Love In Action blog

Take time to rest

2024-01-25T15:51:00.000-06:00

Many people, including ministers, take great pride in working. The phrase, "I don't have time, I'm working," is a common expression. It seems we feel like we are slackers if we aren't working non-stop. For some it's to make others look bad and having a sense they're better because they work more than others. This mindset is not biblical and has sent too many people to the grave too soon.

I've been as guilty as everyone else. There were times in my newspaper career that I relished in the long hours. It was a sense of accomplishment. A source of pride. I've used the word "pride" twice so far. That's a major issue. We are not to be prideful people. God tells us in Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling."

It's easy to go the same route in ministry as well. We get so busy we don't have time to rest, which is something God makes clear in His Word that we need. From the beginning of creation God showed us resting was important as He instituted the Sabbath during creation.

"By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." - Genesis 2:2-3

Jesus saw the need for rest as well. After an intense time of ministry, Jesus told His disciples in Mark 6:31, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while. (for there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)"

So let me ask you, what's your badge of honor? Is it working non-stop? If it is, you need to change your badge. Yes, we are to work hard to provide for our family, but work shouldn't consistently take us away from our family.

Non-stop work is a health hazard. If we are going and going and never resting, we will soon wear ourselves out. Not resting and stress is a bad combination. Your family needs you, so don't enter an early grave by wearing the badge of too much work.

As I mentioned above, I've been guilty of non-stop working. I've gotten better at it over the years, but I still need to keep an eye on myself. I need rest. Martha and I need away time. We work hard and we love it, because the work we do touches thousands of lives locally and around the world. But what good would we be to all of those people if we worked ourselves into serious health issues and an early grave?

Keep working hard at whatever your career is, but be sure to take time to rest and to rest with your family. It doesn't mean you are slacking. It doesn't mean you are less of a family provider. It means you care that you are around for your family and others who love you.

When is the last time you've taken a long weekend or a week-long vacation? It doesn't mean you have to go somewhere. You can take the time off from work and stay home. Pull up your calendar and be intentional to rest. Your family will thank you, and so will your body and mind.

Ways to become a disciple of Jesus

2024-01-17T08:00:00.001-06:00

In my previous blog entry, I wrote about how there are no excuses for not living for Jesus. We are all good at making excuses, but they all stink. It’s like the old saying, excuses are like armpits. Everyone has them and they all stink.

The question now is, how can we grow in the Lord and totally commit our lives to Jesus. In other words, truly become disciples of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Let’s start with the Great Commission. Anyone who knows me, knows this is among my favorite verses in the Bible. It is the lifestyle Jesus calls us to. More than that, it’s a lifestyle He expects and commands us to live. And from nearly 35 years of experience, I can attest it is the greatest life ever.

We read in 1 John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” The Apostle John, who wrote this verse, lived 93 years and he never regretted living for Jesus. I’m 57 and I’ve lived nearly 35 of my years for Jesus. I’ll never go back to how I lived before I surrendered my life to Jesus. I have tasted and seen the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8), so there’s no turning back.

Our Lord’s Great Commission is Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

That’s the Great Commission. It’s a command from Jesus to His believers. It’s not the Great Suggestion. It’s the Great Commission.

There are three participles of the Great Commission - going, baptizing, and teaching - and one main verb - make disciples. The one point is to make disciples by “going,” “baptizing,” and “teaching.” Reading it in the Greek it would be more like, “As you are going, make disciples. As you are baptizing, make disciples. As you are teaching, make disciples.”

Where do we start? First by surrendering our lives to Jesus and putting our faith in Jesus alone for salvation, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. Then we start learning more about Him, which is a never-ending process. Remember, God is eternal. We will keep on learning about Him, and the more we do, the closer we come to Him and the more we love Him.

So what’s next. There’s being baptized, prayer, Bible reading and studying, worship, fellowship with other believers, serving the Lord by serving others, etc. That may seem overwhelming, but it’s not. Here’s how I’ve broken it down over the years.

My high school JV basketball coach, Coach Coleman, used to tell us to “take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves.” He meant that we needed to box out our man for the rebound, put a hand in the face of the shooter, make accurate passes, follow through on your shot, etc. Those were the little things. The big thing was winning. If we did the little things, we would win more than we lost. I’ve used Coach Coleman’s philosophy in my life as a Great Commission Christian.

Here are some of the “little things,” which actually aren’t so little. They’re all big things, but remember, the big thing is growing closer to Jesus and becoming more like Him by becoming His disciple and making more disciples.

Do the following:

Read the Bible daily – find a “Read the Bible Through the Year” schedule at your church, the Bible app, in some Bibles. Ask me and I’ll send you one.
Read daily devotionals, but don’t let that be your Bible reading. Use it as a jumpstart to your daily reading.
Study the Bible. Always ask the Holy Spirit to teach you every time you read the Bible. Use commentaries, Bible dictionaries, and other available resources. A good study Bible like the ESV Study Bible and the NASB MacArthur Study Bibles are invaluable resources.
Go to a house of worship … being an active member.
Taking discipleship and Bible study classes.
Church small groups … hanging out with other believers.
Don’t go back to the same crowd. I understand this can be hard. If you can’t avoid them, just say no to the temptations. Jesus always gives us the strength to say no and a way out. “No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind; and God is faithful, so He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13
It's not that you're better than them or don't care about them. You just don't need to surround yourself with the sins of your past. Keep praying for them and when you are strong in your faith, you will be able to better witness to them. Let them know you still care, but you just don't live that way any longer. Some will see your example and want to follow Jesus as well. You can still witness to them, but just don't hang out with them like you used to.
Tell others about Jesus. Share your testimony.
Serve others through acts of mercy. We are not saved by good works, but good works are an outflow of being saved. Serve at your church and out in your community either through your church and/or here with Love In Action or a ministry like Love In Action.

These are steps we all need to take. Again, it’s a lifestyle. Once we come to Christ, we need to change our lifestyles. As we experience His love and goodness we will see why and realize it’s more than worth it.

What's keeping you from living for Jesus?

2024-01-15T10:50:00.001-06:00

I’ll cut to the chase. If we are believers in Jesus Christ, we have no excuses for not living all out for Him. Are you living for Jesus? If not, what are your excuses.

Is it your current situation? That doesn’t fly. The Apostle Paul was in prison as he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. It doesn’t get much worse than a first century Roman prison. That didn’t stop Paul. He kept living for Jesus to the point that his life still greatly impacts us today.

Is it your past? That’s not an excuse either. Paul persecuted the church. He approved Stephen being stoned to death. How about the Apostle Peter? He denied Jesus three times in our Lord’s most dire situation.

These guys had plenty of opportunities to make excuses, but they didn’t. They lived for Jesus until their deaths.

How about Mary Magdalene? Jesus cast seven demons out of her. Some believe she was a prostitute. There’s plenty of room for shame and excuses there. That’s also a lifestyle that would be easy to slip back into, but she didn’t. She lived for Jesus. In fact, she was the first person to see our resurrected Lord and Savior.

All three of these examples didn’t make excuses and went on to live full lives for Jesus. Why? Because they truly had an experience with Jesus Christ. They encountered the resurrected Christ, and their lives were never the same. They wanted more of Jesus in their lives. They were disciples of Jesus and made other disciples. That was their lifestyle.

You may say, well, two were apostles and the other was an early disciple of Jesus when He was physically on the earth. That makes no difference. Jesus says in John 20:29, “Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

That’s you and me. We haven’t seen Jesus, yet we believe. We are no different than Paul, Peter, and Mary except we were born in different centuries. If we are true believers in Jesus, we are all called to live this life for Him. No excuses.

So, what’s holding you back? Don't let anything keep you from living a full life for Jesus. Don’t let family, friends, work, school, government … whatever and whoever, keep you from the life Jesus has for you.

Think about our Brothers and Sisters who live in areas of the world where they are persecuted for their faith in Jesus, some unto death. They won’t let death keep them from serving Jesus. Let their lives inspire you as you pray for the persecuted church around the world.

In my next blog entry, I’ll write about how we can grow and commit our lives to Jesus. One thing to remember until then, if you are a believer in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit in you. He empowers you to live for Jesus, even in the toughest situations (Acts 1:8). So live for Jesus. Don’t delay. Start living for Him today.

Let's be Great Commission Christians in 2024

2024-01-01T13:36:00.000-06:00

To make this year a truly successful one, then our plan for spiritual growth needs to be followed. In my previous two blogs I wrote about the importance of a spiritual growh plan; how devotionals are good to kickstart your days but aren't real Bible studies; how following a Bible reading plan that takes you through the Bible in one year is key; and how study Bibles and commentaries are beneficial; reading and praying through the Book of Psalms, the "Little Bible," is a powerful way to grow in God's Word; and how taking 30 minutes a day and working up to one hour or longer to spend time reading the Bible and praying is vitally important. Here are links to those two blogs in case you missed them:

- https://liaministries.blogspot.com/2023/12/study-gods-word-in-2024.html
- https://liaministries.blogspot.com/2023/12/plan-to-grow-in-gods-word-in-2024.html

As we implement these disciplines of devotionals, Bible reading and studying, and prayer, we are becoming disciples and stronger disciples of Jesus Christ. That's being obedient to starting the process our Lord's command to make disciples. We first have to become disciples and then make disciples. Let's look at that command, which we call the Great Commission:
Matthew 28:18-20: "And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'”

Jesus calls us to be Great Commission Christians. We do that by being obedient to His commands and truly following Him. As we learn and grow we are to teach others to do the same. We can do it. It's in the authority of Jesus Christ we go and proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16:15). As believers, we are filled with the Holy Spirit who empowers us to be witnesses of Jesus (Acts 1:8). We have no excuses. We have experienced His salvation. We are filled with His Spirit. We are under His authority. Let's go and make disciples!

If you are not engaged with a local house of worship, then you need to be. Jesus established the church and we are to be part of it (Matthew 16:18). If your church offers classes for Bible study and discipleship, then attend and learn. If you are interested in the Love In Action School of Discipleship, check out our web page, https://loveinactionministries.com/school-of-discipleship

The key is not keeping all of the knowledge you gain from the Bible to yourself. We must go and share it with others.

Another key aspect of growing spiritually is what John Wesley called "Acts of Mercy." That's taking care of those in need. It may be like we do at Love In Action when we serve hot meals to the homeless, take groceries to the poor, provide showers for the homeless and wash their laundry, help the sick, etc. Love in Action was founded on Matthew 25:35-40. These are the acts of mercy we do.

Other acts of mercy could be taking care of elderly neighbors, visiting nursing homes, helping disadvantaged youth with school work, mentoring children who don't have a father or mother, fostering children, counseling women who have had an abortion or are weighing that option, reaching those who enslaved in human trafficking, etc. Acts of mercy come in different forms. If you don't know what act of mercy God wants you to do, pray and ask Him. He will show you, and then do it.

We need to combine all of this - Bible study, engaging in church, making disciples, and doing acts of mercy. You may be saying at this point, "Ken, this is all very time consuming. I'm too busy." It's all about priorities. I've had to change my priorities, and I'm so thankful I did. I've learned over the years, my walk with Christ isn't just about saying prayer of repentance, though that was the start. It's not about just going to church once or twice a week. It's a lifestyle. Either I'm living completely for Jesus or I'm not. I choose to live completely for Jesus. What about you?

I'm not perfect at it, but each year I can track my growth and like the Apostle Paul, I keep pressing on for the prize of the upward call of God to be more like Jesus.

"Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:12-14

Let's determine to be Great Commission Christians in 2024. Let's put in the time and be intentional in growing in God's Word. Let's grow closer to God through studying His Word, praying, engaging in a local house of worship, making disciples, and serving our Lord through acts of mercy.

Our Lord's Great Commission is not a suggestion, it's a command. Let's be obedient and love, serve, and obey our Lord well.

If you have any questions, please email me at ken.tck@loveinactionministries.com

Study God's Word in 2024

2023-12-31T15:47:00.001-06:00

Planning to grow in God's Word and putting that plan to use in 2024 is of utmost importance. Yesterday I wrote about doing that and then mentioned some devotionals I found helpful in 2023 and a couple I will be reading in 2024. If you missed that blog post you can check it out at this link, https://liaministries.blogspot.com/2023/12/plan-to-grow-in-gods-word-in-2024.html

As I warned in yesterday's post, don't let daily devotionals be the only Bible study you do. That's not Bible study. You can't grow in the knowledge of God's Word through devotionals. That would be like trying to maintain a healthy diet on only eating candy. It's tastes good, but it won't sustain you.

We have to be people who read God's Word daily. One way to accomplish that is by reading through the Bible in a year. When picking up a Bible it can be intimidating and you start thinking, I can't read that entire book. Yes you can, and taking it one day at a time is a great way to accomplish it. Pick the translation of the Bible you enjoy and follow a reading plan. You can find them on the Bible app, inside some Bibles, or your church may have a year-long Bible schedule to follow. Determine right now that starting tomorrow, New Year's Day, you are going to start reading the Bible daily. If you miss a day, make it up the next day. This is too important not to do.

I've read through the Bible a number of times using different reading schedules and Bible translations. If you have already read through the Bible, do it again. Try reading it chronologically. I enjoyed that. I think it's important to read through the Bible using different translations. I've never read through the entire Bible using the NASB translation. Martha bought me the NASB MacArthur Study Bible for my birthday, so I'm going to read through it in 2024 using the reading schedule it provides.

If you don't have a study Bible, I encourage you to buy one. It's more than worth the investment. I look forward to digging into my new NASB study Bible. I really enjoy the ESV Study Bible. I love the ESV translation, and it has copious study notes, articles, and resources. I highly suggest that one. When you open God's Word, ask the Holy Spirit to teach you. He is our Teacher.

With a study Bible, I encourage you to take time and slow down and study the Bible. Pick a topic like grace, mercy, forgiveness, the Messiah, Holy Spirit, covenants, etc., and start looking up what scriptures say about each topic. Get a Bible commentary if you don't have one. There are many good ones out there such as the MacArthur Bible Commentary, Believer's Bible Commentary, Matthew Henry Bible Commentary, and more.

A great study to do is the Book of Psalms, and a great way to read and study it is reading five chapters a day corresponding with the day's date. For example, on Jan. 1, read Psalms 1 then skip 30 books to Psalms 31, then skip 30 more and read Psalms 61, then Psalms 91, and then Psalms 121. The next day start with chapter 2, then 32, 62, 92, 122, and so on throughout the month. On Jan. 31, you could spend more time in Psalms 119, which is the longest chapter in the Bible.

Taking time to read and study the Psalter is a great way to learn the heart of God and better understand the Old and New Testaments in one book. Martin Luther once said, "The Psalms are a Little Bible, wherein everything contained in the entire Bible is beautifully and briefly comprehended." John Wesley said, "The Psalms is a summary of both testaments."

To strengthen your prayer life, as you read Psalms, pray them. You will be praying many of the prayers Jesus prayed and you will be learning how to pray the Word.

Dietrick Bonhoeffer said, "The Psalter is the prayer book of Jesus Christ in the truest sense of the word. He prayed the Psalter and now it has become his prayer for all all time ... we understand how the Psalter can be prayer to God and yet God's own Word, precisely because here we encounter the praying Christ ... because those who pray the Psalms are joining in with the prayer of Jesus Christ, their prayer reaches the ears of God. Christ has become their intercessor."

Take 30 minutes a day to read God's Word and pray and work your way to one hour. I can hear some of you now, "Ken, I don't have that much time." Really? You have time to watch TV. What's more important? A TV show or God's Word and your relationship with your Creator?

Find a time each day that works best for you. Mine is early in the morning before my day starts. I begin with devotionals and then prayer and reading God's Word. At other times of the week I will take time to study the Bible to see what God is saying about different topics and issues.

We aren't done. Be sure to check out tomorrow's blog for more tips and advice for growing in God's Word in 2024. If you have questions, please email me at ken.tuck@loveinactionministries.com.

Plan to grow in God's Word in 2024

2023-12-30T18:19:00.000-06:00

Do you have a plan for spiritual growth in 2024? If not, start praying and planning for one now. It’s not too late. Always plan on spiritual growth. It’s like anything else, if you aren’t intentional it won’t happen. God isn’t going to snap His fingers and spiritual growth all of a sudden takes place. He’s not a genie in a bottle that you rub and He grants your wishes.

Spiritual growth takes commitment. It’s like an athlete. If you want to excel on the field or court, you are going to discipline yourself to workout daily, eat right, practice hard, listen to your coaches, study the game plan, etc. if you want to be a great musician you are going to take lessons, practice daily, study, etc. The same goes for spiritual growth. Don’t put it on the back burner. Put it front and center and intentionally plan to grow in God’s Word throughout 2024 and therefore grow closer to God.

First of all, don’t depend on your pastor to do all of your work. He’s very important and we need to be in church every Sunday listening to the message God has placed on His heart. But if that's all you do, you will starve spiritually. Do you only eat once a week? Of course not. You'd starve to death. It's the same with the spirit. We must feed our spirit daily with the Word of God.

Devotionals are good to read. But let me warn you right here, don't let devotionals be your only source of Bible study. For me, devotionals are a good starting point. I use them to crank my spiritual engine every morning.

Here are some devotionals I recommend:

- I receive a daily devotional every week day in my email inbox from Max Lucado. He is such a talented writer. You can sign up for them at his website, https://maxlucado.com/daily-devotional

- My friend Debi Head Parnell writes a daily devotional on Facebook called, "Jesus and Java." Debi is also a talented writer. You can find Jesus and Java on FB at https://www.facebook.com/groups/733451830057403
It's a FB group, so you need to join it, https://www.facebook.com/groups/733451830057403

- This year I read two daily devotional books, "Lead Like Jesus Leadership Development for Every Day of the Year" and "Voices of the Faithful." These were both good, but "Voices of the Faithful" had the most impact and I highly recommend this devotional. It was written by missionaries with the International Mission Board with Beth Moore writing monthly intros. Wow! I don't think I've ever said this about a devotional book, but this one is life transforming. God touches your heart as you read first-hand stories from the mission field. The stories inspire and challenge. You will laugh and you will cry. These are missionaries who put their lives on the line in remote places around the world to tell people about Jesus. They have given up everything to serve Jesus wherever He sends them. Look on Amazon and thriftbooks.com. It was published in 2005. You will not regret buying this devotional book. My good Brother and friend, Jim Lanley, has three entries in it from his nine years as an IMB missionary in China.

"Lead Like Jesus" isn't deep, but it gives good, short insights to the book's title, leading like Jesus. Each day there is a snippet of a leadership topic, a corresponding Bible verse, and a prayer. A friend gave it to me years ago, and I've enjoyed reading through it this year. It was published in 2008. You can also find it on Amazon.

In 2024, I'm going to continue to kickstart my day with Jesus and Java and Max Lucado's devotionals. In addition, I'll add "Voices of the Faithful Book 2" and "A Year with C.S. Lewis." I'll let y'all know how those are. I already know they're going to be great, especially "Voices of the Faithful Book 2." Jim has four entries in this book.

That's enough for this blog entry. Tomorrow I'll share some more tips on putting together a spiritual growth plan.

There is still time for year-end donations

2023-12-28T10:07:00.000-06:00

Praise God for another incredible year of ministry at Love In Action. During this year we have seen a number of people give their lives to Jesus, follow in baptism, and go through discipleship. Lives were transformed by the power of Jesus Christ, the homeless and poor received hope and help with vital needs, and some of the homeless came off the streets throughout 2023. To God be the glory!

We praise God for all He did this year, and we cannot thank Him enough for everyone who donated financially. The fact is, we cannot do everything we do without financial support. As needs rise, so does the need for finances. Thanks to those who donated throughout 2023, we were able to meet vital needs for thousands of people in Dothan and throughout the Wiregrass.

God has even bigger plans for 2024 as we will finish the renovations to our kitchen and increase our community outreaches. That means even more people living in poverty will receive hope through the sharing of the Gospel and help with vital needs like groceries and hot meals. We are praying for even more financial support this year to reach these goals.What are our goals for 2024? Glad you asked.

To increase the number of people we provide food for each month from 5,000 to 8,000.
To double the number of hot meals we serve each month from 2,000 to 4,000.
To double the number of community outreaches we do each week from three to six.
To expand the Samaritan Clinic to offer more health services to our homeless friends.

All of this will help us reach thousands of more people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Dothan and the Wiregrass. We are praying for a harvest of souls who will surrender their lives ot Jesus, follow Him in baptism, and become disciples who make disciples.Please prayerfully consider an end of the year financial donation to help us finish 2023 strong and get a great start to 2024. Together we can share the Gospel, meet physical needs of the homeless and poor, and make an eternal difference in the lives of people throughout our community.Please mail your tax-deductible donation to: Love In Action, P.O. Box 85, Dothan, AL 36302. You can also donate securely online via PayPal and with the Venmo App and Cash App. Please visit the donation page on our website to donate and for more information, https://loveinactionministries.com/donateLove In Action International Ministries, Inc., is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt, non-profit Christian organization. All donations and gifts are tax deductible. Our federal tax-exempt number is 63-1274627.

Thank you and may God bless you in every way throughout 2024.

Starting Seminary - Step of Faith (part 2)

2023-08-27T22:21:00.001-05:00

I was a little nervous about going back to school. It had been 32 years since I'd taken a college course, and this is grad school.

Could I keep up with everything else I have going on? My schedule at Love In Action is extremely busy. In addition to all of the ministry that we do each day, there's the studying and preparing for our weekly "Sunday Morning with Love In Action" on The Joy FM. There's the recordings of the "Love In Action Minute" on The Joy FM.

We are an international ministry, so when our part of the world is sleeping, our Brothers and Sisters in Asia are awake. There is the business side of ministry that needs to be done as well as websites and social media, and more.

I'm taking two classes this semester - Discipleship & Spiritual Formation and Biblical Theology. The first week my professors went over the syllabus for each class. Wow! All of the reading, quizzes, papers to writes, discussions to post, and a weekly small group to join had me wondering if I made the right decision.

I really knew I had. It was just overwhelming at the moment. Thankfully, I have a praying wife and two professors who are praying for us students. I prayed and felt much better about everything. Now I'm already in a rhythm. I've been staying ahead so far. I know it's early, but I'm feeling good about everything.

I don't know what kind of grades I'll make. Of course I hope I pass and make good grades, but I'm not going to stress about it. I'm not here for the grades. I'm here for the Holy Spirit to teach me what He wants me to learn.

As I work toward earning a Graduate Certificate in Theology, and perhaps a master's in theology, I'm just wanting to learn more about God through His Word. If my professors like the papers I write and the good grades come, then great. It's like I told the good folks at WBS, I'm not going there for a piece of paper. I don't need it for career advancement. I already have the best job in the world. I just want to go deeper into God's Word.

From what I've experienced so far, that's exactly what's happening. I thank God for His grace and mercy in making all of this happen. I'm thankful for my wife's support and encouragement. I'm thankful for Harvest Church and my friend who not only gave me $500, but he's also praying for me.

I'm thankful for WBS. It's an excellent seminary with professors who truly care and can rightly handle the Word of God. I'm thankful for all of the prayers and encouragement from so many. I'm thankful for our small staff and volunteers at Love In Action who step up when I need to be in class or study. I'm humbled by it all.

I thank God for the life He's given me and for His call on my life. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Starting Seminary - A Step of Faith (part 1)

2023-08-27T20:50:00.000-05:00

I'm only two weeks into my first semester at Wesley Biblical Seminary, but I'm already thankful for making the decision to pursue a graduate certificate in theology. It may turn into a master's in theology, but we'll see how it goes with the certificate first.

It's been 32 years since I last took a college course. The year was 1991 and that was my senior year at then Troy State University. They have since dropped the "State" from their name. I graduated Troy with a Bachelor of Science in Print Journalism and Public Relations on Aug. 9, 1991. Whew! Seems like a lifetime ago.

I considered off and on for years about going to graduate school to earn a master's in journalism or business, but never did. Costs were too high. Later as I started serving Jesus in the ministry, I would look every now and then at seminary, but once again cost was the prohibitive factor.

I pretty much gave up on the idea until this spring. I really felt God telling me it was time. I teach a lot - Bible studies, sermons, discipleship, systematic theology. I felt God telling me it was time for me to learn and grow more in His Word so I can grow personally and lead others even deeper into His Word.

My first question was, "But what about the costs?" Being president and lead pastor of a ministry to the homeless and poor doesn't earn a big paycheck. You don't get into ministry to get rich.

I earned a rather nice salary the last eight years of my newspaper career. If anything, that would have been the time to pursue seminary. But it wasn't. However, I knew this was the time and the direction God was leading me, so I started looking at schools and seeking guidance.

My friend and one of the best Bible teachers I know, Dr. Bill Ury, said I should take a serious look at Wesley Biblical Seminary (WBS). He said for what I was looking for, WBS would be a perfect fit.

After much prayer and research, it came down between WBS and Liberty, but I felt the Holy Spirit's leading to go to WBS. It seemed every conversation was God-ordained and things kept lining up. And, the costs were affordable. I will say that Liberty was also affordable. However, any extra costs on our budget is a challenge for us, so even applying was a step of faith.

Martha encouraged me all the way, so I took the step of faith and applied and I was accepted. The next step was paying for the semester. I told the finance director that I would not be taking out a loan, because I don't believe in going into debt. I told him, "If God wants me to do this, and I believe He does, then He will provide every penny."

I qualified for a $500 scholarship with my GPA from Troy. Then the financial director told me about a scholarship I could apply for that would be even better than that one. I had to write an essay and have three reference letters. Those letters made me cry when I read them. They were so humbling.

As it turned out, I along with another WBS student, received the scholarship. It pays for half of my tuition for two semesters. Praise God! But, there was still half the tuition left. No worries. God would take care of it, and He did.

I was talking with a mentor and good friend from my journalism days and told him about my schooling. He loves Jesus and was excited. He said, "The Lord just told me to send you $500 for your seminary." Praise God! Another blessing from God!

Then just two days before tuition was due for this semester, WBS received a check from my home church, Harvest Church Dothan, that paid the remaining balance of my tuition. Praise God! Hallelujah! What can you do but praise God and cry tears of joy?

I had already purchased my books, which were a lot cheaper than my days at Troy. I paid under $300 for nine books. One text book would nearly cost that much back in my Troy days.

I'll end this blog entry here. As a newspaper editor I told my reporters to get in and out of a story. I'm having a hard time getting out of this one, so I'll make it a two-part blog.

In part 2, I'll write about starting classes.

Harvest time

2023-08-26T12:15:00.002-05:00

I was reminded on my walk this morning that despite how hot it is, harvest season is coming soon. Cotton in this field was looking pretty. It’s our Alabama snow.

The most important harvest is ready now. Jesus says in Matthew 9:37-38, “Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Are you a laborer for Christ? We need more who are willing to obey our Lord’s Great Commission (Mark 16:15 and Matthew 28:18-20) to go proclaim the Gospel and make disciples. We need more who are willing to provide for those of us who can and do “go proclaim the Gospel” and “make disciples of all nations.”

As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 10:14-15, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Come on! The harvest truly is plentiful. Let’s go and be used by our Father to reap the harvest.

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” - Galatians 6:9

Zooming for Jesus

2023-08-12T16:02:00.000-05:00

A discipleship group started with an email from a woman named Melissa in Illinois, although at the time I didn't know she lived in Illinois.

I received an email from Melissa asking me about our Love In Action School of Discipleship. I explained what we teach and when and invited her to join us. She emailed back that she lives in Illinois. Being the observant person that I am, I quickly understood commuting weekly from Illinois to Dothan, Alabama, might be a little tough.

I had never considered teaching discipleship classes on Zoom, but God spoke to my heart about it, so I asked Melissa if she would be interested in taking discipleship classes on Zoom if I could get a class together. She said yes. I posted on Facebook about it, and soon we had a Zoom class.

That was a year ago and this group of precious disciples of Christ are still going strong. We have met on Zoom every Tuesday night for a little over a year now, and it's been life-changing for all of us. We have completed the following courses: DM2 (Disciples Making Disciple Makers), 50 Commands of Christ, and Creation to Christ. We are now in "Bible Doctrine," which is a systematic theology class.

I love this group more than I can put into words. Everyone is from southeast Alabama except for Melissa. We have another Melissa who is from Headland, Lynn from Cowarts, Renee from Enterprise, and Josh and Rochelle from Daleville. We've recently had Benjamin from Dothan join us. He switches between our Zoom class and our class on campus that is on the same course, depending on his work schedule.

It's amazing how close knit a group can become through an online class. We truly love and care about one another, and we have all gone through good and tough times together this past year.

In addition to studying online together, this group prays for one another. Rarely does a week go by when someone doesn't ask for an update on personal prayer requests from the previous week.

God has brought together a wonderful family. "Illinois" Melissa has a passion for the lost and hurting and is one or the sweetest people you could ever meet. She has a big heart for children, and took her passion for children to an orphanage in Africa on a mission trip earlier this year.

Lynn is a dear friend and a faithful volunteer at Love In Action. She is in our Zoom class and the class that meets on our campus that's at the same level. She also teaches two DM2 classes at Love In Action. She is a disciple making disciples.

Renee and I worked together at the Enterprise Ledger back in the 1990s, so when I saw she signed up for the class I was excited. I hadn't seen her in a long time. She's a precious woman of God with a big heart for Jesus and is not shy about telling others about Him. She even witnessed to a couple of NASA astronauts recently. Outer space ... the next mission field. LOL

I didn't know our "Headland" Melissa, but what a blessing she is. She wants to learn more and more of God's Word and be a doer of His Word, and she is. She has also volunteered at Love In Action since starting our discipleship classes.

I didn't know Josh and Rochelle prior to starting our Zoom class. They moved to the Wiregrass from Utah, and I'm so thankful God brought them here. They not only are involved in our Zoom class, but they also volunteer at Love In Action on Saturdays. It's been a joy getting to know them and their family. Their son Ace is an outstanding lacrosse player and will be competing at the Div. 1 level as he begins college this fall.

Benjamin is the one who attends via Zoom or on campus depending on his work schedule. He is also a faithful volunteer at Love In Action, in addition to working three jobs. I don't know how he does it, but he does smiling the entire time. If you ever need someone to pray for you, Benjamin is the one to call. This Brother can pray!

Mine and Martha's lives are richer because of this wonderful group of Brothers and Sisters. I look forward to everything God has planned for us. We will finish Bible Doctrine this fall, and then go through a "Seeker Study" and apologetics.

There are other classes I will add to the curriculum, and as long as they want to study on Zoom, we will continue meeting weekly. I look forward to us all growing together in Christ and growing closer together as a family.

Thank you Melissa, Lynn, Josh, Rochelle, Melissa, Renee, and Benjamin for loving God and His Word like y'all do, and thank y'all for loving Martha and me. We both love y'all so much and are forever thankful God brought all of us together. Thank you Illinois Melissa for that first email.

Being a Great Commission Christian is the best life ever, and living this life with y'all makes it even better.

The Deception of the Dark Side

2022-07-08T14:41:00.000-05:00

I was a teenager when Stars Wars first appeared on the big screen. I remember being in awe of the cinematography and special effects. The youngsters of today look at that movie and laugh at the special effects. But, at that time, we had never seen anything like it, so back off youngsters (saying this in my best Adam Sandler voice). Lol

As many from my generation, I was hooked on Star Wars from that point. However, some how the 2005 movie "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" escaped my attention. I guess that was a busy year. How did I miss it on TNT or on a long flights to and from Asia?

Whatever happened, I made amends a few nights ago and watched it on TNT. The movie focuses on Anakin Skywalker's transformation into Darth Vader. As I watched it something immediately jumped to my attention. The Darkside in Star Wars is an excellent example of the dark forces of Satan.

Before you Star War fans get upset, I'm not trying to compare Star Wars to Christianity. I don't think that was the point George Lucas set out to make. There's actually more dualism in the series than anything else.

Young Anakin was supposed to be the "Chosen One" who would bring balance to the Force. Obi-Wan Kenobi trained him in the way of the Jedi. Things were going well. Anakin was learning and the Force was strong within him. He discovered his wife was pregnant and they were excited about the future.

That's when things started going in a different direction. Long story short, he becomes friends with Chancellor Palpatine. During that time, Anakin dreams about his wife dying during childbirth just as he dreamed about his mother.

Palpatine started planting seeds of deception in Anakin's mind. He began separating Anakin from his mentor and those on the Jedi counsel. He planted seeds of doubt in Anakin's mind about their commitment to him. Palpatine then reveals that he is on the Dark Side and he can give Anakin the power to save his wife's life.

As we know, Anakin succumbed to the lure of power and joined the Dark Side and became Darth Vader. His wife does die during child birth, and Palpatine, who is now Darth Sidious, tells Vader that he killed his own wife. Deception leads to death ... both physical and spiritual.

What jumped out at me was how evil can look so good and lure us into its trap. Satan can make sin look so appealing. If we allow deceptive thoughts to enter our minds we start to focus on them until they consume us. Then we're trapped.

Satan has many weapons of deception at his disposal - lies, money, power, sex, drugs, and alcohol just to name a handful. Our appetites can quickly change to desire those things, which will eventually destroy us. Do not be deceived. Satan's desire is to destroy as many of us as he can.

"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour," God warns us through the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 5:8. Once we slip into the darkness, we begin a journey to eternal destruction.

However, there is a way out, and it's the only way. His name is Jesus. We read in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Jesus will bring us into the light as He is in the light. "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1:7

Luke, Darth Vader's son, eventually saves his father by turning Vader back to the Light Side just before Vader dies. That's Hollywood. What I'm talking about is reality. We have a choice. Do we want Light or Darkness? Life or death?

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." - Romans 10:9-10

I encourage you to confess Jesus as your Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead and be saved today. Heaven and Hell are both real, and those are the only destinations after this life. Heaven is eternal life. Hell is eternal destruction, which will be thrown into the Lake of Fire for eternity. I pray you will choose Jesus, therefore choose life. You can also click on the following link to a page on our website for more information, https://loveinactionministries.com/follow-jesus

If you have any questions or if you made that decision today, please email me at ken.tuck@loveinactionministries.com

Jesus loves you. He loves us all, and He wants to spend eternity with each one of us.

Please prayerfully consider a financial donation

2022-06-12T19:49:00.000-05:00

God always provides, and He is always right on time.

God's provision comes through His people as He touches our hearts and we respond. That's why we are able to do everything we do here at Love In Action. God touches people's hearts and they respond. That includes financially.

Simply put, it takes money to run this ministry. It's really no different than a business except we are a non-profit who doesn't sell any merchandise to receive financial support. We are totally supported by the generosity of individuals, churches, and businesses.

It's extremely humbling every time we receive a check, cash, and donations sent via PayPal and Venmo. It's one of the most humbling things we have experienced. We are so thankful to everyone who donates to support us. Over the years, we have received gifts from $2.50 to $50,000, and we thank God for each one. The fact that people give so we can proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ through acts of compassion is incredible. We can't say thank you enough.

The past three months have been our lowest months in years as far as financial donations. We aren't worried, because we know God is in control and we are doing well.

As we enter into the summer months, we ask that you continue to give. If you have never given please prayerfully consider becoming a giving member of our Love In Action Family. We could certainly use your support and prayers as poverty and homelessness never takes a break.

As inflation continues to rise, people's needs do as well. We expect needs to increase as much as, if not more, in the coming months than they did during the peak of the Covid pandemic. Please keep us in you prayer and please support us financially. If you can't, we understand, and we pray for God to meet your needs as well. If you can give and even become a regular monthly giver that would be wonderful.

There are three ways you can give:
- Mail checks to: Love In Action, P.O. Box 85, Dothan, AL 36302
- Via PayPal through the link on our donation web page - https://loveinactionministries.com/donate
- Via the Venmo app. Our username is:
@Loveinaction-InternationalMini and also online at www.venmo.com/Loveinaction-InternationalMini

Love In Action International Ministries, Inc., is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt, non-profit Christian organization. All donations and gifts are tax deductible. Our tax-exempt Federal ID number is 63-1274627.

As you give, you are storing up treasure in Heaven (Matthew 6:20).

Thank you. May God bless you.

Thank you Dothan Fire Department

2022-04-11T21:41:00.000-05:00

The abandoned building next to Love In Action was engulfed in flames this afternoon. We thank the brave firefighters of the Dothan Fire Department for their quick response and for protecting our buildings. We thank God for His protection of the firefighters and our buildings.

We are blessed to live in Dothan, Alabama, for so many reasons. I often tell people from all over the US and beyond that we live in one of the best places in the world because of the people.

Today was another great example as firefighters from the Dothan Fire Department battled a fully engulfed abandoned building next door to Love In Action. Not only did they bring an intense and dangerous fire under control, but they also protected our Love In Action buildings. Thank you, Dothan Fire Department.

Martha and I were out of town visiting our parents when we started receiving phone calls about the fire. The first was Barbie Nolan from Covenant UMC. She saw the billows of spoke darkening the sky near Love In Action. Mayor Mark Saliba called right after that, and then Dothan Fire Department Deputy Chief Chris Etheredge called me.

I quickly pulled up our security cameras and saw what was going on. The fire was very intense. I arrived a couple of hours later and they had the blaze under control. As I sat there and looked at the scene I marveled at God's protection. There'a a large oak tree on the other property, but it hangs over the drive thru at Love In Action. It was the grace and protection of God and the hard work of the firefighters that the tree didn't catch fire and spread. Praise God!

Rumors quickly swirled that Love In Action's building was on fire. I immediately took a photo with one of our security cameras and posted to our Facebook page and reported that it was not our building, but the one next door. I then called my brother from another mother, Mark Giles at The Joy FM, and asked him if they would announce the fire was not at LIA and that we were all fine. Russ and Nancy did an excellent job announcing that.

Martha and I are very thankful tonight for God's protection. Not only did He protect our building, but most importantly, He protected all of the firefighters. We are thankful none of them were injured.

Thank you again, Dothan FD. Y'all are the best. The brave men and women who serve our city as first responders should be thanked often and prayed for daily. May God continue to bless each one and our wonderful city.

Dothan Firefighters working hard to put out the flames. Great work guys! God bless all of you.

Supply chain issues hurting our food ministries

2022-03-29T15:24:00.000-05:00

AMX Trucking is such a blessing each month for hauling supplies to us from Orlando.

We reach over 10,000 people every month with the Gospel of Jesus Christ through our food ministries. We cook food and serve it on our campus and take it throughout the community to the homeless and those living in poverty.

We provide groceries for those in need through our food pantry on campus and throughout the community during our community outreaches. We provide food for ministries throughout the Wiregrass to help them share Jesus while meeting vital needs of people in their areas.

Food is a very important part of our ministry. Jesus said He would make us "fishers of men," and food has always been the bait to bring people in to hear the Gospel, while also meeting that vital need of food for those in need. Right now, we are having a hard time getting food for all of our food ministries.

Our monthly food truck from the Southeastern Food Bank in Orlando arrived last week. However, we didn't receive one can of food. There were bulk food items we can use in our kitchen, but only chips, salad dressing, chicken bullion cubes, and some cake mixes came in for our food pantry.

It's not our food bank's fault. It is a struggle for all food banks and ministries like ours around the nation due to supply chain issues. Add to that the high fuel prices and inflation and things have gotten real tough on everyone, including us.

However, we aren't worried. We know God will provide, and He often does that through His people. So, if individuals, families, churches, or organizations would like to do non-perishable food drives to help us that would be a wonderful blessing as we head into April very low on food.

Also, if anyone has or has connections to people with perishable food items, especially meats, we could use the help there as well as we cook a lot of food to serve people each week.

If you need to contact us about helping with any of these needs, please email Ken at ken.tuck@loveinactionministries.com or call us at 334-494-4995. You can also message us on Facebook.

Please help us with food if you can, and please pass the word to others. Thank you and God bless you all.

We want to thank the Southeastern Food Bank for all of their help over the years. Please include them in your prayers as they are a blessing to so many people, especially in Alabama and Florida.

We also thank our friends at AMX Trucking for hauling our load of food and supplies every month from Orlando. Y'all are a tremendous blessing.

God still performs miracles

2022-03-23T07:36:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard some Bible experts talk about how miracles were only for the apostolic age? Their reasoning is since the whole Bible wasn't available at that time like it is now, God used miracles to prove the Apostles' message was true.

I agree God does work through miracles. That's one way people believed Jesus was the Messiah. Read John 7:31, "But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, 'When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has done, will He?'"

The miracles we read about in the Gospels show God's love and mercy upon mankind, His prize creation. We read in Acts about the many miracles God worked through the Apostles, and it did confirm their message and people believed.

One issue I have with some Bible experts is I contend God still works miracles today. Hebrew 13:8 proclaims that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever." If Jesus healed when He walked this earth, and He did, then that means He heals people today, and He does. I've seen Him do it.

When a man who is told he will never walk again after being hit by a freight train stands up and walks, you can't convince me that isn't a miracle. I knew this man very well. He was one of my best friends. I knew his condition. I also knew he believed Jesus would heal him, and He did. My friend walked the rest of his life, even in foreign lands to proclaim the Gospel.

When people have cancer and it suddenly disappears, how can anyone say that's not a miracle? I've seen it happen. Lumps disappear without medical treatment. Leukemia goes away without any medical treatment. That's the miracle wonder working power of God.

Why does God still perform miracles today? Because He loves us, and He is still confirming His message to an unbelieving world.

Unscrupulous people disguising themselves as men and women of God have made a lot of money by faking miracles. They will have to answer to God for that. Those people have caused many to doubt in miracles. That's simply Satan at work to confuse and divert people from the one true God.

Let me encourage you. Don't seek the signs. Don't seek "miracle workers." Seek after the Messiah, Jesus Christ the Son of God. When we seek Jesus first, we find Him. God tells us in Jeremiah 29:13 that when we seek Him with all of our heart we will find Him.

It's not that He is hiding from us. In fact, we see in Genesis how God looked for Adam and Eve after they sinned. He didn't ignore them. They hid from God, but God looked for them.

If you need a miracle in your life, ask God for it in the name of Jesus. Trust Him. I'm not guaranteeing you a miracle will happen. They don't always happen. I have no idea why one person is healed from cancer and another isn't. All I know is we have to trust God and believe He is doing what's right, because guess what, He is.

When we truly follow Jesus and obey His Great Commission, we will see amazing things happen. Remember, Jesus tells us in Mark 16:17-18, "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

He wasn't just talking about the Apostles. He was and is talking to all of His followers. Let's be Great Commission Christians, and as we follow Jesus we will see miracles happen. But, most of all, we will see people give their lives to Jesus. That's the greatest miracle of all. Thanks to Jesus, eternities are changed from an eternity of total separation and torment in Hell to an eternity in paradise, Heaven with Jesus.

Love In Action School of Discipleship opens

2022-02-27T20:49:00.000-06:00

Group of brothers and sisters who helped us dedicate our newly
remodeled Suite 1 to God. This suite houses the LIA School of Discipleship.

Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, was a big day in the life of our ministry at Love In Action as we held a time of prayer to dedicate suite 1 on our campus to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This suite will house our Love In Action School of Discipleship.

The remodeling work is complete and it looks great. We have already started two new discipleship classes in the suite - Training for Trainers (T4T) and 50 Commands of Christ. Praise God!

We need this area to put an even greater emphasis on discipleship and prayer, and house it in a building where we will not be disturbed during class and prayer time.

This suite provides a beautiful place of solitude, which is perfect for teaching and training disciples who can make disciples and for prayer.

We thank Barbi and Juan from Covenant UMC for joining us to dedicate the building. Covenant is a wonderful ministry partner and financially supported the remodeling of this suite. Thank you Covenant. You have been and are a wonderful blessing to us and those we serve.

We thank Wiregrass Church for also donating to help make this project a reality. Wiregrass Church is another wonderful ministry partner and we cannot thank them enough for being such a blessing.

Also housed inside this suite will be a studio for Ken to record messages for "Sunday Morning with Love In Action" and the "Love In Action Minute," all of which airs on The Joy FM 94.3/96.1/101.7. The studio will also be used for podcasts, video podcasts, and filming testimonials.

Speaking of The Joy FM, we thank Mark Giles, GM of The Joy FM for joining us for the prayer dedication. Terris, actually kicked off our time of prayer by praying for us on the radio.

The Joy FM is such a wonderful ministry partner. We cannot say thank you enough for all they do for us, those we serve, and for our whole community.

It's easy to see what happens when the Body of Christ works together. Souls are being saved and disciples made. Now, the discipleship process will jump up to a whole new level. Making disciples who make disciples has been a long-time focus for us, and now we can fulfill our Lord's Great Commission even more and do it more effectively.

The LIA School of Discipleship is open for anyone who wants to get involved and go through some great teaching and training. Click on this link, https://loveinactionministries.com/school-of-discipleship to learn more about the classes we offer.

If you are interested in going through the LIA School of Discipleship, please email Ken at ken.tuck@loveinactionministries.com

Following our initial time of prayer dedication, we continued in prayer for those who could stay, and it was awesome! Ken and Martha thank Shaun, Suhail, Pierre, Paula, and Nayaar for staying and praying for another 2.5 hours. It was very powerful. To God be the glory!

It was a great start to the Love In Action School of Discipleship, and it will only get better from here. Praise Jesus!

One of the training rooms in the LIA School of Discipleship.

Prayer room inside of the LIA School of Discipleship.

One of the training rooms in the LIA School of Discipleship.

Library being set up in the LIA School of Discipleship.

A powerful time of prayer.

First time of prayer in our prayer room within the LIA School of Discipleship.

23 Decisions for Jesus

2022-02-20T16:20:00.000-06:00

Are you tired of hearing bad news all the time? I know I am. Every time you turn on the TV and watch the news or read articles online or pick up a newspaper (some people still do that), most of the news is about murder, mayhem, protests, and politicians being, well, politicians.

Here is some good news for you - 23 people have made decisions for Jesus Christ so far this year, and five people have been baptized. Of those five who have been baptized, four were Muslims before giving their lives to Jesus. Praise God!

One person has completed our Training for Trainers (T4T) discipleship class, and five more have started T4T. Three people have started our 50 Commands of Christ discipleship class. That is the second class in our discipleship process. Check out our Love In Action School of Discipleship web page for more information on our discipleship process, https://loveinactionministries.com/school-of-discipleship

We are only seven weeks into 2022, and look at what God has done so far. Praise Him! We know the best is yet to come. We have seen people come to Jesus on campus and during our community outreaches.

We have also seen God's "growth" from our planting and watering of the seeds of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”

Each day we plant and water seeds of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the hearts of people. Sometimes we see God give the “growth” (people giving their lives to Jesus), and sometimes we don’t. Last week, we saw a beautiful example of the importance of planting and watering.

Two years ago a woman who came to Love In Action for help was addicted to drugs. We planted and watered seeds of the Gospel in her heart.

We haven’t seen her in about 1.5 years, until last week. She is now saved and has been sober for six months. Praise God! She told me, “I kept thinking about you and your wife. Y’all never judged me and kept loving me. Y’all told me there was a better life for me.”

A jail chaplain saw God bring the growth as he faithfully shared Jesus with her. Today she has hope of a better life and the assurance of eternal life with Jesus. She made our day. To God be the glory!

This past Saturday was saw another increase from our planting and watering.

Last Fall, we started going to a mobile home park in Kinsey. We have been loving on people there and planting seeds of the Gospel into the hearts of people.

On Saturday, a woman who lives there came to Love In Action for help with groceries, hygiene items and clothes. She left with all of that, but most importantly, she gave her life to Jesus. Hallelujah! She was so thankful for all we have done for her and her family through our outreaches to her neighborhood. She was thankful and all smiles about being saved.

Praise God! We thank God for letting us see those seeds take root and see her surrender her life to Jesus. 

See, there is a lot of good news out there. We just have to keep our focus on Jesus, who is the source of Good News. He's is the best news. Now go tell people about Jesus and share the Good News with others.

Let's shine brightly for Jesus

2022-01-17T19:08:00.001-06:00

I often hear people say, "How can I pay you back for all you've done for me?" My answer is always, "Live for Jesus." That's it.

That's why we do everything that we do at Love In Action. We want to lead people into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. There is no amount of money or anything else that is better than seeing a life transformed.

Sometimes we lose track of people we minister to. The reasons vary from they moved away, are in prison, a rehab, or many other things happened. What is great is when we run into them during our community outreach, and we see their lives are turning around.

We started going to some different mobile home parks in the rural Houston County last year for our community outreach. On our first visit we knocked on a door and a young woman answered. We first met her when she was homeless, and she would come to our campus for a shower, food, clothing, and other needs.

"I don't know what I would have done without y'all," she said. "Y'all were a lifesaver."

This past weekend we encountered another former homeless person. Martha and I knocked on a door in a mobile home park in Cowarts. A woman answered. We knew her because she gave her life to Jesus the first time we visited there last year.

As we said our hellos, I heard a man ask, "Is that brother Ken?" Years ago, we met him when he was homeless living next to a dumpster. Today he has a home, his own car, and a job he has worked consistently for the past year. Praise God!

“I wouldn’t be here if not for y’all,” he said. To God be the glory! It was all Jesus, not us. That made our day. He has an interest in singing and wants to sing for Jesus, so we encouraged him in that.

Seeing him reminded me that we don't always see the difference any of us can make in a person's life. If we will just follow Jesus and let Him love through us, He will work through us to touch lives. We don't always see it, but when we do, it does something to us.

It makes me want to serve harder and love deeper. To see people successfully come out of homelessness is exciting. To see people surrender to Jesus and live for him is powerful.

I've said the following over the years because it's true. The ones who truly surrender to Jesus and live for Him are the ones who successfully come off the streets.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:16 to, "let our light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven."

When we let the light of Jesus shine through us, darkness flees, and people can see that Jesus loves them. When they truly see the Light, their lives are forever changed, and our Father in Heaven is glorified.

Let's shine brightly for Jesus everywhere we go. When we do, lives are changed.

An encouraging start to 2022

2022-01-10T17:43:00.002-06:00

This new year is off to a great start. It's been a very encouraging start of what I'm expecting to be another tremendous year of growth in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, making disciples, and meeting needs of the homeless and poor.

God knows how to encourage us, and that's what He did in the first week of 2022.

Let me start with a young man He directed to Love In Action for the first time. Abdul Karim is originally from the country of Turkey. About two years ago someone in North Carolina told him about Jesus and led him to give his life to Jesus. However, that was it. There wasn't and hasn't been any teaching about what to do next or how to live this life for Jesus.

Bro. Suhail started talking with him and teaching him about Jesus. Suhail told him about baptism and he immediately said he wanted to be baptized. I was in the warehouse at that time, so Suhail brought him to see me. This young man was excited to be learning about Jesus, and when I said let's fill up the baptismal trough and baptize him, he started clapping his hands and saying, "Yes! Yes!"

I told him I wish everyone was as excited as he was about following Jesus in baptism. Suhail and I baptized him. I believe in baptizing as soon as possible, and since he understood and was so excited, there's no way I could put his baptism off. He had gone two years without knowing anything other than he prayed to surrender his life to Jesus.

He is excited about starting discipleship classes and going with us on outreaches to learn how to pray with others and share Jesus with others. Please keep Abdul Karim in your prayers. He is homeless, but he has a car and is excited about getting a job and moving forward in Jesus. And, praise be to God, he was hired for a new job yesterday.

One More Soul came to Jesus and was baptized yesterday (Tuesday, Jan. 11) at Love In Action. Praise Jesus!  After he prayed to surrender his life to Jesus, Bro. Suhail talked to him about baptism. Our new brother, Abdul Karim, encouraged him by saying, “You need to be baptized today!” Abdul Karim is so excited about Jesus. He is telling others about Jesus and says, “I love Him so much.” He even helped in the baptism yesterday. 

God is touching hearts and lives are being transformed. This is another reason we are remodeling Suite 1 to turn it into the Love In Action School of Discipleship. 

Then on Thursday God encouraged me again with two individuals who are at The Ark. We hold our Samaritan Clinic for the homeless on Thursdays, and on the first Thursday we start with patients from The Ark. These men and women are trying to put their lives back together, and it all starts with a solid foundation built on Jesus Christ. So, to further encourage them, we set a day and time aside for them.

As I walked out of Suite 6 last Thursday, I heard, "Bro. Ken." It was a man I knew from the streets. He had been homeless, and like so many of our homeless friends, he was spinning his wheels trying to do things his way and not taking the time to let Jesus transform his life.

He said, "I've finally made it here." I am so thankful. We encourage our homeless friends to go to The Ark, which is a Christian ministry with a 12-month in-house program. I hugged him and encouraged him to stay with the program and let Jesus do a great work in him."

Then, there was a woman who we knew for the past 3-4 years. She had been in and out of homelessness. We had encouraged her several years ago to apply for The Ark's women's program, but she didn't. Thursday was the first time I had seen her in a long time, and it was so good to see she made the decision to get the help she needed.

Both, the man and the woman, thanked us for all we did for them while they were homeless. They remembered everything, even what we might think are little things. It was a reminder that everything we do matters. Everything we say and do should always bring glory to God and give grace to others.

Goals for 2022

2022-01-02T21:03:00.003-06:00

Have you set any goals for 2022? I'm not much on New Year's resolutions. Those are made to be broken. What's the use? Goals, on the other hand, are achievements we strive for ... something we are intentional about, put effort into.

I have set some personal and ministry goals for 2022. One of those is this blog. It's been a while since I've been intentional about writing blog entries. Why is that a goal? It's two-fold. I studied journalism and graduated with a degree in it from Troy State University. I know the "State" isn't in the institution's name any longer, but it's still on my diploma.

I pursued a career in journalism afterward, and enjoyed a 22-year career in a field where I wrote and edited stories daily. Writing is in my blood. It's also therapeutic. I'm just weird that way.

Secondly, this blog helps further shine the light on what God is doing in and through Love In Action. It can give more insights to the move of God, upcoming events, and needs of the ministry.

Other personal goals include seeking and knowing God more and more throughout the year. To accomplish that I'll be even more intentional in my daily Bible reading. I read God's Word daily, but I desire to study it more. I've read through the Bible a number of times. That's a great thing to do, and I encourage it. But, it's also good to slow down and take your time going through books of the Bible.

My friend Dr. Dave Smith, professor of Bible at Indiana Wesleyan University, presents a challenging way to study the Bible. He encourages and teaches that we should make time to read entire books of the Bible in one reading. Some books are more challenging to read through in one sitting than others. You can try to impress others by telling them you read the entire letter of Jude without taking a break. As long as they don't know Jude is only two pages they'll be impressed.

My goal is to take each book of the New Testament and read them all, one at a time, in one reading. You better understand the context of the Word doing that. Digging deeper and deeper into God's Word is my forever goal. We can never dig too deep.

Other goals are a stronger personal time of prayer, leading more people into a relationship with Jesus and making more disciples who make disciples. In other words, to be even more intentional on living out my Lord's Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15)

My prayer life is something I really need to be intentional more about. I pray all the time. Often very short prayers throughout the day. The Apostle Paul tell us to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). That's having a mindset of prayer throughout each day and praying often. What I need to work on is spending more time in prayer; talking and listening for longer periods of time with my Abba Father.

You notice my personal goals all deal with spiritual growth. Material things are inconsequential. As my pastor, Ralph Sigler, says, only things that we do for God last for eternity. So, I choose to focus on the eternal. Of course, if Alabama wins another national championship I'll be good with that, too. LOL

Goals for Love In Action include reaching more people locally and around the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to see more people enter into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. As they do, I desire for us to make more disciples who can make disciples. That's why we have started the Love In Action School of Discipleship and are currently remodeling suite 1 on our campus to host this school. I'll write more about that in another blog.

I believe God is wanting to further expand our food ministry to meet many more needs. You might not realize it, but there are a lot of people out there who have very little to no food. I'll blog more about the food ministry expansion later.

I also believe God is leading us to do more with video blogs and video testimonies. People engage with videos. That's our culture. Being able to show what God is doing through videos will add another layer on shining the light on what God is doing. I think it encourages people to see and hear life-transforming testimonies. I pray God will use those testimonies to lead people to Jesus.

We are going to be more intentional about prayer at Love In Action. Within our School of Discipleship will be a prayer room. We will have focused times of prayer, strategic times of prayer. Prayer is too important, and as the family of God, we need to be more focused on praying together.

I'll end this blog entry here. It's already getting long. If you haven't already, I encourage you to sit down and make goals. Pray about them. Make them realistic, but also challenging. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can do this.

Happy New Year, everyone. May it be a year of knowing Jesus more, sharing our faith with others, and making disciples who can make disciples.

Leadership Lessons from a Pandemic: Family of God is Vital

2021-03-15T10:12:00.001-05:00

Continuing to fellowship and serve together throughout the pandemic made a huge difference in our lives and the lives of those we served.

"While He was still speaking to the people, behold, His mother and His brothers stood outside, asking to speak to Him. But He replied to the man who told Him, 'Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?' And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother and sister and mother.'" - Jesus speaking in Matthew 12:46-50

Like many of you, I've learned a number of lessons this past year. I'm going to share some leadership lessons learned during this pandemic.

The first lesson confirmed what I already knew, the family of God is vital to our growth and stability as followers of Jesus Christ. It confirmed our family truly is "whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven."

A year ago everything started shutting down, not just in the U.S., but around the world. Economies crashed and churches, schools, businesses, governments ... pretty much everything closed for at least two months; much longer in other parts of our nation and world.

We didn't close Love In Action. I was concerned with the needs of the homeless and the poor during a time of crisis when everything was closed. It meant there would be more needs to meet. I communicated with Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba and he agreed we were essential, so we kept going.

I don't want to focus on that in this blog entry, though. A very important aspect that kept Martha and me strong through the toughest times of the pandemic was keeping our Love In Action Family together. I heard from people who could not fellowship with their church family except through Zoom and other technology. It just wasn't the same for them and they struggled spiritually.

I told our staff and volunteers at the beginning that if they didn't feel safe serving during the pandemic they didn't have to, but Martha and I were going to keep doing what we can to help those in need and share the Gospel.

LIA staff member Pamela Johnson told me, "I'd be disappointed if you closed." Our small staff stayed and so did most volunteers. The elderly in our LIA Family understandably stayed at home, well, except for Robert. If you know Robert, you know there's no keeping him at home.

We gained more volunteers as we kept running toward the pandemic to help people. Our family actually grew during the pandemic. The daily fellowship kept us all strong. Daily serving and sharing the Gospel on the streets and at LIA together strengthened us spiritually. We worshipped together. We continued living life together.

Without our LIA Family being together daily the pandemic would have been much tougher. We all grew more in the Lord and closer to each other. We learned that we don't run from situations, we run to them in the name of Jesus to help those in need and encourage people who are going through the toughest times of their lives.

As a leader, I had to balance our response with safety. We changed how we did things. Instead of gathering everyone inside, we kept everything outside. We still kept our showers open and laundry services available for the homeless. Part of the fight against Covid-19 is good hygiene, so those two parts of the ministry were more important than ever.

We cut our services back to just hot meals at first, and then we continued to helped families and individuals with groceries, hygiene items and clothes. We did so with having very few people in suite 6. We sanitized everything even better than we did prior to the pandemic. Once we understood how serious the Covid-19 pandemic was, I required masks to be worn.

As we all know, the requirement of masks is not popular with everyone, and not everyone in our LIA Family were happy with my decision about masks. But, as the leader of a ministry, you have to seek God and make the decisions you feel He is leading you to make no matter if they are popular or not.

The safety of our volunteers and those we serve was just too important to me. As a leader, if there are tangible ways to keep people safe, then do it. They are family. You want your family safe and healthy.

A number of us have had Covid-19, including Martha and me. However, nobody has caught it at Love In Action. Only one homeless person has had it, and he had not been coming to LIA until the hospital sent him to us.

However, I would not allow him to exit their van. He still had Covid. I couldn't endanger everyone else. I instructed the van driver where to take him. It was an isolated area where he couldn't unintentionally infect anyone else. We gave him a tent and camping supplies, and provided him food, water and other supplies during his time of isolation. He is healthy and doing good now. We now see him at LIA during the week.

Not neglecting to meet together and encouraging one another daily as God instructs us in Hebrews 10:25, was the key for all of us making it through 2020, and the first quarter of 2021, much easier than if we had been isolated from each other.

As a ministry leader, do your best to keep your family together no matter what's going on. God created His church, the Body of Christ, for a reason. He didn't want us to try to live this life for Him alone. We need each other.

Keep your family safe, while understanding there are risks involved. Jesus told us there would be many risks and challenges. Communicate those risks so your family will know, and so they can better understand your decisions. They all may not agree with you, but they will obey because they love and respect you. They know you are doing what you believe is best for them and the mission.

Thank you LIA Family. Martha and I would never have made it without each of you. We never would have seen 211 decisions for Jesus or distributed over 1 million pounds of food to people in need in 2020 without you. We love you all.

Thank you for putting up with your much less than perfect leader. Thank you for respecting my decisions even when they weren't popular with some of you.

Looking back, I certainly see things I could have done better. But at the same time, I see how God worked through this incredible Family to do amazing things during the toughest times any of us have ever lived through.

I'm sure the people we served will always remember how God showed His love for them and how He kept His promises of never leaving or forsaking them.

To God be the glory!

Worshiping and serving together kept us strong during the pandemic.

Sharing Jesus, Making Disciples in Dothan

2021-03-08T15:50:00.001-06:00

Pictured above is one of our previous T4T discipleship classes. Below, Jameson highlights his Bible during a T4T class. Jameson is one of our T4T discipleship graduates.

We serve countless plates of hot food, bags and boxes of groceries, bags of hygiene items, and clothes every week at our Love In Action campus in Dothan and out on the streets and in impoverished neighborhoods.

Yes, we do it to meet the many physical needs that are in our city and region in accordance to Matthew 25:35-40. The main reason we do all of this, though, is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Every Tuesday, Thursday and the first three Saturdays of each month we are on our campus praying for and sharing the Gospel one-on-one with the homeless and those living in poverty as we meet their physical needs.

Every Wednesday, Friday and the first three Saturday afternoons we are on the streets, at homeless camps, low-rent motels, and impoverished neighborhoods, trailer parks and apartment complexes praying for people and sharing the Gospel one-on-one and in group settings. The Gospel is preached and shared with the lost and hurting. Those who are already saved are encouraged.

As people come to Jesus we strive to fulfill the our Lord's Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) through baptizing new believers and making disciples who can make disciples.

We teach Training for Trainers (T4T) for our discipleship method. It's a very solid discipleship course that is taught throughout the world. We have also taught it in Myanmar, India and Haiti.

A new T4T discipleship class is currently underway at our Love In Action Campus in Dothan. Please pray as we make disciples who can make more disciples.

Obedient to the Great Commission

2021-03-07T15:59:00.001-06:00

Jesus gives us His Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. He commands us to "Go and make disciples of all nations." The word "nations" in the Greek is "ethne" meaning people or ethnic groups.

In Acts 1:8, Jesus says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Therefore, we are to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and make disciples at home and around the world. Here at Love In Action, we are so thankful and excited for each opportunity to fulfill our Lord's Great Commission.

We thank everyone who has joined us to make disciples who make disciples as our Lord commands us. You help us spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ through acts of compassion, which helps draw people to Jesus. Then, we are able to make disciples who make disciples.

Thank you to everyone who supports us financially. If you haven't been, please prayerfully consider becoming a financial supporter of Love In Action.

Your tax-deductible donation can be mailed to: Love In Action, P.O. Box 85, Dothan, AL 36302. You can also give securely online via PayPal through the donation page on our website by clicking on this link, https://loveinactionministries.com/donate

You can also give via the Venmo app. Our username is: @Loveinaction-InternationalMini and also online at https://venmo.com/Loveinaction-InternationalMini

Love In Action International Ministries, Inc. is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt, non-profit Christian organization. All donations and gifts are tax deductible. Our tax-exempt number is 63-1274627.

Thank you and God bless you.

We Need Your Help to Expand Food Ministry

2020-08-23T15:45:00.003-05:00

We have an opportunity to expand our food ministry to levels we never have before. We have just built a 2,400 sq. ft. warehouse to store and distribute food to those in need. We are currently helping 12,000 people a month with food. A critical part of this warehouse that we need is a 10 ft. X 30 ft. walk-in cooler and freezer. We need to raise $15,000 to purchase this cooler and install it. This will allow us to accept meats, dairy products, eggs and more produce, that we currently have to turn away because of the lack of refrigeration space. Being able to provide perishables along with non-perishable foods will be a huge blessing to people living in great need in Dothan, the Wiregrass and tri-states region. We will easily be able to double our reach with the new warehouse and walk-in cooler/freezer. That means, we will double those we can reach with the Gospel of Jesus Christ as we share the Gospel through acts of compassion.
Please help us if you can. Every donation will add up to help us reach this goal.
You can mail your tax-deductible donations to:
Love In Action, P.O. Box 85, Dothan, AL 36302
You can also give securely online via PayPal through the donation page on our website by clicking on the following link and then clicking on the "Donate' button - https://loveinactionministries.com/donate
Thank you and God bless you.