24 years...

Monday, May 26th, Sandy and I celebrated 24 years of marriage... yes sir that is a statement of sheer signs, wonders and miracles that she has put up with me for almost half of my life. I never dreamed God could give me such a blessing to have her as my soul mate, helper and the love of my life. She has been so faithful to me and our kids... but her greatest accolade is her faithfulness to the Lord. I listened to her talk the other day about how shocked she was that some people wanted to go see a movie that was let's say crude and raunchy. She was appauled that grown women with families would lower themselves to watch filth. Again I saw in her life a standard of holiness that God put in her at a young age that attracted me to her. I tell my boys if you find a young chaste virgin that God brings into your life, move quickly to marry her to allow God to bring you his blessing of balance and double power. God has developed her into a Proverbs 31 woman and I praise her for her single eyed faithfulness to me. We have been all over the world together living our dream. I just could not ask for anything better than to be with that girl.

I am always flirting with her too... keep your marriage fresh. I ask her constantly does she have a boyfriend? She says no...Do you want one? Again she emphatically says no... Can I hold your hand? No... What will it take for you to go out with me? Forget it man... next thing I know you will want to get married and have 4 kids! I think you get the picture...

Sandy is a dream come true to me... I love you girlfriend!

Prayer Lake - John & Joy Mounger

Many years ago I would go to Red River in Concordia Parish deer hunting and I would pass by this place in Lettsworth, LA called Prayer Lake (http://www.prayerlake.org/). After asking a few questons I decided to stay at this place and got the awesome privaledge of meeting John and Joy Mounger. So many people have too found this sanctuary to turn aside and take some time to sit at the feet of Jesus.

Last year I got wind of John being pretty sick and ran into him in Shreveport as he was getting treatment. John went with us that night to 1st Assembly in Shreveport to hear me minister even as sick and in pain as he was... I was taken back as he was walking his salvation out. I am so glad we took the time to spend with John that night. Then last month I was in north India and really felt in my heart to take a day after returning to the US and go spend with this great man and woman of God. Again... I was so blessed as Jack Dyer and I met Pastor Pete Wunstel up there for some Holy Ghost prayer ministry and to change the blades on the lawnmowers. The presence of the Lord was thick in their home as I sensed God's ministering spirits there to give grace and mercy in a time of need. Oh it was so sweet...

Well my friend John went to be with the Lord Friday, May 23rd after a lengthy battle with illness. Wow it was breath taking to hear the news but in a way a joy spread over my spirit now that he has departed this life and is in the arms of Jesus.

Please keep Joy and their family lifted up over the next few days and months dealing with their loss. The funeral celebration will be at Bethany North, Tuesday @ 11AM.

Pain

All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. —Romans 8:28

I was working on our sink in the house yesterday. Good ole nasty under the sink in close quarters honey do stuff… my wife asked me to replace the dripping leak of our faucet. So of course this led to replacing the whole drain system! We were fasting and prayer too so this made all matters try to compound. Amazingly God's grace and patience was resting upon me as my sons and I worked with diligence to rebuild our sink. I used a screwdriver to chisel the old part off the old cast iron sink which was the wrong tool for the job… sounds like another good topic. Anyway the last bump broke the part off but everything slipped and my left hand ground into the jagged metal edge gouging chunks of meat off my left ring and pinkie finger. Oh it hurt… as blood flew and I broke out in a cold sweat grabbing my hand in a yelp of PAIN!

I got my composure after some first aid and cold water. We got the sink finished but I knew a couple of sore days were before me. I got up this AM to read and today's devotion was so on time I thought I would post this topic as I meditated on God's goodness and mercy in my life and thought of people I know that have endured PAIN…

This is the story of PAIN copied from Our Daily Bread found on the Radio Bible Class website…

I'll never forget when our youngest child Matthew fell and broke his wrist. It was grotesque! His arm took a sharp left turn at his wrist and then turned again to resume its normal journey to his hand.

We rushed him to the hospital where the doctor began to set his wrist. I watched as the physician pulled and twisted Matthew's arm. I wanted to jump up and pull him away from my son! But I simply sat and watched, knowing that the agony was necessary to make Matt whole again.

If we trust earthly doctors to do that for our children, how much more we should be willing to trust God, the Great Physician, to reset our broken lives "to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom. 8:29). One of God's purposes in pain is to brand the image of Jesus in our hearts. Can we weep with those who weep? God may need to stain our cheeks with our own tears so that we can genuinely empathize with others as Jesus did. Are we self-sufficient? God may need to strip away our security to conform us to the God-sufficiency that Christ displayed. Are we faithless? It may require a tragedy to teach us to trust the Father as Jesus did.

Next time you feel broken, don't panic—praise Him! God is at work!

  — Joe Stowell

Life's fractures can be mended
By faith in Christ the Lord—
At first the pain but then the gain
And usefulness restored. —Hess

God's purpose in pain is to brand His image in our hearts.

Counterfeit…

My son Luke comes to me every full moon to remind me of "Poya" in Sri Lanka. Poya is a monthly buddhist holiday where thousands go to temples to worship the idol trying to obtain Nirvana. Don't ask… anyway each month has its only Buddhist teaching flavor and the month of May is called Vesak…

Vesak, or Visakha (pronounced way-sak), is a celebration that commemorates the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death, and his passing into nirvana. It is named for the month of May and is celebrated on the full moon, when the Buddha's mother is said to have given birth to him in a garden in the Himalayan foothills while en route to her parents' home. According to most Buddhist calendars, he would be 2,548 years old this month.

Amazing how religion tries to counterfeit Christ death, burial and resurrection… the difference is the RESURRECTION! Jesus bones can't be found on this earth.

Anyway we know the beating of the drums, the chanting of thousands, the firecrackers going off in bomb like proportions as they try to ward off evil spirits… Poya days are amazingly dark days in buddhist countries and especially Vesak.

Yes I am not scared to tell the good news that Jesus is Alive! Romans 1:14-17

John Siebeling and his cool family!

Life Church Memphis
Home for a few days then off to Memphis and another Bible School classmate (Class of '91 MTI), Pastor John Siebeling. John and Leslie Siebeling launched The Life Church of Memphis (http://www.thelifechurch.com/) over 10 years ago. What an incredibly unique job they have done as this church has such an excellent approach to Life! The Life Church of Memphis is one cool church with a deep love for Christ and a culture distincitvly designed to reach Memphis. John's fresh approah to life (StarBuck's anmial) with a unique twist of mission field blend is a refreshing experience in worship and intentional Word. John and Leslie are some of my personal heroes as they have been always encouraging and believing in us and the vision we have for the 1040 window. Check John's blog out, http://www.johnsiebeling.com/ , as he is one of my top 5 great communicators but an even greater friend.

Rolling... IHOP
The past two weeks has found me traveling in the US. Wow it was awesome to spend a few days in prayer at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, MO (IHOP... not pancakes). I had no idea this prayer movement has been going on since 1999. Check it out on the web, http://www.ihop.org/. Going to IHOP allowed me to connect with my Bible school classmate, Keith Major. Keith's family (www.majorchangeacademy.wordpress.com ) has been @ IHOP for four years and it was awesome being with them. God's hand is deep into their lives from the "wait upon the Lord" intensity in their lives. Keith serves in the media department at IHOP and Keith "trained" me to run the TV video program that is shown on God TV regularly.

IHOP was an experience not of outward demonstrative expression but of a touch from the Lord upon my heart. I encourage anyone hungry for Jesus and looking for a special place to "turn aside for a season" to check out IHOP. Kudos to you Keith for following Jesus no matter the cost!

The Wail in Myanmar...

Myanmar Cyclone

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Hungry people swarmed the few open shops and fistfights broke out over food and water in Myanmar's swamped Irrawaddy delta Wednesday as a top U.S. diplomat warned that the death toll from a devastating cyclone could top 100,000.

Signs of the times... the beginning of sorrows!

National Day of Prayer...
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV): "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
On April 17, 1952, President Harry S. Truman signed a bill proclaiming the National Day of Prayer into law. It was in 1972 that the National Prayer Committee was formed. It went on to create the National Day of Prayer Task Force, with the intended purpose of coordinating events for the National Day of Prayer. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill into law decreeing that the National Day of Prayer should be held on the first Thursday of May.
Take time today to thank God for America and to touch our land!