Reflecting on the Past

God says, "At the right time I heard you. On the day of salvation I helped you." Listen, now is God's acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation! 2Co 6:2
This week I learned that one of the girls our daughter Peggy grew up with was killed in a car wreck. This event has set me to reflect on those wonderful years as these girls were growing up. Sadly I cannot remember even one time ever sharing the Good News with the young mother who died in this week’s wreck. So why didn’t I? I do not have any excuse, I failed to do what God told us as Christians to do; Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence. God has done all this. He has restored our relationship with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships.
In other words, God was using Christ to restore his relationship with humanity. He didn't hold people's faults against them, and he has given us this message of restored relationships to tell others.
Therefore, we are Christ's representatives, and through us God is calling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God. 2Co 5:17-20 So, here I am with time passing by me, and no second chance for me to do the most important thing I needed to do. I trust that some did tell her, but I do not know. That is why I am writing this blog, so not to miss another chance. If anyone reading this thinks they are going to heaven because ___________ (you fill in the blank) and that answer is not Biblical pay attention!
Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world. And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever. 1 John 2:15-17
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Gal 5:19-21
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Rom 10:9-10
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3
He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them. 2 Co 5:15

Are you going to Heaven? Find more answers at:

http://www.crossway.org/assets/tracts/heaven/

Praying Effectively For The Lost

Biserica Crestina Baptista Emanuel Women's Thursday Bible Study Group

Each Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. this group meets for a time of singing, prayer and Bible study. I just happen to be the blessed one who gets to lead the Bible Study. This group of women operate much like the mailman, no matter the weather (not even 12 inches of snow), they are going to make it to Bible Study. Our car was buried in snow, the alternative mode of transportation was autobuz (bus). We left our apartment at 5:00 p.m. certain we had allowed plenty of travel time. We arrived at the church at 6:45 p.m., we spent 1 hour and 45 minutes on the autobuz (normally we can drive in 15 minutes)! Our attendance was down somewhat due to the fact most of the women walk from their apartments to the church. The sidewalks are covered with packed snow and ice, making them very treacherous.

These women are mighty prayer warriors! They remind me of some very dear ladies back in my home church whom I depend on for prayer cover. This is our second week into the study "Praying Effectively For The Lost", the group is already very encouraged and excited. I have been blessed as their leader to see their enthusiasm and their hunger to learn more.

Thus far we have read and discussed why we pray for the lost: 1. Their souls are valuable to Jesus Christ. 2. Jesus did only what He saw the Father do, likewise we should do what we see our Lord doing, making intercession for the lost. 3. It is our responsibility to pray for the lost.

Just last night we learned we must have a love for the lost, Jesus loves them. We discussed the power of a Mother or Grandmother's prayer. One of the ladies in the group shared with us how her Grandmother had prayed for her many years to be saved.
It is absolutely necessary that we pray in Faith, believing. As members of the royal priesthood, a peculiar people....it is our God given responsibility to pray for the lost. I know someone prayed for me, I'm sure someone prayed or is praying for you.
Don't underestimate the power of prayer.

Our group prayer this week will be praying for one another to become more faithful in praying for the lost. We will be praying for God's love to overflow in each others heart in order that we can love the lost as we should, that we would always pray in faith believing and that the power of Jesus Christ would strengthen us as we intentionally try to win souls for the Kingdom.

Count Your Blessings

Jason holding Emma at less than an hour old on January 14TH, 2009

Emma and her big Sister Kimber

Daddy made Emma's first Birthday Cake!

Playing with her Birthday Baby Doll from Pop Pop Bill

What a cutie pie!

Oh my how Emma has grown in her 1ST year of life!

God bless you and watch over you until your next Birthday our little darling.


When Randy and I count our blessings, at the top of our lists you will find salvation, the greatest blessing of all. Following that would be the blessing of having a spouse which loves the Lord, and at the same time loves his/her mate and is faithful to each other. Our family would fall into list about here. I consider it a an honor that God blessed me with the opportunity to give birth. Truly, it was a wonderful experience. It is impossible to describe the joy overwhelming you at the first sight of your newborn child. We love our children with all of our heart and soul. They have brought us much happiness, fun and laughter through the years since their birth. We never dreamed that feeling of happiness, fun and laughter could ever be "out-done" by another person! That is until.........until Emma Marie, our first Grandchild was born one year ago!

We have learned very quickly that Grandchildren are so much fun!!! Emma is very entertaining, she causes us to laugh until our sides are about to split and our jaws ache! What a personality she had developed and she enjoys showing it off to Papa and Nanny.

Yes, we count our blessings with tear filled eyes. We are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for our precious Emma Marie. We are long distance Grandparents, by the use of skype we talk with her about 2 or 3 times each weekend. She looks forward to seeing us on the computer screen and we are just as anxious to see her waving at us from across the ocean. It is our prayer to be an example of Godly Grandparents for Emma, that she might see Jesus in us. Our desire is for Emma and her big sister Kimber to become children of God. Would you please pray that Randy and I will be the Godly Nanny and Papa Emma and Kimber deserve and that at the right time both of them will follow the Holy Spirit's drawing.

Waiting for His Timing

Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
We have been waiting for what seems to be a long time. But in the last 5 days our strength has been renewed. We have been praying for God to open doors and send us help here in Bucuresti. Many of you who are praying with and for us have also asked the Father to bless us in these requests.
Let us start with last Saturday; Teresa was able to teach a Bible class in the Emanuel Church which is in Sector four of Bucuresti. And on the following Wednesday, today, I was able to work in the subway with a young man also from the Emanuel Church. These are the jobs God has called us to do, make disciples, by teaching and demonstrating how we try to reach the lost. We have been blessed by God. For a long time I (Randy) felt as if nothing was ever going to happen.
As for the man who worked with me, Alexandru, he is gifted much like the people we worked with in Galati. God had given us people who love Jesus and are willing to tell others about His love and amazing gift. This was Alexandru’s first time to work “on the street” although he said he had shared his faith with people on occasion before. It was a wonderful afternoon! We talked to about 40 people and were able to share the Good News with about 15 of them. We also came across about 5 believers! I am sure that I have never met that many believers on the street in one day ever before since we came to Romania.
Those of you who have been praying please continue to pray as you have been because God did a great deal of preparing for us. Many of the one’s we talked to were very concerned about their relationship with God. And those of you, who have not been praying for us, please join us. Your prayers are just as important to this ministry as ours are. Please pray as Jesus told us to;
These were His instructions to them: "The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, and ask Him to send out more workers for His fields. Luke 10:2
Again thank you for praying, He answered many of those prayers today!

Ladies Bible Study Group in Bucuresti

Heb 10:23 Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep his promise.
Heb 10:24 Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good.
Heb 10:25 Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer. GNB

There is no greater feeling than knowing you are attempting your best at being obedient toward God. This brings joy, peace and spiritual growth. At the same time, obedience can place you in a position or place far away from all the familiar and comfortable aspects of daily life and routine. Obedience also requires sacrifice.
It is for certain, if you are a child of the Living God, obedience is REQUIRED!

The four women you see in the photo (we have one more lady in our group, she was unable to attend)are well acquainted with being separated from
the comfort and blessing received by worshiping in their home churches back in the States, where everyone speaks their language. They dearly miss the fellowship with the ladies from church and other groups in which they might have been active. Family.....it is impossible to measure how much one misses their family and close friends. Don't misunderstand me, you do form strong and dear friendships where God has placed you. Eventually you get settled in and manage to make your apartment look and "feel" like home. This is what we have all discovered. We have also discovered something else; we need each others fellowship on a regular basis. Recharged, revved-up, you know what I mean!

For this cause, we have made it a point to meet once a month. Each person has been assigned a month. On your day, you make the plans for the day, Bible study is always priority, after that the host takes charge and away we go for fellowship, fun and refreshing. Living in a foreign Country you can find yourself hungering for time with folk like yourself. Pray for us as we continue to meet together to encourage each other, fellowship, and enjoy some downtime. Also pray for us as we search to find ways to reach out to the lost all around us in this mega City, pray that each one of us will be a beacon of light shinning for Jesus Christ in everything we do and say.

Heb 10:25 Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer.

Looking Ahead

Of course, my friends, I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Phi 3:13-14

This is where Teresa and I find ourselves today. We cannot lament on what could have been but must look at what can be.



With this in mind, we should stop going over the elementary truths about Christ and move on to topics for more mature people. We shouldn't repeat the basics about turning away from the useless things we did and the basics about faith in God.
We shouldn't repeat the basic teachings about such things as baptisms, setting people apart for holy tasks, dead people coming back to life, and eternal judgment.
And this we will do, if indeed God permits. Heb 6:1-3

We plan to be working inside the local church in the southeastern part of Bucuresti with the expressed objective of making fishers of men. The church is full of people who love the Lord and want to serve Him, but not so many fishermen. Teresa plans to begin Saturday with youth Bible study in the church Emanual. I am hopeful to begin tomorrow with a young man from the church named Alexandru. Both our goals is to teach these people that God wants us to confess Him before the world. This is not a one time event, but a way of life, just as is Christianity. .

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Mat 10:32-33
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Rom 10:9

Christianity is not a religion but following Christ with your life. Jesus tells us that if we love Him we would obey Him also.

So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer: (your reasonable service). Rom 12:1
If ye love me, keep my commandments. Joh 14:15

A big contrast between American church and Romanian church is, Romanians understand the living the good moral life, but in most part do not understand the need to tell others that you are a Christians and they also can be saved too.
As I see the American church, they tell others they are Christians but their lives are so much like the world, the world says, “so what, you live worst then I do” leaving no witness at all.
Americans can tell you when they prayed a prayer asking God to save them but many have never been born again, a Romanian can not count the number of times they have said that prayer and still does not know if he is going to heaven.

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
1Jo 5:13 I've written this to those who believe in the Son of God so that they will know that they have eternal life.

Adrian Rogers put it this way:
“A Christian is not somebody who merely believes that Christ died for our sins. The devil believes that. A Christian is somebody who has repented of his sins and invited Christ into his heart to be his Savior and Lord. You can intellectually believe that an airplane can fly, but in order to fly you must try out its wings. In the same way, when you give your heart to Jesus Christ, He takes control of your life and begins to make you into the person He wants you to be.”

If this blog concerns you take time to read Galatians 5:19-25 and see if your life is one that will keep you out of Heaven or if you indeed have life eternal.

What human nature does is quite plain. It shows itself in immoral, filthy, and indecent actions; in worship of idols and witchcraft. People become enemies and they fight; they become jealous, angry, and ambitious. They separate into parties and groups; they are envious, get drunk, have orgies, and do other things like these. I warn you now as I have before: those who do these things will not possess the Kingdom of God. But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have put to death their human nature with all its passions and desires. The Spirit has given us life; He must also control our lives. Gal 5:19-25

Sharing Christmas in Bucuresti With Marius

Marius is from the Betesda Home for Boys in Galati. It has been a pleasure to have him in our home to celebrate Christmas. Marius brought much joy and laughter to our celebration. One of his requests was to practice the English alphabet, practice we did. When it came time for Marius to approach the white board, unlike Romanian tradition we had to open the windows. Suddenly he became quite warm (perhaps nerves!), Marius even removed his pullover sweater. Randy and I both had a laugh over his hot flash.

As you can see from the pictures, it was fun to watch Marius open his gifts. He had never heard of, much less eaten pecan pie. It was quite a treat for him, I can't remember how many pieces of the pie he consumed. Randy and Marius took a long ride on the subway (Metro). This was a first for Marius also. He was very excited and impressed with the experience. While they were out and about, they went to the mall at Piata Unirii, another first for Marius. At the Mall he posed beside Santa for a picture. Christmas evening the two of them rode the tram-vi out to Baneasa Airport, Marius had never seen an airplane. They were able to watch a couple of big planes take off from the airport; but didn't get to see any land. This was very exciting for Marius. Future plans include a trip to tour The Peoples Palace and whatever else they can squeeze in. Marius had decided he really likes Bucuresti, and has already asked if he can come back next Christmas. I have enjoyed cooking for him and Randy, my pantry is almost empty...tomorrow it's off to Kaufland!

Marius has been a blessing to us and we hope that it has been a blessing for him to be here in our home for Christmas.