Seldom do I write three back-to-back updates this close together but the situation that has developed in the past week in regard to the attack on the HOB School of Ministry has brought an urgent need to bear. Without belaboring the point, as readers already know, 3 teachers and 25 male Bible students were slaughtered a few days ago as […]
SPECIAL MIDEAST UPDATE…5/26/2022…”And They Overcame Him By The Blood of the Lamb and Their Testimony”
This will be a very short update. I would like to pass on some information I just received a few hours ago. Pastor R called me earlier today, broken hearted, to let me know of an incident that he had just been made aware of. As regular readers will remember, the House of Blessing opened four Bible School classes just […]
MIDEAST UPDATE…5/23/2022…”And To All Those Afar Off”
I came across an interesting article in which the question was asked, “Is the West Missing the Harvest?” I spent some time pondering the question. For those of us who live in the West, unless we have contact with some knowledgeable people who are involved in overseas Christian ministries, we may not even be aware how explosive the harvest of […]
MIDEAST UPDATE…5/16/2022…Every Stain of Sin Cleansed by the BLOOD
One of the most important principles of the Christian life is “forgiveness”. When the disciple Peter asked Jesus how many times he would be required to forgive someone—thinking seven times was more than generous—Jesus told him he might need to forgive a person seventy times seven! That is almost unimaginable for most of us, but God’s view on most things […]
MIDEAST UPDATE…5/7/2022…”The Fields are White”
As I opened my Bible to read this morning, this passage caught my eye. It reads like this: Thus says the LORD God of Israel: Concerning the words which you have heard—because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you tore your clothes and […]
MIDEAST UPDATE…4/26/2022…”God’s Amazing Grace!”
Over the years that I’ve written updates for the House of Blessing, there have been many accounts of horrific things that HOB missionaries have gone through. Thousands of these men and women would not bend from their commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ, even when facing sure and imminent death. In the previous update, I told the story of four […]
MIDEAST UPDATE…4/19/2022…”All These Things Will They Do”
Today’s update is once again quite short as it is regarding a special call I received from Pastor R concerning an incident that happened three or four days ago. There is a Scripture in John 15 I would like to share that is applicable. 18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. […]
MIDEAST UPDATE….11/2/2021….The Goodness of God!
During the years that I’ve been writing the Mideast Updates for the House of Blessing, there have been hundreds of stories with news from the front lines of the ministry. Many of the stories have been hard to read, especially coupled with some of the photos that accompanied the stories. Other news told of the manifold blessings provided by our […]
MIDEAST UPDATE…7/22/2021…”The Power of Humility”
As an introduction to today’s update, I would like to refer to an Old Testament story that I believe is particularly applicable to the latest news from Pastor R and the House of Blessing. The Old Testament has recorded within its pages the records of the kings of both Israel and Judah. The majority of the kings ended their reigns […]
MIDEAST UPDATE…7/8/2021…”Believing and Suffering for His Sake”
Philippians 1:27-30 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in anyu way terrified by your adversaries, which is to […]