Recent Blog Entries

  • 3 hours ago
    Posted by Dion Todd
    Yahweh said to Joshua, "Get up! Why have you fallen on your face like that?" Joshua 7:10 WEB.Joshua lay prostrate before the ark of the Lord all that evening. Yesterday, he had been a mighty warrior. Now Israel had lost the battle at Ai, all because one of the men with him had become greedy and brok...
  • Wed at 3:01 AM
    Posted by Dion Todd
    Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, "Don't fight with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel." When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "It is the king of Israel!" Therefore they turned around to fight against him. But Jehoshap...
  • Tue at 3:01 AM
    Posted by Dion Todd
    But Naaman was angry, and went away and said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leper' " 2 Kings 5:11 WEB.Naaman stared at his new skin with amazement when he came up from the muddy wa...
View All
  • March 25, 2022 - led by Lynn Brown
    This is a group for RHM sponsored events like corporate fasts. Everyone is welcome to join and participate in things currently going on in the ministry. We love you and thank you for being a part of Refreshing Hope!
View All

RHM June 2015 Newsletter

  • For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. (Jeremiah 29:11–12 NIV)

    June Newsletter - 2015

     

    Thank you for reading our devotional and being a part of Refreshing Hope Ministries. This is our monthly update on what has been happening here during the last month and I hope that you will take the time to read it. 

    The month of May was very busy for us. As you know, we were reaching the end of the line with our data center equipment and it was becoming frustrating. We had hard drives fail, battery backups die, A/Cs that were struggling, and servers that needed to be replaced. After asking everyone for prayer last month, I am happy to say that God answered some of them. Shortly after our last newsletter, someone contacted me about dismantling a web hosting business near by and offered to give me half of the equipment if I helped them with it. God has plans and He provided once again for us to continue. 

    I prayed about it and got nothing negative, so we agreed and helped them wipe the hard drives and dismantle all of the equipment and prepped it for sale. In return, we got the ministry some much needed parts including two new air conditioners, and over the month with a lot of hard work, completely rebuilt our data center. It is now in much better shape and will allow us to do much more. 

    Sometimes the Lord amazes me. We were looking for Him to provide the money to buy some equipment with, and instead He just provided the equipment directly. His ways are truly above our ways. I wrote a blog post with pictures about the upgrades and what was involved if you wish to see it.

    Bible Translation Change: We are in the seventh week of our online Bible study and in Luke chapter 8. I have been recording the Bible to audio in ESV for those that have trouble reading the Bible, or are visually impaired, or so that you can listen to it while on the go. For the last three months, I have been trying to get permission to use a Bible translation for this project and it has become a lot of legalistic drama. I am sad to say that men have taken the word of God and are now selling the rights to even quote it. 

    To sum it up, we cannot legally use the ESV, NIV, AMP, NKJV or any modern English translation without paying lots of money. From what I can gather, the NKJV (Zondervan) wants $10,000 up front and $10 per copy distributed. The ESV and others will not respond to our permission requests, though it is required. That is a time bomb of us waiting on them. We have contacted them twice over the last three months and gotten no response. I do not want to use Old English text to try and reach today’s youth, so we need a translation that is modern English, but free to use as we need. After prayer, I came across a project that was created just because of this copyright problem.

    The World English Bible (WEB) http://ebible.org/web/webfaq.htm. The World English Bible translation is based on the ASV (1901) and was created because there are no modern English Bible translations that you can freely use without copyright entanglement. The WEB was created copyright free and is in the public domain from the start. You can use it all that you want, include the entire Bible on your website, record it to audio and use it for derivative works with absolutely no restrictions, and you do not have to get permission from anyone to do so.

    We want to freely share the word of God around the world and we need to use a Bible translation that allows us to do that. This is so much more what Jesus envisioned when He told us to spread the Gospel, freely you have received, freely give. In my studies and personal reading each morning, I still use the ESV, AMP, NKJV, and NIV along with a Strong’s concordance and Tyndale’s commentary because I can use that at home personally, and legally. I just cannot share it on the web, but we are an online ministry and that creates a problem. So for my audio recording and probably for much of my devotional and teachings, I will be using the WEB translation. Please note that you can and should, read your own Bible and do what it says to do, so this does not change your translation. So far in my reading, I have found the ESV and the WEB very similar in translation but free from the legal issues. 

    JIOS Radio (Jesus is our Savior): In December 2014 the Lord told us to start an online church at www.refreshinghope.org where we could connect God’s people to each other. During the same month, the Lord spoke to a friend of ours (Dennis Hubbell) to start a Christian radio station. We had lunch after the first of the year without knowing about each other’s projects and when we shared our projects with each other, we just found it amazing that the Lord had spoken to us both at the same time, and now here we were both launching something new online. JIOS radio plays upbeat Christian music 24/7 around the world over the Internet and you can listen on our site or at www.jiosradio.org. When time permits, we plan to do some audio broadcasts and maybe the daily word over the radio as well. 

    Online Church News:  We now have 1,572 members at refreshinghope.org and have had visitors from 135 countries and 241,000 visits this month. The prayer network has prayed for 134 prayer requests and given 742 replies to them. Our weekly Bible study is now in its seventh week as we progress through the book of Luke together. Refreshing Hope has some members that are isolated, blind, some are deaf, and some are disabled, some are in the military, there are people from all walks of life in nations around the world participating, making friends and learning about Jesus. It is a good work for the latter days. People are online and we are providing a place of hope for them to come. 

    Thank you so much for sticking with us. We are learning as we go and mistakes happen. When we fall, we just try and get back up and do it better next time. I pray that the Lord richly blesses you and that you are covered with His presence as you read these words, in the name of Jesus. May He guide your every step and fan the flames within you. May the Lord lead us all into everything that He has for us as we follow Him one step at a time. 

    Pastor Dion


Tip: You must be logged into the website to leave comments.

 

Social Sharing

22 comments
  • 0
Conchita Bowman
Conchita Bowman Hallelujah!!!  We really have an awesome God, thank you Lord for providing for Pastor Dion and Refreshing Hope Ministries.  In Christ name, amen
June 4, 2015
  • 0
Kay Rushin
Kay Rushin I apreciate all the work you guys are doing, It is the Lord using you, however it is you accepting the call. " always give people their flowers while they are living" I like to study different translations along with the Spirit for better understanding. The thee's and thou's have me tired after one Chapter especially when I realize I don't know what I just read. I am  not going to comment on the paying for a translation  " where do they do that at ?" shameful.  Much work is needed to keep up a site and all the research involved. This site has taken on it's own Spirit. " a living entity" I do have a vivid imagination Be Blessed.
June 4, 2015
  • 0
Beverly Boyd
Beverly Boyd The new format is awesome.  I so enjoy seeing the pics.  God bless you, always!
June 4, 2015
  • 0
Linda Darlene Gibson
Linda Darlene Gibson God is good! 
June 4, 2015
  • 0
Lissy Verghese
Lissy Verghese Wish you success in all your endeavors!
June 4, 2015
  • 0
<i>Deleted Member</i>
Deleted Member Thank y'all for all you do. May so many blessings pour out on y'all that it is more than you can receive. Overflowing, beyond your wildest dreams. Love y'all so much.
June 4, 2015- Edit- Delete
  • 0
Schalk  de Beer
Schalk de Beer I agree,  format is great, pictures makes it more alive. 
June 5, 2015
  • 0
David and Dianna Wyles
David and Dianna Wyles Jeremiah 29:11–12  in any translation is one of my all time favorite scriptures. It's my  "goto" in times of despair and struggle. Always a good reminder that God's plans are better and he's got our back.Thanks for the update, sounds like you  have been very busy and blessed as God has provided for us once again. Thank you for all you do and many blessings to you and all of refreshing hope ministreies members.
June 5, 2015
  • 0
Sylvia Todd
Sylvia Todd Thank you, Schalk! You may have noticed we got the second pic from one you posted the other day, so thanks for that :)!
June 5, 2015
  • 0
Sylvia Todd
Sylvia Todd Thank you so much for all the help you've provided with it, Bev!
June 5, 2015
  • 0
Sylvia Todd
Sylvia Todd Haha agreed, Kay, I do enjoy the poetry of the KJV, but it doesn't add much to my understanding either :). Yes, we were so shocked at the prices people would charge for God's word! We also believe this ministry has become greater than simply the people who started it!
June 5, 2015
  • 0
Sylvia Todd
Sylvia Todd Amen, He is amazing!
June 5, 2015
  • 0
Yada (Wendy)
Yada (Wendy) Wow. I hope they have a really good reason for doing that or I'd hate to see their royalty fees when they get to our Jerusalem... They'll get bills from Luke, Christ, Isaiah 
June 5, 2015
  • 0
Sylvia Todd
Sylvia Todd Amen, Dianna, His plans for us are always good! Thank you for your prayers!
June 5, 2015
  • 0
Sylvia Todd
Sylvia Todd Thank you so much, Tammy, love y'all!
June 5, 2015
  • 0
Sylvia Todd
Sylvia Todd Amen, that He is!
June 5, 2015
  • 0
Sylvia Todd
Sylvia Todd Thank you, Lissy :)!
June 5, 2015
  • 0
Sylvia Todd
Sylvia Todd Wendy, no idea what could justify that kind of thing. It's pretty staggering!
June 5, 2015
  • 0
Beverly Boyd
Beverly Boyd You are an amazing woman & devoted Christian.  Thank you for all your efforts!  I think of you as the "energizer bunny", always spreading cheer, blessings, prayers and just plain happiness to everyone in your life.  God Bless You Always!
June 6, 2015
  • 0
Karen Pasquinelli
Karen Pasquinelli It always AMAZES me how GOD answers prayers.
June 7, 2015
  • 0
Liesel  aka  Lisa Wardle
Liesel aka Lisa Wardle Amen and Amen, PRAISE THE LORD for your ministry and your heart of servitude, and yes the Lord answers prayer, and in His time!!!!!!!
June 8, 2015
  • 0
<i>Deleted Member</i>
Deleted Member Thank you and Sylvia for being such a blessing to us. Love y'all. 
June 8, 2015- Edit- Delete