Thank you Lord...

I want to thank the Lord for the great two nights He has given us during revival thus far. Dr. Haizlip has preached two tremendous messages that have helped me. I don't know about you, but sometimes it becomes easy for us to get mechanical in our Christian life. We are still doing good things and we are still busy serving the Lord, but it seems as if we do it out of habit and not a genuine love for the Lord. What a blessing revival meeting is to help us to get our focus and our affection back on the Lord and to be busy serving Him because of Him, not because of force or habit. I know that in my personal life, I deeply and sincerely desire the touch of an almighty God to help me with everything I do. I realize that nothing can or will be accomplished if I try to do it in my own might. Yet that is exactly what we attempt to do, do everything in our own might. It is all about Him. Yes, I am to stay busy and do all that I can for Christ, but ultimately, if anything gets accomplished, it is going to be because of Him and in spite of me. Thank you Lord for teaching me this great lesson.

Revival meeting has been good, but it can and will be better. I am seeking the Lord with an open heart and asking, no begging, for Him to do something great in my life and with my life. I need revival. If you are in the area, I invite you to come be with us at Canaan this week for revival meeting. If you are not in the area, would you please pray for this meeting? Would you pray that God would do something great in our church this week? Bro. Haizlip mentioned last night that he fears that the line has been drawn, that it is now time for either revival or ruin in America. I must say I agree. Dear friend, our country is in need of revival. It starts with one person, one family, one church, one community. Let's all do our part to pray for revival.

Wilt Thou Not Revive Us Again...

This week, our home church will be having revival meeting. We have been praying for many weeks and months that the Lord would do something great in our church this week. I have been praying that He would kindle the flames of revival in my own heart. So often times it is easy to grow cold and stagnant. We get into a routine of serving God and we begin to do it out of that routine instead of a committment and love for the Lord. I know that I need revival. Please help us pray that the Lord would do a great work this week in the heart of each and every member of Canaan Baptist Church, especially mine. As you can see, we have two of the greatest preachers alive that are going to be with us. If you are where you're able, make plans to come and join us. The services begin at 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and Dr. Chris Haizlip will be preaching. If you have never heard Bro. Haizlip, you will certainly enjoy this man of God. If you can't be here, please pray for those that are here. We need revival.
Please pray for my family, as we are traveling this weekend. We are leaving this afternoon to head toward Kingsport, TN. We will be in Weber City, VA tomorrow morning (just across the state line) and in Church Hill, TN tomorrow night. Lord willing, we will be driving home Monday so that we can be at revival meeting Monday night. Please pray that the Lord would give us great meetings tomorrow and that many hearts will be touched concerning the great need in southern Louisiana.

Keep Praying...

What a great God we serve! I don't know about you, but I am so thankful for the privilege to be a servant of Christ's. The Lord has been so good to us and provided us with safety and all our needs while we have been gone. We are so thankful for the folks at Center Road Baptist Church allowing us to use their prophet's chamber for an extended number of days. Sunday morning, we left New York and drove to Wattsburg, PA where we were blessed to spend all day. I preached in both the morning and evening services and also taught Sunday School. I guess that's good training for the mission field one day. Sunday night, we drove to Erie, not but about 25 minutes, and that is where we will be staying for the next few days. They are having Bible Conference services Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and we are allowed to share in those. Lord willing, I will be preaching Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday evening. Please continue to pray for us. We praise the Lord for His goodness and thank the Lord for answered prayer.

There is a God...

If you need any further proof that there is an all powerful God, look at this picture. Today, we had the chance to go to Niagara Falls. It is only about a thirty minute drive from where we are in New York. What an awesome sight. This was actually the second trip for Wendy and myself. Seth was quite amazed, as he kept talking about the water. We enjoyed it. If you have never seen it, Niagara Falls is an amazing sight. I do not understand how anyone can visit it and believe that it happened just by chance. You have to look at it and believe that it was created by an all mighty God. Only our God could create such a powerful, amazing sight. It is truly beautiful. As I watched the water flow over those edges, I was reminded of Dr. Eugene Goodman and an illustration he used to give concerning sin and the day of repentance. He would tell of a sign on the river flowing into Niagara Falls that stated it was the point of no return. Once you reached that point, there was no hope to be saved. Many people reach that same point in their lives. They reject the Lord, they reject the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, and eventually, they reach a point in their lives in which they have passed the point of no return. Never again will the Lord deal with them concerning the salvation of their soul. Do not pass that point. If you have never trusted Christ as your Saviour, do so today, before you reach the point of no return.

Eighty Years and No Regrets

This morning I had the privilege of sharing a devotion with the senior citizen's group here in West Seneca, NY. As I was preaching, I was dealing with the topic of being satisfied with the Lord, and how He never lets us down. I was using the verses found in John 6:1-13 where Jesus fed the 5,000. The Bible makes mention of the fact that the people, the ones who came to Jesus hungry and without food, were filled, according to verse 12. I was using that to think about how Jesus satisfies. You know, the world has many things to pull our attention away. Many things that we turn to in an attempt to satisfy our inner longings. Some people may try to use alcohol or drugs, pornography or other lewd behaviours. Other folks use their morals and even religion to try and fill those inner longings. They all have one thing in common, they leave you feeling unsatisifed. The only way to satisfy that inner longing is through the Lord Jesus Christ. As I was preaching, I asked for a show of hands of people that had been saved 20 years, then 30, then 40, and so forth. We had one lady in attendace who had been saved 80 years! Wow. She told us that she was saved at the age of 9 and she was now 89 years old. I asked her if she had ever been disappointed that she had gotten saved. Of course, her response was never. I asked her if she had ever been disappointed in Jesus or if He had ever let her down? She said that in spite of the fact that she had failed Him a number of times, He had never failed her. I then told the people in attendance that she had said more in that testimony than I ever could and I proceeded to close my Bible and take my seat. Imagine, being saved for 80 years. What a great blessing and testimony. Isn't the Lord good? How about you today dear friend, have you trusted Him? What are you depending upon to satisfy your inner longings? Won't you please turn to Christ today?

Dog Days of Summer...

Well, it looks like the dog days of summer continue for Pennsylvania and New York. Thankfully, we have a prophet's chamber to stay in that has air conditioning. What a blessing. On Monday night, we drove up to Franklin, PA and spent the night there. Thanks to a gift certificate, we were able to get a hotel room and enjoy the city for a little while. Wendy took Seth down to the kiddie pool and watched him frolick and play. He thoroughly seemed to enjoy his time in the big bath tub as he called it. I think one of his highlights was splashing his mom who remained on the side and did not want to get wet. He had a blast splashing and playing around. It is such a joy to watch him grow up and develop into a young man, yet such a challenge. To think, I am responsible for this precious life. I only hope that I can do my very best to point him to a Saviour that loves him and cares for him. At the end of life's journey, I would hate to think that I had worked so hard to lead others to Christ and not done the same thing for my own family.

Please continue to pray for us up here. Tonight, we are preaching in West Sencea, NY. They too are experiencing this incredible heat wave. However, good news does seem to be on the way. According to the news reports, tomorrow's highs only seem to be around 79. That will be perfectly alright with me. Tomorrow morning, I am doing a short devotion to the senior citizen's group here. I am looking forward to it. Hopefully either Thursday afternoon or Friday we will be able to run over and see Niagara Falls, considering we are only about 30 minutes away from it. Wendy and I have been before, but it is such an incredible sight I would love to go again. As always, thanks for the prayers and continue to remember us while we are away.