We have now been in Kansas for just 10 days, but what an action packed 10 days it has been! We were blessed to meet many Christians in Shawnee, Lawrence, Baldwin City, and Ottawa, Kansas since our last writing. We have been out to the neighborhoods, parks, and streets with the message of salvation through Christ. The Bible studies at the Humes home have reaped fruit for the Kingdom. What a blessed time this has been so far, and it has only just begun.
We look forward with anticipation to the revival God wishes to bring to all who will seek Him with a whole heart, giving up whatever remains of ourselves in the flesh, filling us with a generous portion of His spirit. I am no prophet, but I know a work of God when I see it. Praise God for His love poured out upon us, the blessings of mercy that we so desperately need, but do not deserve. This work is being bathed in prayer, constantly before the throne of grace, not on our own behalf, but crying out for the salvation of lost souls to add to the bride. The wedding day is coming soon, and we only have so much time to invite guests. Jesus deserves our labor, our sacrifice, our all. We must not stop short of giving all. Pray that we never stop short of complete surrender!
Justin and I contacted every church in Ottawa that we could reach, to inform them of the upcoming Gospel meetings and other Gospel outreach here in Ottawa. The response was quite good, with many encouraged to hear what God was doing and some wanting to help get the word out. Praise God for the unity we have seen with many of God's people here in town. In part due to this effort, we found out that there has been a specific burden for Ottawa in other churches, with some that have moved to town recently to make the name of Jesus Christ known to those who have yet to receive of the grace and mercy that God gives to those who will repent and call on the name of Christ as their Savior. God is calling, and people are stepping out in faith knowing that He that calls will not disappoint. If this is a work of God, we must obey. We must follow our Commander, our King, and take this ground for His name.
Getting to know the people here has been a tremendous blessing. We are especially encouraged to get to know a few that we made acquaintance with previously, but have only recently gotten to know better. One young lady has been a renewed blessing for us. I notice that it seems often the ladies are disregarded in the Gospel work, but we have met many young ladies that seemingly have one desire: to make Christ known in all the world, to the glory of God the Father.
One young lady here has been a wonderful encouragement and blessing to us already, SaraGrace Hinton. We are also happy that Jesharelah Sax is here for a while, and soon we will be blessed with many more, including Bethany Henning, a few Harmon's and I am sure many more. The list would get too long. Just trustme, God is using the ladies, too. They have different roles, but what a valuable asset to the Gospel work these ladies are!
Many men have crossed our path that also have a fervency for the Lord, a burning desire to surrender all and live for nothing the world would call gain,,but count it all loss for the surpassing knowledge of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God for these men, young and old! We must be sure to encouraged each and every one of them to fulfill all God has given them to do. The list of young men specifically is much too long to write out, but includes many of the GNOM and C3 teams of years past and present. We have been blessed to have been "adopted" by a few of these young men, and look forward to helping them in whatever way we can to build them up in the Lord. What a blessing it has been to see these young men grow and serve God in their families, their local churches, and so many other ministries that God has given them!
Too often, the pattern is set by parents that the young men and women must get settled into education, jobs, and everyday life and then see where God fits in. Education is right for some of them, and others will stay in their local church to be used mightily by God. Some will hold jobs and live the "normal life", but none should ever let the desire for fame, finances, and fun come in the place of serving God with everything. Many of these young ones will be called to labor away from home, here in the US and Canada, and all over the world.
We must not set the fences too quickly to reign them in, but be sensitive to the Lord's leading, praying for discernment as they seek God's direction first. We must pray that God will make all the plans and that we submit ourselves and our children to His plans, not our own. I know as a father of a teenager, at times I want my son to do what I want for him. Much more important is that Nathaniel seek God's will, and be willing to surrender all for his King. I want nothing less for my children than for the power of God to be at work in their lives, for no glory of their own, but giving it all to Him who is worthy of our everything.
These folks will not settle for less than "all to Jesus I surrender" and we MUST be sure that we do not become the wet blanket brigade, seeking to douse the flames as they come close and singe us, but rather cozy on up next to the little fireballs and help spread what Jeremiah called "a fire shut up in my bones" that he could not keep in no matter how hard he tried.
One day, a day I believe is not far off, God will consume the world with fire as He pours out His wrath on this sin cursed earth. Until then, we ought to consume it with the fire of God, not of wrath, but of love and refining. We must die to self, to the flesh, to our own goals and dreams, so that we will fulfill all that the Lord has given us to do. The world is lost, dying, and headed to Hell for eternity. Do we really believe that? How can we in good conscience sit idly by while each day 150,000 people (many in your home towns, neighborhoods, families) are headed out of time and into eternity? We must not waste a moment, but be boldly proclaiming the holiness of God, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and the desperate need for revival's fire to engulf our lives.
An old preacher said, "Get on fire for God and people will come to watch you burn!" Let us have that fire, refining us moment by moment, consuming all the dross, until we are pure before God. Let us serve the God that makes all things new, that works by His Holy Spirit to bring sinners to repentance. Let us stand together and give the angels something to rejoice about as we rescue souls from the pit of everlasting destruction. We must start with ourselves and teach our children, our young people, and even challenge those who may have been consumed in times past, but have wandered from the inferno, that have settled in to a warm spot, content to watch the fire burn. There are no bystanders needed. No ticket sold.
So, you see we are not fighting the fire. We hope it keeps burning. We are recruiting fire starters and fire spreaders. We pray that it engulfs the whole town, county, state, country, the world. But we need soldiers that are willing to live and die for their cause. We need soldiers that swear allegiance to their King, knowing that His cause is worth any cost, any sacrifice.
Hebrews 12:25-29 "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.
