Shipment

Yesterday we packed 21 pallets into a container and sent it off bound for Romania!  Thank you, Tranco Warehouses, Chattanooga, Tennessee!  It went overland to Wilmington, NC and then by ship to Antwerp, Belgium.  Then to a warehouse in Holland to be offloaded and repacked onto a 20 ft. straight truck and 20 ft. trailer.  The shipment will go overland through Holland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and finally to Romania.  It should take about six weeks.  Pray for safety for the ship captain and the truck drivers as the shipment makes its way to the Bible Study Center in Surduc, Romania.  May the coats and clothes be a blessing to many this winter.  Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “… Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”  If Jesus were here today, He would feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit those in prison.  But, for sure, He would preach the gospel to all of them.  Hey, do good deeds AND preach salvation to those whom you serve!

 

Silver

 

When I was a ten-year-old boy, Papaw and Granny Epperly had 1500 laying hens on their little farm in West Virginia.  We collected and processed eggs all week and peddled them on Friday in town for 50¢ a dozen.  When we got home on Friday evenings, we sorted through the coins.  I collected dimes and my brother collected pennies.  And I have been collecting silver since those days.  When my Granny Whitely passed away in 1989, she left me a roll of silver quarters.  I have added to my collection of silver over the years, and that collection is about the size of my retirement.  I was reminded by a preacher years ago that a Christian’s security is not in silver or gold; our security is the Lord.  Beginning in the 1864, each US coin has “in God we trust” minted on it.  Our hope is not in a silver or gold coin; our hope is in the God, who gives us true wealth.  Psalm 121:2, “My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.”

Childishness

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased”  C.S. Lewis  James 1:14&15, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”