Morning Prayer

LORD,

Fill me with a burning desire for your manifest presence the proclaims Your mighty power and fame.

Stir in me a heart that cries out for your revival and transformation in the Brainerd Lakes Area.

O that Pointway Church  would experience an awakening to your holiness and a desperate desire for Jesus Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria

New Year Self-Examination

Donald Whitney recently posted a list of questions to ask yourself heading into the new year. I am asking the LORD to reveal the answers to these questions in my own life and I encourage you to do the same.

Here is the question for today:

What is one thing you can do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

I pray that Jesus Christ would reveal to you at least one thing. 

Soli Deo Gloria

May 2009 be a year of great advancement of the gospel!

Praying for Revival for 31 days

Prayer Focus Day 2:
Pray that those who have a personal relationship with the Lord will walk in the spirit of humility, as Jesus walked, and live with a daily recognition that pride leads to destruction and that humility precedes honor (Micah 6:8; Proverbs 18:12).

Praying for Revival for 31 days

Join me in praying for Revival for the next 31 days and lets see how God answers our prayer.

Prayer Focus Day 1:
Pray that we as Christians will bow our knees before the Lord at the beginning of each day, so that we may receive His grace daily to live as we should (Jas. 4:6-10).

Please Pray for Me

I am heading out for my quarterly Prayer Retreat at the Wilderness Fellowship. Please Pray that my time of prayer and fasting will be fruitful and that I will clearly hear the voice of my LORD during my three days in the woods.

Thank you for your prayers.

I Got One!!!

I am happy to report that I purchased an ESV Study Bible today from Westminster Books for 40% off. Go get yourself one!!!

Timely Encouragement

This morning I met with the LORD Jesus Christ and he spoke to my spirit a timely word of encouragement.

"But the LORD is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one...May the LORD direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ."

~ 2 Thess. 3:3 & 5

I thank the LORD for his timely encouragement and praise his holy name today and forever.

Soli Deo Gloria

Resting on God

O GOD MOST HIGH, MOST GLORIOUS,

The thought of your infinite serenity cheers me,
For I am toiling and moiling, troubled and distressed,
but you are for ever at perfect peace.
Your designs cause you no fear or care of unfulfillment,
they stand fast as the eternal hills.
Your power knows no bond,
your goodness no stint.
You bring order out of confusion,
and my defeats are your victories:
The Lord God omnipotent reigns.
I come to you as a sinner with cares and sorrows,
to leave every concern entirely to you,
every sin calling for Christ's precious blood;
Revive deep spirituality in my heart;
Let me live near to the Great Shepherd,
hear his voice,
know its tones,
follow its calls.
Keep me from deception by causing me to abide in the truth,
from harm by helping me to walk in the power of the Spirit.
Give me intenser faith in the eternal verities,
burning into me by experience the things I know;
Let me never be ashamed of the truth of the gospel,
that I may bear its reproach,
vindicate it,
see Jesus as its essence,
know in it the power of the Spirit.
Lord, help me, for I am often lukewarm and chill;
unbelief mars my confidence,
sin makes me forget you.
Let the weeds that grow in my soul be cut at their roots;
Grant me to know that I truly live only when I live to you,
that all else is trifling.
Your presence alone can make me holy, devout, strong and happy.
Abide in me, gracious God.

The Wilderness Fellowship

I am going into the wilderness for a few days to pray and fast. I really need to hear the voice of God and I have found my quarterly prayer retreats to be immensely valuable in achieving my goal. The Wilderness Fellowship has been a great blessing to me over the past two years. CHECK IT OUT

Please pray for me Mon-Wed as I seek God's ongoing vision for Pointway Church.

The Wonder of a Divine Appointment

Today I rose at 4:45 a.m. as is my custom and during the course of my time in the Word and in Prayer I prayed that the LORD would give me an opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I was not out of the house more than an hour today when the LORD answered my prayer in a way that stirred my heart to praise his holy name.

I was meeting with my former landlord this morning to walk through my old apartment. After we finished my former neighbor came over and wanted our new address so she could send us a card. We began to talk and she shared that she and her husband felt that they had a real connection to us and that they were interested in continuing a friendship. (this was a surprise to me!)

We began to talk about my work as a church planter and I was able to share the gospel with her. She started asking all kinds of questions. I suggested that maybe we could get together and read the Bible together and seek out the answers to her questions.

She was very interested in this and suggested that some of her friends might be interested in joining us.

My prayer is that we would launch an Evangelistic Bible Study in the next week or two. Join me in praying for the salvation to come to this woman, her family and her friends.

I marvel at the grace of God who was pleased to open the door for the gospel to go forth. Praise the LORD for his grace.

I am thankful for Satan.

What!? Did I really just say that I am thankful for Satan? Yes!!! The reason is this: he drove me to my Father this morning.

I have been having a difficult time sleeping lately. There are probably a number of reasons for this, but one is that the Devil has been tormenting me in my sleep. Early this morning I was awoken by a vile and wicked dream that was so disturbing I can not even tell anyone about it.

I know where this dream came from. I am not unaware of the schemes of the Devil (2 Cor. 2:11). I was deeply troubled by this dream and, praise be to God, I was compelled to get out of bed and seek my God.

Why am I thankful for the Devil? Because he was the catylist that got me out of bed 45 minutes early. This allowed me to spend an extra 45 minutes in prayer and in the word seeking the grace of my Father.

What a loser the Devil is now and forever. Does he not know that my Father will guard me and lead me in the everlasting way? Does he not know that the love of Jesus Christ is upon me in glorious and magnificent ways?

Whether he knows it or not my God used him like a dishrag to bring glory to his holy name.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
~Ephesians 6:11-13

A PSALM OF DAVID.
Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters.
The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, "Glory!"
The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.
May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!
~Psalm 29:1-11

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
~John 10:27

Things that make a Dad proud

Last night I was doing some teaching with a group of about 25 people. As I was reading the Scripture Asher was very enthused. At various points of my reading of 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 he would begin clapping very joyfully.

It is fun to see my little boy responding to the public reading of Scripture in a positive way like this. My constant prayer is that he would grow up to be a man of prayer and a man of the word of the Living God. It brings me great joy to see those things already developing within him at the ripe old age of 19 months.

Resolved:

It is that time of year when you look back on the past and look forward to the future. It is a time to reflect back and dream forward. Many resolutions will be made and most will probably be broken before the first month of the year is over.

Real and enduring life transforming resolutions cannot be kept in the power of the flesh. They may only be kept as we abide in Jesus Christ, the true giver and sustainer of life.

Jonathan Edwards is well-known for his Resolutions. He knew that he could not keep his resolutions in his own power. He wrote,

"BEING SENSIBLE THAT I AM UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING WITHOUT GOD' S HELP, I DO HUMBLY ENTREAT HIM BY HIS GRACE TO ENABLE ME TO KEEP THESE RESOLUTIONS, SO FAR AS THEY ARE AGREEABLE TO HIS WILL, FOR CHRIST' S SAKE."

In the wisdom of Jonathan Edwards and the power of the Holy Spirit I resolve to feed my appetite for God alone. May all other my other appetites fall in submission to my hunger for intimacy with the Almighty.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." ~ Matthew 5:6

Good Reading

The Great Work of the Gospel
by John Ensor

This is another book that focuses on Gospel-Driven Living. It is deeply theological and practical. The subtitle of the book is How We Experience God's Grace. Ensor's presupposition is that, "Only a truth-soaked mind can reshape our opinions, attitudes, responses, and decisions." Therefore if we are to experience radical gospel transformation we must be saturated with the truth of the gospel of God's grace.

This book has helped me to have a deeper understanding of the truth of the gospel and a more vibrant experience of the grace of God. I highly recommend it.

Alone With The Lord: A Guide for a Personal Day of Prayer
by Gordon T. Smith

This short little book provides a lot of wisdom and insight in the practice of prayer. Smith lays out a plan for a day set apart for personal prayer. This book is valuable to all who desire a deeper experience in their practice of prayer.