gettin strong // Wednesday E-Devotion

Psalm 73:26 (nlt) --- My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.

Just returned from a denominational meeting here in our state, and to be honest with you, it was not like any other denominational meeting that I have attended in the past.

No fighting. Lots of encouragement. No downfalls in budgets. Lots and lots of music and preaching. Little business. Refreshing, to say the least.

This was an encouraging couple of days. Had the blessing of taking our missions team leader from The Community with me, and we had a great time. We will just call him Bubba for now. As we drove, we dreamed and talked. As we listened and began to understand, we dug in to see where God has us and where He wants us. It was good as it really brought us stuff for gettin' strong and stronger.

So, here are some note from various speakers we heard:

Doyle Chauncey (executive director of the SBCV) --- Challenges ahead of us (and all organizations) in the coming days include the erosion of inherent loyalty, conflict between priorities and practice, and increase of competition verses cooperation.

O.S. Hawkins (CEO of Guidestone) --- leadership is characterized by punctuation marks left through our history and there are 2 kinds of leaders: the one who leads by public consensus (what the people want) and the one who leads by personal conviction (what the people need).

Ergun Caner (President of Liberty Seminary) --- It is a question of authority. No other world system has a god who is a Savior!

Bob Jones (pastor of Euclid Ave Baptist in Bristol, VA) --- a little act of obedience (to God) will be filled with the glory of God and be used to touch lives for Him.

Tyler Scarlett (pastor of Forest VA Baptist ... quoting Ravi Zacharias) --- God didn't come to make bad people good but to make dead people live.

Mac Brunson (pastor of FBC Jacksonville, FL) --- The land of the vanishing church...is the place where 2 things happen: lack of evangelism and accommodation (an attempt to make people comfortable).

There is more, much more. God uses all kinds of things to make sure we are gettin' strong and stronger...

Have you heard of EDITH BURNS?

Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas . She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips. Dr. Phillips was a gentle doctor who saw patients as people. His favorite patient was Edith Burns. One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because of Edith Burns. When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her. Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way: "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved. Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse, Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood pressure. Edith began by saying,"My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Beverly said, "Why yes I do." Edith said, "Well, what do you ...

wash feet, sharing hope

John 13:4-5,14 NLT So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him… 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. Jesus set the example we follow. He served. He valued and gave value to others. That is why we choose to serve. For 18 years our church has shared an outreach called back2school, and for 16 of those years we have chosen to give students brand new shoes and socks as well as washing their feet. It is one of the most important parts of this event. Washing feet is a humbling experience where both the give and the receiver learn how to share some moments that might change their lives. Jesus said we should do this. See the verse above. Follow His example, do what He did, and give far more than you will ever know....

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!

Michael Harrison's e-devotion

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