Five Talents More

More great Spurgeon encouragement for your souls today!

“I will strengthen thee”

Isaiah 41:10

“God has a strong reserve with which to discharge this engagement; for he is able to do all things. Believer, till thou canst drain dry the ocean of omnipotence, till thou canst break into pieces the towering mountains of almighty strength, thou never needest to fear. Think not that the strength of man shall ever be able to overcome the power of God. Whilst the earth’s huge pillars stand, thou hast enough reason to abide firm in thy faith. The same God who directs the earth in its orbit, who feeds the burning furnace of the sun, and trims the lamps of heaven, has promised to supply thee with daily strength. While He is able to uphold the universe, dream not that He will prove unable to fulfil His own promises. Remember what He did in the days of old, in the former generations. Remember how He spake and it was done; how He commanded, and it stood fast. Shall He that created the world grow weary? He hangeth the world upon nothing; shall he who doth this be unable to support His children? Shall He be unfaithful to His word for want of power? Who is it that restrains the tempest? Dost not He ride upon the wings of the wind, and make the clouds His chariots, and hold the ocean in the hollow of His hand? How can He fail thee? When He has put such a faithful promise as this on record, wilt thou for a moment indulge the thought that He has outpromised Himself, and gone beyond His power to fulfil? Ah, no! Thou canst doubt no longer.

O thou who art my God and strength, I can believe that this promise shall be fulfilled, for the boundless reservoir of Thy grace can never be exhausted, and the overflowing storehouse of Thy strength can never be emptied by Thy friends or rifled by Thine enemies.

Now let the feeble all be strong,

And make Jehovah’s arm their song.”

There was excitment in the Kretsinger household this afternoon as big fluffy flakes fell to the ground! It was short lived but exciting nonetheless.

One of my all time favorite author/preacher’s is Charles H. Spurgeon. I especially love my Morning and Evening devotional. He has a way of speaking right to my soul. I even find myself saying yes and amen as I read along and that doesn’t happen very often! Here is one that I read a while back that I thought many out there can relate to.

It’s taken from Habakkuk 1:8

“Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour.”

“While preparing the present volume, this particular expression recurred to me so frequently, that in order to be rid of its constant importunity I determined to give a page to it. The evening wolf, infuriated by a day of hunger, was fiercer and more ravenous than he would have been in the morning. May not the furious creature represent our doubts and fears after a day of distraction of mind, losses in business, and perhaps ungenerous tauntings from our fellow men? How our thoughts howl in our ears, “Where is now thy God?” How voracious and greedy they are, swallowing up all suggestions of comfort, and remaining as hungry as before. Great Shepherd, slay these evening wolves, and bid Thy sheep lie down in green pastures, undisturbed by insatiable unbelief. How like are the fiends of hell to evening wolves, for when the flock of Christ are in a cloudy and dark day, and their sun seems going down, they hasten to tear and devour. They will scarcely attack the Christian in the daylight of faith, but in the gloom of the soul conflict they fall upon him. O Thou who has laid down Thy life for the sheep, preserve them from the fangs of the wolf.

False teachers who craftily and industriously hunt for the precious life, devouring men by their falsehoods, are as dangerous and detestable as evening wolves. Darkness is their element, deceit is their character, destruction is their end. We are most in danger from them when they wear sheep’s skin. Blessed is he who is kept from them, for thousands are made the prey of grievous wolves that enter within the fold of the church.

What a wonder of grace it is when fierce persecutors are converted, for then the wolf dwells with the lamb, and men of cruel ungovernable dispositions become gentle and teachable. O Lord, convert many such: for such we will pray tonight.”

So there you have a taste and glimpse of Spurgeon. More will surely follow as it seems every day I read something so wonderful and profound that leads me and draws me nearer to the King of Kings.

One last note: I want to offer any out there who don’t have Spurgoen’s Morning/Evening devotional a free copy. It would be my joy and delight to send you one for free. I love sharing books that offer great truth with others. I cannot keep them to myself. Simply email me your name and address at mkretsinger@atomicplaypen.com and a copy will be on its way! (Come on now, don’t be shy!)

On October 20th Jolee turned 36 years old. Since she appreciates even my most feeble attempt at poetry, I figured I would give it a try again. When I sat down to write, the old 50’s song titled “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen” popped into my head.

Happy Birthday Sweet Thirtysixteen

A precious wife, my joy and dream,
her voice is like a rushing stream,
that flows throughout my mind and heart,
and floods my soul when we’re apart,
today my heart will praise and sing,
happy birthday sweet thirtysixteen.

Proverbs claim a holy wife,
is someone who would give her life,
to humbly serve her king and Lord,
and seek the Christ for life restored,
today my heart will praise and sing,
happy birthday sweet thirtysixteen.

So join me as I pause to bless,
the source of our sweet rightousness,
and thank Him for a precious wife,
who understands the point to life:
to worship Jesus Christ our King!
happy birthday sweet thirtysixteen.

Happy Birthday my dear wife Jolee!

Love,
Mike

Beholding His glory!

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your batteries!

Nascar Cart #39

Go girls!

Pass that baby over to Grandpa and Grandma for safety!

The 3 some.

The cousin’s on Roy Lake.

A red leaf I found shaped like lips. Auntie Lisa said this is what Greta would like with Botox.

6 little pumpkins at the patch!

We enjoyed yet another fabulous weekend at Grandview with Mike’s family this time. The memories will be sweet for years to come. The one thing missing was Deb and although we had a great time it wasn’t the same without her. We’ll just have to do it again!

The Girls

The Girls with Mike

It has become a tradition for us to go to the Desiring God conference every year! We have gone for the past 5 years now and we hope to go to many more. Our friend Erin has joined us the last 4 years and comes all the way from Reno. I have been wanting to blog about this for the last week and each time I sit down to try and recap the weekend event’s I stumble because there is too much to say that I don’t know where to begin. The conference was about words and it was very powerful and life changing. My prayer is that the impact of these truths in our lives as parents, would impact our family for generations to come. I will simply give you the link to access the talks.

I enjoyed each one of the sessions immensely but if you have time for only one or two my recommendation would be Sinclair Ferguson or Paul Tripp.

Go to http://www.desiringgod.org or just click on our blog roll to the right of the screen.

A couple humerous highlights to remember:

Freezing so much that first night that people, including ourselves, wore sweaters the next day and broughts scarves and fleece blankets.

Running to get the best seats once the doors opened (this just seemed odd at a christian conference, racing our brothers and sisters to get the best seats).

Another year without Garth, and Mike stuck with all the women.

How many times will people ask Erin and Jolee if they are sister’s and who will be the first. (It happens every year and I actually lost count this year.)

I often find myself wondering what we would do if we didn’t have the love and support of having our families nearby. They help us and bless our lives in so many ways. So this is my attempt to say a loving and heartfelt thanks to the “Grands” in our life.

Thanks Grandma and Papa Kretsinger for always being their for us when we need extra help with the kids. For your great love and hospitality when we surprise you with unexpected visits. You are always gracious and quick to help and your care and concern has been woven through the years.

Thanks Grandma B for your love and care as well. You labor in love over our piles of laundry when you come. Mike rejoices because he can always find what he needs again. (You’re right, we don’t need to buy anymore clothes.) You serve us with food and great fellowship.

Thanks Grandama Tam for the special ideas and fun things you do with the kids when you come, for the slumber parties and how you use the gifts that God has blessed you with in art to bring joy to the kids and how you love and care for us.

Thanks Papa Bill and Roxanne for always welcoming us to your home and sharing your love for gardening and great cooking with us. The kids never seem to get enough time. Joshua said the other day that he wanted to come back to your house. You always spoil us at the cabin each year. We are blessed.

We give thanks to God for you all!