Books, Books and more Books

As per our latest newsletter, we are going to start reviewing some books and hopefully inspire, and be inspired ourselves, to read some books. The Christian should never stop learning nor should they stop gathering information. I hope that these books will bless you, or have blessed you, in the same capacity they have undoubtedly blessed us.

Warren Wiersbe wrote On Being a Servant of God with the idea of helping those who are beginning their ministry all the way to those who have been serving for a lifetime. One of the points he makes is that we should always be reading at least one book, expanding our horizon on the things of God. If you haven't had the opportunity to read this yet, I do suggest that you do. If you have, like me, maybe you should consider this a yearly read. The basic and fundamental truths that Wiersbe states are a lifetime lesson for all of us.   

Do you know your Old Testament?

Lately I have been speaking with several Christians who seem to think that the Old Testament (O.T) really doesn't have a practical or important place in today's church. I couldn't disagree more. Without a proper understanding of the O.T. we can not fully understand what happened on the Cross when Jesus died. Do you know the significance of the day that Jesus died on? Do you know why he called the Lamb of God? Do you know of the picture in the O.T. of Jesus dying and coming back to life? You see, in the New Testament (N.T), the book of Jude speaks about knowing the O.T., Jude 4 "For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe." You see, here we are told to "remember" those things that happened in the old days because they are an example for us today. If you continue reading in the book of Jude, you read things about Egypt, the fallen angels, Sodom & Gomorrah, Moses, Cain, Balaam and the rebellion of Korah, Enoch and Adam. IF I were to ask you how many of these things you could tell someone else about and explain what happened to them, could you? Could you explain how they point to Jesus Christ? Could you tell someone why God was angry with them and He exercised His righteousness judgement on them? You see, I believe that one of the biggest errors we can have today is not understanding the O.T. in the way the N.T. writers did. They used the O.T. for their scriptures and examples for living, why shouldn't we?

Romans 15:4 "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."

You see, by knowing the the O.T. Scriptures, it will help with your hope in the Lord, that we may see what He has done in the past and we know that the Lord never changes so we can count on Him for us today. How is your hope in the Lord? Read about Job and his patience, Abraham and his heart to follow God, David and the years he waited for the promise of his kingship to come to pass. All of these men have something in common, they heard from God and waited for the promise.

2 Corinthians 5:10-11 "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things [done] in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences."

Far Reaching Ministries Aviation: Rabuna-Fi Project

I wanted to share some really great things that are happening with Far Reaching Ministries and it's partner, Far Reaching Ministries Aviation (FRMA). FRMA focuses on women's ministry in Sudan, Kenya and Uganda. Take a look at the videos below and it explains it all. They need your help, one way you can help is by throwing a "party" for the ministry. It is just like a party lite or pampered chef party, you get a lot of friends to come over, watch a video and take a look at what crafts the women are making.






Check out their website at www.rabunafi.org

After Our First Week Here In California

What is better than being in Southeastern Michigan? Being in Southern California!! With that being said, let me tell you that we have quite the work load that we are expected to get done over the course of the next six months. Let me share with you what we have to do: 1. Go through all 148 mp3 teachings of Chuck Smith and take one page of notes on each teaching, 2. Read about 10 books and do book reports on each one of them, 3. Learn and master the QuickBooks program, 4. Do the Self-Confrontation book and work book, 5. Take a Leading From Your Strengths test, read the book and talk about it in a group setting, 6. Lead a monthly bible study at the office, 7. Get plugged into a local church here and start to serve there, 8. Learn how all the office works with oversea's recipts from purchases in Africa....and a lot more stuff that I just can't remember right now. So, to say that we are having a vacation here in SoCal is quite the understatement.

But....God is so great that he has allowed us the time and energy to accomplish it all. Thanks again for all the prayers, we really need them.

So week number one was a huge success....and we have Friday off for the 4th.

See you all soon!!!

Psalm 34:10 "The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing."

Here in California

Well, we finally made it to Murrieta, California!! It was a great trip topping off around 2600 miles. Our car, which hit the 200,000 mile mark in Indiana, was fantastic along the whole trip. We took a lot of great pictures as well to capture the great memories.

Flagstaff to Phoenix

Albuquerque to Flagstaff

Sandia Peak

Amarillo to Albuquerque

Rt. 66 Museum

OKC to Amarillo

St Louis to OKC

MI to St Louis

We want to just thank all that made our trip possible and invite you to check us out on www.facebook.com so you can stay in contact with us.

In the midst of our trip...

Well, as we are on our way to California, we have stopped in so many cool places. We have had the opportunity to follow historic Route 66 that goes from Chicago, IL to Santa Monica, CA. We picked it up in St. Louis, MO and have done our best to follow it the majority of the way. In some spots it is still a dirt road (original dirt) and in others highway 40 has taken it's place. But, there are some great spots that you can get off and just take the old road for miles and see what it was like in the 20's and 30's to just travel on the two lane. We have gotten to see so many small towns, the smallest being a population of 3...yes 3 people live in the town. It is a border town between Texas and New Mexico, it is actually considered a ghost town, but it still has three official residents. Other than that, the average town that we went through probably had between 400 and 700 people. There are many places to stop and see the history of Route 66, we stopped at a bunch.

Well, today we are in Albuquerque, NM and we will leave tomorrow to go to Phoenix, or somewhere around there!!

Thanks to all for their support, praying and financially, we could not be here without you all.

Love,

Bob and Suzanne

Great News!!

Well, the day has finally arrived!! We have been accepted to go to California for our six month training period with Far Reaching Ministries. We will be leaving on June 8th and our official first day in the office will be June 22nd. We are hoping to visit some friends and family on the way out to California and have a nice refreshing trip as well.

We are going to try and do some camping at some of the National Forests so we can see all that God has created.

We want to say a special thanks to all who have been praying for us and giving financial support. We would not be here without any of you, we pray that the Lord would give fruit to you in your heavenly account.

We would like to invite all of you to our going away party. It is going to be on Saturday June 6th at 4pm. We are doing a pot-luck style party (don't feel obligated to bring anything) and having some good laughs and a time of prayer. Then, on Sunday, Bob will be giving the morning sermon and we will be having a commissioning time as well.

Once again, thanks and we covet your continued prayers and support.

Just wanted to say hi.

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are praying for all, that the Lord will be continuing to bless each and every one of you. Things here are going really well, we have received a few more people that are giving to us on a monthly basis. Suzanne and I are still working our temporary jobs, hoping that soon we will be our in California then on to Africa.

We really appreciate all of your patience as you stand with us to bring the Gospel to Africa. We know that it has been a long road (believe us!!), but we want you to know that we are constantly seeking the Lord and praying for His hand to guide us to Africa.

Thank You

We just wanted to say "Thank You" to all the people who have been praying for Suzanne and her family. Today was the funeral for her grandma, Mickey, all went really well. It was a great service and many were able to attend and pay their last respects. Praise the Lord that she was able to accept the Lord in her final days, we grieve now only because we miss her, but we rejoice because we know that she is with the Lord in heaven now, waiting for us.

Update

Hello to everyone,

We just wanted to let you all know that Suzanne's grandma passed away at 10:30pm, 04/01/2009. Praise the Lord she is a believer and is now sitting with the Lord. Thank you for all of your prayers and words of encouragement.

Hello To Everyone!!

We just wanted to say HI to everyone!! We are doing really well here in Ann Arbor. I hope that you all are doing well too. The Lord has really been doing a work here with us and with our church as a whole. We have seen many new people coming to church and really being on fire for the Lord. We are in the middle of doing a Fireproof Group, based on the Christian movie "Fireproof" that is designed to strengthen marriages.

Suzanne and I are patiently waiting on the Lord to continue the good work that He started a few years ago. It seems like just yesterday that we heard the call to go to Africa and serve the Lord. The past three years have been wonderful for us to grow into His calling and really be able minister to others who are wondering if they have been called as well. It is probably the most popular question we get, "how did you know?" Well, to be honest, it was a holy, perfect peace that the Lord can only give that rested upon us while we were making decisions. We read and studied the Word really giving ourselves over to the work of the Holy Spirit. The real work that the Lord is doing now is preparing us to be away for so long. I know that we have said this before, but this time that we have been able to spend with friends and family has been absolutely wonderful. We are glad that the Lord didn't send us off so quickly so we can get a chance to get to know more people so much better.

Also, Suzanne's grandma is in the hospital and it doesn't look good for her. Please keep her in your prayers, she is probably not going to make it much longer. Praise the Lord though, she did accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior just a few days ago!! I believe that the Lord has us here to see her off and to say good-bye one last time. But, who knows, she may pull through and we may be playing cards with her again! Only the Lord knows.

Anyways, we love you all and are so thankful for all of your prayer and financial support. We couldn't be here without any of you, we are constantly praying for each of you that the Lord would continue to bless you and be your rock.