“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11 E very year, we pause at this time to celebrate one of the most wonderful events in human history. The birth of our Savior, Christ the Lord. There is no biblical record of the date of His birth, and there is no mandate in Scripture for His birth to be celebrated.   We Christians are certain He was born early in the fall of the year. Not in December. Yet, in 336 AD, the Christian Roman Emperor Constantine declared December 25th as the day to celebrate His birth. A few years later, the Catholic Pope, Julius I, ratified that date as “Christmas Day.” And it has been so for Western Christians ever since.  Regardless of the lack of an actual date and the lack of a mandate, it seems right that we stop to remember and celebrate The Day that initiated change into the world. Change did not come immediately, of course. It would be necessary for this child to grow into a man a...

Greetings from Northern California!  W e hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving full of family, laughter and fun.   Joy has been a recurring theme for us in 2017. That theme just continues to be underscored as we move towards 2018. Of course there is joy to be found in this holiday season and in reminding ourselves of the beautiful mystery of the Incarnation. But that is not the joy I’m talking about. This joy specifically is His joy. In ruminating over this idea of His joy, I’ve been struck by the thought that just like God is Love; God is Joy. God is Joy…it’s not some fleeting emotional response to positive circumstances wholly. His joy is endless. It’s boundless. Why? Because joyous, joyful, joy filled is who He is. It’s His nature, His character, an indelible fragrance that surrounds Him and a hallmark that you’ve encountered the one and only true and living God. Joy.  In beginning to look at the subject of His joy from this perspective, I’m once again brou...

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14 F rom the very beginning, God has made it abundantly clear that His intention was, is, and always will be, for the whole earth to be covered with the knowledge and glory of Himself. Adam: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…” Ge. 1:28a ESV Noah: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…” Ge. 9:1 ESV The Tower of Babel: God’s judgment against the people’s decision to stay in one place rather than disperse throughout the earth as God had commanded Noah. Ge. 11:4 , “Then they (the people) said… lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. ” “And the Lord said…’Come let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So, the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth… ” Ge.11:6a, 7-8a ESV The Children of Israel in the Wilderness: “...

Greetings from the Beautiful Northstate, Kenya is the only focus of our newsletter this month. Please keep her in your prayers. As expected, violence has erupted following the re-run election. In fact, on the morning of October 27th, a neighborhood in Nairobi where I have preached before, was bombed. With the re-vote partially completed in some regions, and postponed in others, things remain tense with violence erupting in many areas.  Gordon has been in contact with me regularly, and I am happy to report that, so far, he and his family are fine. They remain alert and prepared to leave if it becomes unsafe in Nakuru.  With conditions as they are, Gordon says our plans must be postponed until conditions for public meetings become safe once more.  We know the Lord has a plan for Kenya, a future and a hope, and ask that you would lift Kenya up in your prayers.   Yours for the Kingdom, Mark and Julie

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14 GOD IS CALLING When will the Church finish the work Jesus left for us to do?  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations….” Matthew 28:19a (NKJV) There’s a great big world out there, outside our own borders. According to Wikipedia , “The world population was estimated to have reached 7.5 billion in April 2017.”  According to Internet World Stats , the top ten (10) most populated countries today are: #1 – China with 1.388 Billion. Projected to be 1.301 Billion in 2050 #2 – India with 1.342 Billion. Projected to be 1.656 Billion in 2050 #3 – United States with 326.4 Million. Projected to be 398.3 Million in 2050 #4 – Indonesia; #5 Brazil; #6 Pakistan #7 – Nigeria with 191.8 Million. Projected to be 391.3 Million in 2050. According to these projections, India will become #1, China will drop t...

Greetings from the Beautiful Northstate, F all is here! Here in Redding the transition from season to season is remarkably, wonderfully abrupt. Temps are rolling along at 105, 110 and then, boom, 80, 85.   Literally overnight.   Ahh, blessed coolness.   And the beginning of the serious outdoor season.   Mark’s still getting the hunting and fishing in Northern California dialed in but there’s a truism: the worst day fishing (or hunting) is better than the best day at the office! KENYA Well, the trip has been delayed. The presidential election in Kenya was pretty heavily contested and a lot of people were dissatisfied with the finances needed would come in. process so they’re going to be voting again.  Since violence is unfortunately common during Kenyan elections and things are already tense, Gordon and Mark thought it best to postpone the trip. We don’t have dates yet, but Mark expects to go some time between now and Thanksgiving.  Please pr...

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come.” Mt. 24:14 NKJV “FINISH THE WORK”     Fourteen  years ago, this month, I preached a message entitled “Finish the Work” in a Missions Conference hosted by Mark and Julie in their home church in Juneau, Alaska. It was the first of many times I preached that message. No matter when or where I was invited to speak for several years after that, the Lord directed me to preach that message. Again, and again. Sadly, I cannot say that anything changed in those places where the message was preached. The thread of the message was for the church to busy itself more forcefully toward finishing the work of the Great Commission.  Several biblical examples were cited that showed the need for an assigned task to be completed before the next thing God wanted to do could be accomplished: Noah finishing the ark; Jesus declaring his sacrificial ...