None of the co-incidences were particularly outstanding in themselves, it was the amount of them that was almost alarming!! Had any one of them happened on their own we would have put it down to “just a co-incidence”. One example was, that verse in Isaiah 55v11, about Gods word not returning unto Him void. It had come up in various daily readings, and even came written up on the TV screen when the volume was off!! Other things happened too, like someone came into the office and remarked that “everyone had a mobile and a computer nowadays”. Just the tools we wanted to use! At another time a speaker came on TV and said, “we must move according to the conditions around us, yet not water the truth”. Texting Gods Word was a new thing, yet we didn’t want it to be gimmicky.

These are just a few out of dozens of things that happened. It got to the point where we would have been afraid not to have responded, the voice of God was so strong.

The book by Rick Warren, “The Purpose Driven Life” was also a great encouragement, teaching many lessons about how we are not our own, and that life is not just about “me” and “my”.

Yes, on the 22^nd February 2005 we sent out the first Thought for the Week (T4W) to 50 people from our mobile phones. These are mainly texts of encouragement for Christians. Doing this manually was quite time consuming, so it “just happened” that a guy who knew about bulk messaging came our way and set up a system that could send any quantity of messages instantaneously, using the computer. It also had the facility to register new people automatically. So that was a huge help. The texts that we had on the Orange deal were then used to send out Gospel verses to randomly generated mobile numbers as a means of evangelism. Over the next few months thousands of texts were sent out, leading to some very interesting responses!! Some of these were from well known religions, others were people with problems in their lives and some from Christians too. Unfortunately, now it is not possible to do this because of government restrictions.

Every week, there are always a few who reply to say that this weeks verse was just right for them, or a request for prayer.

One amusing story was when a local lay preacher had a plane ticket bought for a business meeting. He wasn’t sure if he should go or not, as he would miss the Gospel meeting where he was to speak that night. Then T4W came to his mobile from Isaiah 52v12, “Go not by haste, nor go by flight…”. He didn’t go!!!!!

As with any new venture, there were many problems encountered and overcome. The main thing was that God was put first in everything. As the little verse in Psalms says, “In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths”. We are thankful that even through ill health and business down-turns, God has been faithful! TM has survived! God is Sovereign in all circumstances of life.

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.  Isaiah 40v55.

Simply text T4W to 07797 803718 and you will receive an automated confirmation. This will cost your normal network rate to register, TM make no charges to receive T4W. Every week new people are being added. About 2600 people receive the T4W text each Monday morning, as well as the other social media platforms. It also appears each week in the Ballymena Guardian.

We have ‘business cards’ available with details of how to register which can be passed onto friends and family, if anyone could use these cards please contact the above number and we will be happy to supply these.