Terri and Pastor Tim Crockett’s wife, Wendy
Had hoped to use this as a payer card picture but looks like resolution is not good enough.
Tryin’ to minister in song.
PRAYER LETTER
December 2011
The last four months have been busy ones, praise the Lord. They also have been a test in a way. I scheduled a full schedule to see how Terri and I would hold up under a full schedule while not having a place of our own to live in, or a house of our own to return to. During these past four months there have been times when Terri, or I have “hit the wall.” Each time the Lord has provided some respite right when we each needed it, but it has shown me that, in His time, we would like something of our own.
It may sound weird, but there is no doubt that He wanted us out of our fifth-wheel RV, for the expense of the rig would have sunk us over the past four months. Yes, God is able, but based on eight years of travel with it, the expense would have brought us down. The traveling light has been a great help practically, so now we are praying for the balance in all of this.
In August we were in Virginia Beach when an earthquake happened. Terri and I were in a travel trailer and it started shaking. Being that the jacks weren’t down I asked her if she was doing that? Meaning, are you shaking the trailer? She said no, that maybe there was someone jumping on the hitch? I went outside and no one was there, but the ground was moving, and being from California I knew it was an earthquake.
Pastor MacDonald and some of his men came excitedly out of the church shouting, what was that? I told them that it was an earthquake. They had never been in one and pastor MacDonald in amazement marveled at the power of the earthquake. It is something to marvel at! I remember working in a hospital and watched as a wave rolled right through the medical records department. In an earthquake the ground seems to turn to liquid. Then we had to leave Virginia Beach as Hurricane Irene came through.
From there we have traveled thousands of miles and presently are in Phoenix, AZ. It is pleasant here this time of year, though we will not be here much longer.
There is so much to write and so little space so I will condense it:
Had a real good witness to a man that came out and fixed our windshield after a rock hit it and cracked it.
We have enjoyed getting on the streets here in Phoenix and singing, preaching, and passing out tracts.
In Knoxville, TN the Pastor had told me that possibly there would be a young lady and her boyfriend there that morning. Sure enough, that morning they were there and sat in on the Sunday School class that I was teaching. After the lesson she came up to me and thanked me for the teaching. I asked her if she was saved and she said that she wasn’t, so I then asked her if she would like to be and she said, “Yes.” Pastor Chandler and I then took her into a Sunday school room and she prayed with tears and asked Jesus Christ to come into her heart and save her. In her prayer she also asked for the Lord to help her to be a good mother, as she had been clean from drugs for three weeks. It is times like that that make the ministry a real joy. Her children were given a new mother from God that day.
I was able to work with Pastor Matheson in Memphis, TN and his wife on their voices. After the work out I told them to continue the basic work out and his wife contacted Terri a few months later and told her that the exercises have really been helping her and her husband. I have also had a lady contact me from the Philippines and wants to do a voice lesson by Skype.
Projects on the burner:
We hope to reproduce Rebekah’s piano CD Hymns From the Heart in the near future. She recorded this before Simply Trust.
We have another music CD from some men in TN and have received permission to reproduce it. It is some well done gospel blue grass.
We would like to produce, or to help Oscar Cheung produce his personal testimony of how he came out of Acupuncture and was born again. I have it on my web site and it is a great read.
I am in the process of putting one of my sermons into book form. My desire is to write the sermon rather than merely have it transcribed. That is not a slam to those who have them transcribed. I would just like to write it myself for it is more personal to the reader. I have more sermons as well that I am intending on writing, but it will be done one at a time.
Praise the Lord, Terri and I still have our health and we are still in love with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We also are still in love with each other, and that is also a great blessing!
Thank you for your prayers and support.
In His service,
Bro. Ken
Jn 9:4
DECEMBER 2011
Rev. 3:18…anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
If you found out that your pastor was shacking up with a woman would you be upset about it? Oh, you would? Well, let me ask you another question. If another pastor was shacking up with a woman would that bother you? How about if you had gone to his school? Would you still have him in to preach for you, or would you attend a meeting where he was preaching? Oh, you might not? What if the pastor came to your church and brought the woman he was shacking up with? Would that bother you? Oh, it definitely would? Really? (Gal. 5:19-20)
Well that is good to hear, but what if your pastor, or his wife, was using witchcraft? Would that bother you? What if he came to your church and demonstrated his witchcraft abilities to your people? Would that bother you? No, I didn’t think it would because that is exactly what is going on in some “Bible Believing” circles.
There would be an immediate outcry if it was adultery, which there ought to be, but when it comes to blatant witchcraft there are many thick-headed, dispensational, Bible Believers that don’t have a clue as to what is going on right in front of their faces.
Even though there are more and more non-bible believing Christian groups coming out every year warning about the Eastern Mysticism coming into the churches through alternative medicine and through Karate, yet many Bible Believers are paralyzed, blind, and in a spiritually drunken stupor and can’t see it. Then they wonder why the Lord isn’t blessing their works, or why their church is dying. Hey stupid, why don’t you get your nose in the A.V. 1611 and compare it with what is going on? I don’t care who is going around and demonstrating his ki. Then obey the word of God, no matter how much trouble it may cause…if you have the courage to do so.
Why don’t you translate the word “ki”? You sure have trouble when the word “hades” isn’t translated to “Hell” in the modern bibles, yet you won’t translate the word “ki.” It is the word for spirit, or energy, and to say it is man’s spirit is a lie, for one can have more ki enter the body through meditation as in Qigong, the slow Karate. Karate is just fast Qigong. But in many places “ki” is the word for their false god/spirit, such as “Manitou” to the Algonquin Indians, or “Prana” to the Hindus, or “KA” to the Egyptians, or “quintessence”, “THE FIFTH POWER”, (hello Eze. 28) of witchcraft! The false gods in Taoism are called Yin and Yang, yet the full reference is to Yin chi and Yang chi, and Taoism teaches they are the creators of the universe, which is blasphemous. Col. 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.
And some of you let a man come into your church and demonstrate his “Ki?” Or you go and listen to him preach or teach? What are you crazy? No, you are beguiled! 2Cor. 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Recommended reading: 1 Kings 13! Watch out for the old prophet.
November 30, 2011
Yesterday was my 34th spiritual birthday! 34 years ago I knelt in the upper room of an old mountain cabin and prayed, “Dear Lord Jesus, I really don’t know how to pray for I have never really prayed before, but I know I am a sinner and I believe Jesus died for me on the cross. Please forgive me of my sins and come into my heart”…(and I just started crying.) I knew something had changed inside of me, and as John Wesley put it, I felt strangely warmed. I had been born again. At that moment in time my destiny changed. I was no longer headed for Hell to burn forever in fire, but by the grace of God I was and am, now headed for Heaven to live in joy and eternal bliss for ever and ever, GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!!! At that moment I was born again and became a son of God according to John 1:12.
Now and then, when things get rough and my spirit gets low I just stop and realize, everything is OK now Ken. You’re saved, you’re going to Heaven, everything is OK.
Oscar added some information to his story so I have replaced the original story with this one. It is real good.
November 16, 2011
Have a new tab entitled Oscar Cheung. It is an excellent read. I personally know Oscar and he is a blessing.
Terri and I are doing well, but I will confess there is a bit of fatigue on us. Tomorrow we head for Phoenix, AZ. Hope to get in 700 miles.
September 28, 2011
Oh Yes!!!!!! I finally have a calendar that works. This has been a real problem, but this latest program seems to work well. Praise the Lord!
At present we are in upstate New York. It is raining and the leaves are beginning to turn. It is hard to believe I haven’t written anything for almost three months, but there is good news. At least for me there is. Since getting out of the RV, Terri and I have downsized to sharing one computer. This caused us to avoid using it much for fear of interfering with each other and the work we needed to do. The result was that we both were not getting things done. I now have a computer and we both have been busy with all of the work that we have not gotten to for the last few months. This will help on getting the next prayer letter out, as well as writing some news books.
We had the joy of being at Watertown Baptist Temple last Sunday. Sunday morning the hospital called for Lauren (I hope that is spelled correctly), Pastor Dewey’s wife, to come to the hospital for they were going to induce labor, as she was overdue with child. By that evening she gave birth to a beautiful little girl and Terri got to hold her the next day as we went by to see Mom and daughter in the hospital. Pastor Dewey got to be with her for the delivery, and I filled in at the church for him that day.
All in all we are doing well and looking for our Saviour’s soon return. I will have a prayer letter coming out so I won’t write of all the news yet, but I do hope to write and work on this web site more now that I have a computer.
July 15, 2011
SUMMER 2011 PRAYER LETTER
Well, it has been about six months now since we headed out on the highways of America in our VW bug, and each time we fill it up with diesel I am glad we have the car. With the cargo trailer we are getting 34mpg, and when unhooked we get 42mpg. That has been a great blessing to say the least. But the road is hard without a place to lay your head. We have no certain dwelling place, and the flesh does not appreciate it one bit. At times the quest for rest can be a distraction that you must ignore.
I thank the Lord for my wife Terri, as she endures hardness as a good soldier. Yet, she is a weaker vessel and for a few months I noticed some signs of low iron, such as chewing ice, cold, and bruising easily, and fatigue. So we went to get some vitamins with iron for her. As we arrived at the house an elderly lady slowly got up from a chair inside and, as we peered through the glass entry door, she motioned for us to come inside, which we did.
Her name was Gayle. She was elderly, short, frail, and from the looks of her short gray/white hair she was battling cancer. Sitting down at the dining room table which was located in a nice two story home, we made the transaction for the vitamins and then prepared to leave. As I looked at her my heart was burdened about her soul so I calmly asked her if she new where she was going when she died.
Her slow reply was that she thought that she was going to Heaven but she was not sure. She told me that she was Episcopalian.
I told her that I was a minister and would like to talk to her so she could know that she was going to Heaven when she died. She replied that she would like to know that.
I explained to her in terms she was used to hearing of how Saint John wrote that you must be born again, and how Saint Paul wrote of how that God commendeth His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Slowly and surely I proceeded and she responded to me that she understood what I was explaining. After some time, she bowed her head and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive her of her sins, and to come into her heart and save her.
Right in the middle of the prayer the phone rang which distracted her in her prayer. Oh yes, the old Devil never ceases does he? Terri ran interference, answered the phone, took a message and politely told them to call back. We then backed up in the prayer and prayed some more. Afterward, I then asked her if she died today where would she go? She stopped and then with joy on her face said, “I would go to Heaven!” Peace seemed to flood her soul and a smile came across her face. We stayed a little bit longer as I went over some more verses of scripture and then left. A 75 or so year old Episcopalian got saved, praise the Lord!
Terri is doing better now that she has been taking the vitamins with the iron in them. We also, when possible, have been trying to eat more beef, especially steak. (By the way, Sis. Clark, that was an excellent steak!) Yes beef, the meat you alternative hollistic nuts avoid. (Yasu, I am not talking about you.) It’s the first meat that alternative health nuts avoid even though the word of God says “every creature of God is good” and it’s the first meat God ate in the word of God. Medium rare has a great flavor.
It was also a joy to preach on a special Sunday at True Vine BC. They were having a baptismal service where many Navajo’s were going to be baptized after the service. In the invitation a visiting young Navajo girl asked Jesus Christ to come into her heart and save her. She got baptized that day as well.
The Lord has really used Pastor Ed Ware to reach many Navajo Indians that live in the Glendale/Phoenix area, as well as North on the nation. His church is about 75 percent Navajo, and boy can they sing!
While there Terri and I went out with them on the streets of Tempe at night to pass out tracts and for the men to preach. As usual I preached and became very burdened for the souls that I was preaching to. Though they mocked me, and some were obvious Sodomites, yet my heart was burdened knowing that they were headed for Hell. I preached a good while, and even though they had a PA system I blew my voice out. For the next four days I felt like I did three to four years earlier when my voice was bad. Since then I have been more faithful in working it which has greatly helped.
While on the subject of voice, Lord willing I am going to be working with a preacher by the name of Toure Carter to try to rehab his voice. I have talked to him off and on for the past few years, but while in AR I was in a camp meeting with him and his voice went completely out. I knew his frustration, and it brought back many painful memories. Praise the Lord though the church was able to take up an offering and Pastor Carter now has a PA system. That will be a big help.
Would you please pray though, as I will need to come by and personally give him lessons. He lives in West Memphis, AR, right across the river from Memphis, TN. Scheduling meetings so as to pass through there will be a challenge. Please pray for his voice, and for the Lord to guide my meetings according to His will.
I know this letter is getting long but just a few more things.
While out west I had the joy of going back to where I grew up, in the mountains of California. It had been seven years since we had been there, and it was so good to see Mom, Dad, and my sister. We also drove by the house where I got saved. But one of the best things of all was the opportunity to go to church with my now saved brother, Kyle. He truly is a new creature in Christ and it was a great joy to see him face to face.
Would you please pray that our RV sell? I was thinking about it, and though I know it is all up to the Lord, yet I realized that one of the draw backs of our RV is that it has no TV or entertainment center. For the average american that is unthinkable. How could anyone live under those conditions? Well, anyway, would you please pray that it sells, if it is the Lord’s will?
Thank you all for your faithful support through the years. It will sure be great when we get to Heaven and see our Lord Jesus Christ.
Please pray for:
1. RV to sell
2. Another computer - Macbook pro
3. Me to get my web site finished
4. Our books and CD’s moved to TN from AZ
Thank you, God bless you, and stay in the fight! It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus!
In His service,
Bro. Ken McDonald
Jn 9:4
June 23, 2011
I should be getting my prayer letter out tomorrow. Right now we are in Searcy, AR and all is well. I am loading a new preaching schedule page. I got tired of fighting the old program that would not work right. I am disappointed as in theory it was a good program, but it had too many bugs. So I will go back to manually loading the schedule.
May 11, 2011
Today is Wednesday and last Friday we went with True Vine Baptist Church on the streets of Tempe, AZ. As always it is hard not to preach when I get on the streets and this night was no exception. I was so glad they are able to use a PA on the street there. I preached once without any amplification, and the second time I used the PA. My heart was burdened for the people and as I pleaded for them to come to the Lord Jesus Christ a crowd began to gather in front of me.
Just a couple skate boarders at first, and as I answered their questions soon more came and then I had a congregation of about 25 people in front of me. Some of which were Sodomites that mocked by getting on their knees and faking prayers out loud. Others yelled questions at me and I attempted to give them the gospel telling them that I was no better than they and if I got what I deserved I’d be in Hell that night. I then told them that Jesus Christ died for them and looking at individuals that seemed to listen I told each that Jesus Christ died for you. He paid your way to Heaven, but you need to pick up the payment by admitting you are a sinner and believing that Jesus Christ died for you. You need to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be born again.
Though none got saved then and there, yet at one point a teenage lesbian seemed to listen and ponder the words being spoken. Many there that night had glassy eyes and defiant attitudes, but my heart was touched of their need to be born again so they would not go to Hell. I am so glad I am saved!
The sobering result for me though is that it has taken four days later and my voice is still not good. I have been hoarse from it all which has brought back many painful memories from three or so years ago when I was still on the road to recovery from losing my voice 6 years ago this month. I need to daily work it, yet I have been so busy with repairs to my car and driving to and from meetings. It is 10:00 PM and when I get done with this post I will lightly work my voice. It is so frustrating!
Do I regret preaching to those lost souls? Not at all! But I am reminded that I must go easy on my voice. It is not close to normal, let alone strong. Street preaching in this dry desert air is the hardest of all on it. It has made me ponder the thought of doing more writing.