Homesteading family

One of my best friends and his family do homesteading in the state of Maine. I hadn't the opportunity to visit him since last October. Was very impressed with their progress. They raise chickens, turkeys for Thanksgiving and a few pigs for sale. Currently they have more than 800 meat chickens in various stages of development plus egg layers, quail and ducks. In addition they have planted many varieties of vegetables and flowers. Sheds, chicken coops and movable tractors and other enclosures have multiplied. Their four children are growing in this environment also. The oldest cares for horses on a neighbor's stable. Even the youngest at 5 pitches in. This reminds me of the Little House on the Prarie books that I read to my daughter when she was a child. Through their endeavors they have had the opportunity to speak with many people who appreciate the fruit of their labors. It was a privilege for me to experience this even though I am not an "animal" person.

Three Categories

One thing that has helped me in maturing as a Christian and avoiding unnecessary doctrinal battles is to divide what I believe into three categories. The first group I refer to as salvation doctrines which are truly necessary for genuine Christians to believe. I don't think there are very many of these. Most center around Jesus Christ. Examples include Jesus is God, He rose from the dead, and He is the only way of salvation. The second category I call group distinctives or beliefs. Every fellowship, local congregation or denomination has these and they differ from group to group. For example there are many perspectives on end times events. A person will usually need to be in substantial agreement with the beliefs of whatever group they are in. I call this "flow or go." The third category is personal convictions which are beliefs a person holds, ideally supported by Scripture, which it is not necessary for others to hold. One personal conviction which I hold regards the use of titles in the Church. I seldom discuss my personal convictions.

A young couple

God gave me the privilege and the pleasure of fellowship with a young Christian engaged couple last night. The man had approached me after the Sunday morning gathering indicating an interest in foreign missions. We agreed to meet for pizza the following Monday with his fiancé, one of six daughters of a family that I have known off and on for over twenty years. She had recently gone to Uganda on a short term missions trip that he had experienced the previous year. We talked about cultural differences, the need to learn one or more foreign languages, the question of whether to join a missionary organization or freelance, trying to raise financial support or be self sustaining and related topics. Then they asked for my testimony and how God had involved me with other countries principally Brazil. All of this was reminiscent of experiences that I had earlier this year with young Brazilian couples Finally I recommended the principle found in Deuteronomy 24:5 of spending the first year of marriage establishing a foundation and not taking on other responsibilities.

1 Peter Bible study

Last Wednesday God gave me the privilege abd pleasure of facilitating a,Bible study here at the camp. This group began in mid 2020 when they asked me to lead them through the book of Revelation. For the next 22 weeks we worked through a chapter each time before I moved to Texas. A brother named Victor took over and has faithfully led it for four and a half years focusing on eschatology. Now he needed to take a break so I am filling in. I use,an interactive style and encourage each one to ask God for a nugget. The concept of a spiritual nugget is something that has impacted them during our time to retain for their benefit,and for others. We only studied the first six verses as there is so much spiritual wealth in them. We prayed individually at the end a d each one expressed appreciation for what God had done in our midst.