Warning: Mrs. Cindie Trieber, please do not read beyond this sentence.

I write this article with Valentine’s Day several weeks away; however, I have already purchased many items for my wife—
· A brand new Lexus SUV
· A huge diamond ring
· A $1,000 Macy’s gift card
· A $1,000 cash gift
· Three dozen roses
I am relieved that Cindie has no idea of these gifts. She might feel compelled to give me more than socks, cologne, and handkerchiefs this year!

In all seriousness, however, I do hope that the meaning of Valentine’s Day will be manifested in our words and actions on February 14.

I recently received an e-mail asking if Christians should celebrate Valentine’s Day. “Is it Scriptural?” the sender wondered, to whom I now answer, “No.” There is no specific Scriptural basis for the day, nor is there any specific Scriptural basis for being the only person to neglect one’s spouse on Valentine’s Day. We cannot find Scripture for this holiday or for other thoughtful and appropriate deeds such as holding a door for a lady or eating with our mouths closed, yet we practice them.

Then why should we observe Valentine’s Day? I remember this day because of one single word—love. I love my wife, our children, their mates, our grandchildren, the people of the North Valley Baptist Church, and so many others and, like you, anticipate opportunities to express that love often. Valentine’s Day presents a special opportunity for all of us.

I will never forget the day I met with a husband and wife on the verge of divorce. The wife said that, in twenty-five years of marriage, her husband had never remembered her on Valentine’s Day, on their anniversary, and on her birthday. The husband apologized and promised to change; however, for the wife, it was too late. I wonder, my friends, how Scriptural is it to get a divorce? Go celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Related posts:

1. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Trey Elijah Thompson didn’t wait another week. He was born December 18th, weighing in at 6.5 pounds and 21 inches long.

By mid-December I was relieved to have most major events out of the way with the exception of a staff kids party, a birthday party for our daughter, two anniversaries to celebrate and a Christmas wedding to attend! I was thrilled on December 15th that we could now concentrate on getting our shopping started and hopefully completed in a couple of days…and then we got the phone call. “Hey, this is Ryan. We are at the hospital and here’s what is going on.” What? It can’t be! Tiffany wasn’t due for another five weeks, January 27th to be exact.

“Once a mother, always a mother” is a true statement, and when your daughter is in the hospital five weeks before her due date, your mind plays all kinds of tricks on you and your nerves go on edge! All three of our children have now experienced trauma with the birth of at least one of their children. The first was Tabitha with her eldest son Riley. This ended up as a six-week ordeal and a hospital stay that we certainly did not expect. The hospital was a good 17 miles one way and I went every day with the exception of one during that time. The second trauma came at the birth of Landon to our son, Tim, and his wife Rebecca. He wasn’t born premature but there were complications at birth which turned into several months of recovery time for Rebecca. This time it was Tiffany’s turn! With this being their fourth child we assumed it would be a “piece of cake.” Wrong!

After several consultations with doctors it was decided to try and hold off delivery for at least another week. With Christmas just days away it was difficult to just wait and trust, although, that is exactly what God wants us to do. His timing is perfect, or so I tell everyone else! Once you are handed “the news” you take a deep breath, and pray that God will give you wisdom and strength during the difficult situation, and that He will work all things to His glory. I can honestly say that is exactly what happened.

Trey Elijah Thompson didn’t wait another week. He was born December 18th, weighing in at 6.5 pounds and 21 inches long. He was a very healthy premature baby! After the usual battery of tests, and some time under the bilirubin lights, both Tiffany and Trey were discharged on December 20th, FIVE days before Christmas! We did get our shopping done and we certainly did enjoy Christmas dinner with our family at our house on Christmas Day. Looking back we can’t imagine Christmas without having the new addition to our family. Tiffany was able to enjoy the holidays with her children and even take a couple of rides to look at Christmas lights! Trey is already weighing in at about 12 pounds and is growing like a weed! We have made mention several times in the last six weeks that he wasn’t even due yet!! He was our Christmas miracle.

What did I learn from this? I learned that God’s timing is perfect and that I can ALWAYS trust Him to do what is good and perfect in my life and in the lives of my children.

Did you have a Christmas miracle? Yes, we all did. It was the miracle of the birth of Jesus, God’s son, and the Savior of the world! It is my prayer that this year of 2012 will find you drawing closer to Him every day.

Happy New Year !

Related posts:

1. The Perfect Gift
2. Merry Christmas to all

The Bible has much to say about our hearts. God is intensely interested in our thoughts and emotions. We may think that it does not matter to God if we have an indifferent attitude toward Him, but the Scripture says that He will bless those who are seeking Him with their whole hearts.

No one can see your heart. In fact, the Bible teaches that we do not know our own hearts. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). However, there are indicators that can help us know if we are seeking after God with our whole heart.

• Our Thoughts

“For the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee,” (I Chronicles 28:9).

God wants us to love Him. He searches our hearts to see if we are thinking of Him. Monitor your thoughts and you will begin to get a good picture of where your heart is focused. If you are not thinking about the things of God, your heart is far from Him. “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts,” (Psalm 10:4). I was talking with a new Christian this past week, and he said something that really encouraged me. He said, “I have been reading my Bible more lately and I find that I think about God all the time.” I thought, there is a person who is growing in the Lord. There is a person who has a heart for God.

• Our Testimony

The things we do are a testament to the condition of our hearts. Not just the things that we do when we know that people can see us, but also the things we do when no one is watching. God pays attention to our actions. When Elijah told the Lord that he was the last one who still served faithfully, the Lord said, “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him,” (I Kings 19:18). God was paying attention to what His people were doing in Elijah’s day, and I believe the same is true today. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars,” (II Chronicles 16:9).

• Our Time

Time is the stuff from which our lives are made. It is said that the best way to spell love is T-I-M-E. The time we spend in prayer points to the love we have in our hearts for God. If you love someone, you want to communicate with them and prayer is our means of communication with God.

The Bible is God’s communication to us. The time we spend reading the Bible reveals our love for God. The more time we spend in God’s Word and prayer, the more our hearts will be in tune with Him.

It is natural for us to live for ourselves; it is not natural for us live for other people. Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another,” (John 13:35). The Lord wants us to live for others, and when we live for others it reveals our heart for God.

• Our Treasures

The way we spend our money is a huge billboard for what is going on in our hearts. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” (Matthew 6:21). Do you tithe? Do you give offerings above the tithe? Do you give to missions? Do you give to others around you in need? These are investments in eternity. “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal,” (Matthew 6:20). These investments knit our heart with the heart of God, because we are giving to the things that He cares about most.

• Our Talents

God has given each of us certain abilities and aptitudes. The Bible refers to them as gifts. What are you doing with your gifts? Are you investing them in eternity, or are you squandering them completely on yourself? I believe that every Christian has something that He should be doing for the work of the Lord and for the people around him with the gifts that God has given him. When we give our talents to God, it is an indicator that we have given Him our heart.

Are you seeking the Lord with your whole heart? No one has a perfect heart. We all hold back on God from time to time. Our hesitancy and selfishness cause our hearts to grow cold and indifferent. Day by day and hour by hour, our choices reveal the condition of our hearts. When we begin to whole-heartedly seek the Lord, His blessings begin to manifest themselves in our lives.

Related posts:

1. Check Your Heart
2. Keep Your Heart
3. Music From the Heart

North Valley Publications is making it easy for you to enjoy great music from North Valley Baptist Church and Golden State Baptist College. No need to wait in anticipation for a CD to arrive in the mail! Instead, with the click of a button, you can download many of our most popular CDs directly from the iTunes Music Store and the Amazon Music Market.

Our favorite albums that are now available for download include:

I Stand Redeemed

A Miracle in the Making

The Sounds of Christmas

Walkin’ By Faith

Saved!

Give Him the Glory

His Love Put a Song in My Heart

Lord, Lead Me On

The Singing Church Live

Invitation Songs

I Will Serve Thee

When I See the Cross

In addition to these favorites, North Valley Publications also offers many other resources including books, hymnals, and Sunday school curriculum. See the wide selection for yourself at nvpublications.org today!

Related posts:

1. Questions For The Music Director
2. Music From the Heart
3. Christian? Really?

Here are some simple yet helpful thoughts on priorities in the Christian life.

    •    There is a time and a place for everything.

Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that there is a time for everything. As Christians we must schedule our time properly. You always make time for things that are important to you. So if you say you do not have time to do something, basically you are saying that it is not that important to you.

    •    Determine what is most important.

In Luke 10, Mary and Martha were both doing important things. Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to what He had to say. Martha was busy serving and doing all that she could to take care of all of the details. Jesus saw that Martha was worried about “many things.” Jesus said, “One thing is needful.” Mary was caring for the one thing that was most important. She was spending time with her Savior.

    •    Take care of first things first.

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). The command is given to seek the kingdom of God first. If you will give God first place in your life, all of the other areas will fall into place.

    •    The Christian life is simple.

At the end of the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon sums up life with two statements. “Fear God and keep his commandments.” The Christian life must be lived with a good attitude and proper actions. Our lives are so busy and so crazy, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If we will just keep our priorities right, we can enjoy a life of peace and blessing.

Related posts:

1. 4 Things Every Christian Should Know
2. Christian? Really?
3. 7 Tips to Spiritually Improve Your Christian School

The musician was so touched that he quickly ran to another room and fell on his face weeping. He prayed, “O God, I pray that my boy will always be able to say, ‘My dad knows God”

When a Christian fails to do God’s will in any area of life, it goes back to his relationship with God.

When I talk to someone who has either backslidden or is about to make a decision he should not make, I try to figure out what happened, and what he should do. For example, if a young man in our Bible college is going to quit school, I try to see if he is having a problem with his job or if he had a misunderstanding with someone. While we may talk about those subjects, I end up focusing on one. The basic problem is always the individual’s relationship with God.

Missionaries are human beings with all the possibilities of having the wrong attitudes that anyone else can have. For example, it is easy to let money matters get us discouraged. Money problems can cause us to break friendships, become jealous, or even become dishonest. Our relationship with Jesus can keep us from all those wrong attitudes.

In their book on Hudson Taylor, Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, make this comment about Hudson Taylor: “At the Annual Meetings in May 1888, he said, ‘Suppose He should not work in the way He has done, by sending in tens of thousands of pounds. Well, then, we can do without it. We cannot do without Him, but we can do without any “it” in the world. If only we have the Lord, that’s sufficient.”

How right Taylor was! A missionary’s first priority is to walk with God. His primary goal, even in his preaching and teaching, is to guide and move people to the place in their relationship with the Lord that they are filled with the Spirit.

Biographies have always be enjoyable reading for me. Adoniram Judson, William Carey, David Livingstone, James Patton, David Brainerd, Charles Cowman, C.T. Studd, Hudson Taylor, and others I read about all had something in common—they walked with God. Their accomplishments, though great, did not stand out, as did their love for Jesus. This was the most important thing in their life. It should be ours too.

Over thirty-five years ago, Rick and Becky Martin arrived in Iloilo City, Philippines. God has amazingly blessed the faithfulness of this choice servant. More than 4,000 people attend the church services weekly. In a recent year, more than 5,000 converts were baptized. Graduates of Iloilo Baptist College have started more than 1,000 churches, 15 colleges, and hundreds Bible institutes. Their married son, Ricky and his wife, Brandie, now serves with them in Iloilo. Their daughter, Rachel, and son-in-law, Matt, are serving the Lord in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Related posts:

1. Important to God
2. What’s More Important – a Dog or a Child?

A few times each week, I visit Bibleontheweb.com or some other website that features the entire text of the King James Bible. I do this to copy entire Scripture passages onto any number of publications. Quite a significant amount of time is saved, especially when the text needed is long and time is short. However, like you, I try to review the finished product with a critical eye, including accuracy of the Scripture cited.

1. Do the words of the copied online text match the words in my Bible?

I realize how funny the question must sound, but I have come across at least two verses in recent months with slight errors in text. Both were from sources set to search the King James Bible only. What I do is compare the online text with my Bible in hand. Few and far between are the instances when they do not match, but perhaps “few and far between” is enough to check each time.

2. Have punctuation and capitalization (even small caps) been preserved?

3. Text provided requires proofing also.

I recently received an article to include in one of our bulletins. Interspersed were Bible verses for support of the main points. The text provided seemed to raise no red flags, and the article had come from a trusted source. However, when a comparison was made between the Scripture cited in the text and the verses in my Bible, the differences seemed to jump from the page. I recall a similar incident with a publication listing the names of Jesus—the text received was different from the wording in the Bible. What a project that was!

I hope these suggestions will be a help to you as you continue writing for the ministry.

Related posts:

1. Simple Tips for Church Writing: Part 1
2. Tips for the First-Time Teacher – Part 14
3. Some Tips for Preparing the Church Bulletin

1. If God has called you to the work of missions, be patient and let Him guide you to your place in missions.God’s call to the work has been made clear to you. Spend more time on what is clear and less time on what is not yet clear to you. Focus on the work He has revealed to you, and He will guide you to the place of His call. If you are doing the what of your calling, God will take care of directing you to the where of that calling. However, if you have not obeyed the call to the work of missions why should God show you the place of missions?Do not search the Scriptures for the place of your call; search them for the work of your call. The work to which God has called you can be found in the Bible, but not the specific place of that call. The work given to us in the Bible, to which God has called you, is the same wherever He may send you. The work is the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. The place is to the ends of the earth.
2. The first place of God’s call is a place of preparation.Understand that there is a time of preparation involved with God’s call. In Acts 10, before God showed Peter that he was to go to Caesarea to preach to the Gentile crowd gathered at the Roman centurion Cornelius’ house, Peter had to go through a period of preparation. God had to prepare Peter’s heart for the people group He would lead him to before revealing to Peter the place of his call.Though it is true that God prepares the man for the place, more so God prepares the man for the work.“That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” II Timothy 3:17

   Concentrate more on preparing for the work of missions, and less on the place of missions until He shows you where He is leading you to do that work. Do not be so consumed by not knowing where you are to go that you lose focus of the preparation that is involved for the work to which He has called you. You can prepare for the work God has called you to do without knowing the place of your calling. Do not forfeit the time of preparation because you do not know the place of service.

3. When God shows you the place of His call, do not lose sight of the work to which He has called you.Being in the place God has called you will not make you what you should be. It is fulfilling the work to which He has called you in the place He has called you that will make you what you should be.Even though there will be sacrifice involved with leaving your home and serving in a foreign land, this does not excuse you from doing the work you have been called to do. The sacrifice that is involved by being in the place of God’s call does not justify your failure to fulfill the work of your call.
4. Do not let your emotions determine the place of God’s call.If Elijah had followed his emotions, he probably would not have left Israel to go to Zarephath to minister to a widow and her son. Jonah was not excited to leave his home country and go to Ninevah and preach to a nation that was hostile towards his people. Emotionally, it had to have been difficult for Philip to leave the great revival that was taking place in Samaria to go witness to only one man in the desert. In the end, the reward was great, and God’s timing was perfect. But if Philip had followed his emotions instead of God’s leading, the Ethiopian eunuch may not have been saved and baptized.Too often a missionary serving in the place of God’s calling who is not doing the work of his call gets discouraged and assumes that the place is the problem. Over a period of time the missionary can become discouraged because the place where he is does not produce much fruit. However, it is not the place that produces fruit. It is God’s work through you that produces fruit. If you are doing God’s work, He will take care of giving the fruit. Never suppose that a lack of fruit is an indication that you are in the wrong place.
5. While you wait for God to show you the place, fulfill the work that He has called you to do where you are.In Acts 13:2, Paul and Barnabas did not wait to be sent to the mission field before they started to do the work God had for them. “As they ministered to the Lord,”the Holy Spirit directed them to the place they were to go to fulfill the work they had been called to do.At four years of age my wife was “the mission field” when a Bible college student found her and brought her to church on the bus. A few years later, a second Bible college student paid for her to attend the Christian school. Incidentally, both college students were called to missions. If they had waited until they were in the place to which they were called to do the work of their calling, my wife may not have been reached.If you are preparing to go to a place that God has yet to reveal to you, do not wait until He shows you the place to fulfill the work He has called you to do. Fulfill God’s call wherever He has you at the present time, and He will guide you to the place He would have you to go.

God may not reveal the place if you are not doing the work that He has already revealed to you. Or maybe He has not revealed the place because He knows that you would focus more on the place than on the work and miss the benefit of the preparation in the place He has you now. If you are not doing what you ought to do where God has you now, being where you ought to be will not make you do what you ought to be doing.

Stay faithful to the Lord and His work for you today, and let Him guide you to His place for your tomorrow!

This article was written by David Sloan, missionary to Ukraine. He is a third-generation missionary, born and raised in Mexico. He is the son of the late Dr. Tom Sloan, MD, missionary to Mexico and the grandson of the late Dr. L.H. Ashcraft, also a missionary to Mexico. He is part of a missionary heritage of fourteen families who serve on the mission field, spanning seven countries and four continents. He and his family serve in missionary-evangelism in Ukraine and Israel.

Related posts:

1. Missions Conference Guidelines
2. Free Missions Video to Download

I love to read; I especially love reading Christian biographies. I recently read a book about Gladys Aylward, who was a missionary to China. I looked her up on the Internet and found out there were many books written about her, and even a Hollywood movie made about her life, to her sorrow.

Gladys was a simple parlor maid with little education. She was rejected by the mission boards of her day. This did not discourage her however, as she was sure God called her to China. She worked and saved her money and bought a train ticket to China. (It was cheaper than the boat!). Her journey on that train through Russia is a story in itself.

Soon after she started an orphanage, Japan invaded China. Gladys led over one hundred children over Japanese occupied mountains to safety. A reporter wrote a story about her, which was published in Time Magazine. She never could understand what the big fuss was all about.

After World War II, communism was taking over the country. Gladys had led several students to Christ at a university, until the communists took control of it. Students were required to fill out a questionnaire. One of the questions asked was what political party they supported. If they said they were for the new government (communists), they would get good jobs and be treated well. Two hundred of the five hundred students marked that they were against the new government. Furious officials discovered the reason: students who were against the new government had become Christians. The officials told the three hundred who were for the new government to harass the Christians. When the survey was given again, even more students marked that they were against the communists. Their plan had backfired!

Prayer meetings were stopped and some Christians were even beaten. Still the Christians stood strong. Harassment for the Christians increased. Finally after three months, there was a meeting in the town square, and Gladys went.
The first name was called. A 17-year-old girl, who was a new convert, stepped forward. Gladys stood there praying for her as she watched events unfold.

The official asked the girl which party she supported. She said that three months ago, she thought Jesus and the Bible were true. She said that since experiencing the hatred of the communists for the past three months, she was sure Jesus and the Bible were true.
The officials were furious. They pushed her to her knees. A soldier pulled out his sword and cut off the girl’s head. Gladys was horrified and began crying and praying for the rest of the students, that they wouldn’t be killed; but if they were, she asked the Lord to help the young Christians not to be afraid of death, and that their death would have meaning.
One by one, students were beheaded. The horrified Gladys wanted to run but she stood there weeping and praying for each one that was asked whether they would support the communists. Although they knew they were facing death, over two hundred students were beheaded as they refused to give their support.

I am amazed at the courage of these students—all new converts! How can this be? I wondered if any people I’ve had the privilege to lead to Christ would react in such a way. To take it a step further, how would I react?

How could this seemingly insignificant (they called her the “small woman” because she was so short) lady, with little education, rejected by the mission boards, do such a great work for God? The answer is found in Zechariah 4:6b “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” The Holy Spirit of God is available to us to do His work. Gladys Aylward wanted this more than anything, and was willing to do whatever it took to have God use her and work through her. Am I? Are you?

Over thirty-five years ago, Rick and Becky Martin arrived in Iloilo City, Philippines. God has amazingly blessed the faithfulness of this choice servant. More than 4,000 people attend the church services weekly. In a recent year, more than 5,000 converts were baptized. Graduates of Iloilo Baptist College have started more than 1,000 churches, 15 colleges, and hundreds Bible institutes. Their married son, Ricky and his wife, Brandie, now serves with them in Iloilo. Their daughter, Rachel, and son-in-law, Matt, are serving the Lord in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Related posts:

1. A Missionary’s Walk With God
2. What Is a Missionary?
3. The Work Schedule of a Missionary

“And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it.”

Many Bible students find it difficult to understand why there will be a need for these animal sacrifices in light of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice that took place on Calvary so many years ago. Sacrifices in the Millennium can certainly be bewildering when one reads Hebrews 9:12,

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

Though not all scholars agree, there have been several common reasons proposed for these sacrifices. It is up to the serious Bible student to weigh these suggested explanations with the teachings of Scripture.

Atonement
Ezekiel clearly states the meaning and purpose of the Millennial sacrifices.

“And one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat pastures of Israel; for a meat offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make reconciliation for them, saith the Lord GOD.”—Ezekiel 45:15

Verses seventeen and twenty provide further proof that these sacrifices are for the purpose of reconciliation. The Hebrew word kapar that is rendered “make reconciliation” in the King James is also rendered “make an atonement” in many places in the Old Testament.

It’s important to understand that the atonement in the Old Testament is significantly different from New Testament atonement. The former deals with cleansing and covering of sin (Hebrews 10:4) while the latter restores man to divine favor through a removal of sin. Keeping in line with the Old Testament concept of cleansing, the apostle Paul offers a sacrifice for the purposes of ritual purification in Acts 21:26 (this is after the death of Christ and therefore the Mosaic law is no longer in effect).

Memorial
While the Bible plainly states that the future sacrifices are for the purpose of atonement, some have suggested that these sacrifices will also serve some secondary functions. Some see the Millennial sacrifices as serving a memorial function similar to modern day baptism and communion.

Expression Of Faith
Another ancillary purpose for these sacrifices is a means or mechanism to express faith and/or obedience. Hebrews 11 defines faith as “the evidence of things not seen.” Because Christ will be unmistakably visible during the Millennium, some see the institution of sacrifice as a necessary component of faith.

When dealing with the precious word of God, one must never forget that God hasn’t revealed everything. The existence of some Biblical revelation that may seem strange to us does not void literal, plain interpretation. Though there may be some secondary applications for sacrifices in the Millennium, the primary focus is that of Old Testament atonement; the reconciliation of fellowship not relationship.

Related posts:

1. The Atonement
2. What Is Faith?
3. Salvation Terms – Part 2