Relying On the Lord

“Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who

 greatly delights in His 

commandments!... Light dawns in the darkness of the upright; he is gracious, merciful and righteous… he is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord; his heart is steady, he will not be afraid.” ~ Psalm 112:1,4,7-8a

As we continue this journey that the Lord is leading us on called church planting, one theme that

continues to be shared with us is, “You know church planting is not for the faint of heart. Can YOU handle it?” My answer is always the same. “Well…actually…no.”

Ministry itself is not for the faint of heart. Let me remind you that being a Christian is not for the faint of heart! None of us can handle the pressures of the world, the flesh and the devil on our own. None of us can withstand the depression that comes with feeling like a failure at times, or the low self-esteem that is around the corner when our human plans are, well, not going as planned.

The Psalmist reminds us that to whatever and wherever the Lord has called us, we are to praise Him and be obedient to Him. It is in that which we receive His grace, mercy and righteousness. It is by trusting in Christ that our heart stands firm, is steady and we lose the fear that is before us.

Oswald Chambers reminds us in My Utmost for His Highest (June 3^rd): “Whenever there is doubt, stop at once. Never reason it out and say – ‘I wonder why I shouldn’t?’ God instructs us in what we choose, that is He guides our common sense, and we no longer hinder His Spirit by continually saying, ‘Now Lord, what is Thy will?’”

So can I handle it? No, I can’t. I will be the first to admit. However, I know the One who can. Lisa and I know that the Lord’s will for our life at this time is to plant a church. We also know now…and here is what many of you have been waiting for us to tell you… that the place He wants us to plant is Myrtle Beach, SC. We also know the area He wants us to plant the church is in the Carolina Forest community. You can learn more about this plant in what follows.

You may say, “Wow!! Myrtle Beach, I would love to live there! – the sand, the sun, the ocean.” I have to admit that Myrtle Beach is a wonderful place to vacation. However, what we are truly entering is a spiritually dark place. As you will see in our handout there is a lot of brokenness there – gambling addictions, drug and alcohol addictions, teen pregnancies is through the roof (higher than state average and a lot of repeat births), broken families and a non-commit to religion of any  kind. That is part of the reason why no one has wanted to take on this challenge for seventeen years. Yes, the sand, sun and ocean will be nice; but the reason we go is out of obedience to the Lord’s call and the lost souls who are broken that need to hear about the grace and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Let me ask you to partner with us in two important ways. First, and most crucial, is pray with us. Pray

fervently that God will go before us into this vast mission field. We need Him to “guide our common sense.” Second, pray about partnering with us financially. We begin with twelve percent of our goal. Ask the Lord if His desire for you is to give above the tithe to your church a three year committed support offering to reaching the lost in Carolina Forest. Even a one-time gift will go a long way in helping us get started toward moving on the field. Another opportunity may be for your church, Sunday School class, or small group/Bible study group to support us financially.

Finally, I want to close by telling you how much we appreciate you. We would not be where we are if it wasn’t for God placing you in our lives. Our friends and family have been very supportive in standing with us as we sought Him in this next step of our ministry. We love you and we pray for you.