Love starts with Christ

Our time here in the west is drawing to a close as I prepare to go to Repent and Witness in New York City flying tomorrow, Tuesday the third of August.  Wo, August, surely our lives are like a vapor. It will be my third year attending this wonderful event called Repent and Witness and I am thankful to be able to be with approximately 25 evangelists preaching in the Big Apple.

The last five weeks my family and I have had the most blessed time together in preparation for our daughter’s wedding.  We will cherish the time we’ve had with each other, our new son-in-law, and his family.  And what a blessing to have had so many precious friends and family here for the wedding. It was wonderful!  We are still praising God.  I will write more about this…

During our time here we have also made time for witnessing and preaching. We thank our Saviour in being given opportunities to make Him famous.  Many God ordained opportunities to share the Gospel have taken place. The Boise area is a great place for outreach!  Why is it so great?  Well, one reason is there are many mormons we get to witness to and share the Gospel with.  Another reason is that most everybody gladly takes tracts and thanks us for handing them out.  And the police are very supportive of our first amendment rights.

Bro. TJ Obrien preaching in downtown Boise

We have some opposition, but for the most part we have many people coming up to us and thanking us for sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.  While preaching two weekends ago on the downtown streets here, I was approached by three women.  All of them told me that what I was doing was wrong.  One said that two girls down the street were crying because I had preached that the jesus christ of mormonism was NOT the Jesus Christ of the Bible.  And believing in the mormon jesus on the Day of Judgment would not save them.  I tried to explain that I was sorry that somebody was crying.  I would have loved to talk with them more.  During this time, several people had come up to me thanking me and four different people gave me refreshing drinks so that I could continue to preach in the hot Idaho sun.  Well, it didn’t take very long before the women were all at once yelling at me and one began using extremely foul language.  Friends, what these women did not see is the many people that actually would stop and listen that day.  What the women did not see is the week prior I had a wonderful conversation with an atheist for about two hours. What the women did not see is how I spoke to a woman after preaching and after seeing her demeanor go from hateful to hungry for the truth, got her name and told her that we would pray for her.  I started wrapping things up and she began to cry and break down almost begging that we pray for her immediately because she said she had fallen so far away from God and into sin and needed to repent and trust the Saviour.

Bro. Mike reaching out to the homeless

The cross is an offensive message. But it is a message of redemption and offers the only true hope and peace and joy and forgiveness.  That God Himself would offer forgiveness of sins and eternal life because He died in our place.

We need to continue to press on and get this Good News to the lost as well as be an encouragement to the saints!  Time is running short.  We have one life to live and it will soon be past.  But only our lives lived for Christ will last!  What those women on the street who were so opposed to the Gospel did not see is that there was spiritual warfare going on all about us as satan was trying to deter people from surrendering their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ to find forgiveness and victory over sin.

Recently at Kent and Eliza’s church, we sang this hymn that Charles Wesley wrote. The words are so powerful:

Five bleeding wounds He bears; received on Calvary;
They pour effectual prayers; they strongly plead for me:
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Nor let that ransomed sinner die!”

What mercy our God has poured out on us.

On another note, Kevin Borden and his family are here from California for a couple of days.  He is a preacher who enjoys preaching in the open air.  After he got done done preaching this weekend, he spent over and hour with a young man that actually had vampire teeth!  Crazy, but true.  But the vampire man was broken and asked many questions about Jesus and eternity.  Praise the Lord.

One of the times that we were preaching and witnessing downtown, a police officer, who remembered me from last year, came up to us on the street.  He was with his two daughters and he thanked me for continuing on with our ministry.  He had seen us on the college campus here last year and recognized us. He was such an encouragement.  He explained to me that many people are religious in this area, but not necessarily born again. He even asked us to attend his church sometime, so we obliged this past Sunday and were blessed.

So…last weekend I walked my daughter down the aisle to be married. What a blessing and an honor it was.  Just prior to walking her down the aisle, I just started sobbing.  I could hardly even look at her because she was so beautiful! As we held each other she said, I love you Daddy.  I could not even reply for quite some time but finally I mustered up, I love you too.

I was excited, thankful, and humbled at the privilege of handing our daughter over to her husband.  She is now Mrs. Kent True.  We are grateful to the Lord that He has given her a godly husband.  We are thankful that they both remained pure as the waited on the Lord for their spouse.  She is prepared to be a help meet and to love him, honor him, and respect him .  He is prepared to cleave to his wife, to love her, honor her, and cherish her.  They are so in love with each other and in love with God that it makes me weep just seeing how beautiful a pure and sanctified marriage can be.  Their wedding and marriage is a testimony to those around them, in the body of Christ and outside the body.  Their commitment to each other will be a demonstration of their love for Jesus. They will be putting each other’s needs first, they will need to be all forgiving, and they will have to love each other through every circumstance that comes their way.  They will do this through Christ, their Saviour!

What a picture marriage is, of God’s covenant with His people.  Can we love Jesus too much? No!  Of course we can’t.  Impossible.  If we love Jesus as much as we say we do, then we should be doing everything for Him.  Our words should be backed up with actions.  We should be, well, in the world’s eyes…different from the world.  We should be hot for Jesus Christ NOT lukewarm.  The world and the church may look at us as extreme because we stand for righteousness and we share our faith.  We will be looked at as extreme because the “normal” Christians don’t do something as radical as handing someone a Gospel tract or turning from all known sin in our lives.  We should have a brokenness and be humble before the Lord Jesus.  If we love Him, then we should be abandoned to ourselves and desiring to obey Him. If we love our spouse, we should do things for our spouse that put their needs, desires, and wants first.  As we know, God has not changed.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Marriage hasn’t changed either.  Worship the Lord in your thoughts, and words and deeds.  Continue in His Word.  He promises that it will keep you being in love with Him.  Jesus said, If you continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.  John 8:31-32

If man is supposed to love his wife as Christ loves the church, willing to lay his life down for her, is it possible for man to love his wife too much?  Shouldn’t our marriages look like our love for Christ?  Should we so love our spouse that the world will desire that same love in their lives?  Christ demands that we die to ourself. Beautiful.  Marriage is the reflection to the world of our love for God.  It is a full time ministry in and of itself.

Are there husbands that are willing to lay their own life down for their wife? As Christ is returning for his bride, can husbands say that they really have a bride that they are absolutely sold out to and in love with and willing to put her needs first?

Love starts with Christ.  The only way to love your spouse in a God honoring way is through the love of Christ.  Love succeeds by actions and it starts in the home.  If you have a ministry to serve God whole heartedly in the home with your marriage and it truly is your ministry, then you will avoid the misery of the world.

Well, with all the preparation we did for this wedding last weekend it makes me stop and wonder how much preparation we are making for our meeting with Christ.  Are we ready for Him to return?  Are we ready to meet Him on that day?  Are we spending time and resources and sacrificing our all for His coming?  Are we expecting Him to arrive and return for His bride at any possible time?  Our prayer might sound something like this… Lord, I pray that I am ready to meet you.  I am so excited, and filled with joy.  I love you more than words can describe.  I have abstained from my fleshly desires and have laid everything aside in awaiting Your arrival.  I can’t believe that You would return for me.  I am not worthy.  Lord, give me the strength to persevere and to press on in waiting for that glorious day.  I know you are good on your promises and I will be good on mine.  I wait.  I wait.  I wait. Lord I love you.

Mr. and Mrs. Kent True photo: jzphotography.com

Here are some wonderful verses on marriage…

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.  Genesis 2:24

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.  Ephesians 5:21-33

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:  Philippians 2:3-9

Proverbs 18:22 says, Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.

Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.  Proverbs 5:18

But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.  1 Corinthians 11:3

What a blessing marriage is!

So…what is next for us?  After Repent and Witness we are prayerfully seeking the Lord as to how we can be in New York City for a couple of weeks prior to colleges opening in early September.  Additionally, we are hoping to spend time in Pennsylvania with some brothers and sisters in Christ.  Beyond that we believe that our burden for these young people on these secular universities will be our mission field again this year.  We are praying for a great awakening on these campuses.  Our schedule is not very nailed down yet, but our hope is to go to even more campuses than last year prior to the Christmas break.  Please contact us if you want us to join you in worship at your church or if you would like us to come to your campus to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Shawn Holes with wife Lisa and son William at Eliza and Kent's wedding

Let us rejoice in His kindness and mercies for Jesus Christ is the Lord of Lords!

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