Rebecca

A bit earlier this morning, my pastor Randy Hoxie (Faith Baptist Church in Chilliwack, BC) had a heart attack and is undergoing surgery in a hospital in Vancouver right now. Please pray for the blockage to be removed and for the Lord to heal his heart (with no complications). Thank you in advance for any prayers.

Did You Know?... 666 is
(your welcome🙂)


 

Talked to my niece today. She sounds a WHOLE lot better. She still tests positive, so she's not going anywhere for the rest of the week and next week she'll be keeping Otto just to play it safe. Her husband is still running a bit of a fever. Thank you for the prayer.

Otto is doing better, but both his parents have been hit with it. I haven't checked today, but yesterday it was pretty miserable for them. I wish I could take Otto just to help them out, but I can't risk his bringing it here and infecting any of us (especially my almost-85-year-old mom). 

My wife had her nuclear stress test Friday, and it didn't go well. I had my yearly with our cardiologist yesterday, and he put me on new medication. I don't have to undergo any surgical procedures yet, thank the good Lord. But, the doctor did discuss my wife's test results. They show that she may have several blockages. So she's now scheduled for an arteriogram on February 20th. They'll see if she needs stents or bypass surgery. 
This has been a very trying time for.my wife and I over the past year. We've both had to undergo extensive testing leaving us with quite a bit of debt, even with insurance paying their parts. We are seriously praying about whether or not we need to move back home to Augusta Georgia, or just stay put. There are many pro's and cons with each. Please pray for us to know what the Lord would have us to do. 
Thanks in advance.
BT

His fever has stayed down since coming home from the ER last night, praise the Lord! Mom and Dad are pretty sick right now, though. I'm gonna be making some chicken soup on Monday and bringing it over there and dropping it off. 
 

My 6 month old great nephew was diagnosed with c*vid last night. His fever was 103.3 AFTER Tylenol. He was throwing up in his sleep last night also. Fever seems to have broken for now and he is sleeping well. Please pray that God will touch his little body and heal him. AND that God will reach his mom and dad through this. His name is Otto. And he's a precious wee one. Thanks in advance.

The girl in the school photo is pouring water all over the floor! 🤣 She's going to be in trouble when one of those other kids slips and falls! Also, where's the towel, does she plan on drying the water with her hair?
I didn't watch the Super Bowl - not a fan. However, this commercial is getting talked about so I stumbled across it in another forum, in which both the Christians and non-Christians discussing it disliked it. As the saying goes "Any publicity is good publicity", it is getting shared. 
John 13:12-15 - So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
I'm not sure if the makers of the ad are using these verses to mean Christians should literally go out and about washing random people's feet, or if it's meant metaphorically. Anyway, I was curious to see who wasted millions of dollars on this ad: 
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/2024/02/12/dallas-based-firm-is-behind-he-gets-us-jesus-super-bowl-ads/#:~:text=The ads were created by,LinkedIn ahead of the game.
"The ads ran for a total of 75 seconds and together cost an estimated $17.5 million" - from the article, emphasis mine. 
So, a question. If you knew for sure that if you paid enough money to get the gospel message out in front of millions of people, who would then share your message with millions of others, whether to praise, hate, or debate it, is paying that money worth it? Or would that money be better spent helping those in need in your community? 
Second question. If you decided the ad was worth it, would you accept donations from any and all faith-based organizations who wanted to donate towards your ad if it guaranteed you'd get that coveted Super Bowl spot?

How about a map tracing the path of a biblical journey, like Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt or Paul's missionary travels, or Hidden objects: Paint various biblical figures, animals, or symbols within the mural and create a scavenger hunt for people to find them.
Of course I'm saying this and I have no artistic ability to make my thoughts happen. 🤣

I feel for you, brother.  I was 24, my wife 22 when we married.  6 months later she was pregnant.  3 months after that she had a miscarriage.  A little less than a year later she was pregnant again.  This one ended in something called a molar pregnancy where the fetus starts growing through the wall of the uterus.  She had to have surgery.  After that, she couldn't get pregnant in what her doctor called "unexplained infertility".  I was tested.  She went through a bunch of tests and procedures but nothing was ever found as to why she couldn't get pregnant.  Mother's day was extremely hard.  We would go to church and the mothers would be honored.  The message would center around being a mother and would unintentionally make it sound like if you weren't a mother you were only half a woman.  Father's day seemed worse because friends and family would acknowledge that I too was effected by the miscarriages, but would quickly shift gears back to my wife because she was the actual vessel that had the miscarriage.  In other words, "suck it up, man...oh your poor wife".  I guess as the father I wasn't allowed to have "feelings" of loss, it was all the woman's sorrow.  We too started skipping the mothers and fathers day ceremonies.  I would honor her with gifts for being a mother of two children in heaven.  Irony??...I have been Baptist my whole life.  We believe life begins at conception but it seems except on mother's and father's day because miscarriages didn't seem to count.
I do have a happy ending, but it took 10 more years and a doctor in Columbus.  
 

One of our members has been talking with an old friend of his for a while. She's been reading the Bible and asking him questions. Today he asked my hubs to meet them for lunch and talk with her to answer other questions. Lunch took about an hour and a half, but the upshot is that she got saved!  We are working on scheduling a baptism (have to borrow another church's baptistry), so it would be wonderful if she were ready to be baptized. Please pray that she will begin coming to church and will be open to discipleship. 

This has been a week full of care for our family. It seems that sickness has been such a hard hitter . It's at this time where I know that the power of prayer is most important in the Christian Life. So I am laying these requests out for prayer knowing that people here will pray. 
The first prayer request is for my wife Vivian. Last week she had an appointment with my cardiologist to get clearance for surgery on her knee. They ran an EKG on her and found that she may have several blockages in her heart. They cleared her for surgery if she wanted to have the surgery on her knee first, but put the proposal before her to have an echocardiogram and a stress test before she has such a surgery. They suggested that she take that route only if she felt she could handle the pain in her knee until the results from those tests were back. She and I talked with the doctor and came to the conclusion that she needs to have the tests first to see if she needs surgery for anything pertaining to her heart. The echo and the stress test will be on February 9th. We would appreciate your prayers in this. 
The second prayer request is for my younger brother Mike down in Riverview Florida. He called me early this afternoon and told me he had gotten the results of his biopsies back and he has cancer. This has been an exceptionally area of concern especially since we lost our father and my younger sister to cancer. He is going for a second opinion to verify the diagnosis. At this point they are recommending an 8-week to 12 week course of radiation and possible surgery. Please keep my little brother in prayer.
The third request is for myself. I have an appointment with the cardiologist on February 12th. I have been feeling very lethargic and ill lately. I thought it was from my menieres disease, but this is definitely different. My doctor suggests that I have preliminary tests for cancer. I sincerely doubt that is what it is, but he's pretty insistent. 
Thank you in advance
BT
 
 

The circle of IFB that I'm in does a lot of fellowshipping -- at preacher's conferences, home missions conferences, men's retreats, etc. Fellowshipping with others of like-minded faith is important. As a missionary, when I'm on furlough, I visit a lot of churches. It's been rare that I visit with a pastor about me sharing my ministry at his church and that pastor hasn't heard of my pastor and home church, even if they don't know each other personally. Reputations get around, pastors do share their experiences with other pastors. 

Thank you to everyone who prayed for the service. It went well, we had 65 people show up, including 15 children! I had been told to expect only 5-7 children, so we ran out of chairs, thankfully a few of the older children didn't mind standing.  😄 I didn't teach the lesson this time. A Taiwanese family is going into ministry, so the wife taught the children and her oldest kids helped with the songs and games. She did an excellent job explaining the gospel story to the children, I'm thankful for her willingness to serve!  Please continue to pray for the Indonesians who heard the gospel for the first time tonight.
    

What's up, OB'ers! Can't let this moment slip by without sending out a massive Happy New Year to each and every one of you! Thinking about the ride we've had together here - the chats and the laughs. It's been real, and I'm thankful to be here with you all.
Before we dive headfirst into the New Year, I've gotta give a massive shoutout to our incredible mods! You all are the unsung heroes, keeping this place running smoothly, creating a space where we can all connect, share, and grow together. 
Happy New Year Everyone

聖誕節快樂！(Shèngdàn jié kuàilè!) - traditional Chinese
Merry Christmas from Taiwan!

聖誕節快樂！(Shèngdàn jié kuàilè!) - traditional Chinese
Merry Christmas from Taiwan!

聖誕節快樂！(Shèngdàn jié kuàilè!) - traditional Chinese
Merry Christmas from Taiwan!

Merry Christmas to all, wherever you are. Praying you all have a blessed day.
Spanish – ¡Feliz Navidad!
French – Joyeux Noël!
German – Frohe Weihnachten!
Italian – Buon Natale!
Portuguese – Feliz Natal!
Romanian – Crăciun Fericit!
Russian – Счастливого Рождества! (Schastlivogo Rozhdestva!)
Swedish – God Jul!
Norwegian – God Jul!
Danish – Glædelig Jul!
Finnish – Hyvää Joulua!
Icelandic – Gleðileg Jól!
Polish – Wesołych Świąt!
Dutch – Vrolijk Kerstfeest!
Croatian – Sretan Božić!
Czech – Veselé Vánoce!
Japanese – メリークリスマス！ (Merīkurisumasu!)
Chinese – 圣诞节快乐! (Shèngdàn jié kuàilè!)
Korean – 메리 크리스마스! (Meli Keuliseumaseu!)
Latin – Felicem Natalem Christi!
Irish – Nollaig Shona!

Thank you to everyone who prayed for the service. It went well, we had 65 people show up, including 15 children! I had been told to expect only 5-7 children, so we ran out of chairs, thankfully a few of the older children didn't mind standing.  😄 I didn't teach the lesson this time. A Taiwanese family is going into ministry, so the wife taught the children and her oldest kids helped with the songs and games. She did an excellent job explaining the gospel story to the children, I'm thankful for her willingness to serve!  Please continue to pray for the Indonesians who heard the gospel for the first time tonight.
    

Thank you to everyone who prayed for the service. It went well, we had 65 people show up, including 15 children! I had been told to expect only 5-7 children, so we ran out of chairs, thankfully a few of the older children didn't mind standing.  😄 I didn't teach the lesson this time. A Taiwanese family is going into ministry, so the wife taught the children and her oldest kids helped with the songs and games. She did an excellent job explaining the gospel story to the children, I'm thankful for her willingness to serve!  Please continue to pray for the Indonesians who heard the gospel for the first time tonight.
    

Thank you to everyone who prayed for the service. It went well, we had 65 people show up, including 15 children! I had been told to expect only 5-7 children, so we ran out of chairs, thankfully a few of the older children didn't mind standing.  😄 I didn't teach the lesson this time. A Taiwanese family is going into ministry, so the wife taught the children and her oldest kids helped with the songs and games. She did an excellent job explaining the gospel story to the children, I'm thankful for her willingness to serve!  Please continue to pray for the Indonesians who heard the gospel for the first time tonight.
    

His statement shows promise, and it was encouraging to hear that some members of the church plan to stand with the protestors. I still don't care for this church and school, but Pastor Wilkerson inherited a hornets nest and I pray he leads this church in the right direction. 
 
That is not the intent of this particular protest. Nobody is protesting or attacking First Baptist because they preach the gospel. They are protesting the abuse and coverup of abuses that have taken place at that church. If I lived in the area, I would be standing with them. Abuse is evil and should be called out. It's very sad that it's taking a documentary and protests to get this church's attention and for them to admit what had happened there was wrong and evil. We need to have the integrity to admit when something is wrong in our ranks and not just dismiss "the world" because they call us out. 

For the first time in a very long time, I find myself respecting First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana. Pastor Wilkerson inherited this mess, and I believe he's handling it the best way he can.
In my personal interactions with Pastor Wilkerson, he has consistently been nothing but gracious and humble, a far cry from the previous pastors.

I don't know all that First Baptist is doing to handle this past situation, nor do I need to know. I just hope they are doing everything they can to support the women who were hurt in the past by the previous staff members.