Key West Gospel Chapel: Weekend of meetings with Jesse Gentile April 30-Ma...

Key West Gospel Chapel: Weekend of meetings with Jesse Gentile April 30-Ma...: "Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I am pleased to announce that we will be having a weekend of Bible teaching and meetings at ..."

A valuable resource

We have been blessed by the recent gift of a set of books from Doorposts. "Polished Cornerstones" and "Plants Grown Up" are books designed for girls and boys respectively, giving lessons in building godly character. These books have TONS of ideas for study, school projects, and so much more focusing on individual characteristics of a follower of Jesus Christ. We use these books as a source of information and ideas when putting together our home school curriculum.

There are many other books available, and we plan to add many as we are able. If you are interested, you might want to check out their blog. Here is a description of the blog:

 “Doorposts of Your House” is the official blog of Pam Forster and Doorposts Publishing. Other members of the Forster family will also be contributing.We will be posting weekly character-building projects, along with other articles, book reviews, and occasional giveaways. Our goal is to build up parents, encourage Bible-centered parenting, and help you get to know Doorposts and our family better. We also look forward to your comments and input, as we discuss parenting ideas and questions!

Doorposts is dedicated to helping parents fulfill God’s instructions in Deuteronomy 6:4-9:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, ESV)

We also want to help parents realize and experience the power of God’s Word, according to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Hebrews 4:12:

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, KJV)

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)

We just wanted to share this wonderful set of resources with you. I know many have asked us about how we educate our children, and we have found these books to be a great compliment to every subject we teach. Each of the projects in "Plants Grown Up" ,which we use for Nathaniel, has projects for school subjects such as creative writing, vocabulary, history, even art. The one time investment in these books will last through all your children, about 500 pages of targeted and Biblical instruction.

Pictures for those who have been asking....

Might as well start this post out right, RIGHT? On with the cute kid video!! 

Disclaimer: This video mocks a certain TV preacher. I should say false teacher... well I just did. Carry on!

Below are some pictures of our kids. We get a lot of requests, so I thought we would add a few here. Check out our "Media" tab for the latest pictures and videos. Our YouTube channel is a good source of Cowperthwaite family entertainment if you are so inclined.

Mark for the Cowperthwaite  family 

Moving, but not leaving town

There have been some erroneous reports floating around concerning our family and the work in Key West. We have been blessed to stay in an attached cottage here at the Gospel Chapel. For our  family, this residence was always considered to be temporary. We have decided it is time for us to move across town, but this does not mean we are leaving the chapel or even that there is any trouble here. I am not sure how the facts were misunderstood, but the saints here are happy to have us stay (even living in the cottage) for as long as the Lord desires us to work here.

It may take months for a 3 bedroom apartment to become available, and so we just don't know if we will be leaving the cottage soon or if the Lord wants us to stay for a while. We are entertaining offers for free boats or homes, should the Lord provide that way, LOL. Either way, we are excited to see the  Lord at work here, and the local Christians from the chapel and other area churches have been a great encouragement to us. The unity among the Christians we know is great, and we hope that it continues to spread as we work together to edify one another and reach out with the Gospel in Key West.

All that being said, we have begun the application process to find a new home. There are benefits to living at the chapel, and we still plan to be here for Bible studies and the regular weekly meetings of the church. We do plan to move our "Family Bible School" to another location across town. There are many families we can minister to in other locations, and we are working it out so that we can have someone else host the meeting so we can concentrate on teaching and making this time more profitable for the kids and parents involved. Please pray for  us as we make this shift for this ministry.

Our weekly Bible studies on the chapel steps have been greatly profitable. Our family has been met with many new faces, and one man meets with us every time we meet. Earl is a great brother in the Lord, and adds many insightful thoughts to our study through the Gospels. We are currently in Luke 12 and have been gleaning quite a bit, while being able to greet and share the Gospel with passersby. Though Key West is unique in the amount of foot traffic past our chapel, I believe this model could be used in the home setting or in an apartment complex or such arrangement. You would be surprised how often people will stop to talk. We sing songs some times, but  mostly just read and discuss God's Word.

The men's Bible study on Fridays has also been attended faithfully by Earl, along with many others depending on the schedule of the week. Many of the men who come also work odd jobs, and so may be here every week or not be heard from for a month. Though we would love to see a more regular attendance, we carry on with the few faithful men and thank the Lord for the chance to fellowship with those who have to work and so cannot join us. This fellowship among the brothers has been a great time to dig deep into God's Word and talk through the most difficult doctrines, everyone learning and taking part in the discussion.

Sara has recently started a study for the ladies on Sunday afternoon. The women gather  together to read God's Word and encourage one another as they search for ways to practically obey God's call to be holy women, devoted to God and to their families. Most of the ladies have been married with children, but those attending who are without children and in later stages of life also have great insights to offer in their walk with the Lord. This time has been greatly beneficial in fellowship among these ladies, and it is great to see ladies from different churches in the area come together in this way. I am excited to see the Lord at work in the lives of these ladies, and Sara has been truly blessed beyond measure by this time.

I had no intention of going on so long, but did want you all to know about the  move, so that no one hears that we are leaving town or anything else. If you have questions concerning our ministry here, or about our move, feel free to call or email. Pray also for Sara as she is going to be speaking at a conference April 9 in Hollywood, Florida, about our family ministry and the work of the Lord all over Key West. She will be sharing more about her ministry personally, as a wife and mother, a Gospel worker, a friend and counselor to many, and all the other roles the Lord has given her to do. I am blessed to  have such a help mate in my life, and the Lord deserves all the glory for making us useful to His work. 

Give praise to the Lord, for He is good. His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. We had a wonderful message this past Sunday, and a challenging report from Haiti. Truly, the Lord is at work all over the world, what a blessing it is to serve God! No matter where you are or what you have to offer, He is faithful to equip and strengthen all those who will give themselves humbly to His will. 

Our risen Savior is our perfect Bridegroom, and we look forward to the day when we will put off this old fleshly world and live eternally with Him. What a blessed thought, a Heavenly home, eternity with the Lord with no more sickness, pain, or death! Yet today we are here on this Earth, frail and weak, having nothing to offer but what He has already given us. May we be about His work when He comes, a faithful slave to the perfect Master.

Mark for the Cowperthwaite clan

Gospel literature for Maine

It would seem that since we created Gospel literature for Key West, and that we come from Maine, that a Maine Gospel postcard would be the next logical step. My mother was recently telling me about her effort to mail a Gospel tract to every person in her home town. In Maine, in the winter, one has to be creative about their Gospel literature distribution. You see, our first few years of knocking on doors to share the Gospel were far too often thwarted by snow, rain, mean dogs, and much more. Maybe some time I will write a blog post on the crazy things that have happened as we are on the street and in the community sharing the Gospel.

For now, I took it upon myself to order some "Seed Sower" packets, complete with bags to put their beautiful Scripture posters in. Of course, this is quite attractive to the recipient's eye, but maybe something with a little more Maine flair would be better. I went to work, rifling through my pictures of Maine. Mountains, beaches, lighthouses, foliage. I decided on a lighthouse down near our old home, Marshall Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde. This lighthouse and its attached walkway are featured in the old movie (that I don't suggest watching) "Forrest Gump" but has always been a huge draw for nature and lighthouse lovers alike as they search the rugged Maine coastline for a good shot with their camera.

We have spent many days at this lighthouse, walking the beaches, jumping around the rocks, searching the tidal pools for marine life, but more than anything I see this picture as a part of my testimony of salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, you will find below the end result. 2,000 of these postcard sized Gospel tracts will soon be in the hands of a woman living in a 192 square foot house in the village of Sorrento, Maine. Her neighbors will get to see the beauty of Maine, and get to read how God can relay His message of eternal life in Christ through a simple postcard. If you are interested in some of these, let me know. They are easy to create, and reasonably priced, too.

It is a blessing to be able to help in this way to spread the Gospel in our old stomping grounds, and to be just a little part of the work of the Lord in Maine.