I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and pray you’ll have a blessed Christmas. So far my winter has been great, except for the outrageously high heating bill (nearly as much as my house payment this month, with three colder months ahead).

The meetings at Bible Baptist Church in Belvidere, IL (Pastor Dudley Matties), went well. Pastor Matties and I have a lot in common. Both of us have metro-Detroit, Michigan roots, have spent a few years in Michigan’s upper peninsula, and then moved over to the Chicago/Milwaukee part of the Midwest. I told him I’ll pray that God calls him to Hawaii or the Bahamas next. We had seven total visitors and 4-5 of them were good follow-up opportunities.

When I did my message on “Giants in the Earth”, I learned that, back in the 1970s, the church hosted the 7′ 8″ “Goliath for Christ” evangelist Max Palmer ( http://www.thetallestman.com/maxpalmer.htm).

        The meetings at Temple Baptist Church in Baldwinsville, NY (Pastor Bruce Craig) were tremendous. They hosted a Pastor’s Fellowship among the meetings and I got to present my ministry to some 20 pastors. I expect to get the opportunity to spend more time in NY in the future. I got to meet some old friends from the past and some new friends from the internet. We had good crowds and visitors every meeting. We’d been praying for good weather for weeks, and the weather was excellent until a big snowstorm hit on the last day. That church had previously hosted Bro. Don Stertz of Wyldewood Baptist’s Couriers for Christ ministry (http://wyldewood.org/index.php/outreach/our-missionaries/couriers-for-christ), and he put in a good word for me. Pastor Craig told his church if they didn’t like what I had to offer, they should blame Bro. Stertz. Thank God, Bro. Stertz’ reputation remains intact.

Just before I left for NY, I got sick (in response to missing a night’s sleep over a serious extended-family issue), but that showed me two important things. One, when the devil attacks, it’s confirmation that I’m doing something right. Two, when I am operating at far less than 100%, I have to rely on God and realize that the results are from God. God gets all the glory.

This Thursday I’ll be heading again to Door Bible Baptist Church in Brussels, WI. Pastor Mark Englebert has me scheduled to be at his place on a monthly basis. I’ll be there 1-8, 2-5, and 3-5 as well.

I will be presenting my ministry at the Watchnight service at First Bible Baptist Church in Green Bay, WI (Pastor Harley Keck). I expect to have the best New Year’s Eve of my life, without a drop of alcohol in sight. Bro. Keck might be getting a little nervous, though.

January 11-13, I’ll be at Eastern Hills Baptist Church in Council Bluffs, IA, Pastor Brian Tatman. They support my good friends Jeff and Helen Christian, who are missionaries in Belarus, a country proclaimed by its own leader as “the most Communist country on earth”. I’ll be doing six sessions there, including one for their school kids and parents. It is really neat to have a ministry that has ministered to people as diverse as world-class scientists with multiple post-graduate degrees as well as elementary school children.

I should get to escape winter for a while, with a week or so in Alabama in February. I also have meetings coming up with Pastor Delhotal in IL, Pastor Weiss in Reedsburg, WI, Bro. Lucas in WVa, Pastor Hatch in Winneconne, WI, and Pastor Campbell in Indianapolis. More on them next update. I hope to add YOUR church to the list. You can have confidence in knowing I am a local-church sent, King James Bible believing Baptist (Wyldewood Baptist Church, Oshkosh, WI, Pastor Jason Brenenstuhl, Mission Pastor Randy King).