A Sunday Sermon

A Sunday Sermon – summary notes from James 5, Providence Baptist Church, Holly Ridge, NC

v.13a A Place of Suffering-

    maybe you are suffering emotionally – family problems, job issues, financial needs; other

    You are to pray.

v.14-15a A Place of Sickness-

    very similar to suffering, but physical. Some sickness is from God for teaching and some is from our sin, which must be forsaken.

    You are to call the elders to be anointed with oil. Why don’t we do that more? Embarrassment, don’t think it’s relevant to today, lack of belief, other?

v. 15b-16 A Place of Sinning-

    You are living in and embracing sin. Turn from it, repent, and seek the Lord. Jesus came to pay for your sin. Admit your sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

v.13b A Place of Satisfaction-

    maybe you are on a 

high note right now with the Lord. Sing praises!

    Maybe you are content in your sin – you don’t want to forsake it and repent. Be warned and turn today or you will be condemned to hell forever. It’s only one breath, one heart beat away.

v. 17-18 Elijah was a man like us – he prayed and God stopped the rain. Then, 3½  years later, he prayed again and it rained. 

v. 19-20 Invitation: Come to Jesus!

By winning souls to Jesus, you save your soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Churches, Fellowship & Grandsons

We spent a night at Josh’s place, even though he has moved to SD to be near Alan. He has started a job there. Brandi was home alone, so we had supper together. We also went shopping together – she doesn’t drive, so was glad to come along. The next morning we pulled out, headed for OH.

Wednesday we drove across part of NC and ended up in Hickory, where we were blessed to attend a prayer meeting. The church was very friendly and, since they had an R.V. spot out back, we spent the night there, too!

The next day we had to hustle to get to Circleville, OH, in time to meet with 2 grandsons. We had about 3 hours together and then it was time to separate. 

Their court case is dragging out and we grieve for them – where will they end up? How many times I have thanked the Lord for a Christian – professing and practicing – family. 

From there we went to check in with friends who moved to OH several years ago. Their family is also in the middle of a divorce. How ugly! It sure makes sense that God says, “I hate divorce.” There are no winners in a divorce, even though it might seem so at the time. And, as always, the kids pay. No more whole family celebrations at graduations, showers, weddings and grandbabies. Always having to think through who likes who and who to invite to what and where to seat them ad nauseum.

Now it’s on to help out some missionary friends who have retired from Japan and are settling into their new American home. Roger is very handy and we both have some energy to expend, so are grateful to be able to be of service. Since they live in Ft. Wayne, IN, we may also be able to stop in Elkhart, IN, where many trailers and R.V.s are made. Roger thought they might have some parts he’d like to get.

Our N.C. Granddaughters

We were delighted to take Ellie, 11, and Scarlett, 9, for a couple of days of fun. Of course, COVID closed most events, but we did some crafts and played games in the R.V. 

Besides that, Heather read some of Grandma’s Attic stories by Arleta Richardson to them. It was almost too hot to go outside – up to 105 degrees! The second park we went to, called “South of the Border*”, had their pool open – inside and out – so we tried both of them. The girls are good swimmers and play together well. The next morning they spent another hour in the pool before we had to pull out.

The ride we hoped to take them on (we went on it on Saturday & thus came back to the same park with them) was closed. The elevator broke Saturday, evidently right after we were there! So that will have to wait.

In the evenings we sang 4 hymns together (they graciously joined us!) and then took turns reading a verse at a time, covering the book of Ruth. We had “matching” Bibles, so it made it easy to follow along. Each day we had a short Bible story and some songs to go with that. We were also able to watch a Zoom 5 day club happening back home in WA!

We’re glad they still want to spend time with us & pray they will make good and right decisions in their lives. Their homes leave much to be desired.

*The border was between NC and SC and the park is right on the border in SC. Lots of fun things to do when everything is running!!

Operation Mobilization Book Warehouse

We have just completed 3 days of volunteering at the OM book warehouse. From here the ship is supplied. However, even in these days of no ship ministry, OM also has an online presence, so books still need to be processed.

We evidently set some kind of record, emptying 9 crates in 1 day. Crates are about 4'x4'x2' and come solidly packed with books. We sort them by ISBN number - last digit.

From here they go all over the world - and we pray those books will draw people to the Lord and strengthen them in their faith.

While working here, we park in a secluded spot between 2 buildings. They have R.V. hook-ups, which is very pleasant for us!

We stopped for gas on the way out of town. It's hard to believe how much less gas costs here than at home. The cost of gas has continued to stay low along our route.

For Believers

Dear Brother and Sister in Christ,

For your edification and enjoyment, we want to tell you a little of what we have experienced in our very wayward, distressed and sinful country.

Many people who are Christians have responded when we hand them a tract, a Tel-a-Story® card, or tell them Jesus loves them. A clerk told us she reads the Bible every day, but doesn't go to church. We encouraged her to go - it is a command of Jesus as well as His regular habit.

A family we met at Old Bent's Fort, CO, was thrilled to meet a Christian family from Seattle - not expected in light of our newsworthy fame! One of the rangers there was also a believer.

A ranger at Chimney Rock in NC was a strong believer. We spent a fair bit of time talking to him about our country and the need for repentance.

There are many others we have met along the road - if we speak up, they will identify. It's an encouragement to them to speak up too, we hope!, and a great encouragement to us. When we pray, we can tell the Lord that there are still 7000 who haven't bowed the knee (I Kings 19:18).

On a different note, we attended a very large church in Florence, NC, where the room was full (with proper distancing). The pastor informed his congregation that he was starting a 13 week series on soul winning in your everyday walk. Not a door-to-door program, but a live-it-every day teaching. How wonderful - a soul-winning, concerned for the lost pastor of a LARGE church! God bless him and others like him. We want to be soul-winning, concerned for the lost.

Thanks for praying for us.

Off to OM Book Warehouse

Leaving KS, we pulled into a camping spot in Peculiar, MO. Despite its name, it was a pretty, quiet place to spend the night. We were able to get laundry done and catch up on internet, which has been a bigger problem this trip than in the past.

On Saturday, we drove to Columbia, MO, to enjoy pizza with our daughter and her husband. We ate in the shade of a big tree. From there we drove to St. Charles, where we spent the night in a Walmart parking lot - the only rule was you couldn't run any motors all night!

Sunday at 8:45 we were in the First Baptist Church. Their pastor spoke on Joseph and it was very encouraging - "The Ups and Downs of Life". We dropped off a package of materials for the pastor's mother, whom we met at Silver Dollar City several years ago.

So, church in MO, lunch in IL, and gassed up in KY at $1.74/gal and on to spend the night in TN. Our biggest disappointment was that we couldn't find an evening service, even though the website and phone message said there was one, it didn't happen.

Traffic has really not been a problem; the roads seem to be improving,too!

The highlight of TN was McDonald's - we could go inside and eat inside!!! How exciting!!!

We drove to SC to visit briefly with friends Doug and Margie Nichols. They moved east from WA several years ago. It was nice to get caught up.

Tuesday we arrived at Operation Mobilization - and several couples came out to welcome us. Got the R.V. hooked up and the a/c on. It's just TOO hot here - close to 100 (or more) every day. Slept with the a/c on all night - something we have rarely done.

Wednesday we were at "work" by 8 a.m. (Eastern time). The book warehouse is air conditioned, so it was quite bearable. How soft we have become. We worked 'til 5, with an hour lunch break. The work is enjoyable and the company is so encouraging - they have a mission-minded focus here and we love it!

BPF - By Prayer Forward (our license plate letters)

The Arches National Park in UT is one of those places you have to see to believe. Red rocks in amazing arrays - including the arches! Everywhere you look, there's another breath-catching sight. We're so glad we went!

Driving along the highway, we got too close to a crop-duster plane and got spray on our windshield!

CO must have the worst highways in the US! The speed limit was 75, but at 55 we could hardly keep the R.V. on the road - and there was no wind!

Climbing into Denver, we huffed and puffed up to the snow line - the passes registered at 10,603 feet and 11,158 feet.

We didn't realize there were such high passes in the US! All along the climb, there were paved and striped bike lanes running near the highway. Guess recreation is important there, too! Miss Breezy did very well - no overheating!

We spent the night in Rifle, CO. Temperatures have been running just under 100 degrees! Nights are so cold we need 3 blankets!

Our route has taken us along the Columbia, Snake, Colorado and Arkansas Rivers! The scenic route.

Wednesday evening we were able to find a prayer meeting in a small Baptist Church. The singing was fantastic! It's so refreshing to be with God's people. Next we needed a place to park for the night. It was already dark - and then there was a detour on our route. So we stopped at the local gas station, and just as they were turning out the lights, Heather was able to ask the clerk if he had any suggestions for us. Sure enough, just past the detour sign there was an empty lot that truckers used for sleeping. We shared the space with only one trucker and slept well. There were lots of bright stars out.

On Thursday we toured Old Bent's Fort - in CO. This fort was used for trade, but never needed for defense.

Besides rough roads, some wind resistance today, Walmarts not letting us park overnight, McDonalds in house service being closed so our internet is limited, to top it all off, Heather lost 50 cents in a Pepsi machine! You can see it's a hard road...lol! Speaking of money, the cheapest gas so far was $1.84/gallon!

We're spending Thursday night in a picnic area right off the road - all by ourselves. The sunsets are gorgeous.

Summer trip east during COVID-19!

Since our spring trip needed to be cancelled, we decided to try for a summer trip. We have often driven the same routes, so this time we were adventurous and took the road less traveled. On a narrow county road, the RV stopped while Heather was driving on cruise. That meant lost steering and brakes! God graciously provided a side road she was able to pull into. The R.V. restarted immediately and had no further issues. Roger called it a fluke!

Our path took us over 100 miles of very windy, narrow National Forest hilly roads that were heavily wooded, but not much traffic. These roads are closed during winter and the surface damage was terrific! Posted speed limit of 35, but seldom could Heather drive that. Roger got sick with all the bouncing and hair-pin curves. But it was a beautiful day and wonderful scenery! We made it to the Columbia River.

We drove along the Columbia River on the WA side and stopped at a rest area for our evening snack.

The day was very windy so there were lots of white caps, but it wasn't a problem for driving. From there we drove to The Dalles in OR and spent the night in the Petco parking lot.

Next morning, our coach batteries were dead. Roger decided we needed to go home. He still didn't feel well. But O'Reilly charged our batteries and we decided to keep on for an hour before we made a final decision. Our friends were very disappointed that we weren't coming. So, at the point we had to decide to head south or north, we turned south. By then Roger was feeling more optimistic and much better.

Driving on route #14 on the WA side of the River, we watched sail boats, windsurfers, & tugboats pushing barges.

 The road took us through 6 tunnels. It was a beautiful drive.

After crossing to the OR side we continued driving along the river, eventually arriving at our friends near Boise, ID, late Saturday. They fed us steak and berry pie with coconut ice cream. Then we had a private fireworks show!!

On Sunday we were thrilled to go to church - masks and hand shakes optional as you were comfortable. A missionary leaving for Togo spoke. The special music was a sax solo with his wife accompanying him on the piano playing "Great is Thy Faithfulness".

After church we headed to Twin Falls and Shoshone Falls. The water was flowing freely! The narrow windy road down to the falls was another adventure in a 31' RV!

Driving on into Twin Falls, we found a church with an evening service. Not only did we enjoy wonderful music, including a special 4 hand piano duet - & the organ played for the congregation, too! No masks, no restrictions! YEAH!

The pastor told us we needed to visit the Perrine Bridge which was famous because many jump off with parachutes. It's also the spot where Evel Knievel jumped his motorcycle over the chasm. We didn't find his ramp, but they say it's still there somewhere...

That night we parked at Walmart, in Burley, ID
Monday we drove to the Golden Spike National Historical Park in Promontory, UT. The welcome center was closed, but we posed by the trains outside - and the store was open!!

And on our way there, we passed the Northrop Grumman facility where they've developed and tested rocket motors for many years.

Now we're parked in Green River, UT. Internet is very sparse - even McDonald's has let us down, so we got a parking spot in a campground for this (Monday) evening.