Today was my first full day in the office since Patty and I went on our week and a half road trip. We visited 5 churches in all. We started our Deputation tour at Limerick Chapel in Limerick, PA. Pastor Dan Peters and his people were wonderful. Then we moved on to Grace Fellowship in Ephrata, PA and had a great time with a Q&A service, getting to know the folks at Grace. Last Wednesday night we presented the ministry of Military Evangelism to Grace Bible Baptist in Baltimore. Dr. Earl Johnson and his incredible church were a blessing beyond measure and I am thankful to call this incredible man of God my friend.

 

 

We met with many friends for lunch through the week, including my pastor, Johnnie Brewer of New Life Baptist in White Marsh, MD, and Pastor Barry Secrest of Freedom Baptist in Dundalk, MD. Last Friday was the highlight for me and Patty though, as we met with our dear friends and supporters, Roger and Ann Boguski of Olivet Ministries International. Roger has been a confidant, mentor, and friend for nearly 20 years. I count him as probably my closest friend in the Ministry, and one of my very best friends ever.

This past Sunday we were with Calvary Bible Church in Westminster, MD in the morning and then drove 3 hours to Southside Baptist in Camden,DE for the evening service. It was good to see my good Friend Pastor Chris Kondracki again. Thank you Southside for taking us on for support!  Monday I had my first Bi-Annual board meeting as General Director of Military Evangelism, and then we headed home to North Carolina Tuesday morning.

 

After a two week hiatus due to the trip, the Podcast is back with a new episode this week.

You can listen to it on our website , on Soundcloud , or of course on iTunes.

Proverbs 24:3,4…Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

In the weeks leading up to our trip, we were apt to say we were taking a trip “back home”. A few days into the trip we realized that was not true.
Harford County MD was my home for 49 years. The coast of North Carolina is my home now. I walked through the streets of Bel Air and reminisced, but concluded it was not my home anymore. God moved us, and for good reason. I realize now, as I share the ministry with others, that Military Evangelism is where I belong. Maybe it’s where I belonged for a long time.

In 1998 I was attending a local church Bible Institute when Walt Croom visited one of our classes as a guest speaker. Walt and I talked after class that night and he invited me to visit the Center that Saturday night and preach the Chapel Service. That Chapel Service was the first time I ever preached and saw souls saved afterward. A Sargent and a Corporal raised their hands to receive Christ and I was stunned to think that God could use me to bring souls to Him.

Now I look back as the General Director of this Ministry and recognize the Hand of God guiding me and preparing me for this particular ministry. The information I have gathered over these last two decades has matured and been applied. The wisdom God has given me through applying that knowledge allows me to lead this Mission. And now I am able to “fill the chambers” of Marine’s hearts with the “pleasant and precious riches” of God’s Word.

Pray for me, Pray for Patty. We have many more weeks ahead of  us this year filled with travel and meetings. I still have Missions to accomplish here in Jacksonville. Missions that will take my full concentration and much of my available time.

I can’t wait to see what God is going to do next…

‘Till Jesus Returns,

This week the post is late, very late. We had a great week of meetings at the center. Our Tuesday night fellowships are growing, with our largest group yet this week. We are studying Proverbs on Tuesdays and everyone seems to be getting a lot from studying this wonderful book. Friday night was a highlight this week as well, as I took the upcoming Passover as an opportunity to teach the Seder Table and Christ in the Passover.

On Saturday we took the troops to Wilmington, NC for a quick outing. Turns out we picked the day of the Wilmington Azalea Festival. There were thousands of extra people in the town and many streets blocked off. Despite the crowds we had a wonderful time and discovered a new restaurant, a fairly authentic New York Style Deli.

I continue to attend the Chapel Services at Camp Johnson. The Chaplain there is teaching through the book of Judges and I am thankful for the added opportunity, to meet young Marines, and to receive teaching myself. It’s been a blessing.

Patty and I headed out on a 2 week “Tour” of churches in MD/PA/DE on Friday. It culminates with our Bi-Annual Board Meeting, my first as General Director of this ministry. Please pray for traveling mercies and new supporters.

This past week marked the third for the “Field Notes with Dave Mason” Podcast. Though there will be no new podcasts for the next two weeks, as we are out on the Deputation trail. I had planned on recording extra episodes to be in Que, but fell ill earlier this week and spent three of the four days Patty and I had to get ready for the trip in bed. It was just a cold brought on by a weakened body I taxed with too much work and not enough rest. The Lord WILL make you rest if you don’t schedule it yourself. Back to the Podcast,  I have been blessed to watch the analytic’s come in as see listeners are not just on the east coast, but from as far away as Alabama, California and oversees listeners from Belgium, Norway,England and Sweden!

While you wait for new Lessons to be uploaded, why not catch up on any you might have missed? search “Field Notes with Dave Mason” in iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher or on Sound Cloud. Here is the link to the iTunes page: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/field-notes/id1097576581

In coming weeks the podcast will be broadcast as the Sunday Morning religious programming at 7:00 am and 10:00am (EST) Every Sunday morning on jdfoxxradio.com, an up and coming Country Music internet radio station that is drawing listeners around the world. My thanks to my good friend Tim who is the creator of this free streaming service for asking me to provide spiritual content for his programming. I thank God for giving us the opportunity to reach more listeners through yet another technological innovation.

 

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I have been thinking much of the Return of Christ lately. It’s a Bible truth that needs more preaching. The only book I have published so far is “Revelation: Notes and Outlines.” The next book in my files I want to publish is a dual commentary on Daniel and Zechariah. Prophecy is a passion of mine, and as world events continue to spiral out of control the time is now for the church to be teaching prophecy. I am a Biblical “Literalist.” I believe that with few exceptions of Allegory, the Bible means exactly what it says. And I believe the prophecies of the Bible have and will come to pass exactly as they are presented. When you interpret the Bible literally, grammatically, and contextually, you have no choice but to be Dispensational, Pre-Millennial, and believe in a literal 7 year Tribulation wherein God finishes His work with His Chosen People, the nation of Israel.

The next event on the prophetic calendar is the Rapture of the Church. In I Thessalonians 4 Paul draws us a picture of this event. When we read II Thessalonians 2 we get a beginning of the time-frame for this event. When we read Revelation 3 and 4 the time-frame comes into clearer focus.  Jesus taught that He would Return ONLY after certain events happened. Events linked directly with the Nation of Israel.

Mark 13:28…Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.
30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

The fig tree is a symbol of the Nation of Israel. Jesus is saying when the Nation of Israel once again comes to life, “puts forth leaves”- is gathered together and is a sovereign nation once again, the generation that sees that happen will not all pass until all the things He has been teaching must happen does happen. Israel became a nation once again in 1948. She regained Jerusalem as her capital in 1967.  The Jewish Nation will endure until, and through the Tribulation. Jesus believed there was an end-time calendar. He taught that He was coming back for His Saints, and that He was coming back to execute The Father’s Judgment on the Nations. Jesus spoke of a person He calls, as Daniel referred to him, “the Abomination of Desolation.” That person is the Anti-Christ. A literal human man who will be filled with the spirit of Satan and lead the world to worship himself.

We cannot become obsessed with Prophecy though, for if we bury ourselves in our study of end-times and try to set dates and such we loose the point. The point is that we ought to be very, very busy about the task of soul-winning, because the end is always nearer than we think. We may never have another chance if we fail to share our faith today.

However, there is such a drought of preaching on the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming that I am concerned the church will loose its “Blessed Hope” the joy that comes to the believer who knows his redemption draws nigh. And the Crown that awaits all who look for His soon Return  2 Timothy 4:8…Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 

Are You lifting up your eyes today, awaiting the Lord’s call to join Him in your Eternal Home?

‘Till Jesus Returns,