Irish Preacher

2011-05-12T02:58:00.000-07:00

Seventeen years ago this June, an ideal was born. It started in a large shed in Blarney, County Cork, Ireland with just a few people, and a big vision. The ideal was a Bible believing Baptist Church. The vision was of multitudes of sinners getting born again, and gladly following the Lord Jesus Christ! Both those dreams have come true in the Bible Baptist Church of Cork, Ireland! We started in Blarney, and moved ten years later to Ballincollig, but my heart, and the ideal, and my vision remains the same! I am so glad to just be able to serve my Lord, and do my best for His honour! I wish more people knew just what this Church means first to God, and then to their families and this city! The Bible Baptist Church is not a religious group, but a family! My prayer as we approach our 17th anniversary of gathering together to worship and follow the Lord Jesus Christ, is that we take a good look at what God has given us in our Church, and never take anyone or anything for granted! What a priceless gift another Bible believing Christian is! May a thousand more Irish souls decide this year to follow the Lord Jesus, and make Him the Lord of their lives! And may we as a church have a part in directing those men, women and children to trust Him, and obey His word by faith! We are debtors to our generation to open their eyes to the wonderful works of God, and to the words of eternal life as found in the Bible! I am so thankful to not have to serve God alone, but alongside faithful families who just love God! More about the upcoming 17th anniversary celebratiuons to come!

Been Quite a While...

2011-04-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

It's Friday evening here in Ireland, and the rain is gently falling outside with a bit of a stiff breeze driving it against the windows of our home. I love nights like this! I am studying for Sunday's "Friend Day" here in Ballincollig, and as usual, I feel that I need God more than ever! Being saved over 30 years now by the precious blood of my Saviour, I would have thought that the older I get in the Lord, the more confident I would be in my "spirituality." But the opposite is true. The older I get, the more I find I need His wisdom, and His direction, and His strength in bigger doses! The spiritual battles of today, along with the trials and troubles of life have not faded, but only grown more fierce around me with the passing of time. In my heart, a greater peace and rest reigns the longer I serve Jesus, but just beyond my skin rages such sorrow and heavy burdens that I get overwhelmed sometimes just praying for what many people are struggling with. I find that most often, the troubles people, even believers are going through, have been brought on by themselves, but that doesn't make the burdens any lighter! As I sit here and prepare for Sunday's message, I am focused not just on dependency, but on Motherhood (since it will be Mother's Day here in Ireland on Sunday), and I feel for modern mothers most of all. They have only dreams, and ideals, with almost no abiding confidence in the Lord Jesus and His promises! I realise all to often that Mothers need more than my thoughts expressed when I preach... they need God's encouragement! I hope more than anything, to be such an encouragement, so that the Mothers who come on Sunday dig their heels in literally, and stay in the fight for their homes, and their husbands, and their Saviour! May Sunday be a miracle day, for the glory of children, and the honour of Moms! Just my thoughts, as I prepare for Sunday!

My First Impressions of Bible Baptist Church

2010-06-19T04:03:00.000-07:00

We just celebrated our church's 16th anniversary as a Church here in Ireland, and I jotted down some memories of when we began!
Long before anyone ever gathered on a Sunday at Bible Baptist Church, I saw people. I saw chairs full of them. I saw children, and teenagers, Moms and Dads. I saw open Bibles in every lap. I saw couples holding hands, and grandparents holding grandkids! And I saw all them having one connection with each other – a love for the preaching and teaching of the truths of the word of God!
Every Saturday evening, as I arrived in Blarney, in a 110 year old Total Abstinence Hall on Station Road, I would set up two or three dozen chairs, praying, believing, and yearning for those people whom I saw to come. And come they did. The first Sunday that our church opened up for worship, two people arrived at 10.30am, and along with my family, sang, and listened to preaching from Acts 16 on “The Most Important Question.” Their names were Vanessa and Mikey. It was as if a hundred people came out that day, and I was thrilled! They didn’t come by accident either! My family and I had gone out into the highways and hedges, and had invited the Blarney area people to believe the Gospel, and come hear God’s word. And week after week, a few more would come! Some would come to the morning meeting, and others would come to the evening meeting! Soon, Vanessa would bow her head and repent and receive Jesus Christ as her own personal Saviour! Then Mikey, and then others! The T.A Hall itself had so little to offer people, being old, and drafty, but there was a warmth there that was not physical. Only God gets the glory for all the lives that were changed first in Blarney, and now in Ballincollig!
I still love coming into our simple meeting place (now in the Westgate Foundation), and praying over all the empty chairs, begging God for the salvation of countless more souls who I still see in my dreams, and still yearn to help with the timeless truths of Scripture! May the next sixteen years bear much more fruit that remains, and even hold even more precious memories for those who are just starting out on their journey of faith in Jesus Christ, as it did myself and my family sixteen years ago! I can only thank God for what He has faithfully done in this special group of believers that we call Bible Baptist Church!
For MORE memories, but loads of other people in our church, check out a page dedicated to First Impression Memories of our Church here in Ireland at www.biblebc.com/Activities/Anniv/2010/Memories.html

Ruth is Home for Christmas

2009-12-21T04:10:00.000-08:00

It is great having Ruth back home for Christmas from West Coast Baptist College! The weather has been terrible here for months now, but for the past week, it has been just clear and cold! And we will take the cold Sun over warm rain anyday! Ruth is in her second year at WCBC and is doing great! We miss all our children at Christmas, but know they are in God's great care, and are only thankful for how He has blessed us with such awesome kids - and even GRANDkids!

Hiding Ourselves

2009-09-12T03:52:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 27:12 “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.”

Two men are presented in the Scripture: a prudent man, and a simple man.
The prudent man is the one who is careful, and thoughtful about what he sees, and what is going on around him.
The simple doesn’t care what happens. He is only interested in pleasing himself, and will just continue as he always has.
Only one sees danger and hides himself from it. The other constantly gets in trouble, and never figures out why.
Christians have been given a spiritual awareness about the results of sin, and should heed the tugging of the Holy Spirit away from temptation.
But far too many today choose to stay simple-minded about the danger of God’s chastisement. They really believe they won’t get into trouble.
The few Christians who are prudent and careful to stay reading and studying their Bible, will know how valuable their time in prayer and fasting is to keep them out of trouble.
There is no shame in hiding ourselves from trouble – especially when you can stay out of trouble with God!

So…
Hide yourselves in your prayer closet (Mt 6:6)
Hide yourselves in faithful Church Meetings (Heb 10:25)
Hide yourselves in the precious blood of Jesus Christ (Heb 9:14)
This month, let’s let the Lord teach us how to become spiritually aware of the right path to walk, and the godly way to live so that we, and our families stay out of trouble with God!

Don't forget, our revival meetings start Sunday the 20th of September! Check out all the events going on at www.biblebc.com

Furlough - May 24th through the 30th, 2009

2009-06-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 24th May, 2009 – Today is our 24th Wedding Anniversary
I taught the teens in Sunday School at Shasta Baptist Church (about 40 of them) on Why I Do What I Do, and Love It. The teens were great. Afterward, I preached in the Teen Church on the Missionary’s Wish – and the altar was full!
In the afternoon, Pastor Johnson, his wife, and Bro Evans and his wife took Nita and I out to Olive Garden for lunch. Had a good time of fellowship. Then went to Starbucks to get online and we talked for almost an hour with Claudio and Despina. Just tried to encourage them. They are so awesome of a family who are handling some big burdens by God’s great grace!
After that, we got delayed at the nearby Mall, and got very behind! We finally arrived at the church at 5:40, just 20 mins before church began and quickly set up my display table and went over my message. Joshua and Sarah spent the afternoon at the Switzer home, and then Joshua went with some of the guys swimming over at the Smith’s home.
I preached this evening on “Something for My Grandkids!” It went very well, and the pastor took us on for support right after the message and invitation were finished! We were flabbergasted!
We are all wrecked tired, and not excited about travelling 8 hours down to Lancaster to pick up Ruth, and then the travelling afterward toward the Arizona border. Oh well.
It was a great number of days here in Redding.

Monday, 25th May, 2009
Travelled down from Redding to Lancaster. Boy did it get warmer the further south we drove. We arrived at West Coast Baptist College in Lancaster at 8pm, and picked up Ruth, and then drove around looking for a hotel that would provide a roll-away bed, and the Comfort Inn worked out great. We knew we just could not go any further towards Arizona tonight. Very tired!

Tuesday, 26th May, 2009
Headed east for Phoenix! The terrain changes dramatically as we travel, and becomes a REAL desert! We didn’t arrive at Chuck and Alaine’s until about 9pm after eating at the Olive Garden, and then dropping Ruth off at the Minerva’s. She will be staying there throughout the summer, working at a local school in the library organizing books all summer long!
We arrived at the North Valley Baptist Church’s Missionary Apartment at about 11pm. Met Pastor Loveless, and plan on meeting with him for lunch tomorrow.

Wednesday, 27th May, 2009
Kind of a catch-up day today. I went to lunch with Pastor Loveless and his associate pastor, Paul, at a BBQ restaurant and we had fried ochre! Amen! Good fellowship! After that, I went to meet Pastor Minerva at a Starbucks, just to find out more about him. I was blessed. Ruth will be staying in his home for the Summer, and I think she will be fine!
In the evening, we were at North Valley Baptist Church, and I showed my DVD presentation, and then preached on Doing Our Father’s Business. It went very well. The pastor gave me a love offering of $150.
Sarah was allowed to have Katlin stay overnight with us which was fun for her.
We also all went over to the Dicken’s home to have a cake and sort of party for Ruth’s 19th birthday! Another family came over who have 10 kids, so altogether, there were 31 people over at the house, plus one friend!
I took Ruth back down to Pastor Minerva’s (30 minute drive), and on my way back got stuck I traffic for nearly an house just 1 ½ mile from the exit to the church.

Thursday, 28th May, 2009 – Trip to Grand Canyon
I took Sarah to find a doctor who would look at her hands and her feet because they are peeling real bad! Two and a half hours later, I found a place that would take a new patient just one time, and for $112, we were tod it was just a bad case of Athlete’s Foot! We didn’t get on the way to Grand Canyon until about 11am.
I went to the Chase Bank to cash the check from North Valley Baptist Church, and it took nearly 30 minutes, and $6 to cash it! Oh well.
Charles Dicken is driving, and there are 14 people in his 15 passenger van travelling today! We probably won’t be back in Phoenix until about 10pm!
The Grand Canyon is absolutely magnificent! It is so massive and awesome in sight! I don’t think my kids perceive how big and complex it all is. It is beautiful! We must have stopped about 10 times, and then had a dinner at a cafeteria type of restaurant right off the edge of the canyon. We were there for the sunset!
We arrived back at Midnight! Whew! What a full, full day!
Tomorrow we have to get going east towards Texas
Make sure you check out the pictures on our personal website www.craigledbetter.com

Friday, 29th May – Heading through New Mexico
Today we got going at about 10am and had to drive over to Chuck and Alaine’s to drop off a few things that had been left in car.
We then headed south to Interstate 10, and then east to Las Cruces.
The land was so beautiful, with loads of unique mountains. The drive is SO pleasant, and even though we drove 8 hours, it was easy.
We stopped at a road side stand that sold Fireworks and Indian stuff. It was way cool. We bought a big pack of fireworks for Joshua, and a turquoise ring for Sarah.
I did not want to stay over night in El Paso, so we stopped in Las Cruces.

Saturday, 30th May
We left Las Cruces, thinking we would be able to make it all the way to Brady, Texas, when in Fort Stockton, we stopped for some lunch at Pizza Hut, and a massive rainstorm opened up the heavens! There was some serious rain and flooding! We waited for an hour, and then decided to make a break for the highway. But, as we started the car, it ran very poorly, roughly.
The check engine light was on, and NAPA Auto Parts store across the road advertised a free check on what it meant, so we stopped.
He said the computer said our gas cap was missing (which was right, since Tuesday), and that there was a misfire in two of the cylinders.
I bought another gas cap, and he reset the computer in the car and we drove off. It still wasn’t running right, but he said, give it 15 minutes.
I drove as far as Ozona, and stopped at an Exxon.
We found out the problem was not going to be easy to figure out, and would have to stay until Monday morning.

Furlough May 17 - May 23

2009-06-05T09:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday 17th May – in Fresno
Arrived at Faith Baptist Church at 9.30am and set up. Trying out the Digital projector for the first time officially. Forgot about sound so had to set the microphone on my laptop’s speakers – did okay, but not great.
Taught Sunday School by showing our presentation and then answering over a dozen questions. Bro Tony, Dina and Gina from IRELAND were with us still.
Preached the Main Service. Preached on the Value of Your Missionaries. It went well.
Ate leftovers from the Rehearsal dinner! Mmmmm.
Ruth went with Gina on down to Lancaster today. She will stay with Gina for the next several days until Gina leaves at the weekend.
Traveled 2 ½ hours north to Lodi to preach at Faith Baptist Church, pastured by Mel Taylor. A new church, but with some awesome people. Showed slides and preached on The Missionary’s Wish. It went great!

Monday, 18th May – in Fresno
Shopping at first. I got some things done getting back organised – I haven’t gone through our papers and suitcases since we arrived!
I still have to clean out the car.
Joel rand and told us that Liz was in labour! Around 3pm our time she had a healthy beautiful baby boy!
Joel got online later and uploaded some pictures to Picasa. We let a bunch of people know via Facebook and our website!
Got to take Bro and Mrs. Miller to Dinner at a place called Carrows. Great food, and great fellowship.
Downloaded the video of the wedding off of the Hi8 video recorder into MovieMaker. Kind of disappointed because it is very brief and incomplete. Oh well! It is something.
After that we went to their home and Nita first got to spend some serious good time with Lisa Miller, and then we all got to have a good time of heart-to-heart talking and Bro Chuck and Liz were great! What a blessing to have them not only as brother and sister in Christ, but part of our extended family!

Tuesday, 19th May – Travelling to Sequoia National Forest near Fresno
Bought Ruth a new AT&T phone since hers had broke months ago, and she was using her Ireland mobile, and it was working terrible. She was happy!
Ruth and Gina were heading back down to Lancaster/Palmdale.
Bro Tony and Dina were heading up to San Francisco on the rest of their two week tour
We then finally got going, and headed east toward the Sierra High Mountains and the Sequoia National Park to look at the giant Redwoods, and WOW were they magnificent!

Wednesday, 20th May – Leaving Fresno and going north
Took Mom to the Fresno Bus Station at 5.30am. We were so glad she came! She won’t be home until Friday.
Finally got away from the hotel at 11.30am and headed over to Faith Baptist Church to meet up once more with Bro Chuck and Lisa. Nita showed Lisa Sharon’s Graduation picture Album and we took Sharon’s remaining luggage in.
We then headed north expecting to arrive at Colusa to be with Bro Buddy but decided to head into San Francisco – and it was well worth it!
San Francisco was beautiful. Phoned Sharon and we met at Pier 39 and walked around and ate Corn Dogs and took pictures!
Finally headed on further north to Colusa, but arrived at around 11pm. Quite but old little town.

Thursday, 21st May
I discovered a mouse in our room at 1.30am, so the woman moved us to a better room which was nice!
We got up a little late, but got on our way to Redding to meet Carol Verardo and her family at the church. We arrived at 10am, and unloaded the car, and then we all piled into my car and traveled north. Met Carol’s husband, Gerry, and Jenny, her daughter hasn’t changed a bit since Youth Camp!
Halfway along the trip I asked Gerry to drive and what a blessing of a break!
Stopped at several places along the trip to take pictures of some beautiful views. Ended up at the Pacific Ocean – the beach was absolutely freezing because of the cold wind coming across from the water! We then went on North to Crescent City where Gerry used to live since his grandfather was there. Carol booked two rooms by the sea shore with balconys that open to the beach front! It was kind of cold though, but the water was rocky and beautiful. We went out to eat at a seafood restaurant and ate very well.

Friday, 22nd May, 2009
Got up early, ate breakfast with the Verardos and then headed out to a beach to go looking for some fresh sand-dollar shells. Found only one, and it is not in great shape, but at least we got one. Then we headed northwest into Oregon. Beautiful trek through the remainder of the Redwood forest. Oregon was more sparse and has what is called a high desert look. We traveled at about 3,000 - 4,000 feet for quite a while until we got to Medford where we stopped at a Bowling Alley tomplay a couple of lanes of bowling with Jenny for her birthday. After that we headed back south to Mount Shasta! Beautiful day!

Saturday, 23rd May, 2009
Went to soul-winning at Shasta Baptist Church this morning at 9.30am. I got to go out with Ford Bishop, and for 2 ½ hours we had a great time! Bro Bishop is a great man of faith and burden about souls! He had no problem witnessing and telling folks how to get saved! Almost everyone we talked to were extremely attentive. The first man was in the worldwide church of God, and lost as a goose. Still holding to keeping the law and the Sabbath for salvation, and that he could lose it. I tried to give him some important truths to settle. Gave him much to ponder!
At 3pm, we went over to the Verardos for a Bar-B-Q and for Jenny’s birthday. We got to eat venison, and it was exquisite. Josh got to ride a four-wheeler, and we ate well! About 50-60 people were there including Matt, Mark, and the pastor and his wife.

Furlough, May 10 - May 16

2009-06-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 10th May
Got up very early and started working on my message notes. I will have to be ready to speak twice today, and will only have this morning to prepare.
Got to Lancaster Baptist Church and went to the 8.30am Church service. Pastor Chappell preached great on Hope for the Family.
Joshua and Sarah then headed off to Sunday School, while Sharon and Luke took us to the Class that I would be teaching. There were about 28 people in the class, all married. I taught on “Why I Do What I Do… And Love It!” I had liberty and it seemed to be a blessing.
After that, we all went to Sizzlers for lunch and then dropped Sharon and Luke back at the college while we hurriedly left for San Diego with Ruth.
The GPS took us around Los Angeles again, and this time it was even better. No traffic at all!
We arrived about 4.30pm, and went to Walmart to get a few things.
We arrived at Bible Missionary Fellowship at 5.30pm and met the pastor’s son, Ben.
We had a great church meeting, and the people were awesome!

Monday, 11th May

Tuesday, 12th May
I am still waking up way too early! Woke up at 5am. Ugh.
Reading a book with Nita called Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs.
Mainly doing shopping with Ruth and Sharon for the wedding, and for stuff we will need for our trip as we travel further east after all this is over.

Wednesday, 13th May
Got to West Coast at 8.30am and could not find any place to sit for the graduation! Finally found an entire row saved by the Millers! Praise God!
The graduation ceremony was awesome!

Thursday, 14th May
Went with Luke, Joel Rockey, Joshua, and my Joshua to get suits. I bought Joshua a nice suit and shirt and tie for $119.
Then went to the church to decorate. I was useless, so I went back to the hotel to do some reading.
I still have to make some contacts and try and fill some dates with meetings.
Then we went over to the Millers for dinner. I helped Chuck work on Luke’s car. We had Pizza from Costco and then waited for Luke and Sharon to arrive. They went looking for places to take wedding photos.
We went over the order of ceremony ideas that they had.
It was getting late, so we finally left to go back to the Hotel.

Friday, 15th May
Took Sharon for last minute shopping at Macy’s
We had the Wedding Rehearsal, which was nervous, but went well.
Rehearsal Dinner at a great restaurant in downtown Fresno. We ate great Pasta and at least 20 people at the dinner.

Saturday – Wedding Day!
Wedding preparations are happening fast and furious! I am still not sure of what message the Lord wants me to preach. I wish I had more time to work on the ideas I have for a new wedding message – but alas, that will have to be for another day!
Sharon is beautiful, and everything finally is coming together!
I tried to get Live Streaming to work, but it just won’t send out the video feed. I tried everything I could think of and read about on the internet.
Settled on just using Skype. So, John, Bill and Geraldine, Bro Hutton say it live.
I will send the video via DVD when I get a copy of it.
The wedding was supernatural! God is SO good!

Furlough Blog May 7 - May 10

2009-06-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 7th May, 2009
I am sitting in the London Heathrow airport with my wife Nita, and two of our children, Joshua and Sarah. We have been very impressed with Terminal 5 in London! It is a new terminal and is very easy to get around to and through.
The last thing I remember doing last night was setting my alarm clock last night for 3:35am and then turning over and going to sleep.
The next morning at 4:50am, we heard John calling us. We had overslept! Ugh! I remember this happening to someone on a movie once (Home Alone, I believe), and we frantically bolted and got ready! We left the house at about 5:35, and got to the airport at 5:45am.
Bro Dan and Kathy were already there waiting for us at the Cork airport! Amen!
We had a brief time of fellowship at the airport, and the Bro Dan prayed for us, and off we headed through security!
When we were leaving Cork, can you believe that I accidently got into the wrong crowd in line for the Malaga flight (which was right next to the gate for London, and we got through the gate and actually got on the plane before one of the ladies noticed that we were getting onto the wrong flight! Oh boy!
We went back into the terminal and kind of embarrassingly sat down (no one could tell what had happened, and we were just relieved to not be heading for Malaga)!
When we did get on our flight, it was delayed for about 30 minutes before take-off, and then it was delayed in the air over London for about another 15 minutes.
But, we landed, safe and sound!
We are all sitting on the hard floor next to a power-point so that I can keep my laptop plugged in for maximum usage on this flight.
It looks like the flight is going to be packed. Drat. Oh well. 11 hours in a packed airplane is not so bad (what am I saying?)!
I will need to work on my preaching messages during this flight for Sunday morning, and Sunday evening.
The flight WAS indeed packed, but we all were able to sit together!
Eleven hours is a very long time to be cooped up in a plane, but we made it.
We were so tired, but excited! It took quite a whole to get all our luggage, but we did, thankfully!
After that, we went through immigration, and the man wrong a wrong number on out card, and we were turned back and made to go through another line. It was very frustrating, and slow, and we were getting worried about how long this was all going to take.
Finally, a man took the card, looked everything up on the computer and said te original guy must have been sleeping. Everything was now okay.
We went outside and waited for our Thrifty Car Rental Bus to take us to the cars.
The car we got was beautiful. It was some kind of a Jeep, and it was great to drive.
I can’t wait to find out what the Ford Expedition drives like.
It took an absolute eternity to get halfway out of Los Angeles because of all the stop and slowly go traffic! I had to stop and sleep for about an hour because I was getting dangerously tired while driving.
When I woke up, we then drove about 45 more minutes to Oceanside, and found the Hotel. It was a nice hotel, and we were all in bed and asleep by 9:45pm, California time! We have been up and travelling now for 25 hours!

Friday, 8th May, 2009
Woke up at 2.30am, and then at 5.30am. Finally got out of bed at 6.30 and started working on emails and planning for the day.
Had a great continental breakfast with the kids.
Talked to John via Skype.
Talked to Sharon and found out Mom was for sure coming to the wedding.
We went to a local shopping Mall and Joshua and I left the girls to do their shopping while we went to find a Phone Store. We ended up at and AT&T shop, and I bought a Go phone ($49) and $100 credit.
Nita, Sarah and Joshua all got shoes.
We then went and tried to find the place where the car dealer worked to look at the Ford Expedition. It took quite a bit of to’ing and fro’ing, but we found the place. We loved the car. We had to go to Rob’s home (what a house!) to get the paper work. From there, we dropped Nita and the kids at a local shopping mall while I drove the Rental Car down to San Diego. It was not too bad getting down there with the traffic, and I made it by 5pm. The cost for the Rental was $200 because of the Drop-off charge ($60) which I thought was included all along!
Anyway, I am sitting in the taxi being driven back up to San Marcus!
What a day – loads of stress just trying to figure out how to do everything without being milked dry by all the costs.
We still have to get some clothes for the kids.
After I pick up Nita and the kids, we will head up to Lancaster.
Our accommodation is in Palmdale, but after that, Sharon said this morning that we should be able to stay at a friend's home! Praise God!
I have to phone Bro Buddy to see if we can still stay at his place when we are in Hot Springs!
The weather has been beautiful! The mornings are cloudy but the afternoon is absolutely perfect temperature with a light wind – incredible!

Saturday, 9th May
We finally decided to pick up the girls and head to Disneyland in Los Angeles. I was len the use of a GPS unit, and it took us a round-about way through the mountains. Good check out of the car – up and down hills – not great on petrol for sure, but a strong engine.
Finally arrived with a few delays, and it was massive. Far too massive! There is absolutely no way anyone could enjoy the theme park in less than three days! We started walking around and found out Nico and another guy from West Coast named Brett had come to Disneyland and decided not to come in. We talked them into coming, and had a blast.
So many of the rides had 1 hour wait lines, but we found out about Fast Pass, and were able to bypass one ride’s long lines – the Indiana Jones ride.
It was hot, but nice weather.
Very tiring day. Tomorrow, I teach in an adult Sunday School class. I am nervous.

Men's Retreat 2009

2009-04-22T23:23:00.000-07:00

Another Men's Camp, and yet it was like no other! 80 men gathered in a distant corner of Ireland to hear from God about a man who led the entire nation of Israel into the Promised Land! The man's name was Joshua, and for 56 years of his life, he was a slave, the son of a slave, serving Pharaoh, with no hope but God's promise of a deliverer that would one day come. That deliverer was Moses! And deliver he did! But it quickly turned out to be a big disappointment, not because of the inability of God, but on the lack of obedient faith in His people! Israel was locked in a 38 year wandering in the wilderness simply because they could not see beyond the giants and the difficulties of following the Lord's direction for their lives! That cost them almost 40 years, and an entire generation of people before they would be allowed to enter their place of "rest."

During those 40 years in the wilderness, God prepared another leader - Joshua - who would lead the nation into Canaan. Moses made a fatal mistake in keeping his anger, and it cost him the perfect will of God for his life. Moses, with all his abilities, was not going to be allowed to lead Israel triumphantly into the Promised Land, it would have to be Joshua! What a great typology in Scripture of how the Law can not bring a person to heaven - it only brings wrath - but that JESUS (the New Testament name for Joshua) is the only one that can lead us HOME!

We looked at how God prepared Joshua to become a great leader of God's people, so that all of our men in all our Bible believing Churches would seek to be JOSHUA'S and take the lead as God moves them into positions of Christian leadership! We wait for "Moses'" to rise up, but they are few, and far between! We need Joshua's all over Ireland! And this weekend, we found a load of them!

May the Lord greatly use us all as we seek to simply follow and obey His every word!

See the notes and photos of the entire 48 hour event at http://www.biblebc.com/ChurchInfo/MensRetreat/2009/index.htm

May the Lord Jesus lead you and your family to conquer all the obstacles between you and His perfect will!

Pastor Craig Ledbetter

http://www.craigledbetter.com

Missions Conference 2009

2009-03-10T07:36:00.000-07:00

We are halfway through our mission's conference this year, and it, as usual has been incredible. Four sinners have been gloriously saved, and the church is psyched-up about soul-winning! We already have 14 to 16 people coming out every Saturday afternoon for door-to-door soul-winning, and we have not hit the ceiling yet! This whole month in our Church is to get everyone steadfast in our evangelism - to get us all just naturally, all the time, honouring the Lord Jesus Christ, and explaining the Gospel to anyone who will listen!

In this Mission's Conference, we have been learning not only about evangelism, but specifically, about how to care about Muslims. Our speaker last night powerully explained about the two religious approaches to God: Ishmael's way, and Isaac's way. It was a keeper! Two young ladies were quickly convinced of their need for the only Saviour, Jesus Christ, and we still have two more days to go! The only remaining goal is to increase our faith in giving for missions around the world. I wonder if God can motivate us Christians as powerfully as he has been motivating sinners in this conference! Amen!

Youth Camp and Bible Clubs - Wow, What a Ride!

2008-08-16T02:45:00.000-07:00

Well, it is Saturday morning, 16th of August, and it is raining again! The only time the rain basically has let up this Summer has been during our Victory Youth Camp back a few weeks ago! Youth Camp was unbelievably good, and we saw 9 young people get saved! AMEN, and Amen!

See pictures and more information about the Youth Camp at

http://www.biblebc.com/Activities/YouthCamps/2008/index.htm

I could write for pages about all the things that happened at Youth Camp, but I will have to leave that for another day! This morning I wanted to just jot down some thought about our Bible Club meetings this week.

We set out by faith to hold our Bible Club meetings out in the Ballincollig Regional Park, and it was awesome, although very wet. Even when raining, the children just kept focused on the activities and the Bible Lessons! We learned about how the Christian Life is very much like the Olympics - that there are some great things to live for and strive for! Getting our sins forgiven, all of them, took the most effort, and only Jesus could carry all that weight onto the cross, so that we could just reap the eternal benefits! no church, no amount of masses, no amount of prayers, no amount of money could purchase what Jesus Christ earned for us on the cross! Once a person agree with all their heart that they are a sinner, and deserving of hell because of their sins, they can then, and only then ask the Lord Jesus to take away all their sins (past, present and future), and give them the gift of eternal life! THAT is when a person, no matter how young or old, or how sinful or good, that is when they finally start living, and "running the Christian race!" What we taught the kids at Bible Club was that they obviously needed to get born again, and start following the Lord Jesus, and then, if they are going to want any rewards in heaven, then they had better get started, and might as well go all out! Go for the Gold! Just like the athletes at the Olympics! Don't settle for losing at all!

We had 44 children come out to the Bible Club this year, and even with all the rain (see the pictures) the event was blessed!

http://biblebc.com/Activities/BibleClubs/2008/going_for_the_gold.htm

Am I tired? Yes! But I had the best help with my wife Nita, and daughters Sharon and Ruth, and John, and so many others who just helped make the week a success by the help of God!

As usual, there is more to come! The ministry is a life-long effort, and I can't get enough of it!

I truly thank God for the privilege of serving the Lord Jesus Christ!

Until the trumpet sounds...

Pastor Craig Ledbetter

What Mission’s Conference is all about

2008-03-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

Psalm 78:38
But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

Wow, what a Scripture to ponder! The verse is referring to God noticing all the build up of sin and disobedience in the hearts and lives of Israel, and He, out of compassion, NOT destroying them, and instead forgiving them as they cried out to Him for grace! Well, THAT’S our God, and He LOVES to have compassion on unworthy, and even ungodly creatures such as us! And he has enough grace and mercy for a whole planet of sinners, amen?!

Well, that’s what this month’s Mission’s Conference is all about – Compassion, and caring about a world that doesn’t care about God or righteousness! Thankfully, God cares, and the more we hear of the spiritual needs around the world, so do God’s people!

I am so looking forward to this coming Sunday thru Wednesday with our World Evangelism Conference! Be here for EVERY meeting – the devil will work overtime to keep you too busy, but the value of just one soul is worth every sacrifice you might have to make!

Please remember to pray for our church folks, and all our families! Be sure to invite them out to church for any and all of the upcoming events! Please know that I love you and pray for you! The Lord is worthy of all our worship!

Pastor Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork
www.biblebc.com
Tel: 021-4871234

The burden of our Lord

2008-03-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

Matthew 9:35-38
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

In the midst of all the miracles and wonderful acts of kindness that our Lord was working among the crowds of people that day, the stark reality sets in – the crowds only got bigger, and their needs grew deeper. No matter how much Jesus healed, more people would come who needed healing. No matter how many lives were salvaged, there were more to salvage. “Multitudes!” Do we really realise just how many people there are in the world? Does it affect us at all that there are so, so many who need Jesus?
The view of those multitudes affected Jesus to the point of weeping because they sought only physical healing, and He was offering so much more! Will we allow the multitudes to affect us too?
This world is lost, without God and without hope. In spite of all the religions in the world, none provide a true Shepherd and leave absolutely everyone fainting and worse off. The burden of our Lord was and always is for mankind to see that their greatest need is in their heart, and that only Jesus can fully satisfy that need!
But how will they know of such a Saviour? Who will labour among the multitudes and bring them the Gospel that can save the furthest soul? The Lord Jesus can count on me. Can he count on YOU TOO?
Our annual World Evangelism Conference is this weekend, so don't miss it!
See http://biblebc.com/Activities/Missions/2008/world_evangelism_conference08.htm for more information!

Spiritual Dryness

2006-12-30T05:44:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday afternoon. I am finally getting well into finishing up my messages for preaching tomorrow in church, but this week has been one of those "dry times" that every pastor gets. It's not too often (thankfully), but when my spirit dries up, it is terrifying - really. I hate being spiritually on empty. Since my new birth 26 years ago, I have known the joys of being filled with God's Holy Word, and His Holy Spirit, so when I am on empty, it is a tough experience. I am not talking about a "charismatic" kind of feeling, but rather an awareness of God's presence, and a kind of flowing joy that just comes naturally because of walking with Jesus every day. But then holidays come, and busy-ness takes over, and the tank runs dry trying to do everything, as well as just trying to rest a bit, only to find that the Lord and you are kind of far apart. I hate that. And that was this week. So last night and this morning I began again to beg God to speak to me, and teach me, and walk with me as I seek Him in His word. I was reading in James chapter 1 this morning in my daily time with God, but I knew I needed to head back to Matthew 4, just to have a good long look at my Lord as he started His ministry, and two precious words jumped out at me - the words that started everything off for me - "Follow Me!" I heard those words loud and clear! Quickly the Lord was back in front of my life, and I was back in motion behind Him, following Him. That's what God wanted, and that is what I needed! I'm glad it is so easy. I had to do some confessing, and some spiritual inventorying in the process, but that allowed me to be ready for the Lord of lords to be back in charge of me once again, instead of the world, and all its demands.
If you have ever had times like this, then you know what I am talking about, and you hate those times too. Boy is the flesh sneaky. When you think you just need to rest - well, that is when I have found I need to get even closer to the Lord Jesus - because THAT is where I will find perfect rest!
Just a thought on this Saturday afternoon! God bless you!
Pastor Craig Ledbetter

Winter Storms

2006-11-30T03:32:00.000-08:00

I just love winter storms here in Ireland. Ok, so they are nothing like hurricanes, and tornadoes are extremely rare, but the wind and the rain and the sound of is all is just so incredible to me! I wish life's storms were the same! But alas - the reason why I love a good weather storm is because I can enjoy it from the protection of a warm, sturdy home that allows me the luxury of watching and slightly experiencing the storm without the danger. Life's storms are usually head on, and natural protection is pretty minimal. But then there is Jesus!
I am more glad to be saved then ever before, because I know the value of a sturdy "Rock" to be surrounded by, and protected by! Yes, I may go through many a storm, but my Saviour has his mighty hand AROUND me, and protects me (actually shields me) from the brunt of every storm that threatens my soul!
I need to just remember to enjoy the storms of life just as much as the storms of weather, since in both storms, I am protected! Hallelujah

"And the LORD ... shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain." Isaiah 4:5,6

Bits and Pieces - Trying to Catch-up

2006-08-24T02:55:00.000-07:00

Just a brief note since I am still "up-the-walls" as they say and still trying to get unburied from all the stuff that I have left undone since the beginning of this summer here in Ireland. I have had certainly the busiest Summer ever, and am not physically recovered as of yet, but hope to get away with my family for at least a few days just to do NOTHING and get a bit recharged. Summer here has been a good time with so many people getting saved, and visitors coming out and staying in church here in Ballincollig. Hunger for the word of God is good - I just hope to always be able to feed and serve up a great meal for everyone, but it does take a lot of work studying and preparing practical messages from the Bible that are pleasing to both God and the people here. I am most burdened for an older man here named Ken who has been in the hospital for over two years since having cancer and a stroke and is basically completely paralyzed. He got saved two months ago and needs a lot of fellowship and encouragement, but I just haven't had the time that he deserves. I plan on making him much more of a priority.
We have had a great response from the new tracts I wrote called "Are You Good Enough?" and are handing them out by the hundreds every week! The teens are so full of energy now, after completing our Target the Heart meetings, and we will be going out again this Friday going head-to-head soul-winning of teenagers! Pray for fruit to Christ's glory!
I better go. Keep us in prayer, and keep testifying of a living Saviour! Pastor Craig Ledbetter. www.biblebc.com

Our Sensitivity to Wickedness

2006-04-06T03:40:00.000-07:00

I have been noticing lately a heightened sense of awareness by people of the wickedness that is just exploding around us in the western world. This is not a good thing. What I immediately recognized was not that evil was rapidly on the increase (that has been true for the last 60 years), but that people in the main are only aware of it when it gets very far ahead of the comfort zone of the population. What I mean is this: sin is tolerated when the general population is comfortable with that sin. If a new amount of sin, or even a new sin is introduced to the public, people may be shocked, but only until they get comfortable with that new sin. Society is on a genral downward slo, constantly just behind the sins that are pulling it down. The only time there is outrage by the general public is when the amount of sin is way far ahead of our tolerance. Hence my sadness because, sin is sin, and brings forth the judgment of death no matter who you are (Romans 6:23). Christians must begin to analyze their own comfortableness with sins and begin to cry out against them whether other people are comfortable with them or not, and begin to bring people back to a walk of righteousness and holiness that comes with knowing Jesus Christ as both Saviour AND Lord. People need to not only be saved from the punishment of their sin, but also from the "pull" of it downward as well. The way you will be able to tell the amount of pull that sin has on you is the amount of "comfortableness" that you have with what's showing on the TV, and what is spewing out of the mouths of your friends.

Just two Scriptures will suffice for God's view about our tolerance of sin in this world:

Tit 2:11,12 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.

1Pe 2:11,12 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Think on these things. Until next time, God bless you, and look-up... Jesus is coming again! Pastor Craig

Spiritual Close-Call

2006-03-23T01:48:00.000-08:00

Hmmmmm. Some things just don't make sense on the day they happen. Take for example the fact that for a month we as a Church in Ballincollig were looking at renting a warehouse to use for our Drug Addiction programme, and our Teen Activities, and especially Church Dinners. But the decision of renting the building had to be put off until after the revival was finished. Many of the church folks had already gone over with me during the revival meetings to personally take a good look at the large room, and see its possible uses. The very next week (this past Sunday evening), the Church stayed after the normal preaching for a short business meeting to discuss how we were going to pay for the warehouse. We talked, and took up pledges that exceeded the cost of the building - praise God! The Church had spoken with its pocketbook that this step, even though expensive, was what the Lord would have us do! The very next day, I rang the man who owned the building, and before going too far, he stopped me and sadly told me he had JUST let it out to another man on Saturday! We missed getting the building by just two days! I was very disappointed. As I told others in the church, they too were disappointed. But we took courage that the Lord knew what He was doing, even though WE didn't know what He was doing. Well, to our greater surprise, yesterday, we were notified by the owner of the place that we currently meet (the Westgate Foundation), that rent was sky-rocketting starting in April! I mean, the cost of renting the Westgate Foundation rooms was trebling - starting in April, we would be paying THREE times the fees that we were paying just in December!
So, what's the moral of the story? Well, if we HAD gotten that warehouse, it would NOT have sufficed for us to use as a Church because it is just too small, and we would be having to go and find other accomodations for the Church, and expenses would be far too much with us still trying to purchase some land here in the Cork area soon (more about that later)! So, the Lord STOPPED us from renting that warehouse because He knew we needed to find better rented facilities, or be ready to purchase some land, and we could not do that if we also had the rent of this warehouse hanging around our necks for a year long lease! All of that exercise was to get us ready to either rent a BETTER building (with better value for money that what we currently are getting from the Westgate Foundation), or to purchase finally some land! I think we are ready!
God is so good to us! We don't deserve His intervention, and yet He does! Praise God!
Now, on to finding a better place for our people to meet! Please pray that we find the right place, and pray we can ultimately get our own property - all for the glory of God and His Son Jesus Christ!
Pastor Craig Ledbetter - Ballincollig, Ireland (www.biblebc.com)

Wonderful Changes

2006-03-09T03:39:00.000-08:00

Four days of revival meetings, and you can start to see some wonderful changes – people realizing just how good church can be; people’s hearts softening to the gentle work of the Holy Spirit of God; a deeper love for the word of God; better awareness to the attacks of the devil, and the obstacles he sets up to keep people from getting saved and getting victories over sin. It’s all quite a lot of work to see happening in our Church.
Last night, Brother Buddy Blunkall preached on the disciples having “no” faith in the storm in Mark chapter 4, and yet still getting safely to the other side of the Sea of Galilee! He showed us that if we would just trust the Lord Jesus enough to obey Him, and just into the boat, He will get us through! The message is worth listening to (I will put it on our website in the Sermon Audio section (www.biblebc.com) , and the message is worth learning from! I was so blessed at the truths of the Bible that just never are exhausted! No matter how many times you preach something from a portion of Scripture, there is always more to learn and enjoy!
Every evening, after the singing, and preaching, the people just “hang around” and fellowship, and soak up the afterglows of the meeting. Two hours a night is normally pretty long for any kind of a meeting, but I normally have to yell at everybody after TWO and a HALF hours and tell them that we HAVE to leave now! It is so good to watch God’s people LOVE preaching and each other!
Well, a few more days – tonight, Friday, and then Sunday, and the meeting will be through. What will we be like when it is all said and done? I am praying that we will be more like Jesus – that will be good enough for me! Also praying for a few souls to get born again too! Amen!
Until later! Pastor Craig.

Revival Meeting Starts

2006-03-07T02:42:00.000-08:00

Well, I thought I was going to be able to sit down and write this blog yesterday (Monday), but we all decided to take a trip out to Killarney and go see the Gap of Dunloe, and Ross Castle. Both were worth the effort! The Killarney mountains were beautifully snow-capped, and the group from Hot Springs Arkansas were easily impressed with the view! In a flash, Joel and Cameron, Joshua, Bro Buddy, and even the three girls were headed up the side of the Gap! The girls made it half-way, while the boys pressed on up a 45 degree incline! It was kind of cool, and the wind made it even cooler, but we enjoyed the short trek in the Gap of Dunloe!
After the trip of the Gap, we risked traveling to the Ross Castle to see if it was by chance open, and behold, it was both open and taking tours! The woman giving the tour was really a blessing and spent a lot of extra time with us.

Let me bring you up to date on the Revival Meetings so far. Buddy Blunkall, his wife Phyllis and three Champion Baptist Bible College students all arrived Saturday afternoon of course, as planned. I had planned on taking the mini-bus to go pick them up from Shannon airport, but at the last minute, the bus just would not start! I guess that the -5 deg celsius weather might have had something to do with it! The Lord worked it all out anyway! That evening, the prayer meeting was so awesome! God was busy working on us, readying us for this week!
Sunday was a full day, with all three meetings well attended, and the Lord showing His people how He was going to work on our hearts! Sunday evening’s meeting was the best so far, but that was just the beginning! Last night (Monday night), Buddy preached on believing Faith, and it was just excellent! If you are in the area, you just have to come along and experience the great preaching, and singing and fellowshipping for yourself.

By-the-way, I actually met someone yesterday that had read this blog! Wow! I was very surprised, since this is just an experiment. I hope it helps some people get a feel for the Christian ministry that goes on here in Cork, Ireland!

Be sure to check our website (www.biblebc.com) and click on the graphic for the Revival for links to photos and other information!

Back from Scotland

2006-02-28T02:41:00.000-08:00

Tired! That's how I feel. My trip to Scotland was flat-out tiring. I can't explain it, except that I must be fighting the flu or something. I've been fighting it the whole time in Scotland. Oh well. Needless-to-say, I preached 6 times in three churches, and once on the radio in Arboath, just north of Dundee. All the Christians in all three churches were such a blessing to me and my son Joel, who went along with me. I was so glad to have him along. He even got to go skiing (briefly), and I beat him in hockey (grin), and the Lord blessed in everything we set out to do. I went door-to-door in Dundee, and learned a lot. Praise God for faithful men who stay on their field of ministry and stay knocking on doors, and stay witnessing of our risen Saviour, because that is the only way people are going to be reached with the Gospel. Period!
I'm back home now, and already in high gear to get final preparations under way for our Church Revival meetings in full swing. The revival begins this next Sunday, and I kow I need it! Pray the Lord steps down from heaven in a marvellous way, and changes His people, and saves the lost!
I'll keep you posted! Craig

Church 11th Anniversary Memories

2006-02-09T04:21:00.000-08:00

Anniversary Memories
From the Pastor’s Pen
1994 - 2005
A dream – a vision – a burden. That’s what I had – that’s what I still have. Eleven years ago I and my family opened the doors of an old shed called the Total Abstinence Hall (TA Hall for short), located on the edge of Blarney village, and we had “church.” Not normal church that people were used to, but a meeting that was far simpler, and far more direct – “What will you do with Jesus Christ?” I preached, and people came. A few every week, but always hungry, always yearning to know this Person named Jesus. Thousands of Gospel leaflets were handed out, thousands of people were met and witnessed to at the doors. People got saved – born again - by repenting and believing completely on the Lord Jesus Christ! And then they got baptized. First in a pool over near Glanmire, and then others in the river. Usually the water was cold, but the zeal for God was burning hot.
Sunday School classes, Men’s Retreats, Church Picnics – every year people came and got saved and got excited about living for the Lord! And the church grew. We all handed out ten thousand specially written Gospel tracts to people at the Tour de France in held in Cork that day back in 1996. We advertised the Gospel in the Echo and in the Examiner; We published The Open Challenge paper; and people got saved! And they went on to be baptized as well!
And then we went big – we invited Dr. Kent Hovind to come and present Biblical Creationism here in Cork – he spoke 8 times in four days to over 300 people. And people got saved! And people grew! He even came back a second time, and 300 more people came! Miracles still happen!
One of the best things I get to do as pastor besides preaching and leading a soul to Christ, is marrying Christian couples! I “hitched-up” Bill and Geraldine Daunt first, and then others, and their extended families and friends saw what a Christian wedding and family was really all about!
And then there are other memories… even miracles… watching my own family grow, and seeing God’s good hand on our churches as we just stay faithful. So many other events… maybe I will write them all down someday. They are all worth their weight in gold, and were all a privilege to be a part of!
It would be easy to look back and start thinking of what should have been, or what could have been, but thank God, we know better – our focus is forward, on the future, and we have the promise of our heavenly Father…
The Best is YET to Come!And I can’t wait!

Finally Starting

2006-02-09T02:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm finally starting to blog here in Ireland!
It's something I thought I would never do, but it has always facinated me that I could record a journal that might be a blessing to others who want to know of the day to day things and events that go on in the ministry here in ireland!
My oldest daughter Sharon just finished recording 13 hours of chior singing at West Coast baptist College and really enjoyed it! She is learning so much and growing so much! I am truly proud of how the Lord has blessed my family!
We just heard back from the head of the building that we rent from for our Church meetings that we are allowed to stay indefinitely, and we are so relieved! What an answer to prayer! Thank you to all who have prayed about this situation! We continue to look for suitable church property, and will know more tomorrow about some very serious sellers and see if anything will fit our needs!
There's more to come, especially with our revival starting in less than a month, so pray with us for God to change us, and grow us as a Church and as Christians here in the land of Ireland.
Until later, Pastor Craig