Persistence vs Pestering

Please pray with me that the Lord would be pleased to give clear discernment marking the line between persistence in contacting folks and pestering them with multiple phone calls and emails as I attempt to get in touch virtually everyone I've ever known. Support raising is going really well but it's hard to know where that line is between persistence and pestering. What a sanctifying process this is and it's becoming crystal clear that prayer not simply a good option but compulsory!

All the Time, God is Good!

Even the mess many of us made of our own lives and in the lives of those we manipulated and hurt in our previous (before Christ) years, don't you know God can use even all of that former rebelliousness and turn it around (in Christ) to be a key to compassion. Just as Jesus picked blue collar guys to be his disciples 2,000 years ago, today He can use regular guys to reach out to broken, hurting guys. Lost guys need a friend they can relate to. After all let's not forget that we're all in the same boat; sinners desperately in need of a savior. We who have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb and sealed by the Holy Spirit must not neglect our hurting neighbors. They need a man who can understand their inner misery and share the truth. The Lord is teaching us how to love and be loved (through Christ) so let's go out there and apply the lessons of this sanctification process! Striving to really serve Jesus with closer to a pure motivation is so very much about the relationships and The personal relationship (with Christ).

Do you believe God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose?

God is good all the time!

Do you believe that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose? Even the mess we can make of our lives (especially our pre- redemption lives) is turned around for good by our sovereign God. I know that it's true!

Jesus said:

"Pray that you may not enter into temptation." And again, "Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation." Luke 22

He was speaking to the apostles the night of His betrayal but His question and admonition should resonate with all His followers here and now, shouldn't they?

Healed!

Three days ago it seemed highly unlikely that this brother would be able to play the piano tomorrow but... Praise the Lord! Prayers answered and the hand and wrist are almost completely fine, miraculously fine. Ice, aspirin and especially prayers seem to have worked/been answered amazingly, beautifully. Thank You Father, Jesus, Spirit, and the praying body of true believers!

Pain Gets Our Attention

My right hand suddenly has no strength and there's a very severe pain in my wrist. Praise the Lord that He gets our attention real well through physical discomfort! Just as I start to get more and more confident in raising funds for 'my' ministry the Lord sends a screaming loud reminder of who's truly in control here. "Stay focused on Jesus who's seated at My right hand," God is yelling, "not on your mortal, fleshly, prideful, measurable achievements."

Did Christ not suffer? Isn't it an honor and a privilege to savor ALL the stuff God allows us to go through in these miraculous lives? Do we not really believe in God's sovereignty?

A Puritan Prayer of Love

Gracious Lord,

Thy name is love,

in love receive my prayer.

My sins are more than the wide sea's sand,

but where sin abounds,

there is grace more abundant.

Grant me more and more

to know thee in prayer as

the path in which my feet tread,

the latch upon the door of my lips,

the light that shines through my eyes,

the music of my ears,

the marrow of my understanding,

the strength of my will,

the power of my affection,

the sweetness of my memory.

Amazing (sanctifying) Grace!

Wow! The Lord is apparently pleased to allow missions minded folks to go through the wild ride known as support raising. God is whittling away at all the pride issues and now, in His perfect timing, this fund raising experience that was rather frightening to me is becoming more and more exciting everyday! All glory to Him who drew us to Him, opened our eyes to the truth, and softened our hearts sufficiently to have faith in Christ, that He's precisely who He claimed to be; the savior of the world!

"I, Me, My..."

Don't you reckon the good Lord's pleased when we strive not to use the words "I, me, and my" too much? It's very difficult not to say them a lot. Try! ... pride?

We need to give all the glory to God no matter what.

We need to trust and obey the Word and strive to live more like Jesus lived. He loved people and manipulated things, not the other way around.

We need to constantly thank God that we've been saved by grace through faith in Christ alone.

And we also really need to go out there and build relationships, disciple & be discipled. Shine

Jesus teaches us how to truly live and love from a pure heart.

Fund Raising; Misery or Ministry?

To be honest with ya'll* I must confess that one year ago this brother was pretty much petrified at the prospect of "support raising"; the process of asking individuals to commit to monthly giving in order to fund a missionary/ministry. But totally by the grace of God that attitude has been turned around 180 degrees. It pleases the Lord to allow a fellow to go through this sanctifying process as Christ uses it to beautifully humble a guy, to strengthen him in the application of the Word, to instruct him on what it means to die to self.

How liberating do you think it is to even just begin to scratch the surface of understanding how to love the Lord and your neighbors more than satisfying one's own shallow desires? Do you want to live really radically? Are you interested in truth that will free you from the grips of worldly lies and manipulation? Wouldn't it be wonderful to simply let go of most of the worries of the world?

Have you reconsidered Jesus lately? Christ's convinced me that He's precisely who he claimed to be. All glory to God!

*Texas talk, lived here 18 yrs now!

Soon & Very Soon

We had a joyful time of worship yesterday at Grace Bible Church in Sanger,Texas. Opened with Andre Crouch's 'Soon and Very Soon' which rocked! The Lord allowed me to find a perfect lyric for Luke 21 which was to be sung to the melody of 'It Came Upon a Midnight Clear' but discovered it worked great with Fernando Ortega's 'Our Great God'; all glory to God. How amazing is our great, powerful, merciful, loving Lord!