University Baptist Church, Clemson, SC

Last week was our first real week of meetings for the semester. UBC is a college town church filled with many young people. They have a thriving ministry to the college students of Clemson through a ministry called Cross Impact. I had always heard of this ministry while I was a student at BJ, but this was my first time to experience it. In preparation for our meetings, UBC had reserved a hall for an irish concert on the Clemson campus. The church had been passing out a few thousand free tickets to students on campus, inviting them to our concert. Our team does not have the opportunity often to have this kind of evangelistic experience to college students, so we were pumped to see what God would do. The night of the concert arrived and many college students poured in to the hall. We probably had around 75 students come who had never been a part of the Cross Impact Ministry. That night at least 3 people made professions of faith! Many others heard the gospel and great contact was made for the Cross Impact Ministries. It's exciting to see the gospel of Christ reaching the students of Clemson. May revival spread through the campus and many hearts turn to Him.

On another note, last week I had the opportunity of teaching the Battle 4 Truth kids pre-session. We prepare the kids for battle by teaching them truths from Ephesians 6. They're instructed on how to fight against lies from the devil, their flesh, and the world. As I was explaining how to detect these lies, a girl named Tiffany raised her hand and asked, "Why does God let bad things happen?". This is usually a difficult question to answer that could take some time, but I just responded, "Well a lot of things God does is a mystery we won't know til we get to heaven. I do know in my own life though that if I never had bad things happen to me, I wouldn't need God. Because of the hard things, I've had to cry out to God for dependence and help."

Later, a friend in the church pulled me aside and gave me a little background on Tiffany's family life. I learned that currently her mom was not living with their family. She had left twice before and was now gone again with another man. My heart broke for little Tiffany and the rest of their family. Little did I know the weight of that question when I answered it. Praise God he guided my tongue! My prayer is that God would keep their family from bitterness. May these sweet kids grow up to know God in a special way.

This situation caused me to reflect on two things:

1. The hard things in this world do cause me to long for the holiness of God. Every hard situation has caused me to run to Christ. Just like in the life of Joseph, God can bring good out of evil situations.

2. The words that come out of my mouth, must always be Spirit led. Rarely do I know the background of many of the people I meet in churches. God control my tongue. James 3 - the tongue is a world of iniquity, a small fire, a deadly poison - could set on fire the course of life and it is set on fire by hell.

Keep UBC in your prayers! They are currently in the process of finding a new pastor. God is doing great things in His church family.

Christmas Break

This week, our team has come back together to begin our spring schedule of meetings. We had 6-7 weeks off. I always love my breaks. It's a great time for rest and refreshment in the Word. It was a busy break though with trips to Virginia Beach, Atlanta, Greenville, Indianapolis, and Ft. Myers.

I would have to say one of the highlights of my break was a service I participated in at Gunnery Road Baptist Church in Ft. Myers, FL. Pastor Vance is the dad of my good friend Katie. I've started making a tradition of going down to see them every winter. They are some of the most generous people I know. I love the Vance family and the dear people in their church. Their Christmas service was unique and very special. Along with special numbers from the choir, they had 4 people from their congregation give testimonies. Each testimony was such a blessing to me. I wanted to share a few of them with you all.

The first testimony was a from a young, elementary boy. He boldly spoke of placing his faith in Jesus as His Savior. It was very sweet to see someone so young speak of placing their faith in Christ.

The second testimony was from a young father in the church. He and his family have only been saved for a few years. Before he came to Gunnery Road, he was just a working dad trying to make ends meet. He kept trying and trying in his own strength to provide for his family, but times were tough. He was struggling to make ends meet. Finally through a series of events, he and his family wound up at church during a week of meetings with the Galkins. God had prepared his heart, and that night he accepted Christ as His Savior. He realized he could do nothing in his own strength. Christ is the only One who could take care of his family's needs.

The third testimony was from a lady in the church who'd been saved for about 15 years. Before she came to know Christ, she was a very religious person. She was into reincarnation and other mystical beliefs. One night, after staring at the stars, the thought came to her mind that there must be some one who created all the universe. In her heart, she new something was missing from her beliefs. She contacted her friend who was a believer. This friend eventually shared with her the truth about Christ and she came to the Lord.

The fourth testimony was from another man in the church. Before he came to Christ, he did drugs, dealt drugs, and was a liar. If asked though, he would say he was a good guy and would go to heaven because he was good. After years of hating the church and vowing to never step foot into a church building, he decided he would go to a service. While there, he realized the saving work of Christ and became a believer.

These were 4 clear testimony's of people whose hearts God had prepared for salvation. Each of them had specific ways in which they were trying to find goodness and satisfaction in themselves. All came to know Christ through specific leading of God through events in their lives. This was one of the most enjoyable services I had ever been a part of. Praise the Lord for His great salvation!

Books on Prayer

Book review time! Right now I am in the midst of reading two books on prayer. A Praying Life by Paul Miller, I have almost completed. The Hidden Life of Prayer by David McIntyre, I have only read a few chapters. These two books have been such an encouragement to me. The Lord has used them to show me how poor my prayer life has really been. Since reading these books, I have enjoyed my prayer time in new ways and have actually seen God answer prayers I've brought to Him. God is changing my thoughts concerning prayer, and I just want to share a few thoughts that have been a blessing to me.

First, let's look at A Praying Life. Paul Miller has written this book to encourage the believer to see anew God as our Father. Paul often directs us to examine what a relationship between the Father and His children actually should look like. I love how Paul describes relationships on pg. 47, "Any relationship, if it is going to grow, needs private space, time together without an agenda, where you can get to know each other. This creates an environment where closeness can happen, where we can begin to understand each other's hearts." For those who don't think they need to set aside time for prayer and instead just pray here and there throughout the day, Paul says, "... a husband and wife who only talk in snippets to one another throughout the day would have a shallow relationship. You'd be business partners... You can't build a relationship by sound bites." (pg. 49) Both times of praying are important. We need that set aside personal time. We also must know we can come to God about anything - anytime throughout the day.

An aspect that was especially crucial for me to see about God as my Father, was the fact that nothing is too small to bring to Him in prayer. Often times I think I shouldn't ask God for things. I sometimes can have the martyr complex where I don't deserve anything from God and just constantly need to be sacrificing everything to Him. I do need to make sure God has my whole heart and that I don't have any idols. At the same time though, God does want me to be happy. Fathers delight in giving their children things that make them happy. I can bring everything to God in prayer and ask Him to give me the desires of my heart. Knowing the Father loves me in this way, I have found a renewed freedom and joy in petitioning the Lord. I even find my heart drawn more now to praising God for allowing me to have a relationship with Him rather than asking, asking, and asking all the time. Don't get me wrong, I do ask God for things still, but God's given me grace to have joy in the fact that everything in my life is a good gift from Him.

Read this book! Find out what the relationship with you, a child of God, looks like with God the Father.

Now, The Hidden life of Prayer. I have only read a few chapters from this book, but it has been filled with thoughts that have turned my heart and mind sweetly to God. I will just share quotes that hopefully will be as much a blessing to you as they have been to me.

Dr. Moody Stuart says, "(a) Pray till you pray; (b) Pray till you are conscious of being heard; (c) Pray till you receive an answer." (pg. 18)

Augustine says, "He that loveth little prayeth little, and he that loveth much prayeth much." (pg. 24

Pere la Combe - "he who has a pure heart will never cease to pray, and he who will be constant in prayer shall know what it is to have a pure heart." (pg. 24)

Richard Baxter - "Prayer is the breath of the new creature" (pg. 24)

George Herbert - "Prayer... the soul's blood" (pg. 24)

Richard Sibbes - "When we go to God by prayer, the devil knows we go to fetch strength against him, and therefore he opposeth us all he can." (pg. 27)

Hewitson - "Oral prayer, and prayer mentally ordered in words though not uttered aloud, no believer can engage in without ceasing; but there is an undercurrent of prayer that may run continually under the stream of our thoughts and never weary us. Such prayer is the silent breathing of the Spirit of God who dwells in our hearts; it is the temper and habit of the spiritual mind; it is the pulse of our life which is hid with Christ in God." (pg. 29)

McIntyre says, "The equipment for the inner life of prayer is simple, if not always easily secured. It consists particularly of a quiet place, a quiet hour, and a quiet heart." (pg. 37)

He later says a quiet heart can be found by 3 things: 1. Looking to the cross 2. the enablement of the Spirit 3. by the Word of God.

Finally, one of my favorite quotes describing the work of the Spirit in prayer, "as a man taking up a heavy piece of timber by the one end cannot alone get it up till some other man takes it up at the other end, and so helps him; so the poor soul that is pulling and tugging with his own heart he finds it heavy and dull, like a log in a ditch, and he can do not good with it, till at last the Spirit of God comes at the other end, and takes the heaviest end of the burden, and so helps the soul to lift it up." (Ambrose, pg. 46)

Frazor Recording!

Finally! A chance to sit down with a cup of coffee and share what I've been doing the last week and a half.

Since Thanksgiving, I've spent my time with the Frazor Evangelistic Team. Jeremy and Misha Frazor and their family travel in evangelism. The Lord has blessed them with a wonderful team comprised of their family and 5 single adults: Aaron Boyce, Joe Kopp, Kaytlynn Wood, Jennifer Davenport, and Kathy Flack. I had the privilege of traveling with Jeremy and Misha my first two years on the road with Steve Pettit. Since then, we've continued a close relationship even though we work in different ministries. Misha first approached me last summer about the possibility of their team doing their first recording. I became very excited and began prepping Misha on all that would need to be accomplished before they entered the recording studio. Their team worked hard all this last fall, and finally the week of recording came: November 29 thru December 3.

My role in the recording was the director. I was the voice in the headphones. I determined the recording schedule, gave last minute instruction and advice, and made important recording decisions. I worked alongside Ben Vawter, our engineer at Aire Born Studios in Indianapolis, IN.

The team did a great job all week. Misha played the flute and whistles, Kaytlynn played the violin, Joe played the mandolin, and Jeremy and Aaron played the guitar. The whole team was involved in singing. They were musically prepared and sang from their hearts. We worshiped the Lord as we recorded the music.

There are a great variety songs on this cd. Here's a few: There is a Fountain, What Grace is Mine, Beneath the Cross of Jesus, Shadow of the Cross. We hope to release the recording in late January/early February. Pray as we finish up the mixing and begin the process of artwork and licenses. Praise the Lord for a wonderful week with friends and the privilege to be a part of such an amazing experience.

Fun, Family, Food, Football...

A wise man (Joel Albright) once said to me, "You know Reba? Thanksgiving is all about words that start with the letter 'F': fun, family, food, and football." I always think of Joel whenever Thanksgiving rolls around. :)

Right now I'm in Greenville visiting family - my sister Anna and her husband Dave. Anna just had her first baby September 12. This is the first time I've met my nephew - Mordecai David Fink. He's a cute little man that's just beginning to smile and make sweet girgling noises. Here's a pic of Cai and his adorable little hat I just bought him.

My mom joins us tonight and we'll all spend the next few days together.

Thanksgiving - obviously this is the holiday when everyone focus's even more on being thankful. Thankfulness just happens to be one of the characteristics I'm praying the Lord will change in me this holiday break. When I first started traveling with the Galkins, Will would often tell me I'm either living in the past or in the future. I consistently have a hard time living each day as it comes. Because I struggle living in the past and in the future, I struggle with discontentment. These days I often find myself not being content with the plans God has for me right now. I long for what the world calls "the normal life" - a home, husband, family, car, and comfort. Instead I'm living out of a suitcase in people's homes, I'm not married, and I'm not living the normal 29 yr. old life. Is God making a mistake in my life? Are His plans not good? Of course not! The Bible clearly says "As for God, His way is perfect!". James 1:17 says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." The last few days, I've been praying God would help me cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving. To do this, I spend every morning in prayer. I thank the Lord that today I get to have a relationship with Him. I thank Him for His plans for me in my day. I thank Him specifically for each person I know I will come in contact with and pray for those people. As I go through out my day, I ask the Lord to help me give all my attention to the people I meet. I want to be all there in every conversation I have with people. I read a quote today out of the book I'm reading titled A Praying Life by Paul E. Miller. He said, "Thanksgiving helps us to be grace-centered, seeing all of life as a gift."

Thank You, Lord, for all the gifts You've given me. My heart is filled. Happy Thanksgiving!

Welcome to the table!

Welcome! Welcome to the pilgrim's table of thoughts and conversations. What better way to share life's stories then by enjoying a nice, warm cup of coffee around the table with your friends?

I am a pilgrim. What is a pilgrim? A pilgrim is a person who journeys. Why journey? I have something worth living for - the gospel. I believe the mindset of Philippians 1:12 - live my life "for the furtherance of the gospel." What is the gospel? God sending His Son, Jesus, to this earth as a man to die on the cross for the sins of the world. His death was the payment for the penalty we deserved for our sin. The gospel is also Christ's resurrection from the grave. All those who believe in Christ are saved. I have been gloriously saved from my sin! This is why I travel - so others may hear the gospel.

This blog will be a record of my journeys. I travel August thru May on an evangelistic team. I travel with 9 other adults and 5 children. I live out of a suitcase in people's homes. Every day is an adventure. As we sit around the table together, you'll hear of God's work in my life and in the lives of people I meet. You may also hear of the other things I enjoy such as music, coffee, shopping, and friends. So here goes nothing! Here's a little peak into the life of a pilgrim.