Greetings Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

My, how the years fly. WeÕre now in our fourth year. I wish to extend a warm welcome to our new advertisers and a heartfelt thanks to those of you who continue to believe inÊ Divine Connections™.

Each morning, as many of you do, I read my devotionals. One of my favorites is The Daily Bread. On April second of this year the caption at the bottom said, ÒWhere God guides, God provides.Ó How true that is for many of us. The following is what was written for that day:

Whenever the Lord assigns us a difficult task, He gives us what we need to carry it out. John Wesley wrote, ÒAmong the many difficulties of our early ministry, my brother Charles often said, ÔIf the Lord would give me wings, IÕd fly. I used to answer, ÔIf God bids me fly, I will trust Him for the wings.ÕÓ

When I startedÊDivine Connections™Êfour years ago, it was because the Lord had called me into this position of great responsibility. In the beginning I was full of fear and doubt with the enormity of the challenge set before me. How could this dress shop entrepreneur become a publisher of the Christian yellow pages? Certainly not in my own strength! I had to trust what God had promised me, just as He had promised Joshua in Joshua 1:5, ÒI will never leave you or forsake youÓ. Then He said, ÒHave I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor dismayed, for I the LORD your GOD am with you wherever you go.Ó I know I needed this reassurance and IÕm sure Joshua did also.

As you can see, this yearÕs directory is smaller than the previous three years. Certainly, the economy has played a large part in this; however, the KingÕs economy is not controlled by the worldÕs system. We, as the body of Christ, understand the Kingdom principles.

One of those principles is what I declare each Sunday at my church, ÒAccording to 2nd Corinthians 9:6, the one who sows sparingly, reaps sparingly, and the one who sows generously reaps generously.Ê Knowing this to be true, we choose to make generous giving one of the most important and consistent things we do in our lives.

We are blessed with: Jobs and better jobs, raises and bonus benefits, sales and commissions, favorable settlements, estates and inheritances, interests and income, rebates and returns, checks in the mail, gifts and surprises, finding money, debts paid off, expenses decreased, blessing and increase. Thank You, Lord, for meeting all of our financial needs, so that we may have even more to give into the Kingdom of God and promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ.ÓÊÊ

My heart, and I believe the heart of the Father, is to see Christian consumers patronize and bless Christian businesses, thereby helping promote Christian businesses in our community so that they can be a light on a hill and become more predominate in the marketplace than secular businesses. We can advance and help fund the Kingdom of God as we support Christians in the marketplace and when we do, more tithes go into the storehouses (churches). I am one who believes in the principle of sowing

The Christian businesses advertising inÊDivine ConnectionsªÊare not exploiting their Christian faith; they understand Kingdom principles and unashamedly desire to represent Jesus Christ in their services.Ê

The Christian businesses advertising inÊDivine Connections™Êare not exploiting their Christian faith; they understand Kingdom principles and unashamedly desire to represent Jesus Christ in their services.

Until next year...may the Lord richly bless and prosper you!

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