Nelson Newsletter January 2020

“Behold, I will do something NEW, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19

Happy New Year Saints!

A new year, a new decade, and a time for new beginnings. Our God specializes in making things new, like He did when we were born again in Christ. When we came to know the Lord as our Savior we began to really live. Now we can help others find new life in Him

Yesterday I spoke with Kevin, a Mechanical Engineer from China who now lives in Atlanta, about God wanting a personal relationship with Him. The puzzled look on his face revealed his lack of understanding, but he said, “I want to find out more about Christianity,” as he took my testimony tract. Please pray for Kevin and his wife to come to Christ and become new people! Our vision for 2020 is to love unbelievers like Kevin, share the gospel, and make new disciples in our city, state, and nation.

House Church Conference (January 24-26) Seven churches will be represented at our annual house church conference this weekend to seek God. We will read and discuss Ephesians, hear church updates and pray for one another, and continue to build lasting friendships between churches. We need your prayers to be renewed in reaching unbelievers and making disciples in our cities and states.

                                        Prayer & Praise

1. Generous Giving Thank you for your generous giving in 2019! We begin the new year on a good financial footing because of your support. We praise the Lord Jesus for such special people as you!

2. Faithwalkers Conference Praise God the seminar about prayer went well! About 60 people, mostly college students, were very attentive and eager to learn to pray. Thank you for praying!

3. House Church Conference (January 24-26) Pray we would hear and act on what He tells us, have meaningful fellowship, and come back envisioned and renewed for the mission.  

4. Granddaughter Update Wilhelmina just finished her 4^th round of chemo for the cancer in her leg. Her courage and attitude have improved, but it’s still frightening for her. Pray for her to know God’s love and find a new life Christ. Pray for Matt & Amanda to keep trusting God and His word for new strength!

5.  Foster Twins Future Please pray for the twins that Grace and Ward have fostered for the past 7 months. They love them dearly and desire to adopt them. We are trusting God for His will to be done.

Thank you for praying!  

Yours in Christ’s unchanging love,     

Steve & Danelle   

Collecting

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. - Matthew 6:19-21

Humans are collectors! Everything under the sun is fair game when it comes to collecting—sea shells, antique furniture, art, classic cars, guns, jewelry, Civil war artifacts, old stamps, trading cards, old dolls, autographs; the list never ends! My father helped me as a child to begin a coin collection. (My wife and I let a homeless lady stay with us, and she stole it. I was heartbroken and angry.) Now I have a collection of medals from the dozens of road races I have run.

What are you collecting? In the verses above Jesus challenged our natural human desire of collecting for the present with His contrasting view of collecting for eternity.

Should we follow the religious ascetics and throw out all our collections? No! We can have collections of earthly things and still faithfully follow Jesus Christ. We just need to remember our collections are just that—earthly, temporal, and of much less value than what God says is lasting and eternal. Perspective. What are you collecting of eternal value?

People are the only things that are eternal. Therefore, invest your life in people! Ask God right now to make you an example of Jesus with godly character so that unbelievers will see Jesus in you and be drawn to Him. Seek to bring lost souls to Christ and then help them grow in Him and bring others into His family.

Big Sinner or Little Sinner?

“Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart;
         there is no fear of God before his eyes. For it flatters him in his own eyes
         concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it.
    …he does not despise evil. Psalm 36:1-4

Okay, you and I both know we are sinners, right? Who isn’t? But, “I am not a big sinner like…” Most of us think like that in the beginning of our spiritual journey. That is exactly how Jared said he felt growing up, “I was just a little sinner.” I listened intently as he shared his thoughts regarding his condition (sin) with a group of his fellow missionaries. Jared said he knew that he had some problems, but he wasn’t a “big sinner” who had murdered someone or was a drug addict. Jared continued to tell us how he began to struggle with drinking and sexual immorality as a teenager. He said, “Then I began to see myself as God saw me, as a BIG sinner who needed a Savior!” He was always a big sinner, but he failed to see himself in the light of God’s holiness. He failed to compare himself with God and His standard and therefore he did not feel desperate and change was not necessary. There was no emergency, or so he thought!

Have you ever seriously thought about God’s holiness, His perfect character and flawless nature? How does it make you feel? The arrogant person mentioned in the verses above will only continue to do evil and be proud of it. There is no godly sorrow that the Bible calls repentance. Here is the NIV translation of verse two, “For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.”

I pray that you will see God in His glory and will react like Isaiah, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5) God wants you to confess and forsake your sin and experience His grace and forgiveness. A clean conscience begins when you despise evil because you are a big sinner. That is why Jesus died -to make big sinners clean, new and holy!