Such is the kingdom of God, as if a man put seed in the earth. He goes to sleep and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how. By itself the soil produces a crop, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. Mark 4:26-28  S piritual growth follows the quiet, unchanging law of the harvest. It works exactly like a seed cast into the furrow of a field—a steady process that brings forth remarkable results silently. Just as the seed, buried deep in the earth, eventually forces its way upward to the light, so the message of faith will inevitably manifest itself in a person’s life once it has taken root in the heart. The transformation is as undeniable as it is profound. One may look upon a field that was once brown and barren, appearing to the eye as dead; yet, in the fullness of time, it is suddenly covered in a bright and pleasant carpet of green sprouts. So it is with the soul: what was once a desert of indiffe...

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.  Mat 28:18-20  Consider the golden bookends which bind the volume of our Lord’s Great Commission. Upon the one side, He hath engraved: 'All power is given unto Me.' Upon the other, He hath set His seal: 'Lo, I am with you alway.' Between these two pillars of divine strength lies the whole of our calling. Whatever task the Master lays upon thy heart, whatever cross thou art bid to carry, it must be received with a faith that rests entirely upon His' omnipotence. We do not labor perchance. The victory is already sure in the courts of Heaven, yet it pleased our King to use our weakly hands for its completion. ...

Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.  Psalm 34:11 O ne of the great stewardship entrusted to us is the care of bringing up these young ones, who for most have been with us for the past three years, in Scriptural instruction. Our first and foremost calling is to introduce to them the blessed person of Jesus Christ, as the very shining image of the Father's glory. They have been led through the Decalogue, studied the attributes of God, been through a primer on covenant theology, and rehearsed, in children's language, the fundamentals of the Westminster shorter catechism (The Westminster Shorter Catechism is a Reformed Christian catechism composed of 107 questions and answers, written by the Westminster Assembly in 1646 and 1647).  It is noteworthy, that the crucial matters concerning the inborn corruption dwelling within the heart of fallen man, and the dreadful, eternal consequences of a life of sin and transgression against the perfect ho...

The faithfulness of God continually bears blessed fruit! To be so privileged as to serve our King and Lord by carefully teaching these young minds concerning the excellencies of Christ is an experience of profound and incredible humbling. In the month of May of the year two thousand and twenty-three, the Lord's work commenced with but eight students; today, we are blessed to number twenty-one. In the months that have passed, some few have departed or were drawn away by their parents to attend the conventional Roman Catholic mass, yet many more still came in their stead, proving that the work is of God and not man. When we first arrived upon this field, we prayed fervently that our Heavenly Father would open doors for us to share the Gospel with the families dwelling within this compound. And in His boundless wisdom, God sent us the children in direct answer to our humble petition. By this divine arrangement, we are reaching two generations rather than just one. These blessed childr...

And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them. Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king's household.” 2 Kings 7:8-9  In the first instance, the sheer, self-centered disregard of those poor, afflicted souls was truly grievous to read. They crammed their own bellies with the sustenance presented, whilst selfishly hoarding every last spoil they could lay their hands on. Yet, it is a small mercy that, amidst such indulgence, the light of conscience pricked them, and they were brought to recognize their lapse. Even more dismaying is the pitiful truth that their unthinking actions serve as a dreadful m...

To dedicate oneself to the simple acts of mercy ministry is undeniably a noble and commendable pursuit, bearing a righteous mark. Yet, to perform such deeds whilst neglecting the intentional and open proclamation of the Gospel—that sacred message of saving grace—is to tacitly affirm the wretched notion that the soul of man may, indeed, live upon bread alone. If one were to but dedicate the space of a single year to the rigorous perseverance of open-air preaching, you would quickly realize, with a striking clarity, precisely what solemn commandment you have been neglecting all along. Let us not find comfort in the physical relief of others, while their souls starve for the truth. The greatest act of mercy is to bring the unblemished Word to a soul in darkness. Good doxology must, by necessity, flow forth from sound theology. For it is a proper, heartfelt appreciation of the Almighty's glorious majesty that first inspires a genuine and humbling awe, which in turn, acts as the soverei...

After the patient space of one full year dedicated to the humble discipline of Family Worship, it hath now pleased the LORD to mercifully birth the reading of the Holy Scripture into four new households this year. This is a visible testament to the Sovereign’s pleasure! Our own young ones, having been diligently instructed in this sacred practice, have carried the custom learned in our home directly into their respective dwellings. With a commendable zeal, they now intentionally read the Scriptures to their own unbelieving families—a work of bold, spontaneous evangelism. A visible stirring is already observed amongst those who have heard the Living Word thus plainly read. The very heartbeat of this ministry in the home is to magnify the reality of God's great glory as the Scriptures are opened and the Psalms are either read or sung—and by the whole family participating in unison. The precious fruit of all this labor, however, is not presumed by us, but is dutifully left to God’s ow...

The most useful books for the whole week that compose the Sunday liturgy, with the family worship guide being used daily, 7 days a week. We keep the services 2 hours short, with an hour of close fellowship prior to start. An hour dedicated to prayer, worship, catechism, and Scripture reading - before the message. Ending in songs from the Westminster Scottish Psalter, and another hour of fellowship. God has tremendously blessed the dear ones by instilling a greater awareness of sin, and a deeper reverence for His commands, especially the seriousness of Lord's day, by which most of them have stood firm against much opposition and ridicule from employers, and even from their own families. The fruit of God's faithfulness shone through when I spoke with one of the young ones, "Should God gift me with my own family, we will dedicate every night to worshipping the Lord. From my children and to my grandchildren." Each one of them share the same sentiment. What a blessed work...

Father doth bless the work by turning the ministry of the Children’s Church in a more experiential direction: seeking to implant in the little ones a consciousness of the deep, humbling reality of the heart’s corruption, even in their tender years. We are forced, hourly, to acknowledge that we are totally inadequate to communicate the glorious salvation of Christ with the requisite power, and thus we know that our strength and help cometh from the LORD alone! We grieve to report that the cruel affliction of molested children is lamentably common in this locality—a silent plague where, tragically, the parents and immediate relatives are often found to be the heinous offenders. With fear and trembling, we taught the children that their innocent bodies were a gift bestowed by the Lord to be theirs alone, and that no other person, save their own mothers in needful instances, should touch or gaze upon them in parts that ought to be private. They were given solemn warnings to be keenly aware...

Behold the lamentable absence of an affection for God amongst the toddlers, the children, and the young adults proceeding from Christian families in many, or indeed almost all, of our churches! (And I speak with confidence in saying all, for one may safely surmise that the families who attend the public assembly only upon the Sabbath have fathers who do not lead their households in daily, intentional worship within their homes!) This barren spiritual state, this terrible lack of filial devotion, doth stem entirely from the unfulfilled, sacred obligations of the parents. They have grievously failed in the Divine charge to rear their household in the Holy Scriptures and in the profound, saving fear of the LORD. Woe unto that parent who seeks only the physical provision for his children while allowing their souls to starve! The home is the first school of piety, and if the fountainhead be polluted, how shall the streams run clean? May this solemn truth drive us all to the earnest perf...

I testify that each public pleading proves fruitful, most especially for this old soul whose earthly light now draws quite near to its close. Though this poor body may have been wasted away by years and ailments, the Lord has, in His tender kindness, gifted me with a simple, child-like understanding of His precious truths. It is always a profound and singular joy to recommend the boundless mercies of Christ to an ear that is made ready by the Spirit. And I have found that to include the beginnings of redemptive history—to show how God's plan unfolds from Eden to Calvary—is quite a tremendous help in framing the Gospel aright, giving the hearer a firm foundation upon which to stand. I thank God that He permits me to labor even until the evening of my days.

The children's Genesis book study comes to a close ( by the Lord's grace), and anticipation is high as we announced the start of our Exodus study next week Lord willing.  This is our second major review of the events taken up from creation all the way to Joseph. The study of Genesis was a great opportunity to thoroughly explain that God created only male and female, to talk about the perversion that is homosexuality, and its modern day attempt to corrupt children's minds and destroy the family.  Today's reviews were about the experiential application of Scripture. To teach them how to react biblically regarding scenarios with their family, friends, about forgiveness, telling the truth, the evils of lying and cursing, and Christ's finished work on the cross being the only way back to God apart from works.That salvation is through Christ alone. It was very humbling to hear them answering advanced trivia about Genesis and about our catechism studies. Here the children ...

It is observed that certain parents of the children in our charge also permit them to attend neighboring assemblies, which are often governed more by the practice of distributing earthly gifts to the attendees. Yet, it hath been the source of great and humble encouragement to us that the teachers within those very congregations are often struck with surprise and awe. They find that our children know the books of the Sacred Scriptures far more thoroughly than their instructors, and moreover, can explain their way through the intricate Genesis narrative with a clarity that testifies to true spiritual apprehension. This is a gratuitous sign of blessing upon our humble efforts. It confirms the eternal truth that the giving of mere gifts fades away, but the faithful implanting of sound, biblical doctrine doth yield a fruit that cannot be denied or easily suppressed by the world's passing novelties. It hath also come to our grateful attention how the students, even when engaged in play o...

The LORD, in His great and enduring faithfulness, doth continue to prosper His own labour in our midst! We mark with deep gratitude the growth of our young assembly this very week, recalling that this work began with but a handful of children in our class. I declare with unwavering certainty that my heart shall never grow weary of emphasizing this marvelous truth: We did but humbly petition our Heavenly Father to commence a work amongst the families residing within this compound; and yet, the Father hath answered us abundantly, exceeding even the bounds of our own asking, by powerfully drawing the little children unto Himself! It is becoming clear, by the gracious unfolding of His design, that the true and lasting change in these households will first affect the younger generation, and that the work of regeneration shall originate within the quiet sanctuary of their own domestic life, rather than being forced upon them from the external world. Let the soul be humbled, and let the heart...

This day marked a momentous occasion: the first major review of all the sacred lessons drawn from the Old Testament, the Catechism, and the Divine Decalogue that have been delivered since the commencement of the children's service several months past. The sheer enthusiasm and bright-eyed diligence these dear children exhibit each and every week is a sight that inspires and humbles one's very soul. The power of God's grace is never so astonishingly displayed as in the reconciliation of man! These children belong to a large and troubled clan of families who have long been divided by bitter conflict and who practically hold one another in contempt. Yet now, by the sweet, unifying force of the Gospel, their children enjoy true, unhindered fellowship with one another. This precious spiritual harmony is a marvelous thing that was utterly absent when we first took up this ministry three years ago. We confess a prior failure of human wisdom: Initially, we considered receiving only ...

Yes, children are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Children born during one’s youth are like arrows in a warrior’s hand. How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! They will not be put to shame when they confront enemies at the city gate. Psalms 127:3-5