Last night I was doing some work on the apartment we are building on my In-Law’s house, and I came to a large piece of concrete that needed to be removed from beside the foundation. We had poured this section of concrete a few months ago, but hadn’t thought through its relative size and location, and now we needed to remove it. As I stood above the slab with a 60 lb jackhammer, crushing the cement below me, a thought occurred to me:

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful,   and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

These are Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10:13, and this situation provided a very visual illustration of that verse. No slab of concrete can withstand the pressure of a 60 lb jackhammer. It will break eventually. It may take five seconds, it may take a minute; but the cement will break. The pressure is too great for it not to. But you know what? God will never do that to us. He will not ever put us in a spot where we will break. We may be hammered, we may be under a lot of pressure, but God will never put us in a position where we have to crack, we have to give in to the temptation.

So take heart in the promises of God, that what you are going through you can, in His strength, conquer. Look at Christ. Keep your gaze on Him. And the pressures of sin will not crush you.

We are preparing for Emily’s brother and his wife and their son, as well as Emily’s sister and her husband, who will all be travelling into town this weekend – this means “the apartment” we have been working on must be livable by this weekend! What pressure! Yesterday we got the insulation put up, and this afternoon we will be working on the drywall. Several men from the church will be coming over to give us a hand (actually, it’s probably more likely that we will be giving them a hand, as they know much more about that kind of thing than we do). Be praying that it will all go smoothly and without too much of a hitch. It’s all very exciting to see how it’s coming along. It has felt for the past few weeks that everything has been stalled, because so much of the work was tedious little stuff. Now it actually looks like a construction project, with all the insulation up!

Next on our deputation “agenda” is a visit to our sending church at the end of the month. We will be there through most of January. I will be speaking in chapel a couple days at Grace Baptist Bible College.

If you haven’t read it yet, you can click on our Prayer Letter tab and read our most recent prayer letter. Thanks for all your prayers.

Thursday morning Emily and I headed over the hill and through the woods to Thompson, PA. Though it was only about 30 miles away, it took about an hour to get to, driving over many dirt roads and back roads. We were visiting Pastor Sandau and his family, who we had met back in March. This church has been faithfully praying for us since then, which is very encouraging. We played some games with them and chatted with them. It was good to hear how God has been providing for them over the past few months, even though some things have been pretty tough.

We headed back to Springville in the early afternoon, and then drove up to Kingsley in the early evening to meet the Roubs for dinner. Mr. Roub is a deacon at Acre Lake Independent Baptist Church, the very first church we visited when we began deputation in March. This church is also supporting us. Acre Lake has their mid-week prayer meeting on Thursday night, so we spent the evening with them and filled them in on how deputation has been going for the past few months. While we were in church, it snowed; we got out of church and found a light blanket on our van!

Friday morning Emily went over with Mrs. Wood to Springville to help them set up some last minute things for the outreach the next morning. I drove around and touched base with a couple other pastors in the area. Friday night was pretty fun. If you remember a couple months ago we met the Lindmarks, who serve at Harvest Baptist Church in Bath. Robbie, Pastor Lindmark’s son, is a part of a drama production put on by a radio station in New York and PA. Friday night they were performing “It’s a Wonderful Life” in Scranton. Robbie was playing the part of George Bailey. It was a dinner theater, and was done very well. We had no idea it was going to be as formal of a production as it was, but it was done very well.

Saturday morning Emily and I headed our for Poughkeepsie. On the way we were going to meet Jon and Marie Stewart, who were headed north along the same trail that we were on their way to Maine. We met up with them not far outside Scranton and drove with them for about an hour or so. We went to lunch with them to Perkins, courtesy of our sending church, Maranatha Baptist Church in North Carolina. It was a very refreshing time with them, to find out how things are going in our sending church. God has really been blessing that ministry, and it was neat to hear about.

That evening we made it over to Fellowship Baptist in Highland. Pastor Lewis and his wife really seemed to hit it off with us. We had a really great time with them. We just sat and chatted with them for about 4 hours Saturday night. It was very nice.

Sunday services went very well. Fellowship Baptist was one of the most friendly, personable, and high-spirited churches we have been to. Everyone just seemed to be excited, and happy, and ready to serve the Lord. It was a very nice atmosphere. They had a fellowship dinner after the morning service, and chatted with a number of folks, both older and younger.

One gentleman that we met over lunch, Mr. Seitz, invited us over to his house for dinner that night since there would not be an evening service. We happily accepted, and boy are we glad we did! Probably the last grill we will have this year (sad statement to make). We had burgers for dinner, and they were good. The Seitz had a lot of really practical questions for us, and we had a great time just chatting about the Lord, His Word, and what we have been learning from His Word. We finally headed out around 9:30 that night, after just a really great time.

Monday morning we headed over to Pastor’s house to say goodbye. We ended up staying for another 4 hours chatting! We had a really great time with Pastor and Mrs. Lewis. Pray with us for them and their ministry outside of Poughkeepsie. The area here is very Catholic also, and has a very liberal mindset. Pray that Fellowship Baptist continues to have an impact on this community for Christ. There are not many other churches in the area, and so they’ve got a tough ministry. But the folks are really bound together, and led well. Praise the Lord for that with us!

When we got out to our van that night, we found a crack in our windshield, pretty much running the length of the windshield. We figured it must have been from the heat inside and cold outside that night. Anyway, that was unexpected.

The next day Emily and I were supposed to take our Wednesday night students out on their service project. We were going to rake leaves! So my Father-In-Law graciously took our van to Safelite in Rochester to get the windshield replaced while we took the kids out raking. I never thought I would have to teach kids to rake leaves! They had a lot of fun afterwards, jumping in the pile. We raked a huge lawn with several tons of leaves , so they had a blast in the result of their hard work.

Afterwards, Emily and I packed up our van and headed across the state. I guess it’s what we do. Anyway, remember the church in Corinth that we visited a few weeks ago? That church was about half an hour north of Albany. Two weeks ago we visited a church right in Albany. Just for a point of reference. I must say that I-90 between Syracuse and Albany is pretty rough. There’s really nothing for that whole two-hour stretch. From Syracuse on west there’s a major city every hour, pretty much; Rochester, then Buffalo, then the State border and Erie PA right after that. But from Syracuse to Albany it’s just farm country. Anyway, when I called Pastor Walter to double check arrangements, he asked me if we would stay for a little while into Monday so I could speak at the Chapel they have in their Christian school. Latham Bible Baptist has a Christian School. So we planned to stay the extra little while.

We got into Latham in the early evening (with the time change it’s so dark now!), and Pastor Walter took us out for dinner to a Chinese buffet. Two weeks in a row! Does it get any better?! We had a great time of fellowship with them that evening, learning about what the Lord has brought them through and hearing about the ministry there in Albany. That whole area is VERY Catholic. It was interesting to see how that affected the ministry of the church, in contrast to other areas that we have been to which are not so Catholic.

I was pleased to find that Pastor Walter is a College Football fan, so that evening we watched what was supposed to be a pretty tough game: Number 7 Oregon vs. Number 4 Stanford. Oregon took care of business pretty efficiently, though.

Sunday morning we had a great group out to Sunday School. Again, we had a lot of good questions about the ministry. And the people seemed to be very personable. By the time we got into Sunday School we felt like we really knew some of the folks already. It was a good time of fellowship.

In the afternoon we headed back over to Pastor’s house for a great lunch and a nap. The Sunday Evening service also went really well, and everyone stayed for a long time after the services just socializing. We got to know a couple families in particular after the service.

Monday morning Latham Christian School had their chapel during the first period. So Emily and I got over there and had a good time meeting the kids and opening up God’s Word with them. A few in particular seemed to be really listening and taking things to heart. It was neat to see.

Afterwards, Pastor took us around the school and introduced us to the teachers and classes. It was neat to see a number of the folks from church on Sunday who were working so faithfully there in the school. After all this, we headed home. It was a neat trip.

There were a good number of folks who came out to Sunday School that morning as we presented the ministry God has called us to, and they had some good questions! It was a good time of fellowship. On top of that, just to walk into the sanctuary we had to walk past a coffee stand. It was grand!

After morning worship, Pastor and his family, and Mr. and Mrs. Sommers (with whom we would spend the afternoon) took us out for a Chinese buffet. I had actually been craving an egg roll over the past few days, so it was really nice to get my fix! We had a great time with them over dinner. The Sommers were very friendly and sociable.

After Lunch we headed over to the Sommers for some afternoon relaxation. I took a nap upstairs while Emily socialized. After I woke up we had coffee and talked technology. It was a great afternoon!

The evening service also went well. Bible Baptist has their AWANA clubs during the Sunday night service, but they still had a good number come out to the service.

We were very thankful for Pastor Walker and his hospitality. Continue to pray for him with us as he and his church family reach the city of Oswego with the Gospel.

Wyoming is not actually to far from home for us. It’s less than an hour drive. FBC Wyoming is actually the home church of Emily’s Grandparents, the Smiths. It was fun to see them there and for them to hear the presentation of our ministry.

It was kinda funny; our GPS is evidently a Methodist; We put the address in for FBC, and it literally took us to the Methodist church parking lot. We pulled in before we realized we were at the Methodist church. there were a couple folks in the parking lot that we waved to, before we realized we weren’t at the Baptist church. Then we realized where we were. We were looking for a back way out, but there wasn’t one. So we drove past those folks we had just waved to, drove a couple driveways down, and pulled in to FBC. It was a little embarrassing, but I suppose it was funny, too.

We got in and met Pastor Evans, and chatted with him for a little while. He has been at the church for over 20 years. I have mentioned before, but it is very encouraging to see pastors who have had long, profitable, blessed ministries. It really seemed like the church was a very unified church, which was encouraging to see.

We presented the ministry during Sunday School, and had a lot of great questions. We finished really feeling like the folks understood the ministry God has called us to, and really cared, as well. I’m sure the family connection helped things feel more comfortable, but it was great anyway. There was a good number of folks out to the service, as well.

We spend the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Smith, had a great lunch, and got a good nap in as well. The evening service was encouraging, as well. Emily and I left the services feeling refreshed and encouraged. Join with us in prayer for Pastor Evans and his congregation in the small town of Wyoming, as well as its nearby towns.

This week, after our meeting at Wyoming, we had pretty busy week. Monday was Halloween. VBC here in Albion had a “Fall Fun Night,” and we had a pretty good turnout. I was involved with a slingshot game, while Emily did balloon animals.

Thursday we had a lady from the community and her four kids over for dinner. Her kids have been coming to church with Emily and I for quite a while now, and we are glad to have this opportunity to build a relationship with them. Be praying with us for her salvation, and the salvation of her kids.

Today we spent all day working on the apartment. It’s really coming along! We thought we might get to some wiring and insulation today, but there was a lot of “little stuff” to get done. But, on the upside, the room is pretty much sealed shut now; the old door is sealed shut, two windows are permanently installed, and we’re almost ready to install the new door.

Sunday was pretty great, though. We were visiting Immanuel Baptist Church in Hamlin, not very far from where we live. Back in March I had gone out with Pastor Miller, the Pastor at Immanuel, for breakfast. He and I had a great time of fellowship, and it was encouraging to see what a man of prayer he is. He definitely sets an example for me of commitment to prayer. So it was really neat to come and visit his church family. We had a great time of fellowship with this church family. Like FBC Corinth last week, we had a fellowship dinner with the church family after the morning service. Immanuel Baptist doesn’t have an evening service; like our sending church, they have a service after the fellowship dinner. So for the evening service we went with Pastor Miller and his wife to Bethel Baptist Church in Bergen for a Sing-spiration.

We got word this week that another church has taken us on! Praise the Lord, we are now at about 30% of our support!

First thing Saturday morning we headed off for the North again. We were supposed to be in Corinth, which is a half-hour north of Albany, that evening. Actually, it was kind of funny. Emily and I were laying in bed at about 5:00 in the morning. We weren’t planning on getting up for a little while, but I rolled over and heard her awake, so I asked her, “You want to just get up?” So we hit the road early. We drove up right past Harrisburg, just north of Philadelphia, then just a half hour away from NYC. We got in to Glens Falls at about 6:00 that evening, and met up with Pastor Shupp and his wife for dinner that evening. We had a great time chatting with them and finding out about where God has taken them. Pastor Shupp’s parents actually worked with my Grandparents at a mission in Georgia for a few years. Also, Grandpa Wright, a friend of ours who passed away a number of years ago, pastored this church back in the ’70s. It was neat to make some of these connections.

Sunday we met the First Baptist Church of Corinth. We had a great time with them. They were a very friendly church and genuinely seemed interested in God’s Word and His plan. Emi and I presented the ministry during Sunday School, answering  a few questions as we went. Then I preached in the morning service. We had a fellowship dinner afterwards, and this provided us with a good opportunity to get to know some of them better. Emi and I tried to learn the kids’ names and ages…think we might have gotten it!…and enjoyed hearing church history and family history. Continue to pray with us for Pastor Shupp and his church family on the edge of the Adirondacks, that God will bless them and grow them as they seek after Him.

Somehow in the hubbub of the day, we forgot to take any pictures while we were at FBC Corinth. We realized this when we were about 100 miles down the road. We are very sorry. Maybe we’ll get back up that way and get pictures sometime in the future.

Sunday church was a blast. It was fun to touch base with everyone and get them up to speed on what God has been doing in our lives for the past few years. I also was able to play some basketball with some of the young men in the church after the services. We had a big potluck lunch, which provided a great chance for fellowship. It was a lot of fun to see Pastor Mitchell, his wife Lisa, and everyone else in the church again after so long. The church seems to be doing quite well, which was nice to see.

We met Pastor Hauser at the church on Saturday afternoon, and he introduced us to the couple who would be our hosts for the weekend: the Shanks. They were a great, sweet couple. They own a good amount of land up on the hill overlooking Towanda, so they were above all the flooding. They took us to their home, and we enjoyed the great scenery up on the mountain. We had a great time of fellowship with the Shanks Saturday night, getting to know them and the church family a little bit. Pastor Hauser has been pastoring at the church for some 15 years, replacing his father before him in the ministry. It was really neat to hear of the legacy of the Hausers. They have been together at the church for 60 years. It’s really neat to hear of that kind of faithfulness and consistency. That consistency really seemed to have a good effect on the congregation as they wrestled with certain cultural issues in a very mature way. We found out, though, that the church was easily the biggest we’d been to so far. We asked the Shanks how many would be at church, expecting an answer somewhere less than 100. Well, 350 was the response. We were a little more than surprised, and rather intimidated at that! Oh, they assured us, some were going to be out of town, so there would actually probably only be about 320. What a consolation!

Indeed, Sunday morning had around 320 people at church. Mrs. Shanks teaches a Sunday School class, and Emily sat in and shared her testimony in the class. I sat in on the College (sort of ) class. I guess it was more of just a mixed adults class. The class was really good. The teacher was really encouraging us all to think realistically about the Patriarchs, not just reading some romanticized version of the Pentateuch. Anyway. Sunday morning went really well as well, and the church family was a huge encouragement to us. Sunday evening we shared the ministry, and after church we got together with Mrs. Shanks’ father and sister, as well as Pastor and Mrs. Hauser for pizza. We had a great time discussing the ministry until (quite) late.

Monday as we were headed home, we decided to stop by the Lindmarks in Bath and pick up the shoes that Emily forgot last week. What a blessing that we did! Robbie had been texting me some doctrinal questions, and he was just getting ready to leave for work when we got to the home. So he asked his boss if he could come in a couple hours late, and we spent the next 2 hours tracing the history of the OT covenants and how they fit in to a Dispensational framework. It was a lot of fun. Emi forgetting her shoes was obviously the will of God.