The Wilkes Team

  What a blessing it is to be able to use our God given talents for His glory! As I look at the different gifting’s, and abilities in my family I marvel at the goodness of God. Then when all of those gifting’s begin to mold together and we are able to work as a team it is so refreshing, encouraging, God-honoring and exhilarating!!

There is such power, and influence when a family is in one accord! The amount of things that can be accomplished when eleven people are working together is amazing! 

God made each one of us individuals with different gifting’s and abilities. Yet there are areas in our lives where we are lacking and in need of others to help us be successful. That is why God has given us our families! Avail yourselves to one another. Work together on projects, resolve differences (you will have those wherever you go don’t think you can run from them ), look for ways to encourage and teach those younger than you the skills you know.

By investing into your family you will learn such key tools to building strong relationships. It takes work but the fruit of it is very rewarding!

It is that time of year again where we are out planing and making new garden beds on our land!! And I thought I would share with you all a couple pictures of a team working in action!

This song "To the Work" came to mind as I thought about that day. God has called His chosen to be servants of righteousness! To lead other in the way of truth, to give hope to the discouraged, and to rescue the perishing.  We are  living testimonies of the work of God in our hearts and lives. That testimony will be seen through the daily, and moment by moment responses we make to the situations at hand.

To the work! to the work! we are servants of God,
Let us follow the path that our Master has trod;
With the might of His power our strength to renew,
Let us do by His grace what He calls us to do.

Work for Him by His grace;
Work thru Him for His praise;
Work with Him all the days;
     And work in Him in many ways.
To the work! to the work! let the hungry be fed;
To the fountain of life let the thirsty be led;
In the cross and its vict’ry our glory shall be,
While we herald the tidings, "Salvation is free!" 

7 Comments » | posted in Family News

Embarking upon certain endeavors produces interesting inspirations. Has this ever occurred within you? Energy seems to immerse every part of your body and your full of jubilee of what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen. You begin to realize the never ending strength of the one and only omnipotent God. He is able – so very able. Your perspective changes as you see a vindicating reality – Yes, Evil is not triumphant. The workers of darkness don’t even compare in strength, wisdom and vision to the Almighty God.

  We as a family embarked upon such an endeavor February 11th, 2009. The Virginia Family Foundation, a lobbyist group promoting conservative Christian values, invited supporters to an Advisory Council Meeting. Having received the invitation, it was determined that all persons of the Wilkes Family should travel, yes travel to the Capital of the grand state of Virginia.

Virginia’s Family Foundation office is situated in the heart of Richmond, VA. The Virginia General Assembly convened January 14th and is in session 50+ days. This short time period is extremely busy for both Senators and Delegates as hundreds of bill are voted upon. The Family foundation is also laboring hard to make their voice heard on this scene of political action. Always ready to inform their supporters, Family Foundation put’s together these Advisory meetings to show what is going on and how Virginia leaders are handling those stalwart Christian values

We as a family arrived minutes before the first speaker began. This first Speaker was Virginia’s Lt. Governor, William Bolling. To tell the truth, I was not quite sure what to expect when the Lt. Governor, of my beloved state Virginia, rose and began his introduction. I had heard he was conservative – was it only a physod? Yet then, what matters if he’s a conservative if he doesn’t have a strong foundation from which his conservatism stems? Sometimes, one short 20 minute speech cannot answer the above questions. This time it did! After his introductory remarks the Lt. Governor let his listeners know what made him act, what was important him, and how he prioritized his life.

I wish I had a scrip of his speech but since this is not possible I shall have to follow secondary measures by delving into memories recesses and paraphrasing. Bolling covered all the issues being voted upon in the General assembly from State Budget, energy alternatives, education, etc. however, the zenith of his speech, at least for me, was reached when he stated what was most important to him. He let it be known that though he was Lt. Governor, Politics and Government were fourth priority in his life. Number 3 was business, number 2 – family, number 1 – …at this point anticipation was engulfing my senses – what would he say? Then it came…”My relationship with Christ.” Incredible! A Lt. Governor declares he’s a follower of Jesus Christ.

It’s one thing to read or hear second hand accounts of Christian leaders performing and doing but to actually perceive a true statesman, unashamedly declaring his true colors and standing upon biblical principles right in front of your very eyes…well, it’s plain inspiring!

When the “Righteous are in authority the people rejoice”  – what a blessed truth and what new meaning it now has for me.

We as a family are truly Grateful for the incredible work performed by the The Virginia Family Foundations and the opportunities they present to fill the citizens of Virginia with inspirations and encouragements.

9 Comments » | posted in Family News, On the Issues

“The Greatest stumbling block in the way of victory over prayerlessness is the secret feeling that we will never obtain the blessing of being delivered from it.” By Andrew Murray

I have been greatly encouraged by a book called Prayer by Andrew Murray. It is a book that has compiled 6 of his books into one!

The book with in the book    that I have been reading lately is “The Prayer Life” How convicting, thought provoking and motivating it has been.

We as American Christians don’t understand prayer. We look at it as a time waster instead of a time well spent. A question that Andrew Murray encouraged every follower of Christ to ask oneself is “What is the cause of my prayerlessness, of my powerlessness to effect any change in the matter? Here I live in the Spirit, I have been born again, but I do not walk after the Spirit– the flesh lords over me!”

The enemy will use all his power to lead us to neglect prayer. How does Satan do this? He brings on wandering thoughts, discouragement over our attempts, feelings of hopelessness, and despair. Tempting us to put it off. And the list could go on and on.

“As soon as the Christian becomes convinced of his sin in this matter of lack of prayer, his first thought is that he must begin to strive, with God’s help, to gain the victory over it. But alas, he soon experiences that his striving is worth little, and the discouraging thought comes over him, like a wave, that such a life is not for him – he cannot continue faithfully!” Have you ever experienced such thoughts and emotions? I know I have.

Andrew Murray shared two key ways to fighting against prayerlessness.

The first being when you seek to conquer prayerlessness in your own strength and ability it is then you must recognize it and turn your restlessness and effort over to Christ. We must fall helpless at the feet of the Lord Jesus and open up our hearts before him (Luke 11:1).

Matthew 11:29-30 

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

The Second being, we must realize that this is but the beginning. To fight against prayerlessness it will require deep earnestness, the exercise of all your power and a watchfulness of the entire heart. You must be eager to detect the slightest backsliding of your heart. Confessing of your sins and sharing your burdens must be precious to you. Not because you always enjoy it but because you know it is so key in keep yourself pure and close to your Savior (James 5:16).

Let nothing between your soul and the Savior. Jesus alone can subdue the flesh and the devil! It is so key that we keep coming to Christ. Hebrews 4:16 says “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Matthew 6:24  “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” If you truly desire a prayer life with the Lord that goes beyond words of description,  it will require a surrender of something else. If you are not willing to forgive and to confess your sins then you will not be able to enter into and fully enjoy that closeness with your Lord and Savior

What is it that is holding you back from communing with God? A life of self-sacrifice is what God really wants, but are you willing to give up all for Christ?

9 Comments » | posted in Book Reports

Wheat is so important in today’s world. Have you ever pondered what life would be like without this crop?� It would be quite dreadful, to say the least. Think about it – no more cookies, cakes, muffins, Hotdog buns, spaghetti, Home made bread, cereals – Wow! Life would sure be different. Let’s take a quick look at Modern wheat production and consumption to better appreciate the work that goes into producing this needed grain.

To begin with I’ll first compare 2007 wheat production and consumption rate to two other crops:
(Production Rate = PR, Consumption rate =CR, Measuring unit – bushels)

Wheat
PR – 1.81 Billion
CR – 2.05 Billion

Corn
PR – 10.54 Billion
CR – 11.27 Billion

Soybean
PR – 3.19 Billion
CR – 3.07 Billion

With wheat particularly, 50% is exported, 33 percent is domestically consumed, 8% is livestock feed and 4% is used for seed.

Globally, America is the third largest wheat producer with China and India taking first and second and Russia fourth. It’s interesting to note that the annual world grain production rate will need to increase by 20 to 30 percent according to an Australian food report. The reason for this prediction comes from the fact that 12 Asian countries (representing over � the World’s population) will have a meat consumption increase by the year 2020: beef� 50%, pork- 30%, chicken� 40%, and diary� 55%. Wait a minute!… Might be the words your thinking… this is meat consumption not grain. But once you realize that for every pound of Chicken on the dinner table, it took two pounds of feed (grains) to get it there, your thoughts might change.

Now, don’t be aghast! This is not the worse.

For every pound of pork 4 pounds of feed entered the pig’s digestive system and for every pound of beef a record seven pounds disappeared from the feeding trough. If you start thinking exponentially here there is a magnificent amount of grain consumption. It seems to me an Agricultural crisis is looming in the hazy future. Will the world be able to properly prepare for it? It remains to be seen.

There are many reasons we might not be ready with the continual decrease in good soil for growing the crops and apathy ruling in certain spheres.

A Southern Virginian farmer, Joel Salatin, truly understands the fearful position of U.S farm life. He clearly sees the problem, but what’s even better is that�he has proven solutions.

1. Increase organic matter, through compost piles, crop rotation, animal rotations and manure, etc.

2. Have less grain-fed animals and more grass-fed animals.

These are very general and broad, it could be said they are a summary of some of his major points. He’s written several books all on the subject of agriculture.

I believe if Americans and the rest of the world can better understand how God made this world to work there will be better farmers and more� capable individuals. We’ll be able to meet the near future crisis in global agriculture. It’s incumbent upon us to understand God’s principles and how they work into his creation. In addition we must also have purpose, for it says in the Bible: “my people perish for lack of knowledge” and also “without a vision the people perish”. If were not careful their might come a day, where there will be life without wheat. There will be no cereal, cake, or hotdog buns. Gratefully, it has not happened yet and we still have time to prepare.

7 Comments » | posted in Farming 101, On the Issues

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. (Col. 3:23-24)

What a joy it is to be around those who are living their lives in such a way so as to draw others to Christ and glorify God!

Such was the case for our family as  we enjoyed a refreshing weekend with the Neely Team. Their willingness to live by faith, take God at His Word, and joyously reach out to those they come in contact with is of great inspiration!

One thing that encourages us about the Neelys is their  enthusiasm in using what they have been entrusted with (abilities,  personalities, aptitudes) as a way to glorify God, bless others, and produce joy. You can’t help but be happy when with the Neely Team! They have decided to bloom where God has planted them and abundant is their fruit.   

The Lord has called each one of us to varying but specific works. Some are the hands of the body of Christ (1Cor. 12:20-23), others the feet, the eyes, or perhaps the muscle.

Families all across the world have been Providentially placed  into specific locations by the Lord unto the proclamation of His ways. How important it is that we heartily do all things as unto the Lord! For therein will we have joy unspeakable and full of glory (1Pet. 1:8).

6 Comments » | posted in Family News