The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Colossians 1:28, “And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.”

It has been years since I ministered in Mexico. At that time (and possibly still), it was illegal to

preach on the street. We had to devise a means of creating a crowd (which was never hard!)

and they move off the street to complete the Gospel.

One of the devices we used was to have someone muy fuerte –very strong!– to come forward

and tie my hands with a rope. I used my bound hands to illustrate how sin binds us, so that we

cannot be free as God wants us to be. Then, using a towel that represented the blood of Jesus

Christ, I covered my hands and was instantly loosed and free! It was a spectacular device, and

Both delighted and startled the crowd.

The Apostle Paul directs us to proclaim Christ! That is the calling of every Christian. Proclamation

involves both admonition and teaching. Admonition is “instruction for avoidance or cessation of inappropriate conduct.” It is corrective in nature, like telling someone that just following rules

is not sufficient for salvation. Teaching is giving correct information on how belief in Jesus in the

only means of salvation. Wisdom (sophia) is “exceptional endowment of discernment, understanding,

and insight…cleverness in debate or presentation of a viewpoint… It is an expression of God’s wisdom.”

In the final analysis, however, we do not win people to Christ –the Holy Spirit alone does that! Yet,

He wants to do it through us. We simply have to be willing to be used of Him. How gracious is that!

We love you all dearly, and pray for you daily,

Nana & Dado III

UPDATE on Nana (Rose Marie): Following her heart cath, she needed two units

of blood. She strengthened a bit with the blood,

and is slowly coming back to normal. Your prayers

have been essential to her recuperation, and we

both thank you immensely for that. God bless you!

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”