I just uploaded the sermon from July 4, Entrusting Ourselves into God's Care from Psalm 16. Listen to it, download it, or subscribe to the podcast in the audio player in the right sidebar. 1. When we entrust ourselves into God’s care, our security is in God instead of our circumstances (v. 5). 2. When we entrust ourselves into God’s care, we trust God to work out our circumstances (vv. 5-6). 3. When we entrust ourselves into God’s care, he will lead us in the right way (v. 7). 4. When we entrust ourselves into God’s care, we can live with joy (v. 9, 11). 5. When we entrust ourselves into God’s care, we will be resurrected to eternal life (10-11).
Visit with Mom and Dad
We enjoyed a visit with my mom and dad recently. They came and camped at the local KOA. You can view the rest of the album HERE.
Here is a picture of Samantha, three weeks old, chatting with Caleb and Nathaniel.
Happy Birthday, Hannah!
Hannah turned six on July 4th. She is a delightful little girl with an extra portion of charm. Here is a picture of Hannah holding her new baby sister, Samantha.
Prayaroundtheworld.com
Please check out this site my friend Clarke Kennedy is building: prayaroundtheworld.com. Here is part of the description of what the sight is for:
This site is a tool for the body of Christ around the world. It is designed to equip individuals, churches, organizations, families, and communities with a very simple but powerful way to increase the amount of prayer that is lifted up for the things they care about and for the things that God cares about.
One of the most powerful aspects of this site is the ability that it gives anyone to create their own prayer forums about anything they care about. A prayer forum is a group of related prayer topics. For example, you might create a prayer forum for your church under the "Churches" forum in the "Prayer Room" forum. Once you have created a prayer forum for your church, you could add topics for prayer related to your church within that forum.
This may be a useful tool for you in your church, ministry, missions projects, particular crises or anything else for which a community might want to pray together.
The Peleg Chronicles
My favorite book find at the NCHE Conference this year was The Peleg Chronciles. It is a series of fiction books for young readers. There are two books so far and I loved reading both of them. The first book is called The Foundlings. Here is a summary from matthewchristianharding.com, the author's website:
Foundlings, book one of The Peleg Chronicles is Historical Fiction that takes place in the time period of Peleg, soon after the tower of Babel dispersion. In its pages we meet dragons, giants, false priests, the death hunt, an under-city of the Dwarven Brotherhood, and many memorable characters.
The story begins with Lord McDougal and his faithful shield-bearer, Fergus Leatherhead, departing their lands with giants at their backs, while before them lie in wait denizens of the bog-land and forest.
Ever ready to protect and serve others, they gather in tow an assortment of displaced adventurers and find themselves embroiled in a mysterious search for the foundlings: orphaned Thiery with his companion Horatio the white wolf, and Suzie who has been deceitfully retained by the thieves Elvodug and Flemup.
Others also seek the foundlings, and their purposes are most sinister - Dragon Priests who practice cozen sacrifices, and their leader Count Rosencross who is torn by his God given conscience and his pursuit of personal glory.
Onward toward the city of Hradcanny they travel, meeting with treachery, beast attacks, camaraderie and psalms of praise with an eye toward the gospel. Though their battles are at times fierce and the outcomes uncertain, the author maintains the integrity of these noble characters, who through weakness are made strong by Him in whom they trust.
Foundlings weaves together the Biblical principles of chivalry, truth, courage, duty, faith and love within the framework of Genesis, and a bold adherence to its historicity. It's an exciting page turner that leaves you wanting more, but more importantly it leaves the reader with Godly heroes to think on and emulate, and a young earth creationist view of history that conforms to the Word of God.
The Ministry of a Father
My teaching on Father's Day was from 1 Thess 2:11-12, The Ministry of a Father. You can listen to or download it from the audio player on the right sidebar. Here are the four main points: 1. A father’s ministry to his own children is unique.
2. A father’s ministry is to each individual child.
3. A father’s ministry is to lead his children into personal submission to God.
4. A father’s ministry is to encourage, comfort, and charge his children to live a life worthy of God.
Blue Eyes
Second Edition of Making Friends for Christ Available!
Here is the description of the book printed on the back cover:
"This is not a gimmick. It is not the next modern evangelism strategy for you or your church to use for a while and then discard when the next one comes along. It is not about pretending to be friends with people to fulfill a hidden conversion agenda.
"Making Friends for Christ is an exploration of loving others the way that Jesus loved us, intentionally, relationally, and sacrificially. The people all around us want to be loved. They need a friend who will listen to them and care for them. And that is just what Jesus wants us to do. As we live in love and truth, his light shines into people’s lives so that they may know Love Himself.
"Making Friends for Christ is a guide for learning how to be a real friend. It offers practical, everyday ideas for touching the people God has already put into your life. You will learn how to be a good listener, overcome common barriers, and invest in relationships. You can turn your home into a place of ministry and effectively tell how Christ has changed your life. You can learn to pray in faith for your friends and family and join with other believers for support and encouragement.
"This second edition of Making Friends for Christ is revised and enlarged for the challenges of the Twenty-First Century evangelism.
"Wayne McDill teaches Communication and Bible Exposition in Wake Forest, North Carolina at Southeastern Seminary. He has also taught courses in Evangelism, Church Planting, and Pastoral Leadership. He is author of seven books, including the first edition of Making Friends for Christ, along with books on preaching and personal Christian growth."
You can order the book from Amazon HERE.