“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth . . .

I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” Isa. 43:19

 Our life is a journey with God. It may be hard sometimes, but I am assured it would be all worth it. Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.

The only impossible journey is the one you never begin. Prov. 3:5-6, Jer. 17:7

 We will have to go though many trails and different obstacles. James 1:2-4

 God uses events in our lives to shape us, to teach us, to grow us - some of the key events are those sparked by sin in our lives or someone else’s life. On our journey we continually avoid Satan, confess our sins, and forsake them. Paul advise us to “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.” Eph. 6:11  “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am you God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.” Isa 41:10

 A New Beginning is always exciting, refreshing, and makes us thankful. New beginnings often happen at weddings, a new baby’s birth, graduations, retirement, and so on. When these new beginnings include times like a new birth in Christ, a restored soul, land for a new building, leadership in place, the first minister, and restoring fellowship with other brethren we have so much to be thankful for. No words can express how blessed we are!

I’m in my car listening to the radio and Danny Gokey’s song HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET comes on.   As I listened to this song tears began to stream down my face. I immediately started thinking about the sweet girl that we are adopting from Colombia, our beautiful Cielo. Thinking about the sunrise on the other side of the darkest night that she is about to see makes me smile.  There is this one line in the song that almost goes unnoticed and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Later that day, I looked the song up on the internet and the lyrics as well. Sure enough, that line was there just the way I remembered. “HE HAD THE SOLUTION BEFORE YOU HAD THE PROBLEM.”  I will come back to that line in just a moment. But first, think about the massive problem going on in our world and country with children who don’t have a family. Children that want hope, love and to belong.

“According to UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund), there are roughly 153 million orphans worldwide. Every day, an estimated 5,700 more children become orphans. Children are often relinquished due to war, natural disaster, poverty, disease, stigma, and medical needs.”  “In the United States, there are approximately 437,000 children in the foster care system on any given day. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2016 (the last year of reported data) there were over 117,000 children waiting for adoption, but only 57,000 placements occurred.”  Let me say that I am grateful for organizations, orphanages, group homes, and foster families who are standing in the gap to help support the helpless.  It’s that line, “He had the solution before you had the problem” that I keep thinking about especially with this discussion on Adoption. 

Before there was ever a PROBLEM GOD had a SOLUTION. That solution is you and me!  We must have open hearts to see the need, open homes to welcome children into our family, and open wallets to support those who are able to adopt.  God speaks clearly to His followers in Isaiah 1:17 and James 1:27 that we are called to be the solution for this problem.  Christie and I are overwhelmed with gratitude for the generosity, encouragement and support shown to us during our adoption journey.  It’s an amazing feeling to know, as we step out in faith, our church family and friends are fortifying our steps and holding up our arms.  You are a blessing!  You are the sunrise on the other side of the darkest night for Cielo and so many others.  Let us continue to glorify God in this community and abroad as the Fulshear church of Christ in all that we say and do. THANKS FOR BEING OUR VILLAGE. 

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.  —  James 1:22,27

The good news of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) is the most important message for all the world and for all times. Our ultimate goal is to help bring those who have not obeyed Jesus into a loving

relationship with complete obedience to Him as Lord and Savior (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).

We have an opportunity every week to express our love for Jesus, worship Him with our hearts, and give of who we are and what we have to Him, our Great God, because of His wonderful love and

amazing grace.  We also have the opportunity to invite our friends and family to worship alongside of us each and every week. That's exactly what God Almighty wants us to do as followers of His Son.

We must encourage and invite our friends and family to come and share in this special time of

fellowship, preaching, and worship. Let's do our absolute best to have an attendance of 175 or more on Saturday and Sunday of our Gospel Meeting. This is a very attainable goal and it all depends on our commitment, conviction, and discipline to reach out to our friends and family and help bring them to the Fulshear Church of Christ to hear the Good News proclaimed during our Gospel Meeting with Stan Dauck, the minister for the Bernie Church of Christ in Bernie, MO (October 5-6). 

It is up to you and me so let's get busy and share the love of Jesus!

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.'" -- The Apostle Paul

In April of 1996, I was encouraged by a minister of the Gospel from a small town in Southern Missouri to get involved with Youth Ministry as a summer intern where he was preaching. I was working full-time at Emerson Electric, a company in Paragould, Arkansas, that built washer and dryer motors for many of the leading Washing Machine and Dryer Companies in the US. Ministry was not an interest of mine or a career choice for sure. I reluctantly agreed to intern on the weekends while continuing to work the 3rd shift at the factory full time. Needless to say that was a busy summer.  However, that preacher and that internship changed my life forever. I thank God often for that summer and experience!

That preacher still preaches for the same church with over 30 years of ministry there and he is just as encouraging now as he was then. The faithful brother in Christ and minister of the Gospel is Stan Dauck and he will be our Keynote Speaker for our first Gospel Meeting at the Fulshear Church of Christ!! What an absolute blessing he will be as he shares the truth of God’s Word, encourages us to continue to serve the Lord and helps develop faith in the hearts of the hearers (Romans 10:17). 

Who would have ever imagined that the encouragement offered to a young man on the campus of Crowley’s Ridge College by a faithful man of God ministering from the Bootheel of Missouri would have an impact in Fulshear, Texas?  And yet here we are in 2019 making a beautiful difference. Only God could be behind such activities. 

Make Plans right now to be a part of an amazing opportunity to grow in faith and participate in something special. 

“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, IT PLEASED GOD THROUGH THE FOOLISHNESS OF THE MESSAGE PREACHED to save those who believe.”  - The Apostle Paul

Etymology of Opportunity:

Nested into Colossians 4 is a verse that doesn’t get much publicity, but I think of it as a great definition of spiritual maturity. If each of us obeyed this verse, it would revolutionize our lives.

This scripture doesn’t specify how many or how few opportunities. It does not quantify how small or how large the opportunity. We simply need to make the most of every opportunity.

Seeing and seizing opportunities is an underappreciated dimension of spiritual maturity. Seeing and seizing those opportunities is at the heart of what it means to follow Christ and to be filled.

But here is the catch: The old aphorism is wrong. Opportunity doesn’t knock. The Egyptian giant that Benaiah battled didn’t knock on the door; he knocked down the door. (1 Chronicles 11:23)

In fact, Benaiah is one of those cool background characters that’s only mentioned a few times in the Bible, but whenever he shows up, he’s doing something incredible.

Most of us want our opportunities gift wrapped, but opportunities typically present themselves at the most inopportune times and in the most inopportune places. Opportunities often come disguised as a big, hairy, audacious problems, but we as Christians see things different.

The word “crisis” is made up of two characters:

One means danger and the other means opportunities.

Problems are opportunities in disguise. Let us always seek opportunities in the Lords church.

Amen!