New Leadership

While I write this there is sadness as well as excitement in my heart. 3 years ago the Lord laid Hellfire Ministries on my heart and He has done wonderful things with it. But as God grows us He prepares us for the next step in our walk and how we are to serve Him. As of September 1st I'll be stepping down from Hellfire Ministries and turning everything over to Richard Mills. Whether it stays Hellfire Ministries or changes the name or whatever is between Richard and God. God has lead me to be the Director of Evangelism and Outreach at Dellwood Baptist Church. I know what your saying "NO your being sucked into a building" but the more I thought and prayed about it and about the situation with our churches the only way they will change is from the inside. The only way they will change is if we through Gods guidance are willing to go in and change them. I'll still be helping Richard when I can, no way I'll be off the streets completely and hopefully have some extra people with me. We must lead by example, we must train up people on how to share their faith, give the gospel and help them get over their fears. I thank everyone whose supported Hellfire over the years not only financially but with your time as well. Hellfire's been an awesome ride and I praise God for the opportunity! Dellwood, put your shoes on, it's time to get busy!

Share the Gospel

When we share the gospel we must look at Jesus himself. With the woman at the well we see some things that He did. One of the main things He did was let her talk. He let her say what was on her mind and then He responded to her. We have a tendancy to just wanna preach to someone but we must also shut up some times and listen. That's what Jesus did. He let the person He was talking to speak as well. Sometimes I think in our zeal we just wanna beat someone over the head with the gospel, that's not how Jesus did it and that's not how we're to do it. The best way to learn how to do something is to watch the Master. Read John 4 and see how Jesus handled the woman at the well. We can learn alot about how to share the gospel by seeing how Jesus talked with her. Take time to read the passage and break it down and see what Jesus did then take what you've learned and tell someone about Jesus!

For His glory!!

Alot of my friends don't know this but I have to praise God. This past weekend as I was laying in a hospital bed they gave me the news that they had found something in my left lung. They said it could be one of three things, pnemonia, a clot, or the big C. I began to pray. Lord if it's your will to bring me home I'm ready. I didn't pray for healing, I prayed that His will be done. If it was my time and that's how I was to go so be it. If not, then I knew He could take it away. As they wheeled me down for a cat scan to see what the spot was I continued to pray. I prayed for my wife and my three children and I prayed for my friends who I knew that this news would touch. I prayed that God would use this for His glory and you know what, He has. When the results came back from the CT there was nothing there, nothing at all. The xray showed a mass of something and the CT was clean. Nothing was there. The doctors couldn't explain it but I could. God is still in the miracle business whether you wanna believe it or not. Are you at peace with the Lord so that when your time comes you know that you'll be in Heaven? Does death scare you or do you know that when you take that last breath you'll be in the presences of Jesus? If you have doubts repent and believe in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. God's word tells us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, will you be present with the Lord? It's the most important question you could ask yourself today. I praise God that He has more work for me to do and that He has given me more time to see my children grow and given me more time with my wonderful wife, and more time with my friends that I spread the gospel with on a daily basis! I praise your name Lord and may I never waste another opportunity to spread the gospel of your Son Jesus Christ!

The Tug of Sin

The Lord blessed our family with a vacation to the beach last week. As I was standing in the ocean feeling the pull of the tide I couldn't help but think that that's the way sin in our life works. There is a constant tug and pull to fall back in our sin and into the world. As we grow in Christ there is always something that will happen that will try to pull us out to sea. We have to fight it with the power that's within us that comes from God alone. We can't fight it on our own, we must depend on Him to see us through. Without an utter dependance on God in our daily life the tide of sin will pull us out to sea. When that happens, just as in the ocean, we die. All that awaits us is the darkness of death. If we fight and depend on God to see us through and put our trust in Him there is the light of life not the darkness of death. When you feel the pull of the world tugging at you lean on God to fight it. Don't be sucked back into the dark abyss.

What is happiness?

What is happiness to you? Is it getting new things or maybe it's about how much money you make? Maybe it's about how many friends you have to hang out with or maybe about your latest thrill. If your happiness is not based on God then are you truly happy or are you just looking for the next thing to control your life? Contentment can only be found in Jesus Christ. If you live for the ways of this world you will forever be searching and will forever be lost. Happiness and contentment can only be found in the Lord. He gives you strength to get through everyday and to get through every situation. Life will not be perfect, but you will have eternal life through Jesus. Our life on this earth is but a vapor and it's to be spent serving our Lord and Savior and helping to grow the Kingdom of God. Not living for ourselves and trying to "get ours". The question is, is your life "Christ centered" or "me" centered? So many people say "Yeah I'm saved" but are still so lost in the world and live their lives for themselves. If you're truly saved, there will be evidence of salvation. I encourage you to do something that is extremely hard and take an honest look at your life and make sure that your salvation is true. Jesus tells us we will know His disciples by the fruit that they bear. What kind of fruit is your life bearing?

Run for your life

This is War

What's the difference?

Last night I had the opportunity to have dinner with Rev. Dr. Suresh Vemulapalli. Rev. Suresh runs India Village Ministries. The ministry does church planting in India, they train up God's messengers with the India Village Bible College, and also run a Childrens Home. It was a great time of fellowship and learning about Christianity in a country that's mainly Hindu (90%) along with a significant Muslim minority and only traces of Christianity. Many villagers live in deep poverty with an income of less than one US dollar per day. As I sat across from this very humble quiet man, I asked about the difference between how Christianity was there compaired to here I don't mind telling you the answer was what I expected. There their faith in Jesus Christ comes first in their lives. They have a total dependency on God and worship Him constantly. Their faith is what they survive on. All their trust is in Christ and they don't mind telling you that. They live for Him because He's all they have.

When he told me that all I could think about was how Christianity is here. There it's all about Jesus, here it's all about us. We don't like a church because the preacher runs a little long and you know how we get when we don't beat the crowd to the restaurant. We're too concerned about things that don't matter instead of worshipping and praising a just and righteous God that saved us from our sins so that we will spend eternity with Him. Oh, don't get me wrong we can put on a good show but when it comes right down to it if you had to give up your new iphone or your bible would you even have to think about it? We get caught up in what pleases us instead of what pleases God. We must always remember it's about God and not us. We too should live for Him, because He's all we have also. We just tend to forget that.

Coffee House Fridays

If your in the Haywood County area and are interested in a night of praise in music and the word we have something exciting that’s about to start. At the Open Door in Waynesville we are planning on doing a Coffee House Friday every Friday starting on the 10th. Local bands will provide the music with a different band each Friday and of course the word will be brought as well. More information is on the way, we’re really excited about it. If you’d like to help out just drop me a line at russ@hellfireministries.org and we’ll put you on the list. It’s all for the praise and glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Join us in spreading the gospel to a lost and dying world!

Need a ministry site?

One thing that I've come to be aware of are people who are out to make a buck off those in the ministry, not to mention those in the ministry lookin to make a buck off you. My brother John Galloway has had a vision in his heart to help those in the ministry who would like a presence on the web but don't have the funds to make it happen. Check out http://inthestreet.orgMy brother John is offering free sites to ministries that are looking to get on the web but can't afford it. It's all for the glory of Christ and to spread the gospel to as many people as we can. I must mention it's for ministries only and not for churches. John has something coming soon for you. It's real simple, cost you nothing and in no time your on the web. Stop by and check it out. There's no gimmicks or anything to get ya in the door then hit ya with an "upgrade" it's all top notch right out of the shoot. Check it out. http://inthestreet.org

Whan an awesome weekend!

This past weekend was a blessing all the way around as I look and see God at work. I actually saw people from our church pull together and work at our church this past weekend to give the church a one day "makeover". Landscaping, painting the inside of the sunday school classes and halls and no one even argued over the color.:) It was a great time in fellowship and work for God's house.

Next, a friend of mine has been seperated from his wife for a while and we were talking about that and how he was praying that God would heal their relationship and that they could come back together as one and grow in Christ. As I'm sitting with my family in church on Sunday morning I hear a "Praise God" come from a few rows back and I know my friend is there.:) As we stand to greet people I turn around and guess who's with him. His wife and children. Praise God!

As if the weekend couldn't get any better my brother John, Bart, Richard, his wife Barbara and myself were at the Open Door to supply the food, music and preach. It was a great time of fellowship and time in the Lord. The weekend couldn't have ended any better. The Lord chose that night to save a soul. Praise God! The Kingdoms a little fuller now, and another person will be with Jesus when he takes his last breath. He now has eternal life with Christ instead of death, Heaven instead of hell.

What an awesome weekend for the Lord. I praise Him for my friends in the ministry that I'm lucky enough to serve with and thank Him for the opportunity to serve Him. I thank Him for saving a sorry sinner like myself and using me to spread His gospel. What an honor and priviledge it is to serve our Lord. Thank you God!

Once like them

As Christians there’s one thing that we must remember, we use to be lost also. We use to be lost in our sin still living our lives for us at emnity with God, some professing christians still do that. Paul writes to Titus and tells him in chapter 3 “Remind them..” Remind them that they too use to be that way! As we look at someone lost in their sin we should not condemn them but reach out to them. After all, someone reached out to you and showed you the love of Christ and gave you the gospel. What makes us think we shouldn’t do the same as well? Nothing will knock you off your “I’m a Christian and your not” horse quicker than remembering that you too once lived that way. Tell them of the only person that can save them from the bondage their in, tell them of the one that gave His life so that they might have eternal life and tell them that without Christ they will die in their sin and suffer the wrath of God and spend eternity in hell. Tell them out of love for them about our Savior who can give them hope not hoplessness, life not death, love not hatred. Tell them because you too were once like them.

Be watchful

I have this place in my yard where 8 times out of 10 when I weed eat around it there's a snake in the brush. I know this going in so I look and plan for it so I won't be caught off guard. We'll imagine my surprise while concentrating and looking for a snake that might or might not be in the brush I start to feel a few stings on my back and wouldn't you know it there was an underground yellowjackets nest and they weren't too happy.:) You see I had my focus on one thing to make sure I didn't get bit. All my focus was on looking for a snake and my focus got off the other dangers that were present.

The same thing happens to us as we go through life. We concentrate so hard on the one thing that we know will make us stumble and sin that we forget to stay on our guard against the other ways that satan will use. Ways we won't notice till we start to feel the sting.

1st Peter 5:8 "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Put on the full armor of God and be watchful. That word devour means that satan is looking to totally destroy you. We must be, as the scripture says, sober-minded and watchful. This post is just a reminder to all my Christian brothers and sisters on the battlefield everyday fighting the good fight to be watchful. God bless you and my prayers are with you all.

Sucked back in....

Oh how easy it is to get sucked back into the ways of this world. It starts out by missing a Sunday at church, then that’s followed by another. Then pretty soon you’re not going at all. Your prayer time starts to fade. Your daily bible study becomes twice a week, then once a week, till finally not at all. Then you start watching things and reading things that turn your attention back to the ways of the world. People who were warriors for Christ with you try to contact you but you start ignoring their calls and when you do see them in public you talk about how busy you’ve been. They invite you out on certain activities to share the word and you say you’ll go but you don’t. The prince of darkness has won and you no longer are living your life for Christ. Oh you still profess to be a Christian and love Jesus but there is no evidence of it. You see, I know people like this. People who once were fierce warriors for Christ who fell back into the world. Just like Demas did with Paul. We all have a Demas in our life, some more than one.

There are only two types of people in this world. Those that serve Christ and those that don’t. God’s word tells us you’re either a child of satan or a child of God. Do you search after the things and the ways of the world or do you search the scriptures and serve God? There is no middle ground. You can’t serve both. So I beg you to please examine your life, who are you serving?

Thank you God

We had a meeting of Hellfire Ministry members yesterday and as I looked around I couldn't help but praise God for the growth He's provided. A little over two years ago the Lord laid Hellfire Ministries on my heart. We started with three members, myself, Kris Estep and John Galloway and just a couple of dates booked on the calendar. Yesterday there were 12 people at the meeting that actively participant in the ministry and 16 events are booked for the month of May for opportunities to show the love of Christ and share the Gospel. I thank God for the growth and the people who have come on board and the opportunities God has given us. To God be the glory and may He give us strength and boldness as we head out into a lost and dying world with His message of hope and salvation.

Rally Day One

Well the first day of the rally was awesome. I'm not talking about the bikes or the vendors or the events but about Jesus. Everytime we do a rally or festival the Lord always shows me something. He gives me at least one person that comes by that truly blesses my soul. Friday a man by the name of James came up. We hand out bibles at the booth for free and he asked if he could have one. As we stood there talking he told me he was saved and asked if he could tell me about the night God not only saved his soul but his life as well.

James went on to say that he was in a crack house, high and drunk to the point that he could just barely hear stuff that was going on around him. He heard someone say "Lets shoot him and take his money". Instinctively he said he put up his hands when the shotgun blast went off. You see james is missing a finger, the blast blew it off, and his left arm is disfigured because of putting his arms up in front of himself, and the blast struck him in the chest. As they were putting him into the ambulance and taking him to the hospital he prayed to God to save his soul, and if he would, to save his life and he would serve Him for the remainder of his days of this earth. James closed out his testimony with "and that's what I've been doing ever since".

You see that's a blessing and wonderful testimony to the glory of God. God saved this man's soul and he's been about God's business ever since. I would have never met James if I just showed up at church to warm a pew, I would have never met James if I said I didn't have time to do these things for God, I would have never met James if I was concerned about worldy things and "getting mine". Get out of your four walls and see what God is doing and share the love of Christ and the gospel.

I pray that everyone who professes Christ as his or her Lord and Savior would have the drive to come out into the highways and byways of this nation and start spreading the Gospel. The Lord will bless you for it, even if the blessing comes from a saved crack addict.

Spring, gotta love it!

The smell of fresh cut grass, the laughter of kids playing outside and the sounds of a Harley being revved up. Ah the sounds of spring! We here at Hellfire love spring. It's when our blood really get's pumping because with the warmer weather comes the bike rallys and festivals. Opportunities to spread the word of God with a lost and dying world. A chance to be used by God to preach His word to those still lost in there trespasses and sins. An opportunity to be a servant to our Lord and Savior. It's opportunities we don't take lightly. We look out into the field of bikes and the people so lost in this world and their sin and you realize that the majority of them are headed straight to hell. Only God can save them and that's what we tell them. That without Jesus they will suffer the wrath of a just and Holy God. We give them the word which shows them that they're on a path to hell and that in order to be reconciled with God they must be justified by faith in Jesus Christ and the only way that happens is to repent and believe. Christ is their only way to salvation. Please pray for the Hellfire Ministries team that will be out there along with the other ministries.

Priorities

It amazes me at the churches who say “We need to send people out” but when it comes time to do it, no one goes. I’ve seen churches profess to want to be apart of spreading the gospel and are fired up at first but after 60 days they no longer want to go out and a size of 20 dwindles down to one or two. I’ve seen churches who run 300 people on a Sunday morning have 2 show up for an evangelism class on spreading the good news of the Gospel of Jesus. I’ve seen bible studies where only 2 people have shown up. Why is this? Is God not suppose to take priority in our lives? “Well we can’t make the bible study because we’ve got to do this and that”. So the “this” and “that” are taking precedence over learning about God and studying His word? I’ve seen teachers who take the time to prepare a lesson to teach just to have no one show up or if they do they just want to socialize instead of learn. Where’s our commitment to God? Every opportunity that we’re presented to learn about our Lord and Savior should be soaked up. I guess the main question is where are our priorities?

The Gospel

Before we can tell people of the glorious good news which is the Gospel, we must first know what it is ourselves. I see and hear so many people talking about the spreading the gospel is telling others what God is doing in their lives and how their lives have changed. Yes, we must tell people this but this my friends is not the gospel. So what is the gospel? Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians 15:3-4

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures..

This is the gospel. Christ died for our sins taking them upon himself so that we might be reconciled with a just and Holy God and He rose in three days thus defeating death and the grave. Without Christ, our sins are not forgiven and we are destined to be in the bondage of our sin in which we will suffer the wrath of God. You can't tell someone the gospel without bringing up sin. That's why Christ died. Not to give us a better life in this world, not go make us feel better about ourselves, but to save us from our sin that seperates us from God.

Matthew 1:21 "21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

How can you tell them that they must repent if you don't tell them about sin? So if you don't tell them about their sin and how that's what's keeping them away from God there's no repentance and without repentance there's no salvation and without salvation through the blood of Christ your destined to spend all eternity seperated from God.

Christians need to get back to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ instead of what you can "get" out of God. After all the question isn't what you can get out of God, but what God can get out of you.

Do you see yourself?

I had a conversation the other night with a guy who had had a little too much to drink. Okay, actually alot too much to drink and he just wanted to fight and something happened. As we stood on the side of the street, face to face, were looking into each others eyes, as he was doing his best to get me upset and provoke me it hit me. It was my old self I was looking at. You see I use to be that same way. The more he tried to provoke, the more my heart broke for him. As this man full of hatred from something in his life was trying to take it out on me I thanked God for my salvation, for Him sending His Son to die for me, for freeing me from the bondage of sin, for taking away my heart of stone and giving me a heart of flesh, and most of all for reconciling me to Him through the blood of Christ. Then I prayed for that man's soul, and I will every night from here on out. You see we all were once like him, lost in our sin. I now make it a point to retell the gospel to myself everyday. Won't you join me...

Open Minded

I had the opportunity to preach at the mission last night. Paul says in 1st Corinthians 1:18 "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are parishing...." I saw that first hand last night and as I think about people in general, they're okay as long as you preach about the "love" of God but the minute you get to the "judgement" of God they get a little riled up.:) The minute you preach the gospel they get offended because you don't preach that "all roads lead to heaven". I got accused of not being "open minded" about other religions last night by a muslim. I told him, you're right, I'm not open minded about other religions because those other religions lead you on a path straight to hell. I got asked point blank last night during the service what would happen to all those who believed in other religions. At that point I could have watered everything down and smoothed everything over by giving them some wishy washy version of the gospel. But God's word tells us that unless we repent and believe in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation we will be sent into the lake of fire. Unless our names are in the Lambs Book of Life, we will suffer eternal damnation.

Romans 5:1 says "Therefore being justified by faith, we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ". This verse says alot. The only way to be reconciled with a just, righteous and holy God is through Jesus Christ. Jesus said in the 13th chapter of Luke, "repent or you too shall perish". There is only one way to be forgiven of your sins and only one way to Heaven and that's through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. Everytime we get up and preach or teach the word of God we will be held accountable for what we teach and preach. I praise God for the opportunity last night!

Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes..."

Hellfire invades Daytona

Well the guys have hit Daytona for Bike Week and what an awesome start. I get us this morning with this pic and a message from my brother John.



“Wish u were here bro. Just had a man on the street rededicate his life. Confessed all his sins right there on the street. Porn, drugs, masturbation and all.”



I praise God for providing the resources for this to happen. For Hellfire Ministries to have a presence at Bike Week and most of all for my brothers John, Richard and Robbie who have taken time off from work to go and do the work that really matters, and that’s doing the Lord’s work. Please keep them in prayer as they spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the streets of Daytona.

The Power of God!

I’ve gotta say what a wonderful and awesome weekend this past weekend was. It’s always amazing to see God move and change someone’s life. Taking them out of darkness and bringing them into the light. Taking their heart of stone and turning it into a heart of flesh. You know it’s God and only God when someone is saved from the ways of this world and reconciled with Him. You know it’s God and God alone that does this. Romans 1:16 states …”for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” You know it’s God when a devout Buddist who’s told you he’ll never even step foot in church all of a sudden show’s up at church, you know it’s God when this devout Buddist see’s his sin and know’s he needs Jesus. You know it’s God when this devout Buddist is reconciled with a just and holy God and no longer will suffer His wrath but will spend eternity with Him. You know it’s God when this man is no longer a devout Buddist but now a child of God. You know it’s God when this man renounces his Buddist ways and professes Christ as his Lord and Savior. Praise God, the kingdom is a little more crowded now!

Why do I mention this? First, to give all glory to God it was Him who saved this man and nothing that I or anyone else did. God used us to give the gospel to this man and show him the love of Christ. It’s the power of the gospel which reaches people and show’s them their need for a Savior. We could have gone and told this man what a wonderful life he could have, what great things God would provide for Him, but what would that have done? Nothing. This man could care less about material things. It was his sin that was keeping him from God. It was hearing the gospel that showed this man how sinful he was just like all of us are and that without Christ he would suffer the wrath of a just and holy God. That God loves us so much that He sent His Son to die and suffer His wrath to pay the price for the penalty we deserved.

Now that this man is saved from God’s wrath, the discipleship process begins. Praise God!

Why so wimpy?

2nd Timothy 1:7 "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control."

We see three things that are given to us by the Holy Spirit when we become a child of God but we also see one thing we don't have.

Fear: The Greek (deilia) in extrabiblical literature refers to one who flees from battle, and has a strong pejorative sense referring to cowardice. Boldness, not cowardice, is a mark of the Spirit.

Proverbs 28:1 "The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion".

Fear is the number one reason that we don't share our faith. Fear of what someone will think, fear that we will be rejected, fear that we don't "know enough", fear because we don't want to offend anyone. But you see, our focus is to be on Jesus, not ourselves. Fear is not in us! The spirit that is within us is not of fear but of power, love and self-control.

If you're a child of God trust Him, not yourself. When we trust ourselves, then we find all of the excuses not to witness to someone about Jesus who gave His life so that all who repent and believe in Him alone for salvation will be reconciled with a just, righteous, and holy God. When we trust in ourselves we have fear, but God gives us power, love, and self-control.

So what's in you? Fear or power.

Ministry Update

Hellfire Ministries would like to welcome Richard Mills formerly of His Laboring Few on board. Richard brings a love for Christ and a heart for the lost and the needy. What this means is we will be able to get out to spread the gospel even more. His years of experience with the homeless and the bikers will be invaluable.

Please pray for the ministry as God continues to grow it. We're now feeding breakfast at the Open Door 8 times a month, 4 times a month we're serving dinner, and 2 times a month we're serving dinner at the Community Kitchen in Canton. This means we supply the food, prepare it, and of course preach the gospel.

As we look ahead toward spring we'll be stocking up on tracks and bibles to give out at the festivals and rally's. We'll have festival entry fees not to mention gas. If you would like to help out and be a part of Hellfire Ministries to keep people fed and to ensure that the gospel of Jesus Christ will continue to be spread, you can make a donation by credit card here http://hellfireministries.org/mojo/?page_id=325 or you can mail a check to Hellfire Ministries 43 Dixie Way Canton, NC 28716. Any help at all would be appreciated. No one get's paid from the ministry, every cent stays in to spread the gospel.

Thank you for your support!

Russ and the HFM Crew

Are you the same ol' you?

For about the 4th time over the past week someone has said to me, "As long as I ask God for forgiveness everynight it's okay if I sin". Excuse me, WRONG! I urge you if you agree with that statement to do as Paul said, "Examine yourself to make sure you are in the faith". As sinful creatures we do sin, but we don't willingly and knowingly continue to walk in sin.

1st John 1:5-6 "This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth."

If you can still walk in your sin, you need to take the word of God and examine yourself. Don't compare your life to your friends, or your dad or mom's, or your grandparents compare it to Gods word. Someone has convinced you that because you said a prayer on Sunday morning that you are now saved. We can know we are truly saved by the changes in our lives. We start to live for Christ and not ourselves, we start to show the love of Christ to others, we become a new creation! We begin to decrease and He begins to increase.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come."

The hardest thing we can ever do is to honestly take a long hard look at ourselves. Especially when we start comparing how we live to Gods word. But that's what we must do. If you profess Christ, are you a new creation or are you still the same ol' you?

Humbling

This morning I had the pleasure of taking a couple of the homeless guys to church. As we were waiting to leave the shelter one of them commented on how someone had given him 5 bucks on Saturday. Keep in mind that that five bucks and the clothes on his back are all he has. He’s not a freeloader he is out everyday putting in applications trying to find a job, he’s not a boozer, or drug user he’s just a guy who’s a victim of circumstance. As we sat in church this morning it humbled me almost to the point of tears to see him put his only 5 dollars in the offering plate when it came around. He gave his last dime to the Lord. Is he saved? We’ve talked alot and I believe he is, he’s repented and firmly believes in Jesus Christ alone for his salvation. He knows that the Lord will get him out of what he’s in as long as he stays obedient to Him. Imagine it, your homeless, nothing but the clothes on your back and 5 dollars to your name and you give your last dime to the Lord. Now that’s faith. Would we do the same?

Amazing

We’ve opened a new homeless shelter here in the mountains, the only all night shelter in the county. It’s amazing to see the transformation of some of these people as they get the word of God everynight. Those that were cold and hard when they first came in are now starting to interact and open up. It’s awesome to see all the churches working together to make this work. Not just one denomination but all denominations and even non-denominations working together to show the love of Christ and to spread the gospel. It’s an awesome thing when a nightly devotion that’s only suppose to run 15 minutes or so turns into over an hour because of questions and discussions on Gods word. I praise God for it and for those that He’s bringing to it, not just the volunteers but the people staying as well. You can find out more about it at http://www.haywood-coalition.org/