They ask what to do, and if they do not like what you have to say, they do their own thing.  When you go to someone seeking advice, is that really what you are looking for?  Are you surrendered to follow as long as it lines up with the Bible?  Is your heart teachable and open? Do you trust the person you have asked?  Will the conversation fall on deaf ears?

Some things to keep in mind:

1.  You and I do not know everything.  One of the first things to grasp is what you do not know….and stop kidding yourself when you think you do.  On deputation, if people knew half of what they think they do, support would be raised in three months.

2.  What we do not know someone else does.  It is vital to surround ourselves with the right people.  You need to be discipled so that you can disciple.  Have a mentor in your life.  Find people who have gotten the job done and listen thoroughly to them.

3.  We must be willing to ask.  Take initiative in your life. Cease to have the attitude that people are to call, visit and come to you and start seeking out people.  Have a list of questions with you.  Learn how to ask questions, then learn how to listen. You may not ask because you do not want to seem ignorant.  Too late.  Those who do know already sense your ignorance because you will not ask and learn.  Be careful of often hardening your neck.

4.  We must be willing to change.  When advice and counsel are given, I must apply it to my life and ministry.  If I keep going the same direction I will continue to end up in the same destination.  Our mindset should be,  “I am not looking for you to validate what I am doing I am looking for direction in my life.”

In the multitude of counsellors there is safety.  In the book of proverbs alone is a wealth of wisdom dealing with counsel.  Look up some references today and see how your life lines up with the wise.  Deputation is a blast, if you do it correctly.  If you do it your own way do not blame the economy or the field you are going to for a stubborn, unteachable spirit. Stop asking for permission and start seeking Godly counsel.

I want to help everybody, but not everybody wants help.

Found an awesome contact at this missions conference, it is a lady in Alabama who owns a Van Heusen distribution center, she gives as many free shirts as you want if you are a IFB and KJV pastor or missionary, you only pay $1 per shirt for shipping.

She will tell you to be prompt in paying the postage, she has been burned by bum missionaries before.

Also, she says that if pastors want to order a bunch for missionaries coming to their missions conference as gifts they can do that.

Her name is Marsha Edgard. Here is her phone number: (334) 445-1719

1. The first night he mentioned his last conference he was having the missionaries preach, and he said by the end of the second night it needing rescuing so bad he called in the guy who has preached this conference. I couldn’t believe he actually said that in front of everyone, but wow.

He said later that he doesn’t need a missionary to be super dynamic, it’s not everyone’s personality, but he said that he could tell that they were preaching stale messages that hadn’t worked them over in months or years. He said “I don’t want a spiel, I want a sermon!”

I’ve already seen how easy it is to let studying slip on deputation, I’m trying real hard to develop at least one new sermon and read one book a week. I need it, and pastors notice.

2. He just dropped two missionaries for not reporting. He made a point to tell us how important it was to him, and that he had called one of those missionaries and confronted him. The missionary claimed his pc had been down for months, and get this: the pastor printed off his facebook activity and read it to him, saying “If you can get on Facebook you can write me a stupid prayer letter.”

3. He tested me big time on taking time. He first told me to pray for the service, next night he asked me to give 5 minutes on our ministry, the next night a 5 minute testimony, then he came to me and said “I see you can tell time so I’ll let you preach tomorrow.”

May your heart be stirred so you may stir others.

Bro. Tony

I pray you are making calls and setting up meetings.  It may seem futile at this time of year but you are setting a foundation for the next year.  (I know you wanted to hear that again:))

This morning in my devotions, I was in Acts and got to chapter 5:41 – “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.”

So many times we look at suffering as such a negative thing.  Truly God must not love them.  They surely had sin in their life and God got them.  At the time they needed God the most, He abandoned them.  Why do good people suffer? They have been put in prison, beaten, and scolded.  Instead of honor they got humiliation.  Seems like a bad day, right?

What was their response to such treatment and suffering?  They rejoiced!  The very thing that would take our song, gave them one.  Where we would frown, they smiled.  What in the world??  There was something deeper in their lives than the average Christian we see today.  There was an understanding of who they served and who He is.  It was not about their feelings, their name, their ministry, their salary, their “atta boys” after the sermon.  It was not about them at all.

They rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for His name.  Worthy?  Do I find suffering or adversity for my walk and love for Jesus Christ.  Am I so much like “everyone else” that I fit right in?  Can God see such passion, commitment and love in my life that I would be counted worthy to be noticed and reacted against?  Worthy….for suffering.

My heart hurts today.  Would I be counted worthy to magnify Christ through suffering.  Through adversity?  Through doing right when the world does wrong.  For standing when others sleep.  So many times I fear I would live to reach the level of worthy to be praised; yet that is not the highest level.  Am I worthy to suffer for His name.  Do they see Christ in me?

Would shame be a welcomed companion if it meant God had looked down and counted me Worthy?

May God bless you all greatly,

Bro. Tony

Begin now studying about language learning.  Be careful speaking the language because once you “have it down” it will be hard to change and most of us are not going to learn it right the first time.  Remember it may sound correct to you, but you are not the judge.  Let a national help you.

There is a book called LAMP.  This will be an excellent guide and starter as you establish your plan of action concerning language acquisition.  You AND your wife need to learn the language.  Do not let the children, schooling, schedule or anything else get in the way.  You must be committed to the importance of learning the language.  Speak with veteran missionaries who have learned the language and get pointers from them.  Start now so you can be ready later.

A PDF Packet is a way to send your information to a pastor over email. You can create a stylish document that can be saved in a PDF format and easily be sent over email at a pastor’s request.

Key Points to Remember
Make sure it is Printable – When designing it or getting it designed, remember that it not only needs to look sharp in the computer screen but also in printed form. It is likely the pastor or church secretary will print the packet to review the information. Use color, but not full color. Don’t be afraid of white space.
Make sure it is Readable – Make sure the design allows for easy reading and it is easy on the eyes. Don’t make the pastor work to find the information he is looking for. Make the flow and design of it easy to read….scroll down, not across.
Make sure to use Pictures – You don’t want it to be all text, so add in pictures about your ministry, previous experience, and of the country your going to.
Make the File Small – You are sending this over email, so you want to make sure the file size is small and easy to send. Try to keep the file size around 2MB.
Fill it full of Information – Because this doesn’t cost you money you can fill it full of information about your family, filed, and focus. Include everything you would in a brochure.
This is not a Brochure – You don’t want to just send a copy of your brochure over email because it is hard to read, the file size will probably be to big, and it won’t look good printed up.
Link to Your Video Online and Website
Make sure the File Name includes your Name “Name – Information Packet.pdf”

Though I do not know computers as well as I should, I try to give you ideas that will be a great help to you.  I want to thank my friend, Mark Tolson missionary to China, for putting this together.  Thanks Mark!

Can we spiritually look at our lives and see growth and maturity in the things of God? I love the attitude of one-handed football player in St. Louis, “I don’t have a handicap, sir.  I just don’t have a right hand.”  Many times we will take comfort in the excuses we have for not reading our Bible or growing in Christ.   President Harry Truman said, “You cannot lead others until you first lead yourself.”

Make a commitment to change and growth in your personal life.  This is a personal decision and must be made by the individual.  Will you commit before God today that you will implement into your life things that will help you grow for His glory?

Be accountable to someone with the decision you have made.  Let them lovingly help you as you make growth a natural part of your life.  I am always afraid when people do not want accountability in their life.

Set growth goals in your life.  Things you would like to see developed and matured.  Make these goals measurable and obtainable.

Bring the resources into your life that will help all of this become a reality.  Place yourself in the middle of a growth environment. The material you read, sermons you listen to and people you hang around will determine what kind of growth environment you have, if any.  Be careful in your selection of these things.  Some that I thought were smart enough to chew the chicken and spit out the bones were not.  Hebrews 5:14 warns us, But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

May we never be guilty of staying in the same place when that place is a lack of growth for God.  Grow on my friend, grow on!

I want to publicly brag on Lauryn.  With her being the eldest of the girls, there are many responsibilities that naturally would fall to her. Especially with Camryn having CF.  Lauryn has and is such a big help with her sister and around the house. She is very responsible and has not caused me or her mother any reason to worry.  Seems like she baby sits all the time with never a complaint.

I am grateful for her salvation and love for the Lord.  I am very proud of you Lauryn and wish you a happy, happy birthday.

May God continue to bless you and grant you many years to serve Him.

Dad

To grow, you have to be intentional.  If you don’t have a plan for personal growth, then don’t expect to grow.  People have often said that practice makes perfect,  that is not true.  Ever go golfing? Guys who go every week for years still are making the same fundamental mistakes they made when they first started.  Practice does not make perfect, it makes permanent. No matter what work you do or where you do it, your greatest challenge is you. Let God work on who you are before He works on what you do.

In II Timothy 1:6 states, Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. God wants you to stir up the gift that he has place inside you. This takes on the thought of stirring up a fire, to revive a fire, to kindle up.  If you do not stir up a fire, it will die and go out.  Unfortunately that is what has happened to many men.  The fire has gone out.  They are no longer a burning inferno for God.  They have stopped maturing and growing.  One man said that, “Gifting without growth leads to ineffectiveness.  Can you see growth in your own life? Can others?  Are you adding to your faith?   Is there a dissatisfaction inside you because you know you are not growing like you should or used to?

Be careful of “wet wood”.  Many things out there today will make you smoke but not burn.  Be careful of childish, lite, superficial, silly podcasts, books and sermons.  Put some cured oak on your soul and you should burn for quite a while!  May there be substance to your praying, preaching and serving.

May we take Paul’s admonition seriously, that we too, would stir up the gift that is within us!

I have watched you get up earlier and more often than most women could ever comprehend in caring for our children.  I grin on the inside when I hear them say they are tired, then ask you to do something for them so they can rest.  I grin knowing the night you have had.  Knowing that they got more rest than you yet with grace and tireless love you help them.

I have watched as you have grown in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Your faith and reliance upon him strengthens your husbands soul.  Your children truly rise up and call you blessed.  Your love and devotion to the Word of God softens my heart even as I type this for my blog.

I have watched you hurt.  I have watched you cry. I have watched you sacrifice. I have watched you serve, minister and love…..and not one time complain.

I love God first and foremost.  You are so instrumental in that.

But you, you are my hero!!  I love you so very much.  Thank you for marrying me and being my wife!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STACEY!