Dear Friends in Christ,

After my return from the “Pastor’s Teaching Conference” in Nicaragua; and a week of outreach at the drug and rehab mission called The City of Refuge; Dianne and I enjoyed a week of rest and relaxation, which we both desperately needed. Upon our return home, I have not only been preaching at the Mission of Hope; I have also been preparing sermons and studies for the upcoming fall. This fall is literally packed full of wonderful opportunities to serve the Lord. Dianne and I have also had the precious joy of discipling men and women in our home. We have both been teaching from my latest workbook, which is entitled, “Christ-­‐ Centered Discipleship; Living a life, in which the Gospel is your driving force”. In the first session of this discipleship study, there is a particular verse that I have been recently contemplating. I believe it is one of the most astounding verses in the New Testament. The truth found within it has greatly encouraged my soul.

My heart’s desire in this “thank you” letter is that you too would be encouraged, with a taste of some of the truths which I have been mining out of the vast treasures, buried within this verse! It is found in the midst of Jesus’ teaching on the Vine and the branches in John 15. In verse 9, the Lord Jesus absolutely astonishes us with this precious reality, as He proclaims, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you, abide in My love”. Now, it is certainly true that each of us know in our souls, that the root reason why we love the Lord Jesus is because He first loved us! When we love our Lord and Savior, with an authentic and biblical love, we need to remind ourselves that this love did not originate with us. This love came from the eternal fountain of God the Son, through the mighty application of His Gospel to our lives. Moreover, it came to us, while we were still enemies of Jesus and blatant rebels against God! Friends, just as there is no light from the moon, which does not directly flow from the sun; in the same way, there is no genuine love for Jesus and for others within your heart, which does not flow from this Divine fountain of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus has already said to us in verse 8, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will prove to be one of my authentic disciples”. But what is the secret of bearing much fruit and glorifying our God? Jesus tells us that the key to this “fruit-­‐bearing” is found in this reality of “abiding in the Lord Jesus”. He declares in verse 5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. This word ‘abide’ actually has a duel meaning. It certainly means to continue in Jesus; to remain in Christ; or to persevere in the Lord. But it also literally means, “to make your home in a personal intimacy and a living connectivity with the Lord Jesus”. Therefore, our Lord and Savior is telling us that the key to being a “fruitful disciple for the glory of God”, is to continue to make our home in a personal intimacy and living connectivity to the Vine! Think for a moment about the activity of a fish in the ocean. Just as a fish abides in the ocean, a true authentic child of God, is to abide in the Lord Jesus. A fish does not seek to abide on the shore or in the sky; because it cannot live or flourish there.