Romans 8:28-39 - 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
PROMISES IN JESUS THAT WE KNOW:
1. When we love God and accept His call, in all things God will work for our good!
2. That God makes us to be like Jesus, our brother.
3. That we are made to be without sin and we stand in God’s glory.
4. God is for us and no one can be against us.
5. God proves this by giving us, in love, His only Son.
6. We know that God will kindly give us all things through Jesus.
7. When are saved and walk in Jesus no one can condemn us.
8. Jesus is in Heaven interceding for us.
9. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.
10. In Everything we are more than victorious in Jesus Christ.
With these promises, we have the guarantee that we can actively live today and tomorrow in faith to carry out God’s work and will in our lives! When we choose Christ and become a Christian, God gives us so much over flowing grace and mercy in our lives that we can be carried along through faith in love and joy!
We cannot live just for people or because of people, for they move in and out of our lives. But when we choose to live for Jesus Christ and His Church, His Kingdom, His Glorious return to this earth and Eternal Life in Heaven with Him, we will have a great future! The future that is this day and the tomorrow that we expect with true promise of hope and life!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
How Much Does Your Time Cost?
Once a man came home late from work tired and worn out and saw his son waiting in the door way.
- “Daddy, can I ask you something?”
- “Sure. What is it?”
- “I just wonder, how much do you earn?”
- “It’s not your business,” the dad said indignantly, “and why do you care?”
- “Just wondering. Please at least tell me how much you earn an hour?”
- “Well I earn 500. Why?”
- “Dad,” the son seriously looked up, “dad could you lend me 300?”
- “You have asked me so that I could give you money for some stupid toy?” – He shouted. “Go to your room and go to bed! How can you be so selfish! I’m working all day long getting very tired and you are acting so silly.”
The kid went to his room and closed the door after himself while his father was still angry because of his son’s request. “How dare he to ask me about my salary in order to ask for money later?” But after some time he calmed down and started thinking logically: “What if he needs to buy something very important. What the heck, he has never asked me for money.” When he came in his son’s room the boy was already in bed.
- “Are you sleeping?” –he asked
- “No, daddy. Just laying here.”
- “I was too rough with you earlier. I’ve just had a hard day and I lost my temper. I’m sorry. Here is the money you’ve asked for. Take it.”
The kid sat up and smiled.
- “Oh, thank you, daddy!”
Then he started searching for something under the pillow and got several carefully folded banknotes. Seeing that the child had already had money the father got angry again. And the kid put all the money together, counted it again and looked at the father.
- “Why did you ask for money of you had it already?” – The father grumbled.
- “Because I didn’t have enough. But now I do. Dad, here is 500. Can I buy one hour of your time? Please, come back earlier tomorrow. I want you to have dinner with us.”
- “Daddy, can I ask you something?”
- “Sure. What is it?”
- “I just wonder, how much do you earn?”
- “It’s not your business,” the dad said indignantly, “and why do you care?”
- “Just wondering. Please at least tell me how much you earn an hour?”
- “Well I earn 500. Why?”
- “Dad,” the son seriously looked up, “dad could you lend me 300?”
- “You have asked me so that I could give you money for some stupid toy?” – He shouted. “Go to your room and go to bed! How can you be so selfish! I’m working all day long getting very tired and you are acting so silly.”
The kid went to his room and closed the door after himself while his father was still angry because of his son’s request. “How dare he to ask me about my salary in order to ask for money later?” But after some time he calmed down and started thinking logically: “What if he needs to buy something very important. What the heck, he has never asked me for money.” When he came in his son’s room the boy was already in bed.
- “Are you sleeping?” –he asked
- “No, daddy. Just laying here.”
- “I was too rough with you earlier. I’ve just had a hard day and I lost my temper. I’m sorry. Here is the money you’ve asked for. Take it.”
The kid sat up and smiled.
- “Oh, thank you, daddy!”
Then he started searching for something under the pillow and got several carefully folded banknotes. Seeing that the child had already had money the father got angry again. And the kid put all the money together, counted it again and looked at the father.
- “Why did you ask for money of you had it already?” – The father grumbled.
- “Because I didn’t have enough. But now I do. Dad, here is 500. Can I buy one hour of your time? Please, come back earlier tomorrow. I want you to have dinner with us.”
Emotions or Facts?
Emotions play a big part in all of our lives. Many times we make decisions based upon our emotions rather than based upon facts. Generally when we do that, we get ourselves into something we later find out was not the best for us. Our emotions will always reflect how we are feeling when we make decisions and plans for our lives, but they should not be the foundation of our decisions.
God calls us to choose Him by deciding that He is the one that we want to live for, for all eternity. That’s a big decision. He gives us all the facts in the Bible to make the proper decisions. God loves with a decision kind of love as we see in 1 Corinthians 13. Then the emotional love will come and build the factual love to be stronger than ever! God calls us to build faith in our lives to trust in Him for everything at all times. If that love and faith are just emotional decisions, then they will not last, just as if emotional love is all that builds a marriage, it will not last.
Our loving God is to be with all our mind, heart, soul and body. That’s a fact decision. I choose to do that. Thus my faith in God is a choice that becomes an irrefutable fact that God is true in everything He says and does! When things are hard in my life, I need to choose to keep meeting with my brothers and sisters, choose to keep praying and choose to continue to read God’s Word. These choices will make my emotional ties with God and His people stronger than ever!
God calls us to choose Him by deciding that He is the one that we want to live for, for all eternity. That’s a big decision. He gives us all the facts in the Bible to make the proper decisions. God loves with a decision kind of love as we see in 1 Corinthians 13. Then the emotional love will come and build the factual love to be stronger than ever! God calls us to build faith in our lives to trust in Him for everything at all times. If that love and faith are just emotional decisions, then they will not last, just as if emotional love is all that builds a marriage, it will not last.
Our loving God is to be with all our mind, heart, soul and body. That’s a fact decision. I choose to do that. Thus my faith in God is a choice that becomes an irrefutable fact that God is true in everything He says and does! When things are hard in my life, I need to choose to keep meeting with my brothers and sisters, choose to keep praying and choose to continue to read God’s Word. These choices will make my emotional ties with God and His people stronger than ever!
Why Go To Church?
A Church-goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.
"I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the preachers are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."
This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delightof the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:
"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals.
But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"
When you are DOWN to nothing.... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible,
believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND ourspiritual nourishment! "
"I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the preachers are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."
This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delightof the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:
"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals.
But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"
When you are DOWN to nothing.... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible,
believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND ourspiritual nourishment! "
Journal For October 16-31, 2007
The Church in Komsomolsk, Ukraine with 3 of our young people on the right.
Younger Class at Bugkivka village School
My 6th Grade boys at School 11 in Kremenchuk
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Classes at School 11 with the 6th grade was ok with 3 boys. Then we played Frisbee outside with them afterwards and a few other kids came and joined with us, too! Singing tonight had 8 people.
Wednesday, October 17
We had 13 5th graders today at School 11! That was encouraging and fun! Then just 1 8th grade boy showed up for English Club at School 11 and we had 8 for our Univ. English Club in the evening. That was good. I haven’t been writing much about it, but every other Wed. is my deadline to have our in-house youth Newspaper finished called “Living for Jesus.” It’s purpose is to keep everyone updated on what is going on have encouraging articles to help people in their daily lives. I send it by email to Anya and she translates for me and sends it back by Sunday so we can get it out to your young people.
Thursday, October 18
We had another dry run with our village kids – this is getting really frustrating. Some would say quit, but I know God wants us here and Satan does not! We had 9 at our Hebrews study Bible Class at 6pm.
Friday, October 19
We did go for our older class with our 11th grade girls, but 2 were sick and 1 was out of town – so Satan continues to try discourage us. I have decided to take Friday nights off, as it is the only night of the week that I do not have some activity going on.
Saturday, Oct 20
We had 3 in our Adult Bible Club (Univ) and 4 for our Teen one. The Church Discussion went well at the Church building today with maybe 15 present.
Sunday, October 21 – Yulya, Yura, Olya and Oksana went with me to Komsomolsk today for our worship service there and they had a couple of visitors as well. It was a nice fellowship and worship! We came back and made sandwiches for the boys prison, ate together and spent the afternoon together and then we had 17 for our evening worship service.
Monday, October 22
Monday is supposed to be my “day” off, with Friday evening supposed to be my “night” off. We continue to go out and encourage and study with our Orphans home family. Since I have been back (mid-Sept.) it has been mostly encouraging time since the grandmother – Zoya, has been diagnosed with cancer and it is in advanced stages and she is dying with no hope of having the cancer removed because of her age and health. So we have done all that we can to help this family out and encourage them. I usually get home between 9 and 10 pm when we go out there.
Tuesday, October 23
Our 6th grade class at School 11 had 2 today. We decided to try a new day to have classes with the younger kids at the village and today it worked! We 21 5th and 6th graders (that was a bit wild, but it turned out great!) and then we had 7, 7th and 8th graders. It was a very good day at the village and Satan lost today! We had 10 at singing night tonight and Yura talked and it was very good, too.
Wednesday, Oct 24
We had 7 5th graders at School 11 today. Then because we had just the 1 boy at English Club at School 11, we decided to cancel this class/club. Then we had 5 at the Univ. English Club. This English Club is costing us $20 a night that we don’t have budgeted or about $80 a month – but it does give us definitely a new group of people that we never would have had contact with, so that is good! But where is the money coming from? I don’t know!
Thursday, October 25 – Sunday, October 28
I was coming down with a stomach ache and cold on Wed. and by Thursday it was real strong on me – especially the cold. I was down and out for this time, canceled Bible Clubs, didn’t go to worship which really kills me!
Monday, October 29
My cold is better and tried to get some things done. Went to the Orphans home for about an hour to check up on them and encourage them. The grandmother is getting worse. There is no school in any schools this week in Ukraine – Fall Break. The Univ. still have their classes.
Tuesday, October 30
Worked on the “Living For Jesus” Newsletter today. Prepared talk for Devo. We had 15 tonight – the most we have had in quiet awhile and it was encouraging time for all of us. I talked about Fighting the good Fight and not giving up!
Anton and Kelli in Hartakov
Wednesday, October 31
Kelli, Olya, Oksana and I went to Poltava and Hartakov for a couple days of excursion and to see friends in Hartakov and worship with the Church there. We enjoyed the fall colors, the time together. It is normally about 3 to 3 ½ hour trip to Hartakov, but we spent some time in Poltava because Kelli had never seen that city and it was right on the way. One of the things that we did was to visit the Zoo as well. The animals are not well taken care of in this zoo. At 6pm we met with the Church for their mid-week worship service. Afterwards we went to McDonalds to eat and then went walking for about 1 ½ hours before going back to the church building (where we stayed for the night) for snacks and bed.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Adding New Things to this Blog - In House Newsletter Articles
Off and on over the last couple of years we have done a Newspaper/Newsletter for our young people here in Kremenchuk. I thought that I would start to add some of the articles to this Blog that we have been putting into the Newsletter. We call the Newsletter: "Living For Jesus."
I have not included activities that we do, birthdates, and that type of thing in this blog. If you would like to receive these newsletters in a whole - both in Russian and English as they are translated as we do them every 2 weeks by the fine work of Anya Vaughan. I will be glad to email it to you in that fashion if you want. Right now we are currently on #17 and started again at #14. You will find the articles #14-16 in reverse order in this blog at this time.
May God continue to richly bless you in all that do and say in service to Him!
Love in Christ,
Doug
I have not included activities that we do, birthdates, and that type of thing in this blog. If you would like to receive these newsletters in a whole - both in Russian and English as they are translated as we do them every 2 weeks by the fine work of Anya Vaughan. I will be glad to email it to you in that fashion if you want. Right now we are currently on #17 and started again at #14. You will find the articles #14-16 in reverse order in this blog at this time.
May God continue to richly bless you in all that do and say in service to Him!
Love in Christ,
Doug
Articles from Oct 21 In House Newsletter
Encourage One Another Daily!
“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.”
Hebrews 3:13
As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to encourage one another daily. That is the focus of a new program we are starting within our group.
Starting Tuesday October 23, we will have a place set up at the church building for you to write encouragement notes to one another. Please take part in this, you don’t have to write a long letter, just a quick note letting that person know that you are thinking of them.
We are also going to start a program called “Today is My Day.” We will have four encouragement teams. Each team will have different people to encourage each day of the month. They can do this by calling the person or sending a text message or writing them a short note. You can even call and say “I love you” in under two seconds so that you won’t be charged. If you would like to be part of an encouragement team, please let Kelli know by Tuesday the 23rd.
You do not have to be in one of these groups to encourage people. Please look around you and see who isn’t here. Who have you not seen in a while? Give them a call. Let them know that they are loved and that you miss them.
GOODNESS
Before you read this grab your Bible and read Psalm 23
Goodness is an uprightness of soul that abhors evil, it also refers to a clean-cut honesty of motive and conduct. It takes total commitment to God and His word for a Christian to dedicated his/her life to goodness. With the help of the Holy Spirit, this fruit of the spirit will enable us to first recognize the works of the flesh, wherein we walk in the past and empower us to resist the devil (Psalm 1:1-3). Let us watch out for the companies we keep today.
All our transactions must be in honesty and good mind. The Bible says that we should do honest business.
Also, we should let our yes be yes, and no be no, anything short of this is deceit (James 4:17). We must do good always, otherwise it is sinful. All we have to do today, is to practice what we have studied, read, and heard.
Philippians 4:8-9 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. …James Vaughan
Prayer for Understanding
Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring the moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love. Matt 5:44
A Rainy Afternoon
One rainy afternoon I was driving along one of the main streets of town, taking those extra precautions necessary when the roads are wet and slick.Suddenly my daughter, Aspen, spoke up from her relaxed position in her seat. "Dad, I'm thinking of something."This announcement usually meant she had been pondering some fact for a while, and was now ready to expound all that her six-year-old mind had discovered. I was eager to hear."What are you thinking?" I asked."The rain!" she began, "is like sin, and the windshield wipers are like God wiping our sins away."After the chill bumps raced up my arms I was able to respond. "That's really good, Aspen."Then my curiosity broke in. How far would this little girl take this revelation? So I asked..."Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?"Aspen didn't hesitate one moment with her answer: "We keep on sinning, and God just keeps on forgiving us."I will always remember this whenever I turn my wipers on.
An Eternal Question for 2 reasons:
1. To check your faith and relationship with God.
2. To ask your friends to make them think about eternity.
If you died today, would you go to Heaven?
“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.”
Hebrews 3:13
As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to encourage one another daily. That is the focus of a new program we are starting within our group.
Starting Tuesday October 23, we will have a place set up at the church building for you to write encouragement notes to one another. Please take part in this, you don’t have to write a long letter, just a quick note letting that person know that you are thinking of them.
We are also going to start a program called “Today is My Day.” We will have four encouragement teams. Each team will have different people to encourage each day of the month. They can do this by calling the person or sending a text message or writing them a short note. You can even call and say “I love you” in under two seconds so that you won’t be charged. If you would like to be part of an encouragement team, please let Kelli know by Tuesday the 23rd.
You do not have to be in one of these groups to encourage people. Please look around you and see who isn’t here. Who have you not seen in a while? Give them a call. Let them know that they are loved and that you miss them.
GOODNESS
Before you read this grab your Bible and read Psalm 23
Goodness is an uprightness of soul that abhors evil, it also refers to a clean-cut honesty of motive and conduct. It takes total commitment to God and His word for a Christian to dedicated his/her life to goodness. With the help of the Holy Spirit, this fruit of the spirit will enable us to first recognize the works of the flesh, wherein we walk in the past and empower us to resist the devil (Psalm 1:1-3). Let us watch out for the companies we keep today.
All our transactions must be in honesty and good mind. The Bible says that we should do honest business.
Also, we should let our yes be yes, and no be no, anything short of this is deceit (James 4:17). We must do good always, otherwise it is sinful. All we have to do today, is to practice what we have studied, read, and heard.
Philippians 4:8-9 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. …James Vaughan
Prayer for Understanding
Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring the moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love. Matt 5:44
A Rainy Afternoon
One rainy afternoon I was driving along one of the main streets of town, taking those extra precautions necessary when the roads are wet and slick.Suddenly my daughter, Aspen, spoke up from her relaxed position in her seat. "Dad, I'm thinking of something."This announcement usually meant she had been pondering some fact for a while, and was now ready to expound all that her six-year-old mind had discovered. I was eager to hear."What are you thinking?" I asked."The rain!" she began, "is like sin, and the windshield wipers are like God wiping our sins away."After the chill bumps raced up my arms I was able to respond. "That's really good, Aspen."Then my curiosity broke in. How far would this little girl take this revelation? So I asked..."Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?"Aspen didn't hesitate one moment with her answer: "We keep on sinning, and God just keeps on forgiving us."I will always remember this whenever I turn my wipers on.
An Eternal Question for 2 reasons:
1. To check your faith and relationship with God.
2. To ask your friends to make them think about eternity.
If you died today, would you go to Heaven?
Article from Oct 7 07 In House Newsletter
Prayers For Us, God’s Children
As you read Ephesians 3:14-19, you see the Apostle Paul, inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit, writing a prayer from his heart. He is praying for these bothers and sisters that he dearly loves and whom he wants the very best for. Do you know that this prayer is for us? It is, because through the Holy Spirit, God knew that we would need this prayer in our lives as well!
There are several places in the Bible that prayers are offered for faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Jesus prayed for us in John 17:20-21 - "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” Another prayer is in Ephesians 1:15-23 where Paul prays for us to know the wisdom, power and strength that Jesus Christ has waiting for us! In Philemon 6 Paul prayed: “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” He prayed for us to be active in sharing our faith so we could understand what good God has for us! John even prayed for health for us in 3 John 2, “I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” God wants us to be in good health, so our souls can be strong to serve Him! Remember these are prayers guided by the Holy Spirit! These are the things that not only these writers wanted for us, but what God wants for us!
Let us end these prayers with the end of Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3: 20,21. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” God wants us to know how much He is ready to work in your lives – if we let Him! Have faith, trust in God to fulfill the promises that He has for our lives and praise Him for His greatness!
...Dougchik
As you read Ephesians 3:14-19, you see the Apostle Paul, inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit, writing a prayer from his heart. He is praying for these bothers and sisters that he dearly loves and whom he wants the very best for. Do you know that this prayer is for us? It is, because through the Holy Spirit, God knew that we would need this prayer in our lives as well!
There are several places in the Bible that prayers are offered for faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Jesus prayed for us in John 17:20-21 - "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” Another prayer is in Ephesians 1:15-23 where Paul prays for us to know the wisdom, power and strength that Jesus Christ has waiting for us! In Philemon 6 Paul prayed: “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” He prayed for us to be active in sharing our faith so we could understand what good God has for us! John even prayed for health for us in 3 John 2, “I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” God wants us to be in good health, so our souls can be strong to serve Him! Remember these are prayers guided by the Holy Spirit! These are the things that not only these writers wanted for us, but what God wants for us!
Let us end these prayers with the end of Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3: 20,21. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” God wants us to know how much He is ready to work in your lives – if we let Him! Have faith, trust in God to fulfill the promises that He has for our lives and praise Him for His greatness!
From the Kremenchuk In House Newsletter for Sept 20 07
Welcome Back To Our Newsletter!
“Living For Jesus” is back by popular demand! Many have said, “Why don’t we have a Newsletter any more?” So we have decided to bring it back.
I have a better question for you. What is going to make “Living for Jesus Newsletter” work?
You need to take it and read it!
You can give it to friends to interest them in what we are doing.
You can write poems and articles for the newsletter. (I happen to know that several of you are very good poets!)
You can give questions to be answered in the Newsletter.
You can encourage those that write for the paper and give them your ideas.
You can donate pictures to be used in the paper.
We want this paper to inform you, encourage you and train you in living the life that God has called us to live.
What Do You Want To Become?
If you are still in school, you may be thinking about what University you want to attend and what area of study you will take. If you are studying in a University, you may be thinking that you will need to get another degree than the one you now have. If you have graduated and are working, you may be thinking, “Is this really what I want to do?”
If you choose to make the decision to become a child of God, the other decisions in life take on a different perspective. You learn to look at life through the eyes of Jesus – the famous saying, “What would Jesus Do?” Remember that Jesus would stay close to God every day. Jesus would think of others before He thinks of Himself. He would serve others always. He would love people even when they don’t deserve it. He would always be ready to forgive them, no matter how many times they hurt him.
So, what will you become in Jesus? …Dougchik
“Living For Jesus” is back by popular demand! Many have said, “Why don’t we have a Newsletter any more?” So we have decided to bring it back.
I have a better question for you. What is going to make “Living for Jesus Newsletter” work?
You need to take it and read it!
You can give it to friends to interest them in what we are doing.
You can write poems and articles for the newsletter. (I happen to know that several of you are very good poets!)
You can give questions to be answered in the Newsletter.
You can encourage those that write for the paper and give them your ideas.
You can donate pictures to be used in the paper.
We want this paper to inform you, encourage you and train you in living the life that God has called us to live.
What Do You Want To Become?
If you are still in school, you may be thinking about what University you want to attend and what area of study you will take. If you are studying in a University, you may be thinking that you will need to get another degree than the one you now have. If you have graduated and are working, you may be thinking, “Is this really what I want to do?”
If you choose to make the decision to become a child of God, the other decisions in life take on a different perspective. You learn to look at life through the eyes of Jesus – the famous saying, “What would Jesus Do?” Remember that Jesus would stay close to God every day. Jesus would think of others before He thinks of Himself. He would serve others always. He would love people even when they don’t deserve it. He would always be ready to forgive them, no matter how many times they hurt him.
So, what will you become in Jesus? …Dougchik
Finding Ways to Grow Through Trials
James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
We all face trials many times in our lives. Somone has said we will always either be coming out of trial, in a trial or getting ready to enter a trial! God isn’t interested as much in our happiness as He is in our Holiness! God want us to try all the time to become like Him! He is always there to help us through the trials we are facing in our lives. 2 Peter 2:9 says, “the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials.” Remember that this life is a life that prepares us to become like Jesus so that we can spend eternity with Him in Heaven!
For those of us that went to our Black Sea Bible Camp this year, we know that we had some real trials and struggles there. Did you grow from those experiences? Did you trust God through them and become more faithful and stronger in Christ? What good things happened while you were there? What did you learn? What do you need to learn from it? I am going to share some pictures with you from camp. Think about the good times we did have. Think about what we learned at camp through our Bible lessons. Think about how we can become better people, how we can become more Christ like through our 13 days at camp.
…Dougchik
James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
We all face trials many times in our lives. Somone has said we will always either be coming out of trial, in a trial or getting ready to enter a trial! God isn’t interested as much in our happiness as He is in our Holiness! God want us to try all the time to become like Him! He is always there to help us through the trials we are facing in our lives. 2 Peter 2:9 says, “the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials.” Remember that this life is a life that prepares us to become like Jesus so that we can spend eternity with Him in Heaven!
For those of us that went to our Black Sea Bible Camp this year, we know that we had some real trials and struggles there. Did you grow from those experiences? Did you trust God through them and become more faithful and stronger in Christ? What good things happened while you were there? What did you learn? What do you need to learn from it? I am going to share some pictures with you from camp. Think about the good times we did have. Think about what we learned at camp through our Bible lessons. Think about how we can become better people, how we can become more Christ like through our 13 days at camp.
…Dougchik
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Journal for Oct.1-15 07
Monday, October 1, 2007
A busy day getting ready for classes and visiting classes. Also we went out to be with the Orphan’s family for a Bible Study, but because the Grandmother is in such poor health, we didn’t study, just talked, had tea and comforted the family. Grandmother has cancer, but it is not yet determined exactly how bad.
Tuesday, October 2 – Ella’s 3rd Birthday (granddaughter) and Alina’s 20th Birthday
I happy for Ella – she is such a darling granddaughter! I miss her so much, but enjoyed my time with her and he family this summer. It is a very sad time for me with Alina, for Alina has not been to services or anything much since camp and I have not seen her since I have been back. She didn’t want to celebrate her birthday with us this year. We started our 6th grade class today with 3 boys at school 11. We were also supposed to start the 7th grade class, because I forgot. You see, I got distracted today when I went outside this morning and found my back window on my car smashed in. Who did it? No way of knowing. After the morning class, I took it to the insurance company and they told me to take it a repair place, pay for it and I would get my money back in a week or so. They pay 100% for any window damages, so that is good. It will be repaired tomorrow. Well, in all that, I forgot the class I set up for the 7th grade. We had 8 for devo tonight. I spoke.
Wednesday, October 3
I got my window repaired in the morning and picked it up after afternoon classes. I traveled by using taxis today! I started my 5th grade class at School 11 with 5 kids. This age is always so much fun! We also tried to start an English Club at School 11 for 8th-11th grades, but 2 girls came and we decided to start next week. We will advertise more. At 6:30pm, we also started a University English Club, invite 3 different Universities in town to come and we had a grand total of 3! We had it and it went okay. We are having to rent a room in one of the Palaces of Culture (community buildings) for $80 a month for 2 hours a week. We don’t have this money in our budget, but Lord willing it will come from somewhere if this succeeds. We will try it for a month and see how it goes. We are doing these English Clubs as a way to get to know more people and let them see that we are okay people. We will then invite them to our Bible Classes in the future as we get to know them better.
Thursday, October 4
My main class today is at the village with 5th-7th graders. We (Oksana my translator for the village work) went out and they were busy with a teacher appreciation day. So a wasted trip. I really like this work out in the village (37 miles away) but it is so frustrating to drive all the way out there and not be able to have the classes that you want to hold. Our Thursday evening Bible Study had 6 in attendance tonight.
Friday, October 5
We were again going to the village for the 8th grade and then 11th grade classes, but they also canceled for other things, this time sending me a text message on my phone saying it wasn’t going to work for us to come. We had fun night with 5 people. Our attendance in the evening weekday classes continues to be way low and frustrating. We are trying to do all we can to encourage the young people to come. More have jobs. More have extra classes at schools and some I just don’t what’s going on – but am trying to find out.
Saturday, October 6
I did my normal Saturday morning marketing, shopping, lesson preparations, etc. for Bible Clubs. We had 5 in attendance today for Univ. Bible Club – for this class, that’s pretty good right now. Then we started the Church Discussions at the Church building at 4 with maybe a dozen and that went well and pleasant. Then we had 7 for our Teen Bible Club which also is good.
Sunday, October 7
Good attendance at services today and a good worship too! I was pretty tired and rested most of the afternoon. I spoke in the evening services and we had 12.
Monday, October 8
I am trying to take this day off, but it is nearly impossible for me to take a day off if I stay in Kremenchuk! I had 3 people calling me for assistance with different things during the day and then we again went to be with Orphan family. We come trying to bring love and encouragement to them. They really do appreciate it and we are really coming to love this family and all the kids!
Tuesday, October 9
1 6th grader showed up but we didn’t have class and he promised to come back next week. No 7th graders came, even after our visiting classes and inviting them. I also visited in the morning a lot of 8th -11 grade English classes and invited them to come to our English Club tomorrow. We had 10 at our Devo tonight and we did a split devo. What that means is that we sing together for about ½ hour and then the girls go to a different room. Kelli led the girls discussion this time and Yura had the boys lessons for us. In the evening, Inna, the mother of the Orphan home family and the daughter of the Grandmother that is struggling with her health called and asked if I would drive them to Poltava to the Dr. and Hospital there for her Mother to possibly have cancer surgery tomorrow. I agreed to do this for them.
Wednesday, October 10
Oksana went with me. I left the house at 5:20am, picked up Oksana and then we went out to their home in the village that they live at, fairly close to Kremenchuk. It is a little over an hour to Poltava and we found the hospital about 7:30am. About 11am Inna came out and told us that they had x-rayed the Grandmother after again draining a lot of excess fluid off of her abdomen and found that her cancer wasn’t as bad as they thought but still bad at stage 3 out of stage 5. They think that they can operate. She was admitted to the hospital. I abhor these hospitals. Poorly heated, dimly lit, 8 old beds to a room that have no bedding, pillows and no towels. They are fed one meal a day by the system (supposed free care!!!). They have to bribe the nurses to take care of the ones staying in because they get paid so little. Enough said. We got back in time for my afternoon classes and I had 9 5th graders and my translator didn’t show up! That was a struggle! We played Frisbee outside after reading the lesson together. One boy came to English club this time. We will see about next week – last chance as far as I am concerned. Then in the evening we had some encouragement with 4 new people! That made for a lot better time together! Our club is lasting 2 hours an evening. As you can see my day was long from 5:20am to 9pm.
Thursday, October 11
We went to the village today again and found out – again – that there was other special events going on. We got out to talk to the kids running races outside and the ones that have been in our classes for 2 and 3 years were as cold as ice! What happened???? It hurt both Oksana and I terribly! We will try to find out what is the matter and what is going on here. They have always been so friendly and welcomed us with friendliness and hugs! Again a disappointing Thursday night class with 6 in attendance. A very difficult day.
Friday, October 12
It is always amazing to me how God brings encouragement in the midst of discouragement! We didn’t see the 8th grade kids at the village today, but we had a wonderful study with our 11th grade girls about the plan of salvation! 3 of the 4 girls were there. They continue to be so open with us! We have canceled our Friday night fun night for lack of interest and I am scheduled with activities 7 nights a week. I need at least 1 night a week that I can have for myself.
Saturday, October 13
University Bible Club had 2. Bible Discussion went well with maybe 20 people. Teen Bible Club had 4. A rather discouraging week. We found out that the Grandmother can’t have surgery because she has a bad heart and bad liver. They went into her by removing her woman’s organs and cutting a piece of the cancer and it is very active cancer. She filled up with fluids again and when they drained it there was pieces of cancer floating in it – the cancer is all over her now. Very sad.
Sunday, October 14
4 of us went to Komsomolsk Church of Christ to encourage them. They continue to work hard, but continue to struggle there as the Orthodox church is very strong in that city of 60,000. They did have one new lady that has started to meet with them. There were 10 us for morning services. Then we went home, bought things for sandwiches and made 112 sandwiches for the boy’s prison. Then after eating (5 of us ate together today) we rested for a while. Then I made croissant roll dough for making sweet rolls tomorrow morning and rolls for dinner tomorrow for lunch. My electricity went off about 3:30 today. Then we had bible club for parents and we had 6 in attendance. And we had 15 for evening worship.
Monday, October 15
I got up 6am and fixed breakfast – sweet caramel rolls – for 2 of our girls who said they wanted to come at 7:30am, but they never showed! I spent much of the rest of the morning preparing dinner (lunch) for 4 Americans that are visiting here for America and teaching at the Bible School. We had a good meal and visit together. They left at 2pm. So I had my “8 hour day” in on my day off by 2pm! But it was a good time spent. Then we went to the Orphans’ home again, picking Inna up at the bus station at 5:30pm as she came back from Poltava and caring for her Mom. I got back home tonight about 8pm. It has been a hard and trying month since I have been back. I would greatly appreciate all of your prayers. I know you do pray for me and the work here. I am very thankful for that!
A busy day getting ready for classes and visiting classes. Also we went out to be with the Orphan’s family for a Bible Study, but because the Grandmother is in such poor health, we didn’t study, just talked, had tea and comforted the family. Grandmother has cancer, but it is not yet determined exactly how bad.
Tuesday, October 2 – Ella’s 3rd Birthday (granddaughter) and Alina’s 20th Birthday
I happy for Ella – she is such a darling granddaughter! I miss her so much, but enjoyed my time with her and he family this summer. It is a very sad time for me with Alina, for Alina has not been to services or anything much since camp and I have not seen her since I have been back. She didn’t want to celebrate her birthday with us this year. We started our 6th grade class today with 3 boys at school 11. We were also supposed to start the 7th grade class, because I forgot. You see, I got distracted today when I went outside this morning and found my back window on my car smashed in. Who did it? No way of knowing. After the morning class, I took it to the insurance company and they told me to take it a repair place, pay for it and I would get my money back in a week or so. They pay 100% for any window damages, so that is good. It will be repaired tomorrow. Well, in all that, I forgot the class I set up for the 7th grade. We had 8 for devo tonight. I spoke.
Wednesday, October 3
I got my window repaired in the morning and picked it up after afternoon classes. I traveled by using taxis today! I started my 5th grade class at School 11 with 5 kids. This age is always so much fun! We also tried to start an English Club at School 11 for 8th-11th grades, but 2 girls came and we decided to start next week. We will advertise more. At 6:30pm, we also started a University English Club, invite 3 different Universities in town to come and we had a grand total of 3! We had it and it went okay. We are having to rent a room in one of the Palaces of Culture (community buildings) for $80 a month for 2 hours a week. We don’t have this money in our budget, but Lord willing it will come from somewhere if this succeeds. We will try it for a month and see how it goes. We are doing these English Clubs as a way to get to know more people and let them see that we are okay people. We will then invite them to our Bible Classes in the future as we get to know them better.
Thursday, October 4
My main class today is at the village with 5th-7th graders. We (Oksana my translator for the village work) went out and they were busy with a teacher appreciation day. So a wasted trip. I really like this work out in the village (37 miles away) but it is so frustrating to drive all the way out there and not be able to have the classes that you want to hold. Our Thursday evening Bible Study had 6 in attendance tonight.
Friday, October 5
We were again going to the village for the 8th grade and then 11th grade classes, but they also canceled for other things, this time sending me a text message on my phone saying it wasn’t going to work for us to come. We had fun night with 5 people. Our attendance in the evening weekday classes continues to be way low and frustrating. We are trying to do all we can to encourage the young people to come. More have jobs. More have extra classes at schools and some I just don’t what’s going on – but am trying to find out.
Saturday, October 6
I did my normal Saturday morning marketing, shopping, lesson preparations, etc. for Bible Clubs. We had 5 in attendance today for Univ. Bible Club – for this class, that’s pretty good right now. Then we started the Church Discussions at the Church building at 4 with maybe a dozen and that went well and pleasant. Then we had 7 for our Teen Bible Club which also is good.
Sunday, October 7
Good attendance at services today and a good worship too! I was pretty tired and rested most of the afternoon. I spoke in the evening services and we had 12.
Monday, October 8
I am trying to take this day off, but it is nearly impossible for me to take a day off if I stay in Kremenchuk! I had 3 people calling me for assistance with different things during the day and then we again went to be with Orphan family. We come trying to bring love and encouragement to them. They really do appreciate it and we are really coming to love this family and all the kids!
Tuesday, October 9
1 6th grader showed up but we didn’t have class and he promised to come back next week. No 7th graders came, even after our visiting classes and inviting them. I also visited in the morning a lot of 8th -11 grade English classes and invited them to come to our English Club tomorrow. We had 10 at our Devo tonight and we did a split devo. What that means is that we sing together for about ½ hour and then the girls go to a different room. Kelli led the girls discussion this time and Yura had the boys lessons for us. In the evening, Inna, the mother of the Orphan home family and the daughter of the Grandmother that is struggling with her health called and asked if I would drive them to Poltava to the Dr. and Hospital there for her Mother to possibly have cancer surgery tomorrow. I agreed to do this for them.
Wednesday, October 10
Oksana went with me. I left the house at 5:20am, picked up Oksana and then we went out to their home in the village that they live at, fairly close to Kremenchuk. It is a little over an hour to Poltava and we found the hospital about 7:30am. About 11am Inna came out and told us that they had x-rayed the Grandmother after again draining a lot of excess fluid off of her abdomen and found that her cancer wasn’t as bad as they thought but still bad at stage 3 out of stage 5. They think that they can operate. She was admitted to the hospital. I abhor these hospitals. Poorly heated, dimly lit, 8 old beds to a room that have no bedding, pillows and no towels. They are fed one meal a day by the system (supposed free care!!!). They have to bribe the nurses to take care of the ones staying in because they get paid so little. Enough said. We got back in time for my afternoon classes and I had 9 5th graders and my translator didn’t show up! That was a struggle! We played Frisbee outside after reading the lesson together. One boy came to English club this time. We will see about next week – last chance as far as I am concerned. Then in the evening we had some encouragement with 4 new people! That made for a lot better time together! Our club is lasting 2 hours an evening. As you can see my day was long from 5:20am to 9pm.
Thursday, October 11
We went to the village today again and found out – again – that there was other special events going on. We got out to talk to the kids running races outside and the ones that have been in our classes for 2 and 3 years were as cold as ice! What happened???? It hurt both Oksana and I terribly! We will try to find out what is the matter and what is going on here. They have always been so friendly and welcomed us with friendliness and hugs! Again a disappointing Thursday night class with 6 in attendance. A very difficult day.
Friday, October 12
It is always amazing to me how God brings encouragement in the midst of discouragement! We didn’t see the 8th grade kids at the village today, but we had a wonderful study with our 11th grade girls about the plan of salvation! 3 of the 4 girls were there. They continue to be so open with us! We have canceled our Friday night fun night for lack of interest and I am scheduled with activities 7 nights a week. I need at least 1 night a week that I can have for myself.
Saturday, October 13
University Bible Club had 2. Bible Discussion went well with maybe 20 people. Teen Bible Club had 4. A rather discouraging week. We found out that the Grandmother can’t have surgery because she has a bad heart and bad liver. They went into her by removing her woman’s organs and cutting a piece of the cancer and it is very active cancer. She filled up with fluids again and when they drained it there was pieces of cancer floating in it – the cancer is all over her now. Very sad.
Sunday, October 14
4 of us went to Komsomolsk Church of Christ to encourage them. They continue to work hard, but continue to struggle there as the Orthodox church is very strong in that city of 60,000. They did have one new lady that has started to meet with them. There were 10 us for morning services. Then we went home, bought things for sandwiches and made 112 sandwiches for the boy’s prison. Then after eating (5 of us ate together today) we rested for a while. Then I made croissant roll dough for making sweet rolls tomorrow morning and rolls for dinner tomorrow for lunch. My electricity went off about 3:30 today. Then we had bible club for parents and we had 6 in attendance. And we had 15 for evening worship.
Monday, October 15
I got up 6am and fixed breakfast – sweet caramel rolls – for 2 of our girls who said they wanted to come at 7:30am, but they never showed! I spent much of the rest of the morning preparing dinner (lunch) for 4 Americans that are visiting here for America and teaching at the Bible School. We had a good meal and visit together. They left at 2pm. So I had my “8 hour day” in on my day off by 2pm! But it was a good time spent. Then we went to the Orphans’ home again, picking Inna up at the bus station at 5:30pm as she came back from Poltava and caring for her Mom. I got back home tonight about 8pm. It has been a hard and trying month since I have been back. I would greatly appreciate all of your prayers. I know you do pray for me and the work here. I am very thankful for that!
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