An Update!

I know it's really bad not to update my blog for almost a month. But, what can I say? I just didn't do it. Hopefully, I'll be back "into it" now. It's hard to get myself back on track after being gone for so long (20 days!). I had a sweet time with my honey...I sure do love him. I thank God for him! He is such a blessing in my life and such an encouragement in my walk with the Lord. If you think of it, please pray for his business...this month isn't looking too great as of right now. Not making budget would complicate things somewhat, so we are praying for 3 orders before August 1, which is Wednesday. Please join us in praying! :)

While I was in Virginia, we were able to do some witnessing. On July 4, we went to Red Hill and did some witnessing there, though not as much as we would've liked. Then, we went to DC with a bunch of other Christians and did a little bit of "political activism", so to speak. We delivered information to each senator about the upcoming hate crimes bill, which, more or less, seeks to illegalize the preaching of God's Word against the wickedness of homosexuality.

The rest of the time was spent with my darling and his family at their home. They had little puppies, so that was lots of fun. They'll all be given away by next time I'm there, I reckon. Unless they keep Sassy, who looks just like her papa Grommit, who died this past Sunday in a car accident. He was a good ol' dog, and will be missed.

In other news, congratulations to Lauren (Ben's sister) and Nathan who are now officially courting! May God bless this wonderful season in your lives!

Once I left Ben's, I went to our family reunion at the beach in South Carolina, which was, as always, so much fun! I so enjoy the company of my family. They are a blessing to me! I didn't spend hardly ANY time AT the beach, but our house was on the beach, so I saw plenty of it. There were lots of late nights up playing games and chatting, and it was a lot of fun.

Since I've been home, I truly haven't gotten that much done. I started back at the abortion mill, which was not particularly fun, but I thank God for the opportunity to serve Him. Yesterday, there was a save, which was so glorious! God is certainly good. Today was less wonderful...not one mommy left, out of about 20-25 who went in to kill their precious babes. May God have mercy on them and grant them repentance.

It should be a nice weekend...tomorrow, I get to go out witnessing with my church, and then I need to go grocery shopping. Sunday is Pastor's last sermon on Matthew and it's also friend day. There is a picnic and baptism after the service. It should be a sweet time of fellowship!

Hope you are doing well!

Of Saved Babies, Back Yard BBQs, and Sabbath Rest

My weekend was pretty nice. After an incredibly stressful,saddening Friday at the abortion mill, a relaxing weekend was much invited. It's very easy sometimes to feel "crippled" under burdens you have, but thankfully when we are weak and lean on God, He is made strong. Praise Him that His grace is indeed sufficient for us!

Saturday, we headed back to the death camp at 6 in the morning. Early on, the people there for infant slaughter seemed incredibly hard-hearted. I was definitely trying to prepare myself for another disheartening day. Later in the morning, a Roman Catholic man named Mark who has an ultra-sound machine, showed up on the sidewalk. Having an ultra-sound machine there is such a wonderful tool to encourage the women to have mercy on their babies.

The first mommy came out about an hour after he arrived, to get her ultra-sound. After seeing her tiny baby bouncing around inside of her, she decided she could not go through with it! She and her friend came together to have abortions, and she went in and tried to get her friend to come out. I'm not sure whether her friend did or not.

While "Natalie" was still in the van seeing her baby, "Ashley", a sweet girl Patte had talked to earlier in the morning came out and said she had changed her mind and decided not to kill the baby, and wanted an ultra-sound. Unfortunately, the baby didn't show up because she is so early in pregnancy. Ashley was planning to visit an wonderful local adoption agency today to begin the process of picking a couple to adopt her little boy or girl, as she doesn't think she's ready at this time to care for a child.

While the other babies were still slaughtered on Saturday, the two saves simply make being there "worth it." It thrills my heart so when a woman spares her child from his or her imminent death! Please pray that we will be able to keep in touch with both Mommies, and ultimately lead them to the Savior!

We left the abortion mill shortly after for evangelism with our congregation. My group, consisting of Mary Anne, Leah, and myself, spent most of our time speaking with three separate teams of Jehovah's Witnesses. One of the leaders was a former elder, and was so incredibly hard hearted. His wife, leading her young daughter, was hard hearted as well. The last young man, David, who was out with his father (who spoke only Spanish) seemed to be fairly open to the Word of God. He has my Dad's number...pray that God will soften his heart!

After evangelism, we came home to let the dogs out and then headed back to the east side of town for a BBQ to say good-bye to my good friend, and fellow minister (on the sidewalk), Jesse, who is heading to India for missions, and won't be back for an entire year. It was a very sweet time of fellowship! The food was pretty good too ;o) It's hard to believe it will be a whole year until he's back on the sidewalks with us! His fiancee probably thinks it will be unbearable...but she'll be planning a wedding while he's gone. :o)

Sunday was also wonderful. I love my brothers and sister in Christ. Fellowshipping with them, and sitting under the sound preaching of God's word is truly quite edifying! My Sunday School class is going through the book, The Excellent Wife, by Martha Peace. It is a really good book--I highly recommend it to any lady who wants to be a godly wife :)

Today has been a fairly quiet day. I've been able to read and clean, and exercise...it's been nice. I love being a stay-at-home daughter!

Hope everyone is doing well!

"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God!"

The preaching of the Word by a man of God is so wonderfully precious. I am truly blessed to be in a local church where the Word is solidly proclaimed by a pastor who is sold out completely for the Lord!

Today's sermon was so splendidly convicting. The passage Pastor Dave preached from was Matthew 16:13-17.

The whole sermon was excellent, but when he got to verse 16, when Simon Peter confesses, "Thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God," he had so many wonderful things to say. I can't remember them all...thankfully, we got a copy of the CD of the sermon! The reality of Peter's confession, that Jesus IS THE Christ, the Son of the Living God should compel those of us who believe to absolutely radical obedience, to a life completely sold out for Him. And the reality of it is...if that fact has NOT compelled a person to bring forth fruit that is suitable for repentance (Mathew 3:8), then they simply have not grasped the reality of Christ as Lord...and if He is not a person's Lord, He is not their Savior, either.

I thank the Lord for revealing the Truth to me. As Christ said to Peter, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 16:17) A person can have a head knowledge of the gospel, and can even appear to follow Christ for a time (until trials come, and they prove they are not in the faith), but unless the Spirit of God reveals the truth (which won't usually happen without the faithful preaching of the Word) to a person and awakens their Spirit, they simply won't "get it," as Simon Peter did.

Also in the passage is the verse where Christ says "on this rock will I build my church," which the Roman "church," uses to support their faulty apostolic succession deal with the pope. The problem is, they are simply wrong. Their whole religious system is built on a faulty interpretation. When Christ says "you are Peter" the word he uses for Peter is "petros" (in the Greek) which means 'a pebble' and when He says "on this rock will I build my church" the Greek word is "petra" which is the word for a very LARGE rock. Clearly, the rock upon which He was to build His church was not Peter, who two verses later, Christ called "Satan," but rather, on the truth of what Peter said. Christ, the Lord, is the rock on which the church is built! Pastor Dave gave us a few other points to use in refuting this false roman doctrine:

• No where else in scripture is Peter called a rock
• He is a worthless foundation (Matthew 16:22)
• The early church simply was not built on Peter
• Never once was a successor of Peter mentioned in the Bible
• The entire New Testament teaches that Jesus Christ is the Rock (1 Corinthians 3:11; Matthew 16:16~the confession of Peter is Jesus Christ, the Rock He refers to in the following verse)

So, needless to say...church was splendid today. The preaching was wonderfully convicting, and the fellowship was sweet. Praise God!

Hope you all had a wonderful, worship-ful, preaching-ful LORD'S Day!

><> Mary Jo <><>