The springtime of life

Secret prayer is the springtime of life.                                                                                                                 - Evan Roberts

A Promise. What good thing do you want?

For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.   Psalm 84:11

Walk uprightly before God.  Ask "good things" of God.  Ask largely too.  Very largely!  For God will not withhold it from you.

G. Cambell Morgan on Opposition & Desires

~ Instead of men saying, "I want...because God so desires," they say, "I want...because I so desire."                       

~ The Devil's methods of opposition are those of alliance and antagonism, and the only serious one is the first. Let us beware of it. Do not let us imagine that we can take into our fellowship and enlist under one banner men who simply affirm truth about Jesus, unless in their own lives there is an absolute loyalty to the Lord Christ. Antagonism is the creation of force for the kingdom of God. Put a man in prison for Christ's sake, and the earthquake will surely follow, and the work will spread.                    -quotes by G. Campbell Morgan, 1863-1945

A great man and how he preached

[He] is a great preacher of the Word.  He is always forceful and clear, never excited, harsh or dictatorial.  He convinces, and draws men to the truth.  He puts in the sword, not as the smiting of an angry foe, but with the careful kindness of a determined surgeon, who will cut out the disease to save the patient.

So said H. C. Morrison of his co-worker Joseph H. Smith, a holiness great.  J. H. Smith helped lead many into heart holiness.  Some of the leading holiness preachers and educators of his day deemed Smith, "one of the greatest expositors of the English Bible in all the world."  Also interesting is that he was a self-taught man having attended neither college nor seminary and turned down honorary degrees three times in his life because he wanted nothing in the way of title that would seem to put him above the majority of his brethren. 
   -- From Lives of Spiritual Splendor by Anna Talbott McPherson

Pics of Colombia's & USA's presidents with Scripture

I found these pictures interesting.  The President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, and the President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama, together in the Oval Office of the White House on April 7, 2011.

 

~Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.  Romans 13:1

~The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.  Proverbs 21:1

~I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;  For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.  1 Timothy 2:1-2

The key for God for to use you.

God will work through anyone whose heart is perfect toward Him!

For the eyes of the LORD run to and from throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.    2 Chronicles 16:9

That which altered Oswald Chambers' life

Oswald Chambers' crisis of full surrender to God in 1901 profoundly altered his life.  Later he spoke of it in a letter to a friend.

You ask a question about the baptism of the Holy Ghost -- did I get there all at once, or easily?  No, I did not.  Pride and the posession of the high esteem of my many Christian friends kept me out for long enough.  But immediately I was willing to sacrifice all and put myself on the Altar, which is Jesus Himself, all was begun and done.
Holiness is not an attainment at all, it is the gift of God, and the pietistic tendency is the introspection which makes me worship my own earnestness and not take the Lord seriously at all.  It is a pious fraud that suits the natural man immensely.  He makes me holy, He sanctifies, He does it all.  All I have to do is come as a spiritual pauper, not ashamed to beg, to let go of my right to myself and act on Romans 12:1-2.  It is never 'Do, do and you'll be' with the Lord, but 'Be, be, and I will do through you.'  It is a case of 'hands up' and letting go, and then entire reliance on Him.                                  -- From Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God by David McCasland

Alone... but with God!

Most religious people live in a sort of treadmill life, where they can calculate almost everything that will happen, but the souls that God leads out into immediate and special dealings, He shuts in where all they know is that God has hold of them, and is dealing with them, and their expectation is from Him alone.
Like this...we must be detached form outward things and attached inwardly to the Lord alone in order to see His wonders.

In the sorest trials God often makes the sweetest discoveries of Himself.

God sometimes shuts the door and shuts us in,                                               That He may speak, perchance through grief or pain,                                        And softly, heart to heart, above the din,                                                           May tell some precious thought to us again. 

                                           -- Streams in the Desert, by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

The secret to praying

"The secret to praying is not fainting.  'Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.'"  (Luke 18:1)
   -- Pastor Jimmy Ramirez of Christian Nation Church Colombia

What privileges we have in Christ!

There are those who, having entered into this gracious experience of entire sanctification, have had their minds so occupied at first with the marvelous cleansing wrought within that for a time they have failed to grasp the full extent of their privileges in Christ.

Sheridan Baker said that soon after being sanctified he began to turn away his attention from what had been "done for him" to what he "saw before him."  He saw that a state of purity and general fulness of the Spirit were small matters in comparison to "all the fulness of God," and "living in the realm of the 'exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think.'"  Since that time he says, "I have been a seeker, not for pardon, or purity, or the grace already obtained, but for more and more of the Christ nature."      
-- p.215, The Epistle to the Hebrews by H. Orton Wiley

Happy Birthday, Dear Mother!

To my dear mother Sherry,

I, along with Heather, Kimberly, Sarah, Noah, Elijah, and Mary, wish you a very happy birthday.  We are so glad that God gave you to us... or rather that God gave us to you (since you were here first)!  We are even more grateful that you are a Christian mother!  We hope that God gives you many more birthdays and each year is more blessed than the previous.  We all love you very much.  You are so special to us all.
Phillip and family

"He who is not ready to suffer is blown away like chaff"

We have all of us -- the whole Church and the whole community -- we've been thrown into the Tempter's sieve, and he is shaking and the wind is blowing, and it must now become manifest whether we are wheat or chaff!  Verily, a time of sifting has come upon us, and even the most indolent and peaceful person among us must see that the calm of a meditative Christianity is at an end....
It is now springtime for the hopeful and expectant Christian Church -- it is testing time, and God is giving Satan a free hand, so he may shake us up and so that it may be seen what manner of men we are!...
Satan swings his sieve and Christianity is thrown hither and thither; and he who is not ready to suffer, he who called himself a Christian only because he thereby hoped to gain something good for his race and his nation is blown away like chaff by the wind of time.
-- from Niemoller's message in 1934 declaring God's purpose for the trials facing the German church, quoted by Erwin W. Lutzer in When A Nation Forgets God: 7 Lessons We Must Learn From Nazi Germany.

~Noah's birthday party!~

In the middle of trying to pack for Colombia, Mommy let us have a triple birthday party. Sarah had turned 10, I turned 7 and Kimberly turned 13. Here's some pics from my party. I had invited 2 other friends, but unfortunately they got sick and couldn't come. =(

Since Kimberly was busy making her own cake, my sweet cousin Brittany helped decorate my cake.

~Sarah's birthday party~

My birthday was in December and I celebrated with an icecream cake and family. We were too busy to have a party for me then. So, Mommy let us have a triple birthday party in Jan. after we got into our own home. Here's my fun pink table in our living room.
My table and I
My friends and I
It was a lot of fun and I'm glad that I got to have a party. Thank you, Mommy and Daddy, for having a party for me. =)

Prayer gains much!

Salvation is gained through prayer.
Full Salvation is gained through prayer.
Growth in Maturity, Wisdom, and Love is gained through prayer.

Apostasy is gained through neglect of prayer.

Abiding in the presence of God Himself is the reward of prayer.
So pray on! Pray on!

Your Saviour held His peace

The day when Jesus stood alone
And felt the hearts of men like stone;
And knew He came to atone --
That day "He held his peace."

My friend, have you far, far much less,
With rage, which you call righteousness,
Resented slights with great distress?
Your Saviour "Held His peace."
- L.S.P. in Guide Lamps for God's Lambs

A Popular Exposition of Methodist Theology

First part of February I finished A Popular Exposition of Methodist Theology by Charles O. Eldridge. Don't let the name bore you. Eldridge stimulated my thinking and highly edified me spiritually in a simple but eloquent way. I do plan on reading this book again. This book is a perfect introduction to sound theology and has been reprinted by Schmul Publishing Co., Inc. Good thing because the original was published in 1899. Here are some quotes from this book with likely more to come:

"Prevenient grace," i.e. the grace which comes before we ask for it. p 41

If we welcome this light, its brightness increases; if we turn from it, the darkness deepens: so the condition of each accounts with his treatment of the grace he has received. This accounts for the great difference observable between sinners, as well as for the degrees of life and power among believers. p 41-42

Those who reject the sin of the first Adam and embrace the righteousness of the Second Adam find in Him "more riches than their father lost."

[In part] sin is failing to respond fully to the divine command …as when the archer has taken a faulty aim, or not drawn his bow with sufficient strength. p 48

Perfect holiness implies a full and hearty agreement of the human nature and will with the divine. It is not mere submission. It is the... hearty co-operation with, the whole will of God: not only once for all, as in the great decisive experiences of conversion and entire sanctification, but day by day in all the ordinary affairs of life. Thus the will is constantly gaining strength through its activity side by side with the divine will. p 49

Is it innocent or sin?

Take this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.
- Susanna Wesley

~Kimberly's cake~

Right after we moved into our new home here in Colombia, Kimberly wanted to make and decorate a cake for Bro. Jimmy, Sis. Farly and family and their parents. She wanted to do this as a small thank you for their kindness in keeping us for 2 weeks while we looked for a home. Bro. Jimmy LOVES our jello cakes...so that is what she made. I thought she did a great job decorating the top.
(They don't like sweet icings here, so she just used coolwhip and colored it. =)

~My French Bread~

Bro. Jimmy's sister Judy is 8 months pregnant and has to have eye surgery on Tuesday. (Please pray for her.)
Mommy wanted to make some French Bread to take to her, so I asked her if I could make it. (And Mommy was my coach!=) It was so fun to make bread. It was my first time. Thank you, Mommy, for your help. I love French bread. For those who don't know me as well...I Love bread. Ok maybe that was a slight exaggeration but I really like it.



I miss my family and friends in the U.S. but it's fun to see people here too. Please pray for my cousin Natasha for she has to have surgery. Thank you.

~Fun to decorate, fun to eat!~

My sister Kimberly made this cake for our family to eat, but she let me decorate the top. It was late Saturday night and we didn't have a lot of icing, nor time to make more. I would've liked having more colors to work with, but I had fun decorating anyways. =)

~A Kimberly Quote!~

Back in 2004 when we told our Kimberly that we were called to go to Colombia as missionaries she was only 6. She was going to have to say goodbye to both sets of Grandparents (Who attended our church), and her beloved puppy, Bridget. One day she was VERY SAD and told me that God hadn't called HER but us to the mission field, so she would stay in AZ with Bridget and Grandma. =) But now 7 years later she's glad that she came too!

Glimpses of Greatness

I just finished reading Glimpses of Greatness by Edgar A. Bryan. These are personal vignettes of persons perceived to be great and of souls who truly were great such as H. Robb & Geraldine French, L. D. Wilcox, Glen Griffeth, Duncan Campbell, Leonard Ravenhill, Harry Shreve, etc. people the author had personally known or seen. It was a refreshing read and well worth the short time because the Godly examples of those mentioned challenged me.

Quotes from the book:
"Without revival the glamour wil be substituted for the glory." - I. Parker Maxey
"The preacher may go with the crowd; but the prophet goes against it. A man freed fired and filled with God will be branded unpatriotic because he speaks against his nation's sins..." -Leonard Ravenhill
"The confession must be as public as the transgression." -Oswald J. Smith
"Defeated folk cling to causes with no power to administer cures." -Howard Williams
"Revivals are born after midnight" & "We'll never reach the world except with the message of holiness." -Glen Griffeth
"We never give to God, we invest." "Start something bigger than you are and God will have to help you." "How can one be holy on the inside and sexy on the outside?" -H. Robb French
"One-worlders (communism was/is just one of several who are out to rule the world) do not want a vibrant Christianity around." -Edgar A. Bryan

Order from the author, Edgar A. Bryan 533 S. Union St. Westfield, IN 46074 or at his blog www.separateholy.wordpress.com

We are blessed indeed

I want to thank each of you for your prayers; we have felt them. We are getting dug out and making progress. You may still help us pray about what to do about this moldy damp apartment we live in. Praise God for a blessed Lord's Day yesterday. Pastor Jimmy preached just what we needed and the rest of our day was restful and spiritually profitable. Speaking for myself, I am facing a lot of crazy feelings right now that are so common to this kind of life. Thank God we don't live by feelings, rather by faith.

Today I was remembering so many of the houses I have been in here in the south in the mountains where the nights are colder -- at times in the 30s at night. Many have dirt floors, plastic, hanging carpet, or boards for the walls, and they place pans here and there to catch the drips as it rained (this part we understand), while cold air blew in the many gaps and their "pantry" is often empty. These shacks are inhabited by disfunctional and broken homes, single moms, and couples shacking up and many children with little hope who are often preyed upon. We are so blessed to only have drippy ceilings and mold. We don't have a dirt floor nor gaps in the walls. We have a family who loves each other, God, and others. We have a church family who loves each other, God, and others. We are blessed indeed to serve God and others with such a comfortable and joyful life. Thank you, God, for my many blessings.

It could be a lot worse

Praise God! We are back in Colombia and our trip went without a glitch.

I would appreciate it if you would pray for Heather. She is feeling very tired and very overwhelmed. I asked her to take a nap, so she and our two youngest are sleeping. Coming here is not just a matter of unpacking our suitcases. Our apartment is very tiny (by our standards at least; I would guess 760 square feet) and we were packed in tight as could be before our new baby. When we came in our suitcases nearly covered the entire floor of our living / dining room and that is nearly a third of our entire living space. Then although our dear national pastor had washed down our entire apartment it is still infested with mold. They had also rearranged our room to keep the rain from dripping from our ceiling onto our bed while we were gone. We started by our first day going straight to bed (at midnight) and then the next day by going out and buying groceries and new plastic organizers and then throwing away bunches of Heather's baskets which were infested with mold. Also most drawers that we open in order to unpack our suitcases are infested with green mold and is in much of our clothes we left and in much of our stuff. So we have bags of trash (moldy clothes and things we are tossing). My only suit that I left here was green with mold, Heather's shoes, my books, the boys pajamas, our furniture, etc, etc. We are taking out all our drawers and emptying out our closets and washing them to rid the mold. Then there is the pile of clothes to wash, lest the mold spread. We are reorganizing Kimberly and Sarah's room to make room for Mary. So at this point we are only half way unpacked. We are all working together to make this house as mold free as possible.

We are asking God to protect our children from the mold and heal Elijah; his eyes are puffy, red, itchy, and draining. I am not asking for sympathy for we are honored to be serving here. Nor am I asking for advise for we are praying for God to lead us and the situation is more complicated than could be understood and advised by someone on the outside. At this point we are all too tired to even consider moving again. We are grateful that the rain season has just ended and the dripping ceilings and crazy mosquitoes are at a minimum right now.

A testament of God's grace is that our children are happy and in the midst of all the washing, sorting, tossing in the trash, and unpacking I heard Heather sincerely say, "Thank You, Lord." And then she said to me, "It could be a lot worse." But please do pray for my precious wife.