Update from Duke

On January 16th, 2010 at 12:30p.m. , I celebrated my 30th birthday in Christ. In my vain imaginations, I thought the day would be a big bang a big lightning bolt from Heaven and an earth shaking event. Instead, it was a quiet walk on a path in the woods alone with JESUS. Thankfulness overflows from my heart. What a beautiful, wonderful and amazing person is our Lord. What is life on the road? It's looking back over the past 30 years and recognizing the Hand of God on my life, directing, forming, shaping, disciplining for a purpose. Through all the ups and downs, bumps and barriers, hardships and challenges, questions and confusion, much of the dealings of my loving Father are beginning to make sense. Many of the whys are being answered. I always wondered why can others do this or that and I was never allowed. In my desire to please Him, I knew early on that this meant obedience. For this road Jesus led my life down has been one of obscurity, confinement, corralling and cave dwelling. It has not been a popular path, but as long as it has been His road for me, that is all that matters. It is a wonderful thing to realize that when by His grace we are "saved" we in reality become born ones, beloved treasured children of God. The Spirt of His Son is placed in our hearts and we cry out Abba Father. We become sealed by the HOLY SPIRIT. The word sealed is an awesome word; it means to be personally marked by God; stamped with His ownership and therefore, fenced in and corralled and protected from misuse and misappropriation. I am so thankful for His seal, that has confined me, fenced me in and protected me for all these years. I have come to realize that there is only one title I carry on this road--son, brother and friend. I am a beloved son of my Heavenly Daddy , a brother to my big brother Jesus and a friend to Holy Spirit. What is life on the road? It is simply Jesus. He is the road (the way), He is the truth, He is the life. To live is Christ. What is life on the road? It is following and pursuing this beautiful, wonderful and amazing person--JESUS! I love the story of the transfiguration: Jesus leads James, John and Peter up this mountain, where the glory of Jesus is unveiled to them. Moses and Elijah show up and talk with our Lord. Peter responds, obviously forgetting what he so boldly declared, "you are the "Christ", and said lets build shelters for all three of you. In other words, Peter by this response was saying that Jesus, Moses and Elijah are equals. A cloud comes, overshadows them; they all fall down; a voice from heaven declares, "This is my Beloved Son, Listen to Him". Jesus walks over and touches them and when they look up all they see is JESUS! Moses represents the law; Elijah represents the prophets; but Jesus represents the Father. Oh, how I long to be touched afresh by Jesus so that I might see Him more clearly. In these last days God has spoken to us by a Son. Not by precepts or prophecies but by a beautiful, wonderful and amazing person--Jesus. What is life on the road? Paying attention to and pursuing Jesus.

As a Family, we are following Jesus. He is directing us to movement and mobility with an eventual destination of Springfield, Ohio. I burn with Jesus. The Spirit of God is crying out, "many sons in glory". The Church in America is facing an identity crisis--most don't know who they are. All creation is groaning for the unveiling of the sons of God. As a family, we have been set apart and sent to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. His ministry, His message, His name, His Blood. The Spirit of God is going to set the captives free from a religious system filled with precepts and prophecies and is going to reveal Jesus Christ to His Church. The Spirit of God is going to set His people free from labor and works of the flesh (human effort) and unveil the "Finished work of the Cross". The rest of God is going to be revealed to His people; the rest of God is none other than Jesus Himself. As a family, we agree with Jesus; "It is finished"!

Though this life on the road has been lonely, I am thankful that we have not been alone. There are some of you who have been so supportive during this process of transition. Thank you for seeing us after the Spirit and not after the flesh. On a first name basis I thank the following people: Darvin, Ginger, Mark, Lisa, "getter done David", Karin, Tony, Aubrey, Danny, Richard, Steve and Jenny. You are all dear treasures to my family.

Since we are following a Person and not precepts, our pursuit is born out of intimacy and not a list. So like Abraham, in our following Jesus, we have not always known what it looks like and timing. This is what we believe it looks like to this point: Jesse and Micah have completed a full length CD with a burning message. We should be receiving a bunch of copies by the 15th. We are currently staying at Mark and Lisa's old house making repairs and improvements for new renters. These projects should be completed by March 23rd. We expect to be on the road by March 24th. We plan to spend some time with my mom in Poulsbo and Maureen's mom in Toppennish. My sense is that a door is going to open at Ellensburg at our old college stomping ground.. We will see as we go. We will follow His lead. Your prayers and encouragement are treasured. As Paul requested so do we, that a door for effective service with the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ would open for us. On a practical note, we need a 7' by 14' or a 7' by 16' cargo trailer. Until next time, may we continue to pursue life on the road --this beautiful, wonderful, amazing person--Jesus.

Love From D-love Bro Duke