Eric & Melanie Barger

Though this update is being emailed to our subscribers upon our return to Texas on Friday, Sept. 12, I am actually writing these words as Melanie drives us west bound on Interstate 70 near Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday, Sept. 10. We're coming home after three weeks of ministry in the Northeastern U.S. and Eastern Canada. There are a number of good things to report that took place on the trip including several salvations, many rededications of lives to the Lord and the fact that we ministered to so many hungry Christians eager to learn, grow and gain strength from the Lord.

Its been a blessing to watch God honor the ministry He's called us to. And though we've not been without human and demonic opposition from time to time, the Lord has shown us great favor through the years. On this trip we saw several old friends, such as Pastor Dwight Anderson in Ajax, Ontario, Pastor Dean Myers in Ohio and Pastor George Bender in Pennsylvania. And as always, God blessed us with new friendships at each stop too.

Its sometimes very hard to pick out the high points of a trip. Perhaps during this trip it was the time we spent at Frontline Worship Centre in Kingston, Ontario. (Which is not to say that we didn't have a blast at "Worshipfest 2003" in Ottawa and at the other churches too!)

We had not seen our old friends Pastor Francis and Edith Armstrong and Pastor Peter and Lilly Hubert in way too long. Being in Kingston for several days of meetings to present the Take A Stand! seminar series was great. Francis and his team have built an absolutely awesome church there where brand new converts to Christianity are finding freedom, healing and restoration every week.

Through the years Melanie and I have had the privilege to meet many terrific people of God and to minister in lots of good churches. How wonderful it has been to have fellowship and to develop the great bonds and friendships which God has opened to us. However, as many great things as we have seen, what God is doing at Frontline W.C. is uncanny. There is a move of God - an anointing - in the church in Kingston that is very, very rare.

Pastor Francis commented to me that he believes one reason God is moving on their body so mightily is that there are many new converts there who have not been tainted by the downfall of becoming "churched" or religious. As he put it, "they just don't know any better than to expect God to meet them (in the services) and to heal, deliver and restore." To this we add a hearty "PRAISE GOD!" I can't think of any church that doesn't need less "religion" and more Jesus!

Our old friend Francis founded the church just four years ago and is now seen on national television across Canada twice each weekend. There was an uncommon air of excitement and expectancy present before each service in Kingston. This sense permeated each of us and seemed to intensify almost by the moment. Though I was the featured speaker in each of the services while we were in Kingston, I could tell that God is mightily using Pastor Francis in a dynamic fashion and that the Frontline worship team had a deep seated communion with God. We're already looking forward to our next visit to Kingston. I encourage you to visit there if at all possible too.

Another Drive Two Years Ago...

Like many of you, September 11th two years ago will be remembered forever as one of the worst days of my life. The afternoon of September 11, 2001 I left Butler (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania driving toward Dallas. After having decided to cancel the meetings we were holding in Butler so I could return home to be with my family, I set out across the country not knowing what might happen next. Four jetliners had been hijacked, thousands of people had died and millions of others would be affected for the rest of their lives.

How would America react? Were we up for the ominous challenge? (Read my Sept. 6, 2001 newsletter here.) It was sometime the next afternoon in Tennessee that I saw the first American flag flying from the back of an 18 wheel rig on Interstate 40. I wept. It struck me there on that freeway that resolve was not lost.

Since then, our nation has for the most part responded with patriotism and action. God help us to continue the same. We have searched our collective soul and with the exception of some mindless entertainers and a few nearly Communist politicians we have come together in a defiant stand against a common enemy - radical Islamic terrorism.

Now, two years later though great strides have been made in the war against terror, the general ignorance as to what fuels Islam's hatred for our country remains. Few are willing to identify the root cause behind Muslim terrorism - The teaching of the Koran itself. From the collective silence on this fact by politicians and pundits alike it appears that most are either purposefully ignorant, wishing to remain "politically correct" or just plain afraid to point out that it is actually Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban, Hamas and Hezbollah who are operating as orthodox Muslims, following the commands of the Prophet Muhammad! How thankful we should be that there are so many "liberal" Muslims around the world and here at home.

It is the task of the Church to point out exactly what Islam is all about. Doing so is NOT a hate campaign against Muslims. Carrying out the ministry of polemics (the expose' of false religions) is not and should never be about people themselves, it is about truth in comparison to the Bible. Let us not relent of exposing the darkness behind Islam and other hell-bound religions. As we stand for truth. darkness flees and captives are set free by the power of God!

(Need materials about Islam? Click Here!)

Home!

I'm home for just two days and leave for Arkansas to minister on Saturday. When I return home next week I'll be spending three weeks writing, researching, praying for God's direction and of course playing with my grandkids! As always, your financial help (gifts and orders for teaching materials) are all that see us through the times of refreshing and preparation away from the pulpit. Please pray for us this month and support the work in a tangible way as well. We couldn't do it without you!