Game On!

Mark 1:12 - At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert . . .

There is one word that is used over and over again in Mark. Actually, it's used 42 times! It is the greek word "euthys" which means "immediately" or "at once!" It is a word that shows urgency, action!

Jesus had just been baptized. Should he take some time to adjust, get used to the new life? No! Game On! At once the Spirit sends him to the fight! Time to take on the former head angel. Time to establish who Jesus is, and make it clear that he would not be intimidated.

Sometimes we take a defensive posture when it comes to fighting sin and temptation. We put up shields, and we wait for the attack. Not our Lord. He took the fight to Satan. He was aggressive, confident, fasting, praying and determined to be victorious!

Today, let's not go out hoping to avoid Satan's attacks. Let's go out looking for the spiritual battle, and and let's strive for more than "not losing." Let's be determined to have victory, and not by a small margin. Time for a shutout! The Spirit is on you! 

Pray for Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital city of Romania. It has a population of 2.15 million people, but according to unofficial data the population is more than 3 million. Bucharest is the 6th largest city in the European Union. Of a total population of 22 million nationwide, about 19 million Romanians belong to the Romanian Orthodox Church, and are extremely loyal to it.

The church in Bucharest was planted in 1994, 16 years ago. After several glorious years, the church grew to 150 people. But in 2003, hard times came upon the church, and due to the confusion and conflict many people stopped following Jesus. So now the church has about 50 disciples, but their "faith is of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire" (1 Pet 1:7).

We have gained back our faith, our convictions and our joy, and are working hard to gain back our zeal to share the good news. Last year we could already see God's hand at work as He helped 4 people find their way back to Him, and 2 new souls find him in baptism.

We have in the church 14 elderly disciples, 12 married couples, 3 women with non-disciple husbands, 8 singles and 1 campus sister.  And God has blessed us with 20 little kids under 10 years old! This year we pray a lot for God to do big miracles, to see many people baptized and for us to grow in our relationship with God and in helping each other stay on God's narrow way.

So please pray for us so that we would by God's help:

• Be filled with God's love so much that we would talk about Him wherever we go
• Be able to start a campus and a teen ministry
• Baptize single men for God's battlefield
• Grow up national leaders who would lead the church

Thank you for your prayers and devotion for us here in Eastern Europe, and here in Bucharest. See you tomorrow . . .