Testimony

Dear Don,

I attended an ISI Conference in Syracuse approx. 3 years ago. You were a guest presenter in a breakout session. Although I too have been involved in ministry for many decades, I was deeply impacted by your presentation. In particular, I have never forgotten the "three types of believers" in any church. I mention you, by name, and your analysis in some of the ministry events we conduct (as volunteers). On December 6th, I even had the opportunity to share the three types of believers at Wyoming Correctional Facility (NY) at our Protestant Family Festival. The chaplain and inmates/church leaders were also impacted by your characterization and would like to use it to reach others. Thank you for the work you do for our Lord Jesus!

Amazing Divine Appointment

As usual, we planned on going down to Daytona Bike Week to share our faith with the people at the event. However, I made a huge mistake and we were there a week early. No crowds, just vendors setting up. Ron and I met with vendors and offered to help them set up their displays. I spoke with Pete and Jim, vendors who sell the Butt Buffer gel seat implants. We spoke for about 45 minutes as there were no customers to be had. Jim is a non-practicing Catholic and Pete is an atheist. I gave Jim a Gospel of John with the plan of salvation in it to read, and shared a “One Second After You Die” with Pete. It turned out that Pete is from Ephrata, PA, about 30 minutes from where I live. He agreed to read the booklet and we departed ways.

In April, I traded my H-D in on a new Indian with ABS. I wanted a butt buffer installed in this bike like I had on the H-D. I called Pete and made an appointment for yesterday and drove down to meet him. As he was working on the seat I revisited our previous spiritual conversation and asked if he had read the booklet. He had read it but wasn’t convinced. We ended up in a 65 minute conversation and I told him about my best friend Chuck, who had been killed in a motorcycle accident in 2006 on a motorcycle that I had helped arrange for Chuck to buy. I shared Chuck’s spiritual conversion with Pete and told him how much I still missed my best friend, mentioning that Chuck used to come down and hunt and always brought Maine lobsters for us to share. Pete then asked if I had ever seen an 18 pound lobster. Indeed I had at the lobster company on the wharf in Newport, RI. Pete told me that he caught one some time ago. This gave me a clue that Pete was a wreck diver, because that’s about the only place you’ll find a 100 year old lobster. I asked Pete if he was a wreck diver, and sure enough, he had been one. I mentioned that I used to wreck dive every summer out of Point Pleasant, NJ. He got a stunned look on his face and asked if I dove on the Sea Lion. Yep! That was the ship we chartered to wreck dive from! Pete said he was the first mate on the ship! We compared timelines and sure enough, we had met over 30 years ago on the boat! I continued my spiritual conversation with him and he was very open. I asked if he would listen to a set of 6 CDs by Chip Ingram called, “Why I Believe”. He said he would, so I ordered a set yesterday and will deliver them to him when they arrive.

Can you see the hand of a sovereign God in all of this? What are the chances that all of these circumstances would happen to bring us together at this point in our lives? I added Pete to my daily prayer list and I am trusting that all of this happened for a reason – so Pete would surrender his life to Christ in repentance and faith and be saved. I’ll let you know what God does with Pete down the road.

December, 2014 Ministry Report

“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end.” Isaiah 9:6-7 Merry Christmas!

We pray that the Lord grants you a blessed Christmas with family and friends, and we wish His blessings on you for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

We held our annual ministry board meeting at the beginning of December. I gave my Executive Director’s report and what a blessing it was to review the year and see how the Lord used us in 2014 to impact lives and eternities. Here’s a summary of what God did through the ministry in 2014:

• MAD Live Events - 47 (we have completed 409 overall)

• Attendance - 3,174 (overall attendance is 22,186)

• Decisions for Christ - 182 (overall decisions for Christ - 1,192)

• Walk thru the Bible Old Testament Seminars - 2

• Men’s Conferences - 2

• Camp Speaker - 2

• Other speaking engagements - 6

• Smoky Mountains Motorcycle Adventure - 1

• Ultimate Adventure to Utah - 1

• Total Pocket Testament League Members recruited - 5,707 (not just from this year)

• Gospels ordered by these members - 98,621

Some exciting opportunities for ministry exposure happened this month. To make a couple of long stories short, the Editor of Decision Magazine (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association) has asked me to write an article for the magazine. This has the potential to be HUGE for us. I have already submitted the article, so pray it gets published. Secondly, Tyndale House is meeting with Focus on the Family on January 15th, and our Tyndale rep is going to present our MAD Live Event ministry to the folks from Focus. Again, this is another HUGE opportunity for exposure for us. Pray that the meeting goes well and that Focus will be agreeable to doing something with us!

Here are some testimonies I received this month. What an encouragement to see what God is doing!

“We are so excited to have you come to Malvern hill to do the MAD training. It was a year ago when I took a small group in Lexington to take the MAD training. Our lives had not been the same on sharing the gospel the boldness and looking at lost souls has rewired us to have an open mouth. I look forward to brushing up.”

“Don wanted to share a story with you since you have been here. One man in our church who is as stoic and quiet as any man I know put what he learned from you into practice. Bill is teacher at Penn College. He teaches in the automotive department. One of his colleagues who has no faith shared with Bill that his daughter was very sick. Bill asked if he could pray for her. The man agreed and as Bill prayed and prayed for the man and daughter by name the man began to cry and thanked Bill for his prayer. It was a great testimony to our church especially considering who reached out. Thanks again for your ministry, we are hearing little tidbits of how people are starting to reach out. Merry Christmas, Pastor Bob

P.S. My wife and I have been leaving bigger tips and asking our waitress how we can pray for them. It is interesting to see their responses.”

“My husband "opened" the door to Jesus on 12/8/2014 while reading one of these gospels. When he read Jesus say, "It is finished," the work became complete in his heart. He is on fire to share this with others. God bless your ministry!”

Important Reminder! - We now have the first hour of the MAD Live Event on our website. Anyone can watch it to get a feel for who we are and how we teach. The entire MAD Live Event is available for pastors to view if they need to check it out before inviting us to come and teach. It is available on Vimeo and requires a password. Please let church leaders know about this as it could open doors for some more MAD Live Events in your area. The full training is NOT for group viewing.

JANUARY SCHEDULE

• Jan 10 - MAD Live Event - St. Andrews Evangelical Church, Columbia, SC

• Jan 11, 12, 13 - MAD Live Event (in 3 parts) - Malvern Hill Baptist Church, Camden, SC

• Jan 14 - Speak at 2 Chapel Services - Northside Christian Academy, Lexington, SC

• Jan 17 - Gilbert United Methodist Church, Gilbert, SC

• Jan 18 - MAD Live Event - Trinity Baptist Church, Cayce, SC

• Jan 24 - MAD Live Event - Laurelton Park Baptist Church, Brick, NJ

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Continued prayers are requested for our schedule in 2015

• For my article to be published in an upcoming issue of Decision Magazine

• For the Tyndale House meeting with Focus on the Family. That God would use this meeting to connect us in some way with Focus to get the word out as to what we do.

Love in Christ,

Cathy and Don

How the Lord used us in November of 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!

In spite of all of the evil and unrest we’re seeing around the world and in our own country, we are still a blessed people with much to be thankful for. In fact, we have enumerable blessings from our Father in Heaven. As you pray, think about all of the people, things, and events in your life and try to thank God for every one of them. It’s difficult to even begin listing them all. Cathy and I are grateful to God for His Son, His grace, mercy, and gift of eternal life. We are also grateful to have been called by Him to rescue lost people, and help equip the church to do this work of ministry. We are blessed to see the Holy Spirit move powerfully every weekend as we share the M.A.D. Live Event with people all over the country. Cathy and I are thankful that you’re reading this and that you support us with your prayers and often sacrificial giving to keep us doing what God has called us to do. You rewards are secure in Heaven!

We finished our 2014 with 4 more Live Events in November, and we were blessed to see that 5 more people surrendered their lives to Christ at the M.A.D. Live Events! Praise God!! Our schedule “dies” after Thanksgiving until after the New Year, as churches are busy with the holiday schedules, events, and family activities. We will spend our daily work hours calling churches in hopes of filling a light 2015 speaking schedule. Next month’s report will include a summary of how the Lord used us in 2014.

In our downtime next month, I plan on recording some 1 minute evangelism pieces from the MAD Live Event that we’ll be sending to some Christian radio stations in hopes they’ll use them on the air. If they do, they will give us added exposure to places where we’ve never been.

Here are a few testimonies to encourage you:

“Pastor Ralph, I am honored and humbled by being considered as a candidate to serve as a deacon. However, I feel I must decline. Really I feel that I am too old, I will be 85 in about two weeks. I am in fairly good health, but my mind has declined somewhat and I feel it would cause me too much stress to rightly fulfill the office adequately. After hearing Don Sunshine's ministry, I feel that I can serve in my "spiritual gift of evangelism" to tell others about my savior! I have not done it in that way before because of fear, not knowing what to say, etc. I have had the experience now of allowing the leading of the Holy Spirit to give me the courage and power, not in my own power as previously, to talk to people with calmness and confidence.”

“We used to witness with tracts which are not available anymore. We find it easier and affordable to the gospel of John & are easy to carry on our cruises. God opens many divine appointments for us to witness to crew members especially to Spanish & Chinese speaking nationals. My husband speaks 5 European languages & I speak Mandarin, Cantonese & little Indonesian. On our last cruise, the Holy Spirit spoke strongly to a Muslim crew member from Indonesia and she prayed to receive Jesus as her Savior. Please pray for Eka. She is afraid to tell her family about her new found faith. My church is Calvary Chapel of Port St. Lucie.” “Being a divorced single mother of 3 boys I started to give up hope as life attacked me. After a long while of doing worldly things and getting tired of worldly results I decided to get back into God's world again. I have recently remarried and now am a mother and stepmother of 6 children. Through ups and downs 3 members of my family have been saved and baptized. I feel my story can help others who are single moms or divorcees by sharing Godly testimonies. I also work in hospice but am on a leave due to sickness. I am on the upside but have great hope to share as just a year before I had an illness that could have taken my life. God had other plans though. After hearing Don Sunshine speak at our church it empowered me to want to share my strength and faith only through God's love and now getting Godly results!”

DECEMBER SCHEDULE

• Dec 6 – Don Sunshine Ministries Annual Board Meeting, Williamsport, PA

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Continued prayers are requested for our schedule in 2015. It is still very light and the task of filling the schedule literally gets harder each month. I know you’re probably tired of hearing that, but it is true. In addition to praying, please speak with any pastors and church leadership you know and ask them to check us out. They can watch the first hour of the training on our website and I can provide a password to view it in its entirety on Vimeo if needed.

• Thanks for praying about the possible opportunity with the Christian Motorcyclists Association. We were hoping to purchase some ad space in their monthly magazine to expose our teaching to their membership and help equip their people to share Christ effectively. The Board of Directors decided not to allow us to advertise in their monthly magazine. Although we are disappointed, God is still in control!

• For Word FM to partner with us on a pilot MAD Live Event in their listening area

• Praise! Kingdom Bound has agreed to allow me to teach 3 - 1 hour sessions of the M.A.D. Live Event at their Darien Lake, NY Christian music event next summer! We will also have a booth there. This is GREAT NEWS!

Love in Christ,

Cathy and Don

MAD Live Event in Stevens, PA

We completed the last MAD Live Event of the year today in nearby Stevens, PA. About 60 people attended and we praise God for 3 more decisions to repent and follow Christ!

My neighbor Dennis

I met one of my neighbors when we moved in here 2 1/2 years ago. Hi same is Dennis. I've seen him a couple of times since then and said hello. Yesterday I was blowing leaves off of my front lawn and he came outside to get into his truck. I shut the blower off and greeted him. When I asked how he was doing he told me that he was heading to the doctor because he was in need of some additional back surgery. He told me that he was in a lot of pain. I went over to him and asked if I could pray for him. He said yes! So I laid my hand on his shoulder and I prayed for his healing and for a reduction in the pain. He thanked me and got into his truck to head to the doctor. After finishing clearing my lawn, I noticed that his lawn had more leaves on it than mine did. So I went over and blew all of his leaves out into the street as well. Although it took me quite a while to clear his front lawn, he did not get home in time for me to see him again. So today I'm going to go over and to give him a copy of "One Second After You Die", and share the gospel with him.

MAD Live Event in Florence, SC

I was at Northgate Baptist Church in Florence, SC for a Sunday MAD Live Event. I met wonderful, loving brothers and sisters in the Lord at this church. One man gave his life to Christ at the training. PTL!!! Then I headed home at about 4 PM. Rolled into the driveway at home at about 1 AM after one stop in VA. I am thankful for a full weekend of ministry and for the privilege of getting to do what I do.

MAD Live Event in Waxhaw, NC

I had a great time at Waxhaw Bible Church in Waxhaw, NC today. My old friend and former co-worker - crazy Bill Griswold worked hard to promote the MAD Live Event at his church. The people were wonderful and one man gave his life to Jesus Christ today! Praising God for all that He did. Looking forward to the MAD Live Event tomorrow in Florence, SC.

MAD Live Event completed in Jersey Shore, PA

It was great being back up in the northern tier of PA....our old stomping grounds. We have passed through Williamsport literally hundreds of times, but I never spent the night there. Last night I did, before our MAD Live Event at the Mountain View Alliance Church in Jersey Shore today. Good to be back in an Alliance Church as well. We had 55 people stay for the entire training. I was blessed by meeting the brothers and sisters there and the fellowship was awesome. I am looking forward to seeing how the Lord will use them!

October Praise Report

How the Lord used us in October of 2014

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ!

We completed four MAD Live Events this month and I gave a seminar and had a display at the annual Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Conference in Hamburg, NY. We pray that the seminar will open new doors of sharing the life changing MAD Live Event in some area churches. Besides equipping the church for the work of ministry, God was pleased to use us to help rescue 18 people for eternity during the month of October! Praise the Lord! It NEVER gets old seeing the Father draw people to Himself for salvation through our efforts.

We have some exciting news that we pray the Lord will use to open new doors of ministry for us. As you know from last month’s letter, our brothers in the Lord, Rick and Brian, recorded the Live Event at the end of September. We now have the entire MAD Live Event posted on Vimeo so prospective pastors can check out what we do and how I present the material. It is password protected and it will be used as the need to evaluate us arises. In addition, we posted the first hour of the MAD Live Event on our website (no password required) so anyone can check out the content and our presentation style before they book us. Again, there is no password needed for this first hour of video.

I have been challenged by some friends in the Christian radio industry to record one-minute snippets of the content of our MAD Live Event. The purpose for this is to burn CDs and send them to smaller market Christian radio stations so they can evaluate them and possibly use them as one-minute fillers on air. If they choose to do this, it should give us additional exposure which we hope will lead to more bookings.

We received a nice surprise from the Pocket Testament League on Saturday, Oct 18th. They put together a one-page endorsement of what we’re doing, and did an email blast to all of their members! We have already received a few contacts from this (and hopefully more will come) that we hope will translate into new bookings of our MAD Live Event. I’ll attach a .pdf for you to see and forward on to church leadership.

Here are a few testimonies to encourage you:

“My friend Sarah and I were out shopping and were heading home when we saw a woman holding a ripped piece of cardboard on a busy street saying "Will work for food to feed my family. Anything helps." Sarah and I both had the same voice pop into our heads from the Holy Spirit - ask her if she knows Jesus and give her a booklet. Sarah said she had them in her other bag but I had some in my purse. I suggested we drive down to Arby's to get her a few sandwiches, fries and a large coke. That's exactly what we did and got out a booklet as well. In the booklet we wrote, "Jesus is our hope and He wants to be yours too! Enjoy this gift, but these words will explain how to accept the greatest gift you can ever receive!" When driving back around the light was green so we pulled over and waved the lady over. She came over to my side and I began to explain what we got her and then asked her if she knew Jesus. She smiled and shook her head yes. I went on to explain how Jesus is our hope and I was giving her the booklet to let her know that Jesus wants her in Heaven. She was extremely grateful and couldn't thank us enough. Before we left we asked for her name, which was Cindy. We told Cindy that we will be praying for her and that we hope we meet again someday. As we drove off we could see in our rear view mirrors Cindy flipping through the booklet.”

“I've been looking for opportunities to give out gospels of John since having Don Sunshine come and minister in our church. So far I have personally handed out about 6 pocket gospels to people I've encountered; a biker on his way to California, a couple stranded at the fast food place where I work, and some others. but I make and distribute warm winter hats for homeless people around the country, and I thought it would be great to put a gospel of John in each hat that i send out. I will write a personal note in each one encouraging them to know that God loves them no matter who they are. I'm excited to see what happens.”

“Hi Don, I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciated your talk at Living Faith church on 10/19. You have a great presentation and a way of making it easy to share Christ. I will do this with the help of THE HOLY SPIRIT. I will have more questions later. Keep up the good work and God Bless you and yours. I have been praying for you too.”

“The Lord gifted me so that I have an incredibly easy time talking to strangers, something which I always knew was a way I could reach others with the good news, but I was afraid. I never knew what I was supposed to say or how to start the conversation, but now I have a way to do it. There's hardly any fear for me to deal with - the Lord's put me through social situations that make sharing Him to others seem like a breeze. Having those little Gospel of John books is like having a good pair of running shoes; I feel like I can go anywhere and do just about anything with the Holy Spirit moving inside of me and a booklet in my hand. Thank you so, so much!”

We have some additional exciting news. We got a new supporter for the next 36 months and that very generous supporter brings our regular monthly support up to 71%! Praise God!!!

NOVEMBER SCHEDULE

• Nov 9 - MAD Live Event - Mountain View Alliance Church, Jersey Shore, PA

• Nov 15 - MAD Live Event - Waxhaw Bible Church, Waxhaw, NC

• Nov 16 - MAD Live Event - Northgate Baptist Church, Florence, SC

• Nov 22 - MAD Live Event - Harvest Fellowship, Stevens, PA

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Continued prayers are requested for our schedule in 2015. It is still very light and the task of filling the schedule literally gets harder each month. I know you’re probably tired of hearing that, but it is true. In addition to praying, please speak with any pastors and church leadership you know and ask them to check us out. They can watch the first hour of the training on our website and I can provide a password to view it in its entirety on Vimeo if needed.

• We have not heard anything from the national motorcycle ministry that I mentioned in last month’s report. I don’t know whether that is good or bad news. Keep praying!

• For Word FM to partner with us on a pilot MAD Live Event in their listening area

• For Kingdom Bound to allow us to do some kind of a MAD Live Event, whether the full 4 hours or an abbreviated version of it at next year’s Kingdom Bound.

Love in Christ,

Cathy and Don

Our waitress Kaila

We decided to go out for a bite to eat for dinner tonight. We got a waitress named Kaila. I asked how I could pray for her and she was totally taken by surprise. I asked her if anyone had ever offered to do that for her and she said that she had been waitressing for 7 years and no one had ever offered to pray for her. She thought for a second and asked me to pray for her family's health. I asked her if there was someone specifically she was thinking of who could use the prayers. She said her Mom had just finished cancer treatments and she was hoping it wouldn't come back. I asked what her name was and she replied, "Donna". I said we'd pray for her Mom. She left our table and after I prayed I got up to go to the car for something and Kaila was standing at the computer and one of her co-workers was rubbing her on the back consoling her. Kaila was wiping tears from her eyes. I guess it really impacted her. She returned to our table time after time giving us exceptional service, each time beaming with a smile on her face. We left he a Gospel of John with a nice note in the front and a great tip. I pray the Lord uses the experience and the truth of His Word to rescue Kaila and her family for eternity.

Iron Sharpens Iron, Hamburg, NY

I had a display at the Hamburg, NY Iron Sharpens Iron Conference yesterday. I was blessed to be reconnected with many brothers who have been through the MAD Live Event before, and to have made some new contacts. I was asked to do a 75 minute version of the MAD Live Event for the seminar I was scheduled to present. I had to cut out hundreds of slides to fit it in. I only went over about 3 minutes, but was short 10 minutes to show the closing video. So I encouraged the men to say on an extra 10 minutes and most of the 40+ men did so. Lord willing we'll get some bookings from it.

MAD Live Event in nearby Boyertown, PA

MAD Live Event today in nearby Boyertown, PA. Another 3 people gave their lives to Jesus Christ today! Great rejoicing in the presence of angels in Heaven!

MAD at Flat Mountain Baptist Church

What a time we had on the mountain in TN today. I was at Flat Mountain Baptist for a MAD Live Event. Amazing, loving people. God's Spirit was at work as a number of people came to the altar in tears after the event. They actually donated the entire Sunday morning offering to our ministry. That's never happened before and it was quite a sum! Praise God! Looking forward to going back down as the two churches that I have been to may schedule a Walk thru the Bible OT seminar.

MAD Live Event - Morgantown, PA

I did a MAD Live Event for the folks at Morgantown Community Church today. What an amazing group of people....all very supportive, loving, friendly, and personable. About 120 were trained and according to the evaluation forms, 12 people surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith! Praise God!!

MAD Live Event in Tioga County, PA

I did a MAD Live Event today in our old stomping grounds...Tioga County, PA. We had a small group attend from various churches. It was a great opportunity for exposure. What a beautiful ride up Route 15! The colors of the autumn leaves are almost at peak. It was gorgeous! Tomorrow I'll be at the Morgantown Community Church for another MAD Live Event.

How the Lord used us in September of 2014

Greetings in the name of Christ!

The beautiful autumn season is upon us and it is a special time of year for those of us who love to see the hand of God in nature as the seasons change. The smell of fallen leaves and the crunch of them under your feet as you walk is special. The evenings and mornings have cooled down, which makes for some incredible sleeping weather. The stars are on full display on these cool mornings and the sighting of the constellation Orion, signals a nearing of the hunting season. I love this time of year!

For those who have been asking, “Buddy” is our newest family member. He was graciously given to us by a kennel in Sunbury, PA, thanks to a referral from a pastor friend named Doug. Cathy has been staying home with him completing his housebreaking. Isn’t he cute? He is an awesome little guy and a great addition to our family.

Through our church, I am finishing up a year of mentoring a fine young man named Nate. He and I have become great friends and I look forward to continuing the relationship when the “official” meetings are over. He has been a blessing to me and I trust the same is true on his end.

We had a great September of ministry, completing 5 MAD Live Events and hitting another milestone….our 400th MAD Live Event! We are excited to report that 19 more people came to faith in Christ at our events in September! How great is our God! Thanks to the generosity of Rick Dean and his daughter Kendall’s Cabinwood Productions, the 400th event was professionally recorded and streamed live over the Internet. Unfortunately, due to some last minute tech issues, the first 10-15 minutes of the streamed event did not happen. Sadly, we probably lost some viewers at that time. However, God is still sovereign and in control of all of life’s issues and we rest in that. Cabinwood will be providing us with a professionally edited DVD set of the training, which we’ll be able to use as we see fit. Also, we’ll have a website where church leaders of prospective churches can check out the entire training before making a commitment to have us come.

New opportunities to pray about - I had a meeting with the leadership of Word FM, a Christian radio network that has coverage from WV to Scranton, PA about partnering with them to do some MAD Live Events across their vast listening area. They have never done anything like this before, but what an opportunity to expand the impact of both of our ministries! I have also been in contact with the leadership of Kingdom Bound, a Christian music festival in Darien Lake, NY about doing something with them at their August festival. We’ll see what doors the Lord opens!

Here are some testimonies to encourage you:

“I gave these gospels of John to family members, friends and even people I don't know. I was at a restaurant with my wife and her aunt one morning, and we had the same waitress as the time before when we went. In between my two visits to this restaurant, I went to Mr. Sunshine's seminar. When i returned the second time, I had talked with her about my experience and what I had heard from him. Then as I finished my meal and was leaving a tip, I wrote in the front cover of the pocket gospel saying to keep her head held high and the Lord will take care of her. I watched through the window as she read the note, and a smile grew in her face. She came outside to thank me and i asked if I could pray with her. Cathy teared up as I finished the prayer and we gave each other a hug.”

“I never knew the Pocket Testament League existed until Don Sunshine came to my home church. His training at my church inspired me greatly to become a member of the Pocket Testament League in order to share our salvation with others using the Gospels of John. More pointedly, my fiancé runs an imports page on Facebook where he sets up car meets for everyone to come out and hangout. Hundreds of cars come to these events and I think it is the perfect setting to share the love of Christ. I am in need of a sponsor because I am still currently in College. I graduated with my BS in May and I am currently working on my MA in Human Services Counseling. That along with not being able to find a job is becoming a financial strain on me and my family. I would be honored to receive sponsorship in order to share the love of Christ with others. Thank you for what you all are doing,”

Two testimonies from John, who attended one of the Live Events:

“Hi Don, this is John from Shamokin I took your class yesterday at Calvery Bible! The Lord just gave me my first connection a woman named Cheryl! She said she wanted a new life so I talked with her and gave her the gospel of John booklet! Praise God! I wanted you to know! Thank you brother!”

“It's John again, Our Lord just gave me another contact. Talk about being unprepared. I only took 1 booklet this morning. So I shared the gospel message using the story of George Wilson. The man’s name is Ed. I asked to pray with him but he said not now and that he would think about his pardon in Jesus Christ and let me know later so I went to my truck and prayed for him! Praise the Lord for his kindness using a sinner like me! Thanks again Don! I will be praying for you and your family!”

Have you noticed that the world is falling apart? Things are getting crazier every day. There is an increasing sense of urgency to bring others into the Kingdom because time is short! Our Lord’s return can happen any time. Our ministry of motivating and equipping the church to do what Christ left us here to do is more important than ever! Please help us get the word out. We are so blessed to do what we do, and to see how the Lord uses it for His purposes and the growth of His Kingdom. We wouldn’t be able to do this without your faithful prayer and financial support, so THANK YOU!

OCTOBER SCHEDULE

• Oct 4 - MAD Live Event - Garrett Miller Center, Millerton, PA

• Oct 5 - MAD Live Event - Morgantown Community Church, Elverson, PA

• Oct 12 - MAD Live Event - Flat Mountain Baptist Church, Dunlap, TN

• Oct 19 - MAD Live Event - Living Faith Lutheran Church, Boyertown, PA

• Oct 25 - Speak and display at the Buffalo area Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Conference

PRAYER REQUESTS

• As usual, continued prayers are requested for our schedule in 2015. It is still very light and the task of filling the schedule literally gets harder each month. I know you’re probably tired of hearing that, but it is true. In addition to praying, please speak with any pastors and church leadership you know and ask them to check us out.

• The national motorcycle ministry that I mentioned last month has added an agenda item to discuss the possibility of doing “something” with us to equip their people. We’d love to see this happen. Their board meeting is sometime in October.

• For Word FM to partner with us on a MAD Live Event to see the impact of it

• For Kingdom Bound to allow us to do some kind of a MAD Live Event, whether the full 4 hours or an abbreviated version of it at next year’s Kingdom Bound.

Love in Christ,

Cathy and Don

MAD Live Event in Allentown today

I had a great time with the folks at Grace Community Church in Allentown today. 41 more people were trained and 2 gave their lives to Christ. PTL!!!

Our 400th MAD Live Event is in the books

Thank you to everyone who prayed for our 400th event today. We had about 70 people show up plus a number viewed it online. We had a glitch at the start of the streaming video. The "dark side" (Microsoft...sorry...I am an Apple guy) forced 28 upgrades onto the computer which was to stream the event right before we started. This caused the computer to revert to some previous settings which blew up the Live Stream. It took 15 minutes for Rick to figure out what happened. So I apologize for those who struggled to watch and gave up. We will have a link sometime soon so it can be viewed online in the future. Let me know if you're interested.

Thanks to Calvary Chapel of the Oley Valley for hosting the event at New Life BFC. And thanks to New Life for partnering to make it happen. CC also surprised us with a nice cake celebrating the 400th MAD Live Event. 3 people came to faith in Christ at the event so we praise God for that. Tomorrow I'll be presenting in Allentown, PA

MAD in Easton, PA

I had a wonderful time presenting to the folks in Easton today. Lots of great feedback and appreciation for what we are doing for the Kingdom. And, PTL several people gave their lives to Christ today!

Prayer request for Monday

Prayers would be appreciated for a meeting I am having Monday morning with a Christian radio network. I am hoping they will agree to host one or more MAD Live Events in their listening areas.

Testimony from Saturday's training

I was just blessed by a lady named Barbara from Charlotte, NC. She called and shared with me how she shared the love of Christ with a homeless man by buying him a meal and sharing a Gospel of John with him. She also said that at Sunday night's service there were quite a few testimonies from people in the church who had attended the MAD Live Event on Saturday and put it into practice. That's what it's all about! Praise God! I encouraged her and thanked her for calling.

Great day at The Harvest in Lexington, SC!

I had a great day at the Harvest today in Lexington, SC. Spoke at both AM services and did a MAD Live Event this afternoon. About 107 people attended and 7 of these people gave their lives to Christ today! Still praising God! Also, made som new contacts that could really help open some new doors of ministry. I was blessed before leaving the church to have a group of people surround me to lay hands on me to pray for us and our ministry for Christ. What a day....

Divine appointments with servers today

I've had a couple of great days of Divine appointments. On Friday night I was blessed to share Christ with our waitress Christina. This morning I offered to pray for my server Chuck, at Cracker Barrel. He instantly welled up with tears and said I could pray for him as his Dad had passed away this week. I prayed for him and his family. After breakfast he came over and grabbed my hand and thanked me profusely for paring for him. Tonight I stopped at a restaurant that Pastor James had recommended and I got a waitress named Tatiana. I ended up praying for her and she came back to talk further. It is a LONG story, but we spent about 10 minutes in a detailed Gospel discussion. I ave her a Gospel of John and a One Second After you die booklet for her to read. She said she would contact me if she had any questions. It was awesome. Wish I could detail all of the cool stuff that happened.

MAD Live Event in Kannapolis, NC

I finished a MAD Live Event today at this church in Kannapolis, NC. We had 57 people attend and 1 teen gave his life to Christ today! Praise God! Then I drove back down to Lexington, SC....I was here two weeks ago. Tomorrow I will be doing another MAD Live Event at the Harvest Church.

August Ministry Report

How the Lord used us in August of 2014

Hello Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

We are praising God for the best August we have ever had in terms of a schedule. Here’s what the Lord allowed us to do this month:

• 3 MAD Live Events

• 2 days of Interviewing children at the local CEF camp – leading some to Christ and planting/watering seeds in the others

• 2 days of preaching at the Milford Bible Camp’s Family Camp

• 1 day as a guest speaker on WGRC’s Morning Show from 6-9 AM talking about evangelism

• 1 Day speaking at the Surfside Services in Ocean Grove, NJ

We praise God for all of these opportunities to share His love and plan of salvation and we were blessed to see God save another 20 souls this month! Praise the Lord!!!! After completing the MAD Live Event on the 24th in Lexington, SC, a young man about 14 yrs old came up to me afterwards with tears in his eyes and wanted to speak with me. I pulled him aside and he cried, and cried and cried, not able to speak in any kind of a complete sentence. He was broken by the Holy Spirit. Through the tears he said he needed to be saved. He hadn’t made the decision when the invitation was given at the end of the training, and he said he couldn't leave the church until he was right with God. As I spoke with him, his Dad came over and joined us. I had the privilege of leading him to Christ in the foyer of the church!

Here’s some more testimonies to bless your heart and encourage you:

“Dear Don, After hearing you speak in Sunbury, Pa this summer, I was able to get some great witnessing books to keep in my vehicle. Our Church went on a mission trip to Rochester in July. While talking to a young mom in a poor section of town (sitting on playground equipment), the Lord helped me to tell her about Him. Had one very interesting conversation about the Lord, about her life (came from India), and sharing some of my testimony with her. I then told her to wait a minute because I had something for her....(I call it "pulling a Don Sunshine") and ran to the church van to write a personal note to her and to then give them to her. She was sooooo appreciative about the books. Praying that she is reading them and understanding them and wanting to know more about the Lord. Thank you so much for your testimony and your willingness to help others like me who have a hard time starting a conversation that leads to witnessing for God. The Lord has used you to remind me to be open to what He is saying to me and to DO something about it.”

“I took that leap of faith and stepped outside my comfort zone. Once a month I have lunch with some retirees from our past employment. There about 7 of us who meet. To my knowledge I am the only Christian. One gal claims to be agnostic ..what ever that is suppose to mean..you are either on Gods team or your not..no in between. Anyway I've always wanted to approach them some how but was afraid. After your class it seemed easier. SO...last week before the dinner I thought I am going to do this! My heart said to approach slowly and ask before we leave if anyone would like me to pray for them and they don't need to ask for anything specific. I did know several health problems some were having so I started off by mentioning them and I would pray for those needs till we met again. I was waiting for some moans & groans but to my surprise they all said yes..please do..pray for me. I was about blown over & thought what was I fearing! Like you said friends and family are the hardest. They all thanked me and I got a nice email from one of the girls. I gave them my email if they had any needs before our next luncheon. Now to the agnostic..she never said a word. I mentioned at the table that I would pray she would fine a good renter for her rental property. She is a tough nut but hopefully The Lord will open her heart. I just wanted you to know your classes are a success! I plan to gradually work more and more on these gals and see where The Lord leads.”

“Hi Don, I picked up some gospels of John yesterday after the last session. 4 different covers. Today after my shift at McDonald's I heard a couple of young guys talking in the booth behind me while I was waiting for my ride. They mentioned the race car driver who got killed north of here, how he was only 20. So I stuck my head around the corner and fairly soon asked about their spirituality. The one guy, Eddie, said he was basically christian, but then went into this cosmic meditation thing and how we are all gods that made it pretty clear he didn't know what Christianity was. So, one of the covers I picked on the book was a starscape... sooo... I asked if I could share what I believed, and told him that this was a book of the Bible and pretty much explained what Christianity is. He and his friend took it, they were there for interviews, so I hope to have another shot at one or both of them. I fell like I could have done better, but it was the first time. I'll keep going. Pray for me. And for Eddie and his friend. His friend didn't want to share his beliefs, maybe he's Wiccan, lot of that around here, but he is willing to hear what I believe. Thanks for coming yesterday, God really did something. blessings and prayers!”

As we look at what is happening in the world around us, we are living in very scary, yet exciting times. There is more and more of a sense of urgency to rescue lost people and to equip followers of Christ to do the same. The world as we know it is falling apart because of rampant sin. We are praying that the Lord will come quickly for His bride before this gets really ugly. Thanks for your partnership in helping us to impact the Kingdom in these last days.

SEPTEMBER SCHEDULE

• Sept 6 - MAD Live Event - First Baptist Church - Kannapolis, NC

• Sept 7 - MAD Live Event - The Harvest - Lexington, SC

• Sept 14 - MAD Live Event - Bethel Memorial Baptist Church - Easton, PA

• Sept 18 - beginning this Thursday, I will be leading a weekly small group study for people in our church

• Sept 21 - MAD Live Event - Calvary Bible Fellowship Church - Shamokin, PA

• Sept 27 - MAD Live Event - New Life Bible Fellowship Church - Oley, PA - PRAYERS FOR A GREAT TURNOUT ARE REQUESTED FOR THIS DATE - I am being professionally filmed at this event • Sept 28 - MAD Live Event - Grace Community Church - Allentown, PA

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Thank you for your prayers regarding our fall schedule. God has been gracious to us and has given us a good September and a little beyond. Please keep the full schedule request before our Lord. Thanks!

• The September 27th MAD Live Event in Oley PA is a very important one for us. First, it will be our 400th MAD Live Event, so we rejoice in that milestone. But secondly, we will be professionally filmed by Cabinwood Productions, a Christian video production company from Allentown, PA. They have graciously offered to provide me with a professionally produced DVD set of the MAD Live Event for whatever we can use it for. THANK YOU LORD! Please pray for a full house because the video will look better and the group dynamics will be better as well!

• The national motorcycle ministry that I mentioned last month has added an agenda item to discuss the possibility of doing “something” with our ministry. We’d love to see this happen.

Love in Christ,

Cathy and Don

Divine appointment at the drive up window

Today I had an open door to share Christ with the man who owns the Steak Shack in Sinking Spring. I spent about 20 minutes talking with him at his drive up window about the Lord and then returned later for another 20 minute conversation. When I returned the 2nd time, he said that he couldn't think about anything but what I had shared with him on the first stop. I gave him something to read and included my phone number. I am hoping God will bless me with the privilege of leading him to true faith in Jesus Christ very soon.

Graet day in Lexington, SC!

Was I ever blessed yesterday! The time of singing praises to God at both services was incredible. Everyone was so loving and kept me busy at every break! A number of people attended the MAD Live Event for the 2nd time. In all we ended up with 225 staying for the entire training. 7 people responded to the drawing of the Father through His Holy Spirit and were born again! PTL! A young man about 14 yrs old came up to me afterwards with tears in his eyes and wanted to speak with me. I pulled him aside and he cried, and cried and cried nearly able to speak in any kind of a complete sentence. He was broken by the Holy Spirit. Through the tears he said he needed to be saved. He hand't made the decision when the invitation was given at the end of the training, and he said he couldn't leave the church until he was right with God. As I spoke with him, his Dad came over and joined us. I had the privilege of leading him to Christ in the foyer of the church! This young man made my day! Many people stopped and shared with me how the training had impacted their lives. I am truly blessed to be called to do what I do. I left the church at 3:45 PM and began the long trek home, arriving home in PA at 2 AM this morning. I am glad to be home and anxious to be back in NC and SC again in two weeks to minister.Thanks so much to Pastor Ralph and the leadership team for allowing me to minister to an awesome group of people.

MAD Live Event in Charlotte

I woke up this morning to a flat tire on the rental car. Pastor Clay picked me up at the hotel and brought me to the church. After the Live Event, I got to change the tire in 100 degree weather with an equal amount of humidity. Fun.

On the positive side, I completed a MAD Live Event in an inner city church in Charlotte, NC. 75 people attended and I praise God for working in people's hearts. Besides equipping the folks, 8 people indicated on their evaluation forms that they had surrendered their hearts to the Lordship of Christ in repentance and faith! Praise God! Great rejoicing in the presence of angels in Heaven!

Tomorrow doing a MAD Live Event at First Baptist Church in Lexington, SC. I am anxious to see how the Lord works tomorrow!

Tomorrow - Morning Show interview

I'll be on the morning show at www.wgrc.com tomorrow from 6-9 AM talking about personal evangelism and the M.A.D. Live Event. Tune in online and listen live.

Milford Bible Camp tonight and tomorrow

I am excited to be doing an abbreviated version of the first part of the MAD Live Event tonight for Family Camp at the Milford Bible Camp. Tomorrow night will be part 2. Lord willing the exposure will open some new doors for us the share the full Live Event in churches. Prayers always appreciated!

Day 2 Interviewing CEF Day Campers

Finished Day 2 of interviewing campers at the local CEF camp. What a blessing these kids were to me. I had the privilege of spiritually challenging them to live for Jesus, and to make it a priority to spend time reading His Word, praying, and telling their loved ones and friends about Christ.

Day 1 interviewing campers at CEF Camp

Day 1 at CEF camp interviewing kids is done. Had a wonderful time with these young people encouraging some and leading two to faith in Christ. One more day of interviews tomorrow.

Undeniable Evidence

Nancy got off to a really fast start spiritually. Well, in a way she did, because it took about two years of her coming to my Campus Life Club before she finally chose Christ as her Savior. But after that she really took off. In fact, she came over to my house not long after she made her commitment and said, "Ron, could you give me an argument to convince my big sister, Linda, that this is real?" What had happened was that Nancy came home talking about Jesus, and Linda said, "Oh, right, Nancy! Last week it was a drug, next week it will be a boyfriend. This week it's Jesus. You'll get over it."

Nancy needed to know how to convince her. She needed an argument. I said, "Well, maybe I could. But I'd rather you'd do this, Nancy. Ask yourself this question, 'What change could I ask Jesus to make in me that my big sister, Linda, would have to notice?'" She said, "I've got it!"

Two weeks later she came back. I said, "Well, how did it go with the Lord and with Linda?" She said, "Oh great! I gave God the chair." Right! "I gave God the chair?" She said, "See, we've got this big, red overstuffed chair in our living room. It's right by the picture window and right in front of the TV set. And Linda and I always start by arguing over this chair...like who's going to get it. So I just said, 'Lord, help me to be unselfish about this chair.'"

Wouldn't you know it began to get Linda's attention. She said, "Nancy, what's happened to you?" Two years later these girls are like; takes them two years. Linda came to me. She said, "Ron, Nancy and I just wanted you to know I've just given my life to Christ." I said, "Oh that's awesome!" She said, "Yeah, but we've got a question. Now, who gets the chair?" That is a true story.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Undeniable Evidence."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 5:15. "People do not light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Notice here it doesn't say they will hear your good beliefs and praise your Father in heaven. They will see your good deeds.

Now, here's 1 Peter 2:12. It's sort of a companion verse. "Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and then glorify God on the day He visits us." These people who start out criticizing you end up praising your God. Why? It's not beliefs. It's not meetings that interest people in your Jesus. It's your changed life. It's the difference He makes.

Maybe you need to ask yourself in light of the lost people in your world, "What change could I ask Jesus to make in me that they would have to notice?" If you're concerned for a parent who doesn't know the Lord, why don't you ask yourself, "How could I give them a better son? How could I give them a better daughter?" That's what they ought to get out of me being a Christian is a better son or daughter, more time with them, more help around the house, more respect. See, that's a change a parent would notice.

Maybe you're a parent and you've got a son or daughter who doesn't know the Lord. Ask yourself, "What change could I have Jesus make in me as a mom or dad that my son or daughter would sure notice?" Who could be against something that gives them a better parent or a better child? Maybe you're an employee and you want to reach your employer. "Lord, how could I change? Make me more reliable, more on time, more conscientious; whatever they would notice; a better friend, a better neighbor. In other words, be different in the way that would matter most to the lost person you want to take to heaven with you.

For Nancy it was the chair in the living room. Listen! Give the people around you a new and improved model of you, made possible daily by a Savior named Jesus. But be new in their language. It will win you the right to introduce them to the One who's changed you. See, they can't see Jesus, but they're looking at you. So, show them in living color that life-changing difference-making power of Jesus Christ, a change that matters to them. Now that's undeniable evidence.

MAD Live Event completed in Binhamton, NY roday

We had about 100 people stay for the entire MAD Live Event today at Central Baptist in Binghamton.

Just before we started the first session, I was so blessed and surprised to see Pastor Justin Bleuer of the Berean Bible Church from just up the road in Greene NY at Central Baptist. I have taught in his church several times. He said that when they heard that I was coming to Central, he and other members of his congregation gave up their Sunday morning to come to Central to provide childcare for the kids so parents could attend the MAD Live Event! That was a first for me! I am so impressed with the servant hearts that these people have. God bless them!

ATTN PA: We could use your help!

I am booked to do a MAD Live Event at the New Life Bible Fellowship Church in Oley on Saturday, Sept 27th beginning at 9 AM. Cabinwood Productions, a Christian Production company out of Allentown, will be professionally recording the Live Event using 3 TV cameras. It is important for the video to have a full auditorium as it looks better in the video and will a larger crowd will improve the group dynamics. The MAD material continues to evolve and improve as time goes by. I made the last major presentation changes on June 1st, so there’s new material in the presentation.

Would you kindly help by:

1. personally attend the live event even if you’ve been through one before

2. bring as many people as you can – relatives, friends, neighbors

3. Promote the event to your friends, relatives, and church leaders and members

We are working on getting lunch donated for the first 200 people who register and attend. We are asking people to register in advance on the homepage of our website so we’ll have an idea of how many to expect. Please register and re4commend that others do the same.

Thanks for your help!!!!

July Ministry Report

How the Lord used us in July of 2014

Hello Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

Traditionally, July is a slow time for our ministry…same for this year. We were blessed to have been referred to two E. Free churches in Colorado by Pastor Sam from northern NJ. We had ministered in his church and he recommended us to his pastor friends in Colorado. That’s how our ministry grows…word of mouth! In God’s providence, we were able to do two MAD Live Events in Colorado while on our way to Utah for our annual Ultimate Adventure trip. We equipped about 130 people and were blessed to see two people come to faith in Christ at the MAD Live Event. Praise God!!! The one church in Canon City happens to be the town where my brother and sister-in-law live. So we spent some time with them before heading to UT for our trip.

Our oldest granddaughter came along on the Ultimate Adventure Utah trip to Utah and was a HUGE help with all of the shopping and work that needed to be done. In addition, there were 10 people who participated in this year’s trip. They were a great bunch and we enjoyed sharing some time in God’s Word while working on David Platt’s study guide for his book, “Follow Me”. We saw some of God’s amazingly beautiful handiwork displayed in nature, and enjoyed the Christian fellowship and adventures for the eight days. The adventures included:

• ATV riding to over 12,000 feet above sea level

• Camping in a meadow at over 9,000 feet. We had a bear visit the tents at night, sniff around them and then leave.

• Whitewater rafting in the Sevier River

• Hiking in the Zion Narrows (in the river with special footwear and a long stick)

• Canyoneering – 9 rappells, each from 30-100 feet long, plus downclimbing

• Horseback ride down into Bryce Canyon

• Jeeping in Moab – the “Rock Crawling Capital of the World”

• Zip Lining – Six section of varying lengths of cable from 260' - 1200' accessed by 2 miles of exhilerating ATV trail. Tree-less ziplining with views of Arches National Park on the horizon and the famous Slickrock Mountain Bike Trail below.

The trip required about 5,700 miles of driving for us, but it was well worth the effort. We met a number of people along the way that we were able to share the love of Jesus Christ with. The results are in His hands now.

I recently finished reading two of David Platt’s Best Selling books and they have truly rocked my world and impacted the material contained in the MAD Live Event. I would HIGHLY recommend that you purchase “Radical” and “Follow Me” by David Platt and read them. Not only did some of his material make it into my training, but I bought 9 of each of the books for my closest loved ones to read. Serioiusly, you MUST read them!

On another note - more reason to keep us in your prayers…I sent out about 40 DVDs of the 2 minute MAD intro video from my website with a short intro letter in hopes pastors would read the letter, watch the video, and go to my website for more information. I haven’t received one call, so now I will call each of them and see what happens. Please continue to pray!

We continue to say “thank you” to every one of you who regularly prays for us and/or sacrificially gives to support our work for the Kingdom!

AUGUST SCHEDULE

We praise God for the best August schedule we have ever had!

• Aug 10 – MAD Live Event - Central Baptist Church - Binghamton, NY

• Aug 12 & 13 - Interview children at CEF Camp in Laureldale, PA to determine where they are with the Lord and to lead them to Christ if they are ready

• Aug 16 & 17 - Speak at Family Camp – Milford Bible Camp, Zionsville, PA

• Aug 20 - I will be on the morning show from 6 AM - 9 AM at WGRC in Lewsiburg, PA talking about evangelism and the MAD Live Event. Listen in if you can. www.wgrc.com

• Aug 23 - MAD Live Event - Faith Memorial Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC

• Aug 24 - MAD Live Event - First Baptist Church, Lexington, SC

PRAYER REQUESTS

• There’s a possible breakthrough in regards to the opportunity to advertise in the national Christian motorcycle ministry’s monthly magazine. Please pray for victory in this opportunity.

• Continued prayers for the schedule to fill

• Please pray that we will get into larger churches and have more people attend the Live Events. We have no control over how many people attend our Events, but the average number of participants is way down this year, most likely because we have been ministering in smaller churches. Our desire is to have more of an impact for the Kingdom.

• For God’s Spirit to move powerfully as we minister in the places where He opens doors

Love in Christ,

Cathy and Don

Utah Ultimate Adventure begins today!

The 2014 Ultimate Adventure in Utah begins today. Stay tuned for highlights! Everyone arrived safely yesterday and last night. Prayers for safety appreciated!

New Glasses

Our son-in-law is pretty used to the scenery in Wheaton, Illinois. He lived there until he graduated from college. But one day he saw something sort of new that got his attention. He and my daughter were driving along, and my son-in-law pulled up to this stop sign on the street that he'd seen hundreds of times. He looked at the street sign and he said, "Hey, you know, I'm used to that sign being dull. It's not supposed to be that clear. I can really read it!" You want to guess why it suddenly had a sharpness to it that he didn't remember? Same sign; it hadn't changed. He just got his new glasses.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "New Glasses."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Mark 1. I'll begin reading at verse 35. Now, Jesus has just come through a full day of teaching, followed by a full night of healing many sick people and even dealing with the Devil in people's lives. So sleep must have felt awfully good that night, and I'll bet morning came quickly.

Well, here's what it says, "Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place where He prayed. Simon and His companions were looking for Him. When they found Him they exclaimed, 'Everyone is looking for You.' Jesus replied, 'Let us go somewhere else to the nearby villages so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.' So He traveled throughout Galilee preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons."

Here is Jesus, surrounded by demands and decisions about priorities - needs all around Him. And in the midst of this relentless schedule there's one thing Jesus will not sacrifice - His Father time. Even if it costs Him sleep. After He's been with His Father, He comes away knowing what He has to do. "I must go preach in those other villages." It's as if He's been able to put on spiritual glasses to see His choices clearly for that day.

Well, in this simple daily meeting with God, Jesus is showing us - modeling for us - how we can sort out everything that's crowding in on us. See, you've got to be alone with God before you hear any other voices to discern what He wants from you that day before all those other people hit you. You need God's glasses to see the needs around you, and then which ones He wants you to say yes to and which ones He wants you to say no to.

Father time is time to get His orders from what you read in His Word; time to off-load all the burdens you're carrying so they don't have to distort your vision. It's time for you to let Him put in proper perspective the relatively little things that have become very big to you, and the really big things that you've allowed to become small. If you don't begin a day talking with and listening to your Heavenly Father, the other voices and the other choices will probably pull you right off course. The other voices frankly are louder than God's voice. That's why you need to be alone with Him to hear Him.

So, open God's Word early in the day and open your heart. Ask Him this: "Lord, help me to see what You see when you look at my family, when you look at my marriage, when you look at my need, when you look at my work. What do you see when you see that relationship, or this decision I have to make?" The question is this: "Is your daily time with your Lord optional or is it non-negotiable?" For Jesus, it was non-negotiable. How about you? Isn't it time to say, "Lord, no one can have my time with You. Beginning now, it will be each day the highest priority of my personal schedule."

Our son-in-law never knew how clear things could be until he looked at them through new glasses. Your life could be a lot less cloudy, a lot clearer, if you will begin each day with your Heavenly Father; looking at your world through His eyes.

Camera Ready

My wife and I had just visited her father and we were driving on this busy Interstate that's right near a large city. Suddenly everyone was coming to a complete stop, and we immediately thought, "Oh, there's got to be an accident, or maybe it could be construction."

Well, my wife was driving, and as we inch along we see that there is a road block ahead that was stopping everything. A man with a hard hat stuck his head in the window and began asking questions. "Where did you begin your journey today? How long have you been driving? Where are you headed?" My wife said, "What's this for?" He replied, "Oh, we're just taking a survey here to see if we need to widen the road."

So, they are stopping the busiest highway in the area to do a survey as the traffic is backing up behind us? My wife then notices this video camera filming the conversation with Mr. Hard Hat, and a woman with a microphone in her hand. And she saw the letters on the microphone. We've got a TV anchor woman here. And suddenly my wife began to think, what any of us would think if we suddenly saw a TV camera filming us, "Oh, what do I look like?" Well, that morning we had hurried to get started on a long drive, so no makeup, no hair grooming, kind of crummy travel clothes. As we pulled away, my wife pulled down the visor mirror and she said, "Is that what they saw?" Well, you never know when folks are going to be seeing you.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Camera Ready."

Here's our word for today from the Word of God from John chapter 3, beginning at verse 19, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been through God."

Now, this verse makes me think about people who have one of life's great freedoms-nothing to hide. "I've got nothing to hide. Stop me any time. I'm living in the light. I don't care what's exposed. Roll the film, roll the tape. I don't fear discovery." See, that's a great way to live isn't it? I mean, you never know when someone will be watching, as my wife discovered on that busy Interstate that day.You can be sure that God's tape is rolling on every conversation you have, no matter how secret you think it is. His camera is rolling on every activity, no matter how alone you may think you are, and usually people find out too. The Bible says, "Be sure your sin will find you out." It's often not right away, but at a later time when the disclosure can do the greatest damage to your family, or your ministry, or to your representation of Christ.

It's a good idea to never leave home without making sure you look okay inside. Each new day, why don't we deal with the attitudes that we don't want recorded that day, the compromises, the selfish way we get things done, that runaway mouth that keeps hurting people, the immoral thoughts, the sins that beat you yesterday. Repentance is what makes you a camera-ready person who's got nothing to hide."Hey, I've confessed it to Jesus. I've let Him clean me up today." And repentance honestly should be a regular part of getting dressed spiritually every morning. It just feels so good to know you can welcome the light; you can welcome exposure. You don't need to hide in a dark corner because somebody might find out.

Maybe God is using our visit today to speak to you about some dark secret. Would you listen to His voice? It's not mine; it's His. Come clean with Jesus about it today, and then you'll have no fear of any film or any tape on earth.

By the way, the Bible says that when Jesus comes and when we stand before Him that "all men's secrets will be revealed." And we will be judged based on the things that were in the dark. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have all that erased from God's Book so you would never meet them on Judgment Day? There's one person who can do that; the man who died to make it happen. That would be Jesus. The day you say, "Jesus, I'm Yours" is the day that every sin of your life is forgiven forever.

This could be that day. I'd love to help you know how to make that happen. Would you visit our website? It's ANewStory.com. Let's get this done. The cameras are rolling in heaven and they're rolling on earth, in public or in private. So always provide a picture that you can be proud of.

Flash Flood Warning - James MacDonald

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah 43:2–3a, ESV).

In Isaiah’s description, the waters symbolize a trial. Some trials can be likened to walking through a valley, while others can feel like facing a flash flood in that valley. The water level rises rapidly. Deep waters assail, currents swirling, and you may fear going under.

Notice it’s when this happens, not if. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.” The waters will come, but you won’t be by yourself. Though the waters get deep, it will not overwhelm you. The greatest treasure in this verse is the promise of His presence. He is with you in three places: through the waters, the rivers, and the fire. God leads us into difficult circumstances, but He brings us through them. We emerge on the other side.

Too often we’re searching for ways around deep waters and dangerous fires rather than through them. Have you ever experienced this? Have you tried to avoid a trial, only to have it move directly in front of you again? God is checking you, heading you off at the pass. He wants you to go through it. Some people go into trials but never come out. Not us! God leads us into difficulties and brings us through them.

It’s tempting to think, I can’t take much more of this! I’ve been treading water for so long. I’m tired and afraid I might sink. Hear this: Whatever you’re facing, you will get through it. You will not drown or be swept away. Yes, the water will feel deep, the fire will feel hot, but it won’t be too deep, too hot, or last too long.

Sometimes the Bible offers the best illustrations of its own message. Remember Daniel’s three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, featured in Daniel 3? They stood for God in a very bleak time. They refused to bow and worship the golden image that the cranky, wicked King Nebuchadnezzar set up of himself. While they showed respect toward the king, they were unbending in their ultimate allegiance to God. The consequence? Nebuchadnezzar was furious and commanded that they “be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands” (Daniel 3:15)?

When they responded with calm confidence in God's ability to deliver them, Nebuchadnezzar was enraged all the more. “Filled with fury . . . he ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated” (3:19). Soldiers bound the three friends, cast them into the fiery furnace, and were themselves burned to death. God could have stopped those murderers from going forward with the king’s order, but He didn’t. Instead of making a way around, He made a way through.

“Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, ‘Did we not cast three men bound into the fire? . . . But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods’” (3:24–25). What an awesome scene! Jesus Christ, the pre-incarnate second person of the Trinity, was in the fire with them—just as He had promised.

That promise holds for you too. At this moment, God is watching your life, and at some point in this trial, He will say, “Enough.” You don’t need to falter. God’s hand is on the thermostat of your trial; the fire will not get too hot. He is watching the depth gauge of your flood; the waters will not get too deep. God actively controls the severity of everything you face.

And He is with you through it.

Journal

When in your life have you faced deep waters or scorching fires—trials that feel overwhelming to you?

As you meditate on God’s promises in Isaiah 43, what fills your heart with faith?

Pray

Lord God, I am Yours. When I pass through the flood waters, You will not let me drown. When the rivers rage, they won’t drag me under. When I walk through the fire, I will not be burned—because You are with me. God, I choose to believe this precious truth, and I preach it to my own weary heart. God, You are with me, so I will keep going. I hold onto You and Your Word. I will not avoid or escape my trial, but by faith and with You, I will go through it and emerge whole on the other side. Please use the trials in my life for my good and for Your glory. To the glory of Your Son alone, King Jesus, I pray, amen.

MAD Live Event in Canon City, CO today

What a great time we had at the E. Free church in Canon City, CO today. Quite an amazing group of brothers and sisters in the Lord attended today's MAD Live Event after I preached at both AM services. We had about 100 people stay for the entire day and two young ladies gave their lives to Christ! PTL!!

MAD Live Event in Longmont, CO

We completed a MAD Live Event for a wonderful group of people at the E. Free Church in Longmont, CO.

Safely in CO

After three long days of driving, we are grateful that God got us here safely. I am very excited about the ministry opportunities that we have in CO this weekend. And, we are looking forward to seeing my brother and sister-in-law while we're here.

CO and Utah bound!

We are on our way to Colorado for two MAD Live Events this weekend. Then its off to Utah for the Ultimate Adventure trip!

DO YOU KNOW YOUR HYMNS?

Dentist's Hymn.................................... Crown Him with Many Crowns

Weatherman's Hymn.....................There Shall Be Showers of Blessing

Contractor's Hymn............................... The Church's One Foundation

The Tailor's Hymn............................... ..Holy, Holy, Holy

The Golfer's Hymn ................................There's a Green Hill Far Away

The Politician's Hymn.......................... Standing on the Promises!

Optometrist's Hymn............................. Open My Eyes That I Might See

The Tax Man's Hymn........................ I Surrender All

The Gossip's Hymn................................Pass It On

The Electrician's Hymn........................ Send The Light

The Shopper's Hymn............................ Sweet Bye and Bye

The Realtor's Hymn.................. I've Got a Mansion, Just Over the Hilltop

The Massage Therapists Hymn............. He Touched Me

The Doctor's Hymn................................ The Great Physician

AND for those who speed on the highway - a few hymns:

55 mph .......................... God Will Take Care of You

75 mph ........................... Nearer My God To Thee

85 mph ........................... This World Is Not My Home

95 mph ........................... Lord, I'm Coming Home

100 mph .......................... Precious Memories

Uniquely Gifted - James MacDonald

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body (1 Corinthians 12:14–15, ESV).

If you were a foot in the body of Christ, you may have times when you find yourself thinking, If only I were a hand. Here I am, far away from the top, just standing around all the time, tapping myself. I hate being a foot; I want to be a hand. Feet get all the lame jobs; hands get to do the cool stuff.

Though you might feel like that, the fact is, feet are important. When the body of Christ has to take a stand, we need feet. When we are called to travel somewhere, our feet carry us. When we need a good wake-up kick, we rely on our feet. The body needs every part. The foot may envy the hand, and the ear may envy the eye (12:16), but each is essential.

Have you ever felt your role is not significant? Perhaps you can’t see where you fit or doubt that your part matters or whether you even have a part. Do not let your feelings dictate your reality. Even if you feel like you don’t have a part, you do. Even if you can’t see your place, it’s there. You matter to God and to His church. You have a place and what you do is greatly needed. If Christians, through our own human failings, have made it difficult for you to find your place, don’t stop looking. Try again—the church needs you.

If we were all eyes, our body couldn’t hear. If we were all hands, our body couldn’t walk. “But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose” (12:18, emphasis added). If you hate your gift or wish you had a different one, you’ll have to take that up with God. But realize that is a conversation not likely to end in a gift exchange. After you talk to the Lord about it, embrace your gift, whatever it is, with your whole heart. Because “God arranged the members in the body . . . as he chose,” we know there’s no mistake or shipping error. You are perfectly suited for the tasks God wants you to do, and using your gift is your responsibility.

Your gift is a combination of several different strengths uniquely combined by God and tailored to the tasks He wants you to accomplish. You might have a dab of mercy, mixed with a dose of exhortation, plus a dollop of creativity. As you discern and discover your spiritual gift, the best way to confirm it is to roll up your sleeves and serve.

You must intentionally pursue your place in the body of Christ. Eventually, you will find how He has gifted you and what you’re good at. Every part matters! And when you find your place and begin serving His church, you will discover great joy.

How the Lord used us in June of 2014

Hello Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

We had a wonderful June, one of the busiest Junes we’ve ever had. I was asked to speak to a large combined adult and teen Sunday School class at a church in NJ after a MAD Live Event the day before. I also spoke at a Father/Son Banquet in PA and completed 3 more MAD Live Events. According to the evaluation forms we received back, another 12 souls were added to the Kingdom at the MAD Live Events. Praise God! A brother in the Lord who had attended one of the MAD Live Events, was gracious to offer to do a professional MAD intro video for our website for free. We filmed it on the first Sunday in June and it’s available for viewing and sharing on our website. He and his daughter’s production company will also be recording a MAD Live Event this fall so we’ll have a DVD set available. Thanks so much to Rick and Brian for what you did for us and the Kingdom!

July has traditionally been a slow month for us and this year is no exception. However, we were blessed with some Pastoral referrals to two churches in Colorado and we have MAD Live Events booked for next month on our way to Utah for the Ultimate Adventure trip.

We continue to work to fill open dates this fall and beyond. If you can help, we would be appreciative! Our calendar is on our website.

A testimony for you:

“My husband and I went to an Italian restaurant for our anniversary, and as we were asking the waiter if he had any prayer requests before we prayed for our meal, he said he did...and then he asked if we were the couple who left a gospel of John on our table about 1 year before...we said it was likely us, and he shared that he received it, and was a believer who shared our practice with those at his church. He said he was encouraged to do the same, and encouraged those at his church to share the gospels of John in this way as well. Additionally, he didn't ask for prayer for himself, but wondered if we'd pray for the cook and other wait staff that night. We asked if he'd mind if we'd leave a gospel of John for the cook with a special message...and he said no, and that he would be sure he got it.

At a later visit to that restaurant, we discovered that the cook shared the gospel of John and our message to him on the inside front cover with the wait staff as well...we had never considered just how many people would be touched by a simple gift of God's Word...it just keeps multiplying! Isn't that just like God?? Thanks for such a helpful tool!”

JULY SCHEDULE

• July 12 - MAD Live Event - Grace Evangelical Free Church, Longmont, CO

• July 13 - MAD Live Event - Evangelical Free Church of Canon City, CO

• July 20-28 - Ultimate Adventure trip to Utah - In all, we have 14 people going on this trip of a lifetime.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• For safety as we travel and experience the planned adventures next month - driving across country and back plus the activities on our adventure trip. • There’s a possible breakthrough in regards to the opportunity to advertise in the national Christian motorcycle ministry’s monthly magazine. Please pray for victory in this opportunity. • “Fall bookings” - is a day-in and day-out struggle to get dates on the calendar. Please pray for open doors and the exposure we need so our phone begins to ring. In the meantime, I will continue to grind it out on the phone! • Please pray that we will get into larger churches and have more people attend the Live Events. We have no control over how many people attend our Events, but the average number of participants is way down this year, most likely because we have been ministering in smaller churches. Our desire is to have more of an impact for the Kingdom. • For God’s Spirit to move powerfully as we minister in the places where He opens doors

Love in Christ, Cathy and Don

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Look, it's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. And the bank does their part; they send you that photocopy of all the checks that you've written in the last month. And you get to compare those with what you've recorded in your checkbook. Don't you look forward to doing that? You get to participate in the necessary evil called balancing your checkbook.

Sometimes you can kick back and say, "Yep, it all adds up." But I remember a few times when it didn't. How about you? This is why I may not have as much hair as I used to. While you're pulling out your hair, you're thinking, "I'm spending an awful lot!" One college student said, "Hey, I must still have money, I still have checks!" Well, fortunately it's never been that bad for me, but I'll tell you this, "You dare not rest until your checkbook tells you exactly where you are and gives you the accurate picture." I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Your Checkbook Doesn't Balance."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew chapter 6, and we'll begin at verse 19. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy; where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Let me give you kind of an up-to-date version of what I think Jesus is saying here. "Show Me your checkbook, and I'll show you your heart." See, your checkbook is a history of your life. Did you ever think of it that way? If you went back over all the checks you've ever written in your lifetime, it's kind of like there's your life. Maybe you wrote a check for your wedding expenses one day, or the funeral home when you lost a loved one, or to the doctor when you had a baby or an illness. There have been a lot of checks to the bank where you paid for that house that was your dream. Remember? Or for new clothes, or all those charges you built up-and most of that stuff is interest-new toys, your possessions, your vacations. You see, your checkbook is the history of your life. It's also a history of your heart. That's what Jesus was saying. He says your checkbook shows where your real love is; much more than saying your theology does.

So how does God say He finds out what's in our heart? Well, not by your vocabulary; not by your date book saying, "If you're really busy doing Christian things." Not by your reputation or asking all the other Christian folks. No, He says, "Show Me your checkbook." See where you're spending the biggest share of what you have. It tells you where your heart is. And for the most part, we're spending it on earth stuff. That's like putting your valuables on the Titanic. This planet, this world system is going down. Would you put your valuables on the Titanic?

See, some look at the unarguable evidence of their checkbook and finally they go, "You know what? This is out-of-balance. Not mathematically, but eternally. I'm spending way too much on earth stuff." What we spend on interest, what we spend on luxuries alone could probably pay for most of the ministry needs you've heard of in the world today.

The fact is, most of our checkbook entries point to ourselves; spending on me, spending on earth stuff. Isn't it time we balanced our checkbook in line with what will last; steadily decreasing the percentage we spend on our kingdom, and steadily increasing the amount we spend on Christ's forever kingdom?

Jesus is saying, "If I don't have your treasures, I don't have your heart." Your life could be so much more significant and so much more satisfying if you would just balance your checkbook with heaven in mind.

Testimony from Dunlap, TN - one day after MAD Live Event

Ok, one day after attending MAD at Ewtonville Baptist Church...

I wake up with a full day of fun planned for four kiddos ahead of me. On the way to Chattanooga guess what happens? Yep, overwhelming nagging feeling that I will be asked to share. I'm cool with it, I'm outspoken, I'm ready! Say a little prayer while driving ask God to help me see the opportunities, and to give me the words to say. Well, not even two miles down the road guess what happens next? Yep, satans little minions start their poking! Telling me I'm not ready, I've not had time to prepare over night, etc...

Well, first stop my daughters 18mo check up. I grab several tracks that my son got from you all last night and put them in the diaper bag. Everything is great! However, I feel no connections or opportunities the entire time in dr office. No problem we have all day and all in God's timing right ? From the dr office we head to lunch. I'm ready, the waitress is the one! Only, oh my! She is horrible! One kid has got an attitude, the extra kid has never been to this restaurant, the baby is putting whole peanuts in her mouth and dipping everything in the butter! Every time I think I'm going to ask her her name...drama! So much so that not only do I not get her name but I don't even ask a blessing on our meal! Ok, this is not going to stop me...I pull one of the tracks out of the bag, notice that my bill has the servers name on it, or I hope it's the right name lol. I open the track write a little note "Alyssa, thanks for the great service may God bless you today and always." Now it's time for the biggy for me, the tip. I'm a single mom during my summer lay off, and my waitress wasn't that good ! God will provide! I get my handy little tip calculator phone app and apply a...20% tip (this is huge for me sad to say.) Meanwhile my older son is saying "your making it big right? You can't be cheap mom." Ok, whose idea was it to let them sit in on your training lol. Well, that done we leave.

Now, it's on to the children's Creative Discovery Museum with again, FOUR kids. We are having a great time. I am, however, very much aware that I haven't had that connection or opportunity and I'm beginning to think I missed it. After about three hours of fun I'm winding down, getting tired and have all but forgotten my mission I just knew I was given that morning. I explain to the kids that this is the last section of the museum and then we are leaving. Well, this section is for babies and toddlers so the older three ask to go spend the last few moments back at a favorite area. I enjoy some one on one time with Sophie, but it's time to go. I walk out of the area and they have set up a ramp activity in the lobby that attracts Sophie like a magnet! The lady helping with the activity has a name tag that reads "Pam Early Childhood Intern." So, I ask if she is doing this for a class. She response "yes, I'm getting my BS." I say how wonderful it is and say that I too have a BS in Early Childhood Education. She then says "I already teach for Head Start and have for 12 yrs." what? I tell her that I too teach with head start and have done so for about 11yrs. We exchange where we teach, etc and BAM! It hits me, oh crap this is it, my connection!!! We talk for a few more moments and things get really busy. Arghhhh no!!! So, I pull out a track write a short note "Pam, thanks for giving of yourself to these children. May God bless you today and always." This time I remember to write my name, and number as well. I walk over to her and say "can I share something with you?" She agreed and I say "I have this little book I would love for you to read and I've wrote you a note in it. Please let me know if there is anything I can help you with or if you need prayer." She thanks me and gets back to work. I'm pumped! Whoo hoo! Then the little minions poke me with, you forgot to pray AGAIN! Arghhhh! Ok, np I've still been 100% successful. I head to retrieve the other kids and I tell my older son that I gave out one of the tracks. He smiles and says "cool, I've handed out three today as well." What? When did that happen? He says "upstairs, I made a connection with a boy my age and his brother too. Then there was a lady sitting by herself looking kinda sad." Wow! Four in one day God is good! Our day is complete we can head on home. NOT! Before we can get out they bring a snake out. Everyone is gathering and the kids beg to see it. I give in but it only takes a second for Sophie to lose interest so I take her to play in the sand. I'm sitting enjoying watching her explore the sand when all the sudden a little boys starts screaming and crying like crazy! He has sand in his eyes, poor thing! Mom is trying to talk on phone with dr and motions to a friend to help her. The friend tries but is wiping his face with her dry shirt. I reach in my bag take lid off of Sophie's cup and say "this is distilled water if you would like to use it." I also grab some wipes and start cleaning the sand off his hands that he is using to wipe his eyes. Mom makes it over about the time he is fixed and apologizes saying "I don't normally ignore my son but I've waited for that dr to call for two weeks." I laugh and say "np, I'm a mom of three and a teacher, we cant be perfect all the time." She says "really? I'm a teacher too, you can tell it's summer." At this point my younger son, who also attended MAD says "connection" and starts using body motions for book to prompt me lol. I talk with the ladies for awhile, my son prompting me every 3seconds and then ask if I can share something with them. Two more!!! We have now stayed over an hour after planning to leave ! What a day!

Guess what? Gods not done! As we are walking out my younger son points to a lady working the art table and says "I gave her a track." When? "When you were in the bathroom and I couldn't find you." 7 seeds planted, four by my children.

I've always been proud of my kids, they take a stand and even started Bible study groups in school. Today though, we worked together, we were a rescue squad lol! I've witnessed before but always felt defeated if a prayer of salvation wasn't said right then. Thanks for helping us understand that as long as we did some planting we were 100% successful for The Lord today.

MAD Live Event in Dunlap, TN

We had a great time with about 140 people at the Ewtonville Baptist Church in Dunlap, TN today. Did the first past of the MAD Live Event during Sunday School and Worship time. We then finished it tonight. We praise God for four new believers and the equipping of a bunch of God's people. I can't wait to see how the Lord will use them! Thanks to Charley and Sandee York for helping to make this happen, as well as Pastor Brian for allowing us to come and minister.

When Your Checkbook Doesn't Balance

Look, it's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. And the bank does their part; they send you that photocopy of all the checks that you've written in the last month. And you get to compare those with what you've recorded in your checkbook. Don't you look forward to doing that? You get to participate in the necessary evil called balancing your checkbook.

Sometimes you can kick back and say, "Yep, it all adds up." But I remember a few times when it didn't. How about you? This is why I may not have as much hair as I used to. While you're pulling out your hair, you're thinking, "I'm spending an awful lot!" One college student said, "Hey, I must still have money, I still have checks!" Well, fortunately it's never been that bad for me, but I'll tell you this, "You dare not rest until your checkbook tells you exactly where you are and gives you the accurate picture." I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Your Checkbook Doesn't Balance."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew chapter 6, and we'll begin at verse 19. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy; where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Let me give you kind of an up-to-date version of what I think Jesus is saying here. "Show Me your checkbook, and I'll show you your heart." See, your checkbook is a history of your life. Did you ever think of it that way? If you went back over all the checks you've ever written in your lifetime, it's kind of like there's your life. Maybe you wrote a check for your wedding expenses one day, or the funeral home when you lost a loved one, or to the doctor when you had a baby or an illness.

There have been a lot of checks to the bank where you paid for that house that was your dream. Remember? Or for new clothes, or all those charges you built up-and most of that stuff is interest-new toys, your possessions, your vacations. You see, your checkbook is the history of your life. It's also a history of your heart. That's what Jesus was saying. He says your checkbook shows where your real love is; much more than saying your theology does.

So how does God say He finds out what's in our heart? Well, not by your vocabulary; not by your date book saying, "If you're really busy doing Christian things." Not by your reputation or asking all the other Christian folks. No, He says, "Show Me your checkbook." See where you're spending the biggest share of what you have. It tells you where your heart is. And for the most part, we're spending it on earth stuff. That's like putting your valuables on the Titanic. This planet, this world system is going down. Would you put your valuables on the Titanic?

See, some look at the unarguable evidence of their checkbook and finally they go, "You know what? This is out-of-balance. Not mathematically, but eternally. I'm spending way too much on earth stuff." What we spend on interest, what we spend on luxuries alone could probably pay for most of the ministry needs you've heard of in the world today.

The fact is, most of our checkbook entries point to ourselves; spending on me, spending on earth stuff. Isn't it time we balanced our checkbook in line with what will last; steadily decreasing the percentage we spend on our kingdom, and steadily increasing the amount we spend on Christ's forever kingdom?

Jesus is saying, "If I don't have your treasures, I don't have your heart." Your life could be so much more significant and so much more satisfying if you would just balance your checkbook with heaven in mind.