It’s amazing what happens when we remain flexible for the Lord’s work and stop trying to control our own lives. It’s great to have healthy and productive goals and a vision for the day or week, etc., but if we allow these things to become rigid, we can become our own anchor. We can miss the moment-by-moment leading of the Holy Spirit and the blessing of God upon our spiritual growth and usefulness for Him. We have to seriously consider the things that we allow to get in the way of the Lord’s work — of serving him and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit (verus by our own strength). These things can even grow to be idols in our lives — that is, things that we hold in higher regard, greater importance, or cling to and trust in over God, or things that we allow to control our minds, bodies, and/or lives.

Our rigidity or idolatrous behavior, choices, or emotions can even have a ripple effect on our family’s or brethren’s service toward the Lord, so we have to be careful for others’ sakes, too. “Stop and pray” is always the best choice to make before opening up your mouth or doing something that might be a stumblingblock or anchor upon another. This will quickly chasten you and get you in tune with the Holy Spirit, so you can be a fruitful help with however God is using the other person — or, it will at least equip you to discipline yourself to be quiet and still and simply watch the Lord work through your family member or brother/sister in the Lord.

Here are some recent situations that were the result of remaining fexible for the Kingdom of God. There were choices at the time that could have hindered the hand of God. After all, God doesn’t force Himself upon people, but rather provides opportunities for people to lay hold. As members of the Body of Christ, we are all learning and growing and overcoming. Praise God for His never-ending patience and mercy and grace toward us, His blessed children!

1) Don met James in Walmart as he noticed him looking at some Bible-related literature in the books section. James is not yet filled with the Holy Spirit, but he was super keen to receive Don’s encouragement to read the Book of Acts, expecially the first 19 chapters, in conjunction with the Gospel of John. We are praying for him.

2) On a family day out, Don got chatting with a man in the lobby as he waited for the rest of us to catch up with him. We had dinner reservations and even received a notice that our table was ready, but Don kept encouraging Gabriel who was, by this time, in tears. Gabriel is already born again of water and of the Holy Spirit but up until he met us, he had only prayed in tongues sporadically (versus intentionally on a daily basis as Paul the apostle obviously did). He had allowed his walk with the Lord to wax cold and has been through some very rough times in recent years. Gabriel knew that Don had been sent by the Lord to share with him some important messages. Praise God!

3) The day after this, Don spied a vehicle with messages about Jesus all over it in the parking lot of a store. He waited and waited for the owner to return, and finally a lone man looked like he was heading his way, so Don engaged in conversation with him. It turned out that he wasn’t the right guy, so instead of leaving, Don waited longer and soon the vehicle’s owner turned up. Don had a great conversation with him, discovering that the man is born again, having had a miraculous 360 degree transformation about two years ago. Since then, he has felt on fire to talk about Jesus to anyone and everyone who would listen. Don soon realized why God had connected them together, to encourage the guy to do as the disciples did in the Book of Acts and not just talk about Jesus, but to take further steps in faith to water baptize believers and pray for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Here’s a text that Don sent to the rest of us when he remembered more about how the conversation went with the guy:

I just remembered that when I was talking to that team Jesus guy yesterday, after I had finished telling him that the thief on the cross is not in heaven, but will be raised and judged on the great white throne judgment day, which debunks the John 3:16 give your heart to Jesus salvation message (that he initially had told me was all I needed to do when I asked him about his gospel message), he said to me, “That’s interesting because only one other person has ever told me that.” Some older man had told him that a few years ago. So, here I am showing up and confirming that to him!

4) More to come regarding a super nice guy that came by after prayer group last Thursday night in order to have us pray over him to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He received mightily, praying in tongues powerfully — but only after he mentally and emotionally let go of himself and his life, being obedient to the scripture that tells us “he that loses his life shall find it.” The timing was absolutely miraculous in terms of Don coming to him with a message (actually, “running into him” pretty much literally!) just two days before his life was about to drastically change. The story is still in progress, so we will share more when we can . . .

We’re continuing our weekend outreaching. We have been to about six different locations so far, with interesting things happening at each. And, of course, we’ve doing whatever the Lord brings our way during the week. There are lots of people to pray for. Here are some brief summaries (more for our benefit, so we can remember them):

1) Remember Diana & Jose that Don met at our local YMCA, and we ended up praying over them both when they came to our place one night? They have been joining us at times for the Thursday night prayer group. Anyway, I felt moved to text Diana and offer her little boy a gift bag we’d put together after attending a local kids event. My text was very timely (thank you, Lord!) as when we met up to give Joel the gift, Diana was eager to share some things that had been going on in their family’s life which I was able to help her with from the Word. She was very relieved and encouraged, and now they are coming over this Thursday evening before prayer group so that we can have extra prayer in person together.

2) Luis: Opened the door for us outside Journey Church and asked us a question. Ended up praying with him outside and he received the Holy Spirit. Met him the next week and Don asked if he had been praying in tongues, to which he happily answered, “Yes!”

3) Elmont: Met inside local smoothie place. I asked him about his t-shirt, and I soon discovered that he is Spirit-filled and has his own online ministry. After a brief chat, I gave him a ChristiansRule card. He had to go as he was fulfilling a Doordash order, but he was glad we met.

4) Emanuel: At the same smoothie place, Don got chatting with a different guy as he departed the store. He was also wearing a Jesus-related t-shirt. He was super excited to hear what we had to say as it was an answer to what he’d been praying about recently (and praying again about it earlier that very day!). He is already born again of water and of the Holy Spirit, but he received our ecnouragement related to the Book of Acts and being active in ministering to others outside of church services. It was interesting hearing about his background (he was heavily into occult practices many years ago), and how Jesus powerfully brought him out of that darkness. Praise God!

5) We had a great chat with the pastor of Promise Church. What Don shared struck a cord with him. He was excited to watch our video and affirmed that what we were sharing was what he grew up following. We pray that he will lay hold upon God’s encouragement for him to openly preach and pray for others according to the fullness of the gospel message.

6) Sometimes we get chatting with people at the local gardens by the lake after we ask them what book they’re reading. I actually managed to have a detailed conversation with a spiritualist last week. She asked some good questions. Sadly, she wasn’t open to the “way” being through Jesus only, but you never know how God is going to water a seed that is planted.

7) Don got chatting with a lady and her 9-year-old daughter in Lowe’s after he spied the daughter happily (and safely) riding a shopping cart. He encouraged her that he sometimes still does the same thing even though he’s over 60! I can’t remember how, but somehow they all got chatting about the Lord. I think they started talking about current events and signs of the times. He found out that the mother is water baptized and Spiritfilled but hasn’t prayed in tongues for nine years. He offered that we could all pray for her, so after I briefly met her on the phone (Don called me to mention what was happening), we gathered at the house.

We chatted for quite a while first while Elisabeth entertained the daughter, and the mom was so excited to have us pray over her, to help her pray in tongues again, which we did. Afterward, she said she felt so relieved and refreshed and empowered. We chatted some more and shared more of the Word that was relevant to her life. She was really keen to go home and read the New Testament again, in particular the Book of Acts and the gospel of John, and to keep praying in the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. What a joy!

8) I met a man and his service dog at a YMCA event on the weekend. He asked if he could sit in the spare seat near Elisabeth and me while we ate. A little while after he sat, I felt I needed to start a conversation with him, so I first asked about his service dog. I soon found out that he is Spiritfilled and does pray in tongues at times. I encouraged him according to Jude 20 and also how Paul mentioned that when he prays in tongues, he edifies himself (builds his relationship with God). It was a brief chat, and I gave him a card, offering for Don to pray over him any time. So, again, you never know how God will work upon the heart of someone after a message has been shared with them. That brings me much peace, to leave everything in God’s perfect hands!

9) Last week, Ethan went to a coffee shop to work for a while. As soon as he got there, he was drawn to a conversation between two young men. He knew the situation had been set up by the Lord, so he waited about ten minutes and then politely interrupted their conversation. He ended up praying over one of the young men (Marcus) and encouraged the youth pastor (who was the other young man - already born again) to do likewise. They also both eagerly received Ethan’s message from the Lord and agreed with the scriptures he presented. The two of them ended up eagerly inviting Ethan (two times) to visit their Deeper Fellowship church, so we did so this last weekend (in obedience to what God put before Ethan).

At the end of the service, Don joined the same two young men in praying over a wheelchair-bound older lady and she walked slowly around the large church building, overjoyed and praying in tongues as she went. She shared that it was the first time she’d been able to stand (let alone walk) for any length of time in many years. Marcus broke down in tears afterward, once the lady had left. He was so touched by the experience and felt that God was working on him more than ever.

Here are some people recently touched by messages that God gave us for them:

1) On my way home one late Saturday morning, I noticed a group of people standing outside of a tiny local church building. Some of them were waving sign boards. I felt moved to speak with them, but I had just finished working out and I was very sweaty, so as soon as I reached home (which was just around the corner), I told Don about it.

He purposed to leave straight away to go chat with the people, but he was delayed, and by that time I realized that the Lord wanted me to go too, so I quickly freshened up and hopped in the car with Don. Before leaving, though, we all prayed together that God would make it very obvious who it was in particular that He wanted us to speak with. We declared that surely there would be at least one person with a humble and hungry heart.

As we neared the church, we saw that it was now empty outisde. As we did a u-turn in front of the building, a lone older man spied us and started to follow where we drove to. We parked on the adjacent street and, as we crossed the road toward the church building, the man passed us, noticeably wanting to say something to us, but seemingly unsure as to how to engage us (and perhaps a little unsure of our intentions).

We eagerly said hi and asked what he and his church buddies had going on. (They were doing a back-to-school backpack drive.) The man was really happy that we had stopped to talk, and we all walked back to the church building, chatting as we went. We ended up spending about an hour with the man, sitting off to the side in front of the church, encouraging him with testimonies from our Books of Acts style ministry (after quickly learning that he was already born of water and of the Holy Spirit and recognized the importance of praying in tongues).

After our awesome discussion, we gave him our details, and to our joy, he left a message later that day, saying he’d love to meet again and hear more. So, Don met with him on the Monday and God built upon what He had started in this lovely man two days prior. On the Saturday, he had told us about the recent burden that was troubling him - that God was asking him, “Besides going to church, what are YOU doing in your personal life to serve Me and help others come to know and experience Jesus?” So, when Don and I suddenly turned up and started speaking with him directly, he absolutely knew it was a special message from God for him!

2) Don was recently at a local laundromat, washing some items that we couldn’t manage to deal with at home. While there, he overheard a lady saying “Amen!” to another lady a number of times. So, during a break in the conversation between the ladies, Don said to the one, “You must be a church-going lady!” This led to a great discussion with her and then later, to another discussion with the other lady and her 9-year-old son (who had also been listening). In fact, it was the boy who was enthusiastically engaging with Don. He had lots of comments and questions, truly hungering to know more about Don’s miraculous experiences with the Lord. The boy was very mature and clearly hard a heart for Jesus and God’s Word. Don encouraged him lots, and we are praying that he will go and seek the Lord diligently of his own accord.

3) Don was at a tile store and got chatting with the owner after he mentioned a number of issues he was dealing with in his life. At first, based on what the owner was saying, Don didn’t think he would be open to hearing any of his testimonies. Nevertheless, Don spoke up, sharing with him first-hand experiences with God that have miraculously helped and blessed our family over the years.

The owner then called out to one of his employees to come join the conversation. The owner encouraged the employee to share details of a recent serious accident he had experienced. At first, the employee was hesitant, but after the owner explained what Don had been talking about, the employee opened up. In particular, he had to have his spleen removed, but he had afterward declared to his boss (the owner) that God would heal him. At the time, the boss had emphatically expressed his doubts, but now he was quietly considering things as the three of them chatted some more in the tile store.

Don gave them both one of our church website cards, and it will be interesting to see how things progress from here seeing that God surely had His beautiful, perfect hands upon the entire afternoon . . . .

We recently received this wonderful text from Kristi, the gal we prayed with at a local farmer’s market last year. Here’s a quick re-cap: Kristi runs the coffee stand at the market, and when we visited there for the first time, we noticed “John 3:16” boldly displayed in her tent area. We excitedly introduced ourselves and got chatting about our mutual passion for God and His Word. We asked her if she had been filled with the Holy Spirit since she believed in Jesus (Acts 19:2) which led us to returning to pray with her once the market day was over. We simply prayed over her right there in the civic park opposite the market area, and Kristi mightily received the Holy Spirit anointing, speaking in tongues. Anyway, fast forward twelve months and this is what Kristi shared with us (Wow, praise God!):

Just wanted to say hey! Pray your family is doing well. I was thinking of how grateful I am that you and your wife were obedient to the Holy Spirit and stopped at my stand that day. The power of tongues has been so amazing in my life. Thank you so much again!

Also, the story of our renovations continues, proving yet again that the Lord is using it for the purpose of His Kingdom work. We finally had a concrete team agree to come do the difficult pillar demolition work that Don was unable to manage on his own. As the boss man was dropping off some equipment, he decided to stay for a bit to observe his crew (which, we later discovered) he would normally not have time for. During his stay, Don overheard him mention the word ‘church,’ so Don got chatting with him and invited him to see our latest Winging It! video.

At first, the boss was ready to walk away, not because he wasn’t interested, but I think because he thought it was beyond him. He had experienced a very tough time earlier in his life and had turned around after seeking God and His Word, but he still suffered with some struggles. Despite the man’s doubts, Don wasn’t going to give up. Don knew this situation had been set up by the Lord.

So, after some more chatting and encouragement from Don, the boss was keen to come inside and have us all lay hands on him, to pray for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He received quickly and so beautifully, speaking in tongues and describing that he felt like his whole head was on fire (but in a good way). He said he felt changed and freed from his burdens. Praise the Lord!

As we parted ways, we encouraged him to pray in tongues as much as he can every day, continue to study the Bible, and now use the power of the Holy Spirit to apply God’s Word in his life. It was so wonderful to share our mutual love for Jesus with this big, tough (but super nice) guy!

There are so many people to pray for from the past weeks’ happenings, praise be to God. Here’s a quick summary:

1) We met Cybill at a local hotel that we went to one afternoon for a work meeting. She’s the one that initiated the conversation as she passed by where we were all sitting at our computers. She shared with us her troubled history and lingering physical and mental health issues, some of them being migraine headaches and depression - two things that Don suffered with prior to being born again. So, Don told her about how he was miraculously delivered by God when he was water baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. We ended up praying over Cybill outside on the patio and, after some encouragement, patience, and love, she received the infilling of the Holy Spirit, too, speaking in tongues and experiencing an overwhelming sense of calm.

2) During a July 4th outdoor event, Don spied a man (Chris) wearing a t-shirt that mentioned something about the Lord (I can’t remember what it was). Actually, I noticed him first, and Ethan did too, so we both mentioned it to Don as it seemed like Don would be the best one to relate to the man. Don and Ethan ended up having a long chat with Chris in the park, and after a while, I joined in.

At the end of the conversation, I asked Chris if there was something specific happening in his life, or in his family’s life, that related to what we were sharing from God’s Word. Before he answered, I mentioned the testimony of Barry and his dog (which I recently posted about below) as an example - how we kept running into them, and eventually Barry shared about his wife’s (Amy’s) recent brain cancer diagnosis. We ended up praying over Amy and she received the Holy Spirit, proving that God had been causing us to keep running into Barry for the sake of his wife.

Immediately after sharing this story, Chris opened up and mentioned his wife’s brain issues - something that has been plaguing her and the rest of her family. Wow! It was certainly God’s hand, moving upon me to first share a very relevant testimony. Unfortunately, Chris had to go as he was due to meet up with his family, but we pray he will act upon the encouragement we gave him in terms of drawing nigh to the Lord. (Interestingly, we discovered that Chris is a college chaplain, yet he was unaware of the scriptural truths we were sharing with him, especially regarding the Holy Spirit. He’s not alone. It’s very common, and a sad state of affairs in the world of “churchianity.”)

3) We have been purposing to somewhat do what the disciples did, to “go into the synagogues” and the “marketplaces” and locations like “Mars Hill” in order to connect with people that are “coming to find answers.” Not that we’re going into actual synagogues as such in order to try to convert Jewish people (who, by the way, we have great repsect for as descendents of the nation of Israel) to the truth of Jesus. But, we have been stepping things up in terms of trying to put our “talents” (spoken about in the gospels — that God has given to His children) to profitable use by deliberately going where there might be “ears to hear.” Last Sunday morning, we ended up praying over a guy that broke into tears soon after Don approached him and lovingly inquired about his life. Again, I noticed him, and so did Ethan, so we both pointed him out to Don who had apparently been drawn to talk with him, too, but hadn’t yet. It took courage to start a conversation (as it always does when approaching a stranger), but we’re so glad for the confidence and ability to “step out in faith” that God gives us.

4) After this, we went for a bite at the Cheesecake Factory at the mall. As we were departing, Don noticed a lady wearing a t-shirt with a scripture on it (or something similar). It’s amazing how many times God uses this scenario in order to bring us into some kind of work for Him. She had her autistic son with her, so we sat and chatted in the waiting area. We talked about general church first seeing that it related to her t-shirt, which then led to us being able to share some stories from our 18-year family ministry. Within a short while, the lady was in tears as she opened up about the struggles she’s been having. We encouraged her regarding the power of praying in the Holy Spirit (in tongues) as much as possible every day (she’s already born of water and of the Holy Spirit) amongst other things. We offered everything the Lord put upon our hearts to give to her as a message that day, and she was sincerely grateful.

Don was at Walmart one day last week and was by the garden center as an older lady walked through the doors, her arms full of supplies. She asked if the cart Don was standing near was his. He said, “Yes, but here, please take it.” The lady was very grateful and they parted ways, and then Don was upset at himself that he hadn’t acted on the thought that he should give her a ChristiansRule.com card. So, he prurposed that if he saw her again, he would do so.

He never did come across her again while he was in the store, so he checked out his items and proceeded to the car. Just then, the lady “happened” to be heading back to the store entrance to drop off her empty cart. (Afterward, she stressed to Don that she normally never does this at all, and instead leaves the cart in one of the parking lot stalls, but this one time she felt moved to bring it right into the store in case someone else needed it.)

Anyway, running into the lady the second time gave Don the opportunity to ask her about her church experience and knowledge of the scriptures. During the conversation, the lady shared that she lives in an apartment complex with 65 other tenants and she knows something like 62 of them by name, and she regularly walks around the building praying for them all. She also revealed to Don that over the years, she had prayed many times for the “gift of tongues” but it never happened to her.

Don, of course, “expounded the Word of God unto her more perfectly” (like Aquila and Priscilla in the Book of Acts) and asked the lady if she wanted him to pray over her (to be filled with the Holy Spirit - not just to speak in tongues). She was keen, so Don phoned the rest of us back at the house and we all prayed for the lady - Don layed hands on her, and we all prayed over speaker phone. She received the Holy Spirit anointing after about a minute or two, speaking in tongues loud and clear - right outside the store. Praise the Lord!

So many opportunities for the Lord’s work happen like this - while Don is simply running errands and zipping in and out of stores. The other places where the Lord tends to use us quite often is at the local parks and gardens. I sent the following text to a sister in the Lord recently. It was amazing how God set up the situation.

Hi, Sis! Some mid-week inspiration:

Don went for a bike ride yesterday morning and got chatting to a gal at the gardens because he was curious about what she was painting. (She’s actually an amazingly anointed artist, btw - I’ve got to show you her website!)

Anyway, after a while, she ended up sharing that she has been having some struggles with her marriage. Don obviously then shared some of our stories. When he had to take a break to go to the restroom, she said, “Please, please come back; I want to know more…!”

The gal ended up coming back to the house and we all prayed with her, and she received soooo powerfully. She’s deliberately not going to finish the painting so that it can be a talking piece about the miracle that happened to her today…. And, she said she couldn’t wait to pray in tongues on her own all the way driving home, and whenever she paints, etc. Praise God!

Most mornings, I pray these words: “Lord, please precede me this day. Whatever happens (or even doesn’t happen…), may it be according to your will.” It brings me inexplicable peace and the strength to be flexible, so that when I’m in the middle of something, or if I have what seems to be a firm schedule, I can instantly drop what I’m doing or change directions in order to be obedient to God and His work. So many different things happen from week to week. Here are some recents:

1) It has been taking such a long time for Don to try to find the right company to do some work on the gutters before the rest of the pool renovations can be completed. It has led to a number of valuable conversations between Don and various tradesmen, and then last week, Don got talking with another representative that came to give a quote. Don genuinely loves chatting with people, to get to know them and show interest in their lives. This time, Don learned that the rep had very recently been through a deeply tragic experience, and his entire family was devastated. He is a dedicated churchgoer and loves to try to share about Jesus with his workmates, etc. but most often to little avail, much to his frustration and disappointment. He had sincerely been wanting to be more effective at touching others’ lives with God’s Word, and then he ended up being called to our house…!

Needless to say, Don told the rep as much as he could about our Book of Acts style ministry, invited him to meet the rest of our family, and then offered for him to come back to pray whenever he had more time. Later, the rep texted us to ask if it was okay if he brought his son with him (wonderful!), so they both came the very next day. After chatting for quite a while, we all prayed over the dad and then the son, and they were both filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues. Thank you, Lord!

2) A sister in the Lord who has been joining us in person for prayer group texted out of the blue one day, asking if we were available. She then called to share that she’d just been talking with her brother (who lives interstate), and that he in turn had just been having an exciting conversation about the Lord with one of his new-ish friends. We ended up praying over the phone with the brother, but it wasn’t working out for him, so Don invited him to fly down to pray with us all (including his sister) in person.

There are many more details than this, but the short of it is that the brother slept at the airport that night and flew here the very next morning. He got water baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit (in the very same tub as his sister, which was very cool!), and spent the rest of the day with us before he had to fly back that night. It was a whirlwind of less than 36 hours, but that is the way God often works. After all, Jesus said to his disciples, “Come follow me” — meaning instantly, and more often than not, that’s the way God tends to use our family as His vessels and messengers.

3) I was out for a jog when I felt I should head in a different direction than normal, so I decided to run along the main street in our village area. As I turned down a side street to prepare to make my way home, I passed a tall man handing out little pamphlets on the street corner. For various reasons, I normally don’t stop at these kinds of scenarios whenever I’m on my own, but this time I felt that I simply couldn’t run any further and I just had to turn back from where I was now at in order to go talk with the man.

It turned out to be completely God orchestrated and I had a wonderfully blessed conversation with him. He is such a lovely guy, and I quickly discovered that both he and his wife are born again of water and of the Holy Spirit. Just like us, they greatly value praying in tongues, but I was able to encourage him in a number of things that will help him to be more effective in his personal ministry. At the end, I prayed over him, and then he did with me likewise for our family’s ministry. I was so glad I obeyed the guiding of the Holy Spirit and didn’t force myself to keep running!

4) Oh, and this is unrelated to my introduction, but just a quick note: There is a sister in the Lord in Australia that I have been encouraging with the Word for a long while now, and she has been mightily transformed through the work of the Holy Spirit. As a result, she has been ministering to another sister in the Lord who has, in turn, been miraculously affected. It’s the ripple effect of the power of God’s Living Word that is written on our hearts and minds through the Holy Spirit anointing — as God uses us as His vessels to heal, build, and strengthen the Body of Christ!

Last weekend, we decided to head to Barnes & Noble to do some research on children’s books. After checking the main kids’ section (which was quite overwhelming!), we thought to check the Christian books area upstairs to see if they had some easy-to-navigate shelves dedicated to children’s books. They did (we were glad to discover, which will hopefully help my children’s series that’s coming out), and as we walked around the corner of an aisle, we noticed a young-ish couple sitting on the carpet, studying a self-help book together.

We got chatting with the couple about what they were reading and then asked them if they wanted to hear some helpful thoughts. They were very friendly and open to listening, so for a long while we all sat on the floor and chatted about God’s Word, sharing our ministry experiences. We discovered that they were already water baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, so of course, we encouraged them to pray in tongues even more often, and we encouraged them that as they draw nigh to the Lord even more, they will realize that they, too, have been anointed by Jesus with the authority to pray for other people to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and to water baptize - just like the disciples in the Book of Acts!

It made our day to spend time with this lovely couple, and yet again, it reinforced that we should always expect the unexpected. That’s the first time we have been called to do God’s work on the floor of a huge book store! :)

This month has been full of surprises - certainly the miraculous hand of God!

First of all, we have randomly and very unexpectedly run into a number people we previously prayed with, which was no doubt God building upon His calling for them on a personal level. Some were caught off guard, perhaps as a reminder by God that they haven’t been taking Him as seriously as they initially started to, while others welcomed the opportunity to learn more and share the wonderful things that have happened in their lives since they were water baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Various tradesmen that have come by the house have been keen to hear Don’s testimony — excited to learn about “real” experiences with the Living God versus the shallowness of their church upbringing. Of course, most of the time, it has been Don’s efforts in stepping out in faith to start a conversation about God. But, this willingness to “step out of the comfort zone” seems to break through the hard outer shell and cause even tough guys to open up about their struggles. It’s very touching to see. Most recently, we got to pray with a lovely older tradesman that came to give us a quote on our gutters.

Then, of course, there are the opportunities that consistently come about during grocery shopping. The most recent was at Trader Joes while there was a stunning double rainbow sitting over the store. A storm had just passed, and as various shoppers stopped to admire the bow, Don would ask them if they knew the true meaning of the rainbow. The last lady he asked happily replied that she did; that it relates to God’s promise to Noah and his family in the Bible. This opened up a great conversation, and after hearing about some of our ministry experiences, she was keen to accept Don’s offer to come back to the house to pray with all of us. She received the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, and was excited to receive our encouragement to pray in tongues as much as she can every day, and to go in faith that all things are possible with God. She had already been water baptized unto Jesus about seven years ago and attends a mega church with literally thousands of others each week, but she had never experienced the true power of God in her life until the other night when we all prayed over her.

Finally, during a week-long conference, we met quite a number of other Spirit-filled believers who also love to pray in the Holy Spirit every day, and we were able to share with them some of what we do for the Lord (always emphasizing that we don’t take any money for it, but rather, we do it in obedience and out of love for God and for helping to save souls!).

We even had the privilege of praying with a couple of different ladies who had yet to experience the infilling of the Holy Spirit. One of the ladies texted us not long before we were planning to leave the conference center. She said she wanted what Don had been describing to her because she had been feeling something missing in her relationship with God for many years. So, although we were exhausted, we knew we had to put God’s work first, so we stuck around the area to wait until she was available. We met her outside her hotel in the parking lot and prayed right there in a quiet corner, and she received! She was so happy.

The other lady we met after we felt moved to change location from where we initially sat to eat a very late lunch. As Don brought us the picnic bag from the car, he said he felt we should come out from where we were tucked into a corner and move somewhere more visible and busier. As a result, we ended up getting into a long conversation with a couple. They told us that they, too, had been thinking of leaving but then changed their minds because they believed there were some other people they still needed to meet. Praise God for moving upon them, too!

The lady shared that she was so thankful to learn she had been praying for the incorrect thing all these years - that she had been praying for the gift of tongues versus simply praying for the Holy Spirit anointing (and that she would simply start to speak in tongues as proof of being filled, as the Holy Spirit started to speak through her). It was a blessed end to the convention week!

There are so many God-minded people that are missing various pieces of the puzzle. We meet them in all kinds of places, from where we shop for groceries to where we go to relax and hang out. Here’s a sampling of the work the Lord has led us to recently:

1) Don met a lady outside a Dollar Tree store. He got chatting with her about life and discovered she is Spiritfilled but has only prayed in tongues sporadically. He offered to pray over her, to get her praying in tongues again, and to encourage her that it’s something she can (and should) do on a daily basis (see Jude Chapter 20). They prayed together, and apparently it was a great inspiration and help to her. Praise God!

2) Don was out for a morning ride to the gardens and got chased off by a grumpy family when he tried to talk with them. Because of that, though, he ended up heading to the lake dock for some quiet time and reflection. Shortly after Don sat down, a lady (who was already there on her own, on the other side of the dock) suddenly put down her phone, at which point Don struck up a conversation with her. Amazingly, she (Don found out later) had been wondering if God sent Don to talk with her (which is why she quickly put down her phone). She had specifically prayed that very morning for God to send someone to give her a message in answer to her struggles! Needless to say, when Don started talking about the Lord, she was “all ears.” Unfortunately, she was only on a brief break from work, so she couldn’t accept Don’s invitation to come back to pray with the rest of us, but we are keeping her in our prayers.

3) Don spied a couple in Trader Joe’s because of something Biblical on the husband’s t-shirt. He approached them to give them a card. They were happy to chat, and Don discovered that the husband is Spiritfilled, but the wife isn’t. Don asked the wife if she had ever been curious about speaking in tongues and she replied yes, especially whenever she hears her husband praying in the Holy Spirit. Don encouraged the husband to be proactive in helping his wife to be baptized with the Holy Spirit versus just water baptism. It was just a brief conversation for about 5-10 minutes, but we are praying that it had a profound affect upon both of them.

4) Don met another lady at the gardens who was reading a self-help book. Don commented that it was a lovely day to be studying in the park. She agreed and they struck up a conversation about what she was reading and why. She ended up coming back to meet all of us, to have a coffee and chat some more. She was keen for us to pray over her, which we did, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, after having been water baptized many years ago. The next day, she texted us a lovely message:

“Hi Don and Kaye, it was such a blessing and pleasure meeting you both and your wonderful children. You are all such a blessing and a gift to humanity. Having the gift of the Holy Spirit, I feel at peace and I am enjoying every minute of it. I’m reading the Book of Acts and it has many references to the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. I’ll get to reading the article next….”

5) The waitress at the cafe that I blogged about a while ago ended up coming over for coffee and a chat after work last Tuesday, and wow, it was an amazingly blessed time together. She experienced such a transformation that afternoon/evening that she was here for over six hours. We all enjoyed every minute of it as we witnessed her being taken by God through a momentous stage of repentance and submission, to water baptism, to being filled with the Holy Spirit, to praying in tongues eagerly and joyfully, and then rejoicing in the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit for the rest of our time together. Here’s one of the many beautiful texts she sent us:

“Good morning! I woke up with an almost “pinch me” type of moment that God was so real in my life last night! Giving thanks to him that I am a new person in Christ. Thanking him that he brought your wonderful family into my life!! God has given you all such a great heart in this life to serve him….”

The following (for the most part) is a copy of a text I sent to a sister in the Lord. It briefly summarizes a most amazingly full day we had for the Lord’s work last weekend. Please let us know if you’d like us to fill you in on any details — there’s simply too much to write in this post!

“. . . First, God used Don (on a morning bike ride) to pray with a Spiritfilled guy on the dock at the park, to get him praying in tongues again. Then, the couple we posted about in our previous Blog ended up coming over for coffee after all, and the wife received the Holy Spirit. I also got together with her the next day and we had a wonderful many hours together, talking about the Lord, sharing the Word, and generally getting to know one another.

Then, Don and I went looking for tiles, and the Holy Spirit miraculously led us — a longer story ; — to a parking lot where we felt moved to look for who God wanted us to speak with. We ended up praying over an older man (after first chatting with him a long time) who was heading back to his vehicle. Just before we prayed over him, however, a Hispanic family pulled up behind us. Don spied the message on the driver’s t-shirt and quickly gave him a card.

After we parted ways from the older man, we turned to head into a restaurant and end up walking right passed the same Hispanic family. The wife was glad because she said she was about to try to find us again. She invited us to a car meet that night, where they would be outreaching. When we clarified that our preaching is according to the Book of Acts, the wife’s eyes lit up. We ended up praying with her husband in the parking lot because he had yet to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He received, speaking in tongues, and they were both crying with joy.

Apparently, the wife (who has been Spiritfilled for many years) had been telling her husband — for four years! — that he wasn’t yet filled with the Holy Spirit. She totally saw our “running into them” as a miraculous answer to her prayers. In fact, at one stage, she had been told that speaking in tongues is not of God! And, her husband had said at the time, “I don’t ever want to hear tongues in this house!” Now, things are vastly different . . . !

The wife again invited us to the car meet, so we went, trusting that the Lord was continuing to orchestrate our day. Shortly after we arrived, we were praying over her sister-in-law and she was filled so powerfully. We also spoke to the small crowd of people that was gathered around afterward. By the time we left it was late, and although we were exhausted from preaching and praying all day, we were greatly rejoicing in the hand of our mighty God!”

A number of times we have run into a man and his beautiful dog at a local park. The time before last, Don had a great conversation with him about the misrepresentation of God in various church groups. At one point, the man’s wife had put together a detailed scripture-based document to present to their pastor at the time, to question various happenings in the fellowship that just didn’t seem right. Subsequently, the couple was asked to leave.

Don invited the man and his wife over for coffee, to look at more of the Word and to pray for the Holy Spirit anointing, but they never came. Then, I ran into the man again the other day. This time, he revealed some sad news - that his wife’s brain tumor has come back and is inoperable. I could instantly perceive how God had miraculously lined up yet another conversation (as I wasn’t meant to be at the park on that day), so I proceeded to share this with him along many encouraging words about healing and other promises in God’s Word, for those that lay hold.

I recounted some personal testimonies including my own healing, Don’s healings, and Manuel in Belize who was instantly healed of terminal bowel cancer, and I urged the man not to let the negatives of ‘Churchianity’ discourage him and his wife from receiving the message and opportunity for blessing that God was obviously bringing to them. The man said he would chat to his wife again, but we haven’t yet heard back.

Please pray for this couple. God is so mericful and continues to try to draw people to Him in humility and obedience, but at the end of the day, God doesn’t “do” for people - it has to be their own desire to, as the Bible says, take up their cross and follow after Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Another person we have run into again is a server at a local cafe. I had given her a ChristiansRule.com card a long while when we first relocated to the area. I think it came about because she saw the email address I was typing into the screen, to receive the purchase receipt. Given her church background, she recognized it was Bible-related, so she asked about it. We had a great yet very brief conversation at the time, at which point I learned that her mom is filled with the Holy Spirit and loves to pray tongues.

Since then, we have seen her a number of times at the cafe, but nothing ever worked out for us to continue the conversation until last week. Don and I went there for a brief snack while waiting to pick up Elisabeth from a library activity. It’s something we never do as I normally take Elisabeth to the library on my own and either attend class with her, or do office work on my phone, or head to the store. And, we had actually purposed to go to a different coffee shop, but we changed our mind.

Anyway, we got the server gal this time and got chatting with her about life. She didn’t recognize me at first and only clued in after she asked us where we had met as a couple. I replied, “Remember the card I gave you? Well, how Don and I met is related to that…” The gal’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she said she was so excited we had finally connected again. Apparently she had accidentally lost our card, but she had told her mother all about our original conversation, and she had been hoping to see us again to get another card. What’s even more amazing is that the gal’s mom had just finished visiting from Kentucky, and the both of them had had some very meaningful conversations about the Lord. The server gal could very much see God’s miraculous timing on things - with us turning up in her life again the very next day after chatting with her mother about her spiritual desires!

Yesterday, we had the urge to do something we haven’t done in a long time: go berry picking at a local farm. We were so determined to leave by 9:00am, but we didn’t get out of the door until 9:30, and half way on our drive there, we realized we’d forgotten to select “include toll roads” in our directions, so it took almost twice as long as it should have in order to get there. Nevertheless, we made the most of it as we always do when we’re together, reminiscing and laughing, praying and sharing thoughts, etc.

More than anything, we concluded that “maybe there was a reason” for our delays, especially since it’s very unusual for Don to mess up directions. We had a really fun time, picked way too many berries, enjoyed the live music, and soaked up the sun — some of us a little too much . . .

Nothing for the Lord’s work stood out for us, though, until just as we were leaving. There was a bit of a crowd exiting the farm at the time, and Ethan spied a young man about his own age wearing a t-shirt advertising his church. Ethan started up a conversation with him that turned into a deep scriptural discussion in the parking lot. We all joined in, exchanging scripture after scripture, and we finally discovered that both the young man and his wife can speak in tongues (so, have experienced the Holy Spirit anointing), but made a deliberate choice to no longer pray in tongues many years ago after their church made a collective decision to deny tongues. Apparently, at the time, many people were Holy Spirit filled and spoke in tongues, yet not everyone, and this eventually caused the leadership to change their outlook and direction for the entire congregation.

We tried our best to explain that if people only have a view of the Holy Spirit anointing and speaking in tongues as an “optional extra,” then you’re bound to end up with a group full of confusion and disunity, which will then lead to compromise in order to appease those that have not yet been filled with the Holy Spirit.

Don even encouraged the young couple, “Just simply be open minded that perhaps our conversation today is personally from the Lord to you both — so, even if you’re unsure about things at this point, just purpose to go and start praying in tongues again every day in your private lives and see what happens — and, lay hands on your disabled son (they have a toddler who is mentally handicapped) and pray over him in tongues in faith, and see how God’s miraculous hand starts to move upon him, too!” Yet, it was utterly heartbreaking to hear their resolute reply, “No, we’re not going to do that.”

We tried to encourage them both as much as they would listen to, but in the end, we just had to leave the situation in God’s hands. Deep down, I felt that they “got” what we were saying because they revealed there was a long period of their lives when they did understand and follow Scripture as we do, at least to a large degree. But, we can only do what God puts before us, and the rest we need to faithfully leave up to Him. We know God will to continue to move upon the young couple, to reinforce the message He gave us to share with them yesterday. I can imagine we’re not the only ones God has been using to try to help this couple understand how they are seriously quenching the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

Sometimes, God’s work is joyful and we get to share in the beautiful fruits, and other times it can be heartwrenching and frustrating. Yet, we maintain “the peace of God that passes all understanding” throughout it all, never let anything steal our joy, and most all, remain faithful to our calling no matter what.”

We were not sure about traveling south quite a ways for a Spring festival that was on last weekend, but no matter how many poor reviews we read about it, we still felt moved to go, especially Ethan. We decided to stop in at a grocery store before walking to the fairgrounds, to use the bathroom and possibly get some snacks. On the way in, Ethan noticed a lovely lady with a big bright smile selling craft items and other small goods from a makeshift retail stand outside of the store. He perceived that she might be fundraising for her church, but he wasn’t certain. On our way out, we needed to ask a question about parking, so Ethan felt moved to go over and ask her instead of a store employee.

The entire situation turned out to be completely orchestrated by the Lord as we all very quickly discovered that the lady is born again (of water and of the Holy Spirit) and regularly prays in tongues, but she needed some encouragement in terms of living what we have dubbed the “Book of Acts Empowered Christian Life.” It was an anointed conversation for sure, and it looked like she was holding back the tears — joyful tears :) — at the end.

The next morning, we each went for our indvidual walks or bike rides, etc. for some exercise and quiet prayer time. Ethan went to the local lake gardens, I went for a walk around the neighborhood, and Don headed off on his bike. Unplanned, he ended up at the same gardens as Ethan. As Ethan was praying on a benchseat off to the side, Don wandered around. As he did so, a couple of ladies (a mother and her young adult daughter) approached him to ask about the direction of the trail they were on.

I can’t remember how the conversation turned to the subject of the Lord. I think Don asked where they were from and because of this, he learned that the daughter had only come here temporarily to take a Christian ministry-related course, and the mom was visiting. Don said, “Well then, if you’re not busy, you’ll have to come back to the house, to meet the rest of the family!” So, we all met back at the house and spent most of the early afternoon talking about the Word and sharing our experiences.

Both ladies are born again, love praying in tongues, and are very zealous for Christ. We were able to help answer some of their questions and confusions that had never been resolved, and we encouraged them both that the Lord wants to grow their personal ministry, to walk in the fullness of the power and authority with which they have been anointed. To top it all off, we got to play some music upstairs before they had to leave. The daughter plays piano so beautifully, and Elisabeth got to share one of her pieces, too. It was a wonderfully blessed afternoon, again entirely orchestrated by God’s miraculous and gracious hand!

In addition to the above two blessings, there have been so many other opportunities to share some of the Word, or a message of encouragement, etc. with various people in different situations. For example, Don got chatting with a Spirit-filled couple in a grocery store, after he gave the husband a compliment. He then saw that the wife was wearing a t-shirt with a scripture printed on it. It was obvious by how the conversation progressed that God had set up the situation so that Don would encourage them to pray daily in tongues, among other things. Lots of situations similar to this pop up as we are running errands, dining out, hanging out, etc. The harvest is everywhere, and we are simply God’s messengers - what an honor it is to serve Him!

Catching you all up on some exciting things that have happened these last weeks . . .

1) Arts Festival, Scottish Festival, and other public events:

These are always perfect opportunities for interacting with all kinds of people. Everyone wants to be loved and have others show genuine interest in them. We love chatting with anyone and everyone (for the most part), and we wait upon the Lord to move upon those situations that He has set up. Sometimes we just plant a seed; sometimes we water a seed that has once been planted but needs sustenance; and at other times we end up praying with people off to the side somewhere, and/or they end up getting water baptized back at our place or wherever suits them. They key is remaining led by the Holy Spirit and being obediently flexible to whatever God puts before us. This is our calling and part of our reasonable service.

2) Church conventions:

When you’re solid in your faith and scriptural understanding of the full gospel salvation message, church-related conventions and events can also be where you might be called to the Lord’s work — maybe in a seemingly very small way (yet not small in the eyes of God!); maybe in a big way. We tend to hang around these events versus immersing ourselves in the teachings. Again, the key is to pray for the Lord’s leading; be in tune with the workings of the Holy Spirit; speak up when called to in the peace and love of God, yet also in the confidence and authority of Jesus Christ; and exercising faith in God’s anointing upon whatever He orchestrates by His hand. Remember: we are the messengers, and God is the One who gives the miraculous increase to whatever we say and do — it might not always accomplish what we hope it will, but God’s will will be done, always.

3) Neighbor’s Spiritfilled landscaper:

Don got chatting with one of our neighbor’s landscapers about lawn products. He found out he is already filled with the Holy Spirit but only prays in tongues at times, mostly during a “worship” service. Don encouraged him about the importance of consciously choosing to activate the gift of tongues on a daily basis, “building up ourselves on our most holy faith” (as described in Jude 20). Don and Ethan then prayed over him.

We meet so many Spiritfilled believers that are in similar situations where they’ve spoken in tongues a few times here and there, but have never had strong mentorship like the first disciples in the Book of Acts, and so they don’t realize they can pray in the language of the Holy Spirit as much as they can every day. They don’t realize that praying in tongues is not just for dedicated worship times; it’s also for whenever they want to communicate with their Father in Heaven throughout the course of their days.

Of course, we don’t freely pray in the Holy Spirit in public, but there are so many opportunities to be regularly prayerful toward God, to help us get through life. We imagine this was what was meant by the call to “pray without ceasing” in the Book of 1 Thessalonians!

4) Grocery store ministry :)

We regularly get chatting about the Lord with people while grocery shopping. Often the conversation starts when we spy a t-shirt or sweater they’re wearing (with a message about Jesus, or a church, or a church event, etc.). This is what happened to Ethan a couple of weeks ago. He got chatting with an older lady and her mother (who was wearing the t-shirt). The lady wanted to pray right then and there in the store aisle after Ethan shared with her some of our Church ministry experiences! Ethan encouraged her to finish up their shopping and then meet outside where it was a little quieter, so they could better focus on praying, which they did.

Afterward, the lady shared that her mother had asked whether or not she should wear her “Jesus t-shirt” given the recent persecution one man had experienced in the States, getting thrown out of a certain public place because of his overt promotion of Christianity. Her daughter (the lady Ethan prayed with) replied, “All the more why you should wear that t-shirt today!”

5) Home show vendor with spelling mistake on his booth signage:

While strolling around a home show event (prior to which we had prayed — for the Lord to clearly guide us to who He wanted us to share a message with), we spied a booth that had misspelled signage. At first, we thought it was maybe the surname of the company owners — “Christain.” But after we asked the booth operator, we realized it was a spelling mistake, so we pointed it out to him. This led to a beautifully anointed conversation which ended in us praying over him in a quite area of the convention hall.

Again, he was in the situation where he had been filled with the Holy Spirit when he was younger and had prayed in tongues a number of times since, yet he had a number of “gaps” in his scriptural understanding and application that God wanted brought to his attention. He is a super lovely, humble guy who had recently hired an old school friend who had become homeless, setting him up with not only employment but also an apartment to live in, etc. We pray God will continue to bless him mightily.

6) Cafe and civic park ministry :)

Whenever we’re dining out and enjoying our local parks and gardens, we’re always on the lookout (so to speak) for whatever God might be doing to further His Kindgom work upon this earth. After all, isn’t that what this life is all about when you’ve been called to service in the Lord’s spiritual army? We’re being used to fight for people’s souls, but we’ve found that the victories tend to come when God precedes us and sets things up for us.

This happened last weekend as we were dining on the patio of one of our favorite cafe restaurants. There were lots of people there, but there was one particular young lady that we all felt drawn to speak with. We never really got a clearly directed opportunity to chat, so on our bike ride home, Don (unbeknown to the rest of us) prayed that if he saw her again on our return through downtown, he would stop and inititiate conversation.

Off we all rode, and as we passed through the civic park, I saw the young gal sitting in a grassy patch. By the time I got to the end of the pathway, I couldn’t go any further - I felt that I just had to turn around to speak with her. So I did, and the others followed, except Don whom I noticed was already pulled up by the gal, chatting with her. I hadn’t realized he had been so far back, and obviously he had noticed her, too (and so was obedient to God’s answer to his earlier prayer!).

We all chatted with her for a very long time and ended up offering to pray over her to be filled with the Holy Spirit. She admitted she was a bit nervously afraid, but we encouraged her that it’s a normal feeling that many people experience because praying for the Holy Spirit anointing is stepping into the unknown in faith, and it’s very much a complete surrender of one’s self to God. Despite this, she pushed through the flesh (the body, the mind) and responded with a sweet following after God’s will. We moved to a quieter area of the park, to help her better focus on praying, and she received the Holy Spirit anointing, speaking in tongues, very quickly - yet very softly and gently, and so beautifully.

She even wanted to follow through on the fullness of God’s calling to be born again of both water (full immersion baptism) and of the Holy Spirit. So, we all rode back to our place (she had ridden to downtown on a bike, too) and Don baptized her in our bathtub (seeing that the pool is only half completed!). The rest of the evening was so joyful as she stayed for dinner and as we chatted more about life and the Lord.

We all spent the next evening together, too, as we took her out to dinner to enjoy some more fellowship and to share more of our experiences and understanding of the Word. We try to encourage our brethren to live the book of Acts life, too — to be “out and about” amongst people to whom God might be calling us to bring a message of hope and of power through Jesus Christ.