Hello all,
We have decided to postpone the trip to India until Februaury/March of 2010.
Everything was looking good except for one tiny but very important detail. Mitch did not have his Indian visa stamped on his passport. In order to get it, you either have to apply in person or through the mail at the Indian Consulate in San Francisco. The mail would definitely take too long, and applying in person does not neccessarily guarantee approval. Even though they told us that most likely he would get it, it is just too big of a risk to set up events across the globe and pay for airfare and find out his visa was delayed or that he couldn't get into the country.
After much prayerful deliberation, it all came down to this one thing, and it looks like it will just be better to wait and build a bigger team and go in the spring.
Already, we have several solid believers who have committed to joining us on that trip.
We will be holding various fundraisers throughout the winter.
Once I get in touch with our contacts in India, I will get some real dates so we can be prepared well ahead of time. Many of you receiving this e-mail have offered to contribute funds for the mission, and many of you have said you would love to give more if given more time. This will give us all plenty of time to be ready. Thank you very much for your kind and generous support. You're support is absolutely essential for these kinds of things to happen and you can be sure you are building treasures in heaven for your generosity and love.
Also, I have spoken with most of you about becoming a part of the team that actually goes to India. Please prayerfully consider doing so. I would love to have you. If that's you, contact me ASAP so we can begin the process of (1) getting a passport if you don't have one already, (2) getting your Indian visa, (3) getting an estimated cost for travel expenses so you can save and raise money, (4) making sure you get the right immunizations before going into the country. If you leave these things on the back burner and decide within 2 months of the trip, you may experience troubles and in the worst case scenario, not be able to go.
Without naming names, I believe we have 7 people who have given verbal confirmation that they WILL go in the spring. If you have not told me specifically that you are IN, please contact me and I will fill you in on a more detailed itinerary so you can make a decision.
One last thing.. We could all glean from the wisdom of a great man of God. Another reason we delayed the trip, (which I wasn't going to tell you about, but I think it's appropriate), is that Mitch wanted to be SURE that he spent hours and hours preparing to speak to the believers in India. When I told him that they were ready to have a pastor's conference with 200 pastors attending, he told me that he wasn't willing to use some old recycled messages out of his closet to get by with, and that he needed serious time to prepare what the Lord has for them. That is great love and wisdom. It demonstrates to me that he really cares about the people he will be ministering to. May we all follow his example if we intend to come along.
Thanks again for your prayer and support. This is a worthy ministry.
Blessings,
Billy
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Obama Trillions 'Racist'???
So I called Walmart today to get scheduled in for later this week to set up the prayer/Bible/tract table, but the manager gave me a whole bunch of trouble about last time we were there.
Apparently, some customers complained to him about the Obama Trillions. I guess they found them very offensive and "racist". I was so shocked I didn't know how to respond. The manager actually sided with the customer and said that the drawing of Obama's lips were too big, "like and African American" as well as other features of his face.
Its a good thing we were on the phone because I was laughing so hard. I am still blown away.
Anyhow, at the end of the day, I dodged being shut out of Walmart altogether by being very apologetic about my poor taste and insensitivity. And, of course, we will NOT be handing out Obama $$ at Walmart anymore.
Thought you all might get a good laugh out of this story.
Blessings,
Billy
State Fair Evangelism
The Central Washington State Fair kicked off on Saturday the 26th, and we were on hand to make the most out of the opportunity.
A great couple and I headed down to Yakima to share the gospel with as many peopel as we could. We wanted to keep kind of a low profile, so we wouldn't get kicked out, because we are taking another team down to the fair this coming weekend.
So we started out slow, by walking the grounds once to get a feel for the place. then we split up and began our evangelism. After about an hour, I met up with Dan and Kay, who told me they had been confronted almost immediately by the crowd management services and were told to stop handing out tracts. At least they hadn't been given the boot! This kind of confrontation would ordinarily put a lid on the whole day, if an evangelist were all alone, but together, we resolved not to be silenced! So we decided we would just lay low with the tracts and just do a lot of one-
on-one witnessing.Things went really well, and we each got to share the gospel with a lot of people. We met up at the exit, and waxed bold just before we were leaving. We began to aggressively hand out as many tracts as we could to the passers-by and gave out a few hundred without the police or the CMS approaching us even once.
Its always great to enjoy great fellowship with like-minded people, and to draw from each others' strength when the winds of persecution blow. It was a real blessing to meet Dan and Kay, and we are looking forward to bringing an even bigger team this weekend!
The Enemy Within
I was just going through some old blogs that I sent out from Billy's Tackle Box, before we switched over to Sowing the Seed, and found one that I wanted to share once again. Hope this is an encouragement...
Every one of us who belongs to Christ is perpetually engaged in a battle for control of our mind. Our flesh is constantly waging war with our spirit to influence whether or not we will succumb to sin or walk away. We all know this, and we all have experienced victory as well as defeat in different areas. Aside from the fact that our flesh is drawn like a moth to the flame to various sinful pleasures, there are other ways in which the Adamic nature rears his ugly head.
One specific area is in the realm of personal witnessing. All too often, I find that I have much more important things going on than to spend my precious time sharing the gospel with a bunch of people who don't want to hear it anyway. There are fish to be caught, birds to be shot at, sporting events to attend, good TV shows that I can't miss, etc. And on top of all that, there is some really good fellowship to be had with my hunting budd- Ahem- christian brothers. What am I describing? Evangelical laziness. We just don't give it the time.
There is nothing in me that wants to go out and speak to people about the things of God. I would much rather stay home and surf the web or watch television. There is an old adamic nature in me that needs to be continually denied its appetite if I want to serve Jesus and glorify him. I have been in situations where I have gone to certain public places, determining ahead of time that I was going specifically to witness to people, and when I arrived, began looking immediately for some excuse to blow it off and do something else. Have you been there?
If you've ever gone out and done any personal work, then I'm sure you have. Sometimes it is the result of fear, and sometimes it is the result of plain old laziness. We couldn't be bothered to share the words of everlasting life with people because we are so busy doing our own thing, living our own lives. But the Bible says that we should be "in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom we shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life.."
The next time you are confronted with a witnessing opportunity and you are feeling too lazy or too scared to open your mouth, just take a moment and imagine the tables were turned. Imagine that you were on your way to hell and didn't know it, and this person couldn't be bothered to take a moment and share the words of eternal life with you. How would you feel about that? Wouldn't you want to have been told?
Or what would you think of a doctor, who discovered a cure to cancer, but didn't share the cure with the world because he was going on to further studies as a doctor? Obviously, just the thought is enough to give us a sense of indignation. How much more then, is the gift of everlasting life in comparison with a cure to cancer? And how often do you keep it to yourself when you could be sharing it with those who still sit in the shadow of death?
The world is going to hell. One by one they are falling into an abyss of eternal torment. You and I have been entrusted witht the word of reconciliation by our Lord. We must reckon the old man to be dead, and we must be dead indeed to sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The enemy within will come up with all sorts of things for us to be doing other than what we are supposed to be doing, but we must be diligent, continually denying our flesh of its desires and being filled with the Spirit of God.
So be on your guard, and look out for the attitude of laziness and complacency. Determine to ask the Lord to fill you with compassion for the lost, and go out with boldness and power to lead men and women to the source of life, Jesus Christ.
See you on the streets!
Every one of us who belongs to Christ is perpetually engaged in a battle for control of our mind. Our flesh is constantly waging war with our spirit to influence whether or not we will succumb to sin or walk away. We all know this, and we all have experienced victory as well as defeat in different areas. Aside from the fact that our flesh is drawn like a moth to the flame to various sinful pleasures, there are other ways in which the Adamic nature rears his ugly head.
One specific area is in the realm of personal witnessing. All too often, I find that I have much more important things going on than to spend my precious time sharing the gospel with a bunch of people who don't want to hear it anyway. There are fish to be caught, birds to be shot at, sporting events to attend, good TV shows that I can't miss, etc. And on top of all that, there is some really good fellowship to be had with my hunting budd- Ahem- christian brothers. What am I describing? Evangelical laziness. We just don't give it the time.
There is nothing in me that wants to go out and speak to people about the things of God. I would much rather stay home and surf the web or watch television. There is an old adamic nature in me that needs to be continually denied its appetite if I want to serve Jesus and glorify him. I have been in situations where I have gone to certain public places, determining ahead of time that I was going specifically to witness to people, and when I arrived, began looking immediately for some excuse to blow it off and do something else. Have you been there?
If you've ever gone out and done any personal work, then I'm sure you have. Sometimes it is the result of fear, and sometimes it is the result of plain old laziness. We couldn't be bothered to share the words of everlasting life with people because we are so busy doing our own thing, living our own lives. But the Bible says that we should be "in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom we shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life.."
The next time you are confronted with a witnessing opportunity and you are feeling too lazy or too scared to open your mouth, just take a moment and imagine the tables were turned. Imagine that you were on your way to hell and didn't know it, and this person couldn't be bothered to take a moment and share the words of eternal life with you. How would you feel about that? Wouldn't you want to have been told?
Or what would you think of a doctor, who discovered a cure to cancer, but didn't share the cure with the world because he was going on to further studies as a doctor? Obviously, just the thought is enough to give us a sense of indignation. How much more then, is the gift of everlasting life in comparison with a cure to cancer? And how often do you keep it to yourself when you could be sharing it with those who still sit in the shadow of death?
The world is going to hell. One by one they are falling into an abyss of eternal torment. You and I have been entrusted witht the word of reconciliation by our Lord. We must reckon the old man to be dead, and we must be dead indeed to sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The enemy within will come up with all sorts of things for us to be doing other than what we are supposed to be doing, but we must be diligent, continually denying our flesh of its desires and being filled with the Spirit of God.
So be on your guard, and look out for the attitude of laziness and complacency. Determine to ask the Lord to fill you with compassion for the lost, and go out with boldness and power to lead men and women to the source of life, Jesus Christ.
See you on the streets!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The Right Perspective
Do you make every effort to share the truth with your lost friends and relatives? If not, why? Can you seriously think of any good reason? The following quote should put things in perspective for you. Which one of these are your reasons? To be honest, I don't really think that either reason is in fact the truth, but what else could we expect them to think? How do you suppose the Judge will treat our laziness on the Day of Judgement? What kind of grand explanation will hold up when all our feeble excuses are laid bare before the eyes of the God of the universe?
This quote is not from a contemporary Christian leader. It may surprise you...
Listen to what Nobel prize-winning American physicist Steven Weinberg said in a recent PBS interview regarding religion: "I have very good friends who belong to religious denominations whose teaching is that since I don't accept their teaching, I am damned for all eternity. And you would think that these friends would try to convert me. But they never do. Now, you could explain this in various ways. It may be that they really don't like me very much and are just as glad to see me damned for all eternity-that's a possible explanation. But another explanation which I tend to think is more likely is that although they know what their church teaches, they give lip service to it." Our unconcern for the lost shows that we merely give God's threat of Hell mere lip service. Shame on us. There goes another minute. Gone forever. Go share your faith while you still have time.
This quote is not from a contemporary Christian leader. It may surprise you...
Listen to what Nobel prize-winning American physicist Steven Weinberg said in a recent PBS interview regarding religion: "I have very good friends who belong to religious denominations whose teaching is that since I don't accept their teaching, I am damned for all eternity. And you would think that these friends would try to convert me. But they never do. Now, you could explain this in various ways. It may be that they really don't like me very much and are just as glad to see me damned for all eternity-that's a possible explanation. But another explanation which I tend to think is more likely is that although they know what their church teaches, they give lip service to it." Our unconcern for the lost shows that we merely give God's threat of Hell mere lip service. Shame on us. There goes another minute. Gone forever. Go share your faith while you still have time.
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