I just heard on the news that a student offered to pray for his sick teacher at a two year college. The teacher wasn't openly a person of faith, but agreed. With heads bowed the student prayed. As this was going on another teacher entered the classrom and chastised them for the behavior as if they were caught doing someting entirely inappropriate. Jesus said in John 15 Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I will pray for the one who intervened in that prayer.
We were pretty successful in central Florida. We are a couple hours south of Orlando where we were encouraged to find the churches in this little city are reaching the homeless. One church, The New Testment Church and Mission in Sebring, provides them with two meals daily, and say that they are well-funded and supported by other local churches. However, Parkway Food Ministry, who provides the local homeless and poor wth dry food, canned goods and other food products is struggling. We have managed to encourage some of the uninvolved churches to, at least, have regular food drives to provide some desperately needed help for that ministry. Please pray that the Lord moves them to do so. Also pray for us as we head to Davenport and St. Cloud, in the Orlando area, to help some chuches there that have inquired about our services. Then we are off to Pulaski, Tennesee. All for Gods glory.
Peace & Grace,
Doug & Family
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John 15:18-21
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you... If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you... because they do not know Him who sent Me."
That is as powerful as it gets in slamming home the point of persecution. We have reached a point as a society where persecution is the normality and we reached the point prophecied by Abraham Lincoln."We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us"!
What are we to do as a people? We need to continue our work as Christians. Reaching out to all as embassadors to Christ, being humble servants and witnesses to God. Unfortunately we will not persevere on this earth but we will in eternal grace and glory. First comes the cross, then comes the crown.
So don't be surprised if you find yourself facing ridicule, ostracism,
even physical persecution for the cause of Christ.
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