The Harvest

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." - Galatians 6:9–10

We have looked at the principles of planting and harvesting and we talked about various seeds. Now it’s time to see some of what the harvest teaches us.

1. We harvest only what has been planted. I mean, how clear is that? You can't harvest stuff if you don't plant it. Farmers never decide to skip the planting and just pray for corn! Good results spring from good choices; you know what comes from bad choices! Too often we forget that we're planting every day.

2. We harvest the same in kind as we plant. You see a person acting a certain way, treating people in a certain way, you say to yourself, "That's coming back to her or him." If we're not watchful of what we plant, we can expect to be disappointed with the results we get.

3. We harvest in a different season than we plant. Decisions take a moment; consequences and results roll out for a long time. We often tend to live through the spring time of life and we make all these shortsighted decisions: "I'm gonna act the way that I want to. I'm gonna do the things that I want to do. Who cares about results - this is my life!" And so we plant all these bad things: choices, habits, and decisions. Young people can get rebellious and make bad choices that seem to go unnoticed. By the time they reach adulthood they're like, "I beat the odds. Nothing's gonna happen to me. I got away with it." And then we get to harvest time and we're like, "How did this happen?" And it all comes down on our heads. And we're like, "Why didn’t somebody tell me?" I'm telling you right now. You harvest what you plant; but you harvest in a different season. Numbers 32:23 says, "Be sure your sin will find you out." That’s as true today as it was when God instructed the Israelites not to treat sin lightly.

These are three significant reasons why we should be continuously in prayer to the Lord of the harvest, that He will instruct our planting efforts each and every day.

James MacDonald – Walk in the Word

O Canada!

O Canada!

After five weeks ministering in the beautiful country of Canada, it is good to be back in the United States. But, oh, what an adventure we had while visiting our neighbors to the north! Allow us to share just a few things we learned about life in Canada:

• Milk does not come in a jug…it comes in a bag!
• Canadian ketchup is ridiculously sweet
• A pound of butter comes in a block, not four sticks
• Food is a lot more expensive
• There is an 18% tax on everything
• Tim Horton’s coffee/donut shops are EVERYWHERE!
• Ben loves Coffee Crisp candy bars
• Canadians do a much better job with portion control than Americans
• Conversation with Canadian immigration officers went something like this: “So you live in this trailer? Yes, sir.” “You’ve been invited to these Canadian churches? Yes, sir.” “They’re not paying you anything? No, sir.”
• You can get Oreo Double Stuff in Canada, but the package is half the size…kind of defeats the purpose, don’t you think?
• There’s an app available for the iPhone to convert everything to the metric system (ie. mph, clearance of a bridge – very important for us)
• Canadians are an extremely friendly bunch…Right? Aye!
• We have yet to find a good piece of Canadian beef…but our new friends in Wyoming, Ontario have promised us when we return in May we will have some!
• Canada is beautiful!
• Canadians know far more of what’s going on in the United States than we do about what’s going on in Canada
• Store clerks are happy to put your purchases in a plastic bag…for $.05 each!
• We now have some incredible new friends in Canada!

We also had some opportunities that gave us some incredible memories:

• Christian and Elizabeth went to a Sarnia Sting hockey game
• We took the subway into Toronto and then went to the top of the 1,815 ft. CN Tower and walked out onto the glass floor…did we mention Ben is not a fan of heights!?!
• Celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving Monday, October 10 with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with Ryan and Maryann Loveing’s family
• Celebrated Christian’s 13th birthday in Cobourg, Ontario including a surprise party thrown by the youth group of Fellowship Baptist Church
• Playing in the leaves in Cobourg
• Watched the snow come down on a Sunday morning in Barrie, Ontario
• Strolled on the shore of Lake Ontario where Jennifer, Elizabeth, and Maryann and Crista Loveing discovered milk weeds to blow into the breeze…what a beautiful time with good friends!
• Viewed the amazing Niagara Falls
• The kids spent lots of time in the indoor skate park within Fellowship Baptist Church, rollerblading and playing hockey

On the ministry front, we saw God’s hand move mightily in all three churches. During our three conferences, God’s Word was faithfully taught, and people responded humbly and obediently which resulted in an overwhelming number of people experiencing personal revival. Consciences were cleared, relationships were reconciled and rebuilt, and the Spirit of God was wonderfully evident. On one Sunday, the morning and evening services included a combined five hours worth of people testifying to what the Lord was doing in their lives! Our two Summits in Canada were also the first opportunities for Ben to begin teaching marriage and family principles during the first 30 minutes of each service as well as during the Home Life Cafe’ on Saturdays. Jennifer is continuing to enjoy teaching Ladies’ Luncheons with Maryann. We had a packed gym of 370+ women at one church! God is continuing to stretch us, yet He has been so faithful to give us just what we need to do exactly what He calls us to do.
O Canada, how we enjoyed our time with you…see you in the spring!

Family Update November 2010

We have finished our five week tour in Canada and have just begun our last Thirst Conference in Mt. Gilead, Ohio (Mansfield, OH) before we head home for Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, we will be headed to Angola, LA for a conference that we will be facilitating at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, the largest maximum security prison in the United States (5,000 inmates).




We have seen so much over the past ten weeks in regards to God working in the lives of His people. Marriages restored; relationships with parents and children recovered; years of hidden secret sin revealed, repented of, and confessed; deep seeded issues of bitterness and unforgiveness dealt with; a divided church body that has humbled itself and begun the process of reconciliation; all of which have allowed individuals to be set free from the bondage that had held them for so long in order that their lives and relationships would reflect and honor the image of God.



Written below are just a couple of the testimonies regarding what individuals have been experiencing over the last several weeks (more to come)….



“Before the summit, God found me as a man who had been hurt, and caused hurt because of it. When I was 18, nearly 13 years ago, my mother was killed. What is worse is that she was murdered by my father. Almost two years later, my father was convicted of first-degree murder. My mother was the most significant Christian influence in my life, where my father reviled the church, did not walk in Christ, was having an adulterous affair, and denied all wrongdoing in her murder. Growing up I never felt good enough for him, and to lose both parents at once hurt me deeply in so many ways. I carried that hurt with me for many years, and it showed itself in anger, frustration, anxiety, an overwhelming need to succeed and “matter,” times of alcohol abuse, and other sins. I hated my father and everything he put me and my siblings through. I was a deeply wounded and broken man.

However, by the grace of God, I can now say I am ready, willing, and able to forgive my father. I earnestly desire for him to come to Christ, be broken, repent, believe, and be saved. I am willing to take more of a step in faith to pray for him, put input into his life, and give forgiveness. I praise my heavenly Father, whose perfection can completely fill and heal the painful void caused by my fleshly father. Praise God for all He has done! With God, ALL things are possible!”



“Before the summit, God found me comfortable with my faith, self-reliant and living a mediocre life. During the summit I was asked to extend forgiveness to my husband for something that would change our lives forever. In that moment I could feel my flesh crying out to be hurtful, bitter, and angry. But I could hear God telling me “Forgive. Forgive. Forgive as I have forgiven you.” Before the summit, I know that I would have acted in the flesh and my marriage would remain broken. However, through God’s grace and in only a few days I feel like we are making strides toward a better marriage than we ever had before. I am so thankful that I know how to choose forgiveness and be obedient to God.”



Please continue to keep our family in your prayers, for safety, health, and strength to press on and glorify Him in all we do. You can continue to stay updated on our travels by visiting our blog at www.slenkfamily.blogspot.com where you can find information as to where we are, what we have been experiencing as a family, experiences in the churches, and other miscellaneous information regarding “road life”. We have also added a new option to the blog where you can subscribe and receive a copy of each new blog post in your inbox if you would like.



Again, thank you for all your support and encouragement. It would not be possible for us to be out here doing this without all of you.

Travel Days

Have you ever wondered what “normal life” is really like for us? In addition to nightly church services, weekly ladies luncheons, team meetings, and counseling sessions, regular life continues. There’s a home to maintain, laundry to do, groceries to buy, and school to teach. HOWEVER, as we are in churches throughout North America, and even as we travel to those churches, we have such incredible opportunities to see and do things we probably otherwise would never be able to experience. Almost every week, we have a “travel day” when we pack up the trailer, travel to the next church, and set the trailer back up. We pray for uneventful (read no blown tires, no excessive traffic delays, no truck issues) travel days, and more often than not, they are. And some times, travel day turns into a wonderful opportunity. Let me give you an example. In September, after finishing two THIRST Conferences in the Raleigh, North Carolina area, we headed north to Loudonville, NY. With GPS on and atlas in hand, we began an amazing two day journey of touring the New England area in a Volvo semi with a 54’ trailer in tow. We left Raleigh and drove through Virginia’s state capital, Richmond. We continued on to Washington, DC driving right next to the Pentagon and seeing the Capitol Building, Washington Monument, and Jefferson Memorial. As we approached Baltimore Harbor, we saw the massive ships carrying imported cars filling the harbor…then we took the truck and trailer UNDER the Patapsco River by way of the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. Next came Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey (we skirted New York City!), and we stopped for the night just over the border into New York. Every big city we come to, we scan the atlas for significant landmarks and (for Christian) professional sports stadiums to search for. The next morning, we headed to our first “college visit” for our son Christian. Since last year, he has been considering and praying about going to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. When he heard we would be in New York this fall, he asked if we could stop by to tour West Point. Knowing how big New York is, I hesitated to even imagine that we might be near. However, when we mapped out our journey to Loudonville, we discovered we would be driving right through that area! What a joy to be able to dream alongside Christian and to imagine what it might be like for him in a few years if the Lord in fact directs him to West Point. Our time at West Point was amazing. What an incredible campus, outstanding education, and rich history West Point offers. With Christian’s encouragement, I am now the proud owner of a t-shirt that says “West Point Mom”!!! As I reflect on my own life’s journey, I am challenged to pray big for my children, trusting that God’s plans for them are even grander than I can imagine. Almost 650 miles, 6 states, the US Capitol, over $100 in tolls, beautiful New England scenery, a visit to West Point, and quality time as a family…that’s a pretty exciting travel day! So there you have it...a snapshot of life on the road!

Update and Invitation

Dear Friends,


Its hard to believe that summers end is fast approaching. Its also hard to believe that next week Monday (Labor Day) we once again hit the road for the beginning of what is scheduled to be a full season. We have a great new team (some new, some returning from last year) of 18 single team members and two staff families that will make up what is known as the Revival Conference Team (aka the White Team). We are scheduled to be in twenty four churches and one prison this year (The Angola Prison in Louisiana). We will be traveling to Canada for part of the fall trimester where we will spend five weeks in the Ontario area. The summer has been a time of reconnecting with family and friends, preparing for the upcoming season with messages, logistics, new team members, etc… We have been heavy into staff training since the end of July where all three teams have been at Life Actions Camp preparing and getting ready for the new ministry season. Our team consists of Musicians, Worship Leaders, Children’s Ministers, Audio/Visual Technicians, Bus and Truck Drivers, and a few others to round the whole thing out (as well as the two families).

Once again this year, we are having a trailer “open house”. It will be this week Thursday September 2, from 5:00 –7:00 PM. We would love to see as many individuals and families stop buy to say hello or goodbye. If its feasibly possible would you consider paying a visit during that time in order that we may connect one last time with you before we leave? Jennifer, myself and the kids would be encouraged to see you, and you can check out the truck and trailer as well.

Thanks to all of you who made life at home “normal” for us this summer. Your prayers, friendship, and support encourage and bless us as we have been refreshed as a result of being home. We eagerly anticipate God doing great and mighty things this year in ourselves, team members, and the church bodies that we have been invited to minister alongside throughout North America.

See you on Thursday.

Ben, Jennifer, Christian and Elizabeth.

The Power of Forgiveness

"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." - Ephesians 4:31-32

There isn't one person reading this who hasn't been hurt by another person. Question: what are you doing with that offense? Do you hold them hostage for the injury they inflicted on you? How many hours and days have you wasted thinking, "You owe me and I'm going to make you pay?"

That's a tough question on a painful topic but you have to get it settled. In order to navigate your way through relationships, you need to hold a conviction about how you're going to respond when someone hurts you.

Ephesians 4:31-32 gives us direction: "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Read that last phrase again, "as God in Christ forgave you."

As freely as He forgave you.

As quickly as He forgave you.

As generously as He forgave you.

Jesus models what forgiveness should look like in our lives. He was falsely accused, mocked, beaten, and spat upon, then crucified. As He hung on that cross for your sins and mine, He said: "Father, forgive them." Jesus' model motivates us to live out Ephesians 4:32, "Just as God in Christ has forgiven you."

You've heard me say it before: there are no enduring relationships without forgiveness. None. Before you go very far in any partnership, there will be forks in the road where if you do not forgive, the relationship will not survive. It's true in every marriage, in every household, in every small group, in every friendship. This is always, always true.

You know that Kathy and I are committed to serving in one church for a lifetime. As I'm preaching, I look into the faces of people I've known for a long time. I know that I would not have those relationships today were it not for their willingness to forgive me and my willingness to forgive them. Forgiveness says, "Because of Christ, you owe me nothing."

I love this true account from the life of Leonardo DaVinci. Not only was he a great painter, but DaVinci had a great faith in God. On the day he was to begin to paint the masterpiece, "The Last Supper," he had a blow-out argument with one of his friends.

As he was painting the disciples seated around the table, DaVinci was still sour toward his friend. So when it came time to paint Judas - you guessed it - he painted his friend's face. Then he moved on to paint Jesus. Of course Leonardo loved Christ but try as he might, he couldn't paint His likeness in any way that he thought represented His beauty. He painted, erased, painted, erased. Convicted by his own unforgiveness, he repainted the face of Judas with some other, random likeness and went to get right with his friend. Only then could he return to finish his portrait of Christ.

It's been said that DaVinci's face of Christ in this work is one of the most beautiful ones ever painted. What a great picture of the mercy in forgiveness. It will bear itself out in your life and mine. We will not see the likeness of Christ reproduced in our lives until we forgive.

Has the Lord brought a relationship to mind that needs your long-overdue forgiveness? By faith say, "Because of Christ, you owe me nothing.”

Take to heart God's call on your life: "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

James McDonald - Walk in the Word

Seeing God Work

On Friday we arrived in Roanoke, VA and have just begun a 4-day Thirst Conference at Green Ridge Baptist Church. This is church number fifteen since January 1. Last week we completed an 8-day conference in Mansfield, Ohio and really saw God do a great work in the lives of individuals, especially pertaining to marriages and families. Bitterness, unforgiveness, not having a clear conscience before God and man, and spiritual leadership were huge areas where many came to the point of obedience in dealing with these issues and experienced the freedom that comes as a result. Last Sunday we saw over 65 people give public testimony (4+ hours) as to what God had been saying to them and how they had responded during our days together. What an encouragement to those in attendance to see and hear testimony of lives and families changed forever. Listed below are some of the initial prayer requests that we received upon arrival in Mansfield:


“That I would work through forgiving someone who has hurt me and my family. I know now that I am and have been bitter and I want and desire to be thankful for this situation.”


“To help me release the unforgiveness in my heart toward my mother.”


“A miracle in my marriage, a miracle in my church, a miracle in our world.”


“What is keeping me from revival is hanging onto my relationship with my boyfriend hoping for a marriage with him.”


“Discussing sins and bitterness with my husband…...for his heart to be open and mine to be honest.”


“What is preventing me from experiencing revival in my life is that I do not love my wife the way I should.”


As the week progressed, God began to reveal His desire for us in our relationship not only with Himself, but with others. Below are some of the praises and answers to prayer that we began to see:


“Receiving forgiveness from my husband for confessing past sins against him.”


“For a new husband….a husband who is RUNNING after our mighty God!”


“On Sunday my marriage was very close to divorce (for the second time). I asked for prayer...today we are moving forward together.”


“Before our days I was dealing with a fear of suffering…not a good place to be. With your bold teaching of “Giving myself first to the Lord”…”Giving thanks in all things”…”Forgiveness”…”Proverbs 30 (just enough, not too much, not too little)”...this spiritual feast has been well timed for my soul to break free of the fear of suffering. By following the process of applying these truths, the root of my fear became exposed. I discovered that over my life, unresolved problems of recognizing and dealing with rejection had led to a spiritual idol of self worship with the fruit of insecurity and fear. By applying what I had been taught during these days, a break through happened that has lifted this issue from my spirit. My prayers have been answered. The joy of the Lord has been restored to me and God is rebuilding this individual.”


What a great week/season of seeing God do the miraculous in people’s lives!


Only a couple more weeks, and we will be arriving back in Holland. We are looking forward to some rest and a time to reconnect with family and friends as we prepare for the new ministry season that will kick off in August. Thank you so much for your support in praying for us.

Trusting in God

"To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me." - Psalm 25:1-2
Our passage for today covers one of the basics of what it means to really live a life of faith in God: "O my God, in you I trust." How's the trust-in-God thing going with you? Because trusting God is really the centerpiece of the Christian life. If you're doing well at trusting God, you're doing great with your faith. If you're not doing well at trusting God, you're not doing so great with your faith.
Here's some good news. Each time we open our Bibles, we are opening a primer on trust. God has given us in His Word everything we need in order to trust Him. Trusting God is a decision. It's a choice that every person has to make. The decision to trust God or not is unavoidable. You will choose to trust or not to trust God - but you will choose.
Think for a moment of life as a car. In that car, either you're driving or God is driving. When you're holding the wheel, you're taking charge. When you're driving, you're not trusting.
But in the Christian life, you get to ride. You are in the car - in the front seat. You get to talk to the Driver. He's interested in your input, but as the trip unfolds, God is the One who's making the calls. God determines where and how fast your life is going. He checks the map and provides the GPS. God is driving. That's the life of trust.
Now how often have you had a series of battles over who's going to hold the wheel? Are you or is God going to hold the wheel? That's the issue of trust. When you and I are trusting at our best, the top is down and it's a sunny day. Everything is going great. But when we're not trusting, there's a wrestling match over the wheel. But God doesn't really fight us for the wheel. I find that every time I grab it, He says, "This won't be great." Yet He doesn't get out of the car. He waits for me to trust again.

James McDonald - Walk in the Word

Running the Race

During this ministry season, we have traveled around the country since September helping people understand what it looks like to live an authentic Christian life and have lived on a different church parking lot almost every week. Now that it’s March, we can’t help but begin to think about summer and being home...reconnecting with family and friends, green grass instead of parking lots, mowing the lawn, cooking on the grill, trying to remember what a normal family schedule looks like.

This summer there are meetings and planning to do for the new ministry season, finishing family sessions that I will be teaching this upcoming season, training of the new team during the month of August, as well as a few home projects (landscaping, painting, etc…). These are the things that recalibrate us to have a more normal life for part of the year.

However, one of the things that “normal life” presents for us is an increase in expenses. Things like: turning the house back on and having to pay for all the utilities (gas, electric, trash, water, etc...), groceries for all our meals (while on the road, the churches take care of most of this for us), gas and insurance for the car, etc…

This summer also brings with it the need for our daughter Elizabeth to start the process of braces. Not having insurance for this requires that all of these expenses be out of pocket. The cost for stage 1 of braces for her is $1,600.

Coming home for the summer increases our costs by $1,000 per month totaling $3,000 for the three months that we are home. Add the $1,600 for the orthodontic work for Elizabeth, and we’re looking at a total additional expense of $4,600.

I am asking God to raise up forty six people to contribute $100.00 to help us be “revived” this summer at home. Would you please be one of those individuals? Our current level of support would not allow us to be home on a regular basis. God continues to provide for our needs and maybe He would use you at this time to help meet this need.

With a grateful heart,
Ben, Jennifer, Christian and Elizabeth.

You can donate online using this link: lifeaction.org/donate/support-a-staff-member

Or if you prefer to donate via check, make your check payable to:

Life Action Ministries (indicate Ben Slenk on the memo line)
PO Box 31
Buchanan, MI 49107

All contributions are tax deductable and you will be receipted as such.

Fear the Lord

"Who is the man who fears the LORD?" - Psalm 25:12

What is the "fear of God" anyway? That question might be easier to answer by looking at a rough definition of fear itself. Fear is the attitude of heart that seeks a right relationship to the fear-source. That's pretty straightforward, right? If I fear the future, I might save and prepare. I want to be in a right relationship with the future, so I'm going to do something about it today to make sure the future doesn't steamroll me. Some people don't fear the future. They just go on like fools and drive right over the cliff. But if I fear the future, I prepare. Does that make sense?

If I fear the dentist, I floss and brush! I believe he probably knows more about teeth than I do. And plus, when he gives that judgmental, self-righteous look like, "You haven’t been flossing...." I'm sure you have heard that speech. So, I think, "Oh, I don't want to hear it. I'll floss and brush." Why? Because I fear the outcome of failure. So I seek a right relationship to the fear-source.

• If I fear the future, I prepare.
• If I fear the dentist, I floss and brush.
• If I fear God, I submit.
• If I don’t fear God, I don't submit.
• If I fear God, I do what He says.

Fear - it's not bad, by the way. How many people have heard the definition: "Fear God just means to respect Him?" That was bad teaching. Even though the Bible says like a thousand times that we should "fear God," we are just supposed to believe it means only that we should respect Him? Incorrect! I put a lot of time into studying this biblical term. The best word that I can think of to describe what fear means - is fear! I like simple stuff. When the Bible says to "fear God," guess what it means? It means to fear Him. Seek a right relationship with Him.

 

James McDonald – Walk in the Word