His Wondrous Works

December 24th, 2021

One of my favorite Scripture passages is Isaiah 41. The whole chapter encourages me, and if you ever want to see just how powerful God is and what our rightful response to Him should be, take the time to read it! On a similar note, I recently read 1 Chronicles 16:8-12, and it seemed to tie in well with Isaiah 41 and is right where I am mentally at this moment.

Oh, give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!
Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles and the judgments he uttered.

Christmas is just one of those times that I think we all reflect on where we are in life. For some, this is a great thing; for others, it can be a really sad time. On a personal level, we (Masami and I) have two dear friends who have each lost a long-term spouse in just the last couple of weeks. As a nation, we’re living in a time when the news is pumping fear into the culture faster than a hungry cheetah chasing prey. There seems to be more division in our country than ever before, and it’s much more than just racial divides. Now we have: “vax” vs. “no vax,” mask vs. no mask, conservative vs. liberal, police vs. no police, and the list goes on. If we were to just stop and notice what we see going on around us, it could be a very lonely and confusing time.

But then I read the Scriptures in 1 Chronicles 16 and Isaiah 41:1-13 especially, and I’m reminded that God is to be glorified, He is in control, and I have to seek Him continually–even in the crazy times. Since I can’t sing a lick, over the next few minutes, please allow me to practice what I read in 1 Chronicles 16:

"Give thanks to the LORD" (v. 8),
"Glory in his holy name" (v. 10), and
"Remember the wondrous works he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered" (v. 12) over the last 11 years. It’s been an amazing journey to say the least.

To set the stage for my story, remember what 2011 was like: The economy was NOT very good, and things were pretty tight. But on January 7, 2011, if you were to have looked at my speaking schedule, it was pretty impressive. I was the second-most requested speaker at the largest creation ministry on the planet, with my speaking schedule booked one and a half years out. Pretty good, right? Oh, the difference a day makes …

On January 8, 2011, I left the BIG ministry, and except for two events, all the speaking engagements stayed with that ministry. The two that remained with me were because:

The event was just two days away, and they couldn’t fill it with anyone else, so they let me keep that speaking engagement.
Gull Lake Ministries (GLM) in Michigan decided they wanted me regardless of what ministry I was with. (Daniel Wallace and GLM have my support until the Lord calls me home.)

God opened doors that were beyond our comprehension,
and the one that stands out to me the most–all these years later–
happened the day Reasons for Hope actually began.

It was a very humbling time for sure. We had no idea how we were going to make it. We were definitely no longer part of the largest Creation ministry in the world. It was just Candace Nordine and me, along with three godly men who remain on our Board of Directors to this day. By the end of 2011, however, I was on the road doing ministry for 217 days. God opened doors that were beyond our comprehension, and the one that stands out to me the most–all these years later–happened the day Reasons for Hope actually began.

The day I got home from leaving the big ministry, I had an email from a lady asking me to contact her. It turned out that she was the VBS coordinator for Prestonwood in Dallas, Texas. She asked if I would be interested in speaking to over 5,000 youth at their VBS! Yeah, I just happened to have some time available to do that. I truly remember the “wondrous works” He did that first year. There was A LOT more that He did after that, too, and I glorify His name for taking our widow’s mite offering and turning it into something amazing. And now, I give thanks to the Lord for what He’s done with us over the years since then.

So, here we are now in December 2021, almost 11 years after our very humble beginnings. Over this time period, we’ve slowly grown, expanded our outreach, and have matured to the point where we’re now able to do things I’d once only dreamed of.

This last year, not only was I on the road doing ministry, but we had four other speakers also sharing the Lord Jesus Christ across the globe. Though our international outreach is way down since 2019 (due to COVID), it has continued virtually and is thriving.
Juan Valdes has spoken to people from at least twelve different Spanish-speaking countries and is still training them. We’re preparing to have sixteen of our DeBunked videos translated into Spanish because they are so frequently requested.
Dave Glander recently spoke in Nigeria, Africa. There were over 100,000 who attended a conference from numerous countries. This church is now asking to partner with us to reach their youth. And, YES, we are going to figure out what we can do to accomplish this unbelievable task. Their youth are where American youth were 50 years ago. They are begging for solid, biblical apologetics to be taught, and the YOUTH ARE HUNGRY for it.
Our App has been downloaded almost 6,000 times over the last eight months and is being used by thousands of people every month.
The entire “rforh” team worked together to complete our first Q&A book using the questions that the teenage campers ask us. It’s called, Did Jesus Commit Suicide? And 27 Other Questions Teens Are Asking About the Bible (that adults want to know, too).
Our videos have exploded on the primarily youth-driven platform, TikTok. In less than six months, we have almost 14,000 followers, over 120,000 likes, and almost 1,000,000 views on our videos!
We now have two TV shows airing on various Christian stations, as well as one-minute apologetic pieces that are on TV and radio stations across the globe.

God has done and is doing amazing things! If you’re struggling today, may I ask you to do what we sing in the hymn.

“When upon life’s billows, you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”

Please remember, He is still in control, regardless of what puny man may be saying across the airwaves and on social media. Don’t give Satan a foothold to cause doubt.

If you would, please share some of your blessings with us. We’d love to see them as well as share them. Just shoot us an email at info@rforh.com and tell us what the Lord has done for you in 2021. Then, pray with us for our nation in 2022!

May God richly bless your Christmas and your New Year.

Stay Bold!

To learn more about our Founder and President, Carl Kerby, or to book him as a speaker, please click HERE.

We also encourage you to order our newest resource, Did Jesus Commit Suicide? And 27 Other Questions Teens Are Asking About the Bible (that adults want to know, too). To access our online store for this and other books, click HERE.