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I'll explain the title in a minute. But here is another story in the extremes God uses to save a soul. Luiza is 38 and looks 60 (sorry about that 60 year olds). She has had a rough life. Drugs, alcohol, physical and mental abuse, have all played their sordid roles in her short existence. Her religious hodgepodge has ranged from Catholicism to spiritism. She has had 10 kids in just 15 years, 7 in the last 9; all with a man who is married to someone else! She is illiterate. To look at her you might say that she is a hopeless case. I did. But just a few weeks ago God was urging me to visit her. “But Father ... (that is not usually a good way to begin a conversation with Sovereign God), Luiza is hopeless.” He quickly reminded me in my daily Bible reading (He has done this a lot lately) of Isa 59:1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save.... “But Father (I'm a slow learner) she has been asked a 100 times and never comes! OK I'LL GO, but I think it...

We started club again today after a three week winter break. There were six kids present. The story was told of a little boy who was born into a Christian home. I asked the kids if they knew what a “Christian home” was. None did. The little boy in the story always went to church and he knew a lot of stories from the Bible. But he didn't know Jesus as his Savior. Until one day his junior church teacher told the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. Then that little boy got scared about going to hell and asked his teacher to help him be able to go to heaven. His teacher tried to explain how but the he didn't understand. The following week the little boy was sick and didn't go to church. It was that morning that he got saved as his mother knelt beside the sofa and shared Jesus with him. That occurred at 66 East Burdick Street, in Oxford Michigan on October 30, of 1960. The little boy's name? Michael David Jewell. The kids were surprised to hear that the story I tol...

Psa 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. This was my prayer meditation this morning. If I delight in the LORD, He will give me the desires of my heart! What struck me was the fact that if I delight in Him then He will be fulfilling His will in and through me. My desires will be His desires! His will will become my will. Though my heart was heavy with sad news and desperation, He has a plan! My LORD has a perfect plan that will be fulfilled. As I delight in Him and His perfect plan I will rejoice in Him at its fulfillment. That's neat!

Do you still have Prayer Meeting at your church? What does it mean to you; another night out, AWANA, boring, or maybe even ministry time off? Growing up, Prayer Meeting was a part of my schedule. It wasn't that I was super spiritual, nor did I necessarily look forward to it. It was just what my family did on Wednesday nights. We went to prayer meeting. It was a part of our routine. It was normal. Back in those days (late 50s early 60s) I can remember setting, with my dad and twenty or so other men in the dank basement of the church in a large circle of wooden folding chairs, and praying. There was nothing fancy about it; painted cement floor with no carpet, bare-bulb lighting, no music, just a group of men willing to spend time, some on their knees, in prayer. Men like: Neil soper, Bill Ludwig, Loyd Bartley, Finn Kennedy, Gordon Burnham, Perry Hathaway, Mel Johnston, Mark Brett, Larry Alcorn, Newt Irish, John McDonald, Eldon Powley, Bob Turner, Ken Sinkler, and Clyde Jewell, have...

Lately my notes have been rather dismal. But let me assure you that God is at work! You might remember that a few weeks ago I related the story of Ana Luiza (“Something Happened on the Way to the Orphanage”, and pictured at left in her "car" that I made up for our Sunday school contest). God has used this little girl recently to impact several lives. She is an incessant little missionary who is always inviting her friends and family to come with her to church. In fact her dad, Paulo, has told her on a number of occasions that he would come. Almost every week Ana comes to me and says, “My dad is going to come to church next week.” I know that for some reason he is stalling and my mother's old saying comes to my mind, “Tomorrow never comes.” Ana, however, doesn't give up! Just the other night after service she interrupted a conversation that I was having with one of our men, “PASTOR... come quick!!” “Ana, just a minute I am talking with Nelson.” Out of the corner ...