Have Your Sorrow Turned Into Joy

I had a funeral to go to last weekend. A friend's mother went home to be with the Lord. The viewing was Friday night and the funeral Saturday morning.
The friend who lost his mom is Trinidad Hurtado, Director of the Baptist Rescue Mission in Fort Worth.
On my way to the funeral home Friday evening, I called a precious friend, Mark Stephen Puckett (pictured below) to see if he could go with me. I had met Mark at the Mission a couple of years ago and we became fast friends. He walks there to attend services regularly.  The joyous expression in the photos captures exactly who Mark is on the inside. His mind and heart are completely and totally fixed on the Word of God and our Saviour.

Mark answers his telephone with a Scripture verse and constantly recites Scripture and praises the Lord in conversation. He is a great blessing to me and so many others. Mark makes his way around town on foot and has a routine of visiting several nursing homes each week, reading Scripture (which he does flawlessly), praying and encouraging everyone.

My friend Mark is a man who God saw fit to touch in a special way. I have never met another like him. He rejoices constantly. He reminds me of Isa 26:3, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. (For the photo, he opened his KingJames Bible to the gospel of Mark. He rejoices in the name that his parents gave him.)


He has traveled to Mexico and to India on mission trips.  He once heard an announcement on the radio that said, If you can get to El Paso, we will put you to work on the mission field of Mexico.  Mark got on a bus to El Paso, and soon found himself busy driving a truck for a mission work in Mexico.  He still prays daily for the missionaries that he worked with back then.


Mark is a man who is not stained by the world. He has not become cynical or critical. He is a man of great faith - the kind of faith that moves mountains. Thank God he prays for me and for the country of Croatia!!


His rejoicing is contagious. For many of us at the funeral, he helped to turn sorrow into joy.


Thank you God for my friend, Mark Stephen Puckett.

Please see my new website!

Please take a few minutes to look over my new website.

http://godsavecroatia.com

I believe this website will be a great tool in helping to evangelize Croatia. I hope to arrive in the Croatia by the end of February, and with this site, I will be able to post Bible resources that Croatians all over the country will be able to access, as well as post updates for friends back home.

I am interested in uploading Bible lessons in PDF or Word format and Bibles or Gospel tracts in PDF format for many languages. If you are a missionary or pastor and would like to have something made accessible on the internet for your converts or mission field, please email to info@godsavecroatia.com.

We want to help.

Well Hallelujah Glory to God!

Last Saturday morning I had the great joy and honor to meet a young (28 yr old) man named Antwon. After knocking his door and asking him if he knew he was going to heaven, I had the privilege of telling him about the free gift of salvation that is available in Jesus Christ.
After asking a few thoughtful questions, Antwon bowed his head and asked Jesus to save his eternal soul - and Jesus did. Yes, Antwon was gloriously and eternally saved on Saturday, Jan 16th of 2010.
The next day Antwon came to church and followed the Lord in believer's baptism!

 

What a joyful and glorious moment this was for him - and for me! Seeing him up there testifying of his faith in Christ made me want to jump and shout - so I did. That's right, I did.

Amen, Brother Antwon.

Glory Halleliujah!

Praise God for the opportunity to stand up for Jesus!
We had a crew out Saturday before the big playoff game here in Arlington for two hours passing out gospel tracts to thousands, and another crew out after the game holding up gospel signs for all the people driving by to see.  The signholders were in 27 degree weather for two hours and that made it tough, but the purpose of what we do makes it a joyful experience. 
The Word of God penetrated the eyegates and eargates of thousands upon thousands Saturday night and we are grateful for the privilege to be there.  A report was on the radio that 107,000 people were in attendance!  And, they came from all over North America!  We spoke to people from Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and Monterrey Mexico.  Imagine! Planting gospel seed all over North America by standing on one street corner for two hours in a single afternoon.  Wow!
I thank God for the men who stood together Saturday to proclaim the name of Christ, and for all those who have encouraged us and prayed for us along the way.
Perhaps God will be gracious and give us yet another opportunity by permitting another game to be played here.  There were many mockers, and we are thrilled to be able to share God's Word with them before it is eternally too late.

I love the verse of Scripture from the Inspired and Perfectly Preserved King James Bible:

Hebrews 13:13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

Help us, O God, to never squander such an opportunity to witness!

May the Lord help us to open our mouths boldly that we may make know the mystery of the gospel.

Why is Football So Important?

It's not the game, but the people who attend it that are so vitally important. So important because Jesus Christ died on the cross for every one of them, and gave us who are saved a command in Scripture - not once, but several times over - to be a witness to them. A college or pro football game is an occasion where many thousands (sometimes over 100,000) are brought to a single place at a single time on a single day. What a golden opportunity!
In Arlington, we are blessed to have the new Dallas Cowboys stadium ten minutes from our church. Thousands and thousands of never-dying souls come to this place on a regular basis at a pre-determined time. Glory Hallelujah! We are privileged to stand near the entrance and pass gospel tracts to as many as will accept them, and to testify of the death and resurrection of Christ before them all.
Many of these are people that would otherwise have no need or reason to come to our area, but because God in His providence brought this stadium to our backdoor, we have a tremendous outreach opportunity before us.
After the games, we are able to stand on the streets with our Scripture signs for all to read as they leave town. Wow! How could we be so blessed? We are unworthy.

Thank you God for football.

Mark 6:34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them ....

Will You Be Someone's 1, 2 or 3?

I was gloriously and eternally saved by the grace of God through faith in the shed blood of my Saviour Jesus Christ when I was 7 years old.
Sadly, by the time I was 14 or 15, my heart had grown cold toward the Lord and I was not bringing glory to Him.
By the time I was 17, I was a runaway.
While working at a gas station in a nearby town, someone came in for gas and invited me to a local Independent Baptist Church. He was number 1. I thought, "That's real nice of you, but I am not going." The person who invited me may have thought their effort never mattered. Perhaps they were discouraged that I didn't show up.
Not long after that, someone else invited me to an Independent Baptist Church. Oddly enough, it was the same church. That was number 2. I thought, "That's real nice of you (and real interesting), but I'm not going." The person who invited me may have thought their effort never mattered. Perhaps they were discouraged that I didn't show up.
Not long after that, a lady drove into the station in a green Ford pickup with a flat tire, in a huge rush to get to work. She asked if I could air up the tire, and pleaded for forgiveness for not needing to buy gas. I gladly accommodated, not thinking too much of it.
After work, I drove down to the 7-11 on the corner to get a coke and some chips for dinner. Lo and behold, there was a green Ford pickup that once again had a flat tire.
Sure enough, the lady was a clerk at 7-11. I changed her tire for her while she worked. She was delighted that her husband would not have to drive to town to change it for her.
After a brief conversation, she invited me to a local Independent Baptist Church. Yes, it was the same church the other two people had invited me to. She was number 3. This time I thought, "God, if you will hold back the lightening strike, I will be in that church on Sunday. I get the message." Yes, I was in church on Sunday, and I have been in church for the last thirty years.
My Christian life hasn't been perfect and I am no super saint, or anything like that, but I rejoice in my God and do my best to honor and glorify Him.
He sent three people to get me back in the house of God, into a place where I could learn and grow and serve Him.
What if they had not opened their mouths? Where would I be?
The man who was number 1 might have thought his efforts were in vain, but without him there would have been no number 2 and no number 3.

Perhaps you invite people, perhaps you witness, and you think your efforts are in vain. Don't be discouraged. You never know what God is doing in the hearts of the people you encounter.
Sometimes you will be someone's 1, someone else's 2, and perhaps a 3 once in a while, but only if you open your mouth and speak to people.

By the way, I was a 17 year old runaway in ragged clothes. Please never pass up anyone because of their appearance. You never know what God is going to do. He's usually up to something.