Ministry Blog

Living Under the Shadow of His Wing

Details: Published: Tuesday, 09 August 2022 17:31

Dear Precious Friends in Christ,

It has been a couple of months since our last newsletter, which is quite unbelievable to me. Time appears to be spinning faster, even while, the individual days and nights seem to be so long. However, with each passing day, I have known the goodness of God and His sustaining grace. Daily, I am reminded that my joy is found in the Lord of my salvation, instead of the circumstances of life. The Lord’s faithfulness is being manifested in manifold ways to my family, as well as to this ministry and me. Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to testify of the Lord’s faithfulness over these past weeks.

This was the topic for the Ladies Event at The Fellowship Church in Albertville, Al. Lisa Atkins, the wife of Pastor Allen Atkins, had chosen this subject last fall for their women. Over the past few years, many events had to be altered, due to Covid. Therefore, Lisa decided they would invite a guest speaker to come once a quarter in 2022, instead of hosting a weekend conference. Each speaker would be focusing on a specific subject that fell under the umbrella of this phrase; ‘Under the Shadow of His Wings’. My assignment was that of ‘The Family’.

Now, Ed and I have been friends with the Atkins family for over 40 years. In fact, Ed and Allen would travel and minister together on what would be their very 1st Mission trip, all those years ago. This would begin an endearing friendship and partnership in the ministry, along with some very interesting and funny stories of their ventures. They have known of our mountaintop experiences, as well as, many of the valleys of adversities we have faced. For this reason, she assigned to me, ‘The Family’, and how we are to place them at the feet of Jesus, under the Shadow of His wings.

When Lisa contacted me last fall, asking me to pray about being a part of this event, little did I realize that this study would be profoundly more for me, than for others! Yes, once again, I can see the faithfulness of God through this opportunity. He knew what lay ahead for us, and He was faithfully preparing me for this deep valley. As I began to prepare for the upcoming event, I was reminded of some glorious truths about our God. First of all, I remembered what that phrase represented. The Shadow of His wings is a reference to the wings, which spread over the altar within the Holy of Holies. In the Old Testament, these wings shadowed the mercy seat; which was placed atop the ark of God that held His commandments.

I had just begun this study when everything transpired with Ed’s illness. Even though the preparation for this event had to be temporarily set-aside during that time, it was already in my heart and mind. Afterwards, when I was processing what had occurred, I seemed to be drawn more and more to the truths found in Psalm 57.

Now, as I read these words they were describing exactly where I found myself to be. Along with the Psalmist, I too was crying out for Mercy; God’s mercy, to help me in my great hour of need! Similar to David in this Psalm, I needed a deepening work of grace to endure this raging storm. Through this heart-wrenching situation, I was not only being called to live by the truths of His word, it was a time for me to KNOW my God in an ever- deepening and increasing manner.

In this Psalm, we find David seeking refuge from the enemy amidst the shadows of a cave. During this time, this adversity would appear to be hopeless, confusing, and heartbreaking. Yet, David would once again remember that his only refuge would be found in the God of mercy. Upon crying out to God for mercy, he gains confidence in His God and proclaims, “My soul trusts in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, ... .”

Then, when the Psalmist soul was revitalized to the light of his true refuge, you can sense the tenor of his thoughts and heart change, and a new work of joy, love, and peace taking over. He begins to sing aloud the truths about his God, “I will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me;..... God shall send forth His mercy and His truth. What follows next rings out loud and clear; for David begins to sing praises to His King, while still being in the midst of the adversity.

“Be exalted o God, above the heavens, Let Your glory be above all the earth.”

GOING FORWARD – WHAT IT WILL LOOK LIKE

Details: Published: Thursday, 07 April 2022 15:09

Distribution of Ed’s Study Materials

We are already receiving request for Ed’s Bible Study materials and Tracts. He has many studies and sermons available for us to continue to use in the spread of the Gospel here and around the world.

Ongoing Monthly Support of Pastors - Church Planters and Missionaries and the Support of Young Men Who Have Been Called To Go

Using your prayers and financial support this ministry has been able to support these men and their ministries for several years. These are men and ministries that we have worked with in the past and know that they are being faithful to their call and truly men of integrity. All of them will give an on-going account of how the support is used within their ministries. Helping our brothers and sisters around the world is vitally important. Presently, we are witnessing what happens in these other countries, will always effect in some way what happens here and around the world. Most of these men live in very difficult places and have suffered much for the sake of the gospel. Additionally, our desire is to continue to come alongside of young men who have been called into full-time ministry, to help financially and in the biblically nurturing of our future leaders, using Ed’s materials .

Weekly Devotions of Ed's Studies on Facebook

Beginning the 2nd week of April, we will once again be posting Ed’s devotionals on Ed Lacy Facebook and also on the Ed Lacy Ministries Facebook page. This has been a great tool of reaching 1000’s with the Word of God.

Ongoing Outreach to the Mission of Hope and The Home of Grace For Men

Several young men, whom Ed had been discipling, teaching and taking with him as he ministered, have made a commitment to carry out these weekly and monthly outreaches, using Ed’s teachings to reach the lost with the gospel.

Discipleship and Teaching Women

Dianne will continue to teach ladies in Bible Studies and Ladies conferences, as well as training in one-on-one discipleship. She will also be carrying out the daily administrative work for Ed Lacy Ministries, as she has always done.

Quarterly Newsletters

Newsletters will contain information of how the materials are being used and dispersed. Spotlights will be giving on the foreign mission field workers and their on-going ministries and words from different partners participating in the ministry.

Ed Lacy Ministries, Inc. will remain as a 501 (3) C non-profit, where all donations will be tax deductible. Contact information with all addresses and phone numbers remaining the same.

Thank You!

Details: Published: Thursday, 07 April 2022 14:57

These two words, ‘Thank You’, are so simplistic yet so profound. However, how can they possibly convey my gratefulness for you during this time? The support that my family and I have received through Ed’s sickness and home-going, has been such a sweet testimony to us and so many onlookers. In fact, through these events of this journey, we have received reports from several individuals, which say they are examining their lives concerning their souls. Some, are evaluating their lives, on how they are spending their days, who have seen from the Celebration of the life and legacy of one man, which was sold out to His Lord and Savior; and how the Lord used him in the furtherance of the Kingdom,

Friends, you who have been co-laborers with us on this gospel assignment, have been a huge part of everything the Lord has done. We have been very blessed to be surrounded with such prayer warriors, such love and care and such passionate people who desire for the work of the Lord to be carried out. My heart is so overwhelmed at all the Lord has and is continuing to do. For those who truly knew Ed, knows that he was willing to spend and be spent for the sake of the Gospel. My earnest desire is to live with that same motivation of heart, soul and mind; to Love the Lord with all my heart and be ready to follow Him in whatever He has for me; and be willing to spend and be spent for the sake of my Lord and my Savior. I pray that this same desire will be birthed into your heart during these difficult times in which we live. Until our Lord returns, may He find us faithful to His Call.

Once again, thank you for every kindness, cards, gift cards, phone calls, texts, visits and especially the prayers and words of comfort and offers of help. There are so many ways that you have reached out I cannot even name them. Please know how much it has meant to me and to the rest of our family. My love and prayers for each of you, continues to grow.

Because My Savior Lives, Dianne Lacy

March 2022 Newsletter

Details: Published: Thursday, 07 April 2022 14:49

Dear Co-laborers in Christ Jesus the Lord,

This will be the most bittersweet newsletter I have ever sent to you. As we had shared with you in our January letter, Ed was diagnosis with Covid-19 Pneumonia. The virus quickly and viciously attacked his lungs. Even though Ed would spend weeks in the hospital with the last few weeks being in ICU, none of the treatments were able to help him. Throughout this journey, until the last few days, the doctors continually expected his lungs to respond to these treatments and begin to expand, for all of his other vitals were remaining strong. But, Ed knew the entire time that his lungs were worsening and not improving. Prior to being taken to ICU, they had coupled him with different layers of oxygen, which hindered him from being able to speak. He resorted to communicating to us by writing notes. One day, while in distress and in great weakness, he calmly signaled by hand that he was rapidly digressing and wrote the following:

NOTHING IN MY HAND I BRING SIMPLY TO THE CROSS I CLING

So many of you, throughout the United States and on foreign fields, joined us as we prayed for Ed to be healed from this cruel virus. The Lord truly used this time to put many of us on our knees seeking His face in this urgent time. Of course, my earnest desire and the desire of our family, friends and co-laborers, was for the Lord to raise Ed up one more time from his deathbed, as our Lord had so graciously done several times over the past few years. However, both Ed and I knew that we must pray rightly concerning these things. I shared with our children and friends that we do come to the Lord with our request; however, we must submit Ed and ourselves to God’s will in this matter and not to ours. I continued to convey that Our Father alone knows the future; and He alone knows what His plans are for Ed and for us. So, I had to lay my will along with my beloved husband down at the feet of Jesus, and commit myself to accept what His will would be in this crisis. For I know in whom I have believed and I trust that my Lord and my God does only what is right and what is best. Friends, God’s will was done! Our prayers were answered! For our Father chose to give Ed, not just another temporary healing here on earth; but, He gave him his perfect healing and brought him home to be with His Savior and Lord, face to face in all of His glory.

Many of you know, Ed has had many physical issues since suffering from Guillian-Barre from the flu vaccine years ago. However, my dear husband never allowed those physical issues to deter him from serving and loving the One who had given him Eternal Life. Never did Ed shy away from his call of being an Evangelist. Often he would write to you saying, he would go anywhere, anytime, at any cost to carry out the mission that God had given him to do. He was faithful to do that to the very end. We were privileged to be with him when he passed over to the other side. As we did often during those days at the hospital, we would read scripture to him and/or play one of his favorite songs. That night, Josh, our youngest son, chose to play, ‘NO MORE NIGHT’, a song Ed had sung on many occasions. As the song was playing, my dear precious husband’s spirit departed from that weaken, frail body, in perfect peace, as if he was experiencing the truths of the song. How thankful I am that I was able to be with him throughout that time.

Now the reality of all that has transpired is setting in on us. Grieving one you have loved so dearly is a very tough thing to go through. My heart is broken and my mind still reeling as I attempt to grasp the finality of his departure. Even now as I type out this newsletter, my heart is pounding and tears are streaming down my face, for I miss him so. But, we do not sorrow like those who have no hope, as Paul states in I Thessalonians. For we know that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus, when He comes again. So precious friends, Covid-Pneumonia may have been the immediate worldly cause of these things that we are suffering; but ultimately, it was our Almighty God, the One whom Ed loved and served so faithfully, that called him on February 27,2022 to his eternal home in glory. Friends, the Lord is truly so faithful for He is holding me up day by day, in His Righteous Right Hand; for Ed’s departure to his new home has not altered ‘Who God is and What God does’, one iota.

Oh, what a blessed woman I am, to have been the wife of this precious man. I will forever be thankful for the Lord giving me the privilege and the opportunity to be Ed’s helpmate in life and ministry. He was true to his callings, as a faithful and loving husband, a nurturing father and provider for our family, a doting and compassionate grandfather, a caring friend and a passionate, doctrinally sound Evangelist, full of light and heat, for the sake of the Gospel.

WHAT AWAITS THIS MINISTRY?

Many have asked, “What is going to happen to Ed Lacy Ministries?” Well dear friends, Ed Lacy Ministries was never about the man, Ed Lacy. From its inception in 1983, it has always been about the God of Ed Lacy, which had saved him and called him into the Gospel Ministry. Therefore, Ed Lacy Ministries will continue to press forward.

As I have prayed and sought godly counsel concerning these decisions, I have considered Matthew 11:12 & Luke 16:16. This was the time of the imprisonment and soon death of John the Baptist. The enemies of God as always, were out to hinder or trying to stop the gospel from going forth. In the case of John the Baptist, the very forerunner of Jesus the Messiah, he would face opposition in an attempt to stop the message of the gospel. Most of the Pharisees had sold out to the world as they were seeking the approval of man and not of God. They were false teachers who were leading the people into the wide-gate of counterfeit conversion, which leads to an eternal hell. They were more concerned with their outward appearances rather than the condition of their hearts before a Holy God. Thus, the Lord called them hypocrites, whitewashed sepulchers full of dead men’s bones. John the Baptist came preaching repentance and the remission of sins; and the religious leaders hated him and his message. At that time, these religious leaders along with the worldly leaders would hear the message and they wanted to stop the message and suppress his ministry. But it was never John the Baptist’s ministry! It was the ministry of the God of John the Baptist. The same is true today. A ministry that belongs to God continues to go forward.

This has been a great reminder and motivation for us that the mission of God is to continue to press forward until He returns. What will stop the gospel from going forward dear friends?

Diseases and unknown viruses
Death of a Loved One who was faithful to the call
Destructive Wars and rumors of Wars
Defiance of authorities and of our moral values
Defection of ones who were once leaders of the Truth

No, dear friends, no event or person can stop the Kingdom of God’s Work. The Gospel presses ahead relentlessly. The Lord of the Harvest is going to build His church! The faithful ones will be preaching the unadulterated truth of the Gospel, as is written in His Word; and people will be pressing, relentlessly unto salvation, through the narrow gate of true conversion, just like Jesus responded to John the Baptist in Luke 16:16.

SO ED LACY MINISTRIES WILL CONTINUE BEING FAITHFUL TO BE ON MISSION WITH GOD!

A WORD FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Details: Published: Thursday, 07 April 2022 14:51

The following is a word from the consensus of all of our Board of Directors, written by Craig James.

“Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended. Now Joshua...” (Deut. 34:7-9a). Moses was called and used of God in a mighty way to lead the people of Israel. Bro. Ed Lacy was a Moses in our day. God called him and used him in a mighty way as an Evangelist, Teacher, Discipler, and Mentor for thousands of people around the world. We have grieved and will continue to grieve his passing. His life and death was in the Sovereign hands of our Lord. God called Bro. Ed home; but, his life and ministry will continue. Bro. Ed invested his life into preaching, teaching, and sharing the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

We will greatly miss our dear brother in Christ, but we can be assured, according to the Word of God, that he is home with our Lord. He is with the ONE who loved him, saved him, and called him to ministry. He is with the ONE whom he served faithfully until the end. Bro. Ed ran “his race, finished his course, and kept the faith.”

Now, as Moses died and God called Joshua to step up and lead His people, we must continue to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our Lord will faithfully raise up men, as He is already doing, to carry on the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. Our Lord will continue to use the sermons, workbooks, and tracts from Ed Lacy Ministries. We do not want to see this work diminish, but rather increase to the entire world. We want all the pastors and missionaries around the world, which are partners with Ed Lacy Ministries, to continue to receive support and help from this ministry.

Therefore, we ask you to prayerfully continue to stand with Ed Lacy Ministries. Friends, we have witnessed that through your love, your generous giving, your prayers and your faithfulness to our Lord have blessed thousands upon thousands. We thank you so much for co-laboring with this ministry. The work must go on until Jesus returns. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is our only hope for mankind. Bro. Ed is home, but his work here on earth will continue to bless many around the world. We hope you will join us in that great work.
In Christ as His servant, Craig James – Board Member