Here is the most recent news on Aaron that he just emailed out.  Praise the Lord for how He is watched over him.  Thank you for praying.

About three years ago on a trip to China, a friend of mine, John Pearson, encouraged me to read “Focus” by Al Ries.  I bought the book and read part of it.  The main idea that I took away from the book was this: long-lasting success depends on focusing on core products and staying away from the temptation to diversify into unrelated enterprises.  In his book, Al shows the power of focus in…

• A tiny laser beam of concentrated light to drill a hole in a dimond or wipe out cancer.
• Successful airlines who focus on just one type of flight rather than offering business class, baggage flights, coach class, etc.
• Other similar examples that show how we develop our power by narrowing our focus.

Though a secular book, I think there are spiritual applications:

• If we focus ourselves to read God’s Word every day, we will grow in knowledge, strengthen, wisdom, power, and maturity.
• If we focus on reaching people and discipling them, we will look back over a life of investment and making others a success.
• If we focus our influence, time, resources, and commitment to one church, we will be able to make a world-wide impact through strengthen and supporting that church.
• If we focus our energy to a ministry God calls us to, we can see that ministry grow and help many people.

So often, we try to diversify our lives.  We read a little here and a little there in our Bibles instead of systematically reading through our Bibles on a daily basis.  We give out a tract here and there, instead of every day praying and witnessing like we should.  We attend this church, that church, and this house fellowship, instead of commiting to a church we believe in and placing our whole influence there.

The truly successful Christians will learn the lesson that Paul taught in Philippians 3:13 “…this one thing I do…”  One person said, “Success is knowing God’s will and doing it.”  I want to know God’s will and then do it.  Once God shows me His will, I need to focus on doing that until God shows me more of His will or opens another door.  How focused are you? on His Word? on Prayer? on Evangelism? on Ministry? on Discipleship? on a Local Church?

I read this on John Pearson’s blog and thought I would pass it along to my readers.

II Timothy 2:2  And the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also  When something is committed, it has been pledged or given in trust for its preservation.  The place or person who has something committed to them takes on the responsibility for its preservation.   Since we don’t have to invent anything, just hear it then commit it to other faithful men we need not be geniuses, just honest and disciplined.  These are learnable traits and diligence beats genius any day of the week.

It doesn’t matter if you know it. The question is will you teach it.  Anything else is just plain thievery.  The things committed to us were put in our trust.  Anything committed to us that we are not willing to teach dies with us.  The idea of preservation involves propagation.   The things heard from the Word of God and our mentors in the faith become the tools for our ministry of discipleship to others.

Find faithful men.  Jesus was looking for men that would follow Him, not those He had to push.  He did not waste time on those who did not value the truth or were lazy.  He knew that they would not be good stewards of the truth that He came to teach.  When there was a war on Saul looked for the valiant and strong men and took them to himself.  I Samuel 14:52.  Find faithful men and then tell them all you know.  Commit to them the things you have heard. Teach only truth:  Teach the truth that will stand the test of accountability that many witnesses provide.  We are commanded to teach the things we already heard, and its even ok if the guy that taught you hears you using his stuff.   John the Baptist and Jesus both had a message entitled, “repent for the kingdom is at hand.”   

1. Don’t be a black hole of learning.  If you are not teaching anyone the things you learn then you will become like the dead sea.  Go burn off some information calories and ask someone if they understood the message Sunday night.  If they did, ask them to explain it to you.  If they didn’t then explain it to them.
2. You may not be able to create faithfulness or discipline in your first disciple.  Remember, Jesus had entire cities come out to hear him only to have them leave when the sayings became difficult or the cost to high.  Be ready to look hard for faithful men.  When you find one, then invest heavily. 

I thought the following story taken from Austin Gardner’s blog was a good illustration of how to apply the Sunday night message on “A Good Testimony.”

Dr. Ironside,  when a  boy, helped  his widowed mother by working during vacation, Saturdays, and out of  school for a  Scottish  shoe worker  who  was  a Christian.  He posted Bible  verses  all  over  the  shop so that everywhere one looks,  he would see the Word of God.  No package went out to a  customer without a tract or a word of testimony, and many came back for salvation.

Dr. Ironside’s Job was to pound leather for shoe soles.  A piece  of cowhide  was cut  to size,  soaked in water, and pounded  in  until  it  was  hard  and dry.  After endless poundings, he was weary.  One day, he noticed that another godless  cobbler  was  not  pounding,  but was nailing the soles while still  wet.  “So they come  back quicker,” was the reply.  The Christian owner explained to Ironside:  “I do  not cobble Just for $.50 or $,75 from customers.  I do it for  the glory of God.  In heaven  I expect  every shoe returned to me  in a pile, and  I do not want  the Lord to say,  “Dan,  that  was  a  poor  Job.  You did not do your best.”

It has been a good day.  I usually try to take Mondays off to spend with my family and catch up on personal things.  I really enjoyed spedning time with my family.  They are the best and I am so blessed.

We had 20 with 1 first-time visitor in the Sunday morning service and 23 in the evening service.  We looked at “A Good Testimony” from 1 Timothy 6 in the evening. I wanted to just say a word of thanks to our creche workers who are the unsung heroes and make it possible for parents and everyone to fully enjoy the services.  WE APPRECIATE YOU ALL!

The message this morning was about the end of the world and how our cursed world will be destroyed by fire (2 Peter 3) and then recreated as a new heaven and new earth.  I am a big believer in this kind of global warming.  We had a good time this morning with one first-time visitor who came as a result of a flyer we put through his letterbox on Saturday.  I am not sure the attendance but will let you know that tonight.

Here is what I just heard about Aaron from Austin Gardner.  He is not hurting due to all the pain medication that he is on. He gets about 3 different ones right now. He maybe allergic to one that he took this morning and so is feeling dizzy and nauseous.

The doctor says that the surgery was a success and that his recuperation is going just fine. He may even get to go home on Monday. His recuperation is going to take several weeks.

Thank you for continuing to pray for him.

We had a great time at the youth meeting in Glengormley at Faith Baptist Church.  Pastor Martin, John, Steven, Laura, Graham, and all those other workers there are doing a great job!  They have had nearly 100 teenagers come through their doors in the last several months.  A man named Stephen Law gave a very powerful testimony last night that had our teenagers talking all the way back home.  I think we have some of the best teenagers and young people in the world, and I love spending time with them. 

Today, we had a team of 9 go out and we did 237 new house with literature.  We have done alot of homes on the Waterside but now we are really beginning to focus on the Cityside.  Please pray for God to move in hearts as we sow the seed.  This week we have contacted a total of 777 new homes!

I hope you are planning to be with us tomorrow.  We are looking forward to a great day in the Lord.  I love preaching to our church, and I am excited about the morning message called, “When Will the World End?” and the evening message from 1 Timothy 6:11-21 on “A Good Testimony.”  There will be discipleship classes for all ages in the morning at 10.30 AM, and then Discovery Zone for the ages 11 and under during the 11.30 AM service.  Also, we have a creche which is available during each service.  Come join us and experience the difference!

ANNOUNCEMENT: All the teenagers are invited back to our house after church tomorrow night, as we talk about how to read your Bible and do your devotions.

For the past couple of weeks, we have had unusually good weather.  Amazingly, it was HOT here yesterday!  Today, the weather is back to normal with overcast skys and rain.  For the youth club tonight, we are going to be driving up to Faith Baptist Church in Glengormley for their youth meeting at 7.30 PM, because The Junction is not available for us.

I am glad that we made hay while the sun was shining and put leaflets through 150 letterboxes on Tuesday and 290 on yesterday.  Hopefully, we will have a good day tomorrow at 11.00 for community outreach, as we strive to spread the gospel. 

REMINDER TO MEN: Our men’s fellowship is tomorrow morning at 9.00 AM at Yankees Cafe in Ballykelly.  Join us for breakfast, fellowship, Bible study, and prayer.

Steve Baker sent me the following article that I thought showed how crucial our work is.

Practising Muslims will outnumber worshipping Christians in Britain within 30 years, according to research published today.