Trailer Luck

The spring schedule is now in full swing.  We are now firmly ensconced in our new trailer (woohoo!) and on the road for the next several months.  We are rejoicing in the blessing of our new trailer and the relative ease of living in it after being in such close quarters for most of last year. While we were extremely grateful for the “little trailer” as we affectionately called it, having six people in a 29’ camper for the better part of nine months was a little taxing at times.  Especially when several of those people are not the neatest roommates.  However, we all survived and were practically dancing with joy when our new trailer finally made it into our driveway last December.  We all have a little space to ourselves, now, and best of all, we are back to a 12-gallon water heater once again (the little trailer had a 6-gallon tank, and I took WAY too many cold showers last year)!  We are all happy campers about that particular feature.

This week, we began our first extended time in the new trailer.  Heading out of Mississippi, we stopped in Jackson, the state capital, where we met a pastor and stayed overnight in his church parking lot.  He took us on a small tour of Jackson, which was saddening to say the least.  The city’s infrastructure is collapsing, and the people who live there have very little means of supporting themselves.  Hence, many turn to a life of crime.  I don’t remember the last time I have seen so many buildings with fences, windows with bars, and parking lots surrounded by razor wire.  It was a teensy bit scary, to be honest.  Jackson is the fourth most violent city in America, ranking fourth in the number of murders per capita in the country.  It is a dark place in need of the light of the Gospel. Pray that God would send laborers into this very needy field!

As we pulled out of Jackson this morning, we headed west.  it wasn’t long before we needed to fuel the truck.  Paul pulled off on an exit that advertised fuel, and began driving in search of the promised gas station.  It was nowhere to be found.  You must understand that pulling a fifth wheel through an unknown area, looking for fuel has to be one of the most stressful situations.  The streets wind and curve, the lanes narrow, and the chances that you will get stuck in a small parking lot trying to turn around increase the further you go.  After we decided that the fuel sign was just a cruel hoax, doubtless an attempt to lure unsuspecting motorists into the labyrinthine innards of the city, where they can be mugged, we spotted a large (this is good) parking lot in which we could easily turn around.  Things were looking up, in spite of the Great Fuel Hoax.  We turned around and pulled onto the street, heading back toward the interstate.  The truck seemed to be struggling up the hill, and with dread in his voice, Paul pulled to the side of the road and asked me to get out and see if the trailer brakes were locked up.  Sure enough, they were. 

I must insert a small bit of trailer trivia here.  Fifth wheels are designed with an emergency cable that runs from the trailer hitch to the hitch pin in the back of the truck.  The purpose of this cord is, in the event that your trailer becomes disconnected from your truck (very bad luck), the trailer brakes immediately lock, which keeps the trailer from careening into anything at a high rate of speed.  Apparently careening into objects at a low rate of speed is far superior, in the minds of the trailer manufacturers, provided one is not rear-ended by a tractor and trailer speeding up from behind.
In a strange and weird twist of trailer luck (this is usually bad luck, for the record), the emergency trailer brake cord had gotten pinched in the hitch and pulled the emergency pin out of the trailer.  To make things worse, we could not get it out!  We were finally able to get the brakes unlocked by plugging in the pin, but we could not make any turns without pulling the pin out again.  Paul pulled along the road until we could get partially in a parking lot, and we had to detach the trailer in order to release the pressure on the hitch enough to get the cord out from between the hitch and the base.  No one stopped to help, but perhaps they were a little nervous when they saw two people on the side of the road, one with a roll of duct tape in his hand, and his companion wielding a small crowbar. Thank the Lord we were able to remedy the situation with very little loss of time.  And, yes, duct tape, once again, really did save the day.

After this little incident, we had another one that actually did some damage to the trailer.  Thanks to a clueless motorist, who instead of allowing us to merge onto the highway lane (I say lane because there was only one due to alleged construction), sped up and blocked our entrance, forcing us to run over a very substantial construction cone/tower.  This striped ziggurat flew under the truck and hit the front panel of the trailer right next to the landing gear, crunching the fiberglass and crumpling the metal trim.  There was nothing to be done, so we drove onward, ruing the day that Cracker Jacks started issuing driver’s licenses. 


All told, it was a fairly good day, in spite of all the difficulties. We are looking forward to tomorrow’s services.  Pray for the family.  We are dealing with sore throats, sniffles, and general malaise due to not feeling well this week.

Of Blowouts and Tunnels

Victory Baptist Church.  For forty years, a lighthouse of truth and Baptist witness to the South Carolina low country.  As its address on Parris Island Gateway would suggest, the church has had a ministry to United States Marines, either active duty or retired, for many years.  For their fortieth anniversary celebration, Pastor Chuck Rice decided to invite two former pastors and Evangelist Paul Crow as guest speakers.  It is impossible for me to speak for the two former pastors.  As for me, my trip to even get settled in at Victory Baptist Church was filled with a little more drama than usual.

It seemed like a good idea at the time: leave south Florida on Friday morning and get in to Beaufort, South Carolina a day early.  A chance for everyone to catch their breath before charging headlong into the next meeting could only be a good thing.  As we headed up I-95 north of Savanna, Georgia, however, we heard a sudden pop and the truck seemed to lose power.  Sarah was able to look in her mirror and saw the tread of one of our brand new tires (purchased earlier this year) come flying off.  We had suffered a blowout.  Not to worry, there was a brand new spare on the back bumper.  There are worse things in this world than changing a flat on the side of the Interstate in the dark with spectators flying past at 70-plus miles per hour while your children contemplate playing chicken.

Still, we arrived safely at Victory Baptist Church after 8:00 Friday night.  Everything was set up and ready to go.  Everything except for one thing.  In our haste to get to South Carolina, we had failed to dump our sewage tanks.  The next morning after some inquiries, we decided to dump the black water straight into the church septic system.  That meant unhooking everything and backing the trailer through a small gate.  Everything about the dumping process was pretty seamless.  No spilled water on the church ground, everything going where it needed to go, no leaky black water hoses—it was perfect.  We then maneuvered the trailer back into the parking space.  Not a problem.

Everything was in place, when I began to jack the trailer up off the truck hitch.  (We are in a borrowed unit right now that is a bumper pull, not a fifth wheel.)  Now the tongue was high enough so that it barely cleared the hitch.  As I walked away from the hitch to go to the cab of the truck and pull it out, a terrible noise sounded behind me.  The trailer had shifted and the tongue had come off the blocks where I had left the jack.  The jack had buried itself in the soft, sandy dirt.  Sarah had been in the trailer, and the sudden jolt gave her quite a fright.

In the end, a bottle jack saved the day and got the trailer back to straight and level.  More importantly, God had spared me from what might have been a dangerous accident.  A 10,000-lb trailer jolting and careening around can be dangerous.  God protected us.

The only other incident that happened was that my children decided to begin a subterranean project of tunneling under the church fellowship hall.  Happily, we discovered the project before too much progress had been made and the workers decided to fill the holes back in.  Hopefully, no one will notice at the big celebration tomorrow.  I know now why we usually make it a policy to arrive at the church on Saturday night.

We look forward to the upcoming meeting with Pastor Rice and Victory Baptist Church.  Thank you all so much for your prayers.

Trailer Update

Many have asked about a trailer for our family.  As you may remember, we totaled our previous trailer in March of this year.  Even before our trailer was totaled, we had been looking for a replacement for some time.  After much prayer and search, we believe that we have found the trailer that would meet our needs as we travel.  It is made by a recently formed company named Grand Design.  The model is the Solitude 366DEN.  We have looked into these units for quite some time and have been impressed by the many details that they seem to get just right.

Some have given special gifts toward the purchase of the new trailer, and, although we do not yet have the money to pay for it entirely, we are very grateful for every sacrifice that has been made so that we could get the trailer.  Now we have decisions to make.  We want to make very wise use of the money that God has provided.  Right now, there are eight 2015 models that we know about.  Obviously, with the calendar year coming to a close, the dealerships are very motivated to move their 2015 models.  The 2016 models are already arriving and space will be an issue, not to mention the mounting cost of holding onto a unit losing its value.  Of course, the model number means nothing to us.  The fact that it has sat on the lot for a while doesn’t matter to us.  Here is the important need that we have.  Of the eight 2015 units that we currently know of, we need at least one to not sell until after the first of the year.  God knows which one it will be.  Our current thinking is that if we can hold out until 2016 to buy a 2015 trailer, we will be able to get a better deal.

Everything is in God’s hands.  For our part, we are so busy in meetings right now that we don’t have time to get into a new trailer anyway, even if we had the money to purchase one.  We are seeing the Gospel go forward, Christians challenged, and pastors encouraged.  We are still living in a borrowed bumper pull trailer, on loan from a family in our church.  We are taxing this unit to the limit, already having pulled it from Mississippi to Montana, Montana to Virginia, Mississippi to Minnesota to Florida… You get the picture.  The fact that it is still holding together is a tribute to the power of God very similar to Israelite shoes not waxing old during the wilderness wandering.

As you pray for the temporal needs of our trailer, please do not forget to pray for the greater works: the salvation of souls and the strengthening of churches.  May you all be steadfast in the work of the Lord.

Answered Prayer

The fall season of meetings is upon us, and we are seeing God do some wonderful things.  Last week, we were in a meeting at the Bible Baptist Church of Brookings, South Dakota.  Pastor Ivan Yoder has only been there for a year, but the signs of a healthy church abound under his leadership.  In all, three people were born again during the course of the meeting.  One was saved in the afternoon before the service, and the other two were dealt with in the invitations.  Below are pictures of the two who were saved in the services.

We are currently in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota for our third meeting at the Berean Baptist Church.  On Thursday, I go to Deer River, Minnesota for a men’s meeting that will last through Saturday.  The meeting closes in Ham Lake on Sunday.

After Minnesota, we begin to head south, first to Indiana, and then to North Carolina and all the way to Florida before turning again for Mississippi just in time for Thanksgiving. 

We are eager to see how God is going to work in every place where He has allowed us to minister this year.  Thank you all so much for your prayers.

Regarding the replacement trailer, there are events in motion that are nothing short of miraculous.  When the details fall into place, you may be certain that I will pass them on to you who have prayed so much. 

Born Again!

August represents a bit of slump in my schedule as an evangelist.  Pastors, too, speak of this slump as many of their members are absent from services due to vacations.  A lull in my schedule means more activity in my local church, just as any faithful member would do.  It means being faithful to services and visitation.

Last night, as the groups divided up, I had two very familiar partners, Sarah and Josiah.  We were knocking on doors—cold turkey calling, as some have called it.  Not long into our intended route, we had the opportunity to talk with Tanisha.  Unlike many that we meet, she readily admitted to having doubts about eternity.  In fact, the more we talked about sin, the more visibly conviction showed on her face.  We ended at the cross where the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary takes care of all our sin—past, present, and future.  There on her doorstep, Tanisha prayed and asked Christ to save her.  Would you pray for her that we would be able to disciple her and see her grow in the Lord?  Her picture is here below.

In the weeks to come, I will be filling local pulpits that are currently vacant in north MS before we head again for another round of meetings.

Please continue to pray about the needs of our trailer.  God knows, and He will provide in His time.

At Such a Time

The greetings of the ancient Persians have always seemed somewhat melodramatic to me: “Peace, and at such a time.”  Times have always been turbulent, but God has always been in control.

God’s control of our circumstances is such a wonderful resting place for our troubled souls so prone to worry.  For my part, the cares of this world have looked a lot like a search for a different trailer, at least in the past couple of months.  We have been looking for a couple of years, actually, mostly to no avail.  The problems are these.

First, if a trailer has room to house a family, it is poorly built.  There is little reason to purchase a trailer that will quickly fall apart as the miles go by.

Second, if a trailer is well-built, it doesn’t have room for four children and is outrageously expensive.  One company makes well-built trailers with space for two children, but their units start at $115,000 and go up from there.

Third, more modestly priced trailers may have enough bunks for four children, but they have very little space for clothes.  Evidently children who camp in these either have to wear the same clothes all the time or else wear little to nothing at all.  I wonder if RV design engineers are reading this.

Fourth, very few units available today have a rear bedroom and a washer and dryer.  Some have a nearly worthless washer/dryer combination unit, but reviews of this setup are universally negative.

Because of these issues, we looked in vain for many months for a trailer that would serve us well in travels.  Then, earlier this year after a lot of searching, we came upon a company called Grand Design.  They make a unit called a Solitude 366 DEN.  As we walked through this unit, we finally found something that would meet all of our needs in a trailer.

Now, a dealership in MN is offering us a great deal on a new Solitude 366 DEN.  We have been able to get together about 2/3 of the needed money for the unit.  We would like to be able to not have to take on another monthly payment for this trailer.  Would you pray with us about this matter?  It may be that God would have us finance the remaining 1/3 of the price.  If so, we would need Him to make this abundantly clear to us.  As we see the situation, it would be best to get the trailer in the next month or so.  That way, we could get moved in before the schedule gets hectic again in the fall.

At the end of the day, though, God is still on the throne…And at such a time.

Answered Prayer

The meeting last week with Pastor Dave Rogers in Willmar, MN, was a good meeting.  Pastor Rogers has been faithful for many years there in Willmar.  Somewhere along the line, someone forgot to tell his people that old-fashioned revival meetings no longer work in the 21st Century.  They just kept on bringing their unsaved friends and relatives as if preaching still worked!  Not surprisingly, we saw two trust Christ as Savior on Thursday night of the meeting.

The dynamic at work in Bro. Rogers church is an often repeated one.  Whenever lost people sit under the sound of the Gospel for consecutive nights, they often trust Christ or leave angry.  Such is the nature of an extended meeting.  After reading stories of days gone by, some today are decrying the use of evangelists because we are no longer seeing the numbers of people attend the services as we once did.  Consider the facts of the Scripture.  The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes it (Romans 1:16).  Satan is powerless to prevent the Gospel from doing its work.  If he is to prevent men and women from trusting Christ, he must resort to other tactics.  His tactic of choice today seems to be keeping men and women from hearing the Gospel.

Why do so many invitations to come and hear an evangelist preach go unheeded by lost men and women?  The answer is that a simple invitation for a sinner hear to the Gospel represents an attack on Satan’s domain.  It is spiritual warfare.  The good news is, Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.  Still, every Christian needs to bathe invitations in prayer and understand that God’s power is desperately needed on something as simple as an invitation.

When we do reach out and get lost people to sit under the sound of the Gospel, the result will often be conversion.

As we traveled across SD last Saturday, I was nervous, given our experience with wind the week before.  We prayed that God would control the wind and keep us and the borrowed trailer safe.  He answered every prayer.  In over 500 miles of driving, the trailer did not so much as sway one time due to wind.  A couple of hours after we arrived in SD, the winds picked up again and have been gusting and blowing ever since.  In fact, I think I just saw a downwind chicken lay the same egg three times!

Windblown

Since we began, April has traditionally been a busy month for us.  Accordingly, we find ourselves in a cycle of traveling and preaching for several days on end.  Our first trip took us from IN to Willmar, MN.

We are currently traveling with a borrowed trailer from a family in our church.  The unit is a 30-foot bumper pull trailer in which the children sleep on two different beds, one a couch fold out and the other a dinette fold down.  While much smaller than what we were used to, this trailer is a great blessing from the Lord. 

As we traveled through IL, we faced some tremendous cross winds.  Yesterday, we passed a tractor and trailer that had blown over in the wind.  As we drove, a particularly strong gust of wind struck the truck and trailer.  The trailer fishtailed and whipped violently in the wind.  At one point, both tires on the one side were off the ground.  Despite all the excitement, we were able to make it safely to Willmar, arriving this afternoon. 

As for our search for a trailer in northern IN, we were disappointed by the lack of options that we have available to us.  Today, there are far fewer companies that make a unit that will work for us than there were when we first started in evangelism.  When we had nearly despaired of finding a trailer that would serve us well, we were introduced to a new company that has been in business for only a couple years.  They make a unit that will work for us.

Please pray that God will give us wisdom as we continue our search.  Please also pray that the Lord will bring in the finances that we need to pay for the unit.  So far, we have a little over half of what is needed to purchase the trailer outright.

Above all, though, please pray for souls to be saved.  Pray that Satan will be hindered as he tries to distract men and women from hearing the Word of God.  Pray that God’s power would be on us as we minister in every church.  Pray that the Word of the Lord would have free course and be glorified. 

And, as always, thank you for your prayers.

Totaled

The insurance company got back with us this week and gave us an amount for the trailer.  They will be giving us about $1,000 more for the trailer than what we paid for it originally.  All in all, I am very pleased with the way State Farm has handled the claim.

As for a new trailer, Sarah and I will be touring trailer factories in northern IN trying to see where we go from here.  We would covet your prayers for God’s wisdom as we look.  We are trusting the Lord the settle the entire thing.  So far, He has worked everything out very well and we are actually excited to see what He will do in the future.

Thank you so much for all your prayers.

Oops!

Well, it happened.  In nearly twelve years of pulling the trailer, I have never had a major accident.  Until this past Monday, that is.  Traveling like a barn sour horse, we came out of Taylors, SC, and entered the automotive quagmire of Atlanta, GA.  A wreck on the northeast side delayed us for a couple of hours so that by the time we hit the intersection of I-20, it was officially rush hour.  It took us about four hours to get from the Mall of Georgia to Six Flags.  (We stopped at neither place, but for those who know Atlanta, these are familiar landmarks on the outskirts of the metropolitan area.)  After making it through the traffic to the west side of the city, I realized that we needed to stop for fuel.

Motorists who have not pulled a large rig such as a forty-foot trailer rarely appreciate the difficulty that larger vehicles face.  Just any filling station won’t do: evangelists need one with lots of space in which to maneuver.  Thankfully, filling stations have taken steps to accommodate the needs of larger vehicles, some of them even creating designated lanes for RV’s.  It was into one of these designated lanes that I pulled.  It was late and we were in Villa Rica, GA, not far from the AL state line, ready to be rid of GA traffic for the night.

As I pulled into the RV lane of this gas station, I quickly realized that not all RV lanes are created equal.  Not all are endowed by their creators with ample space for large RV’s.  In fact, this one seemed to have been designed for smart cars more than for any sized RV.  It was especially unsuitable for a truck pulling a trailer, no matter what the sign said.

Not to worry, though.  I have been pulling large trailers for twelve years, right?  When we were done fueling, I had to back up to reposition the trailer in the lane so that it would clear when I pulled through and made a left hand turn to return to the freeway.  No problem.  I kept the rig on the right side so that my trailer would follow and miss the large concrete bumpers erected to protect the narrowly placed pumps.  Textbook.  One learns a few things through experience over years of repetition. 

In front of me sat several cars parked in designated parking areas—areas that some engineer is probably still laughing about because there is no way a large RV can make the turn out of the RV fueling lane with those cars there.  I had to carefully watch the cars in front of me so as not to hit them and watch in my mirrors to make sure that my trailer cleared those awful concrete barricades.  The barricades were quite war worn, bearing the the scars of several victories in previous encounters with different RV’s.  I had missed every obstacle when I began to turn the wheel to the left.  The rear of the trailer pivoted to the right as I did so and, out of my line of sight, struck the right hand barrier.  We did not so much as feel the impact, because we were going very slowly.  Nor could we hear anything, but as I completed the turn, I felt a slight pop.

The barrier had torn the back part of our trailer to bits.  Although it was towable, it is still not livable.  As technicians at the local RV service center examined the damage, they used the word totaled a lot.  Of course, the service center pronouncing the unit totaled is not the same as the insurance adjustor announcing the unit totaled.  We will have to wait and see what insurance says.  In the mean time, we are in the busiest time of our year without a trailer.

Please pray for us as we seek the Lord’s will concerning a replacement.  Some have already offered to help fund the new unit.  We are so thankful for the willingness of God’s people to help me the need.  Whatever happens, we are confident that God will provide.

Running Water

What a busy schedule the Lord has given us so far this year!  We are very grateful to see how He is opening door after door and blessing our ministry in every place where we have been.

Currently, we are in the state of North Carolina where we have nearly a month of meetings in different places in the western part of the state.  You may have seen the news that cold weather has descended upon the eastern seaboard to such an extent that many inhabitants are longing to return to the days of global warming.  The cold has significant effects on anyone wanting to live in a trailer.

A couple of days ago, the temperature was predicted to drop into the single digits.  It is customary in the trailer to leave the water running a trickle in order to keep it from freezing during nights when the temperature dips below 32 (Fahrenheit).  The problem is that the temperature can drop so low that even running water can freeze.

So to allay the problem, we actually winterized the trailer by using an air compressor to blow the water out of the lines.  In the meantime, we moved into the church’s mission house so that we could appropriately bathe and hydrate ourselves.

Then we moved on the next church, Emmanuel Baptist of Kings Mountain NC.  There we tried to hook up water only to find that all the outside spigots had frozen during the cold snap.  Not to worry, though.  After about an hour of working with a cheap Wal-mart hair dryer, we were able to get everything thawed.  Or at least, so it seemed.  As the outside temperatures climbed in the mid-40’s, the janitor and his family arrived to clean the church before the Lord’s day.  What did they find?  The pipes burst inside the building, necessitating that the water be cut off again.

So we still have no running water.  But then again, neither did much of humanity in days gone by.  It makes me sort of wonder, Do wells freeze deep in the ground so that you have to break the ice off them before you lower the bucket?  If conditions continue as they have been, I may soon be in a position to find out.

Strengthen

Acts 15:41 “And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the
churches.”

As an evangelist, this ministry of confirming the churches is a major thrust
of my ministry as I travel. I want to see souls saved and churches strengthened.
December was a great month for us financially, compared to years gone by.
Two things helped us out tremendously: first of all, several weekend meetings
during the month, and second of all, a special financial gift from the
Maranatha Baptist Church of Ripley, Tennessee. For the first time in many
years, we had a little bit of financial breathing room during the Christmas
season.

January found our family in Silver City, New Mexico, ministering in the Calvary
Baptist Church for four weeks. Would you pray that God gives them a
pastor? They need wisdom as they seek the Lord’s will in this matter.
February has us all over the country from Texas to North Carolina ministering
in a different church every week. Please pray for souls to be saved and
churches to be strengthened. It is wonderful to see those prayers answered
as we travel.

Many of you have prayed about our trailer situation in the past. The unit we
are in is wearing out and in need of replacement. Yesterday, for the first
time since we have been looking, I received some encouraging news as far
as a trailer replacement. Please pray for wisdom for us to make the right
decision in this regard. I am now convinced that if we get the right trailer,
we may be able to keep it for the next ten years instead of purchasing a different
one every three or four years due to wear and tear.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Victory!

In the middle of October, my family and I went to eastern Colorado to the town of Fort Morgan.  Pastor Shannon Munday wanted me to preach the week before he started a revival meeting with another Evangelist, Bro. Dwight Smith.  The Lord worked everything in a wonderful way. 

On Sunday, October 19, I preached and the Lord worked on a teenaged boy’s heart named Josh with the result that he trusted Christ as Savior.  A few weeks ago, Josh had attempted suicide; now, he is on his way to heaven.  The next Sunday was Bring a Friend Sunday.  That morning, Bro. Smith preached the Gospel and many people came to be saved.  One entire row of unsaved people stepped out of the aisle in the invitation and came forward to be dealt with about salvation.  There were so many people to be dealt with that the pastor ran out of personal workers.  I had been leading the invitation hymn with Sarah at the piano.  In the absence of personal workers, I came down from the platform and dealt with a man.  Still, we needed more, so Sarah left the piano to go deal with a lady.  Bro. Dwight took over the playing of the piano.

The meeting went through Wednesday night with both Crow and Smith family working together.  By the time the meeting closed Wednesday night, we had seen sixteen people trust Christ as Savior.  It was one of the greatest meetings I have ever been in.

On the way out of town, we had a leaf spring shackle break on the trailer, causing one side of the trailer to ride lower than the other.  In the providence of God, we were able to get to our destination in Colby, KS, and get the broken part fixed with spare parts that I have been carrying around for several years (since the last time I had trouble with my leaf springs). 

Now, after preaching in the Colby Independent Baptist Church, we will head back to MS on Monday.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Visitors

Tuesday morning, a farmer from this part of South Dakota went to the operating room for surgery.  It was to be a six hour procedure to remove a malicious tumor from his liver.  Once the doctors had opened him up and looked at his liver, they aborted the rest of the operation and sewed him back up: there was nothing they could surgically due to the tumor’s proximity to his bile duct.  The farmer’s son contacted a church member and wept, thinking that his Dad would not have much longer to live.

At the service that night, the church member spoke with the pastor and me, expressing his desire to go and see his friend who, as far as he knew, was not saved.  Reasoning that three would be a crowd in the hospital room, we elected to go with just two of us from the church.

So it was that yesterday morning, the church member and I headed to the hospital in Sioux Falls, SD.  The patient we found was sore from having been cut open the day before, but in good spirits, having retained his sense of humor through the ordeal. 

As is generally the custom, we engaged in small talk for a while, during which Tom, the patient, wept occasionally.  He had never dreamed that such a thing would happen to him; he was only 63 years old.  Of course, the main goal of our visit was not small talk, but the Gospel.  At one point in the conversation, God, in answer to our prayers, opened the door to talk about the most important thing.  I asked pointedly, “Tom, are you ready to go?”  He responded that he was.

After being interrupted by a phone call that I had to take, I reentered the room, wanting more information about Tom’s readiness.  We talked about being born again, that just as there is a definite point in time when a person is born physically, so there is a definite point in time when a person is born again spiritually.  Then came the most important question that I could ask: “Tom, was there ever a time when you trusted Jesus Christ as Savior?”

Tom’s answer came without hesitation.  “Yes.”  After another question about when that happened, he related to us how that he had begun attending a Bible study.  What could it hurt?  It was only one night a week, and he needed to read the Bible anyway.  Each person in the study group was supposed to read a certain portion of the Bible.  As he was reading his portion, God spoke to him in a definite way.  It was then that he trusted Christ as Savior.

Tom is still apprehensive about the future in this life.  Although he was saved about six years ago, he has never really grown in the Lord, his woman pastor notwithstanding.  Still, it was a joy to hear how God is still reaching out to man, offering His saving grace to all who will believe.

Duct Tape Diary

“If you weren’t born with a wrench in your hand, trailer life is not for you.”  Such forthrightness from a trailer salesman was interesting to hear.  Yet the truth of what he was trying to convey was very well put.  He who would live in a trailer must grow accustomed to constant maintenance.  For the Crow family, we are running out of innovations to keep the mechanism together.  “Extremely flexible” caulk won’t stretch enough to compensate for the flex in the front of the trailer to keep the water from pouring in, while “extremely durable” plastic latches are unable to withstand the onslaught of a junior high boy.  Not only are parts for RV’s expensive; they are are also hard to get once one quits the big cities.

Enter the Crow family in Millbank, South Dakota.  The town boasts a population of just over 3,000 people, but no RV dealer.  In fact, I think it would be easier to purchase a tractor here than anything to do with a home on wheels.  Parts availability will obviously be a problem here until Case International ventures into the trailer business.

Enter the roll of duct tape.  Strong.  Versatile.  Ubiquitous.  And, as of a couple of months ago, the weapon of choice against trailer entropy.  The high dollar tubes of caulk all proved feckless in stemming the flow of water into the front of my trailer.  In the course of owning this trailer, I have had to see a lot of money go out the tubes, as it were, only to have the flexible sealant break open because the front flex was too much.  After trying everything I knew to do, including spending $6,000 to have a shop do it professionally, I decided to bite the bullet and don the duct tape.  Sadly, the hillbilly fix has been the best yet.  The duct seals and forms a sort of roof under which the trailer can flex all it wants without the water entering in and rotting the trailer from within.  Duct tape saves the day again.  Cue hero music.

No one in my family broke the door handle.  Just ask them and they will be glad to assure you of their innocence.  Nevertheless, the latch that holds the screen door closed was mysteriously broken apart in the night, no doubt by a thief who, upon breaking and entering our trailer, was dissuaded from further crime by the lack of viable goods to steal.  Evidently, A Beka school books don’t bring much on the black market.  Regardless of how it actually broke, the latch had to be fixed.  Though we did not know it, there is a housefly convention going on right now in Millbank.  After we kill one in the trailer, there are at least four who break into the trailer to attend its funeral.  We needed a means to keep the door latched.

Once again, duct tape provided the perfect solution.  After taping the plastic back together and reinstalling the latch, we are finally beginning to turn the tide in the war against the flies.

By the time the year ends, there is no telling what all in our trailer will be held together with duct tape.  Stayed tuned for more of the duct tape diary.  Who knows what it will be next?

Twelve Years

July, 2014, marks twelve years that my family and I have been in full time evangelism.  It has been a wonder to see the Lord’s working in the hearts of people as the Word of God has gone forth.

We have had an interesting year so far, including something that we have never done before outside of our home church.  After the spring schedule of revival meetings and the early summer of camp in New Mexico, the Lord has directed us to Louisiana for six weeks.  During this meeting, we have not had meetings every night, but the pastor has given me his pulpit during most of the regularly scheduled services.  I have also been helping with outreach and will be assisting with vacation Bible school later on.  Every Sunday night, I have been teaching on Baptist history, we just finished a four-part series entitle “Praying Like Paul,” and a deacon and I just yesterday installed a cabinet that we built for the church office.  Below is a picture of the two of us the day we installed the piece of furniture.

In just over two weeks time, we leave LA and head north for a schedule of revivals in the Midwest and mountain states.  Please pray for us as we travel.  A major concern right now is the trailer.  Please pray that God holds it together as we travel.

Your Prayer for Me

My family and I are separated for the next couple of weeks as I labor in the Calvary Baptist Church in Silver City, New Mexico, and the Gila Christian Ranch, the camp connected with the church.  My family are all home ministering in our home church while I am away.

One of the greatest treasures that God has given me in the ministry is the number of people that pray for me on a regular basis.  They come from all over the country, from all walks of life, and from all stages of spiritual growth.  Still, they thrill my heart with the words “I pray for you daily.”  It is not uncommon for some of you to ask me for a prayer list.  Understandably, you want to know what requests are on my heart so that you can partner with me in asking God for them.  For those of you who want that prayer list, I offer you one today.  This is the most important prayer list I have ever given anyone, and it is my desire that you partner with me in praying for these requests.  As you will soon see, this prayer list is not original, but it is of utmost importance.

The first request that I would venture is that God would help us to maintain a clear conscience in everything that we do in the ministry.  The writer of Hebrews requested, “Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.” (Hebrews 13:18)  As one in the place of serving God, there is a temptation to do so in a dishonest fashion.  Some had succumbed to the temptation in Paul’s day.  He reminded Timothy, “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander.” (1 Timothy 1:19-20)  Timothy had not far to look before he could see evidence of some who started in ministry only to abandon the idea of a clear conscience.

The next request is for freedom of the Scripture.  This request comes from the Apostle Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians.  He requested, “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you.” (2 Thessalonians 3:1)  “Free course” refers to a runner who is unhindered in his push to the finish line.  It describes ability to move unhindered and swiftly.  So Paul instructed the Thessalonians to pray concerning his ministry, and so I would request that you would pray for me.

The next request comes from the very next verse.  “And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.” (2 Thessalonians 3:2)  Deliverance from those who are unsaved is an important request.  For every man that God raises up, Satan raises up a man or woman to oppose them.  Paul’s request was he might be delivered from such people.

The final request is perhaps the most important.  It is given almost verbatim in two books of the Bible.  To the Ephesians, Paul put it this way, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:18-20)  To the Colossians, the request was similarly worded: “Withal praying for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.” (Colossians 4:3-4)  The ability to speak fluently and persuasively was highly valued in the Hellenistic Age in which Paul lived and ministered.  He therefore requested for the ability to speak well in the cause of the Gospel—that God would empower him to speak with not only skill, but also with boldness.  If the Apostle Paul needed skill and boldness to proclaim the Gospel, then who am I to not request prayer for the very same thing?

These are my four requests that I would ask you to pray for in my behalf.  But would you not take these requests and step farther pray for your pastor along these same lines?  Would you not take him to the throne of God and ask that God would do for him what I am asking that he do for me?

Thank you for your prayers and for listening to my prayer list.

Gideon’s Trailer

Our hearts are full tonight.  Before the service, a young man named Robert asked to speak with the pastor after the service was done.  The pastor asked that I meet with them also.  After listening to him talk for a while, we were able to steer him to Christ.  After explaining the gospel to him, he bowed and trusted Christ as Savior.  In retrospect, maybe his salvation was what Satan was trying to prevent by even more trailer troubles.

Up to this point, our current trailer has enjoyed the soft, cushy life of a southern RV—lots of sunshine, with the temperatures dipping into the 30’s occasionally, but not any serious cold weather.  The past two and a half years of our schedule have been pretty easy on this bad beast.  While our schedule has been kind to the trailer, it has not reciprocated in like manner.  Apparently, it prefers the cozy warmth of the repair shop to our grueling road trips, replete with potholes, dirt roads, traffic jams, and angry motorists.  In retrospect, I think it has fought us every mile of the way for the past two and a half years.  We have had five tires blow out—one tire just flew the coop while we were driving through construction—leaking toilets, falling closets, broken dresser drawers, blown fuses, a power cord that will not stay plugged in while driving, and the list goes on and on.  Really, when one thinks back, it seems like a great deal of trouble.  One problem at a time doesn’t seem overwhelming, though, so the evil thoughts of the trailer toward its beneficent owners were overlooked. 

We arrived in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia  on a beautiful sunny day, with temperatures in the high 60’s.  Spring was in the air!  The children laughed and played in the church parking lot, and we quickly set the trailer up with a lovely view of the not-too-distant mountains.  Then, out of nowhere, bad weather blew in.  The temperature dropped, then dropped some more.  Instead of playing outside, the children began asking for blankets, gloves, and hot chocolate.  It snowed.  The trailer sulked.  She decided that this weather was not for her.  Unbeknownst to our family, revenge was being plotted.  After borrowing a kerosene heater in addition to our normal electric heater, we went to bed that night, leaving the water running, so the pipes wouldn’t freeze (this is a trick every evangelist needs to learn).  When we woke in the morning, we found that the pipes had frozen in spite of our precautionary methods, and we had no water.  The trailer snickered with evil glee.  Now life would be extremely inconvenient for this bunch of trailer trash. 

As you can imagine, living in an RV with no water is  difficult, to say the least.  We had the means to make a waterless breakfast, but could not wash the dishes. There were no morning showers, and one of the kids had a midnight accident that could not be laundered, unless we chose to take it outside and scrub it in the falling snow.  Things were beginning to stink in more ways than one.  All bathroom trips had to be made across the freezing parking lot into the church.  All the while, the heaters were keeping things at a tropical temperature, albeit the fumes from the kerosene were a little strong.  No wonder we were all still smiling!  Around two in the afternoon, the pipes finally thawed out, and we were able to resume normal activities.  We weren’t going to let that happen again. 

After the service that night, Paul disconnected the hose, and we thought everything would be fine.  Without water running to the trailer, the pipes would not freeze again.  We also had turned on the propane furnace that day, having exhausted the supply of kerosene in the borrowed heater, and discarding it.  In the period of time that we have owned the trailer, not once had we ever turned on the furnace.  We weren’t even sure that it worked.  Thankfully, it did, but the result of at least three years of dust(not to mention untold amounts of food particles, toys, erasers, and hairbows) burning off was far from pleasant, but we went to bed that night secure in the knowledge that we were snug and warm.  In the middle of the night, though, there was some concern that we would all be roasted alive.  While the furnace was working great, the thermostat was not.  The furnace didn’t shut off the entire night.  The resulting sweat bath was at least purging the kerosene fumes from our bodies.  Parched with thirst, we headed to the the sink to get a drink, but alas, the hose was disconnected, thus no water came out of the faucet.  No problem.  Just throw on some shoes, gloves, scarf, long johns, earmuffs, ski mask, and a parka, and head out to turn on the water.  The trailer cackled with fiendish delight when, after all the hoses were connected, the water still wasn’t working.  It seems that the water that was still inside the pipes froze, and we were once again without water.  Most of the day was spent trying to thaw the pipes inside the trailer walls, a difficult proposition seeing that we could get to none of them without dismantling the trailer.

With two waterless days behind us, we vowed that today would be different.  Indeed, it was.  This time, we had cold water in abundance, but no hot water.  The pipes leading from the hot water tank had frozen going to the faucets.  While we were half-heartedly trying to work on those, one of the kids ran in to tell us that the toilet was overflowing.  A quick inspection  revealed that the hose going to the toilet had developed a leaky valve, and was dripping water all over the floor at a steady rate.  I was puzzled  at the discrepancy of this dilemma.  How could the pipes be frozen and yet the toilet leaking?  The irony was amazing.   How could the water be disconnected, and yet the pipes still freeze?  How could the trailer be as warm as Death Valley in July, and yet the water freeze?  We decided that it must be a miracle of the same type that Gideon had when he put his fleece before the Lord.  One morning, the fleece was wet and the ground dry, the next, the ground was wet and the fleece dry.

One thing is sure, though.  If you visit us before two in the afternoon this week, don’t sniff too closely, because you might get more than you bargained for.  As for us, we are just taking it one day at a time.  And don’t be surprised if you see our trailer smirking…

A Father’s Dream

It was a great victory when each of my children bowed their hearts to the claims of the Gospel and trusted Jesus Christ as Savior.  The next great spiritual goal in my mind for my children is for them to totally surrender their lives to the Lord.  Each needs to realize that after salvation, he or she needs to present his or her life as a living sacrifice to God.

As I look at Josiah, it often seems too soon for him to be involved in youth activities with other seventh through twelfth graders.  Yet, he is in the seventh grade and is perfectly eligible to go to youth meetings, my nostalgia notwithstanding.  Because of the broken down trailer and our being detained in Mobile, Alabama, we were asked to join the church youth group in a trip to Acworth, Georgia, to a youth rally in which several churches were involved.  Josiah came with us while a family from the church watched our younger children in Mobile.

The music and the preaching at the youth rally were Christ-honoring and Scriptural, and Josiah sat on the front row taking it all in.  After hearing a message on Abraham offering up Isaac to God, Josiah decided to give to God his most prized possession, his life.  After hearing how God wants what matters most to us, the decision was very plain in his mind.  He would surrender his life to do whatever God wanted him to do.

As different young people were responding in the invitation, one of the rally workers approached me and asked me to deal with Josiah, not realizing he was my son.  So it was that father and son got a chance to speak freely about this monumental decision.  It was a time of real tenderness on Josiah’s part and great victory for me as his father.

My dealing with Josiah was not unlike my dealing with anyone who makes public a decision of total surrender.  I stressed to him that the decision of full surrender is one that must be revisited daily.  He must remind himself of this promise often, lest he be tempted to take back what he has given to God.  Only God knows what Josiah will ultimately do, but as long as recalls this decision made at this rally today, God will gently lead him every step of the way.

I invite all of you who pray for us to rejoice with me over the broken down trailer.  I invite you to praise the God Whose ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts.  The seeming difficulties we have faced with the trailer are more than worthwhile when we consider all that God has done in the lives of many in our extended stay in lower AL.  Praise the Lord!

Being in the Way

Although few can call his name, most know the most famous statement to come from the mouth of Abraham’s servant in Genesis 24.  He said, “I being in the way, the Lord led me.”  So it was with our ministry.

On Wednesday of last week, we closed a meeting in Semmes, Alabama, or so we thought.  During the course of the meeting, a man came to me and told me that I was having some real problems with my trailer.  He said that they were the kinds of things that I really needed to get fixed or else I should trade my current unit in for another one.  The timeframe?  Sooner rather than later.

Having made some decisions in haste in days gone by regarding these matters, I resolved to pray about this one and seek the Lord’s wisdom.  Not surprisingly, the Lord answered and directed us to repair the trailer we currently have.  He even led us to the proper facility.  The repair, however, will cost us time and we are detained in Mobile for the time being. 

The pastor of the church in which we just closed a meeting asked me to preach on Sunday as well, a Sunday through Sunday meeting of sorts.  It was the Lord’s will and the Lord’s timing in every respect.

All throughout the week, God worked in the hearts of people in the church and they got things right.  By the following Sunday, the Lord was prepared to move on to working in the hearts of lost people.  One man had been praying for his lost wife and mother for many months.  Both ladies came on Sunday morning and were born again.

At the invitation Sunday morning, I specifically told the unsaved people to come forward and get my attention and I would direct them to the personal worker.  In addition to the two ladies who responded, a teenage boy responded immediately.  I had instructed the people who were unsure of their salvation to not merely kneel at the front as others (Christians) would be doing.  They were to look me in the eyes and get my attention.

Kyle didn’t wait.  He didn’t hesitate to follow my instructions perfectly.  I had been paying attention to the ladies, who I knew had been the objects of prayer for some time, and failed to realize that here was another precious soul very serious about salvation.  It was powerful service and one that did a lot to encourage the pastor and his people.

Now, we are involved in a waiting game.  We have no idea how much time will be involved in our trailer repair, nor do we know for certain how much it will cost.  What we do know is that God is in control, and He is in heaven waiting to show Himself strong in response to our faith.

Please pray about the timing and finances of the trailer repair.  As you pray, know that God is hearing and showing Himself mighty in our lives.  For those of you who pray for us, the victories we see are as much yours as they are ours.  Mostly though, the victory belongs to our God, Who has left us His Word and His Spirit with which to minister.  It is our joy to be a part of His plan.

Idleness of the Hands

Both the months of January and February have been blessed months for us.  We had a great meeting in Beaufort, South Carolina, and from there we went back to our home church to preach a special Sunday in north Mississippi.  From there, I went alone out west to southern California and Arizona.  We saw three trust Christ in CA.  The church in AZ was a brand new church plant, and we had a high attendance on Wednesday night of the meeting with 44.  Though we saw no one saved in that meeting, the outreach into the community that came about as a result was a tremendous help to the church.  Now, we are in lower Alabama and God is working here as well.  In every church, we were privileged to see the power of God at work as the Holy Spirit works in concert with the Word of God to bring people to a point of change in their lives.

After the financial strains of last year, the Lord laid it on the heart of a church to take up a special love offering for us.  That meant that this past January was the first January in nearly 12 years of full time evangelism where we got a paycheck every week of the month.  That generosity of God’s people, combined with the normal meetings that we had, served to make up for the financial deficit of the last year.  We are rejoicing in the goodness of God.

The Preacher reminds us in Ecclesiastes 10:18, “By much slothfulness, the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.”  After being out of my trailer for a couple of weeks—since last month about this time—I began preparing everything to go to lower AL.  The problem was that while I was in the Southwest, a tremendous cold front hit the area of MS where we live.  Although I had drained the water heater and the water lines of the trailer, the unit still sustained damage of which I was unaware.  As I was getting ready to go, I noticed that there was a major rupture in the water system of the trailer, a part of the system that had not drained properly when I had tried to winterize it earlier.

I knew that if the problem were not fixed, I would hook the water up in AL, only to see it cascading out the wall of the unit.  The alternative was living in the trailer without water, always inconvenient to say the least.  It would also have to be fixed before we left, since the nature of RV parts stores is that they close early on the weekend when everyone is traveling (and breaking down).  It is probably a giant conspiracy that involves hotel chains, wrecker services, and RV campgrounds as well, and they all get part of the kickback.  For example, you break down on the side of the road, can’t drop your unit there, so you must call a tow service.  Because your home on wheels is now incapacitated, you have to find a place to stay.  If it is a small repair, you can stay in a campground  over the weekend until the parts store is open on Monday.  If it is a large repair, you can stay in a hotel and pay for your unit to be fixed at the unbelievable rate of $130 an hour labor(average), plus parts.

Fixing a trailer is always a difficult proposition.  Not that the work itself is difficult, but the parts are notoriously hard to find.  So it was that I began my epic parts hunt.  The whole thing works like a teenage scavenger hunt in some ways, except that I end up spending a lot of time and money before everything gets done.  Lowe’s did not have what I needed.  Wasted trip number 1.  From there, it was off to a little hardware store that specializes in parts that Lowe’s doesn’t carry.  Two men look at what I need and proceed to try to rig something from their limited inventory.  (Just wrap this up with duct tape and it’ll git ‘r done!)  After purchasing their rig and taking it back to find that it did not work, I realized that I had just made wasted trip number 2.  From there, it was driving across the county to the RV store, cringing all the way at their inflated prices and hoping against hope that this would not be another worthless trek.  When I got to the store, they assured me that they had the part and actually gave it to me.  Success at last—or so it seemed.

When I got the part home and installed it, I was unnerved by the fact that it fit very loosely.  Sure enough, when we turned the water on, the awful sound of water greeted me and I knew that the new part failed to hold.  Disappointed, I went through the neighbor’s yard to pick up the various faucet parts that had been strewn all over it by the escaping water pressure.  Wasted trip number 3. 

By this time it was after 1:00 in the afternoon and we still had about six hours of driving ahead of us.  It was now time for a change of strategy.  I called ahead to the pastor and asked him to get the entire assembly that had gone bad.  After going to the RV parts store and taking a picture, he purchased exactly what I needed to get the problem solved.  We finally got in to Mobile around 9:30 p.m.  (There were other setbacks which would only take more time to tell.)  As for the part?  It took less than five minutes to get it installed and to get water to the trailer.  So we are in our home on wheels again and everything is going well.

Moral of the story?  You must be constantly working on your house to fight the inevitable onslaught of decay.  If you have a house on wheels, the work load at least doubles.  Some time ago, a woman noticed our rig and commented to her friend, “My, that must be the life!”  Oh, if she only knew!

First Fruits

The first revival of our ministry in 2014 is now history.  For the third year in a row, we were in the First Baptist Church of North Port, Florida, where Jared Gritton is the pastor.  Pastor Gritton and I first met when he was an assistant in Urbana, Illinois, in 2003.  We have been friends ever since then.

Because of the presence of seasonal residents of Florida, usually known as “snowbirds,” we had better crowds this year than we did in days gone by.  The Lord worked mightily in the services each night, and many responded to the preaching.

On Thursday, Pastor Gritton and I ventured out in the afternoon to make some visits and talk to some that would be home at that time of day.  We were able to find a woman named Ciria at home.  Ciria had visited the church a few times but had not yet trusted Christ as Savior.

Her story is an interesting one.  She was born into atheistic Communism in Cuba, coming to this country a few years ago.  Her family was a moral one, but one that did not really believe in God.  Upon coming to Florida, she had dabbled in Roman Catholicism because her mother had been a Catholic prior to Castro’s takeover of Cuba.  Her experience in the Catholic Church convinced her that the people there were just going through empty ritual.  Indeed, after coming to First Baptist Church only a couple of times, she had more friends there than she had at the Catholic church in two years of attending.

When we showed up to talk to her, she was very eager to hear what we had to say.  It took no convincing to persuade her that she was a sinner, and she was glad to learn that Christ’s death on the cross was all that was necessary to pay for sin.  After explaining the Gospel to her, she prayed in her living room to ask Christ to save her.  It was a glorious time in the ministry!

Ciria’s husband Paul—of all names—is not saved, and the two are in divorce proceedings right now.  Ciria wants to see her marriage put back together, and we know that God can do it.  If the Lord brings the matter to your mind, would you pray for Paul’s salvation?

We are off now to Beaufort, South Carolina, to preach in the Victory Baptist Church.  Thank you so much for your prayers.

Ready, Set, Go

What parent hasn’t heard these words from his or her child from as they grow up?  And yet those words very aptly describe the last few days of 2013 for our family.  And the work that had to be done to get ready was far from child’s play. 

After a wonderful Christmas season spent at home in Mississippi, we headed out to Ripley, Tennessee, on December 28 to prepare for a Sunday of services there all day December 29.  After preaching three times on Sunday and driving 81 miles back home, we pillowed out heads knowing that the next few days would be intense. 

Monday, we set to work getting ready; that is, preparing the trailer for a long period of time on the road.  Then there was the “get set” part of preparation: checking the air in the tires, changing the truck’s engine oil, replacing the water heater anode, and other technical projects relating to our equipment.

By 1:00 Monday afternoon, we were ready to go.  Eight hundred sixty-four miles of go, in fact.  A day and half later, we arrived in North Port, Florida about an hour before our service was supposed to start.  On Sunday, we begin our first meeting of the year here in North Port, after which he head north to South Carolina.

This year promises to bring some very important decisions for us, particularly regarding the trailer.  Last year, pulling the trailer cost us a little more than $1.64 a mile.  Admittedly, it was a rougher year than usual, mainly due to a transmission that needed to be replaced in the truck.  Still, this kind of expense forces us to make some hard decisions regarding the way we have always traveled as a family.  Would you pray for God’s wisdom as we seek His will in these matters?  What a privilege it is to serve Him, and we know that He will reveal His plan to us in His time.

May God give all of you a prosperous and fruitful New Year.

Sequel

For those of you who hate sequels, please accept my apologies.  For the Crow family, the story of our trip from the upper Midwest to the Southeast concluded in with a flurry of activity.

Our last update ended with a mechanic staying open late on a Saturday to help us get back on the road.  We did get on the road at 12:45 Sunday morning, driving until 4:45 to get to our intended parking spot.  Fearing lest we would not be able to awaken if we lay down to sleep, we simply stayed up all night long and were on time to Sunday school at 9:00.

The Lord gave us very good services and really knit our hearts with the people.  For a brief summary of our travels, I have included the following graphic for reference.  Each letter represents a stop in our journey from SD to SC.  These stopping points do not include the TN breakdown point, but they do give a general idea.

The sequel to the story involves a breakdown in SC.  While on our way to see my brother and sister-in-law last night, the drive shaft broke again.  Currently, we are without transportation until we can get this issue resolved.  Some of our acquaintance have expressed a desire that we no longer contact them at all, since all we seem to have to report lately is bad news.  If you would like to join those of that persuasion, I understand.  My ministry is not responsible for possible fits of depression brought on by reading our updates.

Please know that we live from day to day in confidence that our Sovereign God is in control and at work.  He knows what is going on and we, by the grace of God, continue to trust in Him.

Northern Adventure, Part 3

Upon returning to Madison, where the trailer was parked, we made a very unwelcome discovery.  Although we had left the trailer plugged in with the express intent of keeping our food cool, there was a failure in the system somewhere.  Apparently, during the nearly two weeks we had been gone, the ground fault breaker had tripped, leaving the refrigerator and freezer without power.  It must not be forgotten that temperatures were in the 80’s and 90’s during that time.  So as I opened the refrigerator door, I was assaulted by a combination of spoiled milk, lunchmeat, and several leftovers, not to mention half a dozen condiments, along with the distinct aroma of mildew.  The freezer was worse, with spoiled chicken, sausage, fruit, and vegetables, most of which had combined their juices and run out the front of the door, down the wall and onto the floor in a rather disgusting puddle that was by this time mostly congealed.  It was horrific.  It wasn’t just the smell, but the fact that all hope of having a decent meal was gone.  All that food was really gone.

I found myself at midnight Thursday, washing down the walls, floor, and cleaning out the refrigerator with a strong cleaner.  All of the drawers had to be washed, and all the food thrown into the garbage.  Anyone who has ever had to throw out an entire freezer and refrigerator’s worth of food knows the sick feeling that I experienced that night. 

We unpacked all of our borrowed luggage, thankful to be back in our own abode once more, and hopeful that the next day would bring us closer to our destination.  Friday morning, we picked up the truck, which had a brand new transmission, and dropped off the rental car we had been using.  Excited, and in somewhat of a hurry, we hooked up the trailer and proceeded to “get outta Dodge” as quickly as possible, knowing that we had to make it to South Carolina by Saturday evening.  We parked in Indianapolis that evening, and were hopeful that we would make the nine hour drive to our final destination with no problems. 

All was going along swimmingly as we tooled down the highway, our new transmission shifting effortlessly as we navigated the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee.  About thirty miles from Knoxville, there was a terrible clunk, followed by a tremendous scraping, banging, and other assorted and sundry noises that you never want to hear emanating from any vehicle, let alone the one you are driving.  We lost all momentum as we climbed the hill, and Paul quickly pulled over to the side of the road.  The drill was all too familiar.  Being on the off-road side, I jumped out of the truck and looked under the truck, where I saw the drive shaft hanging down.  This really did not look like an easy-to fix problem.  To make a long story short, our universal joint had broken, allowing the rear drive shaft to fall, alternately scraping the pavement and banging the underside of the truck as the rear wheels continued to turn during our ascent up the hill.

We found ourselves for the second time in about three weeks calling a huge tow truck to pull our truck and trailer to the nearest service station.  In the providence of God, the mechanic’s shop was actually open on Saturday afternoon, and he began working to find the needed parts before we even arrived at the shop. 

Do we know why God has allowed this string of events to take place in our lives?  No.  Do we always look at these things with the eye of faith? No – to be honest, sometimes the sense of sight wants to take over, and tries to muffle that still, small voice that promises, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”  Sometimes the fact that all things are not good overshadows the truth that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose.”  But we know that ultimately, God is still in control of everything that comes into our lives, and we must allow Him to display His glory through our lives, no matter how difficult the circumstances.  Brethren, pray for us!  We know that the thousands of miles we drive each year are cushioned by the fervent prayers of God’s people, and we have seen his protection in each of these very dangerous situations.  We thank each one of you for your unfailing remembrance of our family before the throne of grace.

Northern Adventure, Part 2

Because of our unplanned vacation from our truck and trailer, we were thrown upon the hospitality of the pastor and his family in Minnesota.  They were exceedingly gracious, though, and gave us a room and several spaces on the floor for the kids, and we crashed at their house for the interim.  The men left almost immediately for the scheduled sportsman’s retreat, which is just a way of saying they will escape all civilization and live, if only for a few days, the unrestrained life of which they all dream – fishing, eating, hunting, eating, playing games, eating, and well, you get the picture.  Josiah is proud to be included in these masculine forays into the remote wilderness of the lake country, and it is he who became the star of the next adventure.

During one of the eating episodes of this trip, the men and boys, about forty in number, went to a fish fry and buffet about twenty miles distant from the retreat site.  Josiah, having blown out his tennis shoes during the week, had bound them with voluminous swaths of duct tape, giving himself the appearance of something between an astronaut and the Tin Man of Oz.  In the melee that followed an all-you-can-eat meal, the men began to depart in their caravan of vehicles.  In a quintessential act of bad timing, Josiah decided to answer the call of nature at this point.  Since he had not ridden to the restaurant with Paul, his absence was not noted by that observant person, and in the food-induced coma state of the others, they neglected to see that one of their passengers was missing.  Hence, our son unwittingly became the poster child for the political agenda, “No Child Left Behind.” 

Due to the nature of the activity schedule and the relative chaos of a large group, his absence continued to go unnoticed.  Meanwhile, back at the restaurant, Josiah, having witnessed to the wait staff, waited in vain for his ride to return.  After some time, he asked if his all-you-can-eat buffet was still in effect, and upon being told that it was, went back inside and happily helped himself to another plate.  Upon further reflection, the thought crossed our minds that perhaps this was his goal all along, but it cannot be unequivocally proven.  Apparently, after watching him consume more food, the restaurant staff became worried about losing their day’s profit, and after the space of about two hours, decided to call the local authorities to report this poor foundling that had been left, quite literally, on their doorstep. 

I would be remiss if I did not add that Josiah had tried to call his dad, but because of the remote locale, the cell phone signal was not adequate.  He did not know the land line number to the cabin, and the ensuing confusion was epic.  In a typical junior-high style, he never even thought about calling his mother, who DID know the cabin number, but all in all, he acted with surprising  clarity of mind. 

By this time, Paul was beginning to wonder why he had not seen Josiah in the teeming mass of campers, but assumed that he was asleep in the cabin.  When the call rang out through the camp that the sheriff was looking for Paul, he assumed it was just another practical joke, the kind that men enjoy playing on one another.  However, it became readily apparent that the sheriff was indeed looking for the shiftless lout who had left his son sitting at the restaurant for two hours without noticing he was even gone.  Doubtless, the duct tape shoes only added to the suspicious train of thought that was already speeding through this man’s head.  After a severe lecture on the evils of bad parenting skills, the arm of the law told Paul that he could expect a visit from Social Services, known for their especially aggressive tactics in that part of the country.

Suffice it to say, we went to great lengths to ensure that this undesired and unnecessary encounter never took place.  The following Sunday, our son was showered with shoes of all kinds, and made out like the proverbial bandit with six (some new, some new-to-him) pair of shoes. I’ve been thinking of how to utilize duct tape to my advantage when my shoe choices become somewhat limited, but haven’t quite figured it out yet.

Meanwhile, back in Madison, Wisconsin, the truck was still not ready.  The delay gave us time to visit a church in South Dakota where some of our dearest friends hold their membership.  After that mid-week service, we reasoned that we would head back to Madison, get our truck and continue on with life.  Little did we know what was in store for us in Madison.

Northern Adventure, Part 1

It was a dark and stormy night.  Not literally but figuratively.  A lone candle flickered at the end of the proverbial tunnel. 

It all began benignly enough with a routine 1,500 mile drive to Minnesota.  Things were going along quite nicely when the engine began to race a little more than usual.  Then, on an upgrade, we lost all power.  The first episode of the waiting game began.  Note to self: people in Madison, Wisconsin are not in any hurry to help stranded motorists along the road.  They are in a hurry, though—so much so that they don’t have time to change lanes to give a stranded guy a little space.  After what seemed an eternity of screeching at the children to stay out of the oncoming Interstate traffic, infinite Indian circle trips, and numerous denied requests for water, we finally greeted the tow truck driver.  Then proceeded a wild goose chase on the Information Superhighway.  Phones smoked, batteries panted, Internet connections strained, and voicemails clogged as we endeavored to find places, not only for a broken-down truck, but also for a 36-foot trailer.  Apparently it is a matter of set doctrine in Wisconsin for pastors to ignore their phones on Friday afternoon.  Fortunately, we were able to contact one pastor who had strayed from this tenet of church policy, and regaled him with our dilemma.  He was quick to respond that we could not park at his church because they had just finished paving the parking lot and it was not cured yet because of the recent rains.  When asked for other possible locations, he gave us the name of another area pastor that might allow us to park.  We called this pastor, but he did not come to the phone.  His wife answered, and told us that he was on sabbatical (no joke), and could we please call one of the deacons.  Three deacons later, we ran out of phone numbers and still had no answers.  So, we called the pastor back.  His wife continued to field his calls, and after several more calls, we finally got in touch with someone willing to help.  We discovered that when one is on sabbatical, it is a breach of ethics to drive two blocks to the church to deliver an extension cord.  Who knew? 

A deacon and his wife brought us some luggage, and we began packing to be gone for about two weeks.  Let me hasten to add that packing on the spur of the moment is never my favorite thing to do.  It is only worse when all the clothes that need to be packed are in the dirty clothes hamper.  It has been said that haste makes waste, but, whether or not this is true, we can empirically state that haste makes forgetfulness.  For instance, Paul remembered his cuff links, but forgot to bring his shirt.  This was a considerable oversight considering the lower temperatures of Minnesota.  In addition, the wild gesticulations during his preaching made the use of paper towels inside his suit jacket somewhat impractical.  We considered asking the pastor for an extra shirt, but decided that his 19-inch collar would lend an cowl-like effect to the outfit and would probably distract church members with the sight of overmuch chest hair.  We opted instead for a fitted neck and three-quarter length sleeves from another church member.  It was quite the fashion statement.

Despite the faux pas in apparel, the services went surprisingly well.  However, this chain of unfortunate events was only a harbinger of things to come.

Changing Ends

When I played high school basketball, we changed ends after halftime.  That is, we no longer shot the ball on the same end in the second half as we did in the first half.  August was our month to change ends in evangelism, not ends of the court but ends of the country.  We moved from western Colorado to western North Carolina, a total of 1,754 miles.

Once we arrived in NC, we enjoyed some wonderful times of fellowship.  First we visited the church of which Sarah and I were members for 15 years.  It was so refreshing to see so many friends again, and to be able to minister there in preaching and music.  From there we went back to Ambassador Baptist College and once again ministered in preaching and music.

After one more meeting here in NC, which closes on Wednesday of this week, we turn west again and head towards Mississippi and home.  We will be there long enough to change out summer clothes for winter ones before we head north again.

As a casual reading of the Book of Acts will reveal, much of the ministry of the evangelist is travel and fellowship with other believers.  Luke writes of how itinerant men strengthened and confirmed the churches.  This has been our ministry, particularly this month.  While the travel has been long, the fellowship has been sweet.

Threefold Cord

When I was in college, Bro. Ron Comfort told those of us who were studying for evangelism, “Men, one of the the greatest things that can happen in your ministry is for a pastor to recommend you to all his friends.  This is something only the Lord can do, but when it happens, it will be a great blessing to your ministry.”

On Tuesday of last week, we had nothing on the schedule.  We had to drift south toward CO from northern WY, and as we came through Thermopolis, I saw a name that rang a bell to me.  Why I remember this name above others, I cannot say, but Pastor Harvey Seidel was listed as the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Thermopolis.  In 1998, when I was traveling in the west representing Ambassador Baptist College where I was enrolled as a student at the time, we were scheduled to be with Pastor Seidel.  If I remember correctly, he had to cancel the meeting for one reason or another.  Despite this cancellation, I remembered his name.

Now, as we drove through town and passed his church, I noticed his name on the sign.  I had to stop in McDonald’s to get Internet access so that I could take care of some things.  After an equipment malfunction, I found myself in a Verizon store and felt led to casually ask about Pastor Seidel.  An old-fashioned phone book provided the right number, and after a couple of phone calls, we obtained permission to park our trailer at First Baptist Church.

What followed was something that only God can do.  As Pastor Seidel and his assistant pastor Nathan Winters spent time with me, the Lord knit our hearts together.  I was asked to preach in the midweek service and God met with us in a special way.  Then, because I had some flexibility in my schedule, Pastor Seidel asked that I preach Sunday morning as well.

After we spent time with the staff and families of First Baptist Church of Thermopolis, the Lord directed Pastor Seidel to write letters of recommendation to many of his pastor friends around the nation, one of whom has already scheduled a meeting.

We stand in awe of how our God can choose our friends for us and work in our behalf through the hearts of His servants.

Many road miles await us in the next few days as we make the transition from West (CO) to East (NC).  We appreciate your prayers.

When God Speaks

“Let me tell you my story,” offered the well-dressed man, his wife at his side in the church auditorium.  If the story included the wonderful way that the Gospel had brought him to salvation, I would be very grateful indeed to hear.  If, on the other hand, it was just another experience of something unusual—an alien encounter, for instance—I would rather not waste my time.  But since I could have no way of knowing whether I would enjoy the story or not until I had heard it, I indicated to the man to proceed.

“I was lying in bed in my house one night when something awakened me at 2:00 in the morning.”  Oh great!  This is not the kind of story that I usually like.  “I got out of bed and began to head downstairs because I saw a light coming from the patio.  When I got midway down the stairs, this feeling came over me and I knew unmistakably that God loved me.”

And?  I waited to hear the part where the story would turn to realization of sin and turning to Christ, but the story was done.  This circumstance alone formed the basis for this man’s assurance of salvation.  In his mind, God spoke to him that night in the most definite way.

Now for my story.  Not about my salvation, but about how God speaks, really speaks, to me.  As I was alone praying one day, I began to reflect with disappointment on my shortcomings, my failures.  There were so many times when I had failed to do what I should have done or done what I should not have done.  In prayer, I began to bring these up to God when He simply shut me down.  If you don’t think that the God of heaven does this from time to time, take another look at the Book of Joshua.  God shut down my prayer because it was His turn to speak.  He reminded me that when I was yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for me, one of the ungodly.  He continued by reminding me that scarcely for a righteous man would one die.  No matter though: I was not righteous.  Yet, peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  Still of no consequence, for I was not good.  But God commendeth His love toward me in that while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me.  God had spoken, and though the voice was not audible even to me, there could have been nothing more real.

Recently, I have come to call these types of experiences in my life—and yes, there have been others when God spoke definitely to me—Emmaus Road experiences.  The name comes from a location casually mentioned in Luke 24.  Read it.  And start looking for your own Emmaus Road experiences.

Beast of the Forest

Some years ago when I was still in high school, I heard a Christian college group in a Sunday morning church service.  They sang a song entitled “All God’s Creatures Got a Place in the Choir.”  It was a fun song, to be sure, but I was impressed with the lack of spiritual content in the song, especially for a Sunday morning service.

Unfortunately, this message follows much the same vein: very little spiritual content.  That being said, God does remind us that “Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.”  I suppose that we have seen the cattle upon a thousand hills since crossing the Mississippi River back in May.  Today, we saw one the beasts of the forest.

When confronted with an animal like this, especially this close up, two things come to mind.  First of all, Praise the Lord who made such a magnificent animal!  Second of all, When and where can I get my tag?  Pass the rifle; this looks a lot like dinner.

The Chinese would have us remember that a picture is worth a thousand words.  You really don’t want to read a thousand words from me, so I will simply endeavor to say what I am thinking in pictures.

New Name and Design

 

Most of you only get my e-mail version and will not be affected by what I have to say here.  But for those who read my online version, the name of my blog has changed from “Notes from the Road” to “Crowing About.”  The reality is that I usually have at least something to crow about.  Hence the name.

Paul

Highways and Hedges

It was the first time I had ever done something like this as evangelist.  Several months ago, Pastor Ken Schultz of the Emmanuel Baptist Church of Box Elder, SD, called me and asked if I would come and go soul-winning with him and his people for two weeks.  We would go out several hours each day, five days a week.  In addition to going out with him and his people door to door, I would also preach in the services while I was with him.  He requested that I teach on Baptist history while I was there.

The plan of his outreach was something called “The Book of John Project.”  The idea is to encourage people to read a specially prepared copy of the Gospel of John.  The copy of John is printed alone—that is, without any of the other books of the Bible with it—and has specially prepared explanatory notes introducing the reader to Christ.  Since the Gospel of John was written with the express purpose of convincing people to believe in Christ and so be saved, the book is given out to unsaved people with faith in this divinely inspired purpose statement.

But the New Testament gives us reason to believe that reading the Bible is not enough to understand the Gospel.  (See Acts 8:26-39.)  Therefore, The Book of John Project calls for personal workers to follow up with those who have read John’s Gospel so that they might answer any questions the person might have.  Of course, the objective is to see people saved.

In Box Elder, we gave out books and took names.  The plan was for the pastor and his people to follow up later, first by phone and then face to face.  In the time that we went out, we had nearly 70 people sign up to read the Gospel of John and have someone from the church return to follow up with them.  Pastor Schultz was both encouraged and nervous at the same time: that is more people than he has in his church.

I suppose I could fill a decent-sized volume with stories of encounters from these two weeks alone.  Suffice it to say that it is a joy to go out into the highways and hedges and preach Christ to sinners.

I Being in the Way

Because of a late schedule change, the Lord allowed us a couple of days in our schedule of no services.  We were able to celebrate Esther’s birthday for the first time in seven years (her entire life) on the actual date of her birthday.  But after a couple of days off, I was eager to get back into church ministry.

Because of the extra days of leeway in the schedule, I was able to show up to a church on a Friday instead of the more traditional Saturday night.  Coming in on a Friday allowed me to go soul-winning with the pastor on Saturday morning—an activity that I rarely get to do while I am on the road.

The desire in my heart to see someone saved had become a passion.  We were able to see seven campers trust Christ in camp, but somehow that was not enough.  As I prayed, asking the Holy Spirit for direction and power, He led me to go early and join the pastor on Saturday morning.

Visitation here in AZ is not unlike visitation in other places.  The cults have saturated the area so that some will decry the very idea of going from house to house.  Going out on a Saturday morning means that some will not answer the door because they are in bed, while others have left already for work or weekend play.  Still, in spite of those obstacles, we went, believing to be have been led by the Holy Spirit.

In the end, we encountered people at only two homes.  The first was a good visit, but the two men with whom we spoke did not live in the area.  The second house at which we found people home turned out to be the answer to our prayer.

Nineteen-year-old Daniel was over at his mother’s house that morning and answered the door when we knocked the second time.  Unusually, he invited us in immediately, particularly after he discovered that we were not sheriff’s deputies.

His mother gave testimony of salvation, but when the conversation turned to him, he did not know whether or not he was saved.  After hearing the gospel, however, he bowed his head and prayed to accept Christ as Savior.  Praise the Lord for His leading and enabling!

We quit the Southwest next week (who in their right mind comes to AZ in the summertime?) and begin to head north for ministry there.  Thank you all for praying.  Our greatest needs are the leading and power of the Holy Spirit—the same needs, in fact, that you have as well.

Victory in the Desert

After a week of preparation work, camp started for us in the mountains of southern New Mexico.  This week of camp—it was supposed to be two but got shortened to one at the last minute—was a combined junior/teen week.  I was to preach to the juniors while my dear friend Dwight Smith preached to the teens.  The Lord blessed us with seven salvation decisions and a host of other decisions as well.

Though the plan was for me to preach to the juniors, Bro. Smith insisted that I take two of the teen slots.  The Lord greatly used those two messages to speak to the hearts of the teens.  At the testimony service Friday night, many specifically mentioned decisions that had been made during those two preaching times.

For the first time in several years, Sarah and I were able to celebrate our anniversary on the actual day, June 17.  It has been thirteen wonderful years for us and we praise the Lord for the wonderful life we have had together.

While we have been in the southwest, the Lord has opened up other doors of ministry in NM and AZ in addition to camp.  After this coming Sunday, we will pack up our trailer and begin the long trek to SD where we will be for a while before spending time in CO before we once again turn eastward.

Thank you for all your prayers for us.  We are grateful to see how God is answering on a regular basis.