Dear friends,
When I retired from my church and from my missions ministry of IDT (International Disciple Training, Inc.), it was for the express purpose of reaching a far greater audience than I had ever done before. After very much seeking the Lord, I knew He was calling me to reach people on the Internet.
In full disclosure I knew it would be an uphill battle; First, I am not a professional writer although after posting about 300 articles on the internet, I have learned a few lessons. Some good lessons and some bad. On the good side, the Great Commission tells us to GO INTO THE WORLD (Matthew 28:18-20), make disciples and teach. Of course you cannot very well baptise on the internet but you certainly can encourage folks to do so.
On the negative side I learned very quickly that many in leadership of the organized church reject the idea that an internet based ministry is a valid ministry. That never bothered me because I know what the Lord put on my heart and just like we should ALL be doing, I am playing for an audience of ONE! So for the next few years I authored and posted somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 fairly lengthy Biblical articles. Very much to my surprise many of them have been read by folks in over 70 countries.
If that is not an example of the grace of God---I never saw one!
Then, for my wife Brandy and I, tragedy struck on December 13, about year and a half ago. Our precious son Santiago graduated to heaven on that day. For my wife it was earth shattering. Both of us know exactly where he is and that he is waiting for us to catch up with him someday---but for a mother--that knowledge does not fill her empty arms! For me? While it was horrible, the net result was that I lost the drive to write. I tried valiantly but my inspiration simply would not come. As a result, anyone looking will discover that I published my last blog article in July 2020.
Then COVID struck the entire world!!! There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that this worldwide plague is directly out of Matthew chapter 24:7. Not that God caused it but I do believe Jesus was identifying Covid when He spoke of Famines, Pestilence and earthquakes etc. The result as you will remember is VERY MANY churches closed and many believers out of fellowship. A DISCLAIMER---in a perfect world, as a pastor of 35 years, I would choose for ALL believers to be in a good Bible teaching church with their own pastor. But COVID made that impossible. I am not one who decries the evils of Social Networking although most certainly there are many. But what can be used for evil can also be used for good. So, with no inspiration to write my blog articles I automatically defaulted to one of my spiritual gifts---ENCOURAGEMENT!
I began encouraging folks on my FaceBook page and quickly discovered an entire ministry all of it's own.
So, I write on Face daily, post scriptures and some light hearted jokes. That has attracted well over 2000 friends and is rapidly growing. In short, although certainly not advertising as such, I find myself being a sort of on-line pastor to many still out of fellowship. It's a safe place for people based on at least three things; 1). I ALWAYS stick to the Bible and post nothing about any denominational doctrine. 2). Ministry for me has never been about money so I don't discuss it or ask for monetary support and never intend to. 3). I have nothing for sale and do not sign up for any advertising on my Face page.
I had no idea of what the Lord obviously knew would happen. FOLKS NEED TO BE ENCOURAGED DAILY! So, I do and will continue doing so.
BUT NOW--Praise the Name of JESUS, for the first time in nearly two years, my inspiration seems to be returning. What you are reading right now is the first blog I have published in a long time and I find myself excited about getting back in the writing groove for Jesus!
I have lots of writing fodder. I plan to get back to Biblical prophecy, short sermons, interesting worldwide phenomena and hope to do some live teaching---FACEBOOK LIVE. COOL!!! (-:
God bless you all today, BE BLESSED!
Pastor Rance.
