Bittersweet Day for TIL: Jason Cooke is moving forward!

By now, many of you know that Jason Cooke has stepped down from Truth in Love Ministries. He will be missed for sure by us all and he has been a great blessing to the ministry. TIL would not be where it is today without Jason!

The good news is that this is not a bad split. Jason and I will continue to be partners in ministry though we will be serving in different ministries. Jason is a dear brother whom I love and I know he loves me, too. We have a special relationship!

I hope you’ll encourage him. This is a voluntary step of faith by him as the Lord will direct him to a new type of ministry! Jason simply felt the Lord calling him more to his local church than to TIL. Therefore, it was really not fair to either one for him to continue with TIL and his decision to resign enables him to serve his local faith family better. God made it clear to both Jason and I on the same day and we did not want to get in His way!

Please pray for Jason. Proverbs 16:9 states: “The heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

Jason is in good hands because He is in God’s Hands. God will provide abundantly for him and not just finances, but spiritual blessings, too!

-Mark (looking forward to seeing how the Lord uses Jason for His own glory in the future!)

P.S. I wrote the above before I knew that Jason would be brought on staff at Christ Health Center the very next day after leaving TIL. This was NOT planned by MAN but only by GOD! Jason did not have to miss a day without a paycheck. Praise God for His provision!

Pray for Jason tonight – speaking at Men’s Night Out

Jason is sharing his powerful testimony of God’s grace and faithfulness in his life tonight at Bethel Baptist Church in Moody, AL!

Please pray that God will be glorified, the hearers will be encouraged, and any unbelievers will come to know Christ as Lord and Savior!

-Mark (very thankful for Jason’s work for Christ through TIL)

3 in one day!

We praise the Lord for the opportunities to share the Gospel with hurting souls in the Woodlawn area daily through Christ Health Center.

Under the leadership of Dr. Robert Record, Christ Health Center is doing amazing things in a needy area of Woodlawn. CHC needs your prayers and financial support.

TIL is thankful to partner with CHC in spreading the Gospel that Christ forgives sinners and empowers them to overcome sin daily!

In fact, Jason Cooke led 3 people to the Lord in just 1 day of ministry recently! We praise the Lord for His faithfulness and His fruit produced in Woodlawn!

This is what our ministry is all about. We want to make one thing clear: we want to see more souls in heaven with us and we make no apologies for sharing the love of Christ and His Word of truth with others on a daily basis.

Ready or not, here we come! We are ready to see God advance His kingdom in the Woodlawn, East Lake, and the entire city of Birmingham. Join us in ministering together!

-Mark (thankful for the fruit Christ is producing through Jason for His own glory)

Waiting: Not a passive action….

How many times have you had to “wait” in your daily life this week?  The average American spends 42-57 minutes a day……..waiting………..From the phone ringing, to sitting at a red light. Riding and elevator, or standing in line.   It seems as if God is always working on us while we wait.  The more technology and society advances, the less patient we become.  People who spend great amounts of time in front of a computer, often become less patient with human interaction.  What does this mean for us? Should we look at waiting from a different perspective?

Waiting on God is not laziness or indifference.  Waiting means I am ready to obey His command.  Waiting on Him means I have so ordered the command center of my life that nothing will conflict with the will of God when He speaks or directs.  Waiting means the Christian is alert, listening, dressed, and ready to obey His Master.  We wait while God works.  One of the areas where He works is deep within us.  It takes time for Him to teach us patience in waiting.  He has made us to become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). 

He is busy at work.  What is He doing?  “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:4-8).

God cannot and will not invite us to join Him in what He is doing until He has us ready.  Terrible things happen when we run ahead of Him to do His work. Our works, without His working, falls to the ground prematurely and rots!

God is busy preparing something for those who love Him and wait upon Him that eyes have never seen and ear has not heard, things that have never entered into the hearts or imaginations which only the Spirit of God can do.

Are you patiently waiting upon Him?  When He calls, let’s be ready to answer, and say, here I am… send me..

Are you willing to wait until He speaks?  Are you making yourself available to Him?  God works with, in, and through those who wait on Him. Are you available?  That is all He asks of you and me right now. 

MORE INFO ON WAITING ON THE LORD

-Jason  (waiting on the Lord right now…..)

Official “Welcome Aboard, Jason!” post

Please welcome aboard my dear brother and servant of the Most High – Jason Cooke!

Jason is working on NANC certification for biblical counseling and will continue to develop into an extraordinary biblical counselor in coming years. Jason understands what biblical counseling is all about and has the right balance of “truth in love” when he ministers to others. He’s a great partner for me and I learn a lot from him! I’m so thankful to our Lord for bringing him on board our team. Jason has been working tirelessly to get this ministry to where it is today and is no longer a volunteer but a paid staff person. He is a BIG reason TIL is where we are today!

We thank the Lord for His provision and especially for His provision of such a talented, humble servant like Jason Cooke to Truth in Love! What a blessing Jason is to all of us!

-Mark Shaw (serving a Great God Who is worthy to be praised!)