Staying The Course

Recently we attended a preacher's conference in our state, where God had clearly brought a number of preachers to the pulpit, with the same burden on their hearts, to proclaim His truth. The emphasis of this one-day conference was faithfulness to the task of pastoring and proclaiming, in spite of the many struggles, pitfalls, and discouragements that come the way of the man of God. Without a doubt, the key principle that was brought forth was that, while the great men of the past, such as Moody, Spurgeon, Sunday, etc., have left us a wonderful picture of faithful service, we dare not ONLY look back to them. The future generation is depending on US now to leave them a legacy of faithfulness. The ministry is never going to get any easier. The devil knows his time is short and he will attempt anything to try to dissuade and discourage those who have been called to stand in the pulpits of America and thunder forth "Thus saith the LORD!". Some will fall prey to his schemes, and that will be tragic. But we must never allow the demise of some to turn the rest of us away from serving God. Somewhere out there someone is depending on you and me to stay faithful. 
This is especially true in the area of nursing home ministry. Many in America's nursing homes are literally living "on the brink of eternity", as we say, and they know it! One of the saddest things about ministering among the elderly is that on any given week we can go into a home for our service, only to find that "so-and-so" is missing. During the week they have slipped off into eternity. How important it is to be there as often as we can, proclaiming the wonderful truths of God's Word; laying out the simple plan of salvation before them, that they might trust in Christ. What if we were not there? I know of several nursing homes where we are the ONLY Bible-preaching ministry there! We must stay faithful to our calling. To do this, we rely upon the faithful giving of God's people in churches that see the importance of reaching "America's fastest growing, yet most neglected mission field". In the days ahead, we are asking God to expand our ministry, both through increased giving that will allow us to travel to more nursing homes, and through the development of C.A.R.E. Ministries in other places. We are actively recruiting couples who share our burden to reach this forgotten segment of society. If you are a pastor and would like to have us come to your church and share this unusual ministry, please call us or e-mail us. We would count it a pleasure. Meanwhile, let's stay faithful!