Me: “Really!?  That’s a great perspective!  I would have to say that I totally agree!" 

Marco: “You do?"

Me: "Yes, Christianity is a crutch and I would say that you need that crutch!" 

Marco: "Well, I think that a crutch will kinda slow me down… If you know what I mean.” 

Me:  “Oh, thats where you're wrong… once you get used to the crutch, you can really go!"

Marco: "How so?"

Me: "Do you understand why a handicapped man uses a crutch?"

Marco: "Well, yes….. it's because he has a disability" 

Me: You might not recognize it yet but you've got a spiritual disability and you need spiritual help. God is offering a crutch to anyone who will receive it." 

Complete change of demeanor…. Guard goes down…

Marco: "I've never had a conversation like this before .... Who are you?"  

Me: "Just a disabled guy who's leaning on God's crutch and trying to offer it to others in need.” 

Marco: "How did you know I needed to have this conversation?"

Me:  "Ha! God is always setting up divine appointments!"

After this we took a seat and had a lengthy and fantastic talk about Romans 1:16 "The gospel is the power (crutch) of God for the salvation of everyone who believes."   Please pray for Marco! 

I had that conversation…. and many others like it, at Texas Tech In Lubbock Texas….  Amy and I and the kids spent 10 days there last month while I was doing evangelism and teaching through the book of Acts at the DITP institute.  We had plans to be in Peru with the students from the Discipleship Intern Training Program but the Covid rules and regulations in Peru tightened up about a week before our departure and it became obvious that it was going to be quite complicated to get through all the "hoops" with a big team. I really thought I would be writing this months blog post from the jungles of Peru...... but alas, the pandemic!   In the end we were able to postpone the trip until April 24th…. We are praying that that date works out :)   In spite of the sudden schedule changes we still had a fantastic time and we thoroughly enjoyed our experience with all the students there in Lubbock. 

On our way back home we spent a couple of days with the saints from Northside Bible Chapel in Wichita KS.  We enjoyed a lot of mutual encouragement with the believers there and it was great to open Gods word and preach a few times there on Sunday.  When we finally headed back to Dubuque we were greeted by a polar vortex and we've been experiencing sub zero Fahrenheit temperatures ever since.  It is very cold and we've got lots of snow!  Its supposed to get down to -20F tonight…. and that’s not counting the windchill!  

We thank the Lord that, neither arctic cold nor coronavirus nor travel restrictions nor face masks can stop the gospel as it continues to go out through zoom meetings.  This last month I was able to preach, not only in the USA but also in Honduras, Peru and Canada through Zoom. We are grateful for technology!  What a great day and age in which we live…. It may be that the end of the ages has come upon our generation and we must look for every way possible to continue getting the good news out in these dark days.  

Missions quote for the day by Amy Carmichael: "We have all eternity to tell of the victories won for Christ but we have only a few hours before sunset to win them.”

One more missions quote for the day by Jonathan Edwards: "Resolution one: I will live for God.  Resolution two: If no one else does, I still will." 

Micah for the Tuttle's