My how the time flies. I feel like we just brought in 2013 and it's about to go out. We are excited about Christmas Eve because we have a Christmas Carol Sing service on that night. It's always a special evening and we're looking forward to it already.

We had good attendance today. It was a blessing to have some back with us who had been away for a little while. I preached this morning on "Soul Prosperity" from John's friend, Gaius, in III John. We're anticipating a fun evening as we have our Children's Choir practice and our study in Acts. Thanks for praying for our ministry.

I forgot to mention that we had a first time visitor on Sunday. The Christian young man that I met at a shop came and visited. He and I had an unusual divine appointment where the rack holding the car mats broke as I was hanging up a set. I don't often ask people if they are believers but the Lord had me ask him. It was a joy to have him visit our service. 

I also forgot to mention that the men's prayer breakfast last Saturday went very well. We had a good group and a good prayer time.

The Lord gave me a good witnessing opportunity yesterday. Thanks for praying for divine appointments.

We just got back from Biggar. It was a lovely drive through the countryside.  We met Ron at the church and he showed us around. Please pray that God will give wisdom to them as they pray about God's intent for that property. They have seen the Lord do some neat things with that property since buying it 18 years ago. If God allowed us to assist in keeping a ministry use of that facility, we would prayerfully consider doing a Sunday afternoon service there. Thank you for praying with us and with them about this. (See pics. below.)

The Lord gave us a great day today. The spirit was good and the attendance was good. I preached this morning on Abraham's conversion in Genesis 15. The transaction took place as Abraham trusted God and God counted it unto him for righteousness. Tonight we had a singspiration and special prayer service. We concluded with communion.

An extra blessing from the Lord was selling our other car this evening. Thank you for praying with us about that.

I was able to finish the rest of Loanhead yesterday afternoon. That does not mean that this flyer is finished. We have other nearby villages that I try to get to. One of those villages is about 30 miles away. Please pray for another missionary and I as we look at a church building in this village this coming week. 

Our service went well last night. We had our faithful group out. We are praying for God to build increase our attendance on Thursday night and trust he will bring others out in His timing. We enjoyed studying Psalm 68. The Covenanters would sing this Psalm as they went into battle. It was the Psalm that the Lord put on my heart for our revival services last Spring.

We are hosting a prayer breakfast tomorrow morning at an Inn about a mile from here. Please pray for God to give us a powerful prayer time. We are looking forward to a great day.

I lost our iPod a while ago and I missed listening to messages while I was putting out flyers. The Lord helped Benson to find it recently and I was able to have that with me today. I listened to two messages preached by Morris Gleiser. One was on prayer and was a refreshing challenge.

The Lord also answered prayer in an encouraging way this morning. I mentioned recently that the Lord helped the cd player to start so that it could close. Well, after listening to that cd for a long time and not knowing how to turn it off, I tried taking it out. That caused the original problem. We tried all the buttons but no joy. I prayed about it this morning and asked the Lord to let the player eject the cd. When I started the car this morning it put it out. (I tried yesterday turning the car on and off and that didn't work.) So, thankfully this will not be a problem again.

I had two good opportunities to tell others about Jesus this morning. One was in the home of a friend of mine. We have been praying for him for quite a while. Another was with a man to whom I had briefly spoken before. The Lord helped me get a lot done. One more morning should complete Loanhead with the newest flyer. It won't be long until I am back in this area with our Christmas Carol sing flyer. So, I'm thankful to have this one nearly out. Thanks for your prayers.

The Lord gave us a good day. The kids are especially excited about our children's choir. We just started last week and we are practicing for our Christmas Carol Sing service on Christmas Eve. We've got a good group of kids and we are having a lot of fun in our practice times.

Tonight we looked at the story of Peter's escape from prison in answer to the prayers of God's people. I began with a story of a man who is in his early 70's who still faithfully serves the Lord. I'll not mention his name online but will put a small section from his biography below. He is still involved in ministry in China but is having a major surgery this month. We need to be reminded that the church was born in persecution and that she continues to face persecution.

"Dr. _________________________ has been called “the Last disciple of Wang Ming Dao.” Wang Ming Dao was called “the Father of the House Church Movement in Mainland China” by many western missionaries. Dr. _____________________ was brought up in a Christian home in which his mother taught him spiritual lessons throughout his early age. When he was 4 years old, his mother brought him to an orphanage to celebrate his birthday with the fatherless. When he was 16, he confirmed his faith and was baptized by Wang Ming Dao.

Later in the 1950’s, he joined “Beijing Christian Students Fellowship” and prepared himself with other young Christians to face persecution. They memorized scriptures and spiritual hymns, understanding that if they went to jail, they would not have the Bible and hymnals to read. They also took cold showers during the winter time to prepare themselves to suffer for the Lord in case they go to jail or the labor camps.

All in all, ___________________________ was persecuted by the Communist government for 24 years, spending 9 years in labor camps and almost losing his life 3 times. In addition, 6 days after his wedding, he was arrested and his newly wedded wife was asked to divorce him. She refused by saying nothing. At that time, he did not even know if he would see his wife again."

I had a fun divine appointment yesterday as I looked for car floor mats. I went to put some mats back on the shelf and the shelf fell down with about 20 sets of mats. A young man from Kenya was standing there and he helped me set it on the floor. He asked me if I was from the States. After I replied in the affirmative, I said, "Are you a Christian?" He said, "I was born again in 2009 and have not ever looked back." Please pray for this young man. He said he will definitely visit the church at some point. 

Kay Lee and I just returned from doing door to door. We didn't have a great opportunity until our last door. Please pray for G____________ that God will use our conversation to get him thinking about truth.

The Lord encouraged us just now with an electronic answer to prayer. It was just a small thing but important to us. A cd had gotten swallowed in our van cd player. Because of that the player was stuck in the open position. As we got in the van just now it started playing and I was able to push the close button. Interestingly is was playing, "Great things He hath taught us. Great things he hath done."  I am preaching on Sunday about the passage in Peter when God loosed his shackles and opened the gate. Aren't you glad that God has power over all things? 

I put out flyers this afternoon. I didn't have any new opportunities. But I had a couple good chats with some friends in our area. Please pray for one who has lost his wife to a terminal illness. Another Christian friend has developed what appears to be a symptom of Parkinson's. These are two friends that I regularly pray for in our community.