2015 was pretty special for On Target Ministries as well as Cindy and I personally. On the personal side we celebrated 25 years of full time ministry and our 50th wedding anniversary. For the ministry, well, almost too much to report but here are a few of the highlights made possible by your continued support in prayer and giving:
- Developed all but the final volume of our six volume Men On Target curriculum series
- Started our second On Target Institute in Monument, Colorado
- Saw about a dozen new OTI’s spring up throughout the US and in Canada
- Were blessed by a major endorsement from The Pentecostal Assemblies Of Canada (PAOC) for our new curriculum
- The National Religious Broadcaster (NRB) channel picked up our On Target TV shows for weekly broadcast
Here is just one of many testimonies from our broadcast:
Your ministry has been a Godsend. I am recently unemployed and your ministry has given me great encouragement during this time. The insights God has gifted you with are life changing and I want to encourage you that your testimony is inspiring, so keep sharing.
I watch the show with my wife and though it is geared to men she gets a lot too. I look forward to sharing these videos with the Men's ministry in Philly. Thanks for the work you do, and please pray I find employment soon. Be blessed and feel free to contact me. I praise God the NRB has you on!
It has been a good year indeed and all the signs are pointing to an even better one in 2016. We are poised to begin our second curriculum series on Biblical Manhood and begin a strategic marketing initiative that will reach churches throughout North America. We are also encouraged by the growing interest in having us out for live Men’s, Couples and Pastors events.
As we enter this new season I am struck with a profound sense of great excitement mixed with a moderated level of concern. My excitement comes from the awareness that we are children of the living God and He is alive and dwells daily in our midst. My concern stems from the level of frustration with the numbers of Christians who do not experience His presence and are ill-equipped to handle life’s struggles as a result.
It should be clear to everyone that 2016 is an important year for our nation and the body of Christ as well. We are preparing to usher in a new President and numerous important political appointments that will determine the trajectory of our nation for many years, perhaps decades, to come. As Christians entering this important time we MUST have the proper perspective—God’s perspective.
With that in mind I want to close with an important challenge for all of us. Make a determined effort—not resolution—to become the person you know that God is calling you to be. Friends, this is not rocket science. Most of us know full well what God wants us to do but our own stubbornness and the temptations of the world are standing in the way. We MUST NOT allow that to happen—the stakes are too high.
I want you to consider advice from perhaps the wisest person who ever lived—Solomon. He wrote the entire book of Ecclesiastes, whining. He complained about almost every aspect of life and likened it to a chasing after wind. But, at the very end of the book in the last couple of verses he says it all. Please forgive the paraphrase—now that I have done all this whining, everything culminates in these two things. FEAR God…and obey His commands. He then goes on to say, this is the whole duty of man.
Wow! What is he saying? He is calling all of us to FEAR God—that is not cowering in a corner kind of fear—it is a calling to be in AWE of God—to REVERE Him. And then, to simply OBEY His commands. My friend, you can do this but it is going to take two very important commitments on your part to see the fruit.
First—draw near to Him. In James 4:8 it says, draw near to Him…and He will draw near to you. Make a commitment right now to spend more time with God this year. Dedicate yourself and ask Him to help you muster up the discipline you need to read the Word, pray and worship Him every day.
And second, pick an area of obedience to His commands that you are struggling with and determine to conquer it now. We all know the temptations we allow into our lives that are suffocating God’s true purpose. Do not give into the enemy any longer. When Jesus was tempted in that desert His final words to that devil were, Away from me Satan. After saying those words the Bible records that The Devil left Him…and Angels came and attended Him.
My prayer is that you will be committed to these two important ideas and the result will a very blessed and fruitful 2016.
In closing let me say how much Cindy and I appreciate your generous donations to our ministry. We have just signed up for Amazon Smile, which allows all of our supporters to continue giving every time you make an Amazon purchase. All you have to do is click here to be taken to a page that allows you to designate our ministry as your “ministry of choice” to receive a small percentage of everything you purchase. It costs you nothing and if enough people sign up, it could really benefit OTM. Thanks so much for considering this option.
Cindy and I want you to know how much we love and appreciate all you do for our ministry.
Helping men become Fully Alive—the man God intended,