Now We’re Cooking With Gas!

I just love that old expression. Used to be when I was a boy growing up, when my elder brother and I would be out in Dad’s shop working on some kind of experiment, we would get something right and everything would just seem to fall together, and I would say “Now we’re cooking with gas!” That phrase fit a lot of things, but today it fits another.

Brother Donnie in Piedras Negras called and said the stove for the orphanage had been purchased! It was to be delivered yesterday. 6 burners and a 2′ x 2′ square griddle. Commercial grade stuff here folks. Best thing is the price. We had $1000 bucks to spend, and got the stove for $700.  So, now you’re asking, “What about the $300?”  Glad you asked.

New cookware to go along with the stove!  Praise God, not only will the workers there have a new stove, but now they will have a new set of pots and pans!  God is good, people.

Now we have a new project. When we go down on the 10th, we will tear out a section of wall in the orphanage and build a pantry.  I need shelves. Anyone got some shelves?

Let me know if you do, as we are already pulling the trailer down and will be able to haul them with us.

God is good People.  “Now We’re Coooking With Gas!!!!”

Mike-n-Vicki

Happy Thanksgiving!

Vicki and I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving! We pray that you all have safe journeys, no matter how long or short. We give thanks to God 1st for all He has done in our lives and ministry. Then we give thanks for all our bountiful freinds that He has blessed us with.

From the heart of LTCM to you……………

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Blinded!

I love how events in my life lead me to more truth with God. I can look back on everything in my life and see a sermon, lesson, etc, in every event. Today is no different. Having Cataract surgery this morning was in reality a simple thing to the doctor who performed it. The marvelous tools of microsurgery made the entire procedure last no longer than 15 minutes once I was actually in the Operating Room.

But now, sitting here at home, I am learning. See, there is a huge patch over my right eye. So big that I cannot effectively place my glasses on my head. So not only am I temporarily blinded in the patched eye, but now the eye that cannot have the use of the corrective lenses is for the most part, blind.  So that got me to thinking about blind people in the Bible.  Not the ones that had miracles.  Not Baritmeus. Not the man who had spit and clay put in his eyes. No, but rather another type of blindness.

2Co 4:4  in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving ones, so that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ (who is the image of God) should not dawn on them.

Matthew Henry commented in this way:    (1.) Christ’s design by his gospel is to make a glorious discovery of God to the minds of men. Thus, as the image of God, he demonstrates the power and wisdom of God, and the grace and mercy of God for their salvation. But, (2.) The design of the devil is to keep men in ignorance; and, when he cannot keep the light of the gospel out of the world, he makes it his great business to keep it out of the hearts of men.

I thank God that He saw fit to save me from such blindness as that. To not be able to see the truth of the Gospel would be a horrible blindness.     Rom 8:21  that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Praise God!

Mike-n-Vicki

Normal?

Somewhere along the line, we got the idea that we deserve to have a relatively easy life. We have a very false sense of what should be the norm. If someone asks you how things are going and you answer: “Fine,” that is thought of as normal – the way it should be. If there is anything wrong, and you answer that question with a qualifier (“Fine, but …”), then it is assumed that your life is not normal. If something is wrong, then your life is for some reason not what it is supposed to be.

In actuality, the real thing wrong is this kind of thinking. Until we change our thinking in this regard, life will always be frustrating. We will be preoccupied with trying to fix everything instead of learning life’s lessons. We will always be expecting things to get better around the next bend in the road when “better” isn’t anywhere on the map. Until we learn this, we will just wrestle with life instead of working with it – taking what God sends as our course description, and readying ourselves for each new lesson. Difficulty, surprise, hardship, and trials of every kind are the norm for the follower of Christ.

Paul puts it this way: “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NLT)

Now that’s normal. If you want to grow as a Christian, expect this kind of treatment. And the reason for this is two-fold. First, life by nature is difficult and hardship produces character in us as we meet life’s challenges with the Holy Spirit; and second, when we go through ordinary hardship and difficulty the reality of the presence of God in our lives can be more easily seen, because the hope and confidence of Christ in our lives is in direct contrast to our situation, making God easier to spot. Or as Paul goes on to say: “Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us.” (2 Corinthians 4:11 MSG)

If normal for you means everything is fine and dandy, then brace yourself, because it’s definitely going to get worse. Count on it. God loves you too much to allow you to get away with anything less. And if life is difficult for you right now, rejoice in your opportunity to grow. We need to all start expecting another kind of normal.

What’s The Difference?

I was stirred this morning. It is amazing how a single passage can stir your heart, and cause your spirit to leap. Here we go…………

Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
Exodus 34:15

How will the world know the difference in us and them, unless God’s Presence is with us?

Selah

Our Nature

After you read this, go check out the Praise Reports, and Prayer Corner. God is doing great things!  And shame on you if you are not testifying in the Praise Reports!  We need to hear about your good reports!!!!!

Now a question. Is a thief a thief because he steals? Or does a thief steal because he is a thief?

Good question. I believe the answer is this – a thief steals because he is a thief. Thats what thieves do. They do what comes naturally. I know at one time, I was a liar. I could even lie to my momma. I could look her right in the eyes and tell her the biggest whopper you ever heard, and most times she would believe it. Why would she believe it? Mostly because I was so good at it. I had plenty of practise. Thank God, Jesus died to cleanse me of that!

Our nature as humans is all about self. That is what causes us to steal, lie, cheat, etc. We are concerned about self. And the things we do for self give us a temporary high, just like a drug addict. Tell a lie and get away with it. You will get a rush. Steal something and not get caught. You will be just like a junkie on heroin.

It is only through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit that we can conquer these things.

Rom 6:17  But thanks be to our God that you were the slaves of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
Rom 6:18  Then being made free from sin, you became the slaves of righteousness.

I was a slave to sin. But one day God found me and set me on the right path. Now I am a slave of righteousness. No longer a thief. No longer a liar.

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Rom 8:2  But the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Thank God, for Jesus.  Amen

Praise Reports!

Look at the top of the page and see that now we have a page where you can list your Praise Reports! We already have one listed. Ginny from Michigan recieved a good report back on her tests! We had listed her request a few days before starting the Prayer Corner page. Now we have her good report.

Great things are happening!

Mike-n-Vicki

Plans Are Shaping Up

We are looking forward to our next trip to Piedras Negras. A couple from our church is going with us this time. We are looking forward to that also. Almost all of the clothes from the clothes closet are packed. Our living room is full of shoebox stuffers. Wrapping paper has been pulled in from storage, and allready “wrapped” shoeboxes are filtering in.

We are fast approaching Thanksgiving as well. This is the time of year when it seems that everyone is the busiest. Plans are being laid as to where to eat, what to eat, when to eat, what football game to watch, get started on Christmas shopping. There sometimes seem not to be enough hours in the day.

The days are shorter, and with the cooler temperatures in the air, we sometimes just want to hurry home and be with the ones we love. It is times like this that my mind gravitates towards the children. The ones who have no family other than the other children at the orphanages. Children even who have parents, but get lost in the hustle and bustle of the season.

This season, I encourage each of you to give something to someone you dont know. Give, whether it be to a child at your church that may not have much, or a child halfway across the world that you may never get to meet. It doesnt have to be through this ministry. There are many good ones out there. Samaritans Purse. Feed The Children, the list is long. I just encourage you to give. Not just to your own family. I encourage to you to reach out beyond your boundaries and touch a child for the Kingdom of God.

Lets make this Christmas Season the best ever. Lets show forth Christ, the real Reason for the Season.

God Bless each of you.

Mike & Vicki

New Page!

If you look to the top of this page you will notice that there are four pages now.

The new one is called “Prayer Corner”.  Simply click on it to view the requests and help pray for them. Or, if you have a request, simply add it in the form of a comment.  Please keep it short, sweet, and to the point and you will have a large group of people agreeing with you in prayer!

The reason?  Here of late, I have had many requests for prayer.  Rather than me tyoeing them all in and making sure I got the details right or even making sure someone wanted their prayer request posted in the first place, I opted to go this route.

Lets see how well it works. I entered the first one this morning for a Freind and LTCM partner who had emailed me.

Thanks – Mike and Vicki

Another PR

One more prayer request. Rose is in the hospital in Savannah. She is making progress, but she needs to be home!  Lets pray her Home in Jesus’s Name.