“The Steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases...Great is Thy Faithfulness”

A number of years ago I was invited to speak on consecutive Sundays at a wonderful church. After the first week, I became aware of an underlying tension between the “new songs only” and “hymns only” members. The dreaded “worship wars”. What a contradiction in terms! Worshipping while gritting your teeth?

That week, I contacted Liz, a member of the church body to help me prove a point. Liz was a classically trained singer with an amazing voice. We both stood before the congregation; me with my guitar and Liz.

“Liz”, I said, “this is a guitar. Some people worship the Lord with it.” Liz looked shocked and said “Really?”. I then began to sing a contemporary song from Lamentations 3:22-23, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning, great is Thy faithfulness.” Liz began singing with me and then we transitioned into the wonderful hymn, “Great is Thy Faithfulness” which is based on the same verses. The message we tried to portray was that style isn’t the point of worship, a heart of worship is. As we celebrate 50 years of God’s faithfulness to our ministry, it’s with a heart of worship!

Since this is our somewhat “quarterly” newsletter for those of you not on our monthly mailing list, I’ll give a quick review of some past highlights. In March we finished our ski area employee Bible study along with teaching skiing for my 50th winter. In April and May we met with supporters and had the privilege of sharing God’s word in Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas! We experienced many blessings including services at Abell Community Church in Guthrie Oklahoma, spending time with our friend Dr. Adam Greenway, new president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and sharing with graduate students at Texas A&M. Upon returning to Gunnison we sponsored a concert featuring Gordon Mote. Gordon, born completely blind, is a phenomenal pianist, songwriter and singer who has performed with the Bill Gaither Homecoming Tours as well as the churches of Dr. David Jeremiah, Charles Stanley and others.

Upcoming: We’re enjoying some time at home doing local ministry, leading our Saturday Night Services, conducting funerals and discipleship training.

Lord willing, we will be preaching in Pitkin, CO (5/26 and 6/9) and Tin Cup CO (6/2). Then it’s off to Ft. Collins, CO for a “Thank You Dinner” (6/14) and “Chuck Wagon Sunday” in Esterbrook WY (6/16).

Celebrating 50 years of God’s faithfulness to Rick Barton Ministries (48 years of marriage-50 years of
ministry). On Thursday, June 20th, we’re having an evening of celebrating God’s grace to RBM! We’ll be gathering at 5pm in the Fred Field building at the Gunnison fairgrounds, behind Safeway, for a time of worship-testimony-and a BBQ meal. We hope many of you can join us. Please RSVP @970-641-3583.

Sam needs a temporary home! Sam Jakubauskas, a neat 19 yr. old young man, needs a place to stay from mid-June till the first week of October near Irving TX while he finishes his diesel mechanic training. He has no pets and promises to be low maintenance. He can even pay toward rent. He’s looking for a quiet, Christian atmosphere away from the school. If you can help, please contact Sam at (970) 901-6475.

Family: All our family continues to enjoy the Lord’s blessings. The grandchildren are flourishing and Melva and I hope to visit each of them this year. Thank you for praying for our family!

Bibles: This has been a wonderful time of sending out firefighter and police New Testaments and devotionals. By God’s grace and your help, we have supplied over a thousand
copies to chaplains in TX, NC and the Ukraine this spring. Please pray the Lord will use each copy!

Prayer Requests: Please continue to pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit as we share locally and around the country. Please pray for our granddaughter Elizabeth to gain weight. Please pray for the Lord to guide us to the right co-workers to help with teaching, music and administration. Please pray that we will know how to prioritize our activities and avoid being overwhelmed. Thank You!

Finances: “Now I say this, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” (2 Corinthians 9:6). The blessing continues! The more New Testaments we give away, the more people in need we help and the more services we share, the more He provides! Thank You for listening and responding to His leading.

You are co-laborers with us! Every “Thank you” letter we receive, every missionary who receives needed support, every New Testament that gets handed out, has your fingerprint on it. You are making a difference, Thank You!

Only by His grace and to His glory, Preparing the Sanctuary for the Ski Area Chapel Service
Rick and Melva Barton Lamentations 3:22-23