreciation for what Bill goes through every Sunday. I grateful for the opportunity to share in this way whenever it comes.

Well let me move on to my fourth born son. Above you can see Mark and his wife Callie. They live in Frankin, Ohio and attend Vineyard Community Church along with two of Marks brothers. Mark is working as an apprentice pipefitter and is also being schooled through this apprentice program. Callie is going to school and is studying massage therapy.

Of all my sons Mark has surprised me in a number of ways. Being the most quiet of my five sons he was actually the first one to get married. I had the privilege of conducting the ceremony in February 2005. Another surprise to me is watching Mark use his hands as a vocation. He was the sport enthusiast of the family and the last one I would have guessed would take on a trade as a profession.

Mark was an excellent golfer and tennis player. One thing I really miss from his High School years is all the rounds of golf and tennis matches I attended. I served as an assistant golf coach and loved watching him play. Before graduating he tied the school record at the Franklin Golf course and beat the score of Frank Lichliter (Now PGA Pro) who used to play on the Franklin Team. Needless to say I really miss the opportunity to golf with my son as it's something we love to do together.

Again like all my sons I want God's best for him and I pray that God would use Mark and Callie for His Glory.

Still giving thanks I want to introduce you to my third born son, Matthew. He lives in Chicago and loves the city. He is a very talented young man.

When he was 16 he began to take flight lessons and paid his own way by working at McDonalds. His goal was to have his flying liscense by the time he was 17. I'll never forget the time he took his first solo flight. The instructor told me to bring my camera and that after a few take offs and landings she would get out. I'll never forget the grin on his face when she got out and told him he was to go on his own three more times.

My heart thumped a few times watching this whole scene but he was very capable and I was very proud. The amazing thing about all this is that he still didn't have his drivers liscense at the time. He would have to ask me for a ride to the airport so he could fly.

Matthew began college at Embry Riddle at Daytona Beach taking aerospace engineering and did quite well but decided to switch majors and came back to Columbus, Ohio where he attended and graduated from Denison University. While attending Denison he focused on fine arts. After graduating he went on to get another degree from The Art Institute of Chicago. He loves to write and loves to dance. He is a full time dance instructor for Arthur Murray Dance Studio in downtown Chicago. While on our family cruise this summer (My father treated all of us to a cruise to Cozemel) Matthew was the hit on board because of his dancing abilities.

I thank God for my creative son and pray that these talents could be used for God's glory. I pray that he would have direction as he is looking for another job since the stress of teaching dance is very rough on his body. From my perspective he has great leadership abilities and could make a great teacher/professor as well.

Giving Thanks for My Second Born

I thank God for my son Timothy, he is the hands on guy of the family. He has been remodeling his home and can do almost anything. Tim is married to Sara and they both enjoy photography. Sara works for a company that takes photos for school year books and Tim works for a company that maintains the printing machines for a large insurance company.

While my son was serving in the Army Sara's family joined the church I was pastoring. She is a great vocalist and really loves the Lord. Long before Tim met her I often thought that it would be neat if Tim could meet her.
After three years of service Tim got injured in a training mission and came home. My thoughts became reality and Tim and Sara were married in May of 05. Tim and Sara are active at Vineyard Community Church in Franklin, Ohio where I served as a co- pastor.

Tim loves the outdoors and has set up a paintball course in the woods behind Vineyard Community Church in Franklin, Ohio. On any given Sunday when the weather is warm many teens and their fathers can be found shooting each other for the Glory of God. Remember the Bible says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." Before moving to Maryland they talked me in to playing with them on Father's Day. I have to admit I really enjoyed myself. The only game I didn't like was when they played civil war. Two lines formed across the field and each team had an opportunity to fire on the other side. If you didn't get hit you would take a step forward and the next team took aim. I found this quite unnerving and ended up getting a few bruises when the line took aim at me.

The most difficult thing about living so far away from the boys is on days like today. I miss my family and thank God for each of them. May the Lord bless and watch over Tim and Sara and may they draw closer to Him each day!

Give Thanks Always!

This week I want to give God "Thanks" for all He has done in my life and for the special people in my life. This is a photo of my oldest son Chris. He is 29 and lives in San Diego where he is attending law school. After completing his course of study he plans to move back to Ohio to live near his brothers.

He recently took up long distance running and calls me all the time to tell me about the leisurely 20 mile run he just made. He plans to run his first marathon in December in Death Valley. Needless to say I'm proud of him and can relate to his running passion. I took up long distance running when I was 28 and really was addicted myself. I was running so many miles that I became a shoe tester for Nike. At one point I was running almost 10 miles per day. I competed in at least 60 races under 10 miles, 10 marathons and 10 ultra-marathons. More on this soon as I share my own testimony.

This week I'm so thankful that God continues to look out for my son Chris. He has had a number of close encounters that could have led to his death. One time he was robbed at gun point. Some months ago had a very serious bicycle crash but was spared because of his helmet. Just last week was run down by a truck in an intersection becaue the man was talking on his cell phone and turned into the sun and didn't see Chris in the intersection.

I had this strong impression that I needed to talk to my son about the fact that God has spared his life on countless occasions for a purpose. Saturday I had an opportunity to talk with him about it. His reply was "The one thing I've learned through these encounters is that I do not have control of my life." Chris has been on a spiritual search for years and I pray that he will come full circle to Jesus Christ who loves him and is trying to grab hold of him for a purpose!

Thank You God for my oldest son Chris! Use his life for your glory!

Friend Day Miracles

On the left you can see the action in our new Welcome Center. We gave away 38 guests bags today. I want to thank Velvie who worked so hard getting this room ready to receive guests! Today we had over 400 people. I know we were about 130 over our Sunday average attendance. God blessed in that He held off the rain until the services were over. (Thank You God)

Below you can read just two of the miracles of Friend Day. God surely did a "New Thing." What an honor to be part of something like this.

Friend Day Miracles (From Cary) One day this past week I was at the office when a woman came to the door who was living in a halfway house near the church building. I sat and spoke with her for quite some time. She said she had been walking by the church three times in the past several days and every time she walked by, she felt such peace, and she knew that the Lord was calling to her. She said on the day she finally stopped and rang the bell, that she was scared to death, but knew she had to ring the bell anyway. I sat and spoke with her for about 25 minutes or so and ministered to her. I asked if she had ever asked to receive Christ into her heart, and she said she had been born again and baptized as a child, and had only recently rededicated her life to the Lord.

She said she had been reading her Bible but her daily devotional had run out a month or two before. So I gave her my Daily Bread devotional for October and November and another one to carry her thru January 2007. She cried and told me some of her story and my heart broke for her. I told her that Sunday was Friend Day and I would be very honored if she would come on Sunday. When she was leaving, I walked outside with her and asked to pray over her, which I did, and she cried and hugged me several times. What a wonderful moment! I was so blessed to see her today at Friend Day, and she brought a friend with her and I immediately recognized her, and she recognized me and came running up and hugged me. She told me after the services that the whole message was so uplifting to her and she was so happy she had come.

I had invited the young lady who leased our apartment to us at Marley Manor. She has said she was very excited about it and she was going to bring her boyfriend. Well, she did not come, but I was not disappointed because it became evident that God had someone else he wanted Michael and I to minister to today.

My turn now! (Michael) It is now 4:00pm and Cary and I are just getting home! What a day of miracles. I just led one of our guests to Christ but let me share the whole story and you’ll see how truly amazing God is. One of our guests, a homeless lady tells this story. This week she had a very vivid dream. In this dream she was walking down a path and as she walked down the path she came to a cliff. As she stepped forward she slipped over the edge of the cliff but was able to hold on with one hand and pull herself back up. As she looked back up the path she had come from this path disappeared and all that remained was a shed. She recognized the shed contained her past and all her baggage and she didn’t want to go back there. To go forward over the cliff would mean death. Over to the right she saw two doors which opened to a new road which was freshly paved. It was then she woke up from the dream and she said she knew that God was talking to her about her life and the choices she had to make.

The next day she was at Joseph House and someone from AMBC handed her an invitation to Friend Day. She immediately connected this invitation with the newly paved road she saw in her dream and knew that nothing could keep her from coming to the services. Sure enough she came and was one of our guests welcomed in our new welcome center. Cary and I took her to lunch and helped her find a place to stay and before we left her we asked if we could talk with and pray for her.

I had the opportunity to share Christ with her and she wanted to invite Him in. Wow what a day! She never did find the person who invited her in the first place. (Maybe it was an angel) Pray for her (Pam) she needs a job and needs help staying on this new path that God called her to. By the way she absolutely loved the services (She sat through two) and said she has never experienced the love that she experienced today at Allen Memorial. I give God all the Glory! He is not willing that any should perish but all come to repentance. Imagine all the other miracles that took place today as this was just two of them. God is so Good!

Laying the Foundation for Friend Day

The foundation is being laid for Friend Day. Thank you to Jill & Mike for the use of their home last night. Twenty one of us gathered for the purpose of prayer and what a great time we had together. We prayed over the names of friends and neighbors submitted by those attending AMBC as well as over our pastors and staff. I am so grateful to be part of a praying church.
It will be exciting to see what God does on this special day. I'm praying that God surprises us and goes beyond the 500 we are praying for.

This week the congregation has the opportunity to distribute 5000 postcards in the area. I began blitzing Marley Manor where I live until I read my lease and found out that there is no soliciting. (Oops) I'll have to find some neighborhoods to walk through. Cary and I are excited in that the girl who signed us up at Marley Manor is coming to Friend Day with her boy friend as well as my Korean Friend I met at Staples! Of course were taking them to lunch! May God Bless you as you reach out to your friends as well.

My Heart For Indonesia

In the year 2000 I went on a trip to the other side of the world. The purpose of this trip was to attend the Global Cell Church Mission Network conference in Jakarta, Indonesia. This was my first trip outside of North America. Little did I know, that this trip would change my life.

While sitting at the airport in Los Angeles I met some people who were on a mission trip to the Philippines. They had asked me where I was headed and when I told them first to Jakarta and then on to Solo they showed me a disturbing article.

It was from the State Department and was warning Americans not to travel to Indonesia and that in Solo the muslims were going to hotels looking for Americans and forcing them to leave. I had planned this trip for a long time so I wasn't going to turn around. To make matter worse when I got to Hong Kong I watch a Christian Band who was headed to Jakarta make a few phone calls and pull their bags from the plane and head back to America. Still I pressed on and trusted God for His protection.

When I stepped off the airplane I was a little frightened. I didn't know the language and hoped that I could find those who were there to meet me. They found me an escorted me out of the airport. It was in those first few moments in traffic that God began to break my heart over the Nation of Indonesia. This country is 88% muslim and everywhere I looked I realized the majority knew nothing about Christ and the life He offers.

I realized on this first trip how spoiled we are in America and how most of us have no idea how it is for most of the people in the world. It was on this trip I got introduced to an amazing man who had taken on 66 orphans beside his own four kids. His vision was to raise these kids in the Lord and train them up so that they could go back to the Island of Ambon where much slaughter was going on between the muslims and Christians. He wanted to take them home to make a difference in such a dark place.

Since that first trip I have returned three times and even spent one month there with my youngest son. The Indonesian people are such a precious people. Indonesia is comprised of 17,000 islands and has 127 people groups which are unreached for the most part. I long to return there some day and spend time with these amazing people.

God has been so good to me in that wherever I have lived He has always given me Indonesian friends. Moving to Salisbury has been no different. Above you can see that that I have already made an Indonesian friend. Faye and Phoebe are precious to God and precious to me as well. I love talking to Faye about Indonesia and even practicing speaking Indonesian to her.

God will break your heart over a nation as long as you are open to the nation of His choosing. Saya Cinta Kamu (I Love You) That is the inscription in my wedding ring from my wife Cary. By the way the first time I told her I loved her I wrote a letter in Indonesian and translated it a little at a time. Who has God broken your heart over? He will truely give you the desires of your heart!