Keith Johnson, director and organizer of the seminary classes, wrote an article about the music of the gospel. He said to imagine a young man sitting in a chair listening to his ipod play music through headphones. He taps his foot, snaps his fingers, and juts his chin with the beat of the music. Keith then had us imagine a deaf guy walking into the room, and out of curiosity, he picks up an ipod, puts on the headphones and begins performing the same actions. The deaf man taps his foot, snaps his fingers, and eventually even learns to jut his chin in synchronization. Keith asked us, “If you are an outside observer and walk into the room, what do you see? Two people apparently doing the same thing, listening to the same thing. But is there a difference? Absolutely.” Keith continued, “The first guy hears the music and his actions are a natural response…being deaf, the second guy is merely imitating. He is not listening to anything. There is an important spiritual parallel here…” M...
I'm joining my fellow Americans, and praying for USA during this National Day of Prayer. Here is the prayer that Dr. Jack Graham, my pastor when I'm in Texas, wrote and will be praying over our nation today at 12, noon, EST. I have seen God do incredible things when we pray in unity! Let's pray this together, no matter what time or day you read this: Heavenly Father, We come to You in the Name that is above every name—Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Our hearts cry out to You. Knowing that You are a prayer-answering, faithful God—the One we trust in times like these—we ask that You renew our spirits, revive our churches, and heal our land. We repent of our sins and ask for Your grace and power to save us. Hear our cry, oh God, and pour out Your Spirit upon us that we may walk in obedience to Your Word. We are desperate for Your tender mercies. We are broken and humbled before You. Forgive us, and in the power of Your great love, lift us up to l...
We are so excited because not only are we having a boy, but also God has provided the rest of our funding for our summer, and a new crib (well, new-to-us-crib). We are so thankful to everyone who sacrificially donated to fund our summer assignment! We are now able to leave with peace of mind of all our needs being met! We are prepping the car for our two-day journey, and I'm feeling a little less stressed about fitting everything in. Unlike other summer housing we've had, this one does not come with sheets, towels, pots & pans, plates & silverware, etc. We obviously cannot fit our entire kitchen in the back of our car, so I'm trying to simplify and think through creative cooking methods. It does have a microwave. Even still, the stress of packing is nothing compared to being under-funded, so we feel so blessed and prepared for the summer! The new crib is a little perk too because the crib we have is "janky"--our term for functional, but almost junky....