Well, it was a great day at West Huntsville at Providence. I love to put the “Providence” word on the end of the name. It not only marks the community in which we worship, but I have to believe it gives the reason for our growth, our unity…even the reason Glenn and I have been able to worship with these faithful people for the last nine years. It’s true. This month marked the beginning of our tenth year with the family at West Huntsville.
It’s Memorial Day in our great land. Our land is great because of Providence, once again, and because of those we commemorate on this holiday who unselfishly surrendered life, who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the greatness of a land. I am prayerful this Memorial Day that the future will be one that can honor such sacrifice rather than render it in vain. If our freedoms are surrendered from within after a brief 300 year (give or take) American experiment, the casualties of the wars in its behalf will not be for naught, but neither will they have redeemed their full potential. I am praying that the land of the free will be prospering for my great-grandchildren. But if we are to be the land of the free, now is the time we must be the home of the brave. I mean people of God have to stand, vote and fight for principles of morality and righteousness because we fear for her. But, too we must live this way, so that if/when our country falls, our truest citizenship (Heb. 11:14-16) will still be in place. Our most important security is not social security. It is spiritual. It is the security that, at the end of the American experiment (and it will end one way or the other), I will have a place in the eternal land of the free.
For those in the Digging Deep study, the monthly podcast is this Tuesday night. We’re going back to the audio format for two reasons: 1) Technical difficulty with the video format and…2)We want you to be able to give you access via your i-pods and mp3 players.
This is what’s most important, though. We will be talking about the climax of the Bible: the establishment of the church and the plan of salvation. Your friends who are without the Lord may not know how desperately they need this discussion, but you know. They may not know the huge risk they take every day of dying outside the body, but you know. They are good neighbors. They are dependable friends. They are people you can count on. But they are lost.
If you are ever going to invite an unsaved friend to listen, tomorrow night is the night. I promise that a person cannot listen–really listen–live tomorrow night and not understand what God wants her to do to be saved at the conclusion of the podcast. I believe there are those of us, who can, quite innocuously, ask our friends to listen in. It goes something like this:
“Hey _________, I’ve been doing this Bible study, sort of on-line with a bunch of women and I’m going to listen to a podcast tonight about the book of Acts. I might even call in and make a comment. I’ve never done anything like that before. I’m a little scared. (You can wait for your friend to comment here and tell you to be brave.)…Well, anyway, Acts is a really great study. I think if I could pick one book of the New Testament, this might be the most important one. (You can wait here for your friend to ask you why, etc…)…Well, you might want to listen, too…I’ll send you a link, just in case. It’s at 7…”
Then you can message me and tell me who you have invited and I will be praying that she will listen and that she will progress toward becoming a Christian. Then you be sure to follow up and ask her if she got to listen. You might be very brave and ask her if she wants to study Acts with you.
Now, I do not presume to know any more about the book of Acts than you do, but if I can help you in this process, in any way, let me know. As I have said before, if Digging Deep or this blog could help one–just one–soul to heaven, my salary and Jennifer’s and Amber’s and Lori’s and Edy’s and PJ’s and all the ladies who help with this has been paid to infinity, because that soul is worth more than all of the money in all the pockets of all the millionaires in all the world!
“What shall a man profit if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul” (Matthew 16:26)?
So, if ever you are going to invite a friend to listen, make it now!
Here’s the link:
http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=112808&cmd=tc
