Merry Christmas 2013!

We send you our love and greetings

 

 for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Dale and Patti

 

 

ADs December Devotional

 

Life finds a way 

Does it seem that life moves from simple to complicated?   Right now the airways are filled with news of the HealthCare debacle with website meltdowns and a maze of regulations and controls.  Complicated?  Yes, but simple.   These shouldn’t be issues of politics but life!  Does in seem that ministry moves from simple to complicated?  Overload on reports, faltering support, and not enough time.   Complicated?  Yes, but simple.   Our calling is rooted in life.  Jesus said, “I have come to give you life more abundantly.”   Life has a way of breaking through the complicated.  In the movie Jurassic Park when John Hammond exclaims that the park has structures in place to control the dinosaur population, Dr. Ian Malcolm reacts: “John, the kind of control you're attempting simply is not possible. If there is one thing that history has taught us it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but, uh... well, there it is…life finds a way.”   The secret of life is to keep our focus on the author of Life.   Remember how Paul handled his complications of wrong motives and envious rivalry?  “Some preach Christ out of selfish ambition^.   But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. “ (Phil. 1:18)  Keep Christ your focus.  Keep in simple.   Life will find a way to crash through your barriers.

ADs November Devotional

 

Coade Stone: Enduring the Test of Time 

A form of my last name ‘Coad’ was originally rendered ‘Coade’ until a forefather Americanized it upon emigration from Great Britain to America.  Knowing this, I was drawn to a devotional from ‘Our Daily Bread’ entitled ‘Coade Stone.’  The October 16, 2013 article declared, “Throughout London, there are statues and other items made from a unique building material called Coade stone. Developed by Eleanor Coade in the late 1700s, this artificial stone is virtually indestructible and has the capacity to withstand time, weather, and man-made pollution.’  Eleanor succeeded in making an enduring type of stoneware product, which was easily molded into complex shapes that beautified England.   She succeeded where others failed.   I had to know, what was her secret?  Mrs. Coade's own name for her products was Lithodipyra "twice fired stone".   She used ball clay, a material with high plasticity that is common to that area.  Then she added crushed and once fired flint and soda lime silica with common sand to the clay mixture.   The competition was fierce but only Eleanor found the formula to create such a strong and lasting substance.   How?  She used the right combination of common materials subjected to a carefully controlled kiln firing over a period of four days.  Let’s face it, nobody wants to be ‘common’ and few of us embrace the fiery trials such as rejection with joy.  But our longevity and lasting impact in ministry may well depend on our willingness to be molded and then subjected to the Master’s kiln over His pre-determined time.   Jesus Himself, the living stone, faced rejection triumphantly and endured!  I Peter 2:4-5 (MSG) put it this way:  “Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God.”   Coade Stone statutes have lasted over 150 year despite the harsh environment of London.    They were resilient.  So are you!  God has perfected the process of perfecting you.   Let Him.  Your ministry will endure.

 

ADs October Devotional

Passionate or Passive, How is your Life’s Message?

August 28, 2013 marked the 50^th anniversary of a speech destined to change a nation.   Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” discourse was being shaped a few days prior to the event by a group of trusted friends, including Dr. Clarence Benjamin (Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech That Transformed a Nation).  Benjamin suggested the idea of a transaction in a bank.  “We’re coming here after the Emancipation Proclamation after all this time, to redeem a note from the signers of the Declaration of Independence.”  With the weight of the civil rights movement on his shoulders, Dr. King started methodically to deliver his message using this carefully crafted language.  From the crowd, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted out, “Tell ‘em about the dream, Martin.  Tell ‘em about the dream.”  Benjamin writes, “I saw him take the written text and hold it to the left side and look out at the more than 250,000 people.   Seeing this, I said to somebody, ‘These people don’t know it, but they’re ready to go to church.’”  Benjamin continues, “It was as if some cosmic force had come down…it was not so much the profoundness of the content.   It was the way he delivered it with such extraordinary passion.”   Passion.  It reached into the souls of the crowd that day, ignited a dream and changed a nation.   Passion and dreams often walk hand in hand.  Every great dream begins with a dreamer.   Are you still dreaming?  As a missionary, how is your life’s passion quota?   Passionate or passive?   “I now remind you to stir up that inner fire which God gave you at your ordination.” Timothy 1:6 J.B. Phillips.   God has big dreams yet to be fulfilled.   Stay broken in His Presence and He will increased your passion quota.

ADs September Devotional

Odd Ducks and Peculiar People

 

Have you heard about the “Duck Dynasty” show?  A&E's family friendly show is the most watched reality show on cable television ever.  "Duck Dynasty," chronicles the lives of members of the Robertson family of West Monroe, La., and their duck call making company.   All the men have signature long beards.   America loves family, rednecks and ducks, apparently or is that it?  A couple in PA loved the show so much that they based their wedding on the show.   What was it about the show that a couple would put on camouflage outfits to march down the aisle of a sports store to the sound of duck calls?   Charlie Miller the groom when asked this question exclaimed, “the Robertson’s have family values, proclaim their faith and aren’t afraid to pray publicly.” There is no sex, violence or cursing in this show yet it has a massive following.   Maybe they aren’t odd ducks.   Maybe they are peculiar people.  1 Peter 2:9 proclaim our identity as believers, “Ye are a chosen generation…a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (KJV)   We’re peculiar in the sense that we’re purchased of God, his possession… “to whom he bears a peculiar love…and a peculiar blessings..”  [John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible].   I hope that you are living in God’s love today.  If you are odd or peculiar, I hope it’s not your colorful character but rather God’s love radiating through you.   If you are going to be an odd duck, let it be His love shining through you for you are, after all a peculiar people to show forth His glory, beard or no beard.

 

 

Area Director's August Devotional

The Power of Words  

The video, produced by Andrea Gardner has gone viral on youtube.com.  A blind gentleman sits on the street trying to get donations as a few disinterested people pass by barely paying any attention to him.   A few drop an occasion coin.  His sign states, “I’m blind.  Please help.”    A sharply dressed woman passes by, stops and returns, writing something on his sign as he reaches out and touches her shoes.   Suddenly the passer-byes begin to respond to his need generously!  The woman comes back.   He recognizes her as he touches her shoe and asks incredulously, “What did you do to my saying?”  She replies, “I wrote the saying but in different words.”  As she walks away, the camera pans out to read the new sign, “It’s a beautiful day and I can’t see it.”   There is power in words!  Our words reveal our hearts and our perspective.  Jesus said our words come from either a good or an evil heart ‘for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.’ Luke 6:45   Paul warns us to meditate on whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, of virtue and anything praiseworthy. (Phil. 4:8)  Proverbs asserts, ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue Prov. 18:21.  I pray that you are filling your minds and your hearts with noble and praiseworthy things.   I pray that you are speaking words of life, encouragement, hope and Divine perspective to your colleagues, friends and family.   Speak life with your words, not death.   Your words do make a difference.

Area Director's July Devotional

 

Nevertheless 

Stuck, bottled up on the inside, and paralyzed on the outside.   We have a city to take, a battle to win.    We have been called and anointed yet our enemy taunts us.   Like David of Old, our enemy doubts if we can take back territory that is rightfully ours.   He mocks, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.”   One word changes everything: “Nevertheless!”   Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David.   (2 Samuel 5:6-7).   How does the trapped warrior break through to become a triumphant one?  In God’s timing, God orchestrated two powerful sermons during Missionary Renewal to address that need and to stir us on to victory.   Greg Mundis, World Mission's Director, called us to a godly brokenness.   “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart.” Psalm 34:18  (NKJV)   This is 'a heart that is broken because it in part knows itself and its shortcomings.’  It is also ‘a heart that is broken for lost mankind.’  Greg exhorted us to let God deal with our ‘unexposed, secret, and hidden parts of our lives which determine our behavior, relationship, and interaction with God and others.’     Next, Renay West urged us to hold on to God because our break-throughs were almost here.  The secret?  As David spent time with God, he became stronger ‘because the Lord God Almighty was with him.’  (2 Samuel 5:10 NIV)   God Himself was fighting his battles.  “I watched the Lord break through my enemies like a mighty flood.” 2 Samuel 5:20 NIV.    The enemy may sneer at us.   Conquest may seem impossible; nevertheless we serve a God who breaks through at strategic times if we stay broken before Him.  Let God cleanse your secret life and give you a brokenness for lost mankind.

 

Area Director's June Devotional

The Makings of a Triple Crown Winner 

The caption to the article intrigued me: “Triple Threat.”  The photo captured on American Airlines magazine (April 2013) was one of Miguel Cabrera’s intensity moments before he hit the ball.   In 2012 he was the first Detroit Tiger since Ty Cobb (1909) to hold the coveted “Triple Crown” at one time leading the American League in batting average, home runs and RBIs.   I had to know.   What makes Miguel so effective in baseball?   Here’s what I discovered.   1. He is totally focused on the game.  He played through a pressured season complaint-free despite the pain in his bum ankle.   2. He loves the game! He often laughs and interacts with the fans.  His enthusiasm spills over to his fans of all ages.  3. He knows the dynamics of the game, which keeps him flexible.   “Cabrera can remember without the benefit of the printed scouting report, how each opposing pitcher got him out in the past, then make the necessary adjustments.”   4. He has great instincts for the game, which come from his family.   His mother played for Venezuela’s national softball team.   His father was a baseball player.   Last, but certainly not least: 5. He is a team player.   “He may be a Triple Crown winner but the Detroit Tiger’s Miguel Cabrera isn’t all that interested in talking about himself.”   “We’re a team.   You win games with 25 guys.   You don’t win games by yourself.”  As missionaries, if we applied these principles to our ministry, we could be a Triple Threat to Satan’s Kingdom.  2 Timothy 1:7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Area Director's May Devotional

Dreams Planted in Eternity 

The news came as a shock.   Randy Johnston*, a man of God, a prayer warrior and a friend died unexpectedly at age 60.   Randy was the picture of vitality but now he was gone.  My connection with Randy came because Randy was a dreamer.  As a passionate layperson Randy envisioned how his skill as a businessman in the clothing industry could integrate with his love for the children in the (Latin American ChilcCare) LACC schools in the Dominican Republic where he visited often.   His passion inspired me to keep on dreaming.   As I sat quietly in his memorial service a few days ago, a question lingered in my mind: “Now that the dreamer is gone, what of the dream?”  

 

Perhaps it was too little sleep.   Perhaps it was an Immanuel Kant kind of contemplation, “Is the dream real without the dreamer?”  Maybe my recent trip to Branson to see Joseph (the dreamer) or our planning for the 2014 Caribbean Retreat at the Dreams Resort had me fixating on dreams.   What of the dream?   Before the inquiry disquieted my spirit, I knew the answer!   Pastor John Bates called for testimonies of people whose lives were impacted by Randy’s life.   After the sixth testimony, I knew.    Randy had planted his dreams in others and his dreams will outlive him!

 

If you are a dreamer, make sure your dreams will outlive you.   Entrust those dreams to others.   As Paul said to Timothy:   “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2 Timothy 2:2)   Randy’s dreams are alive and well.  God help us to be people who plant dreams for eternity. 

*Duane and Julia Martin are AGWM missionaries to Mexico currently at CINCEL.   Julia is Randy Johnston’s daughter.

Caribbean & U.S. Based Missionary Retreat

 

The Caribbean and U.S. Based Missionary Retreat Dates are Monday, September 1 - Friday, September 5, 2014.  The speaker will be Dr. James Bradford.  Travel days are Monday, September 1, 2014 for arrival, and Friday, September 5 for departure.  The retreat will held Tuesday - Thursday in the Dominican Republic, with more information to follow.  Please mark your calendars, thanks!

AD's April Devotional

Ministry in a ‘Till Love Do Us Part’ Culture

Fox News.com (July 29, 2005) reported a major shift in our culture’s view of marriage.  They observed that the traditional “till death do us part” vow was being eroded by vows such as  “For as long as our love endures.”    This trend to center the marriage commitment on the couple’s unreliable feelings rather than their deep conviction of the value of a lifetime pledge underscored a major cultural slide away from absolutes into our present post-modern drift.    This subtle but persuasive shift can impact us all in our understanding of commitments in life and even our missionary call.   If, as the culture suggests, ministry is rooted in the vacillating and capricious whelm of our emotional state, we’d all be adrift subject to every wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind (James 1:4-6).   Thankfully, God reached out to us and He will sustain us.    Rom. 5:10 NIV “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”   His love draws us out of the sea of cultural uncertainty into a life of hope, based on God’s power to sustain our commitments.     Heb. 6:19 “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”   There is two ways we can live our lives, i.e. by feelings or by faith.   Because of the changing nature of feelings, this path leads to a “Till Love Do us Part” level of commitment.  The other way is God’s way.   His love draws us apart from this world and anchors our lives and ministry in His unchanging nature.  Two paths, two choices: “Till love Do Us Part” or “His Love Draws Us Apart.”   You choose, but know this: Only God’s way will stand the test of time.

Ernie and Linda Henson - 50 Years of Ordained Ministry

     The Hensons were approved as Assemblies of God missionaries to the Caribbean in 2002.  They served as Missionaries-in-Residence at Northpoint Bible College (formerly Zion Bible College) in Haverhill, Massachusetts from 2008-2013.
     Ernie and Linda pastored 40 years in the United States and in Canada prior to missions appointment to the Bahamas where they established the Abaco Bible College.  Linda is a freelance writer and is published in numerous books, magazines and newspapers and authored her own book, "Touched By the Rain".
     As missionaries-in-residence at Northpoint Bible College they hosted missions trips to Taiwan and China where they lead children's retreats, youth retreats and English camps.
     Ernie was honored for 50 years of ordained ministry and they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year.  The Hensons have two children.

ADs March Devotional

Cowboy Wisdom 

   Heaven with a Gun is a 1969 western film in which Glenn Ford plays Jim Killian, a gunslinger-turned-preacher arrives in a town divided between cattlemen and sheepherders.  He tries to bring the townsfolk together but the situation flares up when the dominant cattleman, Asa Beck, persuades the cattlemen to block the sheepherders from their only source of water.  The conflict comes to a head when four of Asa’s cowhands burn the church.  In desperation, Jim straps his guns back on to fight the cattlemen alone as his parishioners look on with sadden disillusionment. 

   One friend acting as his conscience exhorts him: “I really thought you had changed!”  “I tried, he replies.”  She continues, “You came to this town saying you were a preacher but what’s that strapped to your hip, a bible, or a 45?  What you’re really saying is that you wouldn’t have had a chance here without your guns!  Maybe you would have failed but you’ll never really know because you didn’t have enough faith in God to try.  It’s your choice.  Gunmen or preacher.  Heaven or hell.   Don’t be half and half because that is really hell.”  Her earthy wisdom sounds like Galatians 3:3 (NIV) “Are you so foolish?  After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” 

 

   In the end, Jim puts down his gun and rallies the church folk to take a stand against the insanity.  Seeing the whole town united, the cattlemen back down and the crisis is averted.  What about you?  Is your ministry in the spirit or in the flesh?  Based on talent or brokenness?  It’s your decision but the whole world is watching.

ADs February Devotional

 

The Glorious Paradox of Celebrating Life in Death! 

Life is so precious that it defies logic for us to release loved ones when it’s their time.   Yet we see this exhortation, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” Psalm 116:15.  Death graphically reminds us that we aren’t home yet. (Heb. 11:16) Meanwhile, we journey and don’t lose heart.  Though our outward man is wasting away, we see our inward man being renewed day by day.  Perhaps, there is true life in death and paradoxically a genuine experience of death in our daily life.  

That is the compelling reason that “we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’ (2 Cor. 4:18)  There is a true sense that “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”  Glory, God’s glory is tugging at all of our hearts, that yearning to be in our heavenly home.  On January 5, 2013 one of our precious colleagues felt that tug and went home.

 

Kathleen Elizabeth Powers went to glory in a true celebration of life.    Even though her earthly departure was commemorated with great dignity, it is nothing compared to the majesty of her reception in heaven.   As the scripture says,  ^“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face.”   Kathleen is beholding the face of Jesus.   Kathleen is home.

AD's 2013 January Devotional

 

Our times are in His Hands - God is infinite.   I am not.  The abrasive realities of time and space remind me of my vulnerabilities.  Nothing calls attention to my own finiteness as the passing of time.   Here I sit in a moment in time, 14 days away from the shadow of the year 2013 feeling apprehensive.  Time has markers:  September 11, 2001 is marked by the Twin Towers; September 11, 2012 by Benghazi; December 11, 2012 by the shooting in the Clackamas Mall and then just three painful days later by the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook.  As I say goodbye to 2012 wondering what 2013 may hold, I desperately need my life, my time, rooted in God’s perspective of time.    What about you?

    Your only true security comes when you surrender your present, past and future into God’s care.      In Hebrews 2:1 we are reminded that we must pay more careful attention to the all-sufficiency of Christ, lest we drift away from this glorious relationship.  God provides an anchor for our souls in the present.   When everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for Joseph, instead of allowing the bitter pain of betrayal to rob his well being, Joseph chose not to be the victim.    He declared to his brother, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.  He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”  Genesis 50:20 (NLT).  God helped Joseph transform and redeem his past.    Finally, God wants us to embrace our future without fear.  In Acts 2: 17 (NKJV),  God says, “I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh….your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.”

   As we are empowered by God’s spirit to gain His Divine insight, we can anchor our present, redeem our past and embrace our future in God.   We are not infinite, but God is.  Our times are in His hands!