February 2022 Ministry Update

First, thank you to all of you who are reading these updates and praying for the needs that are brought forward.  The only major update since the last newsletter is that I have no completed my coursework and final exam for my last class for my Bachelor's of Science in Mathematics.  I'm still awaiting the final grade, but this degree should offer additional opportunities for me in my vocational ministry.  I don't plan on changing jobs or anything of that nature, but I just may get chances to do things at work that they wouldn't allow me to do before.  Hopefully I can be of even more assistance to my supervisor and the students that come to see me for help.

We are still studying the book of Nehemiah in the Monday night Bible study that is part of the 99-1 Discipleship Discord server, and I am going to be helping facilitate for a men's Bible study on Wednesday nights that will be studying at least the first eleven chapters of Genesis.  At church I'll be helping as an assistant Sunday School teacher as we study Ray Ortlund's book The Gospel:  How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ.  We just finished studying Gregg Gilbert's book What Is the Gospel?.  That may seem like a strange title for a book for church members, but it was a great study as we affirmed that what we believed was the true gospel of Jesus Christ.  We also talked about many of the watered-down or false gospels that are out there that don't measure up to the genuine article, and only the real gospel has the power to transform and save us and gives us the certainty and hope of Jesus' finished work on the cross that allows us to be presented as holy and blameless one day.  Heaven is part of the "good news" of the gospel but any message that tries to get to heaven without going through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is not the real gospel.

Spring Break is approaching for me soon, and as I mentioned previously, I hope to use that time to finish the rest of my Gospel Foundations recordings.  As a reminder, these are available to anyone who joins the 99-1 Discipleship Discord.  It is a 40-lesson study of the gospel hitting many of the major milestones along the way.

As for my evangelistic efforts, I think it is safe to say that there are six people right now that I am actively seeking to share the gospel with.  Most are relationships that have formed through Discord.  I'm not going to name anyone right now, but I think every single one of these people knows if they are one of these people and that I have a desire to see them come to Christ.  God is also opening up doors at work that I won't get too specific about either.  Jesus did promise that He would make us fishers of men, but it is great when we can experience a miraculous catch sometimes where the fish are swimming into the net and jumping into the boat.  I have been encouraged with some situations like that recently.

A couple of other issues that I would as prayer for.  I have friends and family coming to visit next month.  I hope for the visit with my friends to be a time of refreshing and encouragement for both of us as we are not just friends because we have a common interest, but because we both love Jesus and want to serve Him.  God's calling on our lives has been different, but this friend has been called to a very special ministry.  I hope that my family can be a blessing to him and his family as they visit.  Next would be that my sister and her kids from out-of-state will be visiting shortly after my friend.  Continue to pray that my sister and her kids will repent and believe the true gospel and not the false gospel that they are relying on.  It makes for an interesting time for sure as these things that are most important to me that I share with you are things that are likely of no value to her, or more likely are foolishness to her.  It is much more challenging to share the gospel with family members when their rejection of the gospel could tear the family apart.  Please pray that all of us would let God's words be put in our mouth and that God would give them eyes to see and ears to hear and minds to understand and hearts to repent and believe.

Additional updates may be posted from time to time in the Discord server.  Please join there if you are interested in seeing the smaller updates.