Tuesday, September 22, 2009








But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. (Matthew 7:26 NIV)

А всякий, кто слушает сии слова Мои и не исполняет их, уподобится человеку безрассудному, который построил дом свой на песке. (От Матфея 7:26 Russian Synodal Version)

Our Dear Heavenly Father ~ Thank you for the awareness of the oomph of life in our mortal bodies on this new day that brings fresh challenges along with blessings from your constant care. Grant us wisdom and strength to be positive and enthusiastic in the way we obey the perfect teachings of our Master, Savior and Lord. Father, as we struggle to gain worldly knowledge on a variety of subjects, give us clear minds so we will not overlook the greatest wisdom that was personally brought to this world that is rampant with evil. We offer this prayer in Jesus name, Amen. It is very fitting that this Monday we were at the Nikolaev Pedagogical University where I spoke to an assembly of more than a hundred 3rd and 4th year English majors. I was given an hour to speak, and followed that up with twenty minutes of questions and answers. Most of the questions were about the Bible. My topic was rights and responsibilities, which I tailored to begin speaking about the US Constitution and the first ten amendments. Then I pivoted from that into practical everyday things, then into spiritual matters. I used a parable of Jesus about the person with a log in their eye attempting to take a speck out of their brothers’ eye. When I asked them what the Lord’s lesson was with this parable, there was silence at first. Then, one young woman whose photo Galina took close up, explained carefully that those who agree to follow Christ should live better than others so that their advice will be accepted by those who are doing wrong. I am so thankful to our dear God for this open door. As we were leaving the building, one of the faculty members whom we had met last week, was outside the building getting ready to walk in the same direction as we were. Galina and I both recognized this Julia (Yulia) from our previous meeting and spoke with her. She strolled along with us, and we got to know her better, and then invited her to our meetings. Julia had very good and sincere questions and I did some teaching while we were walking and stopped in the shade of a tree. She seems very interested, especially the Bible classes on Saturday for her 7 year old daughter. We are still faking it as children’s Bible class teachers and desperately need some youthful and energetic help in that department! Meanwhile, we will continue to do the best we can. Today we have two appointments with people for individual Bible studies, and then tomorrow we are back at the university where I am scheduled to have a meeting with the faculty who wish to attend. Thank you for your fervent prayers and kind words that sustain and strengthen us.

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