The Mission Foundation
P. O. Box 46358
Baton Rouge, LA 70895
July 28, 2009
Dear friends,
I know that I often begin and end our letters by thanking you for your prayers and for your financial support of us in our ministry. Once again Bec and I want to tell you how grateful we are. Thank you very much.
This morning I was meditating on Joshua 21:45, “Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.” Verses 43-44 tell us specifically that the Lord gave all the land to Israel that He had sworn to their forefathers, that they possessed it and were living in it, and that God gave them victory over all of their enemies so that they had rest in the land.
My prayer for you, my brothers and sisters, is that you will experience the security that comes from knowing that “not one” – no, not one! – of God’s “good promises” will fail. The Apostle Peter says, “He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises.” Let’s ponder this together: God’s promises to you and me are “good”, they are “precious”, they are “magnificent”, they will NOT FAIL. So enter the land, possess it, live in it, and enjoy rest in your soul today.
Now for a bit of news –
Harvest Bible Church, Elizabeth, Colorado, Pastor Walt Rogers: It was a blessing to be with Pastor Walt and the HBC congregation and to have the privilege of preaching God’s Word. I give thanks for the work God has been doing in and through HBC in the town of Elizabeth, which lies about 40 miles southeast of Denver. As many of you know, Walt was involved in The Fellowship at LA Tech during our days in Ruston, LA about 30 years ago. Please pray for Walt and his wife Connie and for their children Zac (16), Remington (14), and Savannah (9).
Walt, Rod, and Jim
Providence Bible Church, Denver: Our son Jim and his wife Amelia are members of Providence, a multi-cultural church pastored by Rev. Jason Janz. We greatly enjoyed worshipping with the brethren at Providence as Jim led the music team in the morning service. On the preceding Friday night, the church held an all night prayer meeting. In the wee hours, about 4:00 a.m., some of the members went outside to check on their cars. They discovered a young Hispanic man lying in the street behind one of the cars. He was very drunk and was weeping profusely while talking on a cell phone. They asked him if he would like for them to pray for him, and he told the person on the phone that he had to get off because there were people there who wanted to pray for him. The Providence believers sat in a circle on the pavement with the young man and prayed with him and ministered to him. They invited him to come to worship at Providence on Sunday. On Sunday morning, while we were worshipping, the young man came walking down the aisle and joined one of the families who welcomed him with loving arms and tears. Soon the young man was standing before the congregation giving heart-felt testimony of how God was at work in his life. The entire congregation (probably about 300) all moved to the center aisle and prayed for him. This testimony and two others (that were similarly stirring) were then followed by Josh Larsen’s excellent exposition of Colossians 3:22 – 4:1 on “Worshipping God Through Our Work.” I have mentioned their website before, but I would like to again encourage you to go to http://www.providencedenver.org/videos.html
In addition to the worship services, I enjoyed a breakfast meeting with Walt as well as several profitable meetings with Jason and other leaders of Providence in which we discussed matters of theology and ministry. Also, Bec was blessed by her personal appointment with Jen Janz, Jason’s wife.
In case some of you are wondering, yes, Bec and I did very much enjoy getting to spend time with a special person who lives in Colorado: Josiah Wood! He is now almost 9 months old and was with us on a one-night camping trip on which his dad Jim and I caught lots of brook trout and cooked them for dinner!
Trusting in His “good promises” with you,
Rod and Bec
