Those of us who love Biblical Prophecy are not in style these days. The overwhelming trend in Christianity is to focus on what God can do for me now. Living with purpose, intentionality, in community, or whatever catch word is popular this month. To look towards Heaven is ok. But don’t dwell on that too much, cause, you know, you gotta die to get there.
And so Prophecy, with its’ emphasis on God Redemptive Plan, not on God’s Plan for you now, is out of fashion. Especially because the Prophecies of the Bible that are yet to be fulfilled are quite violent.
Violence and Grace seem to be opposites, so we recoil from Prophetic Scriptures. Even those who study Scripture struggle to reconcile the Judgment of God with the Grace of God. But the Judgment of God is not always reconciling. Men and women reject Him and His Son’s sacrifice. We want to believe that a loving God would never commit, cause or condone violence against His creations. That betrays a basic misunderstanding of what a creator is.
A poor illustration, but somewhat helpful, it to look to creative people. I would argue that those who make it a life’s goal to create are closest to God’s plan for humanity. We were made in His image. We were placed in the garden and told to till, plant, arrange. In other words, we were commanded to create in this world with the supplies God provides. Creatives at their core are violent and destructive. We rip apart what’s not working and use the parts to create something better. Creation for us is all about recreation. To recreate you must destroy what is already there. When I taught art at a local college I encouraged my students to draw over, erase, even throw away pieces in order to find the best art they could produce. My sketchbooks and trash can are filled with art that will never see the light of day. Scratched out, rubbed out, thrown out. Drawing or painting or writing is all about how the world is, should be, or would be. That process can be very violent.

God’s endgame is all about finishing His work with Israel, and judging the nations of the earth for their treatment of Israel and their rejection of His provision of salvation. That process will and must be violent. Offering your enemy an alternative to violence never works. The Enemy of the faithful will fight to the last moment before he is chained in everlasting darkness. God has offered the world His alternative in the form of faith in His Son Jesus Christ for Millennia. At some point the Father’s patience will end. Then He will deal with the unrighteous in the only way left.
I fully believe that there will be a Rapture of the church, a seven year tribulation, a world leader the Bible calls the Anti-Christ, and a war to end all wars at Armageddon. And I am not scared. I’m excited. God is going to have His Justice. As someone who loves God, I love that He gets His way. He’s God after all.

I have many wonderful tools. The Laptop I am writing this on. A Tablet that is so powerful it could nearly replace this laptop. A Smart Phone that’s as powerful as the tablet. Tools are supposed to make your life easier. Imagine trying to remove a screw from the wall without a screwdriver. You would have to be very inventive, so inventive you invented a screwdriver.

I saw invention like that happen during my time working in a Jail as a Deputy Sheriff.  I found many homemade screwdrivers. Inmates would get metal, any metal like the band holding the eraser to the pencil and use it to undo the little screw holding the receptacle plate to the wall. Then they would use that same metal to unscrew the wires, touch them and make sparks. Some even used this source to melt the end of their toothbrush and while the plastic was still hot press it to the security screws which were round heads with snake eye holes that only security companies sold the bits to. The plastic would dry as it cooled and then they would have a crude screwdriver to take out the screws holding the security plates on the walls. We alway found them before they could get through the plates and discover the solid concrete wall behind them.

That’s the way many of us work though. We spend incredible time and effort trying to get out of the situation we are in right now, instead of making the most of our present duty and finding purpose, meaning and joy in the task at hand. So we make, buy and yearn for bigger and better tools.

The problem with tools though, is we tend to think the tool is the thing we need to do better. I need a  better widget to be more productive, creative, valued. Its because we are always looking for shortcuts. We think that the end goal of our work is happiness. Work hard enough and at some point you will have enough to be happy. But the goal of work itself is happiness. Do you get that? Work doesn’t lead to happiness. Work is happiness.

Genesis 2:4…These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,                                                                         5.… And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground                                                                                                                                                                     7… And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.                                                                                                      15… And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Its in the founding of our Nation… Life Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I heard Evangelist Marine Tim Lee (@MarineTimLee) say once the way to pursue happiness is to get a job and work it!

Work is a gift of happiness. If you dread going to work, take a risk and search for work  that feeds your soul.

Then you won’t be searching for a tool to keep you from having to work so hard. You will want the work to be hard. You will enjoy and embrace the difficulties and challenges of your job. That’s what makes it worthwhile.

Its weird sometimes when God starts moving in your life.

Since coming on board as General Director in January and moving to North Carolina, there have been several areas of my life that I have struggled finding balance in. My weight shot up in the months between my hiring last fall and my leaving First Baptist to take this position at the start of this year. I still have not found the magic combination to get rid of the excess weight. My old routine of running hasn’t resulted in weight loss. Getting older changes things. Balancing my need to learn as much as possible with the pressure of raising additional support has not come easy as well.  I quickly fell back into my old workaholic ways, but that’s because I love my new ministry so much. Its not a job at all. Its a life, and I love every minute in my office, at dinner with the Marines, leading Bible Studies, visiting on base. Its incredible to love what you do this much. New Home, new town, new office, new challenges, and what fell by the wayside? What every pastor, missionary and Christian worker will tell you (if they are honest) is that our proclivity is to let our personal devotional life suffer for the sake of the work. Because Though we tell our people God won’t understand their intentional abuse of His grace, we secretly think that He will understand ours, because, well we are professional ministers,a after all.

So I hit the reset button a while ago, and gave up my OCD need to be in the office at 6:30 every morning. Instead, I still get up at O-Dark Hundred, but now I stay home for an hour or so, electing to spend my first hour at home with God, instead of my first hour in the office with God. Its much more productive this way. If you are friends with me on Facebook, you have seen my early morning posts where I have shared Bible verses and quotes from Spurgeon or Oswald Chambers, along with my pithy comments. I am taking a break from those early morning posts to concentrate on this blog.

I challenged myself in October two years ago to write everyday for 30 days on my old blog pastordavemason.com. I am planning this October to do the Inktober challenge with other artists and produce one ink drawing a day that month and post it online. Until then, I am challenging myself to post on this blog daily. So keep me honest. If you don’t see a post, message me.

The posts probably won’t be 500 words like this one. But what they will lack in length I pray they will make up for in value. That’s why I writ this anyway. To add value to your life. So check in every day and see what I have observed and written. I’ll likely share some happenings at the Center, but I plan for most posts to be about life, work, whatever I see that day that helps, challenges or interests me.

See you tomorrow.

There seems to be no shortage of pride in our culture. Everyone is proud of who they are. So much so that the thought of someone having to change their lifestyle, their wants, their opinion is anathema. “You are perfect just the way you are” is the unwritten mantra of social media. Well, I’M perfect just the way I am, if you disagree with me in any point, YOU need improvement. Again, Pride.

Pride has always been one of the great shortcomings of the young adult. When a child begins to mature, and finds himself or herself between childhood and adulthood an inner struggle emerges that few have navigated well. At odds with themselves, they find they desperately want to be adults, but without the conditions of adulthood. Responsibility, hard work, common sense. Leave me alone and let me make my own decisions, I’m an adult now! But I’m still going to dress like a 12 year old because I like it. This time used to last a few years, and by the early 20’s most came to understand that real maturity means acknowledging the truth, even when it means you have to change. In modern times, this age in a young persons life seems for many to extend well into their 30’s, even some refuse to grow up into their 40’s, or at all.

In his first epistle, Peter wraps up his teaching with exhortations to engage in the activities that become a child of God. To the young he says,

1 Peter 5:5-7…Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

The first step in a young adult becoming wise, in truly becoming an adult, is submission to the wisdom of those who are older. This seems natural for children, they need instruction, they have a thousand questions about the world around them. Once testosterone or estrogen begin raging through the body though, a young person seems to get the idea that they know everything important. Mark Twain famously said “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”

Why do we all go through this period in our lives? Pride. Pride was the first sin. God doesn’t know better than me, this fruit is good!

Peter is not singling out youth though. Look at verse 5 again, Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. We should all defer to one another. As a good friend once told me, everyone has something to add to your life. Like a book, you “eat the fish and spit out the bones!” We all need to exercise humility. Because if we do not exercise humility ourselves, we will be humiliated at some point. God has His ways of humbling us, and if we won’t enter into it ourselves, He will do it for us.

The good news in this is that God gives grace  to the humble. He exalts the humble in due time.

There is a reward awaiting the saved. Any loss of rights, privilege or honor in this life is temporary, and not worth the aggravation or worry. Peter ends this passage with a verse we can all grab onto, but in the context is especially for young people. “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” He wants our young people to know that they can quit worrying about the future. quit worrying, wondering if He can sustain and maintain His earth, if there will be enough time, enough money, enough of anything. Throw your worries on His back, He can bear them better than you can anyway.

We don’t need protests, social media anger, organizations to take a stand or politicians to do something. We need humility. Individual, sincere, true humility.  If our youth could catch hold of real humility, they really would change the world.

‘Till Jesus Returns,

Let me tell you a story.

In the spring of 1998 a young preacher was in his second semester of Bible institute at a local church. In the class on Biblical Counseling a guest speaker from a local Mission was invited to speak. The small class enjoyed hearing the seasoned minister talk about his years counseling couples, professionals, soldiers and civilians. After the class the young preacher and the guest speaker talked for nearly an hour after the class ended. The older minister took a liking to the young preacher and invited him to preach that weekend at his Mission.

The preacher eagerly accepted the invitation. He had been preaching for only 5 or 6 months and was anxious for any opportunity to preach the Gospel. He had preached in Nursing homes, at one small church, and even in his backyard at a picnic he held just to get the chance to preach. He grew up the grandson of a Baptist preacher. He had rededicated his life to Christ just a few years before this night. Immediately he felt the call to preach. His style came naturally after a few misfires. One night at a Rescue Mission for the homeless the fire fell, and he found his preaching voice.

Saturday night came and the young preacher and his wife left their young boys with a relative and drove to the mission. It was a wonderful place that had been presenting the Gospel to a very specific demographic for 46 years. The Mission had a kitchen where volunteers were making soup and sandwiches for a fellowship after the Gospel service. A large dining room was on the other side of the serving counter. Between the Kitchen and the Chapel room was a living room  with a big TV and comfortable couches and recliners for the guests to relax in after the evenings activities.

The young couple were led into the chapel area and sat in the front row. The attendees at the Chapel service made their way in. They were all close in age, all men, all active in service to their country. A short song service and it was time for the young preacher to speak.

He spoke from Ephesians 2:8 & 9 about the need  of salvation and the futility of works to gain it. He delivered his message passionately. This night he had holy unction.  At the end of his sermon he asked all attending to bow their heads and close their eyes. He invited the men to come to Christ, even offered a suggested way to pray and receive Christ. When he finished he asked if any had called on Jesus that night, and if so, would they raise their hand to acknowledge this?

Two hands raised and his heart leaped. He turned the service over to the old master sergeant who had presided over the song service. The sergeant called out the two soldiers and asked them if they meant it, did they really accept Christ this night? They responded yes and were ordered forward. They obeyed and were counselled by workers waiting for the opportunity.  The young preacher wept into his wife’s arms, overwhelmed that this night, for the first time, the Lord had used his preaching to bring not one, but two souls into the Kingdom.

The young preacher and the older Missionary would become good friends in the following years. 10 years after that fateful night the two met for lunch and the young preacher, now a seasoned church planter and pastor was offered a position on the older Missionary’s Board of Directors. 7 years after that he was offered the older Missionary’s position upon retirement.

And that is how, in September of 2015 I was offered and accepted the Call of God to leave the pastorate and become a missionary myself, replacing my good friend Walt Croom as the General Director of Military Evangelism.

This month has been filled with exciting developments, trips, new opportunities and new friends made.

Patty and I had the opportunity to attend the Benson Grove Baptist Camp Meeting in Benson, NC last week, meeting over two dozen pastors, missionaries and Gospel singers. We were very well received for our first time attending.

Our friends Neil and Nancy Olenick from our home church (New Life Baptist in White Marsh, MD) arranged for us to attend and it was a blessing. Many visited our booth and took prayer cards and other information on Military Evangelism. We were blessed to sell many copies of my Revelation commentary as well. We pray that the meeting will result in more meetings and expanding our partner base.

We have also been doing lots of work on the exterior of the Center this month. The area in back is cleaned, new grass seed is sprouting, and the hammock will be in this week.

This will provide our Marines with a nice shaded area to relax on the weekends. New Area lighting has been installed, all LED to create cost savings, and we believe this will enhance the security of the Center in the nighttime. Power washing of the sidewalks and brick has been completed as well. I plan to start painting the exterior this fall when the temperatures get back down to Northeast, Mid-Atlantic temperature range I’m used to!

Many have responded to the fund drive to help with renovations at the Center. So far about 10% of the need shared last month has come in! As the money arrives we will be getting the projects done. I’ve already measured and started getting prices for Kitchen cabinets and a new dining room table. If you were interested in participating in the Renovation Fund Drive there is still time, since there is no expiration date to making God’s Ministry look and work its best!

Great contacts have been established on base, including a new chaplain at Camp Lejeune, who visited a Tuesday night Fellowship Dinner. He and I hit it off and plan to meet regularly to see how we can assist each other. Please pray for an opportunity to meet with Marines awaiting assignment at Camp Johnson. There are some schools there that finish their training well before their orders for new assignments come in for the new marines. Many of them must stay in their barracks all day with nothing to do. Of course this is causing them to go a little stir crazy. The Chaplain at Camp Johnson has a plan to get them out of their barracks one or two days a week for a two hour fellowship time. He has enlisted my help in providing activities and a listening ear for these men and women. I think it will be a wonderful opportunity to establish relationships that may lead to new regulars at the Center.

Throughout May and the first few weeks of June we had a new Marine visit nearly every week. All of these were the result of our regulars sharing the ministry with friends on Base and inviting them. I guess that means the best way to get folks into church works on the Mission field as well!

The Bible Studies are being well received. We are studying Proverbs on Tuesday Nights and Romans on Friday nights. Wisdom and Doctrine are turning out to be a good combination.

Our internet ministry is going well also. The Podcast is increasing listeners every week, and they are from around the world. The Blog saw a spike of around 700% the first week of June after my eulogy to my friend Pastor Clay Moorman went viral. Over 900 individual people visited the blog and the Center Facebook page that week. And Praise the Lord, one of my key ventures when I began has started showing fruit. Our first internet gifts were received via PayPal this month!

Finally, if you haven’t heard, our podcast “Field Notes with Dave Mason” has been picked up by jdfoxxradio.com as their Sunday Morning Religious programming. You can listen online through this link or download their app on the Apple store or Google Play. Field notes plays at 8:00 and 10:00 Sunday Mornings, Easter Standard Time.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support. We couldn’t do what we do without you!

‘Till Jesus Returns,

I had plans for today.

I am a week behind on the podcast. I wrote two lessons yesterday and I was going to record at least two, maybe three episodes today. Tomorrow I was going to post to this blog.

Then all the wind left my sails.

I got a text this morning at 8:14. It was from my pastor, Johnnie Brewer, letting me know that my friend, mentor and one of the biggest cheerleaders my ministry ever had, Clay Moorman, the Pastor of Newark Baptist church in Elkton, MD died of a heart attack this morning.

I first met Clay in 1997, when I first started preaching and attending Baptist Bible Fellowship pastor’s meetings every month. Over the years he became a good friend. When he saw I was very stressed in the ministry, he offered me a free week at his annual Men’s camping trip. It helped and the trip became an annual ritual that I looked forward to every year.

When my best friend in the ministry, Rob Dalsing died of a heart attack at the age of 46  in 2011, it was Clay who called me and took me out to breakfast and let me cry and rage and mourn. Clay said something that I have always kept close, and today I need it – “Dave, these are the times when we preachers have to live all that stuff we’ve been telling our people.”

Clay was my friend.

He is my friend.

I haven’t lost him, because I know where he is.

Until I see him again though, I will miss him.

 

 

The last few weeks have been filled with travel, construction, meetings and open doors.

Patty and I travelled to Alabama to visit Karl and Gladys Volz, who run our Center just outside of Fort Rucker in Daleville. We were overwhelmed by the work they have done there. The started the center in Daleville in 2000, after years of fruitful ministry in Aniston, AL at Fort McClellan. The 1,300 mile round trip was worth every mile and we consider ourselves blessed to call this wonderful couple our ministry partners.

 

Recently I have been able to have several meetings and make contact with many ministers and chaplains in the Jacksonville area. Chaplain Dwight at Camp Johnson and I had a three hour breakfast and tour of our facilities. We look forward to working with him to provide the very young Marines at Camp Johnson with wholesome alternatives to the “night life” that pervades in our town. Pray for us, the opportunity to help establish a new Bible study on the base is a real possibility. I also met Chaplain Brandon from MCAS New River at a local church and hope to connect with him in the next few weeks.

Last week I had my first opportunity to attend a preachers meeting since moving to Jacksonville and it was a blessing. A young pastor of a nearby church plant preached and the dozen pastors attending were very encouraging. I pray this turns into opportunities to present the ministry and gain some more ministry partners in our local area.

Also, though I cannot tell you too much right now, there is a real opportunity to help a ministry to Marines with PTSD. The fledgling ministry is out of a local church and attempts to help Marines cope with post combat stress through teaching them carpentry skills. I have a few projects at The Center that I know they could help us with. Wouldn’t it be awesome of God to allow two ministries reaching Marines to help each other out? They provide us with necessary repairs and upgrades, while we provide them with the opportunity to not just do carpentry, but do it for other Marines? Once we get all the details hammered out, I will be sure to update you and provide pictures!

My May Newsletter to our supporters detailed some needs we have at The Center for repairs and upgrades. I would like to share them with everyone who reads this blog and ask that if you can help, let us know. We want to provide not just a home away from home for Marines, but a top-notch, the best we can provide home! Our carpet is threadbare, we need new computers and software, especially for accounting, office productivity and graphics production. One of the ‘lesser’ requests is near and dear to my heart: fishing tackle. I believe much effective discipleship can be accomplished if I can provide tackle and gear to take the Marines on the base fishing on the weekends.

Here is the needs list:

NEW 12’ Dining Room Table –    $1,800

Computers and Software –           $5,000

Outside Shed for storage –          $2,000

New Carpet-                                     $1,500

Fishing Tackle/Rods/etc.-            $500

Dishwasher-                                     $600

Kitchen Counters/Cabinets-        $750

 

Any help you can provide is appreciated greatly. You can send it by check to:

Military Evangelism

P.O. Box 246

Jacksonville, NC 28541

 

Or you can click the “Donate” button at the top of our webpage (The link is in the sidebar- click our logo to go to our web page).

Finally, we have created an Amazon Smile account. If you use the link on our Facebook page (its in the sidebar too) or click here:  https://smile.amazon.com/ch/52-0988248  You can shop Amazon.com like you always do, without spending any more, and Amazon will give back to our Ministry .5% of your total purchase price. I know it’s not much, but if your shopping anyway… buy the stuff you would buy normally, and automatically add a little bit of support for Military Evangelism. How nice is that?

Thanks again for all you do in supporting Military Evangelism. Next week I’ll have some stories from one of our men who attended Fleet Week in NYC, and some pictures of recent events at The Center.

 

‘Till Jesus Returns,

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12…Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

I have entered the world of Podcasting with Field Notes. There are two reasons I decided to do the podcast. First, I am a Podcast junkie. I listen to several preachers podcasts, which are simply recorded Sunday Morning Sermons. I also listen to several  business, writing, and leadership podcasts.

For the last two weeks I have noticed one man, Jocko Willink, a retired Navy Seal in the feeds for several podcasts I listen to. Jocko was commander of SEAL Team Three’s Task Unit Bruiser during the Battle of Ramadi. I’ve heard him interviewed about three times, and I started listening to his own Podcast. He is using his experience in the SEALS to teach leadership concepts and I plan on reading his book Extreme Ownership soon. I’ll let you know what I think of it once I finish it.

One of the core concepts he talks about is “Cover and Move.” Jocko describes it like this:

“Our tactic, which we had trained for, practiced, and utilized, was a fundamental one we called ‘Cover and Move.’ Within our OP2 squad, we had four elements of smaller teams. One team covered, their weapons trained on threats, while the other team moved. Then those teams reversed roles. In this way, the teams leapfrogged in bounds, constantly utilizing Cover and Move to ensure we were prepared to fend off an attack as we maneuvered through the streets.”

When I heard him talk about this, I saw the analogy to Christian Service and Fellowship immediately, especially to the relationship between Missionary and Church members.

You and I are in this battle together. We are in the same unit. We have the same objective. Willink says the most important tactical advantage a military unit has is working together as a team, always supporting each other. The same is true in the church, and on the mission field.

Ecclesiastes 4 talks about team work. At first it’s about two people together. Then at the end the statement, “a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” You and I are two cords, Jesus Christ is the Third. Together we can “cover and move.” Your protective fire of prayer and missions support allows me to move through enemy territory. My prayer support and movement for you allows you to also move forward in the work of God. We work together.

In your church it’s the same. You have a team in place. Each member of the team needs to be working as either cover or movement, and those roles change often. You cover your Pastor in prayer as he moves into enemy territory with the Gospel. Your pastor covers you in prayer as you move in the workplace, at home, at school, wherever a spiritual battle is present and the Gospel needs to be presented.

As your Missionary I ask that you always have my back. Cover me in prayer as I move forward. We are bound together by a common cause. As the Marines I reach work together in units, we should too. You have a mandate from The Lord to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” – Mark 16:15 You accomplish this outside of your Jerusalem through Missions.

Prayer and financial support is our “cover fire” that allows us to move into enemy territory and rescue those caught behind enemy lines.

Keep us covered.

Don’t forget to check out our Podcast “Field Notes with Dave Mason”. This week is episode 5, where we read the first testimony of John the Baptist. I apologize to anyone who couldn’t listen last week through iTunes. Our Audio file host, SoundCloud, was updating servers and iTunes didn’t like it. The issues are resolved now and you can listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or Google Play.

 

And don’t forget the “donate” button on our website. I am praying for 100 new supporters to give $10 per month. If you know someone who you think would like to partner with us as we reach our Military with the Gospel, would you let them know of this easy way to give? It doesn’t take much if we are all working together. Together we are a strong team, each pulling a little, and accomplishing a lot!

 

‘Till Jesus Returns,

Dave Mason

General Director

Military Evangelism

 

 

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,