Never Give Up! Keeping Your Faith Through Hard Times.

2009 has been a difficult year for many of us. Going into 2010,Trust God with every fiber of your being! He will accomplish what He will in and through us in proportion to the faith we put in Him to do the work. This is important especially during hard times and tough decisions in crises. We will go through a range of emotions during these times of adversity, but God will deliver us as He has promised He would do in the land of the living! Keep consistency in your trust in the Lord today because, He cares just as much about our tiny trust-steps through daily life as He does about our dramatic leaps of faith. Even if no one notices, the One who is always beside us sees everything -and rejoices! Be encouraged today as the Lord will lift the burdens of a heavy heart. He is our refuge and strength! Happy New Year! Happy New You! Psalm 40:4; Psalm 56:3-4; Psalm 62:8; Isaiah 26:3-4. Amen.

Devotional 12-28-2009 "Child like awe of God"

Have you recently stopped to really pay attention to your children or other children at play? As you watch them, notice the sense of wonder they have! They are amazed at creation in it’s various forms, rainbows, snowflakes, things they can do on their very own, a sunrise, or a sunset. As adults, we don’t seem to have that sense of wonder  as a child does anymore . As we mature in age, we tend to get caught up in just trying to survive a living, instead of having an awe filled childlike amazement in God and what He can and will do in our lives! Read “Psalm 147” and meditate on it for a while. “Do not read this psalm in a rush“! This psalm will encourage us back to that childlike faith we as adults have lost along the way. I want that childlike faith to come back to me for today, and for the coming New Year. How about you? Let’s go to God the Father in prayer for Him to give us back that awe of Him in childlike faith! Amen! The Lord Bless You.


RECEIVE EVERY DAY AS A RESURRECTION FROM DEATH, AS A NEW ENJOYMENT OF LIFE… LET YOUR JOYFUL HEART PRAISE AND MAGNIFY SO GOOD AND GLORIOUS A CREATOR. William Law (1686-1761)

December 21st, 2009

Proverbs 30:2-4 NLT. “ HOW COMPLETELY SATISFYING TO TURN FROM OUR LIMITATIONS TO A GOD WHO HAS NONE. ETERNAL YEARS LIE IN HIS HEART. FOR HIM TIME DOES NOT PASS,IT REMAINS; AND THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST SHARE WITH HIM ALL THE RICHES OF LIMITLESS TIME AND ENDLESS YEAR”. (A.W. Tozer). Many times we are discouraged by our limitations no matter what we perceive them to be. Yet, God many times uses the simple things of the world to confuse the wise. Let's stop being so hard on ourselves about our weaknesses and focus in on the God who gives the strengths and talents that we have to glorify Him. We may not have all the wisdom we wish we had, but we know where to go to receive it. We go to the Author of life, THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT! With God, there are no limits!

Burning Down the House

Juliana and I were invited to watch the Whitefish Fire Department burn down a house that was donated to them for practice. It was a fun morning for the “kid” in me, and my daughter, to be around firemen and their trucks! They enjoyed Juliana! And I enjoyed getting to know them. They are our new friends!

Watch this video in High Definition (HD)

My Daily Devotional- Daily Bible 12-17-2009

Do you ever feel that when you pray,  your prayers are not potent enough and  just floating in space? Maybe you feel  your prayers are like a letter you would send to a large company to express your feelings on a certain matter. Though that company receives your letter, it gets shuffled in with all the other complaints, requests, and suggestions. Although we may feel that way at times, that is not true with God! All of our prayers matter to God! We don’t just pray out there in the great beyond and our prayers are forgotten.  Prayer with praise moves the heart of God, which moves the Hand of God! Read Rev. 8:3-4! We can pray with confidence and encouragement in the God that longs to commune with us. John 20:24-30.

Christmas 2004- Moving to Montana

This Christmas was really memorable. It was December 18th, 2004, and we left behind Florida, everybody and everything that we loved to follow a Call. We are celebrating our 5th year in Montana, and this journey has been a joy. Remember with us this remarkable time in our lives.
When we moved to Montana, I never would have thought that we would love living here the way we do and the special relationships that God would give us! Now looking back five years later... being a senior pastor of a church for three years, starting our own para-church ministry these past two years, serving our Christian and public schools, serving “hand and hand” with the Whitefish Pastors and our community as a whole, and now serving as one of six Police Chaplains, it is beautiful to see and know without a shadow of doubt, that we are in the perfect will of God for our lives!
Video powered by Animoto: http://animoto.com/?ref=vbogpick

My December 14th Devotional- One Year Bible

My devotional in the One year Bible reading. I was brought to the book of Jonah, where he ran from God’s calling on his life and was brought back to God’s calling through extremely rough circumstances. Being in the belly of a large fish, Jonah had no choice but to pray a “belly prayer”! ( see Jonah 1:17-2:1-3 NLT). Our “belly prayers” happen when the circumstances in our lives are so broken that we have no other choice but do what Jonah did. That is, to cry out to the Lord in prayer! Just remember that nothing is beyond the reach of prayer because no prayer is too hard for God to answer.

Pastor Don Dukes Welcomes You to the Video Blog

My hope is that this Blog will be a blessing to you so you will know what we are doing and you will be encouraged.


Watch this video in High Definition (HD)

Move from Florida- Christmas 2004

This Christmas was really memorable. It was December 18th, 2004, and we left behind Florida, everybody and everything that we loved to follow a Call. We are celebrating our 5th year in Montana, and this journey has been a joy. Remember with us this remarkable time in our lives.
When we moved to Montana, I never would have thought that we would love living here the way we do and the special relationships that God would give us! Now looking back five years later... being a senior pastor of a church for three years, starting our own para-church ministry these past two years, serving our Christian and public schools, serving “hand and hand” with the Whitefish Pastors and our community as a whole, and now serving as one of six Police Chaplains, it is beautiful to see and know without a shadow of doubt, that we are in the perfect will of God for our lives!
Video powered by Animoto: http://animoto.com/?ref=vbogpick

Don Dukes' First Blog

Watch this video in High Definition (HD)

October morning, Vintage Train leaving Whitefish Station. Psalm 68:18-19 (NIV)18 When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men,even from [a] the rebellious— that you, [b] O LORD God, might dwell there. 19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Selah