Monday Mornings

It is Monday morning. This is the Monday after Spring Break. The Monday after I preached through a difficult passage it took the majority of the week for me to get clarity on. It is the Monday morning after the church sponsored a blood drive and my appointment ran an hour and a half late and missing lunch with my family. It is the Monday morning after I had the joyous experience of leading a second grade boy to faith in Christ and talking with him and entire family about baptism right before Sunday School. It is Monday morning after another committee meeting to determine direction about future space issues here at the church. It is the Monday morning after leading our sixth week of Experiencing God and then entertaining twenty-six people in our home after church. It is Monday morning.

I got up early and started my day with the Lord this morning. It was a refreshing time in His presence focusing on His call on our lives to walk by faith. In fact the last thing I laid my eyes on last night before drifting off to sleep was a framed verse located over my night stand with [II Cor 5:7] written on it, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” My devotion this morning was a reiteration of that truth. [Heb 11:6] is the verse I meditated on, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Afterwards I opened up a book of meditations from a renowned theologian and pastor and read a few chapters. Then it was time to cook breakfast, wake the boys hugging them and telling them I loved them, personally get ready, and now here I sit in my office.

Mondays are normally tiring days. Sundays are both exhilarating and draining. It is exhilarating to preach the Word of God and worship with the congregation. It is draining because I preach with my whole self. I preached with all my heart and mind yesterday but still walked away feeling like I failed. I have to trust that God does not allow His word to return void. [Is 55:11] As today starts to unfold, my focus is on spiritually being refreshed, start studying for next Sunday’s message, and rigorously exercising both my mind and my body. Later on today I will go to the Fitness Center for weight training and cardio vascular exercises. What I also want to do today is to challenge my mind with some deep and weighty thoughts to shake off the doldrums and cobwebs from a Monday morning. I do not want to give into the path of least resistance. It might be a Monday morning but that does not mean that I cannot rigorously exercise my mind in contemplation upon God and scripture.

Many Christians lives their whole lives like it is Monday morning. If the Bible is read by these people, it is lightly skimmed over rather than given serious reflection. Weighty theological volumes are discarded in favor of more practical books. I want to be a thinker. I want to wrestle with the word of God in order to be more Christ-like and dive deeper in my understanding of it and Him. I want to fight off the mental lethargy and spiritual apathy with all that I have in me by wearing the harness of discipline by reading the red oak books of theology that have withstood the test of time. I do not want to shrink back from the mentally daunting task of reading books that bend the mind. Just as I exercise my body I must exercise my mind and spirit to keep progressing and advancing in my relationship with the Lord. Yes, even on Monday mornings.

Prisoner of Promise

On July, 31, of 2006 I received an anonymous note. The first line of that note reads, “You are a prisoner of promise!” As I was rummaging through some old boxes in my office yesterday I came across that note and read it again. It is a note of encouragement and prophecy over my life and ministry.

I am chewing on what the phrase “prisoner of promise” means. I am a dreamer. I have always been a dreamer. God has always given me vision for the places I have served Him. Those visions have been accompanied with various promises about what the Lord was going to do in and through me. At times those vision have been embarrassingly large. So much so that I have rarely talked about them in private or public. God has been the one to put those dreams and visions in me but as of yet, I have not seen many of them come true, especially as it relates to my writing ministry.

I am thinking about a prayer retreat I was on standing by a lake when the Lord poured an almost overwhelming vision of my life as a pastor, preacher, and author. There was a similar experience when our family was on vacation many years ago. I got up early and had my quiet time at a picnic table overlooking Lake Palestine. God used [Eph 2:10] to confirm His call and His destiny for my life. Similar experiences have occurred in hotel rooms, at conferences, in my vehicle while driving over and over again. Each time the message was the same; God is going to use me in significant ways beyond what I can fathom as a pastor and as an author.

I cannot put the depth of the call the Lord has put on my life to write. I am sitting at my desk and the desire to write has consumed me. I am already prepared for our mid-week message tonight and so in the time I have before lunch I feel compelled to write. I want my writing to point people toward God and be the catalyst that gives people a greater hunger for Him and His word. I find myself pounding the keys of this computer writing as fast as my fingers will type, hoping, praying, trusting, that it will all make sense to someone and that God would use this in people’s lives for the glory of His name. For the most part I never know if the Lord is using these writings. Still I am compelled to compose sentence after sentence, blog after blog, and book after book.

When I think about the phrase “prisoner of promise” that is a painful phrase for me. Though I have been writing since I was a child I have never enjoyed success as an author. I never have written anything with the motivation to get rich or to be famous. I simply have these messages that get into my mind and heart and I have to get them out. So I write for Him alone. Part of that prisoner of promise thing is the hope and belief that God will use my writings on a broader scale. You see I have a clear vision for writing.

I want to have the ability to have my resources printed and distributed all over the world. I also want the freedom to be able to give those books away to people who truthfully cannot afford them in faith. I do not want gouge the reading public with prices that pay for others extravagant lifestyles. At this point of the three books I have written and published I know I have given away far more than I have ever sold. I have a vision of people from all over the world desiring to read the messages God continues to give me and having access to them without cost prohibiting them. That vision includes God using those books and articles to last far beyond my lifetime so that after I am dead people will stumble across those writings and their faith will be ignited and their passion to know and to follow God. I can write but I cannot make those things happen. God holds those keys. So I live with the constant tension between learning to be content in all circumstances, like Paul challenges us to in [Phil 4:11], and yet knowing that God has greater things in store for me having a discontent to see those things become reality by faith. God ultimately holds my future and so I persevere as a prisoner of promise.

Remember the note I referred to at the beginning of this blog? I would like for you to read the last few lines. “What He (God) is about to do is bigger than you think. It is also different than you have ever seen. Pastors will one day be coming to you to get wisdom. Leaders from many places will read your books and seek your counsel. So don’t give up! Stay the course.” It would be easy for me to dismiss all of that except over the course of the last twenty years God has continually reassured me of very similar things. From the first moments He called me into ministry I felt I was a man with a great destiny. I felt I have been in prison for years waiting and at times wondering why I have not seen that destiny fulfilled but the promise has never waned. It is still there and causing me to keep seeking God in prayer.

Earlier this year the Lord instructed me to give myself to writing. I have tried to do this when I have had time. I write for the Lord and out of obedience to Him. I write in faith believing one day someone is going to read my writings who hold the keys to unlock my future in print. I don’t know how or when that will happen but I keep pressing on as a prisoner of promise. I am shackled to these dreams and cannot walk away from them.

What are you a prisoner of promise about? What dreams or visions did God put in your heart and you continue to wait for Him to make become reality? May each of us find a word of encouragement from [Gal 6:9] “Let us not lose heart in doing good for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”

The Good Book

I left the house before dark this morning and went to one of my favorite breakfast restaurants to enjoy some time alone with the Lord. Once I was ushered to my table I hurriedly busied myself with Bible study and prayer while waiting on my breakfast. I had my Bible opened to Deuteronomy chapter 31 reading and meditating on what I sensed the Lord was telling me. I was so engrossed in my studies I barely noticed when waitress sat my pancakes before me. I did not want to lose my train of thought.

There was an elderly couple seated to my left. Every once in awhile when I would stop and take a bite I could tell the lady was watching me out of my peripheral vision. I did not think much about it because I often catch people staring at me, which comes with the territory of having our worship services televised.

This lady approached my table as she and her husband were leaving and she asked me, “Is that the good book?” She was pointing to my open Bible and maneuvering herself for a closer look. I replied with a smile that it was. She showed me her little New Testament Bible and said she did not know if I was reading the Bible or the Book of Mormon. She then went on to inform me that she was ready to give a word of witness for Christ if I had not been reading the Bible. I told her I was a pastor and she commented that she and her husband were down from Minnesota visiting friends and on their way back home and they were believers.

The “Good Book” is regularly open in front of me. I have read it in hotel lobbies, airports and airplanes, in restaurants, on buses, in vehicles, in my office and home, as well as outside at local parks, on beaches, lakefronts, and up in the mountains. The “Good Book” is a vital part of life. I go to the Bible for direction, counsel, encouragement, inspiration, strength, hope, wisdom, reproof, and nourishment for my soul by seeking the Lord through its pages. We seek to live by the principles of scripture as a family. If you were to walk in my home whether you were in the kitchen, the dining room, living room, walking down the hall or a bedroom, you would see verses from the “The Good Book” all over our walls.

It just so happened that we went out to buy two new Bibles yesterday for two of our boys who needed new ones. As were driving back home they began commenting on some facts about the Bible. It is the best selling book of all time and the book most often shoplifted. People often see the Bible as mystical, mysterious, almost magical. I see it as truth for life.

The “Good Book” in such an important part of my daily life I cannot imagine life without it. I need scripture for my times of devotion, for my writing, for preaching and teaching, relating to my wife, raising my boys, and daily living. I need the Bible when I make decisions or counsel others about decisions they have to make. It is vital to my successful walk with the Lord and service to Him through His church. This does not mean however that the Bible is a sort of good luck charm. It is God’s mind and heart revealed to man. If you want to know God consult the pages of scripture. If you want to know where God stands on different subjects read and study the Bible.

In my office I have eight bookshelves lined from top to bottom with books. Some of those books I have read over and over again while there are some I still have not gotten around to reading yet. There are thousands of them but if you took the collective value of all of them combined they are not worth more to me than my Bible. It is more than a good book. I have read it from cover to cover well over a dozen times in the past fifteen years.

I well recall the old saying, “Show me a Bible that is falling apart and I will show you a life that is not falling apart.” How true that is. Do you crave the word of God? Do you long to get lost in that book? Are you eager to meet with the Author of Salvation in the pages of the “Good Book?” Do you long to see God fulfill the promises He has made in the Bible? It might be the best selling book in history but it is not the most read or heeded book in history.

The Bible is unlike any other book ever written. It was divinely inspired by God and is truth without any mixture of error. “For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” [Heb 4:12] Some preachers are ashamed to believe it or preach it anymore. Most people are pretty Bible illiterate. Fewer seem willing to live by its principles. That does not make it any less true or less needed than it has ever been. When was the last time you got into the “Good Book” More importantly when was the last time the “Good Book” got into you?

Believer

While preaching Sunday night, my ten-year old son, Tucker, had a whole different encounter with the Lord sitting on the front pew with paper and pencil in hand. Tucker is a leader. He is a boy passionate about sports, reading, and music. He has been taking piano lessons for three years now. He is pretty special kid. He did not want to be on the front row. This is Spring Break and all the children’s activities were cancelled since everyone was out of town. He dutifully took his place and got pad and a pencil. Before I preached I saw him and thought he would be drawing pictures until the end of the service. God has something else in mind.

While sitting on that front pew he wrote a song and entitled it, “Believer.” I’ll let Tucker speak for himself. “I thought faith was only true in fairy tales. It was not for someone like me. I tried to run that’s the way it seems. When I wanted sunshine I got rain. I got faith because I’m a believer and a believer is in my heart. Cause I got faith oh! Now I can’t believe that my one and only God gave me a faith that Satan can’t break or take from me. God I love you and I wrote this song because you gave me the faith that I have. I know I don’t always do what I am supposed to, but you my Father teach me to try to do my best. You gave me a life that some people won’t believe. Lord, help everyone believe in you, in your name amen. “ – Tucker Edwards age 10

Tucker left that on my desk after church and I found it Monday morning. I have read it several times and think about the depth going on in his little heart and mind to write something that profound. God gave Tucker a faith but it sounds like faith has been somewhat of a struggle for him. At times he thought faith was more like magic. He has even been disappointed at times when he asked God for things but did not get them. Through all of that God has given and strengthened Tucker’s faith. Though Satan wants him to doubt God, the Lord continues to strengthen him day by day. Though he strives to succeed there are times he does not and with God’s help he continues trying to do his best. I love that line that says, “You gave me a life that some people won’t believe.”

Tucker is a blessed young man. God has given him unique talents and abilities. Brenda and I have often chuckled watching him assign games or roles in games he was playing even to his older brothers and their friends. He is a leader. I am not sure what the Lord will do with precious boy of mine but it thrills my heart that he is growing and thinking deeply about things like God, faith, and the struggle to maintain faith even in life’s disappointments. Does Tucker believe that he is blessed and that God helps him? Does Tucker believe that other children or adults look at his life now and what he will become in the future and be amazed by the power of the Lord?

He has always loved music. We have often wondered if the Lord would allow Him to lead worship. When he was younger he wanted a guitar so he could sing for Jesus like Chris Tomlin. Tucker has always been bold and willing to try new things. I have rarely seen him back down from a challenge but he gets in and mixes it up in basketball with his two older brothers not fearing to take his shots or even taking the ball strong to the hole. It is God who has given Tucker that confidence.

Now, are you and I going to let a ten year old boy live with a stronger faith than we have? He is a believer. He walked into breakfast one Sunday morning about five years ago told me he was going to accept Christ that morning. We talked about it and sure enough that morning after I preached and gave the invitation he walked down to the front of First Baptist Church sanctuary in Paradise and we prayed together. He became a believer. Have you? If you have do you still believe in His faithfulness? Thank you Tucker for challenging all of us to be believers.

Staggering Lostness

I just finished reading an article in a religious newspaper that proved to be very sobering. It was reported that out of 340 million people in North America there are 258 million people without a saving relationship in Jesus Christ. Let that number sink in. 258 million! In some of the western states it is reported as many as 82% of the 92 million people are not Christians. In nine different northeastern states with a population of 55 million people 83% of those residents are not Christians. If you expand this research beyond the boundaries of North America there are 5,845 people groups who have no access to the gospel. That translates into 90% of the world’s population are non-Christians.

As all of that really sinks in I am even more burdened when I find out that the population of the United States has doubled since 1950 and the Southern Baptist Convention has more than 17,000 more churches than were in existence in 1950. Tragically these same churches baptized nearly 34,000 less in 2008 than in 1950. We have more technology, more cutting edge programs, more money and yet we have less evangelistic effectiveness. How could this be.

Strategies and programs have not stemmed the tide of lostness in this nation. I hear a great deal from the experts about this being a post-modern society. When I read Acts 2 I see God at work powerfully saving pagans by the droves. Somewhere we have lost the power of God on our lives and ministries and thought we could do it without Him. Prayer meetings have all but become extinct. The two that I regularly attend seldom ever could boast a dozen people in attendance at either and on many occasions collectively. In Acts people were being saved daily and people were praying daily. [Acts 2:46]

I hear so much about how society has changed and methods being relevant or irrelevant. I don’t hear near as much about God being mighty to save. Right here in Seminole the Community Prayer Room gathers every Thursday for two hours inviting intercessors to cry out to God on behalf of the city, the state, the nation, and beyond. Few come and few seem to have God’s heart for spiritual awakening and revival. Is God big enough to turn the hearts of hard hearted pagans to Jesus the Savior? Is God strong enough to motivate callused hearted Christians to really engage their communities in evangelism? Can the Lord turn cowardly believers into bold warriors in the effort to evangelize? If He is not we are wasting our time. We have no hope.

I have hope because God chooses to hear and answer prayers and God wills to save lost people. [II Pet 3:9] Does His church will this as well? If we could see the church come together one time a week for fervent prayers would we not see a difference. It might take years or just a few days. That is God’s sovereign choice but I believe that if the churches came together to seek God for the souls of their communities we would see a difference. Our excuses about being busy are not excuses. Our flimsy prayer meetings during mid-week services seldom include prayer for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Where is the remnant of God’s people who believe He is still mighty to save? With all my breath, my writing, and my preaching, I want to call people back to God and back to prayer accompanied with old fashioned evangelism. We have far too long trusted in ourselves and our wisdom to grow the church. We have learned how to assemble crowds but we still cannot transform people’s hearts. That is only something God can do and therefore I must pound Heaven for more power and more conviction to fall. God is going to save people. It is His will. Is God less willing to save people today than He was in 1950? I find that hard to grasp.

I also hear a good deal about evangelism strategies. There are dozens of them. Churches are constantly tempted to reinvent themselves to adopt these different strategies. I think it is as simple as building relationships with people, praying for God to soften their hearts and open their eyes and presenting the gospel to them. Then we persevere in prayer until God saves them. I once heard that 9:10 Christians have never talked to anyone about how a person can be saved. This will not do. I will just go ahead and say it; this is cowardly. It is way past time to pray and to share the gospel.

I have seen some of the most shy and timid people you have ever met share their faith boldly empowered by the Holy Spirit. The truth is that the gospel seldom leaves the walls of our churches. We preach in the house of the Lord and then leave tight-lipped and fearful of offending anyone with our religious point of view. I cannot imagine Paul adopting that mentality as he walked the streets of Corinth, Phillipi, Galatia, or Thessanolica. He was bold and saw it as his mission in life to present the gospel to those without a relationship with Christ. [Acts 20:24] What about you and me? When was the last time you presented the gospel to someone outside the walls of your church? I am pretty confident that this would be a big part of the reason why more people were baptized in 1950 in 17,000 fewer churches than in 2008. I bet there were more people praying and more people actively sharing their faith.

Lord, please stagger us with the lostness engulfing this nation and the world. I ask you for your burden and for you to call out new laborers to go into the harvest. I ask you to penetrate hard hearts with the gospel and make them open to the hope of the gospel. I plead with you to weigh the lostness of our communities deep on our hearts. Please make us uncomfortable and motivate us to get involved in your will to save people by praying, loving, and sharing the gospel. Please open our eyes to see the ones you are working on. May we never be satisfied to sit on the sidelines hoping someone else is doing the work when you are looking for more laborers to go into the harvest. [Matt 9:37-38] I pray we would cry out like Isaiah and say, “Here am I. Send me.” [Is 6:8]

Proud and Forgetful

I was reading scripture this morning out of the book of Deuteronomy and I was hit right between the eyes with truth. It was staggering for a moment. Let me show you what I read. “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today, otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord and your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the houses of slavery.” [Deut 8:11-14]

Let me tell you why these verses impacted me so deeply. Moses was challenging Israel after wandering in the wilderness for forty years right before they were going into the promise land not to become proud and forget God in light of all of His blessings.

Over the years Brenda and I have known what it was like to struggle and go without. We have known lean years where we lived at the national poverty level. We have known times when we lived day to day from one prayer to the next. We have known what it was like to struggle in ministry pouring our hearts and prayers out for growth and success only to know the agony of death to dreams and death to ministry visions. We have known what it was like to face persecution for our ministry. We have been vilified, falsely accused, the object of rumors, and abandoned by people who supposedly loved us. In the midst of all of that we have never been forsaken by God. We have known His faithfulness and His sustaining power over and over again.

There were days when I thought the trials, the tests, and my mental sufferings would never come to an end. In God’s good pleasure He has blessed me with more than I could ever deserve. I contrast those days of wilderness trials that took up much of the 1990’s and up until about 2005 with the cascade of God’s blessings currently. When I look back over those years of trials they were hard, incredibly hard. They were also rewarding. Life is much easier today but easier can also lead to less dependence on God and more pride in the heart.

Today I am experiencing the other end of the spectrum. The Edwards family is blessed. We have a generous salary that allows us to live comfortably. We are serving a wonderful church where we have been loved, accepted, and affirmed continually by people of all ages. God is blessing our ministry and we have seen success and growth. We have eaten well and been satisfied in abundance. After five years of praying and trusting God we were able to purchase our own home again. Herein lies the danger. In the midst of God’s blessings there is a tendency for people to become proud in their heart.

We televise our services and almost every week I meet someone who tells me they watch me on television. There could be a temptation to think of myself as somewhat of a celebrity. I do not feel this way because I have not forgotten what is was like to be in those small churches that never grew no matter how hard I preached, prayed, or labored. There were wonderful people but I was by far not a celebrity. Twice I have experienced what it was like to minister in services with one person present. ONE PERSON. I know I am where I am because God ordained it, God blessed it, and God has allowed it. I do not ever want to become proud in my heart. We know from [James 4:6] “…God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.” I do not ever want to be found in opposition with God.

I must remember from where the Lord has brought me. Recently I was working on the revision of a book I published many years ago. One of the chapters is a pretty detailed account of my testimony. It was hard to read and rewrite. When it was all done I sat back in disbelief at what the Lord saved me out of and from where He has placed me today. I don’t ever want to forget and think that by any merit of my own I am where I am. He has done it all. Like the old song says, “Jesus paid it all and all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson debt but He washed it white as snow.” No, I choose to not live proud and forgetful but rather humbled and remembering. I hope you will do the same. May we be more humbled and remember all the more what the Lord has done for us in light of His bountiful blessings.

A Longing Heart

What are you longing for? This is not meant to be a trick question or to get your honest response to only turn around and bash that response. What are you longing for? Today as I sit in my office I am contemplating that question for myself. What is it that I am really longing for?

I know what I want the answer to be. I want to long for God. I want to be like A.W. Tozer who once commented to a friend that He wanted to love God more than anyone in his generation. I don’t think I can truthfully say that. My longings get diverted. When I get honest I can’t think of many material things I want. I have a true soul mate in my wife. My boys are a delight to my soul and I would not trade them for others. I have all the clothes I need and then some. As much as I love books I actually discarded a book catalogue yesterday because I have countless number of books I have not gotten around to reading yet. My shelves are full. I have been blessed with transportation, a house, I have a wonderful job, and I work with people I not only like but, enjoy being around. What I most want to long for though is more of God.

I want to long for private worship experiences with Him that defy explanation. I want to long more and more to pull away from the throngs of people to some secluded place to enjoy God, to sit with Him, converse with Him, abide in Him, and adore Him. I don’t have to have bright lights, television cameras, talented musicians, or a crowded sanctuary. I want to be in the habit of private worship services that are born out of my longing heart. I long to be renewed continually in my inner man so that I am not going through the motions of religious activity void of a true and authentic love for Christ. I do not want to be a preacher or author with all the right words to say or write but no inner experience to back all the preaching and writing up.

In a world of many longings there is one longing that alone should triumph the throne of my heart and that is the longing to know God. I fear that far too many people in church waste their days learning more about God but never coming to a true and intimate knowledge of God. I pray I will never settle for this. I know down deep that He alone can satisfy. Other things may appear to satisfy for a season but soon they wear off. My soul is thirsty for the living water that can only be found in the reservoir of Jesus. It is when I stop long enough to satisfy this intense craving of my soul and drink long and deep from the fountains of His everlasting spring that I am truly alive.

As of late I have been so busy with important but lesser important things. My soul feels somewhat withered and what is the most troubling is that at times it has seemed that my longing heart has weakened. I want the intensity of longing after Christ more than I long for my next meal. I never want to be content to live on spiritual experiences of my past. Today is different. As I have intentionally sought to slow down, to think deeply, to let the deepest longings of my heart resurface, I am finding my soul coming to life again like the dry grass in the fields after a good and soaking rain when they turn green and begin to shoot up.

Maintaining a longing heart in this world is not easy. There are multitudes of things that compete with our affections. Many urges and longings surface that crowd out Christ. One thing I have learned over these twenty plus years of walking with Him, it takes time and effort to go after the life long quest to know God. It is not an easy journey and many times I find myself far too easily amused with the stuff of this earth as C.S. Lewis said. There are days when I do not long to pray, read scripture, or to sit with the Savior. My longing heart is dulled by fatigue, the desire for less demanding pleasures and experiences.

In my mind I know longing for Christ is better but in my flesh I can be distracted and lose focus. A little over a month ago I was enjoying some of the most intimate times with the Lord I had ever known. Prayer was a true joy and hours were spent in the presence of God in worship and intercession. Now I am finding my affections for the Lord dulled and my will to go hard after Him lessened. Mostly it is fatigue and over commitment. I know this is no accident. My adversary would love to keep me distractedly busy and to enter the pulpit the hollow shell of a man of God with nothing to say but the echoes of other men. A true longing heart will lead me to His presence and from His presence I will be able to step in the pulpit not with a sermon but with a message from God.

What are you and I longing for? I want to long for God. I want to long for Him more than a crack addict longs for more drugs or the lover longs to be in the arms of his or her companion. I want to long for Christ more than the businessman longs for the next deal and turning a profit. I want to crave closer communion with Christ more than the athlete desires the championship.

Lord Jesus, I confess that I am far too easily distracted from the deepest longing in my heart for you. Over and over again I feel I am on this spiritual roller coaster with many ups and downs. I long to be eternally attracted to you. I want to devalue all things in light of the surpassing value of knowing you. [Phil 3:8] I ask you to intensify my longing for you day in and day out so much so that lesser longings get crowded out. I want to know the joy of walking with you and the joy of enjoying you through out all my days. I will never be content to know about you but long to know you. May I never be satisfied until you are truly the deepest longing of my heart? Perhaps one day like Tozer I too might say I long to love you more than anyone in my generation. Please intensify my longing heart until that is true all the remaining days of my life.

Worthy is the Lamb

I was sitting in my office earlier today working and listening to some music. It was that rare kind of morning when I had no appointments, there were no phone calls, and I was enjoying the presence of God in private worship. I was listening to a song called, “I Will Rise”. I was deeply moved when the anthem rang out about the angels singing worthy is the lamb as well as the redeemed. This is a clear picture of [Rev 4:11] when the elders fall down in worship and say, ‘Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

I sat back in my chair with my eyes closed and let the music and the words of that song penetrate my soul. I pictured in my mind’s eye what that scene would look like and feel like. I have a deep yearning to say with that Heavenly throng, “Worthy is the Lamb!” The word “worthy” means deserving, suitable, due reward.

What is the Lamb worthy of? Everything. He is worthy of all our devotion. He is worthy of our most staunch loyalty. He is worthy of our highest pursuit, our deepest worship, our grandest affections, our greatest passion, and our best service. He simply is worthy of all of that and even more. He deserves all we can give but then on top of that He is worthy of more.

Down here Jesus does not get the praise, the worship, the service, or devotion He rightly deserves. There is coming a day when all that will change. Throngs will gather around the throne of God in uninhibited and undistracted worship extolling the worthiness of the Lamb. I long for that day. On that day I will not care how long the music portion is in the service and whether the flock like the songs or not and if everything is flowing smoothly. I will not be distracted thinking about my message. I will be absolutely uninhibited in my adoration of the Lamb singing, shouting, raising my hands, clapping, and even falling prostrate before Him. Why? He is worthy.

It is tragic that even in church Jesus does not get what He is due. We say we gather to worship but far too often He does not get much of that. He gets our thoughtless singing, our mindless meanderings, and our lackadaisical responses to His prompting but He does that get what He is due. He does not get all out, passionate, heart felt worship by far too many believers. This will never be the case in Heaven. This is where so many of our Pentecostal brethren could teach us a thing or two. Many people in these churches do not hold back in worship. In Baptist churches we have too many congregations who are too sophisticated and refined for all out worship and I bet it will noisy, reverent but loud. What a shock it will be when we get to Heaven. Worship will be powerful and there Jesus will get the worship He deserves.

He is the most worthy person in the entire universe. Why you might ask? Read for yourself what Paul said, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” [Phil 2:5-11]

Jesus gave up everything to purchase redemption for mankind. He left the worthy worship He was accustomed to for ages and traded that for not just any death but death on a cross and the rejection of the masses. All of this so that men, women, teenagers, and children could be rightly related to God from every nation and among every language and dialect around the world who enjoy just and righteous standing before Him. For that reason He is worthy. He is also worthy because He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to His kingdom. [Col 1:13-14] The Lamb is worthy because He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. [Col 1:17] He has come to have first place in all things. [Col 1:18] Suffice it to say worthy is the Lamb yesterday, today, and forever.

Living on Mission

I am writing this not just to challenge you to get involved in missions by going on a trip but to live your life on mission for Christ right where you are, in your neighborhood, as well as on foreign soil. I spent a good portion of the day in meetings with a guy we will be partnering with in missions work in the Pacific Northwest here at FBC Seminole. As the needs were laid out it was a little overwhelming. There are far more needs than this one church can meet.

Then a vision formed in my heart. What if a church really lived on mission? I mean a church really lived to plant churches, to advance God’s kingdom, and take the gospel to the ends of the nation and the world. That would mean a membership being on board with living on mission. Part of that would mean taking seriously our responsibility to train future pastors, church planters, and leaders. That might mean parents getting a different vision for their children and sending them to colleges outside the Bible Belt to help live on mission while they are getting their education. It might call for people to retire early so they live out the remainder of their days on mission for God and serving Him full time in their twilight years. It will mean people giving continually and sacrificially to send others on trips when they cannot go themselves. It might even mean several families hearing and responding to God’s call to uproot from life in Texas to follow God to places like Saskatchewan, Spokane, Honduras, Africa, Europe, and Asia.

Living on mission for God is getting in the game, joining the front lines of the spiritual battle for souls and making impact for the kingdom and glory of God. I am excited about this challenge personally. It will mean once again packing a suitcase getting airfare secured and traveling north. It will mean prayerfully trusting Christ to let my life count as well as the life of this church.

If a nation and a world of Christian really lived on mission for God the implications would be beyond imagination. I can’t call anyone to this lifestyle. Only God can do that. Only the Lord can put this spiritual DNA in the core of our hearts and churches. It means dying to self, taking up our cross, and following Jesus. [Matt 16:24] It means counting our lives as nothing as we seek to finish the mission and ministry Jesus entrusted to us. [Acts 20:24]

The real question surfaces how committed we are as believers and as local churches to living on mission for God. I know we often give lip service to this but what about in actual living. Do I trust the Lord with my children if He calls them to go to college in a place outside my comfort zone as a parent? Do I trust the Lord enough with His church to willing support and encourage families listening to His call on their lives and sending them out to serve Christ around the world? Do I trust the Lord enough to give generously to help send others even if it means my doing without?

So let me leave this with four specific requests. Most of you reading this are a part of FBC Seminole. I am asking you to prayerfully begin asking the Lord what He would have you give over and above your regular church offerings toward His work in Canada and the Pacific Northwest. Many have signed up to go on the initial trip coming up at the end of April. I am asking you to ask the Lord what He wants you to give and to give that offering by or before April 25^th in the morning service. You have time to make plans to be able to give generously and sacrificially toward His work and sending people on mission. So begin asking the Lord to show you what to give and to make that commitment to give on or before April 25^th.

Second, I am challenging you to listen to the Lord intently about whether He might be calling you to go on a short- term mission trip or whether He might be calling you to go somewhere permanently. Whom is the Lord calling out who might be reading this? [Is 6:8] You could be the one God is calling to get up and go for Him or He might be calling your family. Will you lay your life, your family, and your future on the altar to live on mission for Him? [Ro 12:1]

Third, you can pray fervently for God to call His church to live on mission for Him. You can pray for God to advance the gospel where you live as well as around the world. We need fervent intercessors to call out to God for a fresh outpouring and for people to have the courage to live on mission for Him.

Last, we need to be willing to give up our children and grandchildren for the Lord. They are His. May we adopt the mentality of Paul as we live submitted to Christ. [Phil 1:21]

If we do these things we will be living on mission for God. There is not a greater purpose nor any greater life to live. O Lord, please help us to live on mission for you. Please help us to live for your purpose, your glory, and to advance your kingdom no matter the personal cost or difficulty of obstacles. Live out the remainder of your day on mission.

Living on Mission

I am writing this not just to challenge you to get involved in missions by going on a trip but to live your life on mission for Christ right where you are, in your neighborhood, as well as on foreign soil. I spent a good portion of the day in meetings with a guy we will be partnering with in missions work in the Pacific Northwest here at FBC Seminole. As the needs were laid out it was a little overwhelming. There are far more needs than this one church can meet.

Then a vision formed in my heart. What if a church really lived on mission? I mean a church really lived to plant churches, to advance God’s kingdom, and take the gospel to the ends of the nation and the world. That would mean a membership being on board with living on mission. Part of that would mean taking seriously our responsibility to train future pastors, church planters, and leaders. That might mean parents getting a different vision for their children and sending them to colleges outside the Bible Belt to help live on mission while they are getting their education. It might call for people to retire early so they live out the remainder of their days on mission for God and serving Him full time in their twilight years. It will mean people giving continually and sacrificially to send others on trips when they cannot go themselves. It might even mean several families hearing and responding to God’s call to uproot from life in Texas to follow God to places like Saskatchewan, Spokane, Honduras, Africa, Europe, and Asia.

Living on mission for God is getting in the game, joining the front lines of the spiritual battle for souls and making impact for the kingdom and glory of God. I am excited about this challenge personally. It will mean once again packing a suitcase getting airfare secured and traveling north. It will mean prayerfully trusting Christ to let my life count as well as the life of this church.

If a nation and a world of Christian really lived on mission for God the implications would be beyond imagination. I can’t call anyone to this lifestyle. Only God can do that. Only the Lord can put this spiritual DNA in the core of our hearts and churches. It means dying to self, taking up our cross, and following Jesus. [Matt 16:24] It means counting our lives as nothing as we seek to finish the mission and ministry Jesus entrusted to us. [Acts 20:24]

The real question surfaces how committed we are as believers and as local churches to living on mission for God. I know we often give lip service to this but what about in actual living. Do I trust the Lord with my children if He calls them to go to college in a place outside my comfort zone as a parent? Do I trust the Lord enough with His church to willing support and encourage families listening to His call on their lives and sending them out to serve Christ around the world? Do I trust the Lord enough to give generously to help send others even if it means my doing without?

So let me leave this with four specific requests. Most of you reading this are a part of FBC Seminole. I am asking you to prayerfully begin asking the Lord what He would have you give over and above your regular church offerings toward His work in Canada and the Pacific Northwest. Many have signed up to go on the initial trip coming up at the end of April. I am asking you to ask the Lord what He wants you to give and to give that offering by or before April 25^th in the morning service. You have time to make plans to be able to give generously and sacrificially toward His work and sending people on mission. So begin asking the Lord to show you what to give and to make that commitment to give on or before April 25^th.

Second, I am challenging you to listen to the Lord intently about whether He might be calling you to go on a short- term mission trip or whether He might be calling you to go somewhere permanently. Whom is the Lord calling out who might be reading this? [Is 6:8] You could be the one God is calling to get up and go for Him or He might be calling your family. Will you lay your life, your family, and your future on the altar to live on mission for Him? [Ro 12:1]

Third, you can pray fervently for God to call His church to live on mission for Him. You can pray for God to advance the gospel where you live as well as around the world. We need fervent intercessors to call out to God for a fresh outpouring and for people to have the courage to live on mission for Him.

Last, we need to be willing to give up our children and grandchildren for the Lord. They are His. May we adopt the mentality of Paul as we live submitted to Christ. [Phil 1:21]

If we do these things we will be living on mission for God. There is not a greater purpose nor any greater life to live. O Lord, please help us to live on mission for you. Please help us to live for your purpose, your glory, and to advance your kingdom no matter the personal cost or difficulty of obstacles. Live out the remainder of your day on mission.

Diligence

I was driving down interstate-20 this past week when I got to pondering the word; “diligence.” It can be defined as “perseveringly attentive; assiduous; industrious.” I was listening to a message about the life of Martin Luther. The two things that stuck out to me from that message are his diligence to preach an average of every other day and to write a publishable document every other day even though he was using a quill pen which had to be dipped in ink and scratched onto paper.

Earlier this year while seeking the Lord for personal goals I would set for 2010 three things I sensed the Lord telling me was to be diligent in my in prayer, preaching, and writing ministry. I feel the pressure to be more diligent to keep writing as some of you check this site often to see if we have posted anything new. I feel a burden to write while I have time and life left to write. Once I am gone all I will have left in ministry to a large extent will be my writings. I have long prayed the things I write would be used of the Lord and outlive me standing the test of time.

Instead of being diligent about my writing I often procrastinate and make excuses for the many demands on my time. I have no excuses. I am typing this on a lap top computer in the solitude and silence of my office. Oops I spoke too soon. The phone just rang for me. Back to the task at hand. I have Bible study software on this computer to help me as I study for messages at the click of a button without the endless turning of pages in books (though I still love and use my books.) I have a truck to drive me where as Luther had to walk, ride a horse, or be drawn in a carriage. I have thousands of books in my library and through the internet access to millions of tidbits of information Luther did not have. Despite being the leader of the reformation movement, serving as a preacher, seminary professor, husband, and father, Luther was diligent to write. In 1520 he wrote 133 works. In 1522 he penned an additional 130 works. In 1523 and 1524 he wrote 183 publishable works all with quill pen and bottle of ink. Luther did not know the convenience of computers, spell check, email, texting, and Bible study software. What excuse do I have? If he could be inspired by God, empowered by God, and available to God to be diligent then by the Lord’s power so can I. He would have found it odd to see people seated mindlessly before a television when books, especially the Bible, are left unread and studied, and when letters and documents need to be written, or sermons needed to be prepared..

God is calling me to diligence in writing. I must make the time to write more for Him. Whether it be a blog, working on another book, or writing an article for the Paradise Southern Wise Times newspaper I must be diligent. There are no excuses. I am busy but Luther carried much more responsibility than I. I have a wife and children who need and deserve my attention but so did Luther, in fact, he had six children (one of which died when she was eight months old) and all he did during those years was to preach between and one hundred twenty and two hundred times a year. I have no excuses for not being diligent in my writings. So instead of taking this as my day off I have decided to use Fridays as a writing day. I am devoting my morning to writing.

There are several great synonyms for the word diligent. Hard-working. Industrious. Assiduous. Attentive. Painstaking. How I long for these words to describe my passion and zeal for writing and preaching what the Lord inspires me to share with others. So I sit and hammer away at these keys in the hopes that I will be diligent to my calling and perhaps minister to others along the way.

We are an excuse-ridden society. We make excuses for not exercising, not finishing the books we started reading, or completing the project around the house we started. What we really need is more diligence. Many years ago I set a goal for the number of books I wanted to write in my lifetime. As the years pile up most of those books have remained unwritten and just a compilation of jumbled ideas in my mind. Those ideas beg to be thought through, expressed, and corralled onto the printed page. Which means I must labor assiduously to give thought to those ideas and painstakingly take the time to write. There are no excuses for my lack of diligence.

So how does a husband, father, pastor, and president (of No Compromise Ministries) find time to be an author? I trust God. I just pulled out my journal entry from December 28, 2009. In that entry I wrote what I sensed the Lord saying to me, “Give yourself to prayer, writing, and preaching.” That seems to be the same message I received driving down the road this past week. God wants more diligence from me in writing, studying to preach and as always in prayer. One simple way to do that is to give myself on Fridays to primarily the writing ministry, to make studying for messages the highest priority and to bathe both in prayer. Other things I can do are to limit television watching in light of reading good books and spending more time studying and writing.

One other thought I have received from reading a biography on the life of A.W. Tozer is that he constantly thought. In fact he said a person ought to think ten times as much as a person reads. He was known to carry a little pad with him so as to constantly jot down ideas about things to write or to preach. I just put such a notebook in the pocket of my shirt.

I don’t know what the Lord has called you to be diligent about. For me it is writing, prayer, and preaching not necessarily in that order. What is God calling you to be diligent in? Remember we are to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. [Col 3:17]

Running for Jesus

It was a blustery cold night for a track meet last night but Brenda and the three younger boys and I drove twenty miles to Denver City for Taylor’s first track meet since moving to Seminole. We have often talked about him praying and asking Jesus for help no matter what sport he or his brothers are playing. In our house if you play a sport you play for Jesus or you don’t play. It is not about us but all about Him.

I was proud when he told me he gathered the 1600 meter relay team to pray together before the last race of the evening. He ran the first leg of the race and came in first despite the brisk temperatures and the stiff headwind coming down the homestretch. I am proud of his performance but more proud that he runs for Jesus.

Isn’t that what life is all about? No matter what we do are we not supposed to do things for Jesus to bring glory to Him? Scripture challenges us on this point. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” [I Cor 10:31] I have a friend who makes buckles, spurs, and jewelry and this is the verse he puts on his business cards. When he is building his products he does so for the glory of God just like Taylor runs for the glory of God. I have been reading a book for the third time about the life of A.W. Tozer. When Tozer wrote or preached he did it for the glory of God. The crowds flocked to hear him preach and raved about his sermons but he deflected that praise back to God. He labored over his sermon offerings and prayerfully presented them to the Lord in order to give God His absolute best. God has chosen to preserve some of those messages for us in the form of books and I have one audio recording of a sermon series he preached. His labors of love have outlived Him because they were bathed in prayer and offered for the glory of God. There are plenteous sermons and sermonizers who do it for the glory of themselves. Heaven will test the quality of each man’s work. [I Cor 3:10-15]

Paul reminds us to everything for Jesus in [Col 3:17] “And whatever you do in the word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” That means as I write this I must do so for the glory of Jesus and not in hopes that people will pat me on the back or applaud a job well done. When I mow my lawn later this weekend I must do it for the glory of God and do it with excellence. When I preach on Sunday I need do it in the name of Jesus for His honor and not to hear praise from people.

My boys are active in children’s sports. Brenda have spent a lot of hours in basketball gyms, bleachers at football stadiums, and at baseball fields. We have seen very few children or parents who play for the glory of God. We all want our children to be successful or to play to have fun but what about glorifying God with our children and their sports, piano recitals, as well as choir and band efforts. At a young age we need to teach them that life is not about them but rather about the glory of God being promoted. When God blesses and enables them to succeed they should be quick to point people to Jesus from the platform they have been given. Do they see that attitude modeled in us?

One way we as adults can do this is to set that example ourselves. Do we constantly deflect the praise of people to the Lord? Truth is, we like the attention and the praise. Do we cook, clean, mow, work, study, serve, give, play, recreate, and live for the glory of God. It is a shallow and fleeting thing to live for the glory of our selves. Don’t believe me. Let me throw out a couple of names and you can see. Marilynn Monroe. I was flipping through the television channels the other night and came across a movie with her in it. It was an old black and white movie pretty shabbily made. There are no indications that I have read that she lived her life for the glory of God. I even read one story where she rejected the message of God’s love and forgiveness. Now, she is gone. Yes, there are a few movies left behind and some photographs but what did she send ahead for eternity? What about John Wayne? I read a book about his life once and he commented that he had no need for Jesus. He too left some movies behind but what did he do that will last for eternity. Their fame was fleeting. They are no longer headline news anymore and most of their movies are seldom showed anymore.

It is time to call this mad and self-centered world back to reality. We were created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That means that there must be a comprehensive change in our focus and our priorities. I contrast Marilynn Monroe and John Wayne with Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy who both played college football unashamedly for the glory of God. Tebow and McCoy used their influence to point fans to a greater reality than themselves; namely Jesus Christ.

I was also proud last night because Taylor had his best meet ever throwing the shot put. He threw further than he has ever thrown and won first place. He told me all night people were coming up to him from other schools calling him a beast or Hercules. He would tell them that he was no Hercules. He commented that he worked hard and trusted God to help him. He threw for the glory of God.

If a fourteen-year old athlete can get his mind wrapped around that truth I know we as adults can do the same. When the watching crowds comment on the success of our businesses, farms, careers, or even our children we MUST give God the credit and the glory. As God grows this church and saves people I give God the glory.

Let me close with this. A few weeks ago I got an email from someone in the church. The last line simply said, “You are awesome.” I immediately replied by saying, “I am not awesome. I serve an awesome God who has and continues to do an awesome work in me and who chooses to use me in awesome ways. He is awesome and I am just His servant.” Like John the Baptist said, “He must increase and I must decrease.” [Jn 3:30] Thank you Taylor and John the Baptist for reminding us to live and run for the glory of God.

Circle of Faith

Two nights ago I sat around a table with some fellow believers for an old-fashioned prayer meeting. We circled up and linked our faith together to cry out to God on behalf of other people. There was one particular burden we each lifted fervently. We called out to the Lord of the Universe on behalf of one who really needs a fresh touch from God. There was urgency in that little circle of faith. Each prayed in agreement and faith was high as those petitions were lifted before the throne of grace. [Heb 4:16] “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.”

Tears flowed that night. Hearts burned with the love of God and the hope of His omnipotent power to be manifested. A spiritual war ensued in the spiritual realm as the needy were lifted before the throne of God. This was not an everybody go around the circle and pray a token prayer kind of meeting. This was a bold and desperate kind of meeting. The prayers are not remembered for their eloquence but more for their passion and fervency. Hearts were reclaimed in the name of Jesus, hope was restored according to His word, and love was expressed and shared in that room.

Testimonies have already begun coming in about how God is working. Now is not the time to let up. We need more circles of faith throughout Gaines County and all over the nation and the world. Surely you could spare some time each week to be a part of your own circle of faith. I urge you to find a few fellow believers and develop your own circle of faith. So much is at stake. We must keep the circle of faith unbroken.

Get on the walls and do not let circle of faith be broken. Take your turn to cry out on behalf of those who need to be touched by God. The times are desperate and call for desperate measures. Gather in your circles of faith and plead for God to intervene.

Leisha’s Kitchen

I’m sitting in Leisha’s Young kitchen from Paradise, TX. I drove to Dallas yesterday to check on a lady who had surgery from Seminole and then drove over to Paradise where I spent the night. Sitting around the table last night with Leisha, her husband Ren and Darrell Rutledge we laughed, reminisced, but most importantly we prayed together. In many ways it seems just like yesterday I was sitting in this same house after church on a Sunday night fellowshipping over great food with great friends but in reality it has been six months.

Leisha has the gift of hospitality and she uses it well and often. She and Ren have opened their home for youth events, to guest preachers, and of late to me when I needed a place to stay before heading back west. Leisha has the knack for making you feel special and for going out of her way to serve you. In that respect she is so much like Jesus. She is a giver and looks for opportunities to make people feel loved and appreciated. For example she knows I love salsa and especially hers. She had a bowl waiting with fresh chips when I arrived around 7:00 p.m. last night.

Last night we prayed together for the man who will become the next pastor of FBC Paradise around her kitchen table.. As I sit at her table this morning writing this I cannot help but smile thinking of that new pastor coming into this house and sitting at this table to share love, scrumptious food, and many memories.

Leisha is only one of hundreds of people who blessed our lives while we ministered in Paradise. She simply used her gifts and expressed the love of God in tangible ways. What if we could all learn to do those simple things? What if we could all learn to use our gifts often for the Lord? You may not have the gift of hospitality but God has given you a gift. Maybe your gift is to teach or your gift might be to encourage other people. You might have the gift of mercy to be used to help those people who need a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. Perhaps you have been blessed with the gift of evangelism or discernment or even giving. What your gift is not the point but finding ways to use that gift in service for Christ is keenly important. How might the Lord want to use you today to touch some other life?

I find many people who sit in the pews not only do not know what their spiritual gifts are, but they also seem disinterested in learning what they are or in putting them to use. Leisha uses her gift at church to cook on Wednesday nights and she went on three mission trips to cook meals for the mission teams that went to Canada. She cooked the church staff a special holiday appreciation meal I will never forget. If she can use her gift to the glory of God to impact people I would hope you and I would do the same right where we are.

I know my primary spiritual gift is the gift of faith. I hope to use it as I pray for people and lead the church forward. Leisha inspires me but more importantly Christ in Leisha inspires me. I want to honor the Lord with the gifts He has entrusted to me. I have no doubt that when Leisha stands before the Lord and gives an account of how she lived her life she will hear the words, “WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT. I am not suggesting she is perfect. I am only saying that she uses her gift to touch people and for God.

The other thing we can learn from Leisha is how to express love in many tangible ways. She constantly sent Brenda and I cards, baked us pies (she even sent a jar of salsa and two coconut cream pies with someone else who was coming to visit, and of course made us jars of salsa. We always felt loved and appreciated by her as well as countless others in Paradise. What if we all went out of our way on a consistent basis to express love tangibly to those around us. You could send an email, write a card, bake some cookies, or all sorts of other things. Even as I write this, she just slid a plate of homemade breakfast tacos right in front of me and went through the extra effort to frost a mug in the freezer because she knows I love chocolate milk in a frosted glass. She does not think of herself first but thinks of others first. I am so blessed and honored to know her. That means it is time to wrap this up and use my gift of eating.

Here is the point. Use your gifts. Express love tangibly. Lord, thank you for another day in Leisha’s kitchen.