Volume 3, Issue 1
January-February, 2001 
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Becoming Transformed to a New Life  Dear Beloved Saint,  God bless you richly and Happy New Year!

Our hearts are full of thanksgiving for all God’s goodness and provision, and you are a big part of that. Thank you for all your prayers and love for us and our ministry. We are challenged by our workload but blessed with our wonderful staff and volunteers, who have really stepped up to the challenge and been an awesome example of service above and beyond the call of duty.

You will want to read Jeff Blackburn’s report in this issue of The Sower  on all he has been doing to promote and market our materials via the Internet and the encouraging results so far. As you will read, there are many good things going on around the world as a result of his efforts. He does all this while he keeps our inventory squared away and gets all your orders out the door in a timely way. Dottie Heman has been doing a yeoman’s job of bringing our bookkeeping in order and getting all the year end financial reports done.

Barbara Jones continues to anchor the phones, and is the friendly first line of contact for you who call the Home Office. She is also going to school at night and taking a very active and godly role in the raising of her grandchildren. Mike Cutuli has been a big help with our publishing projects. In addition to helping with The Sower  and The Contender , Mike is reformatting the Sex and Scripture  booklet for the next printing. Matt Johnson is working to keep our computers humming, and helps out with a lot of projects.

Chris Duffy has been laboring hard on a new look for our website, which has already produced good dividends. It is more user-friendly and you will find that ordering is now a lot easier.

John Schoenheit has been working furiously on his book about the Hope, and a great piece of work on prophecy that will be a big help in activating and disciplining prophetic ministry that really builds up the saints as it was designed to do.

As things look right now, we will need to expand our staff in the next year to keep up with the work, so we solicit your prayers for us to be able to increase our payroll as necessary.

Much love to you and yours,

Mark and Karen Anne, John, John and Jenivee

In Memoriam Pearl Jacks Born: August 21, 1944 Died: January 9, 2001 CES has lost one of its most faithful supporters. We have often thought of her when thinking about purchases: “Would Pearl approve of us spending her money on that?” She will be greatly missed, not for her financial contributions but because of her love and faithfulness. She is survived by her husband Terry and her four children: Roy Lynn, Terry Steve Jr., Katherine Marie Bakowski, and Ricky Allen.

Newness of Life  Millennial Musings  We have now begun a new year, a new century, and a new millennium. That is a lot of “newness,” and a good time to think about making “newness” a way of life as the Scripture says: Romans 6:3 (KJV ) Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Have we really considered what this means? The NIV   translates it “we too may live a new life.” In other words, we can and should have our lives changed dramatically because we share in the transformational power of God that has been demonstrated in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have been so completely identified with our Savior that we were even “buried with him” and “raised from the dead with him.” This identification invites and enables us to live on a higher plane, where we experience the glory of God transforming us, our relationships, and our circumstances. This is a place where we experience the suffering and the glory of our Savior as a daily reality in our own lives. This involves both the “dying” of the flesh and the resurrection life of the new man, the Christ, within us. This newness is not possible in, by, or through the flesh, which is decaying and profitless. But it is possible in, by, and through the spirit of God. We access it through the “re-new- ing” of the mind (Rom. 12:2), not the disciplining of the flesh.

For Jews, a new day begins at sunset, because in Genesis the darkness preceded the daylight. God spoke light into the darkness that preceded it. Darkness, then light; suffering then glory. It is a deep truth that pervades Creation.

Every day is a parable. Like a miracle of resurrection, we awake each day from sleep, which, like death, has swallowed us up against our will at the end of every day. We awake, refreshed and renewed, ready to face the challenges of a new day.

Romans 6:13 commands Christians to “present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead.” How sweet it would be if we could live each day as those who have been raised from the dead. How thankful we would be to just be alive, for even the smallest joy. The butterfly, the rainbow, the glint of the sun on the newly fallen snow, the newborn baby, would appear as the wonders that they are. But too often, we drag the burdens of yesterday’s failures, hurts, disappointments and discouragements into today, eclipsing its promise and preventing us from seeing all that is possible and hopeful and wonderful and beautiful around us. Those who have narrow brushes with death report that their life has been changed forever, renewing their sense of wonder and gratitude just to be alive. Perhaps we can achieve the same thing, without having to nearly die, by just seeking to really live.

The newness of life that is promised us is made possible by the miracle of the New Birth, when the spirit of God begins its work within each of us, beginning the process of making all things new in our lives. To each individual Christian is given the opportunity to be transformed into the image of Christ by the working of the spirit of God within him, as the following scriptures make clear:

Ephesians 4:24 (NKJV )

And that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Colossians 3:10 (NKJV ) 

And have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV )

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Since we are promised a new life in Christ, how can we keep renewing our mind and allow this newness to become manifest in our lives? One key is to “shake the dust off our feet” from the past and cooperate with God’s agenda for us in the present as He helps us work toward a brighter future. God is the God of the present, and there is joy in His presence. It is now  that we must live in faith and hope, not someday.

Enemies of Newness: Drudgery, Rigidity, and Despair

Perhaps the single most defining attribute of all that is dead is rigidity. Rigor mortis  is “the rigidity of death.” Everything alive grows and changes and bends with the wind. What is alive is flexible, growing, changing, moving ever forward in its life-cycle. In death, the body goes back  to dust. The very design of the physical universe reminds us that life is one-directional: it moves forward, not backward. Opportunities pass, but new ones appear. Therefore we must seize the day and the opportunities it presents, because time and life are running downhill like a river. This is also the teaching of Scripture:

Ephesians 5:15,16

(15) Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,

(16) making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Another enemy of this newness of life is the drudgery of living in the “same ole same ole,” where our habits, good or bad, control our thinking, our speech, our behavior. We get on automatic pilot, stuck in the comfort of the familiar, even when it is not what we want. We sabotage the possibility of a better life, the “new life,” by a lack of awareness of how captured we are in the ways of our old man. We are out of touch with our lack of forgiveness and bitterness about our past and do not see how much we have simply resigned ourselves to our present. In many ways we simply give up without being aware of it. We are trapped in our circumstances and the consequences of the choices of our past. Our marriage, our career, our neighborhood, our relationships with our family and friends, can all become the many bars of a prison.

We need to see the invitation to a new life in Christ as God’s escape plan from the imprisonment of the old life. As in a physical prison, some will desire to escape and some will become acclimated to life behind bars. We are being asked by God to be people who are preoccupied with escaping our old life, which is marked by deceitful lusts and despair (without God and without hope). In Christ we have been given the power to leave behind the old life of quiet resignation that breeds in the static and the familiar. We can exchange it for a life that becomes familiar with the glory of God and His power to resurrect the lifeless. We can see our despair healed and replaced with genuine faith and hope.

Is this too good to be true? Is this for others who are “more spiritual” than we are? If we think that way, we will certainly stay trapped in our old life and never see the transformational power of God. We must believe that what the Word of God invites us to enter into is not only a genuine possibility but an absolute promise of God.

Despair is a very subtle thing, and hard for “believers” to face up to. We recognize that being in despair is inconsistent with a vital relationship of faith in the living God, so we don’t want to admit that we have, in fact, given up hope in certain areas of our life. By definition, we are living in despair wherever we are without hope of real needed change, either in ourselves, others, or in our circumstances. If we think that our husband, wife or children, career, neighborhood, etc., can never change, we are in despair. If we actually believe in our hearts that we will always be what we are today, we have no hope of finding the “new life” promised in Scripture. We will go through life confessing the words of the Word but not breaking through to the reality that they point to.

This lesson is clear in Abraham’s example, as described in Romans:

Romans 4:19 (NIV  )

Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.

Abraham confronted the reality of his circumstances that would tempt anyone to despair, and his doing so is given as evidence of a strong faith. It takes strong faith in God to have the courage to admit that we are in despair about something.

Through prayer and honest consideration of our actions, we can see the true state of our faith and hope. True faith and hope reveal themselves in our willingness to continually recommit ourselves to acting  faithfully and hopefully, and refusing to give in to the laziness and inertia of despair. If we are doing  nothing that is sowing toward a better future, then by our actions we say that we are in despair. Our heart says, “What’s the use?” even if we mouth the words of faith and a “positive verbal confession.”

Confessing our despair and repenting of it goes a lot farther toward building genuine faith than trying to paint over our despair with a “positive confession” that our heart knows is not really what we believe. But if we bring our unbelief out into the open instead of hiding from it and pretending it isn’t there, we allow God to really heal our hearts and work in us a genuine  attitude of faith and hope.

Transformation through Faith and Discipline (New Millennium Resolutions)

This is the time of year that we traditionally think about setting goals and making resolutions. Many of us have given up making resolutions because of our past failures to keep them. Goal setting in the flesh by self-discipline alone is typically discouraging and defeating. The question we should ask is: Are our “resolutions” attempts to reform the flesh or are they the outworking of the spirit of God in us as it moves us toward transforming us into the image of Christ? Are we walking by the spirit in our goal-setting, breaking out of fleshly habits of thinking, speaking, and behaving? If so, we will be more successful in seeing growth in our lives because we are in alignment with God’s spirit within us. If we have no sense that the changes in our lives are necessary and profitable in order to be closer to God and His holiness, we will have a hard time sticking with the effort.

Shouldn’t we assume that God is more interested in our transformation than we are, and has a much better idea how we should proceed? That being so, what about prayin g until we have a sense of what God would have us work on at this time in our lives, and then believe that we are doing what we do in obedience to Him? Our experience is that the more intimate we are with the Lord, the more convicted we are to address areas of our lives that are not pleasing to him. But he does not overwhelm us, for his yoke is easy and his burden is light. But it is still a yoke , and he expects us to be walking with  him in the direction of righteousness and true holiness.

What the Lord directs us to change will probably not be the place we are most likely to see and feel His presence, because He guides us and encourages us in our weaknesses. We can be made strong in our weakness because we are unable to do it alone and will therefore look to the Lord our Saviour. When we are looking  for Him to help, we are more likely to be aware of the help He provides.

It Feels So Good to Do Right

Another key to motivating ourselves to do what it takes to see authentic transformation in our lives is to make an emotional connection with the feelings that accompany doing the right thing. If we compare these feelings with the feeling that we get when we sin, there should be no comparison, if our conscience is at all educated by God’s Word. For instance, if we compare the feeling of stealing with the feeling of giving, which is more pleasurable?

We often think that “doing the right thing” is rewarding because it gives us a sense of having governed ourselves by our principles instead of our feelings, as if the two were necessarily divorced from each other. Standard moral teaching is based upon the idea that our feelings are on a lower rung and therefore we try to ‘transcend’ them by following higher external principles (‘the Law’). But this kind of self-denial encouraged by what amounts to legalism is hard to maintain, and leaves us discouraged in the end. At the end of the day we find that we did what we wanted to do anyway, even when we knew what “the Law” requires. The question is, what thought did we give to what we will feel like tomorrow  about what we did today? Life delivers lots of next-day “hangovers” to those who indulge themselves in short-term pleasure today.

What makes more sense is to cultivate our sense of ‘enlightened self-interest’, which works in harmony with our desires and emotions rather than contrary to them or “above” them. That is, we learn to do things because we see that they are in our best interest to do them and doing them will bring us real emotional satisfaction. This is the teaching of Scripture:

Hebrews 12:11 (KJV)

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

It is best to assume that we basically do what we want to do, whether or not what we want is what we should  want. For instance, if we eat too much it is because we want to eat because eating is pleasurable and feels good. True, we do a lot of things that we say  we don’t want to do, but we do them anyway. So something in us wants to get something from whatever we are doing or not doing. We act and refrain from acting for reasons.

What we must do is educate our conscience to see the value of doing the right thing in terms of the great feeling that is associated with it. It really feels great to do the right thing because of our having a conscience educated by God’s Word. For instance, you find a wallet full of money. You desperately need the money so you choose to take the money and throw the wallet away. But then you feel guilty, which is a lousy feeling. Even those with a sinner’s conscience at such a moment will look around to see if anyone has seen them before stealing the money and pitching the wallet. They are aware that what they are doing is dishonorable and if they were caught it would result in the scorn of others and perhaps even a jail sentence. 

But how good you feel if you return both money and wallet to their rightful owner. Reunited with his valuables, the owner is overjoyed, delighted, and lavishly compliments your honesty and good character. He may even force a reward on you. But with or without a reward, the true reward is in the good feeling that accompanies doing the right thing when the conscience is properly educated. This feeling is so far superior to the feeling that follows the performance of a dishonorable deed, that it is amazing we are ever blinded to it. But as we mature in wisdom, we act in a way that brings us the greatest sense of long-term  emotional satisfaction, instead of acting on impulse according to our immediate desires. This, in essence is the goal of all character development and moral education: to instill within us the commitment to our long-term well being such that we are able to defer immediate or short-term gratification in favor of long-term satisfaction.

Transformation: A ‘Fruitful Process’

This educated hope of long-term reward is at the heart of all the Christian virtues, as embodied in what we call “the fruit of the spirit:”

·  ‘Love’ (agape ) seeks the long-term benefit of the other without consideration of short-term reward.

·  ‘Joy’ is most fully experienced in the satisfaction of long-term desires.

·  ‘Peace’ is experienced when we are able to see that life’s storms will inevitably pass and the sun shine once again. “In due season we shall reap.”

·  ‘Longsuffering’ is the capacity to defer anger and show mercy instead.

·  ‘Goodness’ is manifest in our willingness to defer the pleasures of popularity, approval, or convenience in favor of the right and straight path that leads to true reward.

·  ‘Kindness’ sees all people as having value in themselves, with their own purpose under heaven, and that people are not to be seen as rewards for others or objects to be used.

·  ‘Humility’ is willing to lose face in the short term by swallowing pride in order to learn, grow, and engender long-term trust and credibility.

·  ‘Faithfulness’ is hanging tough and consistent in adversity, not becoming weary in well doing, knowing that in due time our faithfulness will be rewarded.

·  ‘Self-discipline’ is the power to recognize and choose the most rewarding course of action, and to resist the temptation to indulge the desires of the flesh.

In light of these truths, we offer the following checklist designed to help you chart your course for the new year, the new century, and the new millennium.

· Spirituality: How can I experience more transformation by the renewing of my mind so I manifest more of the fruit of the spirit? How can I love God with more of my heart, soul, mind, and strength? How can I deepen my prayer life?

· Finances: How could I give more and save more so I could experience the joy of giving and the peace that comes from having prepared for an uncertain future?

· Diet and exercise: How good and energetic would I feel if I ate better and got regular exercise? How much more would I feel like giving and blessing others?

· Sense of humor: How could I laugh more and truly enjoy life in 2001?

· Reading: What could I read that would expand my understanding, experience, and appreciation of life? How could I improve my vocabulary so I can expand my capacity to grasp and communicate great thoughts?

· Relationships: Who could I reconcile with that I have had a problem with in the past? Who could I reach out to that I have neglected or overlooked, someone from whom I have no expectation of reward? How can I better manifest the love I have for those closest to me?

· Creativity: How could I find a new outlet for my creativity, to find the satisfaction in bringing something into existence that wasn’t there before?

· Community: What could I do to make my community be a better place? Man a voting precinct? Volunteer at the school? Coach a team? Teach literacy to a struggling adult? Be a big brother or a big sister?

· Leisure/Sabbath time: 

What could I do this year to bring deep rest and relaxation to my being? What can I do to expand my boundaries and vistas, to see, or experience something new, refreshing, and revitalizing?

· Bible Study: What could I do that would enhance my ability to understand and apply the Bible to my life? Who could I seek out to help me in my quest?

We (J, M & K, J & J) have been endeavoring to confront the areas of our lives that resist change, and renew our lives and relationships with a committed examination of our judgments, our ungodly attitudes and behaviors, and our lack of faith. As we do so, and see genuine change of heart, we long to see other Christians actually experience this “newness of life.” We ache for God’s people to experience their lives and relationships transformed by faith in God’s resurrection power. Where their marriages have been stale and decaying, they are raised from the dead to a new level of love, intimacy, and commitment because they refused to give up and kept seeking God and His power to transform. With God, all things are possible, and where there is God, there is hope. And where there is hope, there is both peace and patience as we wait upon the will of God to come to pass. Having done all, we stand.

The Eight Stages of changing a wrong behavior  Changing any behavior is a process that involves 8 distinct stages. We may find that we are able to move quickly through the stages regarding some behaviors, while others require a lifetime commitment. We may move quickly from stage to stage, or in some cases become hung up at a particular stage for months or even years. This overview of the changing of a behavior can help us see the whole process and where we may be hung up. Changing a behavior is like ascending a cliff, working against the gravity of our sinful nature. If we can see where the next foothold or handhold is, we may be able to reach for that successfully, even if we can’t get the vision of completely being transformed and overcoming the sinful stronghold.

1. You are completely unaware that you are doing it, being deceived by your old nature (“...your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful  desires.” Ephesians 4:22; “For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” Romans 7:7).

2. You are aware of the behavior but you either do not think it is wrong, or do not think it is destructive or harmful enough to motivate you to change; instead you rationalize it and make excuses (“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” James 4:17).

3. You are aware of the behavior and know it is wrong, but you continue in it anyway. You feel shame and remorse, but keep your feelings to yourself. You do not account to others for your behavior nor connect with how they feel about you doing it (“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do.” Romans 7:15).

4. You are aware that your behavior is wrong and admit it after the fact, sharing your feelings of shame and remorse with others, and particularly accounting to those whom you have hurt (“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” James 5:16).

5. You are aware that it is wrong, and are open about it with others, but out of impulse or habitual response you do it anyway. But you stop yourself, even in the middle of the act, apologize and account to those you hurt (if others are affected), and choose to act out the right behavior in a “second response.”

6. You think about doing, or have an impulse to do, the wrong behavior, but catch yourself before you act it out and follow up with the right behavior, establishing a new habit.

7. You deliberately think about doing the right behavior before a situation arises and then act it out in the moment as opportunity arises.

8. You do the right behavior without even having to think about it. At this point, you have fully educated your conscience and do the right thing spontaneously. The transformation process is now complete, and you are a new person. Biblically, the number 8 means ‘a new beginning’, and you are now fully allowing the “new man” to manifest himself in your life (“to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:23-24) .

a message from jal 

Dear Brother/Sister in Christ, 

God bless you exceeding abundantly above all you ask or think. As I share some of my heart with you, I do so with great appreciation for all the wonderful believers around the world with whom I am privileged to be associated. I love you, and I thank you for your prayers for me, the Graesers and the Schoenheits and for the outreach of God’s Word via CES.

I have been deeply touched by the responses I have received to the letters, from Mark and John and from me, that we sent out earlier this month.Overall, the heartfelt expressions of love and support have helped me to re-connect with God’s vision for my life, and with my own awareness of my calling in the Body of Christ. The Lord Jesus is holding me close to him, and he is opening some wonderful doors for me, both internally and externally. I am excited about experiencing his love and his presence in a deeper way, and about where he will take me as I hang on to him. He is “The Man.”

In terms of “external doors” opening, I gave John S. the CES van I’ve been driving, so I had no vehicle. But God got me a free car!  Well, the keys were in it, and I figured that if the guy had one BMW, he probably had a couple more, and.…Just kidding, boys and girls. No, some dear saints gave me a car they didn’t need. It’s great, and I’m thankful. “Now I can drive to work,” I thought to myself, if I get a job other than the only thing I’ve ever done. “Huh?’ you say. Here’s a brief history of my life:

Parentally forced to attend the Presbyterian Church as a youth, I was a nominal but harmless (to the Devil) Christian when I graduated from Kenyon College in 1965 with a degree in Economics, about which I learned nothing. Looking back now, I am amazed and humbled by all that God has invested in my life during the past 35 years since I stopped throwing water bags off the roof of my fraternity, i.e., graduated, and decided to take a closer look at the Bible. Shortly thereafter, I went into the Army (ours) for three years. I went to Infantry Officers Candidate School and then became a paratrooper, but by the grace of God was never sent to Viet Nam. In fact, I became the Sports Officer for the 82d Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg NC and had perhaps the easiest job of any military officer. Providentially, it was during that time (12/67) that I sat through The Way International’s Bible class and had lots of time to study the Word. 

Upon my discharge from the Army in September, 1968, I went to work with The Way, got in on the “ground floor” and became one of its top people for nearly 20 years. On April 1, 1987, I was fired for exposing corruption among its leaders, and shortly thereafter connected with Mark & Karen Graeser and John Schoenheit, and CES was born. So, I have been a kid, a student, a military officer, and a minister.

OK, I need to earn money another way for a while. So I made a list that began with: “I can’t fix cars, I can’t do surgery, I can’t be a stock broker, I can’t pilot a commercial aircraft.” Well, actually I could do these things—once—but then I’d need a battery of lawyers and that would get expensive. At the end of that lengthy list, I made a shorter one: “I can talk and write.” So, I am looking into teaching a uniquely effective 12 hour SAT prep class developed by a believer friend of mine. It sounds good to me, especially because I love teenagers, and seem to be able to connect with them. This is a class we could teach anywhere in the country, so if you have any connections, feel free to let me know.

As I look back, I stand in awe at God’s grace and mercy on my life to have allowed, helped, and provided for me to reach out to so many fabulous saints like you in so many places around the world, despite my own weaknesses and mistakes along the way. I am so thankful to be a part of this ministry. 

Thanks again for keeping me in your prayers. I will “report in” to you later on this year in The Sower. In the meantime, you be a sower. I love you very much.

             On the path with you,

                                        John

Marketing update Well, God bless you in the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus the Christ!  This is Jeff coming to you live from the “home office.” I am one blessed dude! After being in the USAF for 21 years, I now have the honor of working full time for you, at Christian Educational Services, and what a joy it is! I have been asked to fill you in on a little of the “Marketing and Advertising” we are doing to spread the good news to the four corners of this awesome planet. (If the planet is round, how does it have corners?...hmmm)

Here are just a few of the things we are doing:

·  Running AUCTIONS for CES books on E-bay, Amazon, and Yahoo.

·  Permanently listing our books on AMAZON.COM

·  Locating free classified advertisements on the web to list our material (and, of course, leaving a link behind to our web site).

·  Sending out One God & One Lord  flyers to more than 300 Messianic Jewish Rabbis around the globe.

·  Contacting (through the Internet) and sending CES material to pastors and Christian leaders from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain, Finland, Ukraine, Israel, Canada, Australia, and the good old USA (just to name a few.)

·  Contacting Youth Pastors about our new book, Sex & Scripture , a review of which is also being featured in a Christian magazine that has a circulation of 30,000 (Anybody want to volunteer some time in the shipping department when that article hits the streets?)

With NO budget for marketing and advertising, we have had to be creative, but the Lord has blessed us with many, many new contacts in the past few months. I trust you will keep all this in your prayers as we reach out around the globe to share the greatness and goodness of God and our Lord Jesus with all who will listen.

We are always very mindful that none of what we do for the Lord is possible without your loving support. Thank you so much! I can tell you firsthand that we pray for you daily and love you very much. I, for one, can’t wait to see you face to face at one of the exciting conferences and camps happening this year!

                                                                                                God bless you!

                                                                                                            Love, Jeff

On the 9th of December we spent a half day for the open forum and entertaining questions from the participants. Most of the questions being brought forward was the subject of One God, and we took turns explaining the verses used by Trinitarians. The ONE GOD & ONE LORD book helped us greatly. The teaching on financial giving was the most well received subject along with the solving apparent Bible contradictions, and those who had not been taught before about this subject found it very wonderful. Most of the participants afterward helped us during our outdoor evangelism because they wanted to share to the unbelievers the wonderful message of the Gospel.

The participants were not only satisfied with the teachings but even for the food being served for all of us. Every meal and snack served in this seminar greatly helped us continue to the third day. The churches who were able to attend our seminar promised to maintain a good relationship with us by propagating the teachings they learned during the seminar. Four Baptist Ministers wanted to affiliate to CES but I told them they have nothing to join except for the propagation of the word of truth. Our banner at the seminar announced our theme: “Studying the Pure Words of the Living God.”

All participants brought Bibles, pens, and notebooks as we asked them in our invitation letter and recorded all important things taught during the seminar. I noticed that even their questions were written down for their remembrance. I distributed some CES materials but those who cannot understand English gave me the responsibility to translate CES materials into Cebuano, which is the familiar dialect of this Island of Mindanao. I just wanted to ask help financially for the translation of the CES materials and even for our need of a computer for the above purpose.

I would like also to extend my greatest and heartful gratitude to those who gave to CES to make possible this seminar. YOU ARE A BLESSING TO US AND LIVES OF THOSE LEADERS WHO ATTENDED THE SEMINAR. Your rewards are being prepared for you for the day of rewarding and we will be seeing you on that particular and most awaited day. We were not able to take pictures for you but I believe you can see it on the video that God will reveal during the rewarding.

THE OUTDOOR EVANGELISM:

On the afternoon of Saturday we proceeded to the Village of Nueva Villa along with Leonidas Duazo and other participants. As we approached the village, we saw that the leaders in that village had hung a banner between the tall coconut trees along the highway for everybody to read. It said: “WELCOME TO THE CES BIBLE CRUSADE.” The village leader is called Barangay Captain and he welcomed us to his village. There were also 7 Barangay Council members most of whom were my relatives and even the Barangay Captain is my uncle. During the first night more than 300 villagers attended the outdoor as our team of musicians attracted the crowd.

All political leaders of that village attended, and Leonidas Duazo standing on the platform preached the message of salvation and repentance. This is the first crusade we launched out this year and it did encouraged our fellow workers in that place. As we invited people to come in front for us to pray for the sick, 7 people came forward with different kinds of diseases. Healing for those people made our fellowship on Sunday morning very colorful. We ran out of chairs on that Sunday as more people came in for the Word and to be prayed for. Duazo and I separated on that Sunday. He taught at the One God and One Lord Fellowship and I went to Dalupan Village where we have another Fellowship. Both fellowships are wonderful! There were about a hundred people in Dalupan.

In the afternoon of Sunday I went back to the Nueva Villa Village where we have the last night of outdoor evangelism. Due to heavy rainfall the village leaders let us use the Barangay Hall, and this time we have more than 200 people including the leaders of that village. Duazo and I invited those who want to receive the Lord Jesus into their lives and about half of those unbelievers gave their lives to Jesus. Before we end the meeting, the number one Municipal Councilor of Don Marcelino came up on stage and told the people that this is the time for us draw closer to God. In their own dialect he persuaded people to spent more time in listening to the Bible preaching than spending time drinking Tuba (a local made wine from coconut) and other vices.

On Monday morning we made our way back to Davao City, about six hours in the road. The work in Davao del Sur Province is boiling and this is the time for us to respond to that work with determination and prayer support. If you want to contribute to this work by giving some amount for bibles and for translating CES materials into Cebuano or give some amount for computer, please contact CES. May God bless you all and hope to hear from you any time at your convenience.

Love in Christ,

Brother Willie Matub

Philippines

Togo, West Africa

A Letter of Love from Godwin & Annick Alomassor 

Dear John,

God bless you wonderful heart, you and all the people who are working with you to give His wonderful Word to the world in and with true love.

We have received yesterday, Tuesday, 12/12/2000 at 3:00 p.m. your gift, a big package of books, 20 tapes, and many other materials. We are so blessed that we don’t know how to tell it. My wife, children, and I went to bed very late in the night because there are too many beautiful things in the package. We should continue till the next morning if we haven’t to go to work or school the next day. Everything in this gift package has brought a special blessing for us.

We think that God by us-Christ has given you a special blessing to put on each of your material these words: Speaking the Truth in Love. And me understand with His Love; my family has passed yesterday one of its beautiful moment of study together. We have been reading in our elementary English, and searching the meaning in the French Bible, and in our English and French dictionary. Now we shall now study more the accurate Word of The Father and we are obliged to improve at once our English.

Before we take the package at home, coming from the post office, we pass by the home of two believers, they have been very much blessed. Now we have a big work to do: we shall start translating the material in French to have our own teaching with the followers. We have already started thinking how we can godly help that CES translate all his material in French so you can finally send all the material to the French speaking countries in French. So CES could quickly be in Benin, Burkina, and so on. I pray that frankly ‘Speaking the Truth in Love’ will very soon be the motto of all true Christ followers here in Togo and all over the world. We may and truly have to speak The Truth in Love and with Love to save people, because we are called by The Father and the Lord Jesus Christ to save those who still are in the darkness of Satan.

I will let you informed every week how we are growing. Now we have a church in our home every Saturday afternoon from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Don’t forget us in your prayers. Thank you all very much. A special thank to God first, to you John for the shining true Love in your wonderful heart, to Mark & Karen Anne, John & Jenivee, Jeff and all the wonderful people who are working with you. You are in our prayers as we are in yours.

Still in His Truth and His Love,

Godwin and Annick Alomassor

    Togo, West Africa ÿ

CES bible college

This past month CES received a  gift from the estate of the mother of one of our wonderful friends and supporters. The gift was designated to be seed money toward a future Bible College owned and operated by CES, a vision that we have held for many years. We plan to invest this money wisely (and conservatively), and deposit it into an account we will call “Bible College Fund.” As God moves you to do so, you may earmark contributions to this fund at any time.

Our vision is to have our own training and teaching facility one day to educate our youth from all over the world, training them for Christian service and evangelism. It would also be a place for us to hold all manner of events, camps, conferences, etc.

“Thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ” (2 Cor. 2:14).ÿ