APRIL 2003 VOLUME 6 NUMBER 3
DEAR FRIENDS,
I pray that you have heard His voice this past month, we were recently blessed to see Heidi Baker, and oh what a meeting, but it doesn’t compare with those daily visits from Him! Do you hear His voice daily? Well does He hear yours daily? We have been through some trials this month, but you know what? It drives us closer to Him each time, I know He allows trials and testings to see what we are made of. (Deuteronomy) And you finally get to the point where you realize you can do nothing without Him, and His presence is all that really matters. After a recent real hard test, one of our daughters went upstairs for more worship, she was singing, I love you, I love you, I love you, to the Lord, and quoting Job, saying , "even if you slay me I will still worship you", then she burst into, I am free, I am free, I am free!!!!! She passed the test. That’s where the freedom is, total surrender. It is when you finally come to the realization that there is nothing you can do, that it is all Him and none of us. Yes many want to quote that Faith without Works is dead, and so true, but real works only come because of true Faith. And once you have true Faith there is no work to the works, it is automatic. We were once part of a fellowship that kept on preaching about loving your brother, and it was so discouraging, they were working at it so hard. It is so simple, you fall in Love with Jesus and everything else falls in place. Like I said, "have you heard His voice today?" Has He heard yours? Most of our ministry is to the broken hearted, the down and out, the incarcerated. And you know why we love it so much, and see so much fruit? Because they are no longing working at it, they believe you when you tell them there is no way you can measure up. They are more than happy to fall into the arms of Jesus when they meet Him. But then there are the "professional religious church going , outwardly holy, self righteous ones. You know the type, they dress right, talk right, smell right, have their own little clicks. They think they obey all of the law, and are soooo proud of themselves. Now they are on dangerous ground, because they are almost unreachable. Remember Jesus spoke of it in Luke 18, which one was He pleased with? You cannot please the Lord with your works. He despises it when you try. You please Him with your faith, your total submission, your dependence on Him and Him alone. Study Galations 3 and you will find that the covenant came before the Law, (the covenant manifested in the Promise, which is Jesus) and the Law came to show them how much they needed the covenant. If mankind could follow the Law on his own, he would be so busy patting himself on the back that he would never need a savior. But we can’t so we do, we desperately need a savior. And when we finally get our self righteousness out of the way, He takes over and shows us how to obey the law! He brings His Glory, His Presence, His wonderful Love, and all of a sudden we can’t think of doing anything else but please Him. I heard a wonderful testimony recently about a group of young people who were hungry for God, hungry for more, they were falling in love with Jesus. They fell so in love with Him that the young ladies started becoming aware of modesty and started dressing more appropriate. You know how many preachers have spent years pointing their fingers at the congregation and trying to give them do’s and don’ts? When all along all they had to do was teach them about falling in Love with a risen savior. Ministry is really so easy. I had a very interesting time with a phone solicitor this week, I love it when Jesus brings people right to me. Well this guy was NOT interested in the Gospel, but he wasn’t going to back down either, I haven’t seen such a hostile demon manifestation in a long time. He made the mistake of asking what Jim’s profession was, so I figured that was the open door. There will always be an open door if Jesus brings them, just pray and ask for it. Well I said the name Jesus and he just about came unglued, he said that was not why he called and I told him if he wants to call my house then he was more than welcome but that Jesus is what we would talk about, that’s what we always talk about. For someone who was so against (or he thought) the Gospel he sure did stay on the phone a long time, called back a few times too. But what finally softened him up was when I told him that even though he was so rude and harsh that Jesus still loved him and wasn’t THAT A MIRACLE. All of a sudden he got real agreeable and said he would read a bible on his lunch break if I sent one. Pray for him. Instead of saying your not interested to those phone solicitors why don’t you try remembering that Jesus is interested.
PRISONS AND JAILS- Not only has Jim seen a lot of new converts and so many getting delivered but he is also encouraging some of the strong believers behind bars to begin to minister. Now catch you self, did you just have the thought, "If they are such strong believers then why are they behind bars?" They are such strong believers because the Lord has shown Himself to them, and they respond by spending time with Him, in worship, prayer, and in the Word. Have you heard His voice today? Has He heard yours? Would you be humble enough to have one of these totally-in-love-with-Jesus brothers pray for you to have more hunger? Or would you miss the Holy Presence because of your self righteousness? Revival is coming to America, and I promise you we will all be shocked by it’s appearance, it will not be what we expect. It will come to those who are desperate and in Love.
RADIO WMRB 910 AM EVERY TUESDAY EVENING AT 6PM-We have been blessed to have some wonderful testimonies lately from different brothers. It is always encouraging to see that Jesus is working in other places and not just in your own little fellowship. I encourage you to call someone this week who goes to a different church than yours and just share some good news with each other.
FAMILY MINISTRY AND FAITH- Much of our ministry is done as a family as a team, so please know that when you give to Glorybound Ministries your are supporting a whole team of ministers. We purposely live very simply so as to put as much resources as possible into the ministry. There are sometimes a lot of sacrifices, but then Jesus tells us to expect that, like giving up your sleep to pray for someone the Lord puts on your heart at 2AM. The Lord told us to do His work and He would provide. And He does through His people. Thank you so much for obeying His voice, and know that it is ALWAYS appreciated. Can you imagine working hard all week then not getting a paycheck? You supply our paycheck as He leads and we thank Him daily but we also thank you for helping to keep this ministry team of 9 working full-time, and getting where we need to go (have you noticed the price of gas lately?). Please pray that He provides a solution to some things we have been seeking Him on and that He provides a much needed vehicle to keep us all (and instruments) on the road. We dearly love y’all,
THANK YOU, IN HIS LOVE,
PENNY & JIM RAINE
& FAMILY