A Prayer About Relying on God’s Love

This is a prayer from a new blog I am reading and really am impressed with.  It is a blog of prayers written by Scotty Smith.  Scotty is the Founding Pastor of Christ Community Church in Franklin, TN.  I have found it best to read them aloud.   Here is the link to his blog.  

     And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.1 John 4:16-18

     Heavenly Father, there are a lot of things we rely upon daily, without giving these things much thought. We rely on water coming out of the shower head as we prepare for the day. We rely on our cars starting when we turn the ignition key. We rely on bridges and overpasses to sustain the heavy traffic flow on our way to work. But there is nothingwe must be able to rely on, more so, than your love for us in Jesus. And there isnothing to which we should give more thought daily.

     Father, we praise you that your love for us is actually knowable. We don’t have to guess… we don’t have to live with uncertainly… we don’t have to be paralyzed with fear.This is love, not that we loved you, but that you loved us and gave your Son, Jesus, as a sacrifice of atonement—as a propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). There is no greater demonstration of love in all of history than your gift of Jesus on our behalf. We love you, or anybody, only because you first loved us, and continue to love us in Jesus (1 John 4:19).

     Father, we praise you that your love for us is reliable daily. We are thrilled to know your love drives out all fear of judgment and punishment. We no longer have to be afraid to die. We can live with the absolute assurance of heaven. Your love for us in Jesus is absolutely reliable as we face death. Jesus has exhausted the penalty of our sin. We will never be punished for our sins because Jesus took the punishment we deserve on the cross. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

     However, we can… and we must… fully rely on your love well before we die. Nothing but your love can enable us to love others the way you are calling us to love them.

     We share that reliable shower with family members. Father, your love is enoughfor us to love our spouses, children, parents and siblings to your glory. Loving well is never easy, for we are sinners in need of grace. Help us to fully rely on your love as we seek to demonstrate and enjoy the gospel in our homes.

     We drive those reliable cars on streets with all kinds of people all around us. Father, forgive us when we navigate through life as though we are the point… mindlessly oblivious to people and needs all around us. Give us your eyes and your heart for other people with whom we share the roadway and traffic jams.

     We cross over bridges and overpasses en route to jobs, schools, church buildings… all kinds of destinations. Father, by the power of the gospel, make us far more intentional about loving well once we get where we are going.

     Convict us about our bad attitudes… the utilitarian ways we relate to one another… the ways we take each other for granted… the indifference we show to one another. We don’t work, study, play and worship with any ordinary people. Everybody matters. There are no little people, places and moments. You are writing amazing stories of redemption all around us.

     Father, help us to fully rely on the love you have for us today…  for all the demands and delights of loving well. So very Amen, we pray, in Jesus’ compassionate name.

Dependent on Grace Alone

From All of Grace Blog

The greatest sin is unbelief. It is unbelief that Jesus Christ actually accomplished everything for us on the cross, and that we can only have hope and rest in that alone.

Charles Spurgeon writes in one of my favorite chapters of any book ever called 'Salvation Altogether by Grace' (Grace: God's Unmerited Favor)...

"The purpose of God is not founded on any foreseen merit of ours, but upon His grace alone. It is grace, all grace and nothing but grace from first to last. Man stands shivering outside, a condemned criminal, and God, sitting upon the throne, sends the herald to tell him that He is willing to receive sinners and to pardon them. The sinner replies, 'Well, I am willing to be pardoned if I am permitted to do something in order to earn pardon. If I can stand before the King and claim that I have done something to win His favor, I am quite willing to come.'

However, the herald replies, 'No, if you are pardoned, you must understand that it is entirely and wholly as an act of grace on God's part. He sees absolutely nothing good in you. He knows that there is nothing good in you. He is willing to take you as you are - black, bad, wicked and undeserving. He is willing to give you graciously what He would not sell you for any price (Isaiah 55:1) and what He knows you cannot earn from Him. Will you receive it?'

In the natural state, every man says, 'No, the very idea is abhorrent to me. I will not be saved in that style.' Well then, misguided soul, remember that you will never be saved at all, for God's way is salvation by grace. If you ever are saved, my dear one, you will have to confess that you never deserved or merited one single blessing from the God of grace."

The temptation to want to earn our salvation is the cancer within every one of us. It points to self, and completely goes against the purpose of salvation in the first place: the Glory of God. My tendency to neglect God's gift, more bluntly to not accept it for what it is, eats away at me. It tells me I haven't done enough today to be favorable for the King. It demands me to try harder, when really I have nothing to offer. However, Jesus demands nothing of me, but to receive Himself. And it doesn't even depend on the 'excellency in my reception' or how well I trust, but rather in who I am simply trusting in. Jesus. Period. May we all further know the fullness of His grace.

I Don't Know How She Died

This is by John Coleman.  He is  a friend from college and law school. He left the practice of law to go to seminary and is the rector at Ascension Episcopal in Montgomery.


Montgomery Advertiser- August 2010
I don't know how she died, or why her family wasn't there. I will never know what made her smile, laugh, and cry. The world will never hear stories of summertime as a child, the security of daddy's arms with a skinned knee or Christmas at grandma's house. I don't know what in her life made her proud or what frightened her most. Last week she lived. Today she rests in peace, buried beneath Alabama's red clay.

Every now and then, area cemeteries ask me to conduct funerals for those who have no family or friends to claim the body and make arrangements. There is usually very little information about the person's life, beyond the basics of name or religious affiliation. And even though the person is unknown to me and most, the time I spend with this individual is always sacred. Other than the men who fill the grave with dirt, there is usually no one there to say goodbye. As I stand in a section of a cemetery forgotten by much of the world, I am reminded that this is one of the highest honors I have as a child of God. I join with the communion of saints, living and dead, and give witness to a life. It's a witness that acknowledges another person made in the image of the Almighty and says that every life matters.

We all want a witness to our lives. From the time we can barely walk, we scream, cry and shout to get the attention of those we love. It continues into adolescence and adulthood. We don't want to be chosen last for basketball or asked to the dance in the final hours. We want to be included in the right clubs and receive the best accolades at work. If people notice us, we think it means we matter. And yet so many of us, even when it appears to everyone around that we have everything the world says matters, go through life feeling forgotten. We have this sinking feeling that what we do and who we are doesn't matter. Even in the midst of such feelings, we look at the world and ignore others and through our action and inaction make them feel less than worthy. Whether we are the ones being ignored or the ones ignoring, Jesus makes it clear that every life matters and every soul should be made to feel important, because it is.

The ministry of Jesus is filled with stories of his witness to those the world has forgotten. He reaches out and brings the lost into community. Everyone on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Gerasenes sought to avoid a man they thought was possessed by a demon. He was so violent they actually tried to chain him. They forced him to live in caves outside of town--out of sight and out of mind--forgotten. It would have been easy for Jesus to pass by this man when he approached. The people around him were probably telling him about the man's history, how he was a "crazy" and a "nobody." They could have told him that stopping might put Jesus in harm's way. But Jesus didn't ignore the man. He stopped, acknowledged him and this action began a process of healing. (Mark 5:1-20).

I believe the good news in this story is that we matter to Jesus. He meets us, as he met the tormented man, in the midst of whatever we see as our bondage and pain. He frees us from our own chains that bind us and from those others place in our lives. He looks at us and tells us that he loves us. His action of giving his life for us says that the world may have ignored us or forgotten, but he never will.

But there is more than that. At the end of the story, Jesus says to the man, "Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you." (Mark 5:19). We are called to seek out those forgotten by the world and share the mercy and grace we have been given. Once we experience it, we cannot begrudge anyone anything. They maybe around the world, in the next town, next door or down the hall.

So let's take notice of God's children. Look into their eyes. Remember their faces. Talk. Listen. And remember the woman at the grave who others forgot.

I don't know how she died. I don't know how she lived. I wish I did. This day, God will give me another chance to do just that with someone the world has forgotten...a chance to remind them that he never will.

Respectable Types

Phillip Yancey taught a class at his church in Chicago about Jesus. He reflects on what he discovered about Jesus in his book The Jesus I Never Knew.   

"The more unsavory the characters, the more at ease they seemed to feel around Jesus.  People like these found Jesus appealing: a Samaritan social outcast, a military officer of the tyrant Herod, a quisling tax collector, a recent hostess to seven demons.

In contrast, Jesus got a chilly response from more respectable types.  Pious Pharisees thought him uncouth and worldly, a rich young ruler walked away shaking his head, and even the open-minded Nicodemus sought a meeting under the cover of darkness.

I (Yancey) remarked to the class how strange this pattern seemed, since the Christian church now attracts respectable types who closely resemble the people most suspicious of Jesus on earth.  What has happened to reverse the pattern of Jesus' day?  Why don't sinners like being around us?"

Nothing in My Hand I Bring

From Jared Wilson at The Gospel-Driven Church Blog:

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
-- Luke 18:9-14

What did the Pharisee have that the tax collector didn't? Lots.

What did the tax collector have that the Pharisee didn't? Nothing.

The tax collector walked away justified because he "owned" his spiritual poverty, copped to the bottomlessness of his need. He brought nothing to the table.

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. -- Isaiah 55:1

"Nothing in my hand I bring / Simply to the cross I cling."

Filthy Rags

"The repentance that really changes your heart and your relationship with God begins when you recognize that your main sin, the sin under the rest of your sins, is your self-salvation project...We try to prove ourselves by our moral goodness and through achievement or family or career. Even diligent involvement in the church and religion may need to be repented of once we understand that it was all a way to put God and others in our debt. Repentance, then, is confessing the things beside God himself that you have been relying on for your hope, significance and security. That means we should repent not only for things we have done wrong (like cheating or lying), but also for the motivations beneath our good works."

- Tim Keller, The Reason for God

HT: All of Grace Blog

All You Need is Need

“If you want God’s grace, all you need is need, all you need is nothing. But that kind of spiritual humility is hard to muster.”

- Timothy Keller in Counterfeit Gods

It’s Time to Stop Trading

By Jon Acuff at Stuff Christians Like

We have a bit of a problem at our house.

One of our daughters is highly creative and one is highly generous. That means at any given time, the creative one is coming up with elaborate plans to trade rocks and sticks to the generous one for candy or toys. Thus lies the central issue at the great “Silly Bandz crisis of 2010.”

Though I swear we have given them both the same number of Silly Bandz, somehow, like a tiny, adorable Napoleon, my 6 year old has acquired most of my 4 year old’s Silly Bandz. She walks around with them all on one arm like some sort of child sized Slick Rick covered in rapper jewelry.

We’ve talked to our youngest about the outrageous trades she often agrees to, but she just can’t seem to understand how it works. You shouldn’t ever trade a lot for a very little. Ten Silly Bandz for the right to enter her sister’s room is a whack trade. Unfortunately though, my daughter is not the only one who makes wildly one-sided trades like this.

I was reminded of this recently while reading through Genesis. I’m trying to read through the Bible for a second time and I’m in the section about Joseph. Something really fascinating happens in chapter 39 when Joseph is confronted by Potiphar’s wife. (Side note, Potiphar’s wife was probably history’s first cougar. Lot of theologians won’t tell you that.)

The story is pretty simple, Joseph is in charge of running Potiphar’s entire house. And he’s all P90X’d and good looking. So Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce him. How did Joseph respond? Having been sold into slavery, he could have caved and blamed his difficult childhood on his busted adulthood. But he didn’t. In 39:8-9 here is what he says:

“With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

Do you see what he did? He said, “I’ve got almost everything, why would I trade all of that for the one thing I don’t have? Why would I trade this big thing for that small thing?” If that sounds familiar, it should, Adam & Eve faced the same type of temptation in the Garden of Eden.

They had everything. They had it all. Adam was the Joseph of God’s house. He was in charge of naming all the animals. That is a wildly amazing honor. Do you know how badly scientists desire to discover a new species and name it after themselves? Naming something is a high honor and that was Adam’s. The Garden was theirs to live in and love. But then Satan came into the picture.

And he did something to Adam and Eve that I promise he does to you.

Everyday the enemy tries to offer you an apple, when God has already given us an orchard.

Adam and Eve had the whole garden and traded it for a single apple. Joseph had the entire household of Potiphar and was offered his wife. You’ve got the glory of God inside you and get tempted to trade it for something small and dull each day.

Trading the beauty of God’s intended gift of sex for pornography is an orchard for an apple trade.

Trading the peace of honesty for the quick fix of a lie is an orchard for an apple trade.

Trading the friendship of a neighbor for the short term hit of gossiping is an orchard for an apple trade.

Each day we are faced with dozens of orchard for apple trades. We have something so big and true and wild in us, and we give it away for a handful of temporary coins.

But Joseph didn’t and we can refuse the trade to. We can look at how small and shriveled and worm infested the apple of temptation is. And then we can remember how bright and expansive the orchard of God’s heart is. There are acres of apples waiting for us. Miles of rows of opportunities to be at peace and serve and surrender and repent to a God who gives and gives and gives.

It’s time to stop trading.

Let’s put the apples down.

We’ve already got the orchard.

No Robe to Cover My Sins

I have no robe to bring to cover my sins,
no loom to weave my own righteousness;

I am always standing clothed in filthy garments,
and by grace am always receiving change of raiment,
for thou dost always justify the ungodly;

I am always going into the far country,
and always returning home as a prodigal,
always saying, Father, forgive me,
and thou art always bringing forth the best robe.

Every morning let me wear it,
every evening let me return in it,
go out to the day's work in it,
be married in it,
be wound in death in it,
stand before the great white throne in it,
enter heaven in it shining as the sun.

- Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions

HT: All of Grace Blog

Two Radically Different Kinds of Lives

Tim Keller in "The Reason for God":

"There is, then, a great gulf between the understanding that God accepts us because of our efforts and the understanding that God accepts us because of what Jesus has done. Religion operates on the principle 'I obey - therefore, I am accepted by God.' But the operating principle of the gospel is 'I am accepted by God through what Christ has done - therefore I obey.'

Two people living their lives on the basis of these two different principles may sit next to each other in the church pew. They both pray, give money generously, and are loyal and faithful to their family and church, trying to live decent lives. However, they do so out of two radically different motivations, in two radically different spiritual identities, and the result is two radically different kinds of lives.

The primary difference is that of motivation. In religion, we try to obey the divine standards out of fear. We believe that if we don't obey we are going to lose God's blessing in this world and the next. In the gospel, the motivation is one of gratitude for the blessing we have already received because of Christ. While the moralist is forced into obedience, motivated by fear of rejection, a Christian rushes into obedience, motivated by a desire to please and resemble the one who gave his life for us...

...The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued and that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time."

HT: All Of Grace Blog

Carry Each Other's Burdens

“In many cases, we may, by the rules of the gospel, be obliged to give to others when we cannot do it without suffering ourselves. .

“We should be willing to suffer with our neighbor and to take part of his burden on ourselves. Otherwise, how is that rule of ‘bearing one another’s burdens’ fulfilled?

“If we are never obliged to relieve others’ burdens except when we can do it without burdening ourselves, then how do we bear our neighbor’s burdens when we bear no burden at all?”

Jonathan Edwards

HT: Gospel Filled Wallet Blog

Deep Humility and Deep Confidence

"The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued and that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time.”

- Timothy Keller, The Reason For God (P. 181)

HT: Of First Importance Blog

Are you Rich?

Written by Billy Ritchie -Pastor in Milton Keynes Christian Centre in Scotland:

One day a very rich man asked Jesus what he had to do to get into His kingdom. Jesus listed off some behaviours which the man had no problem with. Not only was this guy rich he was clearly a GOOD rich guy.

Then Jesus turns up the heat. He tells the guy this:

“Then there’s only one thing left to do: Sell everything you own and give it away to the poor. You will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Luke 18:21

It was not what he expected to hear. But it becomes obvious why. Jesus was after his heart and ultimately his heart wanted riches more in this life than God in the next.

One of the problems with us in the UK is that we always think this story is for someone else. Maybe its what Jesus would say to a premier league footballer, film star or city banker. But not me.

As a Pastor at MKCC I am paid well but certainly not extravagantly. I would not class myself as rich. Until I put my annual salary into the Global Rich List. It turns out I am in the top 1% or earners in the world! (So if you are really interested you can work out what I am paid by using the pic above and the rich list. Smile)

So maybe this story from Jesus is for me. So what if he said to me "Sell everything and give it away"?

So often we struggle with him asking us to give Him just 10% in a tithe let alone everything. So maybe this guy in the scriptures who we have always looked down on for so long could have been better than us. Maybe if he was given the option of 10% he would have been happy to do it while every week we can choose not to even give 10%.

It comes down to whose rich list we want to be on.

The Desire to Please You

My Lord God,

I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain
where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,
and that I think I am following your will
does not mean I am actually doing so.

But I believe
the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire
in all I am doing.

I hope
I will never do anything
apart from that desire.
And I know if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.

I will trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear,
for you will never leave me
to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton

Quote of the Week

“Jesus, the God-Man, had infinite wealth, but if he had held on to it, we would have died in our spiritual poverty. That was the choice — if he stayed rich, we would die poor. If he died poor, we could become rich. Our sins would be forgiven, and we would be admitted into the family of God.”

- Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods

A Pardoned Sinner

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— (Philippians 3:8-9 ESV)

“Consider thy state. Thou art a pardoned sinner, not under the law but under grace, freely, fully saved from the guilt of all thy sins. There is none to condemn, God having justified thee. He sees thee in his Son, washed thee in his blood, clothed thee in his righteousness, and he embraces him and thee, the head and the members, with the same affection.”

William Romaine, Treatises on the Life, Walk and Triumph of Faith (Glasgow, 1830), page 305.

HT: Ray Ortlund

Not By Our Works

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7 ESV)

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

(Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV)

Taking a Long Time to Boil

By Max Lucado

"Love is patient.” I Corinthians 13:4

The Greek word used here for patient . . . means “taking a long time to boil.”

Think about a pot of boiling water . . . Water boils quickly when the flame is high. It boils slowly when the flame is low. Patience “keeps the burner down.”

Patience isn’t naive. It doesn’t ignore misbehavior. It just keeps the flame low. It waits. It listens . . . This is how God treats us. And, according to Jesus, this is how we should treat others.

Don’t Be a Pharisee about Pharisees

From Justin Taylor:

Luke 15:28: “[The elder brother's] father came out and entreated him. . . .”

Tim Keller:

[Jesus] is addressing the religious leaders who are going to hand him over to the Roman authorities to be executed. Yet in the story the elder brother gets not a harsh condemnation but a loving plea to turn from his anger and self-righteousness. Jesus is pleading in love with his deadliest enemies.

He is not a Pharisee about Pharisees; he is not self-righteous about self-righteousness. Nor should we be. He not only loves the wild-living, free-spirited people, but also hardened religious people.

The Prodigal God, pp. 75-75.

They Reached Me First

I am copying in full a blog post by Presbyterian Pastor Scott Moore from MOBILE, ALABAMA.

After my friend, Alan Beasley's sermon this morning at FUMC - Jasper, this is very poignant.

PLEASE understand that I do not post this to inflame hatred towards Islam. We don't need anymore of that. Most Islam members are not "out to get us". Families like the one in the article are a much greater threat to the spread of Christianity than people with bombs strapped to them.

Here it is:

I will never forget the serious look on Dr. Richard Pratt's face one Monday night as he was expressing his number one fear for the next generation. It was not alcoholism, or disease. It was not liberalism, or the church's view on women being ordained (or not) in ministry. He looked across the classroom and called all of us to take heed to the Islamic growth in America. One statistic I remember is that the census reported that by year 2025, one major metropolitan city, in America, will be predominately Muslim. I tucked that statistic away, and have not thought of it since...until yesterday.

The doorbell rang. As the dog barked, and as the kids proceeded to run around like chickens with their head cut off, I left Katie to the new baby and answered the door. I was not prepared for my visitors.

I opened the door to find a family of five, dressed in very strict Islamic attire - the husband in a long robe and religious cap; the wife fully covered, except her eyes; and, the children with what looked like small turbans, along with their robes that looked like daddy's. The interaction changed my life. Allow me to share with you some of my observations:

1. They came bearing gifts. The balloon outside on the mailbox that read, "It's a girl!" lead them to rejoice with us that a new life had come into the world. So they gave us a birthday cake of Huggies and a small sun-hat for the baby. What does this mean? Well, first of all, 96 diapers are not cheap. They spent over $25 on a stranger and probably over 2-3 hours at least knitting the sun-hat (the wife made it) and arranging the diapers into a huge display.

2. They were kind. They were not indifferent to our new baby girl. They rejoiced (at least, to some extent) with us. And they were very polite and cordial.

3. This family was not (from what I could tell) from another country. They were African American; which, from what I understand is a demographic that is converting to Islam by the droves. 59% of Islamic converts in America are African American - most of whom convert from Protestantism. Big players in the African American community are promoting the religion and are having a strong influence. Ice Cube (who converted in the 90's) has been quoted saying, that the Nation of Islam is "the best place for any young black male."

4. They were dedicated as a family. Their attire alone showed their strict devotion to the religion. And they practiced as a family. I have read somewhere that each Muslim family produces, on average, 8 children per family unit. Not only is Islam growing by conversion, but its main objective is to grow (exponentially) by reproduction. This is a God-given mandate and process that all Christians must understand and at least acknowledge.

Muslims understand well that predominant and typically affluent cultures atrophy over small amounts of time due to decreased marriage and reproduction rates. Europe is a great example. To shed light on this point, consider a country isolated without the possibility of immigration. If family units have, on average, just one (or less than 2) children per unit, then it is mathematically impossible to maintain the population over just a few generations.

Family units in most European countries (like Greece, France and England) have roughly 1.3 children per unit (under 1.6 it is mathematically impossible to rescue the culture). It has been this way for some time. But, here is the kicker - the populations of these countries have grown! And they are being swallowed up by Islam.

5. My next point about this family is that they were evangelical. So, not only were they converts (probably), and not only were they furthering the Islamic agenda through reproduction; but they were also reaching their immediate world for "Allah" through evangelization. I am more aware of the Islamic presence in my geographical region. Every morning on my way to work I see more and more Muslims. This particular family lives three houses down from me. They are reaching their neighborhood (which is also MY neighborhood and has been for over one year now).

My final point is this...They reached me first.

I am now resolved, by the strength and perseverance of God's sovereign grace, to reach those around me quickly and consistently with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Shame on me for being silent this long. Yesterday is the day that God used a strict Muslim to get this PCA pastor off of his rear end.