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We have some friends who have been hit with covid. The wife recovered, but it still recuperating and tires very easily. Her husband got pneumonia from it and is now in the hospital on oxygen. It looks like he is improving as they've lowered his oxygen, but please pray for healing. She would like him to come home, believing that he would rest better (we all know that's likely true), but not while his oxygen is iffy. Please pray for recovery. They are missionaries, home on furlough. Their country of service is very harsh about covid, and they have had a lot to deal with. They come home and after just a few weeks get sick. The advantage is they will now be immune, but it wouldn't surprise me if they weren't required to get the jab to get back in country. She has not shared this on social media, just privately. So I'm not going to give names. God knows, and I do appreciate your prayers.

Todays' update: My friend is home from the hospital! He still has to be on oxygen a bit, but it doing much better. Recuperation is now the goal for both of them. Thank you so much for praying!

No Deacon or Deacons should ever be given that much authority. Decision making is under the authority of the whole church membership. They are in that position as HELPERS to the pastor, not rulers, not a board of Deacons.

When I was 9, the bus picked me up for Sunday School at Open Door Baptist Church in Lynwood, WA. As a result, the pastor (Ken Blue) visited and helped my Dad with assurance of his salvation. We began attending regularly and were there for 3 years. We moved to WV, and attended a few churches before settling on one (I can't remember the name), although we weren't there long. Moved back to WA and began attending a Baptist Church that closed down shortly after we moved to Oklahoma (by this time I was 17...). In OK, we joined a Baptist church and were there until we moved back to WV. There the effort was made to form a church of which we were an integral part. It didn't happen, and then I went to college. The first college was baptistic, but was not Baptist, as was the second. I graduated from a Baptist college that no longer exists. Oh, summers I attended the camp church at Mount Salem Revival Grounds in WV (VERY Baptist). After graduating, I moved to Belpre, OH, to teach school at First Baptist of Belpre. Then I moved to OH and joined Tri-County Baptist Church (also to teach). I met Randy there, we were married, and then we joined High Street Baptist in Cols, OH (the church where we met was in the process of closing down after some sad issues). From there, we moved to IN for my hubs to go to college. Fairhaven Baptist, where we met PatorMatt and his soon-to-be wife. We were there for 26 years, and then moved out here to WA. We did join a Baptist church upon moving here, but soon there were issues (no pastor...the pastor's wife was virtually the "pastor" - nuff said). So we found and joined Lighthouse Baptist Church in Port Townsend, WA, where my hubs is now the pastor. Whew...just a few churches. LOL But we did move all over the country several times. Before I was 9, I went to other churches, some different denominations, but never joined. There was a Baptist church down the street from our house when I was very young (about 6). I remember my sister and I going once, because of the dresses we wore. They were "granny" dresses and I loved them, so I think that is why it's stuck in my mind. We may have gone more than that, but I have no memory of it.

I believe tithing is applicable to believers today. One of the big arguments against tithing is that it is part of the Law - however, Genesis 14 predates the Law by over 430 years. I have personally claimed all the tithing promises and have seen God do His part by fulfilling the tithing promises. Would He do that if it was not for us today? We don't see Him consuming our sacrifices with fire from Heaven every time we lay them on the altar (hypothetical - I have not actually sacrificed any sheep in my backyard lately). Malachi 3:8-11 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. Notice it says "bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse" (not just some or part of the tithes). Also: 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. Seems to be applying the OT storehouse to the NT church. Paul also refers to eating from the altar, using OT laws and principles to support taking care of the NT leaders of the church. 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Proverbs 3:9-10 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. I have always applied this to seeking God on the FIRST day of the week, FIRST part of the day, giving Him my FIRSTFRUITS, as well as of course giving Him FIRST priority (not always successful, but that is what I believe I should be doing). Yes, there were both freewill offerings and tithing under the Law, and we can see both referred to in the NT for the NT believer. For example, 2 Corinthians 8-9; Philippians 4. One other thing worth considering for those who are not sure if the tithing applies today: Here is a challenge for you. Read all the way through the book of Proverbs, and make a list of things that don't apply to you today (ie. don't apply to the NT believer). There is nothing that does not directly apply to us. Yes, there are references to sacrifices - but it is in reference to the sacrifices of the wicked, nothing about the righteous needing to offer animal sacrifices, nothing else ceremonial in that book - and nothing else that has been done away with or fulfilled in Christ - except for tithing (for the sake of this argument). However, if every other Proverb in the whole book applies to every believer today, perhaps tithing does too!

I have been a member of two Independent Baptist churches. 1. Two Rivers Baptist in Fairbanks Alaska from 1977 to 2003. 2. Country Baptist in Yreka California from 2007 to 2021.

I love the Psalms; my wife and I are going through some Psalms together these days.

The earth is 4.54 billion years old