Marketplace Ministry Success Mentors

I remember reading about Hudson Taylor back in the late sixties. Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China in the 19th century and founded the China Inland Mission. One of the things that impressed me then, was after many years on the field, he came down to breakfast with his children and announced that he had just finished reading through the Bible for the fortieth time in 40 years. I then made a committment to myself and to God that I would try to do that same thing - to read through the Bible every year.

This is now the fortieth year for me. I just finished on the 31st, and have started the new year reading the New Living Version on my computer. Sometimes I took two years to read through, other times I read through in a month, other times twice a year.

I was pretty proud of myself until I met Edmeia Williams in Brazil. She had read through the Bible four times a MONTH! for several years. Her knowledge of the Word of God is astounding. She has huge passages memorized. I asked her how in the world she accomplished that, and she said, “My lifestyle is simple. I get up at 4:00 AM and read and pray until about noon, then have lunch, then in the afternoons I go out to my ministry in the favelas with young girls.” She has had contracts for her life put out by drug lords in the favelas of Rio De Janeiro, but faithfully carries out her mandate from the Lord. Then she said to me, “You pastors, don’t have the time freedom that I have, and that’s OK - if you can only read five minutes, or five hours, do what you can and don’t feel intimidated by the fact that I can read through in one week.” I felt better after hearing that.

We had public reading of the Bible in public squares in Porto Velho every December. Even with slow readers, reading out loud, you can get through the entire Bible in 90 hours or less. Each church would take a block of time, and members would sign up for fifteen minute segments. We read 24 hours a day - even if nobody was around. I remember one year when it was my turn. It was a rainy tropical lazy Sunday afternoon. We were in the last few chapters of Psalms. At the far end of the Praza (park) were some street kids and beggars sleeping under a shelter of corrugated cardboard, while the rain poured down. I stood up to the microphone and started SINGING - not reading- Psalms 140-150. As soon as I did, I could see those sheets of cardboard start to move, and then little heads would poke out from underneath to see what in the world was happening! Singing evoked a response.

Then one year I tried singing through the entire Bible. I would sit down at my keyboard, and opened up in Genesis and started. It was hard, especially singing the prose; and I would not like to have anyone hear me while I was doing it. But every now and then a good song would arise. Just try singing through the genealogies! It also took longer, so I did not finish that year. But something interesting happened as I sang. I believe that when you sing you use the “other” side of you brain. Now I am no scientist, and know very little about left side-right side theories, but I do know this: Passages which I had read through many many times, suddenly took on a new level of understanding as I sang them. I gained new insight which reading had never given me. Try it! Even if you don’t play an instrument you can use your voice. (I would suggest going into a quiet private place! - but hey, you might try it in front of city hall too if you want.)

“How can I get started?”, You say.

Here’s a tool I have been using for the past several years which I really enjoy: http://www.e-sword.net.

It is free to download and many different versions are available for free, others you have to pay a nominal fee. One of the tools in E-Sword is a Bible reading tool. I use this every day that I am in front of my computer. This past year I read 6 chapters a day. But you can use a little wizard to determine exactly how you will divide your reading plan up. The main thing is to be consistent. I know, for instance, that when I am travelling and involved in ministry and away from my computer, I will miss some days, so I allow for that in my plan. If you read through the Bible in one year and never missed a day you only need to read through three chapters a day, and it will take you less than fifteen minutes. Start there then be faithful in it. E-sword is also very good for Bible study and there are many tools available for your use.

Another way I have devised my reading plan before I had E-Sword, is to count the total number of pages in my Bible, then divide that by about 300 (allowing me some missed days) to come up with the number of pages I should read that day. Whenever that particular page ended in the middle of a chapter I would read on through the end of the chapter. I also marked the division between each reading like this: 10/11 where 10 was day 10, and 11, day 11. That way I didn’t have to try to remember how many pages I had already read.

Other people use published schedules. There are many. Advantage Conferences has one on our Footsteps of Faith website. You can also sign up for these free inspirational and motivating messages at http://www.advantageconferences.com/go just click on the Footsteps of Faith link on that page.

Whether you read through the Bible once a week, or once every four years, I encourage you to start reading. Do it regularly, consistently, and faithfully. Do it when you are discouraged, do it when you don’t have time. Just do it. As you read and understand the Word of God, you will also understand the nature and character of God better.

David is running for his life. But he had not done anything wrong. In fact, he had killed the giant Goliath and defeated the Philistine army. The book of I Samuel tells the whole story. First King Saul had welcomed David into his household and David even became the king’s son-in-law. But now David is running. And King Saul is his pursuer, determined to take his life.

Most of us can identify with David. Even though we have tried to do what is right and good, circumstances, people and even sometimes those we love, have turned against us. Everything seems to be going wrong. We feel pursued, forsaken, alone and sometimes even hopeless. We’re in survival mode – and we feel like we are running for our lives.

As I read chapter 23 of I Samuel today, I was encouraged. First of all, David took time to seek the Lord and His counsel in the midst of the challenges he faced. Verse 2 recounts that the Philistines were attacking Keilah and David inquired of the Lord whether to go up and fight them. The answer is that the Lord is with him and will give him victory. But David has no support. His men didn’t want to go! (verse 3) So David went back and asked the Lord again. With His confirmation, David’s men finally agreed to go.

Just a few verses later, Saul finds out where David is and word gets back to David that Saul is on his way to kill him. So once again he asks the Lord in verses 10-12, whether he should stay where he is or whether the people of Keilah – the very people he had just rescued, would deliver him into Saul’s hand. The answer is “yes.” If I was David I think I would have felt pretty sorry for myself at that point. The people he had just risked his life for are now ready to turn him in.

So David escapes to the forest and there Jonathan, his best friend and King Saul’s son, meets him and in verse 16 it says that Jonathan encourages him in the Lord. Who is your encourager, your mentor, the one who understands you and can strengthen you in the Lord when you are going through trials? If David needed someone like that, how much more do we! Having a Jonathan in your life is probably one of the most neglected, yet most vitally important principles for life success. Everyone goes through times of discouragement and needs to be encouraged.

As the story continues, King Saul is closing in on David and is about to catch him. But the Lord himself intervenes (at least that’s my interpretation)! And a messenger comes to Saul with a message to hurry and go back home to defend the land against an attack from the Philistines! And in verse 28 that place becomes known as “The Rock of Escape.” The reminds me of the verse in I Corinthians 10:13 that says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

As we approach Christmas and everyone is busily shopping, baking and making preparations to be with family and friends, maybe you are among the many who have no money for buying Christmas presents and no family with whom to celebrate Christ’s birth. Perhaps you feel a little bit like David.

Let me encourage you to do what David did. Seek the Lord. He will answer you! Then find someone to encourage you. Maybe that will be a family member, a close friend, a pastor. If you have no one, seek out a church where you can find an encourager, a mentor. And look to the Lord for a way of escape as it says in I Corinthians 10:13. He is faithful!

All of David’s trials were part of God’s program to build character in him and a heart for God. Let Him do that in you. All of us will face trials so it isn’t a matter of “if” but “when.” As the book of James exhorts us, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (verses 2-4)

So if you’re running for your life, run into the arms of Jesus.

Take a look at this remarkable video by one of our Advantage Conferences Mentors.

It’s down on the sidebar to the right.

At the begining of the school year I had signed up to be a sub in the local school district. THis week was the first time I was called. I got to sub in a 4th grade class. All my training in education was for secondary ed. and I was once a certified shop teacher, but fourth graders… I know know how Arnold the Governator felt in Kindergarten Cop. In one brief afternoon I understood why our educational system is in dire straits. We are training our kids to … you fill in the rest!

One good thing that happened however was the realization that I at last still have at least a fourth grade level of skill in math. I now repent of all the stuff I did to our substitute teachers when I was in fourth grade. Amazingly I even knew all their tricks (and some which they didn’t know about! - like … well I better not tell my secrets.) First there was the scrambled desks trick, and it’s variation, scrambled names. I told the kids, “Sit wherever you want, and since I don’t know you anyway, you can use whatever name you want too.” But when it came time for the math test I had 12 hands raised at once wanting some help.

Another thing I learned was never turn your back for one second on the class. Teachers must develop their hind eyes. I must get some of those mirror glasses which let you see behind you.

At the end of the day, I survived, despite not knowing hardly anything. If they call me again, I’ll go, but I hope they call me to the high school instead.

God bless all you elementary teachers out there. And to all my teachers from first grade through college: Please forgive me!

Jack Jarrell, one of our mentors, has a wonderful website which has a good explanation of what personal banking is and how it works. Go check it out at www.bankyourself.com and click on the how it works link.

There is an outrageous attack on Israel and America taking place by Arab Terrorists right before our eyes, and not many Christians are aware of it.

This Tuesday, in Anapolis a meeting of Palestinian, Israeli, and other Arab interests, along with US and other authorities will take place in order to further slice Israel out of their rightful land. Now, every time the US has meddled with Israel to get them to concede land to the Palestinians, a Katrina, a 9/11, floods, mass murders, other natural disasters have occured. Every TIME dear friends! Check it out. If America gets involved with this program, expect to see something major happen to the US soon afterward.

Basically the bottom line is that the Palestinian Authority wants Israel to return to the pre 1967 borders, but also many of the holy sites in Jerusalem will be taken by the people who want nothing but death to Americans and Jews. This means all of East Jerusalem - which is more than the 1967 borders will go under Palestinian authority. When Bethlehem was given over to PA it was 85% christian. Two years ago it was 15%, and today it is less than 5%. Bethlehem is a ghost town, and it is so dangerous to venture there that tours are rare.

They would also take over the Garden Tomb, which fits some descriptions of Golgotha. Also the Pool of Bethesda, the Via Dolorosa, The Upper Room, The Eastern Gate (or Golden Gate) where Jews say the Messiah will return; The house of Caiaphus (where Peter denied Jesus), the Garden of Gethsemene, the Mount of Olives, and the Mount of Ascension. Not only are these precious historical and religious sites, they are also places that millions of tourists and pilgrims visit each year, and with one sweep of a pen they could become unavailable to both Christian and Jew alike.

WHAT CAN I DO?

Pray, Pray Pray. Especially on Tuesday - that the Lord would confound the enemy. My wife had an interesting thought the other night in which the story from 1 Samuel 6 and 7 came into play:

“When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. And when the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to the LORD . He cried out to the LORD on Israel’s behalf, and the LORD answered him. While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.”
1 Samuel 7:7-10 NIV

By Samuel’s act of worship, and the repentant hearts of the Israelites (Read the rest of the context to see the whole story) The Lord thundered, and the enemy was routed.

Please pray, and if the Lord leads you to fast on Tuesday, that would be a great idea as well. Pray that the enemy will be confounded, by God’s thunder, and that the American authorities will have the sense to see that this is also an attack on the US. I would bet that anyone, including the Palestinians, with a sensible mind would see the corelation between the attitude of the US regarding Israel, and the natural or manmade disasters which happen immediately afterward. Perhaps the Palestinians know something the Liberals do not manage to see, and they see this as another way to weaken further the US.

Blessings,

Rick Reece

NEWS RELEASE

This is a perfect example of inspiring giving. May God raise up more people like Marshall Carter. We depended upon the Jaars pilots for over 30 years of our time in Brazil, and we say halelujah for them!

NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE CHAIRMAN MARSHALL N. CARTER DONATES PLANE TO NORTH CAROLINAbS JAARS INC.

Rugged Multi-functional Pilatus PC-6 Aircraft Targeted for
Humanitarian Work in Indonesia

Waxhaw, N.C. November 15, 2007 - - JAARS Inc. of Waxhaw N.C. announced today that Marshall N. Carter and his wife Missy donated their personal Pilatus PC-6  aircraft to JAARS for its humanitarian purposes. Mr. Carter is chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Boston Medical Center.

The Swiss aircraft received today by JAARS, a nonprofit organization devoted to serving minority language communities worldwide, is valued at $1.0 million.

JAARS President Jim Akovenko said, “We are very grateful for this timely gift from Mr. and Mrs. Carter.  The aircraft is a perfect match for the very short runways that are common in the field of operations. This aircraft will complement the current fleet and will be pressed into service immediately upon arrival.”

The turbo-prop PC-6, or Pilatus Porter, is well suited for medical evacuations and in assisting local people in literacy and other forms of community development through the efforts of JAARS partner, SIL International.  SIL is a nongovernmental, faith-based nonprofit language development organization working in over 1400 language communities worldwide.

Marshall Carter, a long-time seaplane pilot, has owned and used the aircraft for the last nine years.

“The Pilatus Porter is a wonderful aircraft and has brought a tremendous amount of joy to me and my family over the years,” Mr. Carter said. “With its donation to JAARS for humanitarian purposes, the aircraft will now take on its most important mission ever. JAARS should be commended for its great work and for putting donations such as this to work for people in need.”

The PC-6 can carry up to ten passengers, or more than three cubic meters of cargo. It will become a critical component of the JAARS organizationbs plan to replace its aging fleet of piston engine aircraft fueled by aviation gas with turbine aircraft in response to a worldwide shortage of aviation gas. Turbine aircraft burn jet fuel which is more readily available in places where JAARS aircraft are flown.

The PC-6 is ideal for the bush conditions in Indonesia as it can be flown in difficult mountain ranges, at higher elevations and faster speeds than other smaller aircraft, and can land on shorter airstrips than most aircraft with the same load capacity.

The aircraft will be operated by YAJASI, JAARS Indonesian counterpart and partner organization.

SIL Indonesia Director Mark Taber said, “The provision of this PC-6 is timely as we depend on our Indonesian partner, YAJASI, to provide us with safe, reliable air transportation to reach some of the remotest regions in eastern Indonesia. Our efforts to provide rural and isolated communities with literacy programs and various community development initiatives will be greatly enhanced by this aircraft.”

The JAARS aviation program operates flight programs in five countries, with operations in Asia, the Pacific and Africa. In addition, the Waxhaw aviation facility is used for training JAARS pilots in operation procedures for the overseas efforts.

JAARS provides more than aviation services.  Land and sea transportation services, computing and information technology, media services in the local or vernacular languages, and other vital logistical services for language programs worldwide are provided as well.

JAARS is motivated to serve the spiritual needs of language communities as well as the physical and social needs through its associations and in so doing assist in Bible translation efforts for the remaining language groups without Scripture in their heart language.

More information on the PC-6 can be found at www.pc-6.com and www.pilatus-aircraft.com. More information on JAARS can be found at www.jaars.org.

The Power of Blessing.
 

The son had never received affirmative words of blessing from his father. The more he strived to gain his father’s acceptance, the more he felt that he could never measure up to his dad’s expectations. Until finally he gave up trying. He left home, and went into business. He said, “I’ll show my dad what I can do.” But he held bitterness and unforgiveness in his heart until the day his father died. Then he felt guilt and shame because he had never been reconciled to his father, and now it was too late. He started playing on the worship team at his church, but on the side he was getting involved with girls and drugs. He was slowly sliding into the abyss of hell, and it only got worse when he got kicked off the worship team.
 

But one day his sister dragged him to an Ancient Paths Seminar. I was supposed to be the facilitator in his small group, but I had arrived late because we had hitched a ride from one city to another (in Brazil). When I arrived I noticed he sat angrily in his chair with his arms folded and a glare in his countenance as to say, “Don’t you dare mess with me.” After the first evening’s sessions he came up to me and said, “Who put me in this group? I want to change to another group. I know that kid who is assisting you and I don’t want him to minister to me.” I told him that we really don’t like to change the groups around once they have started, but he didn’t have to finish the seminar if he felt like he didn’t want to – he could do it another time. Then I prayed a brief prayer for the Lord to show him during the night if He wanted him to return tomorrow. It was already past midnight and I was tired from my trip.
 

The next morning, I looked around anxiously to see if he had returned and was relieved to see that he had. But during the first morning session he still sat there with his arms, legs, and heart crossed, and an angry glare on his face. He listened to the other young men in his group share, but he would not say a word. I was concerned, and was praying earnestly for the Lord to break through his shell. That afternoon while the video teaching part of the seminar was going on in the auditorium, each of the 15 ministry teams went to their rooms to pray together. As I and my team walked down to our classroom, my assistant asked me if I could translate a song into Portuguese for him. I said, “We really need to pray, but if it’s quick I can do it if there is a CD player in the room.” He told me there was, and I began to translate the song. It was a MorningStar CD and the song was a spontaneous “testimony song” about how the singer had been living a life in drugs, thinking about suicide until one night he heard a song on the radio: “What can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus.” As I translated this song, suddenly all three of us were overwhelmed with a burden of intercession not only for each participant in our group, but also for this city, and the whole nation of Brazil. We were forced down onto the floor by the presence of a Holy God, and could not rise as weeping and wailing intercession came out of our lips. Then just as suddenly as that had come, there came an inexplicable joy, and our sorrow turned into laughter. Literally one second we were on the floor crying, and the next we were laughing uncontrollably. Then we could finally arise and return to the room where the other teams were meeting. When we shared what had just happened to us, the whole room was also suddenly down on their knees crying out to the Lord. Then the video in the next room ended, and the seminar participants started moving to their groups. I knew that something had happened in the spiritual realm, but had little idea what would happen next.
 

This time, our young man was the first to open up and he began unfold his story as I have started in the first paragraph. He felt such guilt because he had never received blessing from his father, and because he had never been able to go to him and ask for forgiveness before he died. I told him that he may not be able to ask forgivness of his father, but he can ask it of God, his Father. And he could release forgiveness to God for the offenses of his own father. So I asked him to pray a prayer like that, and he did. Then I asked him to ask Jesus how he saw him. Jesus began to show him a beautiful vision of himself as a warrior who had been stolen from, but now the King was about to bestow on him a new beginning. Then I told him, “Your father never was able to bless you, but your Heavenly Father has never stopped blessing you. Can I pray a prayer of blessing over you? I am not your father, but I believe God would have something to say to you.” He agreed, and I prayed a prayer blessing this young man, straight from the Father’s heart, through my voice into his heart. I cannot remember what I said that day, but I remember that the glare on his face, and his whole attitude changed that Saturday afternoon. And several years after that I heard report that it had totally transformed his life. He was free of his addictions, his suicidal tendancy, and he was back on the worship team, and now had a good job. He no longer had to strive for his father’s blessing, because he was receiving blessing from his Heavenly Father every day. And please note: All I ever did, was basically to lead this man to Jesus, the wonderful counselor. He did the rest, and I got to see it!
 

Perhaps you have had a story similar to this man’s. I would encourage you to go to an Ancient Paths seminar and allow the Lord to minister to you. We could tell countless other stories similar to this one of how the Lord has changed hearts to bring about a changed life. Check for a seminar in your area at www.familyfoundations.com

We’ve heard it a million times – “Just sow into my ministry and you will reap a bountiful harvest; 30, 60 or 100 fold.” It is scriptural, isn’t it?! So why hasn’t it worked? Oh, maybe it has a time or two, but what is the key? Why doesn’t this perfectly scriptural principle of sowing and reaping work all the time for everyone?