How blessed I am to have yet another opportunity to share the "good news" from this past month with you. I never cease to be amazed by what the Lord has in store for us with each new event, and await each with a sense of true excitement and anticipation. I pray that as you read this letter, you will be just as pleased with what He is up to as we are!

As I mentioned briefly last month, at the start of June, we were honored to conduct two radio programs with Dr. Dobson at Focus on the Family. The shows promise to deliver a pertinent dialogue on the current state of ministry to men in our nation. This discussion also included such prominent men as Pat Morley, Chris Van Brocklin and H.B. London. We were all very pleased with the final outcome, and look forward to the impact ahead. We will be sure to keep you posted on when these programs will air. 

The week following this event, Cindy and I headed out to Lake of the Ozarks for a much needed vacation. A friend of my fellow partner in ministry, Dave Dravecky, was gracious enough to offer us their completely furnished and stocked vacation home, situated right on the lake. This spectacular home came with its own backyard dock, and entertained the grandchildren for hours with a private water slide and trampoline! It was an incredible time! Cindy and I returned home completely relaxed and having spent some very precious time with family members both near and far. Thank you Lord!

The day after our return home from Missouri, I was asked to conduct all four services at our home church, Woodmen Valley Chapel. I spoke on "Real Christianity in an Unreal World", a message that is always met with such a tremendous response. This particular teaching challenges believers to reevaluate how we approach our culture. I believe that it is one of the most significant messages that we offer, and pray that the effects will be far reaching and long lasting! 

In mid-June, I rustled up my cowboy boots and blue jeans and headed out to Grand Junction, CO to speak to the Cattleman's Association. I was the very first speaker to address this group on the powerful correlation of leadership skills and principles of faith. Just recently, I was just informed that the feedback was incredibly positive. In fact, they are considering inviting me back to consult with them about their future...a new and promising opportunity indeed! 

After returning home from Grand Junction, I repacked my bags and jetted off to Red Lake, Ontario, Canada for a men's event and two other speaking engagements. During my six hour layover in Winnipeg, I met up with friend, Willard Thiessen, host of "It's a New Day Canada" to film two television shows. I always look forward to spending time with Willard and his delightful crew members. "It's a New Day" is broadcast all across the country, and therefore, the response to our programs can seem a bit overwhelming. We are humbled by the outpouring of encouraging and affirming words. This time around we were also thrilled to welcome ten new believers in to the Kingdom! Hallelujah! 

Before getting too comfortable back at home in Colorado, I set out on one last trip to Arcade Church in Sacramento. This congregation is searching for a Pastor, and has been inviting speakers from around the country to fill their pulpit during this time of decision. I had an awesome time with this precious group. The church is made up of approximately two thousand members, and we witnessed forty nine men and women come to a saving knowledge of our Savior! Cindy and I have been invited to return to Arcade Church for a Couples event sometime soon.

While still in Sacramento, I also conducted a half-day leadership workshop for twenty men from Adventure Christian Church. It was an introduction for the "Men on Target" Seminar that we are scheduled to deliver later this year. Our time together was fruitful. This church has six to seven thousand members. Please pray for the potential impact of this upcoming seminar, as the harvest is truly great.

Finally, I would also like to announce the release of our latest article in New Man magazine. This piece includes our "ten year challenge" and is sure to have a profound effect. I encourage you to grab a copy and visit our web site to take the challenge on line at http://www.otm.org/rwinteractive.asp.

You may be thinking, does this month ever end?? Well, my friends I am pleased to report that this past month was the busiest June on record! Thank you for sharing in our joy! Cindy and I love and appreciate you and pray that the Lord will continue to bless you richly throughout the remainder of this summer season! 

Serving Him with a passionate heart,

Vince

There We Saw the Giants

Num. 13:33 KJV

From “Streams in the Desert”

Yes, the Israeli spies saw giants, but Joshua and Caleb saw God! Those who doubt still say today, “We can't attack ...; they are stronger than we are” (Num. 13:31). Yet those who believe say, “We should go up and take possession ..., for we can certainly do it” (v.30).

Giants represent great difficulties, and they stalk us everywhere. They are in our families, our churches, our social life, and even our own hearts. We must overcome them or they will devour us, just as the ancient Israelites, fearing those in Canaan, said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size” (Num. 13:32). We should exhibit faith as did Joshua and Caleb, who said, “Do not be afraid ..., because we will swallow them up” (Num. 14:9). In effect, they told the others, “We will be stronger by overcoming them than if there had been no giants to defeat.”

In fact, unless we have overcoming faith, we will be swallowed up—consumed by the giants who block our path. “With that same spirit of faith” (2Co 4:13) that Joshua and Caleb had, let us look to God, and He will take care of the difficulties.

We encounter giants only when we are serving God and following Him. It was when Israel was going forward that the giants appeared, for when they turned back into the wilderness, they found none.

Many people believe that the power of God in a person's life should keep him from all trials and conflicts. However, the power of God actually brings conflict and struggles. You would think that Paul, during his great missionary journey to Rome, would have been kept by God's sovereignty from the power of violent storms and of his enemies. Yet just the opposite was true. He endured one long, difficult struggle with the Jews who were persecuting him. He faced fierce winds, poisonous snakes, and all the powers of earth and of hell. And finally, he narrowly escaped drowning, by swimming to shore at Malta after a shipwreck nearly sent him to a watery grave.

Does this sound like a God of infinite power? Yes, it is just like Him. And that is why Paul told us that once he took the Lord Jesus Christ as his life in his body, a severe conflict immediately arose. In fact, the conflict never ended. The pressure on Paul was persistent, but from the conflict he always emerged victorious through the strength of Jesus Christ.

Paul described this in quite vivid language: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” (2Co 4:8-10).

What a ceaseless and strenuous struggle he related! It is nearly impossible to express in English the impact of the original language. Paul gives us five different images in succession. In the first, he has us picture enemies completely surrounding and pressuring but not crushing him, because the heavenly “police” have protected him and cleared a path just wide enough for him to escape. The literal meaning is, “We are crowded from all sides, but not defeated.”

The second image is that of someone whose way is completely blocked or thwarted by the enemy. Yet he has persevered, for there is just enough light for him to see the next step. Paul said, “Perplexed, but not in despair,” or as one literal translation put it, “Without a road, but not without a ‘side road’ of escape.”

The third picture, “Persecuted, but not abandoned,” is one of the enemy in hot pursuit of him while the divine Defender stands nearby. He is pursued, but not left alone.

The fourth is even more vivid and dramatic. The enemy has overtaken him, struck him, and knocked him down. But it is not a fatal blow—he is able to rise again. He has been “struck down, but not destroyed,” or literally, “overthrown, but not overcome.”

In the fifth and final image, Paul advances the thought still further, giving us a picture that appears to be one of death itself: “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus.” Yet he does not die, for “the life of Jesus” comes to his aid, and he lives through Christ's life until his lifework is complete.

The reason so many people fail to experience this divine principle is that they expect to receive it all without a struggle. When conflict comes and the battle rages on, they become discouraged and surrender. God has nothing worth having that is easily gained, for there are no cheap goods on the heavenly market. The cost of our redemption was everything God had to give, and anything worth having is expensive. Difficult times and places are our schools of faith and character. If we are ever to rise above mere human strength, and experience the power of the life of Christ in our mortal bodies, it will be through the process of conflict that could very well be called the “labor pains” of the new life. It is like the story of Moses, who “saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up” (Ex 3:2); although Satan's demons tried to extinguish the flame in Moses’ life by continually pouring water on his plans, they could not, because God's angels were ever vigilant, pouring oil on the flame to keep it burning brightly.

Dear child of God, you may be suffering, but you cannot fail if you will only dare to believe, stand firm, and refuse to be overcome.