One of the all time best preaching experiences I’ve had was in a holiness campmeeting in North Carolina. The campmeeting was well over 100 years old. In every way but one they were typical of campmeetings that I have been in all over the country. What set them apart was that they rented their facility all year long to a biker’s ministry.
AND THE BIKERS PARTICIPATED IN THE CAMPMEETING! Continue reading
“When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
But the more they were called,
the more they went away from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense t0 images.
Hosea 11:1,2
A recent study indicated that 70% of us have a father wound. Continue reading
This morning as I was walking in to church to put the final touches on my sermon, I ran into our worship leader. He said: “Do you want to hear the most freeing truth of all? There is absolutely nothing I can do, good or bad, that will change God’s heart of love for me! He is love, that will never change.” Continue reading
My first year in ministry was in a little Methodist church in Sharptown, NJ. It was one of the most fruitful years of my life. Here’s why…
After a Sunday service, a precious elderly woman came to me and handed me a browned and fragile piece of paper. She said: “The Lord told me that I have carried this long enough and that I should give it to you now.”
When I opened it, I found these words:
Lord lay some soul upon my heart, and love that soul through me
May I bravely do my part, to win that soul for Thee
Give to me Your love for souls, for lost and wandering sheep
That I may see the multitudes, and weep as Thou didst weep
Help me to see the tragic plight, of those far off in sin
Help me to pray, help me to go, to bring the wandering in
O fire of love, O flame divine, make Thy abode in me
Burn in my life, burn evermore, til I burn out for Thee
From off the altar of Thy heart, Take Thou some flaming coal
Touch my life and give me Lord, a heart that’s hot for souls
I spent the next year reading through the Bible with this prayer: “Give me a heart that’s hot for souls as I study Your Word.”
I was amazed at how the Scripture opened up to me. I saw things I had never seen before. The Holy Spirit sealed in me that year that we have a Father who is unwilling that ANY of His little ones perish!
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is found in John 21. Peter had been fishing all night without catching any fish. From the beach, Jesus instructed Peter to cast the net on the other side of the boat.
Peter caught 156 Fish!
When Peter got the fish to shore, he saw that Jesus already had fish cooking.
How did Jesus get His fish?
I think He just needed a frying pan and his index finger. He commanded those fish to jump right out of the ocean into his frying pan!
Jesus looked over at Peter’s fish and said,
“What do you have there? Do you have some fish? Why don’t you bring some of yours and put it with mine. We’ll eat together.”
I love that! Jesus didn’t need their fish, but he let them mix what they had with what He had.
To me that has become an illustration of ministry. He doesn’t need anything that we have. But He lets us use our meager gifts and invites us to let them mix with all that He has so that people can be fed.
Jesus is awesome!
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