South Florida

The Lord gave us a great meeting here in South Florida.  I met Pastor Jared Gritton when he was an assistant under his father in Urbana, IL.  We developed a friendship over the years that included not only the two of us, but also his wife Rebecca and Sarah.  In addition, all of children are very close in age to his children.

Last year, I had to come here without my family, but I left with the promise that, despite the distance, I would bring the family back the next time.  When the trailer problems descended upon us earlier this fall, I thought that I might have to postpone the fulfillment of my promise until another year. 

After returning from MN and finding that our trailer issues had been resolved, we embarked on the long drive to south FL.  (To put things in perspective, the University of South Florida is 90 miles north of us.)

God gave us a wonderful meeting here.  On Wednesday night, a teenaged boy was saved.  Leann, though she did not return and hear any more preaching, was nevertheless under deep conviction.  God worked in the lives of His people as well, and every night different ones made key decisions.  I am always encouraged to see the power of the truth to change the hearts of people.

We not only had a good meeting, but we also had a wonderful time with our two families being together.  Our children were very motivated to finish their school every day so that they could go and play with the pastor’s children.

After preaching four times in another independent Baptist church across town tomorrow, we will begin to head north, closing the 2012 schedule with a Sunday in Mobile, AL.

Please Pray

A lady visited the service last night with two of her three boys.  Her name is Leann (I can never be sure of the spelling on these names).  She has heard the gospel, but struggles with the idea of accepting it in simple faith.  Please pray for her.  She is under conviction and needs to simply trust Christ.

More information after the week is over.

Answered Prayer

For those of you who were praying for my back problems, I am happy to report to you that God has answered prayer.  I am completely back to normal now, whatever normal is, and am able to everything that I need to do.

After a week of resting—though I did preach at night—God just saw fit to heal my back.  There is no other explanation.  Thanks again for your prayers.

Paul

Recent Happenings

This is Sarah, reporting on our most recent family events.  While Paul is usually the one to write these updates, circumstances have changed that for the present. I will elaborate more on that point during the course of this update.

This summer, we had to have some work done on our trailer.  While having trailer repair issues is not totally unusual for an evangelist, this particular set of events was far from normal.

Unbeknownst to us, there was a factory recall on our trailer tires.  Apparently, they were given to blowing without warning, a bad situation in any case, but especially so when you are towing a large, heavy trailer at high speeds over busy interstates.  The nature of the blowout was strange, too.  The outside tread came off similar to the way a retread tire does, but the tire would not really “blow” in that is did not lose its air.  The tread would be partly attached, and whap wildly at the undercarriage, wheel wells, and sides of the trailer before finally detaching completely.  Because it did not lose air, we usually didn’t know for some time that there was even a problem.  We had to rely on the good old “passing car honk and point” system, which is not the most reliable in heavy traffic, since many people tend to honk and point for a number of trivial reasons these days.

To make a long story short(er), we had three blowouts in the course of one month.  Not only was it expensive to replace the tires, there was an extreme amount of damage done to the trailer by the flapping tread.

After moving into our new home, we took the trailer in to be repaired.  We had already had repair estimates done, and they had been submitted to the insurance company for approval.  The repair shop was given the approval, and we moved out of the trailer for what we thought would be two weeks.  The repairs were completed in the given time, but when it came time for the insurance company to pay the repair bill – a whopping $12,000 - they refused.  They decided that they would only pay about half of the amount, leaving us to fend for ourselves.

Of course, the repair shop, having done all the work, was reluctant to let the trailer go until they had been paid.  Then the blame game began.  Neither the repair shop nor the insurance company wanted to compromise on the bill.  So, effectively, our trailer was being held for ransom.  They even removed two of the wheels, lest we try to steal it in the night, I guess.  Desperate times call for desperate measures, you know!  This caused me no end of consternation, because I knew that the wheels of insurance grind ever so slowly.  They were grinding so slowly that we had to file a formal complaint with the state insurance commissioner, who then began in inquiry into the matter.  Meanwhile, we were left without a trailer in which to live during our fall meetings. 

I had to pack everything we needed for six weeks and various weather conditions into large waterproof bins that could be stored in the back of the truck.  One bin was for Paul, one for me, one for the kids, one for winter coats and outerwear, one for schoolbooks, one for foodstuffs, and one for miscellaneous items – computers, nebulizer, special music books, etc.  Of course, there was a small allotment of junk space in the miscellaneous bin, for all the extra things that accumulate on an extended trip.

We have stayed in several hotels, homes, cabins, and prophet’s chambers during the last five weeks. Each time we go somewhere new, we must unload the giant bins form the back of the truck, tote them inside, and unload them.  Each time we leave, we must repack the bins, and tote them back out to the truck where they are loaded once again.  It was due to this toting and hefting that Paul seriously injured his back.  The pain was so great that he could barely move.  The chiropractor said that it was “at best” a herniated disk in his low back, but that only an MRI would tell for certain.  As of this week, he has been on almost total bedrest out of necessity, except when preaching at night.  He is icing his back, and taking pain relief, and is now able to move slowly – no sudden movements.  The chiropractor has told him that it will take six to eight weeks to recover from this injury, and that if he is not better after that time, that surgery may be his only option.  This is really scary news for someone as active as Paul.  We covet your prayers for his healing during this time.

On a side note, he is extremely bummed that he will not be able to participate in this year’s deer hunting season.  He can only go if someone else will drag, haul, gut, and process the deer that he shoots.  I’m not seeing many volunteers at this point…

The good news is that the insurance company, after nearly two months of stalling, has finally paid the repair shop, and when we get back home, we will be able to pick up the trailer.  Well, we hope so, anyway.  They gave us the line, “The check is in the mail.”  We are naive enough to believe them at this point.  We are switching insurance companies, though, because we don’t ever want to have to deal with this again.  We are also thanking the Lord for working in this situation, and trusting Him to guide us in the future.  Please pray that the Lord will grant total healing to Paul’s back, and while you are at it, pray that I don’t hurt my back while loading the bins that he can no longer lift!

Victory!

Yesterday, we began a meeting at the Goodman Road Baptist Church, just down the road from where we live.  God gave us a good day, filled with victories.

The morning service included a young couple, Maurice and Ciara, visiting at the invitation of a man in the church who happened to be their son’s football coach.  Maurice had been reared Catholic, Ciara Baptist.  As I preached on reconciliation from 2 Corinthians 5, both listened intently.  Ciara came forward at the invitation.  She knew she was saved but was concerned about her attendance in the Catholic church.  For her, coming to the Baptist church once again was “like coming home.”

Maurice was impressed by the differences between the two churches.  He confided in the man who invited him, “There are some differences between Baptist services and Catholic services.  There is a lot of energy here.”  From Ciara we learned that Maurice’s mother is exerting pressure on him to “remember where your home is,” referring to his Catholic upbringing.  For his part, Maurice likes what he has seen and has promised to return.  In all likelihood, Maurice would trust Christ as Savior if he could sit under multiple nights of preaching.  The conviction has begun, but needs to build.  Please pray for him.

Bret and Erica Ross sent their children to Bible school at the church back in the summer time.  Since then, they have been coming to the church, but neither of them were saved.  A few days before the meeting began, Erica trusted Christ as Savior and both of them were in every service on Sunday.  Sunday night, Bret came forward and trusted Christ as Savior.  He told the personal worker, “I don’t understand it.  It is like this preacher has been looking in my window and in my wallet.”  [I have no idea where the wallet idea came from, but that is what he said.]

All in all, it was a great start to the meeting.

Please pray about our trailer situation.  We had to have some repairs done for which insurance was supposed to pay.  Somewhere in the process, there was a breakdown in communication.  The repairs have been completed, but the insurance company doesn’t want to pay for them.  Pray for a resolution of this issue.  I have rearranged our plans so that I can go to a meeting without the family, but after that, there will be no way around pulling the trailer to our next meetings.  It is all in God’s hands.

Work in the Field

“Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.” (Proverbs 24:27)  This verse encompasses the two items that have been dominating my time for the last few weeks—life’s work (preaching, for me) and earthly home. 

On July 20, we closed on a house in Olive Branch, Mississippi, and began the work of getting things ready.  I wanted to be able to have all the necessary work completed before I left for my next meeting, but there was more work to do than we were able to get accomplished in the allotted time.  The above verse says to put occupation before building the house, however.  So, house done or not, I got on a plane to come to Utah to preach in two churches in the southern part of the state.

After spending so much time working on the house—a temporal pursuit at best—it was good to be in a revival meeting again.  The Saturday before the first meeting, the pastor and I spent almost the entire day visiting different people.  At one house, we found a man home that had previously been difficult to catch because of his travels.  This time, however, he was home.

Not only was he home, but he was also burdened about his sin.  The pastor began to talk to him about salvation and before long, he prayed to trust Christ as his Savior!  It was glorious to be able to witness the transaction of reconciliation taking place once again in the life of a sinner.

There were some Mormons who attended the services this week, some of whom did not seem to be very attentive, but others of whom did.  Two men in particular took in every word that I said.  Mormons usually have to hear the Gospel many times before the truth breaks through the layers of falsehood that their religion has erected.

We are praying that the seeds sown in this meeting will yield fruit in the months and years to come.

As soon as I get back to MS, I have to finish some work on the house before I leave for a couple of months in my fall revival schedule.  Once we get everything done that we want to accomplish, we will try to post pictures of our home.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Sign of the Times

The other day, after visitation, Sarah and I took our children with us as we shopped for some items at the Home Depot.  While we were there, we found that the store was doing a special promotion in which kids could do a project there in the store.  All the materials, including kits, tools, and paints, had been provided for them for free.

Intrigued by idea and lured by the price, we decided to take the time and let each of our children make something.  The kit this time was a moving truck. 

Of course, Sarah had to capture the occasion on film to scrapbook later on in life.  While reviewing the photos, I came across an alarming discovery.

You will notice the setting of a father trying to assist his sons in doing a project, complete with hammer, nails, wood, and glue.  But notice the picture again.

The circled area tells the story that I was loathe to accept before.  There, clearly caught on film, is the swan song of my hair.  The evidence would indicate that soon, I will be bald as a jug.  My wife is already talking about different comb-over techniques, all of which I have refused so far.  The question I have to ask is this: Why is there evidence of my aging when I still feel so young?

Gratitude

And so ends another day of travel for the Crow family.  It is currently 1:10 a.m. and the children are not in bed, not because we prefer it that way, but because our house is a disaster.  This is a brief overview of how it happened.

While packing up today, I discovered that two of my cords had melted together.  I am not sure exactly why that happened, but I had to leave them together because all my efforts to separate them proved futile.  It was not that big of a deal because I always carry both cords with me anyway whenever I travel.  Only this time, they are melted together.

On the way out, we stopped by Byhalia Tire and Battery to make sure we had enough air in the tires.  The reason?  We were unable to get a spare in time.  Southaven RV can do nothing until they receive insurance permission which, so far, has not been forthcoming.  Once all the tire pressures were checked, we were given the go ahead to take off.

The drive through MS, AL, and GA proved seemless and uneventful, even going through Birmingham at rush hour.  Atlanta, too was not a problem, though less of surprise because we hit it at 8:00 at night.  By the time we hit the SC border, it was dark, but we were rolling along nicely, hoping to make it to NC before midnight.

That was when the bottom dropped out.  Of the stabilizer jack, that  is.  We have no idea why one side decided to deploy while we were going down the road, but the scraping sound behind us combined with the sparks was a dead give away.  The pin was bent, evidently having been hit by some unseen piece of debris--could it have been a tire?--on the side of the road.  Not only had the object bent our stabilizer leg enough to drop it; it had also broken the drain valve on the trailer's water system.  There are two valves that, when opened, drain the entire trailer water system by gravity, allowing for winterizing should the need arise.  One of these valves broke off and drained our water system all up I-85.

Only by the use of highly honed roofing hatchet techniques was the stabilizer made so we could travel again.  The water valve was simply left to drain.

When we got to Kings Mountain, I pulled into my spot and leveled the trailer, just as I had done dozens of times before.  Then, I endeavored to repair the broken valve.  Using electrical tape, which they say is waterproof, I tightly wound the hole in the valve so as to effect a temporary repair.  I knew that I could not plug in the power without water in the heater tank lest the heater element burn up and have to be replaced.

So it was water first on this occasion.  I stretched the hose, hooked everything up, and turned on the water.  Scientific discovery: if electrical tape is waterproof, it cannot sustain any amount of water pressure.  As I walked into the house, I asked Sarah if she had left the faucets on.  Hearing that she had not, I proceeded to my tape fix to find it spraying water in all directions.  We still do not have water in the trailer.

Then I took out my power cord, all 60 feet of it.  The plug here is about 17 feet from the trailer.  Once again, Sarah and I worked to get the two cords apart, but to no avail.  So we decided to leave them together and get the AC running as soon as possible.  The hot water heater was turned off by this point.

We then opened the slides to find that the back drawers of the kids dresser had come out during the trip and had broken off.  Clothes were everywhere, as was Daniel's diaper rash medicine.  The tube had been ruptured by the falling drawer.

So now, after a drive of 590 miles, no water, no supper, and a boatload of repairs facing me in the morning, I am finally ready to go to bed.

Anyway, I said all that to say this: "Thank the Lord our tires didn't blow."

Streams in the Desert

The prophet Isaiah predicted a time when “in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.” (Is. 35:6)  This past week has been a time of wilderness ministry for me.

Gila Christian Ranch sits in the mountains just north of Silver City, New Mexico.  I was first asked to preach there when the scheduled evangelist had to cancel his teen week obligations due to his daughter’s wedding.  (Lots of unanswered questions come to my mind at this point, but I have deemed it best to leave them unanswered.)  I have ministered at the camp in some capacity every summer for the last three years.

Though the camp is technically not in the desert—its average rainfall of 25 inches a year more than doubles the desert threshold of 10—it is still wilderness, being bounded by state land and the Gila National Forest.  The camp has to generate all its own electricity, pump all its own water, dispose of all its own trash, raise its own beef, etc.  It is old school camp that puts campers into a rustic country setting in order to get them away from the world.

It is also old school in its spiritual emphasis.  Camp director Randy Rhodes loves God and loves the idea of the concentrated spiritual emphasis that camp provides.

This last week, the Lord did not send us any physical rain, a fact for which we are all grateful.  The miles of dirt road leading to camp are made nearly impassable by the rains.  God did, however, choose to bless us with spiritual blessing at camp. 

Campers were born again under the camp pavilion nearly 6,900 feet above sea level.  Others surrendered their lives to full time Christian service.  One boy had just seen his father taken off to prison.  He came to his counselor in tears, being convicted by God of his need to honor his parents, regardless of whether or not they were honorable people.

As I come down from the mountain to my other meetings, I find myself teary-eyed as I reflect on what He did this last week; and on the fact that He allowed me to have a small part in His sending streams in the desert.

Young Warrior

As a parent, I am amazed to see my children display seasons of having “gotten it.”  When we were in OH this last time, he had just such an episode.

The pastor and his wife had treated our family to a meal at Culver’s restaurant (an undeniable proof that good things can indeed come out of Wisconsin).  The adults were at one table and our four children—the pastor’s children are all grown—sat at another table nearby.  Of course, we adults were not done talking by the time the kids had finished their food, and childhood boredom began to set in.  Thinking the restaurant was just like home, only bigger, the children began to get up from their seats and wander around the restaurant. 

It was really no problem because there were almost no other patrons in the dining area at the time, but we as parents did do our best to try to keep them from terrorizing the establishment.

As is frequently our custom, we talked with the pastor and his wife for a quite a while—so long, in fact, that the employees of the restaurant began their nightly cleanup and shutdown procedure while we were still there.  It was past time to close.

One of the ladies began going around to all the tables and cleaning them thoroughly.  The salt and pepper shakers had to be gathered, the table tops had to wiped clean, the chairs had to be disinfected, the floor swept, and so forth.  Upon seeing that there was work to be done, my children all rose from their seats and began helping the lady with her chores.  I would like to report that their rising from their seat was due to meticulous instruction in diligence from their perfect parents, but more likely they joined in the work to escape torrential boredom.

In any event, they were soon all over the restaurant helping the lady with her work.  She was quite impressed.  Josiah became convicted of his need to witness to the woman during the course of his voluntary chores.

He explained to her about what Jesus did on the cross to take away the sin of the world and that a person must place their total dependence upon Christ’s work on Calvary and not their own works in order to be saved.  He emphasized that a person must believe in Christ plus nothing; their sole dependence must be upon Christ alone.

As he related the story to me later, he conveyed an unseen battle about which I could not have known otherwise.  He told me, “Daddy, the Devil got on my shoulder and told me that I was too young to witness to her, that she wouldn’t listen because I was so young.”  It was a time not only of real spiritual warfare, but of his recognizing it for what it was.  In the end, through the power of the Spirit of God, he won that battle and opened his mouth to witness for his Savior.

After the incident, we had a great talk about several things.  We talked about earning the right to be heard: the reality that helping the lady work served to open her heart to what he had to say about the Gospel.

In the end, I was very proud of all of my children.  It was one of the those moments where they just got it.

Paul

High Gear

The spring rush of meetings is in high gear, and we are excited to see what the Lord is doing.

From Tennessee to New York City to Indiana the Lord has kept us safe as we have journeyed.  He has also blessed in our meetings as well.

When we were preparing to minister in the Heritage Baptist Church of Knox, IN, the pastor informed us that the church had voted to take us for monthly support.  We praise the Lord for His continued provision for us.

One of our goals in Indiana, besides ministering in churches, was the closing of the sale of our house in Connersville, IN.  The buyers have excellent credit, have done everything the bank has requested of them, yet still they have not been approved for financing on the house.  The realtor’s assurance to me was that all the banks in that area are dragging their feet right now and that it had nothing to do with the buyers.  In any case, we have not yet closed on the house.  The contract expires on May 16 of this year.  Please pray with us for God’s will, whatever that may be.

This year’s schedule takes us thousands of miles as we cross this country back and forth.  Thank you so much for your continued prayers for our safety.  Please pray also for souls to be saved and Christians to be revived.

Paul

Kindle Ready

After purchasing a Kindle for my wife for Christmas, I have given in to the constant advice of hers (not to be confused with nagging) to get my first book Cliffs and Fences available for Kindle devices.

Amazon has given me a time frame of 12 hours after which it will be available.  For those of you that use the Kindle, iPad, etc., you will now be able to read my book on these electronic devices.  For more details go to my Amazon product page.  If you have these devices, obtaining a copy of my book will be much cheaper than the paperback version.

Paul

Ripple in Ripley

After a delayed start to our revival season, we loaded up the trailer and headed to Ripley, TN, to hold a revival meeting with Pastor Tim Smartt and the Maranatha Baptist Church.  We had been here before doing a teen VBS in the summer of 2010.

Pastor Smartt and his people did a great job of preparing for the meeting.  Just counting those brought in on Monday through Friday of the meeting, his people brought over 70 visitors!  It was a great meeting with a wonderful church.

Sometimes I hear people bemoan the fact that old-time Baptist churches seem to be on the decrease.  To be sure, it might seem to the be the case as church after church takes Baptist off the sign and goes the route of imitating the unsaved world in its culture.  But the promise of the Lord Jesus is still true when He said, “I will build my church.”  Pastor Tim Smart is another young man who is doing a good job as a pastor of a separated independent Baptist Church.  He, like so many others in his age group, has come to Bible convictions as result of walking with God.  God is still working in the United States and still raising up many to continue to carry the torch.  These men come from various backgrounds—Pastor Smartt started his career as an accountant—but they have answered the call of God and are serving Him.  Jesus is still building His church.

Our family is currently in Laurel, IN, awaiting the details to fall in place for the closing of the sale of our house.  While we were expecting that to happen this week, after hustling to get here, we were informed that it probably would not be this week or the next when we close.

We will keep you posted according to our ability to access the Internet.  Thanks for your prayers.

Baptist History

Some time ago, I began working on a book to introduce laymen to the subject of Baptist history.  Many, having had exposure to my Baptist history audio series, requested that the material be made available in book form.  After several futile attempts at transcribing the audio, I decided to just write the book from scratch, as it were, scrapping the transcription idea.

After months of work on the project, on and off as schedule would allow, I am about to enter the final chapter of the first part of the book.  Do not for a moment assume that the fat lady is warming up her vocal cords.  It is more akin to Winston Churchill’s comments on the Allied invasion of North Africa:

“This is not the end.  It is not the beginning of the end.  But it may be the end of the beginning.”

In any case, it is measurable progress—always encouraging.

New Year

Ministry Update

The Lord has allowed us to settle in here in Mississippi and has given us ministry opportunities. For the first time in several years, we were in a meeting with Evangelist Dwight Smith right here in Southaven. We alternated preaching with him one night and me the next night. He had to leave the meeting after the Thursday night service because of a long drive before his next meeting, so I ended up closing the meeting.

The Lord blessed the effort. We alternated working with the choir each night and leading the music. I had never been in a meeting like that in which two evangelists shared the preaching responsibilities. There were two that trusted Christ as Savior and God's people made numerous other decisions.

In addition to the revival meeting we had at our home church, the Lord is also opening doors of ministry in other area churches. Several area pastors are looking to start a fellowship meeting again in the Memphis area, allowing me to get to know many excellent men. In addition, I have been doing pulpit supply for the Calvary Baptist Church of Coldwater, MS, as they seek the Lord's will for a pastor.

The fact that we have been home for a few weeks makes it possible for us to be involved in something that normally does not happen much in our ministry due to our constant traveling. The Lord has allowed us to see fruit through our participation in our normal local church visitation program. Clay and Kristin were saved but had been out of church for a while when Sarah and I knocked on their door on a Saturday morning. They are now coming to our church and getting plugged in, along with their two children.

Chris and Tiffany are another couple that Sarah and I contacted through door-to-door visitation. Tiffany gave a good testimony of salvation, but admitted that they, too, were out of church. Chris was not home because he was on a hunting trip. A subsequent visit enabled me to talk to Chris about his soul. Pray for him. His testimony leaves some grave concerns in our minds. If only he can get under the preaching of the Word of God, the Holy Spirit will do His work of conviction and bring him to salvation.

The warmer winter of Mississippi means that some germ-caused diseases are rampant. Our children have been sick a couple of times so far this winter. Nothing serious, but their illness does inconvenience us a little bit. If we could just have a good, hard freeze, some of these germs would be killed off. That is all in the Lord's hands, though, and I cannot begin to complain about the mild winter we are currently having.

If you haven't checked out our latest family picture on our website, you may want to do so. Thanks so much for your prayers and support.