Thanks to all those who were praying for our youth meeting. i do not have time to write a full report but will have one up by the end of Monday. I was a little late getting to church because this happened at dinner.

My wife and I began to weep as we watched our first child get saved by God’s grace.  Believe it or not, the night just got better from there!

Edward Kimball, a faithful Sunday school teacher in Chicago, Illinois, driven by a heavy burden, finally decided to share the gospel with a young shoe salesman by the name of Dwight Moody. Moody prayed to receive Christ as his Savior that day, and later became one of the most passionate preachers of his generation. Some time later, a well-known author, by the name of F. B. Meyer was so moved by the might and power in the message of Moody that he embarked on the evangelistic trail with the message of the gospel. Of the many who came to a saving knowledge through Meyer’s ministry was a young college student by the name of Wilbur Chapman, and Chapman went out to proclaim the message of Jesus.

During one of the evangelistic tent meetings held by Chapman, a young ball player hired to help erect the tents was ignited by the gospel message and influenced to step out with all his life’s energy to take that gospel to all. That sportsman was the famous Billy Sunday. Sunday’s zeal for the gospel took him at one point to Charlotte, North Carolina, where a small prayer group was formed after one of Sunday’s meetings. Mordecai Hamm, a member of that men’s prayer group, was moved to become an answer to his own prayer for laborers by holding crusades throughout the city of Charlotte. At one crusade where few converts were won, the message did transform the life of one tall lanky boy who became one of the world’s greatest gospel preachers to this day—Billy Graham (Wilson 1984).

I have listened to this over and over for the past couple days listen download. How I sometimes long to be in a service that had this kind of call for holiness. One of the words we got for 2006 regarded holiness and I have been convicted yet again.

Everybody knows where the major players are but does anyone know what happened to Charity James after the Brownsville Revival (She sang Mercy Seat every night)?

Anybody know?

Buddist to Christian. glory to God
Full story here
Here is a snippet:

Anyway, back to the story? On July 12, when I was in Sec2, I went for cell like on every other Monday afternoon. I’m not sure who was there, the usual people I guess. We started with icebreakers (i don’t remember what we did) and then began worship. The theme was on evangelism. First we sang “It is now”. Then we sang “Take me in”.

Take me past the outer courts
Into the sacred place
Past the brazen altar
Lord, I want to see your face
Take me past the crowds of people
Who long to sing your praise
I hunger and thirst for your righteousness
But it’s only found one place

So take me in, to the holy of holies
Take me in by the blood of the lamb
So take m in, to the holy of holies
Take the coal, cleanse my lips
Here I am

those last two lines. “Take the coal, cleanse my lips, Here I am.”
I sang it and I cried. My eyes were opened, and I saw how terrible what I had done was. I had betrayed the trust of my friends, I had manipulated their feelings for my own sake, so that I could feel good, so that I could satisfy my own stupid desires for attention and pity.
I knelt there and cried. I don’t really remember what happened next, everything passed a blur. I remember there was a third song, but I don’t remember what. I don’t think I absorbed a single word of word that day either. All that went through my head was knowing what I had to do.

This is a good read.

You can find this article here

December 19, 2005
Helping North Koreans Defect Is Easy Part, Missionaries Find
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
SEOUL, South Korea - In from the freezing cold on a recent Sunday morning, sitting on the heated floor of a cozy apartment in northeast Seoul, the North Korean defector seldom looked up at the South Korean missionary who had been trying, for the last year, to convert him to the Christian faith.

The North Korean mechanically checked the messages on his Samsung cellphone and restrained his two daughters from using hymn sheets as telescopes to peer at the half-dozen North Koreans in the home church.

When the South Korean started strumming his guitar and led his congregation in a hymn, the North Korean’s lips barely moved, even as a young man next to him raised his hands, palms up, and intoned, “Can’t replace the Lord with anything!”
(more…)

Melinda Henneberger writes a piece in Newsweek about the upcomming letter by the Catholic church barring gay priests from ordination. In it, she makes a bold point.

The position of the Catholic church is not a new one. They have always disallowed homosexuals from being a priest. Many disagree with this policy and don’t abide by it.

But do they also disagree with not being liar? Knowing that they can’t be gay and be a priest, they disregard the rules and are priests anyway. They lie about keeping the church rules.

Believers are alowed to disagree, even strongly. But we are not permitted to be rebelious and liars. For these reasons alone they should be defrocked, but I think homosexuality is reason enough.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9506035/site/newsweek/

Is it mere coincidence that this massive hurricane destroyed one of America’s most perverse redlight districts? Is it just the luck of the draw that those casinos were tossed? Was it just wordplay when news broadcasters said there was disaster of “Biblical Proportions?”

Yes.

Was Katrina the judgement of God? Quick answer, No.

Jesus is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. It is impossible to intercede and judge at the same time.

Surely the judgement of God will fall upon the earth but it did not happen in August of 2005. If the judgement of God came upon a city there would be no escaping, no evacuation, no rescue, no roving journalists. It would be unmistakable.

In the coming weeks you will surely see the prophets of doom declare the vengeance of our God but do not be fooled by their words of judgement.

Yes, casinos were destroyed. Yes, avenues of decadent perversion have been swamped. For this I do not mourn. They say it will take months for New Orleans and Biloxi to get back to normal. I hope they never do. I pray that this catastrophe will cause people to realize that time is short and they need to turn their hearts to God. I hope the church will show the love of Jesus with uncompromised truth for His glory.

There was a great wave of revival after earthquakes destroyed San Francisco in the early 20th century, but God did not cause that event either. He used that earthquake to wake sinners from their slumber. I hope He will do the same with Katrina.

Ran across this testimony of Johnny Lee Clary at the religion news blog.

He was a former KKK grand wizard but got saved and baptized in the Holy Ghost.

He appeared as a Klan rep on several talk shows but now he preaches the Gospel. Glory to God!