Commissioned

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19).  

Most Christians are familiar with the Great Commission. When I served as a missionary in the Philippines, I took notes during a meeting with fellow missionaries of ways God's people could take part in teaching all nations. Obviously, not everyone is called to go to a foreign mission field. However, God does expect us all to carry the gospel message wherever we go.

The following is a list of different ways to fulfill this commandment. The key is to select the ones God leads you to do. More than likely, He won't tell you to do just one, and they may change at different stages of your life.

• Be a Sender - Senders often financially support missionaries so they can go. However, if you personally know the missionary, you might take care of a home place, check on relatives for them, or do any number of things to help support them being gone.

• Be an Encourager -  Missionaries often feel isolated and cut off from their previous life. Cards, letters, emails, and packages mean a lot, especially to those without families with them. I met many missionaries serving as single men and women.
• Be an Intercessor - Pray for missionaries in general, but also for specific missionaries. No one knows the effectiveness of fervent prayers any more than a missionary. They rely upon them. Prayer warriors are always needed.

• Be a Welcomer - Be a friend to those who are different and need a friend. Welcome missionaries into your home if you have the opportunity. I will never forget the kindness of people who invited me to stay with them when I was traveling to the mission field or coming home or the number of people who picked me up at airports or took me to rent a car when I needed one.
• Be a Mobilizer - These are the people who help match people with mission opportunities or recruit people to serve in needed mission positions.
• Be a Helper - There are so many ways to assist a missionary and give practical assistance where needed. You might even consider being an assistant missionary for a term.
• Be a Trainer. You may have experience in an area that would be beneficial to a missionary. Perhaps you could volunteer to help train them.
• Be a Goer - Go where God sends you. Say, "Here I am, Lord. Send me." And remember going isn't just overseas. There are also great mission needs right here in the United States, and where you are. Just be faithful to God and His call upon your life.

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Noah's New Bride

Noah's New Bride is my next book to publish. in about three weeks. It's part of the multiple-author series, Mountain Men and Mail-Order Brides. In my novel, Noah Elder is a lumberjack in a remote region of Oregon Territory in 1878. 

However, Noah gets lonely in the logging camp, and now that he’s a crew boss with a cabin, he could get married, but what woman would want this rough life? Still, he writes to his sister who’s been known to do some matchmaking. He’s pleased when she finds a young woman for him, but he soon learns that Meleah Baldwin, through no fault of her own, has problems too. In addition, trouble comes from an unexpected source. Can they work together to overcome the obstacles?

Mark Wisehart, the same narrator who produced Carmen's Wedding Dilemma, is now working on the Audible version of Noah's New Bride. I think he'll be perfect for the voices, and I look forward to hearing the finished audiobook. Noah's New Bride is on preorder now. Check it out and hopefully order it. You won't be charged until it comes out on October 3.

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 The Patience of Job

Curse that night for letting me be born, for exposing me to trouble and grief (Job 3:10).

Most of us have probably heard people mention "the patience of Job." I can remember my mother saying it often. However, did Job really have patience? The question was raised in a recent Bible study. The author made a good case for Job not being very patient as he went through so many trials.

O that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together! For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me (Job 6: 2 & 4).

Job cries out in despair and for relief again and again in The Book of Job. It is understandable when we consider all that he's going through, but it hardly demonstrates patience. He goes to the throne of God, angrily insisting on some answers. Again, that's not showing patience. However, through everything, Job does maintain great faith in His Lord. He refuses to curse Him and die like his wife tells him to do. In fact, he says, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him" (Job 13:15).

Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job..." (James 5:11a).

However, after enduring so much suffering, it makes sense that Job came out on the other side with great patience. He had learned some important lessons, and patience was one of them. The Apostle James mentions it in the last part of his letter. God often uses our trials to refine us and make us into better people.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing (James 1: 2-4).

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2

School in 1880 Town

Most towns of any size would have a schoolhouse in 1880. Many began as one-room schools with all the grades in the same building, taught by a single teacher. You can imagine how challenging that would be. As the student population grew, the grades might be divided and two teachers hired. Eventually, some schools would expand to include a teacher at almost every grade level.

Rules for teachers were often strict. Women teachers couldn't teach after they married. They were given guidelines about how they dressed, where they could go, and who they could see. Pay was very low, and housing varied. Some towns offered teacherages, but others housed teachers in parents' homes, a situation that could be good or bad. 

The wooden and iron student desks were arranged in neat rows facing a chalkboard with the teacher's desk at the front. Somewhere in the room would be a stove for heat in the winter. Out back would be one or two outhouses. The teacher and students brought their own lunches.

The situation was rarely ideal, but students still learned. As a former teacher, I don't think I'd want to teach in the 1880s, but I admire those who did. It was one of the few jobs opened to single women in the 1800s. To read one of my novels that deals with the education system in the 1880s, check out Simon's Shame.

*1880 Town is a reconstructed Western town in Midland, South Dakota.

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The Amazing Book

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away (Matthew 24:35).

It's been the best-selling book of all time for over two thousand years. People have also examined and scrutinized it more than any other book. Yet, even skeptics have come away impressed by its accuracy, and it's made believers out of many. It aligns with the writings of secular historians during the same periods in time. There is no other book like the Bible.

Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him (Proverbs 30:5-6).

Because it is God's Word, Jewish scholars worked to preserve these precious manuscripts and ensure their authenticity and reliability. They had special men whose sole responsibility was to preserve, copy, and share these documents with absolute accuracy. Nelson Glueck, a noted Jewish archaeologist, says that no archaeological discovery has ever contradicted anything in the Bible. Indeed, many of them substantiate it. 

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21).

Uniquely, it includes over 2,500 prophecies, and about 2,000 of them have already come true. The other 500 are about future events which haven't happened yet. Even more astonishing, the overwhelming majority of these fulfilled prophesies were given independently of each other. The odds of this happening are astronomical. 

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The message is clear. We need to use and treasure this remarkable book from God. We should read and study it daily and base our lives upon it. It should be the truth we believe in, the laws we adhere to, and the guidebook of our lives. The more you read it, the more you will come to enjoy it, and you'll find yourself hungering for more. It will transform your life in amazing ways.

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A Match for Milton

I'm happy to announce that my fourth book in The Matchmakers - Agatha Returns series releases on Monday, a week from today. There will be one more novel to follow to end my five-book series within a series. Although all five are set in Pinyon Falls, Texas, and have continuing characters, each one features a different couple and a definite conclusion, so they can be read as a standalone.

Link

In A Match for Milton, Milton Cauley tried marriage, and it didn't work out very well. Now a widower, he has no intention of ever marrying again. He's content enough running his barbershop until a misguided friend orders him a bride from the matchmaker other couples in Pinyon Falls have used. Milton is furious, but as far as he's concerned, the man can just handle the problem himself since he created it.

As with all my books, this one will be available on Kindle, KU, print, and Audible. My dual narrators, Douglas Birk and EJ Lavery, have finished production, and we're just waiting for ACX to approve it. Don't miss this beautiful story of what the right woman can do for a man, even one broken by a bad experience.

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Captaining Your Ship

Read Matthew 14:25-33.

You may remember the story of Peter walking on water. When Jesus came to join the disciples on the boat, He walked on the Sea of Galilee to get to them. Peter saw him coming and asked to join Him. Jesus told him to come. Peter pushed down his doubts and got out of the boat. At first, he walked on the water toward Jesus because he kept his eyes on his Lord, but when the raging storm drew his attention, he began to sink. Jesus reached out and saved him. However, note that Peter trusted Jesus enough to take the risk and leave the boat.

Too often, we do the same thing. We have good intentions, but we give our circumstances too much attention and take our eyes off Jesus. Sometimes, trusting God requires what looks like letting go of our comfortable, secure positions, and that's hard to do. Still, we have to get out of the boat because faith doesn't grow well in shallow water. It's a matter of trust. Do we take God at His promises and believe His Word? We'll be fine if we keep our eyes on Him and do His will.

At other times, we try to be captains of our own ships, thinking we can handle it, but that's not a good plan if we want to arrive safely at our destinations. Pride can quickly sink a ship. Let God steer you. Let Him be the captain and never plan a mutiny. He'll guide you safely home.

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