Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, June 4, 2010
Isaiah 50:7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
In this prophetical chapter dealing with the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus, we are reminded of the confidence that we can have in our God. It is He that helps, it is He that gives us victory and allows us to overcome. Yet along with that great truth, there is another phrase that must not be overlooked – I set my face like a flint. I was greatly challenged this week as I reflected on the determination and unwavering commitment that Christ demonstrated through His life and in His death. In considering what Christ was subjected to and the incredible pain and loss that others have had to endure in this world, I realized how much more determination and reliance on God I need daily. We know Satan will stop at nothing to thwart the work of spreading the gospel. Then again, our God, that worketh all things together for good, will also allow tremendous affliction at times for reasons that we do not understand but that ultimately lead to His magnification and glory. May we find solace in His grace while maintaining steadfastness in the cause.
We rejoice to report this month that God has kept us safe, drawn us closer to Him and once again shown His exclusive ability to orchestrate our progression to the field in ways that we would never expect. There were two examples of this last month alone but the one that sticks out most was getting a phone call from a man in NC where we had a meeting a number of months ago. The church could not financially support us but this man happened to be visiting the church that night (Thursday service) and months later he was led to call us and begin supporting us through the church that he pastors!
Just recently, and for the first time in our deputation, a situation arose that warranted me traveling to a series of meetings without my family. It is away from my family that I write this prayer letter now, eagerly anticipating a joyous reunion with my wonderful wife and four precious daughters. I rejoice that during this time they have been able to finish the homeschool year, get refreshed a little from life on the road and enjoy the fellowship of dear friends and family where we have spent most of our lives. At the same time, this has been an incredibly profitable time for me as I have been able to get alone with God and spend some extended time in prayer, the word of God and study. The Lord has been gracious in meeting with me and allowing me to be refreshed and refueled to set my face as a flint toward the Philippines. My prayer is that I will reunite with my family as a better father, husband, friend, leader and example moving forward. During this trip there have been many opportunites to go soulwinning, work on a bus route and teach kids as well as preach and present our burden for the islands. Then, just this week, I thoroughly enjoyed a great camp meeting in Jacksonville, AR where I sat under some great preaching and had tremendous fellowship with many missionaries heading to fields around the world. This meeting had numerous benefits as it establish contacts with pastors in the area that we trust will translate into meetings in the future. Equipped with CD’s of all the great messages that were preached, I look forward to sharing what God fed us with at this conference to my family upon my soon return. Pray for us this month as we will travel many miles to meetings in multiple states. We are expecting great things from our great God yet again.
2Cor 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
By the grace of God,
Aaron & Stephanie Putney
Autumn, Anna, Sarah and Emma
Grace Independent Baptist Church
Pastor Paul Perkins
3707 Bienville Blvd
Ocean Springs, MS 39564
www.PutneysforChrist.com
Aaron@PutneysforChrist.com
585 298 3807
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
May 2010 Prayer Letter
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, May 2010
3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
While I recognize the context of this verse, I am one whose heart is touched upon reading these words concerning the children the Lord has entrusted us with and the state of their souls and daily walk with Christ. We have been praying for our girls since their birth or before and while it excites us when they can recite a verse, pray at bedtime or even sing at a church; our longing has been for the time when God would touch their heart about their personal need to settle their sin debt by faith in our risen Redeemer. On April 16th, at Parkwood Baptist Church in Houston, our daughter Autumn expressed to us that the Lord was dealing with her about her soul. When the service was over, we spent some time talking about it and she was adamant that she needed to be born again and she called on God to save her! It has been a blessing to see her faithfully and without provocation share her testimony with family and others and encourage them that they need to be saved if they are not! Pray for Autumn, that God would grow her in wisdom and fellowship with Him and that she might give Him glory faithfully until the Lord calls us home!
This report finds us in the northeast for a series of meetings this month before heading to Arkansas by the end of May. While we have had our share of sickness that has passed the family in the past two weeks we praise the Lord that we seem to be at the end of it and look forward to being at full strength for the coming meetings. This past month has provided opportunities to witness and evangelize in different places including a festival in Texas where our three older girls all passed out tracts and we got a few hundred out in just a few hours! We enjoyed being a part of some great Missions conferences and have great optimism that new support for the work in the Philippines will result from them. While we see the reality of challenges in churches across America, we know that the greatest thing Satan wants is to thwart the impact of the local church on evangelization in its own community and its obedience to spread the gospel through the conduit of missionaries throughout the world. It is exciting to see many of the churches that have not strayed from this our foundational purpose; no matter the economy, no matter the political landscape, no matter the philosophies of the day. The work of the gospel is great and large and so as Nehemiah demonstrated for us in the midst of adversity, we must continue in the work, amen?!
Please pray that we would be faithful to the Lord, diligent in our labor and that God would open doors for us this summer to have a full calendar of meetings which will bring us closer to the Philippines as well as encouraging churches and impacting souls with the gospel all along the way. May the Lord greatly encourage you and magnify Himself in your service to Him.
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (Eph 3:16-19)
According to the power that worketh in us, Aaron & Stephanie Putney
Autumn, Anna, Sarah and Emma
Grace Independent Baptist Church
Pastor Paul Perkins
3707 Bienville Blvd
Ocean Springs, MS 39564
www.PutneysforChrist.com
Aaron@PutneysforChrist.com
585 298 3807
3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
While I recognize the context of this verse, I am one whose heart is touched upon reading these words concerning the children the Lord has entrusted us with and the state of their souls and daily walk with Christ. We have been praying for our girls since their birth or before and while it excites us when they can recite a verse, pray at bedtime or even sing at a church; our longing has been for the time when God would touch their heart about their personal need to settle their sin debt by faith in our risen Redeemer. On April 16th, at Parkwood Baptist Church in Houston, our daughter Autumn expressed to us that the Lord was dealing with her about her soul. When the service was over, we spent some time talking about it and she was adamant that she needed to be born again and she called on God to save her! It has been a blessing to see her faithfully and without provocation share her testimony with family and others and encourage them that they need to be saved if they are not! Pray for Autumn, that God would grow her in wisdom and fellowship with Him and that she might give Him glory faithfully until the Lord calls us home!
This report finds us in the northeast for a series of meetings this month before heading to Arkansas by the end of May. While we have had our share of sickness that has passed the family in the past two weeks we praise the Lord that we seem to be at the end of it and look forward to being at full strength for the coming meetings. This past month has provided opportunities to witness and evangelize in different places including a festival in Texas where our three older girls all passed out tracts and we got a few hundred out in just a few hours! We enjoyed being a part of some great Missions conferences and have great optimism that new support for the work in the Philippines will result from them. While we see the reality of challenges in churches across America, we know that the greatest thing Satan wants is to thwart the impact of the local church on evangelization in its own community and its obedience to spread the gospel through the conduit of missionaries throughout the world. It is exciting to see many of the churches that have not strayed from this our foundational purpose; no matter the economy, no matter the political landscape, no matter the philosophies of the day. The work of the gospel is great and large and so as Nehemiah demonstrated for us in the midst of adversity, we must continue in the work, amen?!
Please pray that we would be faithful to the Lord, diligent in our labor and that God would open doors for us this summer to have a full calendar of meetings which will bring us closer to the Philippines as well as encouraging churches and impacting souls with the gospel all along the way. May the Lord greatly encourage you and magnify Himself in your service to Him.
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (Eph 3:16-19)
According to the power that worketh in us, Aaron & Stephanie Putney
Autumn, Anna, Sarah and Emma
Grace Independent Baptist Church
Pastor Paul Perkins
3707 Bienville Blvd
Ocean Springs, MS 39564
www.PutneysforChrist.com
Aaron@PutneysforChrist.com
585 298 3807
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