Happy Birthday, Shirley!

Quick thank you and happy birthday to the Lord’s faithful servant, Shirley, who is our Vice President and a wonderful teacher, biblical counselor, and leader!

Wish her a happy birthday today and remind her how much the Lord loves her!

We thank the Lord for you, Shirley, and appreciate your prayers, thoughtfulness, and “stick-to-it-ness” to fulfill the calling the Lord has given you!

-Mark (praising the Lord for Shirley and her parents who raised her right!)

Happy Birthday, Ronny!

A man who exemplifies “Jesus Only” to me is Ronny, our office manager supreme!

Wish him a happy birthday today!

I hesitate to tell you his age, but this is a milestone birthday for him! I hit 40 a few months ago and he just hit…70!

-Mark (so thankful to Jesus Christ our Lord for my dad, Ronny, our TIL office manager and prayer warrior!)

Monthly Themes for My Blog in 2011!

In 2011, I thought I’d challenge myself to have a certain theme for each month. So, beginning in January, our theme is “Jesus Only” which is the theme of my denomination, The Christian and Missionary Alliance (www.cmalliance.org).

Therefore, all blog entries by me this month will be about Jesus only! I plan to blog every 2-3 days, more if I can. Feel free to comment on the blog and say whatever you want about Jesus in the month of January! (only comments that glorify Him will be allowed by the way!)

-Mark (God is so good to send His only begotten Son to pay the price for our sins and to give us eternal life)

Just watched a “Christian” movie…

I went to a Christian-themed movie recently which was VERY disappointing to me. Why?

Not the acting. It was ok. I can forgive that!

Not the story. It was ok. I can forgive it for being too “Hollywood” meaning everything worked out in the end.

Not the attempt. I’m glad movie companies are TRYING to make Christian movies. That’s great! Thank you!

Here’s what I was disappointed by: The REAL Person of Jesus Christ was NOT a character or even a factor in the movie!

In other words, the movie focused on human relationships, had a positive message, but never really presented the Gospel or directed people to know Christ personally. Good movie…it will make you cry, but that’s all. No eternal value in it!

While it was a Christian-themed movie, it was not a Christian movie because it focused only upon this temporal life and not eternal life or upon the eternal Person of Jesus Christ.

-Mark (just wanting all of us Christians to be bold about the Person of Christ)

P.S. No, I won’t tell you the name of this movie because I am not going to degrade it publicly. If you’d like to know, contact me and I’ll tell you privately and personally. Again, I applaud the attempt of making a Christian movie but is it really Christian if Christ is not a character? Is apple pie really apple pie when there are no apples in it?

End of the year 2010 praise report!

I was looking at our Truth in Love budget for 2010 (something I try NOT to do often) and was so encouraged to see that we are only $4,000.00 short of our budget for the year. Praise the Lord for His provision!

I read recently about a so-called church (I really wonder if they are a church) that has 2 million dollars coming in per month and are having to file for bankruptcy! $2 million dollars a month is $24 million dollars per year and they cannot make it on that! Wow! What a sad testimony! That’s why I wonder if this is really a Christian church or not.

Thankfully, our budget is a little over $100,000.00 per year and we are making it just fine. Praise the Lord!

I look at what this tiny ministry (in the world’s eyes according to our budget) is accomplishing and I’m amazed at the wisdom and power of God. We are focused on eternity and doing the will of God according to Matthew 28:18-20 to make disciples.

We trained 220 people this year alone with a fraction of what it costs that other church to operate.

We saw many lives transformed by the power of God through TRUE salvation experiences. We saw marriages reconciled and improved. We saw people become stronger followers of Christ through focused discipleship and training. All of this accomplished ONLY by the power of God for His own glory.

I don’t think God wants us to be focused on money and I’m glad we are NOT at TIL. God wants us to focus upon Him and obeying His will alone.

2 Corinthians 5:9b states (ESV): “We make it our aim to please Him.”

To everyone who worked for the Lord through Truth in Love Ministries, thank you for making it your aim to please Him in 2010.

God is pleased.

-Mark (eager to get working in 2011 just to see how God is going to amaze us again!)

Merry Christmas!

Jesus, born in the lowliest of places and in the lowliest of forms (a man!), came to save our souls from the just punishment and wrath of God!

Praise His Name!

Seek to bless Him who gave us the greatest gift of all – eternal life!

-Mark (grateful for the life and death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!)

3rd Annual TIL Christmas Party

I really enjoyed our time together at the Christmas party this year! This is always a very special time for me as we gather together. Our ministry is so stretched and divided that we rarely get to be together in one room at one time. So special to spend time with the precious saints of God who came to the party! Thank you for serving the Lord Jesus Christ with us in this ministry! How special!

The highlights for me were singing Silent Night together, playing team games, and hearing all of the testimonies. We heard from 12 different people about what God is doing through TIL! 8 of these 12 people attend different evangelical churches! What unity we have in TIL through Christ and 3 more churches were not even represented due to bad weather and last minute cancellations!

One person told me after the party: “I felt Jesus here tonight.” Another person said, “I was down and depressed for the past 2 days, and almost cancelled, but I am so glad I came because I am up now.” It was such an encouraging time to be with like-minded believers in Christ!

I’m amazed at what the Lord is doing and planning to do in our ministry in 2011. We serve an amazing God who does amazing things with this small, foolish ministry that seeks to exalt and proclaim Him and not ourselves!

We are excited about our 3 new staff members who were introduced at the party: Glenn, Steve, and Michael are really going to provide a boost to this ministry in 2011 and years to come!

We are also excited about our plans in Kenya to plant a church, counseling center, and Bible college!

We are also excited about the new Reconciliation Counseling arm of TIL for 2011! We’ve wanted to do it for 3 years and now have the men and resources to begin fulfilling this vision.

Finally, we are excited about the possibilities to partner with RPM Ministries! Let’s see what the Lord does with this aspect of ministry.

There is just too much to be thankful for and too much to look forward to next year! It’s an incredible time to serve Christ! The needs are great. The harvest plentiful…let’s get out there and labor for the King of Kings!

-Mark (wow! praise Him! thank you to all of our faithful volunteers in this ministry!)