The night is coming!

Dear Friend,​
For those who have had the experience of keeping watch over a sick person through the night, especially a very close loved one, you know what it means to fight off sleep. You do everything in your power to stay awake; using every ounce of strength; you draw on all your resources, but even so we fall asleep, perhaps only brief moments that escape our control. The same happens in life: though we try with all our might to stay alert, sometimes we just fall asleep.

We fall asleep from sheer exhaustion, because we are disappointed, or because we don’t want to see the truth of things around us. We fall asleep because we are superficial or because we have lost the courage to hold out a little longer. A favorite passage of mine is Matthew 25:1-13 about the 10 virgins who were waiting eagerly for the groom. In this parable we see all 10 virgins eventually fell asleep waiting for the groom. The implication is that falling asleep is not the costly error of this story. Rather, it is the contrast that while 5 of them were prepared for the groom to take longer than expected, the other 5 were not, and when their lamps ran out of fuel they had no choice but to go into town and buy more, which made them miss the groom and the chance to enter with the wedding party.

What does it mean to be prepared for the coming of the Lord? Contextually we see Jesus took great pains to urge us to sell earthly treasure to buy heavenly treasure. The famous quote by Jim Elliot really says it best. “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” We each demonstrate ourselves as wise ones getting prepared as we give our time, treasure and prayers to your ministry, Innovative Truth, and other ministries reaching God’s children.

The night is coming… We must strive to shine our light freely. Governments around the world, including our own, are restricting churches’ rights to freely congregate and worship together like NEVER BEFORE! Is it the beginning of the end times? Possibly. Regardless, we must prepare ourselves with the mindset that we cannot compromise or conform to this world. To do so is to lack sufficient lamp oil, or spiritual courage and strength, to stand against evil as we wait patiently for the bridegroom to take us home. Are you prepared?

We are grateful for the conversations we have with many of you in emails and texts. We pray for each of you by name and appreciate you telling us what to pray for in your families. Please pray for us as we prepare to answer God’s call to move to OKC over the coming months. For those of you who have moved, you understand the myriad of expenses we face. God has always provided when we have special needs. It was from you, our Innovative Truth Ministry Team, who faithfully and generously have given extra towards those needs. As we come to the end of this calendar year, we find ourselves in need of your generosity, with our normal income not able to fully cover the move and the medical treatment Tonya continues to receive. We are trusting God to provide $5,000 by asking you to prayerfully consider an extra gift this Christmas. Your continued generosity allows us to continue bringing others to Christ as families and couples are restored in their relationships with each other and Jesus Christ.

                                                                With gratitude and love,