Reaching the World for Christ

What a great night! I was so blessed tonight to be the vessel of God's love to a man who decided this was the night he would ask Christ into his heart. It was such a joy to watch Jesus come into his life and change him completely. Recently, his wife accepted Christ as her Savior and because of the power change that clearly happened in her life, her husband decided he also needed God. Nothing stands as a greater witness than a Changed Life.

In just a few weeks he and his wife will be baptized to testify to the life change that Christ has brought to them both. Please join me in praying for them in their new life.

When I asked about why he had not yet accepted Christ, he shared a common answer - he did not really know how to be saved. I am not sure about you, but I was overwhelmed with a sense of shame. Shame because the church is failing so many people around us every day. We hold the plan of salvation in our minds and hearts and we are blessed to have the privilege of sharing that truth. Remember, not everybody knows how to be saved, and some are simply waiting for us to go and share that truth with them. Will you tell them?

"14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"" Romans 10:14-15 (NIV)

"19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

Joining you in telling others the good news,
Bro. Wade

New Deacons

Just as in Acts 13 our church expressed a clear mandate from God about the calling of God on the men presented to us for deacon candidates. Each man was affirmed with a very supportive vote from the congregation; nearly unanimous for each. These men will serve our church family for many years to come with a passion for Christ and a love for his people.

Please join me in praying for these men and their families (Ben Carter, Jim Coffman, Mike Davis, and Keith King). We will express our earliest support for them by our prayers and words of encouragement. They will most appreciate your prayers and words, but also remember that as servant leaders they will be thankful to serve alongside of you in ministry.

First Baptist Church Harlingen is blessed to have such godly leadership, especially in our deacons. May we always love and support those that God has placed in leadership in our wonderful church.

Serving the servants of Christ,
Bro. Wade

WOW Wednesday

The first night of AWANA for the fall semester was great. We were blessed to see so many new faces in our church, both attending and serving. The parking lot filled up and the church was buzzing with the busyness of children, youth, and adults moving from room to room. We had 136 children enrolled in AWANA and we know there will be more to join us soon.

I enjoyed seeing so many volunteers, many of whom had worked hard all day and drove straight to the church to "work" again for hours before going home to rest. The servants at FBC Harlingen are such a great example of faithfulness and love. They embody the love of God for the children and their families every week, and often in times when they are busy, tired, and have concerns for the care of their own families. Yet, they never fail to bless those the Lord has called them to serve.

Please join me in praying for our faithful servants who volunteer their time and labor each week. Please join with me to pray for the children and their families, the word of God is spreading in their hearts and homes and we believe God's word never returns void.

Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV)
"10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

Excited about the word spreading,
Bro. Wade

Praying for Students and Teachers

What a wonderful day today! Rarely do I have the privilege of preaching a sermon and then offering immediate ways to respond to that message, but today was one of those days. Following the morning message that challenged us to pray passionately, we saw every name of our children (kindergarten through college) taken by families in our church. Those students will be lifted in prayer and supported throughout the school year. Some have already contacted their student to encourage them, to inform them of their prayer support, and to get to know the student. What a joy to watch these children and young adults enter their campuses tomorrow with the prayer support of so many in their church family. May God hear our prayers and bless those for whom we pray.

The second opportunity was of course our annual campus prayer walk. All day people gathered at the school campuses throughout the valley to prayer walk. Our family enjoys walking together (actually the children ride bikes or scooters). This year the Hood family prayer walked with the Blakeslee family. We took turns watching the children while others prayer walked. Church members, joined by other believers, prayed all day in response to the campus prayer walk. Thank you for your visible commitment to the Lord, and the community in which he has placed us.

If you have not yet participated in these great opportunities to pray, I encourage you to join us now, by praying alone and together with others for God to be glorified in the lives of his children.

Praying passionately and immediately,
Bro. Wade

Responding to Hurricane Dean

Please join me in:

1. Praying for those who live in the path of the Hurricane. Their lives will be drastically changed. Let us pray for the Lord's protection of those who need it today and in the days soon coming.

2. Prepare to be used by God to minister to those in the path of the Hurricane. We are already preparing to go where needed. Please pray about how God will use you to bless those who will need our help.

3. Continuing to pray for the path of the hurricane to pass over the least populated areas and to cause less damage than expected. Remember God can do more than we can ask or imagine.

May God hear our concert of prayer,
Bro. Wade

Living by Faith, not Fear

Our family has been in the valley for two years now and this is our first experience living as hurricane targets. With each day comes a new wave from the hurricane; either the media says it could come right at us, or they say it is probably going south of us. Only God knows where this hurricane will strike, the rest of us offer projections.

Through this process we all struggle with the need to prepare and plan, while fighting off the feelings caused by fear. The Lord knows exactly what is going to happen, while we live in the mystery. It is during times like this that we learn to walk by faith and trust the Lord to lead us, protect us, and work through us to help others.

It is important for us to prepare. Our family has made extra purchases in preparation for bad weather. It is important to plan. Our family is openly discussing various scenarios and what we would do in each. It is important to be patient. Our family is not allowing the media to dictate our feelings, emotions, or stress level. God knew long ago that this hurricane would be coming our way and as we continue to allow Him to lead us, we know that he will take care of each day as it comes.

Let us all respond to the storms of this life (no matter what name they may called) with faith in the Lord.

Trusting the Lord to lead and protect,
Bro. Wade

Not as young as I used to be

After close to 30 church camps in my life, I still enjoy the time at camp with children and youth.
I spent the week with about 80 children plus sponsors from our church at camp Zephyr for Children's Camp. We had so much fun, played many games, enjoyed the recreation, and spent a lot of time in the word of God. I was blessed with an opportunity to spend quality time with so many great kids. My relationship with those kids has grown so much, I feel like I know them better and they seem to feel the same about me.
As I got to know the kids better, I was so encouraged by their love for God. They were great examples of Christ-followers all week. But what really encouraged me was how much time they wanted to spend reading the Bible (with flashlights at night, during breaks, in the mornings and evenings). The love our children have for God was evidenced in their lives each day of camp.
The way they served each other, the way they respected the sponsors, the way they helped people they did not know, were all ways in which Christ was seen in their lives. Their love for God was clearly seen in what they did. I believe Jesus said it this way; "If you love me, you will obey what I command." (John 14:15) The FBC Harlingen Children's Ministry is definitely being used by God to partner with parents to produce children of great character; the character of Christ.
I was truly challenged by our children this week. Their pure love for God, love for his word, and love for his people, really challenged all of the sponsors. Let us all come to the Lord with a child-like faith and love.

"2 He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. "
Matt 18:2-5 (NIV)

from one who is not as young as he used to be, but who needs to be youthful in his love for God,
Bro. Wade