Greetings to all our friends and family,

What an awesome year 2012 has been so far and the best is yet to come!!!!  It’s that way for me, because I’m alive and overflowing in His perfect grace.  I don’t have to try and earn it or toil for it; it’s mine because of the price paid by my Jesus.  This is another year for us to live in God’s goodness and grace before all the world to see and brag continually about how much God loves us.

We just sent out a teaching letter that the Holy Spirit gave to me on the peace of God.  It blessed me just to receive it and then to get to write it.  God’s perfect peace truly does surpass ALL natural understanding and all we have to do to have it, is just believe and receive.  In that peace, all other things just fall away.  War, recession, sickness, and disease has to bow their knees to the name that is above every name.  Here is the link to that teaching letter and I would love to hear your thoughts about it. LWT February 2012 Teaching letter

On a personal note, Debbie and I are doing great.  We have had many changes in our life and ministry and our schedule has become even more fruitful than ever.  Debbie has taken over the finances of the ministry along with what she was already doing, which is an entirely new place for her and I have to say, “SHE IS DOING AN AMAZING JOB”!

As for our kiddos:

Ashley and Josh are still in Germany as Josh serves with the Air Force.  He just signed on for another season through 2017.  Ashley finished her schooling and earned her degree in Sept.  She was recently hired as the Registrar of an elementary school that is on base and she has now been given government security clearance for her job.

Ricky left for Air Force Boot Camp on December 27th and recently graduated as an Airman First Class.  He is currently in Pensacola, FL for tech school until around May 10th.  We are not sure yet where his orders will take him, BUT we do know that God has great things in-store for him.  Here is a link to see pictures of his Air Force life.  Ricky’s Air Force Pictures

Parker left Ricky’s Boot Camp graduation last month with a desire for the Air Force and has now signed up for the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) which is an auxiliary to the Air Force.  He is also a new cadet with the fire department here in Caddo Mills and is truly enjoying it.  Here is a link to some pictures of Parker.  Pictures of Cadet FF Parker Spanberger

As we are moving forward in this year, I am really excited about the upcoming mission trips and meetings.  I will be in Guatemala during the month of May, teaching a seminar with Daniel King http://www.kingministries.com/ .  While I’m there, the ministry will be doing an outreach to the fire fighters.  One of our missionaries, Debby Roth, did an outreach last year to the Police Dept. and she had it on her heart to reach out to the fire fighters, as well.  God sent Debby to talk to them and the door has been opened.  We will be ministering to them and imparting Godly leadership skills.  I will also be teaching them basic EMS skills so that they are better prepared to help the people of Guatemala in times of need.  We have done this outreach in Panama, Paraguay, and now Guatemala.  More than 300 fire fighters have made Christ the Lord of their lives through this outreach.  Here is a link to keep up with this event.  Fire Fighter Outreach  I will be in Compton, CA in August, Des Moines, IA in September, Branson, MO in October, Guatemala again in November, Germany in December (family time with Ashley), and there are more dates to come.  I have plans for a mid summer trip to Panama and Nicaragua, back to back.  I LOVE IT!!!!!

Genesis 1:26 (AMP) “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. V:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

How many have ever said, “I wish I looked like them” or “I wish I had what they had”?  We all should be saying “that’s me”!  I don’t know a single person, that has not at one time or another wished they had what someone else had or wish they had the looks of someone else.

I am big-time guilty of this.  I grew up the ugly duckling with all the pretty people around me.  It seemed like someone else always had the “in-style clothes” I wanted or the hairstyle that was the hit of the moment.  Even today, my wife corrects me for the very thing I am talking about.  But I have to say, that during my devotional time yesterday, my eyes were truly opened to Genesis 1:26, 27 like never before.  God created us to be happy with ourselves, to love ourselves and to take care of ourselves.  Honestly, our love for ourselves is a direct reflection of how we love others.  If we are not going to love & take care of ourselves, then we will see that in how we take care of others.

Now as for that “outer me” – we can change that with a few simple decisions.  Just make a decision and stick to it and that outer you can become the “knight in shining armor” or “the Cinderella of the ball”.  I grew up the fat kid that some liked, that some made fun of and there were others that did not even know I existed.   But with that said, God knew all about me and loved me!  His love was not based on what I looked like and the size or shape of the outer me, all He saw was that image He had created me in.

Now that does not mean we let the temple become a fun house of laziness and bad decisions. We are to be a Christ-like example to a lost world in every area.  Debbie and I made some life changing decisions back in June.  It has not been an overnight thing making these changes, but I will say this, it has been worth it!  But from the changes we made, others have been challenged and their lives have been changed, as well.

Influence comes from many places – both good and bad.  I crack up nowadays, when I see kids buzzing about the “new thing” that is in fashion.  I can remember a few years back, when bell bottoms came back into style.  I thought “what is this”???  If you dared show up to school in bell bottoms when I was in high school, that was the “OK” to put you on the list of the “fashionably challenged list” with no hope for escape.  BUT because someone somewhere said, “Hey, this is the ‘in thing’ now”, the world followed.  Why do we do this?

I remember while watching a movie several years ago, the statement was made, “Who decides what is or who is cool”?  WELL????  Every day I am amazed at what I see the world doing and also what I see Christians doing that the world has decided is popular all for the sake of, “because I am ME” and “I wanted to”.  We have become a society obsessed with trying to make our body something of a show thing.  I can’t help but think, one day people are going to look in the mirror and say, “What was that tattoo supposed to be of again or why did I get this hole there or what was I thinking when I wore that”????  I ask this question, “Why can’t we decide what is cool or right for us and just be happy with it, not based upon a worldly trend”?

I think the answer is simple; we can’t see the masterpiece we are, because we are blinded by what they world says we should be.  You are truly a masterpiece, a one-of-a-kind.  Parents, if you want your kids to see themselves as a masterpiece, then you must first see yourself as that and then set the example.

You are a masterpiece; a precious, beautiful, work-of-art, created by the one true Master sculpture, whole and complete.  SO SHINE!!!!!!

The following is something I wrote on 9-10-02 in remembrance of 9/11.  I thought I would share it once again here on the Facebook world.   Have a blessed day – Keith

To all that take the time to read this.  Please look past any misspelled words or anything else that might not be correct.  It’s 11:15 pm on 9-10-02 and we draw very near to 9-11.  A day that will never again go unnoticed.  A day in history when an entire country came together to mourn an attack like no other.  As I watched from our ministry office, the events of that morning unfold, I could not believe what I was watching.  As the airplanes pushed their way into the mighty structures and the smoke billowed out, I knew what was coming next.  Men and women were called to duty.  They answered the call never looking back.  Never saying, “Maybe I should not help because I might die.”  No!  Instead, men and women came together in one commo

n goal; to put someone else first.  Fire Fighters, Paramedics, Police Officers, Doctors, Lawyers – people from every walk of life.  I know as these people hurried towards those massive structures, they were forever changing history.  They were setting a standard which our very country was founded on and that is “never counting the cost for putting others first”.  Throughout history, men and women have lain their lives on the line for others to have freedom and this day was no different.  They were going in hope that they could give freedom to someone.  In the blink of an eye, as the massive structures crashed to the ground, we knew that many had just given their life once more trying to bring freedom.  They laid their life on the line and never looked back.  Some may say, “I would never do that.  That was stupid to risk death just to try and bring freedom to someone you don’t know.”  But I say they are HEROES.  Now those that lived through that moment would never say, “Yes I am a hero”  because it’s just a natural response to a call for help.  This day you have heroes all around you.  As you go to work or walk through stores or just drive around, you see them.  Some wear a gun and some charge the heat of a fire head-on and some are there in moments of sickness and distress, just to name a few.  But wherever they are, to them they are not heroes but just doing another day on the job.  Answering a call in a time of need.  So as I watched those men and women enter the area of destruction, I knew what was going through their minds.  These servants don’t do this for themselves, but instead they do this for someone else.  Again, that is what our entire history is based on.  From the time Jesus walked the earth, until now and forever, it has always been about someone else.  Today is no different.  This day should be about someone else.  No matter what you do in life, it should always be about others.  So look around you today.  See what you can do for others.  Never count the cost to help someone in need.  Please pray today for those that put their lives on the line to help.  Take a second and share with them just how much you appreciate what they do.  I pray this makes sense.  I’m sure that there are some misspelled words along with a few mistakes here and there, but I think you will understand the point.