~For the Mothers in my Life~

"If I am Thy child, only God, it is because Thou gavest me such a mother." -Augustine

I bless God with a sincere and deep gratitude for the three holy mothers in my life. My first mother (Sherry Dickinson) bore me next to her heart for nine months and has continued to carry me in her heart with love, instruction, and prayer for these following 36 years; I am who I am due to God blessing my life with my mother. My second mother (Martha Bryan) has done the same in such an excellent way so as to replicate her noble self in the lady who is now my wife and mother of our children; I am a blessed man due to the mother of my wife. The third mother in my life (Heather Dickinson) is my wife and the mother of our children. I now sit here staring at the computer unable to find sufficient words to praise her enough. She is beyond precious and virtuous, and she excels my ability to laud her as she deserves; I and our children are filled with joy to belong to her life. "Thank you, God, for Heather!"

Regarding our three mothers: "Her children arise up, and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." -Proverbs 31:28-31

Discipline verses Salvation

A chairman, in representing one of his preachers, said, “He has not much salvation to offer, so he goes it heavy on discipline.” Is not that the real seat of the difficulty with preachers who have so much more zeal and success in getting people out of the church than they do to get them to unite with the church? They have not much salvation to offer. They can see the disease, but do not furnish a remedy. A person who has the toothache will not make up any more faces if you cut off his head. But is that the best way to treat him? To destroy a church is not the best way to promote its purity. Piety, prudence, and patience will go further towards getting people fitted for the kingdom of God, than will a furious zeal to turn them out of the church. Before you begin proceedings to turn members out of the church, read the chapter on Discipline in “Fishers of Men.” Above all, read Matt. 18:15-17. Then pray for them, until your heart is filled with deep, tender love for their souls. If proceeding against them, act just as you would if the person complained of was your own brother or son. Remember that the great object to be gained is the salvation of the soul.

- Minister Benjamin Titus Roberts (bishop of The Free Methodist Church) published in "THE FREE METHODIST" quoted in Pungent Truths

Christian, choose your spouse well

If a believer marries an unbeliever, he has the devil for his father-in-law.

- anonymous

-pdd

Are you discouraged?

Unbelief concludes evil to be invincible and seeks to manage what it cannot destroy.

said Samuel Chadwick, pg. 25 of 25 Sunday Mornings, (London: Epworth Press, 1951) Thanks to Edgar Bryan.

I must stay filled with faith by obedience, sanctification, prayer, and looking to the promises. -pdd

Who you are = your future.

God chose and anointed David to be the future king when he was yet young and yet a man after God's own heart. Children and young people must take care to remember that God is choosing their greatness and usefulness now and such will depend on their holiness now. We parents also must have a burden and consuming passion to lead our children into holiness so God can use them later in the greatest way possible. For the grandness of our usefulness tomorrow depends on who we are or how we are today. Or put another way... The greatness of who we are tomorrow depends on how holy we are today. Never limit God. -pdd

*Is that real?*

Ok so I know that it has been a VERY LONG time since we have posted but we have been busy. (I know what you are thinking "Uh huh, excuses,excuses." ;) I am sorry that we haven't posted for a while. But anyways...
_________________

When we went to buy flowers (see Mommy's blog) we bought some of these "mini pineapples" (as I call them; we don't really know their real names). Are you impressed with all the information that I know about these things? Smile. These tiny pineapples are not edible. They are grown here in Colombia. Isn't it cute?
Posted by Kimberly

~Christmas in March?~

Elijah and I in our matching jammies! Elijah's are getting too small for him, so we wanted to get one last picture of us together.

We are having fun having our Uncle Daryl and our cousin Natasha here with us. They brought us some yummy Cheerios (which we have yet to find for sale here in Colombia), 300 Dum-dum suckers (which we shared some with our 3 pastors so they can pass them out to the children in their church), a nice sticker book for Elijah and I, some stickers for Kimberly and Sarah, some goodies from Gram, (Some Easter goodies that we don't know about yet, Mommy has them hidden =), Mommy's maternity clothes, our Schoolwork for next year, and some scrapbooking things for Mommy, some prenatal vitamins and Barley green, and some books and CDs that Daddy had ordered. It was like Christmas in March. =D
Natasha is being a big help to Kimberly and Mommy. She is helping with laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Elijah.
God is helping Uncle Daryl as he teaches the classes at our church here! We cannot believe that our week with them is already more than half over. They will be leaving us before we know it. =( But...we'll not think of their leaving, we'll enjoy them being here and make good memories to enjoy after they are gone!

posted by Noah (and Mommy=)

"FuNdAyS"

"Fundays" (as Noah calls them) or Mondays are our family days. We either go somewhere or just stay home and have fun together. Here we are on one of our family days at a park that has a place to skate. (Mommy was walking around with Elijah for some exercise for her and baby)Sarah
Noah
Kimberly (or me)
Mommy
The two prophets
And Wijah (he is our precious boy who is always getting into EVERYTHING so we call him Wijah like, "Why'd ya do that?")
:D *Posted by Kimberly*

Quotes from T.M. Anderson II

From chapter “A Manifestation Of God In Answer To Prayer” in Prayer Availeth Much.

“…When they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” – Acts 4:31 [the whole chapter is alluded to]

“We cannot ignore the fact that we desperately need a startling manifestation of God to shake us out of our spiritual lethargy and selfish complacency. We cannot substitute a program for power and have the least semblance of hope that the unsaved will be attracted by it.”

“[They had not] the slightest intention of compromising the truth in order to have favor with men. They did not call a meeting of the official board to discuss ways and means of evading the fundamental issues involved. They did not take refuge in a stupifying pessimism saying that nothing could be done to remedy the situation confronting them. Neither did they deceive themselves by saying that things would work out satisfactorily to all parties concerned. There were willing to accept the conflict that challenged their faith and hope in God. They did the most natural thing in the sight of the Lord when they assembled together with one accord in prayer.”

“Unless the believers … today have their spiritual strength replenished repeatedly by the Spirit they will not be able to overcome the increasing power of spiritual wickedness threatening them today. The church cannot cope with the menacing threat of worldliness except the company of believers pray for power to meet the insidious threat.”

“It will require much prayer to prevail against the creeping paralysis resulting from meaningless programs and pointless plays promoted by the worldly-minded leaders in the church … in this day of formality and unbelief.”

“God did not answer their impassioned prayer in the hour of crisis by miraculously changing the attitude of the determined opposition. He did not remove the threat which endangered them, neither did He destroy the ring-leaders responsible for the persecution of the church. It is interesting to note that the company of believers did not ask the Lord to change the attitude of their enemies.”

“They accepted the fact that such persecution had been foreseen... ‘The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.’ – Acts 4:25 & Psalm 2 [Bold mine to show why Christians and politics don’t usually mix very easily. -pdd] The Lord would have us understand that suffering persecution for His sake is the price to be paid in the blood and tears for the unspeakable pleasure of serving Him in the holy way of life.”

“Our young people should be impressed with the fact that they cannot expect the Lord to change the attitude of their unsaved friends. When once the young converts discover this truth they will not find it difficult to overcome the hardships of life. Pastors find it difficult to get the young people established in the faith because they apparently believe that God should change their environment in answer to prayer. It is apparently difficult for them to understand that a change in their surroundings is not the solution of their spiritual problems. It is likewise true that a change in the moral conditions which environ the church today is not the solution of its spiritual problem.”

“The…believers found the solution of their problems when they lifted up their voice with one accord in prayer to God.”

“The embattled believers were praying with an unwavering faith when they said, “Lord, thou art God… It is remarkable how impotent and insignificant the feeble efforts of wicked men appear when we realize that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Ps. 46:1)

“When we fortify our faith … with the words, ‘Lord, thou art God,’ we can prevail in prayer and overcome the combined forces of evil which threaten us in these trying times. Almighty God will not abandon His eternal purpose because a few wicked men have lifted up their voices against Him.”

“It does not require moral courage to promote a program to entertain a group of nominal Christians. Neither does it require courage to give a book review, or speak on current events; but it does require boldness to press the claims of Christ on men, and command that they repent of their sins and yield themselves to Him.”

“It does not require spiritual fortitude to organize a campaign to raise money for the general interests of the church; but it does take much prayer and faithful preaching to precipitate a genuine revival of full salvation.”

“It is not unusual to hear some ministers say they are so burdened with the work of the church that they have very little time to spend in earnest prayer. The results of his neglect of prayer will be revealed by the poverty of his preaching. God’s servants should consider that nothing pertaining to the church of Christ is more important than waiting before the Lord in the secret place of prayer.”

“I am persuaded to believe that the professing Christians would see more miracles of healings performed by the hand of Jesus if they would spend more time in earnest prayer for the messengers of the Gospel.” -posted by Phillip

~Kooking in the Kitchen with Kimberly~

These are the muffins that Mommy told you about the other day.

Jam Surprise Muffins
Ingredients
2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 cup milk
non-stick vegetable spray
1/2 cup your favorite jam

Instructions
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Blend in butter using a fork until mixture is crumbly. Whisk together the egg and milk and then pour into the dry ingredients. Stir just until ingredients are moistened,about 25 strokes.
Batter will be lumpy. Fill sprayed and floured muffin cups or paper liners about 1/3 full. Spoon one tablespoon of jam on top of the batter and cover with enough batter to fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Q: What kind of jam wouldn't you eat?
A: A traffic jam!

(From Gooseberry Patch Kids in the Kichen) Gram gave us this cookbook so I hope she knows that we are enjoying it.

Post by Kimberly

~Having fun with teeth~

~I'm so glad that Jesus sent me a brother. We surely have a lot of fun playing together.
Elijah and I got "new teeth". So, here is a picture of my plastic teeth (or tooth =).~~And here's a picture of Elijah and his teeth. =)~
I hope you liked our pictures.
Posted by Noah!

Sharing Savor with Sarah

Most of us like to help in the kitchen, especially when there's treats being made. We all quietly tip-toe into the kitchen to lick the pan or the spoon. For instance...


Here is a recipe that you might enjoy.

PB + J Milkshake

2 tablespoons of peanut butter
3 tablespoons of your favorite jelly
1/2 cup of milk
1 cup of vanilla ice cream

Intructions
Stir the peanut butter and jelly together in a cereal bowl. Place milk and ice cream in a blender. Add peanut butter and jelly. Blend until smooth.

I hope Grandma and Gram make this! :)
Thanks for Sharing Savor with Sarah.

The things you see...

Bro. Don Moore gave me this pic of a truck hauling matreses in Tegucigalpa, Hondurus. We have seen similar things here, although usually we don't have our camera ready.
-post by Phillip

Quotes from T.M. Anderson

From the chapter “Praying Without Doubting” in Prayer Availeth Much
…And shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. -Mark 11:23

Our Lord would have us see that we can possess the faith of God. He revealed this fact when He said, “…Have faith in God.”

Christ works according to His own faith, and His people enter into His faith and work with Him in accomplishing His purpose in redemption.

A man can plan for the happiness of a family before a child is born to gladden his heart. It is also true that a man’s family can enter into his faith and assist him to achieve his purpose in life. Surely it is possible for the redeemed family of Christ to enter into His faith and participate in His eternal purpose…

…The mountain is not removed by the efforts of man. Therefore we must conclude that the person speaking the words that remove the mountain has access to a power sufficient to remove the mountain and have it cast into the sea.

Let us assume that the mountain represents the mass of human misery caused by sin in this troubled earth.

Ponder Paul’s immortal challenge, ‘If God be for us, who can be against us?’ –Rom. 8:31

When once we have a proper concept of God’s immutable purpose…, it will not be difficult to pray without a doubt. ‘…And shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass’ …let us underscore the words, ‘Shall come to pass.’

When Christ has fulfilled His eternal purpose in redemption, then the mountain of human misery and woe shall be removed from the earth. When we perceive this truth as revealed in the Scriptures , we can understand that every prayer offered without a doubt in our hearts shall surely be answered in full.

The things we say in prayer are powerless and meaningless unless we have Christ’s authority to say them. But if the things we say in our prayers are the things which He has said, then we can pray without a doubt in our hearts. -Post by Phillip

~Our first lessons back here in Colombia~

We had our first lessons back here in Colombia on Friday. We were glad to see our teacher and she was glad to see us, I think (I HOPE!) =) Here we are tuning our violins.
Joshua (our teacher's baby) and Elijah had fun playing in Elijah's little pool. They are cute aren't they?
Sarah and our teacher or "Maestra".
My piano lesson with our teacher. We are a little rusty (because if you know anything about traveling on deputation than you'd know that we had NO TIME AT ALL to practice) but God is helping us.
Have a super day in Jesus!
- Posted by Kimberly, sounds official doesn't it? =)

The Explaination For This Blog

Our family decided that it would be fun to have a family blog. So you should be hearing from each of us at different times. This will give the kids a chance to share with our friends and family once in a while. Heather and I will be posting at times as well. With all of us being so different, I imagine that it will be quite the potpourri -- hopefully a pleasant potpourri. See you later.
-Phillip for the family