Amazing Grace - Wintley Phipps

I know...I know...I don't like long youtube videos either. This one is almost 9 minutes. But I'm telling you, buckle your seatbelt. I don't mind admitting that I wept through the end of this one. It's powerful - especially coupled with the fact that we watched the movie Amazing Grace a couple of months ago. Pull it up, let it load, and praise God.

2 BILLION

I spent Thursday and Friday at a Missions Conference in Atlanta. I was reminded of two things in particular. One was the power and necessity of prayer. Missionaries often times find themselves very alone and helpless and their refuge is prayer and the prayers of their supporters.

Let's face it. We have it pretty easy in the States. We don't often find ourselves in desperate need and therefore, we don't pray because we don't have great needs. But prayer is where the power is. Prayer plows the hard soil and prepares the hearts of unbelievers when the seed of the gospel is planted. Prayer should be more than just a wish list of wants and needs. Prayer is communing with God. It is not reaching for things in the hand of God. It is reaching for the hand of God.

The missionaries that I encountered over the last two days believe in prayer and they served to remind me of its importance. I confess that I do not pray like I should. My prayer life is up and down like a roller coaster. It ought not be that way. I want to give more time to it in the days ahead.

The second thing that God spoke to me about at the conference was the need for our churches to focus on missions. Unfortunately, we have departmentalized missions. We see it as just another ministry of the church. The truth is that missions should be the central focus of the church. It is our commission to go into all the world to baptize and make disciples. We get so caught up trying to meet our own needs and make everyone feel good and happy that we forget about the 2 BILLION people in the world who have little or no access to the Gospel. 2 BILLION. That's 1/3 of the world, folks.

We are guilty of being too busy making sure our pews are polished, our stained glass shiny, and our sermons sweet while 2 billion people go to bed each night without any hope for the Savior.

God help us.

My 2 Favorite Guys

Yesterday I had lunch at Ruby Tuesday's with my 20 year-old son. Today I took my 77 year-old dad to lunch at New China Buffet. It occurred to me while talking at the table with my dad today that I had lunch with my 2 favorite guys in the past two days. One is just beginning his venture into adulthood and the other is nearing the end. One is looking for a life mate and the other constantly remembers his mate of 52 years. One is looking forward and the other looks backward. One needs a lot of wisdom and the other has tons. I find myself in the middle watching one grow up and the other one grow old.

They are my 2 favorite men in the whole world.

They both love Christ and God has blessed them both immensely. I certainly am blessed to have them in my life.

It's Netflix for Books!

I haven't tried this yet but it looks pretty cool if you're a book lover. Let me know what you think if you try it.

http://www.booksfree.com/

Ever thought about this?

I've been meditating on Zephaniah 3:17 a lot lately. It's an inspiring passage from an obscure Old Testament book. Have you ever even heard of Zephaniah? Come on, be honest. Here it is:

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

The whole verse is great. But the part that gets most of my attention is the last line. "He will rejoice over you with singing." We sing to God in corporate worship at church and in private worship in our cars, in the shower, or even at work. It is a completely natural and normal thing for us to rejoice over the Lord with singing. In fact, worshiping God is one of our purposes in life.

But Zephaniah says that God rejoices over us with singing. Have you ever considered that God sings to you? Can you picture God rejoicing over you in song? I wonder what that song would sound like? I wonder what the lyrics would be? God loves you so much and takes great delight in you. He sings a song of praise over you.

I would suggest that you take a longer look at Zephaniah 3:17 and when your day gets challenging or frustrating or even if your day is going well - remember that God is rejoicing over you with singing.

Proud Daddy

Laura (lcfoblog.blogspot.com) recorded this on her handy cam at TrueNorth last Sunday. My son, Cliff, and daughter, Bailey, sang together for the first time at TNC. Wish you could have been there to hear it live. The handy cam audio just isn't the same.