WellWithMySoul

That is sooooooooo awesome, LuAnne!  That brings joyful tears!  Indeed, I will pray that she will go to church and be open to discipleship!  (By the way, your little guy is such a precious looking little man!)

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. 

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.
    

Happy New Year to all - hopefully 2024 is one of the best years in our Lord ever. 
We started the year Sunday evening (I realize the year didn't start til midnight, but it was 2024 elsewhere in the world heehee) with food and games at church after the service. It was fun, and hubs and I stayed longer than we planned...in fact, we ended up being the last to leave. lol
Yesterday we had our son, dil, and grandson over for dinner along with a young lady who's been coming to church (and whom I'm discipling currently). Lasagna and then more games. But THIS grandma got to play with her grandson and then feed him, rock him to sleep and just enjoy holding that sleeping boy til he woke up. Nice start to the new year. 😍

Yes, Psalm 23 is speaking of the Good Shepherd, who stated that He "giveth his life for the sheep". That is a stark contrast to earthly shepherds whose sheep give their lives for the shepherd. From some of my limited and flawed observations, I am inclined to believe that there are other "opposites" written in Psalm 23 as well. For instance; I've observed that sheep prefer to paw out the grass so that they can lie down in the dirt. When sheep rise from these little beds they have made, they relieve themselves in the beds rendering the area in and around them unfit for grazing. If a whole flock of sheep are allowed to lie down in such an area for even one night,, they ruin it because a sheep will not eat where there is urine or excrement until it has been rained on sufficiently; And if they DO have to graze there they will ingest parasites which greatly impairs their health. So putting the flock on fresh pasture(ideally every day) practically eliminates parasites because it disrupts the parasites' life cycles.
But they WILL lie down in these beds night after night; and that's OK if that is a designated bedding area. So, I'm inclined to believe that any "bronze age" middle eastern shepherd who had even an ounce of sense was not going to allow his sheep to lie down in a rare and precious "green pasture" because that pasture was scarce and it was his livelihood.  Any ancient shepherd should have taken notice of this as very unusual upon reading or hearing Psalm 23 because the Good Shepherd does make his sheep to ''lie down in green pastures". To me, that is saying that the Good Shepherd has such an abundance of "green pastures" that he doesn't have to let his "sheep" lie in a sandy area in our own filth ; Even though it's our nature to "lie in the dirt" of this world and in the filth of our own making, He makes us "lie down" to rest in a clean place.

You know how people are always passing on certain blessings - like, May the road always rise to meet you, etc., etc.? Well, here is my attempt at a Biblical blessing poem:
Be Strong And Of A Good Courage
“Be strong and of a good courage,” My child,
“Fear not, nor be afraid,” saith the Lord.
May your life be filled to the brim with His promises,
Overflowing with hope and wisdom gleaned from God’s Word.
Jesus is your Shepherd who will lead and guide you;
He will walk beside you every step of the way;
He will lift you up and carry you there in His arms,
Bring you back close beside Him whenever you stray.
There is so much the Lord wants to do for you,
So much your Heavenly Father has in store;
Just when you think that you can’t be more blessed,
God surprises your life with even more.
In His Word, you have His promise to be with you,
Through all the sunny days, and even the bad.
He will work out all things together for your good;
There are so many reasons to “rejoice and be glad.”
As a pilgrim and a stranger on this journey,
May all of your days be filled with Heaven’s best.
As you look back over your life in reflection,
May you find that you have been truly blessed.
December 3, 2023
Jerry Bouey
(Christmas Project 2023)
Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Thank you for the information.  I wish that we could attend the services, but are headed up to Washington tomorrow...not far from where Happy Christian is.  I shall be lifting Linda and Jim's daughter up in prayer though, and hope that the services will be a testimony to any that attend--that are lost.  May they also be a comfort and encouragement to the saved.  I will miss Jim here on OLB as I do Mike (Uke) and Alan (Rebecca, I think of you and your mom often and whisper prayers for you). I learned a lot from these fellas, and they were a blessing to me over the years.

We are on the road now.  Our stay in WA is going to be fairly short. We have 2 sons up there in the Lacey area. Tomorrow we will be going to see Tim's 102 yr old mom in Enumclaw (she still ministers to others).  Saturday we will going to our youngest son's retirement from the military ceremony. Our daughter in law is having a party for him too.  We leave on Monday to return home.
It would've been great to meet you and visit your church, but it looks like time will be too tight.

Thank you for the information.  I wish that we could attend the services, but are headed up to Washington tomorrow...not far from where Happy Christian is.  I shall be lifting Linda and Jim's daughter up in prayer though, and hope that the services will be a testimony to any that attend--that are lost.  May they also be a comfort and encouragement to the saved.  I will miss Jim here on OLB as I do Mike (Uke) and Alan (Rebecca, I think of you and your mom often and whisper prayers for you). I learned a lot from these fellas, and they were a blessing to me over the years.

Linda, my heart is sad that Jim is gone from you and from us.  It is comforting to know that he is safely home with our Saviour, and we can rejoice in that even as we grieve here.  It's so wonderful that the Lord understands.  It grieves Him so very much when the lost perish.  Yet it's so comforting to know His love for us is so great that He is taken with our grief even when we know a loved one has gone to be with Him.  When we weep, He weeps.  He loves you so much, Linda...and I will continue to lift you up in prayer.

Linda, my heart is so burdened and heavy for you.  I'm so glad that you have our Lord Jesus, the Spirit--our great Comforter.  I'm just over on the other side of Mt. Shasta from you, and it was our church that helped to put the roofing on yours just a short while back.  One of the fellas that attends your church has a brother that goes to our church.  I will share with our Pastor and ask for prayer for you and for the family and friends and your church.  I'm lifting you up in much prayer.

Linda, my heart is so burdened and heavy for you.  I'm so glad that you have our Lord Jesus, the Spirit--our great Comforter.  I'm just over on the other side of Mt. Shasta from you, and it was our church that helped to put the roofing on yours just a short while back.  One of the fellas that attends your church has a brother that goes to our church.  I will share with our Pastor and ask for prayer for you and for the family and friends and your church.  I'm lifting you up in much prayer.

Linda, my heart is so burdened and heavy for you.  I'm so glad that you have our Lord Jesus, the Spirit--our great Comforter.  I'm just over on the other side of Mt. Shasta from you, and it was our church that helped to put the roofing on yours just a short while back.  One of the fellas that attends your church has a brother that goes to our church.  I will share with our Pastor and ask for prayer for you and for the family and friends and your church.  I'm lifting you up in much prayer.

Linda, my heart is so burdened and heavy for you.  I'm so glad that you have our Lord Jesus, the Spirit--our great Comforter.  I'm just over on the other side of Mt. Shasta from you, and it was our church that helped to put the roofing on yours just a short while back.  One of the fellas that attends your church has a brother that goes to our church.  I will share with our Pastor and ask for prayer for you and for the family and friends and your church.  I'm lifting you up in much prayer.

Linda, my heart is so burdened and heavy for you.  I'm so glad that you have our Lord Jesus, the Spirit--our great Comforter.  I'm just over on the other side of Mt. Shasta from you, and it was our church that helped to put the roofing on yours just a short while back.  One of the fellas that attends your church has a brother that goes to our church.  I will share with our Pastor and ask for prayer for you and for the family and friends and your church.  I'm lifting you up in much prayer.

Linda, my heart is so burdened and heavy for you.  I'm so glad that you have our Lord Jesus, the Spirit--our great Comforter.  I'm just over on the other side of Mt. Shasta from you, and it was our church that helped to put the roofing on yours just a short while back.  One of the fellas that attends your church has a brother that goes to our church.  I will share with our Pastor and ask for prayer for you and for the family and friends and your church.  I'm lifting you up in much prayer.

Here is the latest:
"As I said last night I spoke with the Neurologist yesterday. The neurologist had another CT scan performed yesterday afternoon. The results show that he experienced several strokes to various areas of his brain during surgery. What the Doctor does not know yet is the extent of damage done to those areas of the brain. The neurologist cannot evaluate the brain damage until Jimmy wakes up from the coma.  If he does wake up, then the Doctor will have a better idea of the extent of brain damage. I wish I could give more concrete answers but we just don’t know yet. The Doctors said his condition is very serious but we can only wait to see if he wakes up to know more.    I won't be sending any more updates until we actually know more than this.    Linda"

I'm so very glad that our church was able to help with your church roof!  The pictures of the process are wonderful and the thank you notes sent over are priceless.  Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! 
I will be lifting you up in much prayer preceding, as you go through the triple by-pass, and for the days following. 

I'm so very glad that our church was able to help with your church roof!  The pictures of the process are wonderful and the thank you notes sent over are priceless.  Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! 
I will be lifting you up in much prayer preceding, as you go through the triple by-pass, and for the days following. 

I would like to ask for prayer from my OB family regarding my upcoming triple heart by-pass surgery. There is no firm date for this surgery, but it will happen soon.
Last week the docs tried a procedure to put in stents, but it was unsuccessful, so a triple heart by-pass is needed.
Please pray with and for me.

We have a massive wildfire going on where I live. Very fast moving and dangerous. Would appreciate prayers for safety for ourselves and firefighters, as well as those who have lost everything. We are under mandatory evacuation order
Fire Information

Have you accepted this position?
"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."                  [Matthew 28:18-20]
Satan and those who are confused or deceived by Satan will, in Satan's case knowingly, and in the case of the deceived, knowingly or unknowingly do any/every-thing to prevent you from performing the work you have accepted when you accepted this position.

WellWithMySoul,
Thank you for your observation and thoughts. 
You are correct. The KJV is just fine, accurate, simple, loyal to the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts, and adequate to use in translating into foreign languages. 
Alan 

I was responding to the OP, but it still stands for me that though I am not a linguist, I would still use a KJV (not "updated") to translate to the foreign language.

I was responding to the OP, but it still stands for me that though I am not a linguist, I would still use a KJV (not "updated") to translate to the foreign language.