BAPTISM IN THE WILDERNESS
A relative of mine asked me how we baptized these brethren who live remotely. I told him we used a local river. He said he had never seen any other method of baptism other than in a baptistry. I thought, “how American that is.” We had such a good time of fellowship and food as well as … most of our students ended up to their necks in the river either by “accident” or just, “Oh, it’s so hot and that river looks so refreshing.”
SNAKE ALERT SNAKE ALERT
Usually, there are no snakes in the baptistry but one of our thirteen year old girls in the school audibly announced the presence of a large snake crawling over her foot while helping with the food. This is not uncommon in the wilderness of the Philippines. This announcement cut short all the men’s dip in the river as they bravely armed themselves with a machete and a bamboo stick and surrounded the small stand of bamboo where the snake safely retreated. They all added to the slight discomfort of the snake as they tried to burn it out by igniting the stubble around the tall bamboo. It sure made for a memorable baptism in the wilderness.
THIRTEEN TO THIRTEEN
The same twelve-year-old girl who had the snake encounter went to school and led a classmate to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord. We see the fruit of our Bible teaching in many of our students and it is very enjoyable to behold. I am not a farmer, but it must bring great delight to plow, plant, weed, water, watch and wait and finally to enjoy sitting in your rocker and watching your labor come into fruition. This is also true in the work of the Lord. What a blessing.
HOW MANY OVERPASSES NEAR YOUR HOME????
Here is a picture of a not-very-attractive overpass and traffic flowing under. If you zoom the pie you will see how our ministry added to the attractiveness of this ugly overpass by making available some colorful and nice looking scripture signs. In one of my books on publick ministry under the chapter heading “Anyone can hold a sign” I tell the story of one of the first times I ever held a scripture sign for passing cars to read. We were with a church in CA and their visitation program was not an easy one so one night a week they went to the busiest road and lined up on both sides and just held signs. It was a cool night in northern California, and I was separated from my wife and all other brethren, so no fellowship, just holding a sign. Well, the devil climbed on my shoulder and gave me a small fit. “Oh, Yeah, big time street preacher … What are you doing now? What good is this? So, I resisted the devil and paid attention to exactly what I WAS doing. I started a timer on my watch and counted the cars driving paste and estimated the number of passengers who could have seen the sign. Remember, I am holding a portion of the Word of God. Isa. 55:11. I multiplied by the number of folk holding signs on my side and doubled that by the number on the other side and the total amazed me. It was somewhere in the thousands of people who had an opportunity to read a portion of God’s Word that night. What else would you have to do to get even a small portion of that number of people to read a portion of God’s Word that will not return unto Him void. The devil departed from me.How many overpasses are there near your house? What a simple way for a housewife, wheelchair-bound, or common person to spend a few minutes a day and please the Lord at the same time. Scripture signs are usually free.
JUST FOR FUN • JUST FOR FUN • JUST FOR FUN
I wrote the subtitle three times because I want you to remember to keep thatthought as I tell you this story. We had a youth fellowship and had a competition of saying all the books of the Bible on a stopwatch timer … we had three winners whose time was very close. One girl did it in 25 seconds … WOW. One young man did it but had to breathe so his time was 24. The winner said all the books of the Bible by memory in 22 seconds. That’s 3 books per second.If I had not been there, I would not have believed it. NOW JUST FOR FUN I WOULD LIKE YOU PASTORS TO EITHER HAVE THE SAME CONTEST AND TRY TO BEAT THIS IMPOSSIBLE ACHIEVEMENT OR AGREE WITH ME THAT MICO APOSTOL IS THE CHRISTIAN WORLD CHAMPION. Just send a reply and say Champion and I will make the announcement. Mico will love it. Just for fun. Robin and I are in excellent health and are enjoying the sunshine of our ministry even through the dark cloud that still hangs over this ministry. Don’t stop praying now.
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