2018 Year In Review

2018 was by far the most interesting and fulfilling year I have had in a long time. What started out in complete and total surrender to the LORD, giving over my job to seek Him full-time, has been a wild ride. Evan though every day is an adventure, and unknown in what His plans are for me, I am continuing to live by faith in what He has for me each day.

Mid January I gave up my job with a well known cash register company. I was tired of putting God last in my life, and I heeded His call to a life of ministry. Two of my goals this year was to love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength; to love my neighbor as myself. Though I don't know if it is truly possible to do that, I gave it my focus.  I was tired of always putting God behind my job, career, and other men who frankly couldn't care less about me, or the LORD. So I set out to do just that. I wouldn't turn down any ministry opportunities, and if the LORD wanted me to do it, He would see it through. So in great faith I set out to do this. What I saw looking back was a total miracle and a work of God that couldn't be possible if I had stayed in my career. Here is a list of what got done:

Ministry

1. St. Patrick's Day Parade Evangelism Outreach, Des Moines, IA
2. Pella, IA Tulip Time Evangelism Outreach
3. Manti, UT Mormon Miracle Pageant Evangelism Outreach. 
4. Gideon's International Des Moines, IA Bible Blitz and Evangelism Outreach. 
5. Working Gideon's Booth at the Iowa State Fair giving away bibles and doing evangelism. 
6. Answers In Genesis Evangelism Training. 
7. Evantell Evangelism Training in all certifications. 
8. Working Answers In Genesis booth at the Iowa State Fair. 
9. Helped Tony (mentor) while in hospital after he broke his hip. 
10. Took over Tony's inductive bible study while in hospital and rehab. 
11. Helped Tony while in hospital, rehab, and after return to his home. 
12. Traveled to Arizona to help mother-in-law in March with her home, remodeling, and repairing things around house. 
13. Helped Mother-in-law getting around after surgery in early December. 
14. Attended the Harvest Pastor and Leadership Conference in Chicago, IL
15. Published article called, Love In Action, in the Gideon Magazine. 

Other Things Accomplished

1. Fixed leak in kitchen ceiling. 
2. Repaired kitchen wall and cabinets. 
3. Painted kitchen.
4. Dad visited IA
5. Tom, a friend, visited IA twice. 
6. Visited wife's family in Indianapolis, IN area for Uncle's 80th birthday. 
7. Visited my family in NJ for 3 weeks. 
8. Downsizing and selling Ebay. 
9. Fixed and painted shed in back yard. 
10. Read 34 books. 
11. Continued focused work on writing my books on evangelism. 

Looking back, I am pretty encouraged and confident that I have achieved my goal of loving God, and loving my neighbor. All these things could not have been done if I had stayed at my job. My hope for 2019 is that I can continue to do this, with an increased focus on daily and event evangelism; spending more time with my family, and renewed love and commitment to my wife.

Goals For 2019

1. Manti Mormon Miracle Pageant Outreach. This will be the last year for this event. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is discontinuing the event after 52 years. 
2. Many Des Moines, IA events like St. Paddy's Day Parade, Ankeny Summerfest, and art festival to do one-on-one evangelism. 
3. Visit family again for parents 50th wedding anniversary. 
4. Iowa State Fair with Answers In Genesis and Gideon's International. 
5. Painting the garage and shed when weather permits. 
6. First draft in some of my evangelism books I am writing. 

Pray that the LORD will continue to lead and guide me in what He wants me to accomplish for 2019, and that it would be even more fruitful than this past year. 

My First Published Magazine Article

While I was visiting my family in New Jersey, I had the idea to write an article for The Gideon - an international magazine for the Gideon's International members. I contacted them and we agreed that I would write an article about love in the workplace, geared toward's the Gideon organization. Part of this article was an idea I had while working for a mail opening manufacturer, as a Field Service Engineer.

When I got back to Iowa, I finished the article, sent it in, and waited for a response for editing. I didn't hear anything back, and contacted them twice. To be honest, I just thought they forgot about me, and that they chose not to publish the article.

Well, December / January issue came, and I was elated to find that they not only published the article, but they published it almost word-for-word! I am completely blown away, and have been very happy with the responses I received so far. Though this may not look like much to the average person reading this, it has been a long time goal on my bucket list to see this come to fruition.

My prayer is that I will continue to write for magazines as well as books, and that the Lord will provide the knowledge He wants me to write about. I hope I can be able to do this again.

Pushing Through The Pins & Needles

This picture brings up a few good points. Though I don't agree with it completely, it opens my eyes to the fact that when it comes to apathy, it's not always the fault of the church leadership. It does matter where a person goes to worship, and you need to be careful as to where you go because you want good teaching and doctrine. But if the people are not moving, it's not always the leadership that is the cause. Yes, many times the leadership frustrates evangelism efforts. But so does stubborn church members.

This past Tuesday I sat down and had a great conversation with a pastor from a denomination I do not normally attend or fellowship with. He is young, vibrant, and has a heart to see God's Kingdom grow and flourish. His desire is to be the best shepherd to his flock he can possibly be, and it shows. But his congregation doesn't want to move. They are perfectly content just attending church as long as it is less than an hour each Sunday. They have been apathetic for generations and in many ways they reached atrophy. Some push back directly to the pastor, while others are fearful. But there are some of their body that are excited about moving forward, and ready to get to work.

When churches have been asleep for so long, some of the body of Christ are numb and have no feeling. In others, the blood is starting to flow and the intense pain of pins and needles has started, but the body parts are afraid to move. But those parts that are ready, the needles are gone, and it's time to get moving.

But, do you know what parts of the body never fall asleep? The core. The vital organs like the heart, liver, and brain. Everything from skin to organs in the torso never have pins and needles. Why? Because all the blood flows freely and never gets impeded. But if you cut off the circulation in the extremities like the arm or leg, the feeling is gone. Throughout the Old Testament it is written, "Life is in the blood."

Now that I have seen both sides of the coin, it is more evident than ever that I will have to write my book about conquering apathy in the church will need to be from different points of view. Encouraging church leadership to take the helm and sail the ship into the uncharted waters of evangelism, and also to encourage the flock when the shepherd and leadership is ready to get out there and save those that are lost. This was a valuable lesson to learn and to see apathy in both sides of the coin.