Prayers for Revival in Belle Glade

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by

The Glades have been through a really difficult week or so with the murder of local business owner, Jimmy McMillan, followed by the armed robbery of a jewelry store the very next day. This is on the heels of an extremely bad 2011 with far too many violent crimes including a Saturday in December with two homicides in less than 12 hours. We are praying for a revival in this place and an end to the violence!

Here are some videos from just one of the news stations that were camped out in our church parking lot for the last few days at the visitation and funeral on Thursday and Friday as well as Monday night as we held a prayer walk for the Glades that went from our church to the Community United Methodist Church.

We are praying for an end to the senseless violence in our community. We are praying that there will be real revival here in the Glades that will be rooted in the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is beginning to happen here in the Church community is truly amazing! We are beginning to see true revival and repentance in the Christian community here in the Glades. The last three nights have seen three very powerful prayer events at three different churches in our community. What has been absolutely amazing is the start of an amazing unity that is being formed that goes far beyond race, economics and denominational affiliation.

We had a really good crowd on Monday night (which you could see on the video.) I was praying that we would not have a “let down” in attendance tonight as many of these things have a tendency to wain over time. I was absolutely amazed to see EVEN MORE people there tonight to go from Community United Methodist Church, past the Alabama Georgia Grocery (where the store owner was murdered), to St. John’s First Missionary Baptist Church. It was beautiful to see all races and ages gather together under the name of Jesus to beg God to touch our community. As pastor Robert Reese, pastor of St. John’s, said tonight, “this is a picture of what heaven might be like!”

Please be in prayer for Belle Glade and the communities of the Glades as we try to minister to this hurting community. We are having a prayer walk or prayer vigil each night through MLK celebration on Monday. I am feeling like we are going to have larger and larger crowds each night. I hope we can maintain this momentum and that the people will see a unified group of Christians here in the Church in the Glades.

Here are some pictures from the last several nights’ prayer meetings… (quality isn’t great…iPhone 3Gs…waiting for the iPhone 5 and Siri 🙂

 

KC Church Responds to Murders

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , /by

Talk about a church and a pastor that is living out the gospel in its context! Pastor John Mark Clifton and the Wornall Road Baptist Church in Kansas City are having a “Longest Night” event to pray for the over 100 homicides in Kansas City this year. They are gathering to pray for the victims and their families as well as peace over their city. Check out their story of a church almost at death just 5 short years ago that has been reborn and is thriving, and making a huge impact in their community. They are a great motivation for me as I lead our church through similar change. Check them out on their website.

Secret Church Simulcast TONIGHT

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , /by

I am really excited about the Simulcast tonight of Secret Church taught by David Platt. Jenny and I are headed over to the BSU at MSSU to study “The Crucifixion, Salvation, and the Glory of God” tonight. Here is a sneak preview of the topic. The title of the video is “Good Friday,” written and performed by Chris Brooks.  Good stuff indeed.

Soundtrack

/1 Comment/in , , , , , , , , , /by

Student Weekend at FBC Oronogo–Saturday Night I preached on the Disciple’s Identity: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” out of Colossians 1:27. The students had been out all day serving at Ronald McDonald House and Watered Gardens; which is really cool to see them getting out into their community to serve. Again, the worship time was really sweet.

I am reminded when I am at these kind of worship experiences of the “soundtrack” of our lives. Read more

Good Friday Secret Church

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , /by

I have several friends who live in Birmingham and attend The Church at Brook Hills, where David Platt is the pastor. Dr. Platt is an unbelievable Bible teacher and preacher that is passionate about the Word of God changing hearts all over the world.

One of the really cool ministries that he implemented early on in his tenure as pastor is Secret Church. Read more

Obama delivers major speech on personal faith

/2 Comments/in , , , /by

It is so interesting that so many people in the US believe that President Obama isn’t a Christian, but a Muslim. I wonder where those beliefs come from? In an age of so much information, there is also a ton of mis-information as well. Here is what the President said this week at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. You can see the full article By Dan Gilgoff, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor, in the link below. Read more

Pray for the Becks at Purdue BCM

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

beck familyPlease pray for the Becks today! They are serving Jesus in West Lafayette, IN at the Purdue BCM. Ben is my first cousin on my mother’s side. He and I were best men in each other’s weddings way back in the summer of 1995 (It was a very good year!). They are NAMB missionaries and I came across them on the Winter PrayerGram for students/collegiate ministries. If you think about it today, say a prayer for them and the students at Purdue that need to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ while they are attending college.

Love you guys!!

Here is the PrayerGram (after the jump)

Read more

Great Commission 2020

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

greatcommission

Check out this “live” picture of the advance of the Gospel around the world!? Pretty amazing stuff!

I just spent several minutes praying for each person that popped up on the map; whether it be a believer logging on to see the progress or a report of a new believer in Christ.? What a powerful way to leverage technology for the cause of the Great Commission!

Global Media Outreach is a global ministry formed to present the good news of Jesus Christ over the Internet. Our staff of 60 is located in Silicon Valley (San Jose) California, Orlando, Florida and Houston, Texas. We have more than 5,000 online missionaries who respond to emails coming in from gospel and discipleship websites.

Our goal is to stay on the cutting edge of emerging technologies and use these technologies to reach the world for Christ. People need Christ all over the world. For many people, it is difficult to find a church, or they may not feel comfortable connecting in person. Each day, millions of searches are done on the Internet for spiritual terms. ?I need God???Who is Jesus? ??prayer?? people are searching around the world. Every day, thousands of people come to one of our websites. Many are searching for God; some have specific questions; others just want to know more. We present the gospel in over 100 languages. In many languages, we have online missionaries available to respond to those who e-mail us. Our goal is to help those who contact us find Christ and then to help them grow in their Christian faith and perhaps become connected to a local church. For more information, visit us at http://www.globalmediaoutreach.com.

Great Commission 2020.

Don’t Be Discouraged

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by

Wow, I really needed to read this post from Kem Meyer this morning. ?I have been pretty discouraged lately for a myriad of reasons. ?I don’t want to simply use this blog to whine to the 3 1/2 people who might read it, but I have been in a particular whiny mood lately.

However, I have been trying to immerse myself in the Word lately to combat the negative thoughts out of my mind. ?Several of the tools I use are on the iPhone…pretty cool…and I have it with me pretty much all of the time.

YouVersionTITLE

Bible.IsTitleBibleVersesVerse

Bible Reading::I am using YouVersion from the LifeChurch.tv guys to read the “Professor Horner’s Bible Reading Plan.”

It is very similar to the 5 Lane Reading Plan I have used in the past.

Hear the Word::Another cool app that I have on my phone to listen to the Word while I am working is Bible.Is from Faith Comes from Hearing. ?It is really cool. ?There are several versions of audio Bibles that you can listen to through your phone. ?I have found that to be a great way to really immerse my life in the Word rather than immerse my life in sports talk radio. ?(That doesn’t mean I don’t still get my share of talk radio, however.)

Memorize the Word::A fellow pastor friend of mine showed me this app and how it has helped him so much to really live out the Word and it has been a great thing for me as well. ?I am using Bible Verses to memorize Scripture. ?There are several different versions out there, but I like this particular app because I can choose which translation and it is also put together like the old Navigators Bible Memory System with different categories, etc. ?There is also a cool feature that allows you to make the verse all blanks and you can click each blank to reveal the correct word to help you memorize better.

Reading books::I am currently reading The Land Between by Jeff Manion on my Kindle. ?I saw his talk at Leadership Summit a couple of weeks ago and it really resonated with me while I am waiting in this “Land Between.” ?It is based on the story of the Israelites and the Exodus. ?Great stuff!

We also got a “well-timed” letter from some great friends that was a photocopy of a chapter in A Gentle Thunder by Max Lucado. ?One of the key passages in the chapter that really spoke to me was a summary of the Exodus in Deuteronomy 8.

2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.?3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

So tell me, how do you deal with discouragement in your life? Feel free to leave a comment.

Dont let discouragement pile up. Guard your heart – Kem Meyer on Less Clutter & Noise.

Pray for Elections in Sudan today!

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

Please be in prayer for the elections that are occurring today in Sudan.? They are the first free elections that they will have had in 24 years.? The presidency is at stake with the current president Omar al-Bashir; having allegations of ties to Osama Ben Laden as well as being charged by the International Crimes Court for crimes against humanity .? The elections are being monitored by international oversight, including former President Jimmy Carter.? There is substantial fear that these elections are not fair, free elections because several of the other opposition party candidates have dropped out of the race.

Rob Wegner, Pastor of Life Mission at Granger Community Church says it better than I can on his post this morning…

Would you take a minute and pray for an upset right now? Elections are occuring as you read this.

This election does concern us. We serve a Global God and that makes us a Global People.? First and foremost, we are citizens of the international Kingdom of God. We do have skin in the game in Sudan. Right now, without leaving your computer, you can exercise a global influence through prayer. From the light of eternity, we will be shocked to discover that some of our most influential moments were the moments spent in secret prayer, unnoticed by the masses, but duly noted by our Maker.. . .

EnterMission has been fueling a grassroots church planting movement in Sudan for the last two years.? Currently,

?we have 125 church planters in training,

?who have personally shared the Good News with more than 34,000 people.

?.Out of that number over 7,500 have joined on-going Bible Studies, which will be transitioned into new churches.

?Over 2,950 men and women have been baptized into the faith and

? already 32 churches are up and running!

This is where the hope for Sudan ultimately lies, not in a government, but a Kingdom, a peaceable Kingdom.

As everything else has fallen apart in Sudan, the Church has not only remained, but thrived. In many communities, our church planters are the ones providing food, shelter, clean water, and even, education.

Let us pray today for our brothers and sisters in Sudan.? That as the words of this young man in the video says, “that we might have peace.”

Amen.? So let it be.

Salam Sudan from World Relief NEXT on Vimeo.