Don't Forget to Thank God for Stanislav Petrov

If you do a GOOGLE NEWS search for "Stanislav Petrov," you won't find ANY mention of the 24th anniversary (Sept. 26th) of his decision that probably saved 100's of MILLIONS of Americans and Russians (maybe even the entire planet! ). A man who was considered an enemy of our nation, saved our nation. Go to: http://www.brightstarsound.com/ for the story and then say a big THANK YOU to the Lord for Mr. Petrov, who disobeyed procedures, and saved our lives! Take this as a lesson to never underestimate the power of ONE DECISION!

A Prayer to Start The Day For All Jesus Followers!

I came across this video while looking for something for Sunday night. Love the song. What do you think? Note: the "English" part begins around the 27 second mark, so be patient!



Here are the lyrics...pretty simple...pretty "cool." Go ahead...pray it...mean it....see what happens!

Be with You
by Ray Watson

I don't want to do my own thing today
I don't want to do what I want to do
I want to follow Your path today
I want to be with You Lord
I want to walk with You Lord
I don't want to change gold into brass today
No no no no no no
I don't want to build with hay
No no no no no no
I want to be a servant of the Most High today
"Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee
In whose heart is found the highways to Zion"
Want to fly away in Your presence Lord
Want to be in Your presence today (Be with You)
Want to walk with You today (Be with You)

Fall Revival Weekend

Our church experimented with a new format for our Fall Revival this year, having it over a weekend. We were concerned about the possibility of rain on Saturday, but it didn't come, so it was a perfect weather day, and it was a great weekend. I've tried to get better at being brief in my blog, so I won't go into details here, but I will share a couple of favorite moments that I was not expecting.

One came on Friday night during our Concert of Prayer for revival. I had several "self-paced" interactive stations focusing on praise, confession, the Lord's Supper and intercession. It moved me to see a line to sign the Praise Book...hard to explain, but seeing people waiting to write simple declarations of their praise for God moved me.


A team of seven great college students from Charleston Southern University joined us Saturday to lead in worship and in ministering to our children. They were talented, flexible, enthusiastic, and they loved the Lord. The same was true of the Free Gift Baptist Church Choir who were joined by their pastor, Rev. Andrew Cooper, who brought the last message of the day.

The other unexpected gift was the sight of prayer groups Saturday afternoon made up of five or six people of different churches, different ages, etc...praying for revival. Have our prayers been answered? Time will tell. All I can say is that God provided several unexpected moments over the past week and weekend that gave me opportunities to rejoice in, confess in, and to grow in. Some felt great, some didn't...but I am thankful that I don't have to figure it all out today (maybe never on this planet). God isn't through me, and I can always experience more of Him and of the life Christ died to give me.


Our youth were in full force Saturday, and we were glad they were!

Pizza Trivia

Being the health food nut that I am, I like pizza. How else can you get all the major food groups in one bite...and with CHEESE! Anyway, here's the trivia: Do you know how Pizza Hut got its name? The sign for the first "Hut" was given to the Carney brothers, Dan and Frank, who borrowed $600 from their mom while they were still college students. The sign, provided by Pepsi, only had space for three more letters after using "pizza." Dan's wife came up with the idea of "Hut."

And what about Domino's logo? Did you know that the three dots represented the first three stores in the franchise. They were going to add a dot for each new store, but it soon became apparent that they would run out of space too quickly.


As a cautionary pizza-related tale, be careful about making impulse decisions, the consequences can be immense. Case in point: poor, shortsighted James Monaghan, who in 1960, founded Domino's Pizza with his brother, Tom. Eight months later James traded his half of the business to brother Tom for a USED Volkswagen Beetle. In 2006, Tom sold his part of the company for just under one BILLION....that's right...BILLION dollars! I wonder if he gave James a new Volkswagen???? Ouch!

The Artistic Ability of Man - Amazing

Peter Callesen is an unusual and amazing artist. Many of his works use ONE sheet of paper...just one sheet! Here is a slide show of some of his works. His website: http://www.petercallesen.com/index.html

Six Years Later...

In less than 30 minutes as I type this, it will be exactly six years since the first terrorist hijacked airplane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. 3,000 would die that day. I'm watching a documentary on the History Channel depicting the events of 9/11 including the day before. It's still chilling and hard to believe. Here is a photo of all the victims except 92. Just a reminder that even though the nation has moved on (though forever changed), we will still need to remember and pray for the families and friends who lost loved ones in the disaster.

150th Anniversary of Something Amazing

September the 23rd is the 150th anniversary of something that started with one man in New York City, and resulted in a revival that spread across the country, and even to other parts of the world. Here is a six minute video about the Fulton Street Revival that is worth seeing!

Amazing Shadow Puppets!

God sure did a great job at connecting muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, etc. to the brain! Look what this guy can do!

Got Questions? Go Here!

I get questions all the time about lots of stuff, and this morning I found a website that has answers to over 127,000 questions about the Bible, God, the universe, religions, etc. Here's the link: http://www.gotquestions.org/

Have You Had a Dose of Tozer Lately?

Next weekend, our church is having a fall revival weekend. I have been reading, praying, and meditating about revival. In my preparation, I have been reading some of A.W.Tozer's writings (If you’re not familiar with him, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tozer).

He had a knack, a powerful knack, at cutting through a lot of fog to give a clear assessment at what's wrong with many a church (and many a Christian, too). A friend loaned me a little booklet entitled Paths to Power which basically says without obedience, all our talk about faith is just talk, and that the Holy Spirit won't do a thing if we are blatantly, consistently disobedient.

With regards to revival, Tozer writes in chapter 3: God is ready to send down floods of blessing upon us as we begin to obey His plain instructions. We need no new doctrine, no new movement, no “key,” no imported evangelist or expensive “course” to show us the way. It is before us as clear as a four-lane highway.

Just do the next thing you know you should do to carry out the will of the Lord. If there is sin in your life, quit it instantly. Put away lying, gossiping, dishonesty, or whatever your sin may be. Forsake worldly pleasures, extravagance in spending, and vanity in dress, in your car, in your home. Get right with any person you may have wronged. Forgive everyone who may have wronged you. Begin to use your money to help the poor and advance the cause of Christ. Take up the Cross and live sacrificially. Pray, attend the Lord's services. Witness for Christ, not only when it is convenient but when you know you should. Look to no cost and fear no consequences. Study the Bible to learn the will of God and then do His will as you understand it. Start now by doing the next thing, and then go on from there.

Tozer wouldn’t say these are works in addition to faith; he’d say this is what true faith is, a trust in God that results in continuing obedience. He would remind us that James is clear when he writes, "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."(2:17)

Can anyone watching you, and listening to you, figure out that you really have faith in Christ? Do you want to obey God more and more? Is you life characterized by a faith-initiated, truth-enlightened, Spirit-empowered obedience that is transforming you into someone who does life more and more like Jesus Christ and less and less like the world?

If you want to have a daily dose of Tozer, go to:
http://www.cmalliance.org/devotions/devotions.jsp

TV Guide's Funniest Episode of All Time!

Most of you know that I've been involved in more funerals this year than any previous year in my ministry. I guess that it why when I was on YouTube the other day, a particular episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show came to mind...the one about Chuckles the Clown's funeral. Here is the funeral scene. The others are available at www.youtube.com.



Here is what Wikipedia had to say about it...

Chuckles Bites the Dust (October 25, 1975) The ludicrous death of WJM's Chuckles the Clown, crushed by an elephant while dressed as Peter Peanut, provokes a torrent of black humor which has everyone in the newsroom but Mary convulsed in laughter. Mary's suppressed laughter comes out at an inopportune moment: at Chuckles' funeral. This episode was ranked #1 on TV Guide's The Greatest Episodes of All Time.

In the midst of one of the funnier moments on TV, Georgette, Ted's girlfriend/wife (can't remember when this episode occurred in the Mary Tyler Moore time line), makes some really poignant remarks about how "funerals come too late." It seems Paul would agree as he wrote:
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:10)

You can see the episode at YouTube, but here is the link to the funeral part. Enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSlDgkm3jFk

Great Article and Nooma!

I ran across this article by Tony Snow who recently stepped down from being the White House Press Secretary due to his returning cancer. The tag line is: When you enter the Valley of the Shadow of Death, things change. It is an excellent first person account of what a powerful teacher cancer is. Here is the link: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/july/25.30.html

And if you need more reasons to live each day to the fullest, check out Rob Bell's newest video "Nooma" entitled Today. As usual, it's excellent. Check out a preview at http://www.nooma.com