As we look forward to zealously pursuing the Lord in 2024, let us encourage and equip ourselves by gleaning four critical concepts from Philippians 4:

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil. 4:10-13)

1. Beware our human inclination in the coming year. Paul had to learn contentment, as it does not come naturally to man and is counter to culture. 
2. Prioritize being a practitioner, not an academic, of your faith in the days ahead. John Owen said, “The apostle does not say, I have heard, that in every estate I should be content: but, I have learned…Paul was a practitioner. Christians hear much, but I fear, learn little.”
3. Prepare yourself now for God’s 2024 classroom. Warren Wiersbe states, “How did Paul learn? Surely in God’s classroom, the curriculum offering such classes as Discipline 101 and Tribulation 102; classes in which Paul had ample experience” (2 Cor. 11:26).
4. Rely on Christ. Paul depended on the power of Christ at work in his life to faithfully pursue God’s will and walk (Jn 15:16). As we labor FOR Christ this year, let us do so IN Christ’s strength.

Happy New Year!

As we head into the final days of 2023 and EA’s 11th year of ministry, I was reflecting this morning on Paul’s words to the church in Philippi regarding God’s provision:

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. (Phil. 4:10)

Ten years had passed since Paul had established the church in that city. The Philippians had generously supported Paul when he left Philippi to minister in the Macedonian cities of Thessalonica and Berea (Acts 17:1-13) and moved south into Achaia, ministering in Athens and Corinth (Acts 17:14-18:18).

Throughout the years, the Philippian church had remained concerned about Paul and his ministry, but the distance had hindered their ability to minister to him. The late theologian John Walvoord explains how the arrival of Epaphroditus with their financial support (Phil. 4:18) immensely encouraged the imprisoned apostle:

“The fact that they had gone to such effort to send him an offering by the hand of one of their beloved brethren in the church at Philippi touched Paul’s heart and gave him great encouragement in the lonely hours of his imprisonment.”

Thank you for being so supportive throughout the years! And please know that any gifts toward our year-end matching campaign will, like the Apostle Paul, greatly encourage your ministry partners pictured below.

In the Apostle Paul’s letter to Titus, we find the following encouragement regarding the practical implications of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Like the most spectacular Christmas sunrise, Christ’s first coming shed the light of the grace of God’s salvation in a sin-darkened world.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. (Titus 2:11-14)

Charles Spurgeon commented on how we currently live between the two advents of Christ:

“To use an ecclesiastical term, we stand between two Epiphanies: the first is the manifestation of the Son of God in human flesh in dishonor and weakness; the second is the manifestation of the same Son of God in all his power and glory…We have everything to hope for in the last appearing, and we have now to wait with patient hope throughout that weary interval which intervenes….In this description of our position is the very best argument for a holy life.”

May this Christmas celebration give us gratitude for God’s grace and motivation for our sanctification!

Years ago at the outset of Empowering Action I read the following quote by the late theologian Warren Wiersbe that I have returned to again and again throughout the subsequent 11 years of EA’s ministry:

“The Lord is planning to work through us in the lives of people and places we know nothing about today; but if we walk in His will, we shall share in the blessing.”

December has been filled with blessings for Carey and I:

• A wonderful reunion-like atmosphere at the EA Christmas Party;
• An historic and emotional retreat in the Dominican Republic with the Cuban pastors and their wives who serve as regional connectors and minister sacrificially amid the most difficult of circumstances;
• Our staff Christmas party in Santo Domingo which included our traditional time of prayer and thanksgiving for the Lord’s grace in allowing us to serve His Church for another year;
• Returning to learn how many of you had already partnered with us financially in our year-end campaign;
• Finally, being contacted last night by a generous EA supporter offering to match all donations up to our $100,000 goal.

Reflecting on the above blessings, I was drawn to the Psalmist’s exhortation to trust God exclusively, worship him explicitly, and thank Him abundantly.

“I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live…Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.” (Psalm 116:1-2, 7)

It may surprise you that Jesus said more about money than anyone else in the Bible and more about money than any other subject.

Why?

Jesus recognized that an individual’s attitude towards money is a manifestation of the spiritual condition of their heart. In fact, in Luke 19:1-10 Jesus judged the authenticity of Zacchaeus’ repentance and salvation upon his eagerness to part with his money for the glory of God and the betterment of others. The evidence of Zacchaeus’ transformation was his attitude toward money.

In the video below, Pastor Widmy describes the encouraging developments of our Savings Group program within Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which equips churches to impact their communities through biblical principles and practices regarding work and finances.

Your year-end financial support enables such efforts in 2024 to serve Christ’s Church, whom we celebrate, this Christmas season.

The life of the local church relies upon the Word of God (Matthew 4:4). To that end, equipping church leaders for greater biblical fidelity is foundational to our ministry, as a leader ignorant of God’s truth is ill-equipped for spiritual combat and faithful shepherding.

As our 11^th year of ministry comes to a close, we thought you would enjoy this update from Raydel on the exponential growth and impact of our K2:42 Church Network Development ministry, which was made possible by God’s grace through your financial giving.

Your year-end financial support enables such efforts in 2024 to serve Christ’s Church, whom we celebrate this Christmas season.

This year has been quite the rollercoaster ride for me personally. Amid researching, writing, and defending my dissertation, and searching, securing, and transitioning to new housing, I often felt both anxious and expectant: Anxious about needing the Lord to graciously show Himself strong on my behalf. And expectant as to how He would do so.

I guess you could say that I felt “anpectant.” I felt like the father of the mute boy in the gospel of Mark who said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).

As we move into the year-end giving season, I find myself anpectant again. Anxious, as perhaps not since the early years of EA, has so much depended on year-end donations in determining the breadth of ministry for the coming year. And expectant, as while the Lord can provide by any means and at any time, traditionally, He has used year-end contributions to propel EA into another year of ministry.

And so I find myself anticipating the Lord to provide EA a firm foundation to move into year 12 of ministry so that we might declare His praises for His provision through faithful ministry partners such as yourself.

Therefore, we pray to the Lord, in the words of David,

“Set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.” (Ps. 40:2-3)

Thank you again for another year of your earnest interest, prayerful support, and financial partnership. As you are able and feel led to contribute toward our bold goal of raising $100,000 in the coming weeks, we thank you in advance.

Throughout Scripture, the people of God are depicted as strangers and aliens.*

These terms carry the idea of a person not simply passing through but a foreigner who has settled down, however briefly, among the local population.

Such is the accurate image of the Christ-follower today amid our crooked and perverse generation, which does not honor God or give thanks to Him but instead has exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:21-25).

As we celebrate today what Abraham Lincoln described as “a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens,” let us make the following passage from Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus our prayer:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. 

In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. 

In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. 

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:3-14)

* Genesis 12:1; Acts 7:2-3; Luke 14:26,27,33, Lev 25:23, Hebrews 11:9,10,13 Genesis 23:4; 47:9; Lev 25:23; 1Chr 29:15, Ps 39:12; 119:19, 54

Charles Spurgeon once said,

“Satan always hates Christian fellowship; it is his policy to keep Christians apart. Anything which can divide saints from one another he delights in. He attaches far more importance to godly intercourse than we do. Since union is strength, he does his best to promote separation.”

Along those lines, we would love you to join us for Christian fellowship at our upcoming EA Christmas party on December 3rd, 4-7 pm in Sterling. And feel free to bring any friends interested in learning more about EA. Our in-country director, Carlos Pimentel, will be our special guest.

Click here to RSVP

Additionally, the EA team recently enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship via video conference with Pastor Robert Wauhop of Immanuel Bible Church of Valdosta, Georgia. Robert shared with our key leaders regarding his preparation for ministry and theological grounding at The Master’s Seminary, stressing the importance of emulating Ezra in devoting ourselves to the study, observance, and teaching of Scripture (Ezra 7:10). In addition to being a former youth ministry student of mine, Robert is also a fantastic example of someone whose love for and knowledge of Scripture epitomizes the following quote from 19th-century theologian Albert Barnes on Psalm 119:20,

“The desire to know more of the commands of God acted continually on him, exhausting his strength, and overcoming him. He so longed for God that, in our language, ‘it wore upon him’ – as any ungratified desire does. It was not the possession of the knowledge of God that exhausted him; it was the intenseness of his desire that he might know more of God.”

The staff felt tremendously blessed by the experience, just as our annual Christmas gathering always proves to be a wonderfully encouraging experience for those who can attend.

Hope to see you there!

Mark your calendars for our upcoming Christmas Party on Sunday, December 3rd from 4-7pm in Sterling, Virginia, as we celebrate the season, praise the Lord for His gracious work over the past 11 years, and lift up 2024 to the Lord in prayer.

We will be joined by Carlos Pimentel (In-Country Director) from the Dominican Republic.

Please feel free to bring any friends who might be interested in learning more about Empowering Action.

Click here to RSVP.