A Climb up Blood Mountain

Spent the day on Friday hiking up Blood Mountain on the Appalachian Trail.  Cool day, not too hot.

Had a memory of my first hike up this mountain 41 years ago.  I had been on a 26-day outdoor survival course called Operation Upstream during the summer between 9th and 10th grade which taught hiking, camping, rock climbing, repelling, orienteering, eating off the land, and water safety on a white-water river.  The hike came at the end of a 13-mile hike from our Base Camp.

It was a great day with the Lord.  It did seem easier 41 years ago after a 13-mile hike than today.

New Broadcast in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

The A Word from the Lord 25-Minute Weekly Broadcast and our One-Minute Message will be testing on WRNN - 99.5 FM and WRNN (ESPN) 1450 AM in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina this Sunday. The 25-Minute Program will run at 8:00 a.m. and the One-Minute Message will running throughout the afternoon on nationally syndicated talk shows.  If all goes well, we will begin a regular broadcast each week and the One-Minute Messages will play all seven days.  Thanks to Digity Media for helping make this happen!!

A Few Words From Agnes Sanford

Picked up Behold Your God (Copyright 1958) by Agnes Sanford.  Here are a few of her comments which I found thoughtful.

Keep the mind firmly and unwaveringly fixed on Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself is the express image of God.

We can run into danger if we seek for signs instead of seeking for God.

Hold before Him the work that you intend doing today with this mind that He has given you for a tool.

Prayer is not a matter of getting what we want the most. Prayer is a matter of giving ourselves to God and learning His laws, so that He can do through us what He wants the most.  And as we live in Him, we will more and more want what He wants.

But why does God depend upon our faith for the perfecting of His will?  That is His business.  I do not know.

There are times... when we should focus our attention not on the things that are beautiful and good but on the dust on the window-panes of our souls, so that we can wipe away that dust and increase our receptivity to the light of God's love.

He did not die so that we could become "sinners of all times," but so that we could become saints.

There is only one type of person who is hopeless, and that is the one who thinks he is already perfect.

Gratitude is a virtue and ingratitude is a sin -- the sin that Shakespeare described as being, "sharper than a serpent's tooth."

The greatest and most abiding gift is the gift of ourselves to God, that in the Name of Jesus Christ, we may learn to help and to comfort others as we have been comforted and helped.

Preaching at Asbury Seminary

I recently had the privilege of preaching to seminarians at Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. This challenge to future leaders in the service of God on their most important service can be heard going to Asbury's YouTube Channel at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/chapel/id438486434?i=311780048&mt=2.  Click on #15.

Was There Really a Resurrection?

May's Newspaper Column....

 Just recently billions of Christians all over the world gathered to remember and
celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and millions of Christians are
still celebrating as they live out the great 50 Days of the Season of
Easter.  Jesus had been executed by
the Roman government on a cross outside Jerusalem for his claim of being the
Messiah (Mark 14:61).  He had said
he would rise on the third day, and to his follower’s shock, he actually
did.  Today, as back then, there
are many who don’t believe it.

There are those who make it their ambition to demonstrate that Christianity is a
hoax, and that the Church has been deceiving people throughout its
history.  They conveniently ignore the eyewitness accounts of people who saw first-hand the risen Jesus.  They ignore the archeological discoveries which demonstrate communities which were transformed by believing in the resurrected Jesus. They ignore the changed lives which this resurrected
Jesus has affected throughout the years, and they ignore the personal
experience which people still have with the risen Christ.

The Gospel message is that Jesus Christ (the Messiah) entered the human race, lived
as one of us, died on a Roman cross for sins of humanity (even mine!), and rose
again by the power of the Holy Spirit.  The apostle Paul wrote to the first century believers in Rome:  “I
am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation
of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Romans
1:16).  What was true then is still true today.  For those who believe,
they discover that Jesus is really alive. This is not just a matter of
intellectual assent; it is also a matter of belief (of faith).  One can learn all the historical,
archaeological, and scholarly data, but it always comes back to a simple step
of faith. You have to believe.

 The risen Jesus said to the church in Laodicea and he says to us: “Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in
and eat with him and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).  For those who receive Him today, they
discover his resurrection isn’t a hoax on a personal basis.  He brings forgiveness of our sins, peace of mind and spirit, and an intimate relationship with the Living God of the universe.

Do your homework!  Know the facts; this is important!  But don’t just

leave it there.  Enter into a dynamic personal relationship with the God who still raises people from the dead.

From Letters & Papers from Prison

I believe that God can and will bring good out of evil, even the greatest evil.  For that purpose He needs men who will make the best use of everything.  

I believe that God will give us all the strength we need to help us to resist in times of distress.  But He never gives it in advance, lest we should rely on ourselves and not on Him alone.  A faith such as this should allay all our fears for the future.

I believe that even our mistakes and shortcomings are turned to good account, and that it is no harder for God to deal with them than with our supposedly good deeds.

I believe that God is no timeless fate, but that He waits for and answers sincere prayers and responsible actions.  --- Dietrich Bonhoeffer 

GOD'S NOT DEAD

Just saw the movie, God's Not Dead.  Well done!  Go see it.

Here's the trailer...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMjo5f9eiX8