The Decision Card Count is in! – Freetown, Sierra Leon

…She read it to herself over and over, “God so loved the world that He gave.” She liked it so much that she kept it close to her heart and read it every day. She was raised to know that God was just, and Holy, that He hates sin and is angry with the sinner, but she had never read that God loved her so much that He gave…although she did not know what exactly He had given. This revelation brought such joy to her heart that she was singing, and her mother noticing the happy little girl asked, “What is the matter with you?” “Oh mother it is wonderful,” she said, pulling out the little sliver of paper. “Read what it says…‘God so loved the world that He gave.’” “Gave what?” her mother asked. “I don’t know, but if He loved me enough that He gave anything at all, I will never be afraid of Him again.” (…Continued)

The word “repent” means to turn around, to change one’s mind and direction, but many believers think that repentance is only for the heathen. Some teach that repentance is not necessary for the believer and even demonstrates a lack of confidence in the finished work of the cross. Such teaching demonstrates a profound lack of understanding and robs it’s followers of one of the most powerful secrets to a victorious Christian life.

It is no side issue that Jesus walked with his disciples for 3 years. He could have just randomly selected a group of young men to send to the upper room or written his own Gospel and sent it far and wide the by hands of couriers. He could have held a 50 minute class every day for anyone to attend and in this way he would have had far more students. Instead He chose only 12 men…few enough that He could give Himself to them wholly. He lived with them day and night. He gave them more than teachings and instructions, He gave them Himself. His desire was that they would not merely be teachers or preachers about Him, but rather “witnesses” unto Him. In fact Jesus even told John’s disciples to report back to him what they had HEARD and SEEN; that is to say, what they had personally experienced……(Continued)

Someone once posed the question to me; “What is greater…Evangelism or Worship?” They believed that worship was greater because through evangelism we minister to one another, but through worship we minister to God. As a former worship pastor I have thought about this a lot.

I have often said that the true depth of Christian’s spirituality is not determined by how enthusiastically they dance during the worship service or how loudly they sing. As much as I love modern music I must confess…pulsating rhythms, flashing lights and smoke machines are not worship (this applies to pipe organs, choirs and hymns as well). All of these things are but tools we use in an attempt to provoke worship. Unfortunately, often they are more of a distraction than anything and if you could escape their clatter for a moment and truly become intimate enough with God to draw near and lay your head on his chest and hear his heartbeat, this is what it would sound like: SAL-VA-TION, SAL-VA-TION, SAL-VA-TION. God loves the world SO MUCH that He gave His only begotten Son. Could there be a more ardent exclamation of God’s deepest desire?…..(Continued)

I’ve just arrived in Singapore and very jet-lagged, but I thought I would quickly post this 15th century poem by Sir Francis Drake…a dangerous prayer to pray…

Disturb us Lord,
When we are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore…….(Continued)

So I’ve decided that it’s time to get back in shape and my method of choice is a 90-day workout and diet plan called P90X. One unique feature of this program is that all the workouts are on video and you follow along with a virtual room full of muscle bound athletes that seem to chuckle at you condescendingly as you struggle with your 6th chin up.

A couple of days ago, my 6-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter were joined by their mother who decided that they wanted to exercise with me and so the four of us together were warming up for a invigorating plyometric workout. We were only about 5 minutes into the video – still somewhere in the stretches – when my son turned to me with great excitement and said, “Hey dad look…you almost got muscles…look at your elbows!”.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, I want to apologize for the long stretch of silence. I am fine and everything is going great. Actually my spirit is full of things to say, but the time to write has been illusive. As a ministry, we have been involved in intensive preparations for the next season of Gospel Campaigns, which will result in literally millions of salvations. Also, since I wrote last, we have had some incredible meetings in Europe; Belgium and the U.K. Even now I am in Germany on an extended ministry tour that will take us around the globe. Thank you for continuing to pray for our team as we go in obedience to the call……(Continued)

Often the gifts and miracles have been thought of as being intended only for a small group of elite Christians with big ministries and full-time preaching careers. But in the early Church, even the ushers were walking in this power! Why? Because they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Power was part in parcel of the Christian experience. It was for the layman, for the businessman, for the blue-collar and white-collar workers. It was for everyone! The power of the Holy Spirit was not considered something extraordinary, but something normal and expected. Today the unfortunate reality is that many people think it is a rare gift if their pastor has integrity and wisdom…forget being full of faith and demonstrating miracles…..(Continued)

Let’s think about committees for a moment. Although I am on more committees than I can probably name off the top of my head, I view them all with suspicion. Why? Because committees tend to operate by consensus, which is all-too-often a barrier against inspiration. Let’s face it: committees are known to make mistakes. Case in point: When Oswald J. Smith died in his late 90’s, Billy Graham preached his funeral and told the large, assembled crowd, “We are here to honor the greatest missionary mind of the 20th century.” Yet, when Smith, in his early 20’s, applied to his denomination for missions appointment, that committee rejected him out-of-hand, reporting, “Sorry, you are not missions material!” All of watching Heaven must have greeted that decision with a resounding, “HA!”

Recently a top American politician was asked on a live television interview who her favorite founding father (of the United States) is and she had no answer…she was blank! It was apparently something she had not given very much thought to and it reflected very badly on her because a person at her level of national influence is expected to be able to demonstrate a love for the country and it’s history, as evidenced (in the very least) by a working knowledge of it. I felt very embarrassed for her….(Continued)