Hands Headlines

Just Ten Days till Columbus Day!

We’re hoping to celebrate Columbus Day - for the first time ever, maybe - and certainly like never before.  After pursuing the Lord for these faith goals for many months, we’re still hopeful that He will supply the remaining needs by October 9th.  Yet, there’s still a long way to go - a miraculous amount to be accomplished in such a short time.

Pray for the Lord to do even more than this list asks, but here are the basics:

• Ask God to respond in ways that make Him the center of attention - and will remind others of His true character and purposes.
• Specifically, by October 9th, pray that the Lord would choose to provide the right people to give joyfully.  We currently still need a minimum of $746 in monthly commitments.
• Not only pray that God will provide the right people, but also pray that we would be able to talk to these people in person.  Pray that when we call people, we would not get a voicemail message, but get to talk.  Also pray we could talk to many face to face.
• Would God use you to answer some of these prayers?  Let us know if you can introduce us to someone who would like to learn more about what God is doing in our ministry (no obligation to give).  
• If you are already giving regularly to our ministry, would the Lord have you increase your giving?  Perhaps even by $10 or $20 per month or $100 per year?
• Another huge need is for God to supply a buyer for our house here in Mableton.  We aren’t able to look at houses in Orlando until our house here sells.  Pray that the person God wants to live here next will see our house and give us an offer by October 9th.
• Pray that the Lord would prepare us to move.  We feel prepared but there are hundreds of details that must be taken care of. 
• Pray for our whole family to walk closely with Jesus.
• Pray that we would praise the Lord for His pure greatness, regardless of what happens on Columbus Day.

So, To Recap:


1)  Minimum Support Needed:  $746 in monthly commitments (or annual equivalents).  Works out to just about 10 new people at $75/month.

2)  House:  Would like to have a buyer by October 9th.

As of this morning, here’s where we’re at:

(Not geographically, but as a representation of how much support we still need in order to move.)

Story of Jesus for Kids

One of the best evangelistic tools we’ve used in the past decade is ‘The Story of Jesus for Children’s movie. It is awesome! And it’s not just for kids.

It makes the gospel message so clear! Like the Scripture says, if only we had faith like a child. This is a powerful tool and we’ve given it away and used it to explain the gospel to our own kids.

We’re gonna get some more of these (DVD or VHS) soon, so let us know if you’d like one and we’ll get it to you for free. (Just a small perk for knowing us!)

Sorry if this sounds like a commercial, but the movie is really great. Here’s the product description from the Campus Crusade Store:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This is NOT CARTOON ANIMATION. The original JESUS Film has been adapted for children.

In the film a small group of children are the storytellers. Through their conversations, observations and interpretations, the life and claims of Jesus Christ unfold.

On sets that were built to match those used on the original JESUS production, the newly filmed children’s scenes are seamlessly woven throughout the original film.

The young actors dress as people did in the first century and every miraculous moment of the life of Jesus is experienced and seen through the eyes of children

The “JESUS” film is the most biblically accurate motion picture ever made on the life of Christ. Backed by five years of painstaking research, it was filmed entirely in the Holy Land. First century clothing, architecture, customs and food were carefully studied to ensure the film’s authenticity.

Thinking of throwing a children’s party?

Why not make it a Story of Jesus for Children movie party? Would you like to learn how? Just download the Celebrate Jesus! party manual. It is a 1MB PDF file. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it.

courtesy of CampusCrusade.com - online store
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The best news is often news you’ve heard before - news that brings your heart home.  Obviously the gospel fits into this category:  the news that Jesus Christ is alive and has broken the power of death and sin!

Back in the early days of Campus Crusade for Christ, Dr. Bill Bright created two simple bookelets to explain some simple Biblical truths about the gospel.  One is The Four Spiritual Laws (now known as Knowing God Personally) and the other is The Holy Spirit Booklet (now titled Satisfied?).

Some of you know my story - how a friend shared these simple truths with me as a college student and the Lord used them to bring radical change to my life.  Since then Shannon and I have had the privilege to share these same truths with hundreds of people.  And the beauty is that these concepts are so transferable!  I.E.  Many of the people we have shared these simple presenations with have then turned around and shared them with someone else!

Did you know that these two booklets are now available in web format?  Why not review them yourself, rejoice in the amazing truth of God’s love and forgiveness, and then share them with someone else today?

How to Know God Personally

Satisfied? (A Compelling Presentation of the Spirit-Filled Life)

This is why we’re on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ:  to share these presentations with many people and to make the related concepts as clear as possible.  Thank you for helping us do that!

Please tell us what you think.

“Imagine what would happen if you went to a friend in the middle of the night and said, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. An old friend traveling through just showed up, and I don’t have a thing on hand.’

 7″The friend answers from his bed, ‘Don’t bother me. The door’s locked; my children are all down for the night; I can’t get up to give you anything.’

 8″But let me tell you, even if he won’t get up because he’s a friend, if you stand your ground, knocking and waking all the neighbors, he’ll finally get up and get you whatever you need.

 9″Here’s what I’m saying:

   Ask and you’ll get;
Seek and you’ll find;
Knock and the door will open.

 10-13″Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing—you’re at least decent to your own children. And don’t you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?”

Luke 11:5-13 (The Message)

This passage has really spoken to us over the last several months.  Looking back on our prayer requests from January, our thoughts were framed around this passage.  It’s neat to see several of those requests being answered.

Pretty much the entirety of 2006 so far for us has been comprised of asking, seeking and knocking.  He loves to provide what we need. But often He is much more concerned with the process of us learning to trust Him than providing the simple things we need.  That’s where the persistence in asking comes in.  And persistent praying.  And waiting.

As of today, we still need over $900 in monthly support to meet our minimum goal and our house is still sitting here unsold in a sluggish real estate market.

No doubt God can accomplish the two items mentioned above, but it appears He wants to make it an absolute miracle:

I’ve invited 20 new people in the last three weeks to join our partnership team.  Two people have committed finances.  A couple more are still praying about it.  We still need about more 12 people to join us at $75/month.  Or 9 people at $100/month.  Or 18 people at $50/month.  You get the picture.

Whatever number it is, that’s at least a dozen more people than I know to ask at this point.  I am really just about out of contacts.  . . . Again.

Sometimes I feel like everyone I know plus the dog next door has heard my story, vision for ministry, Campus Crusade’s goals for the Great Commission and an invitation to join our support team.

At least the dog next door is easy to get an appointment with.

God is not slow to keep His promises.  Nor is He reluctant to do so.  He even ENJOYS answering in ways that seem impossible.  Like getting my introverted self to actually enjoy finding and meeting 20 new people (many more than that in the last year).  Or finding someone who would love to buy our house when seemingly hardly anyone is even looking.

Last Friday, at about 5pm, just when I was realizing “I have called everyone possible I know to call for our partnership team” (I was thinking of visiting the dog next door again), I received an email from a friend.  I’d asked this friend two months ago to introduce me to some of his close friends who might like to meet us and learn about our ministry.  He had agreed enthusiastically when I’d asked him, so I was assuming the best.  I even left him SIX voicemail messages last week.  (Hey, the Scripture says to ask persistently!)

So, in the email, my friend listed four families he had called for me.  He had spoken to each one, and given me a great introduction.  They were expecting my call.  So, I had four new people to call this weekend!  Another Ephesians 3:20 moment.

I ramble on.  All of this is to say:  PLEASE continue to pray with us and don’t give up.

Will God do it by October 9th?  All He is telling me is to keep asking, seeking and knocking.  Either way, He is so good.  And it’s a joy to trust Him rather than to anxiously wonder if my efforts are good enough.

We’ll keep ya posted.  Thanks for listening and to God be the glory. 

Flickr is a cool photo-sharing and photo-storage web site.  We’re using it to keep track of our family photos.

Now we’ve added a preview icon to the right hand sidebar (scroll on down to see it) so you can glimpse our latest photos.  Click on the icon to go to our custom photo page on Flickr.  

The site is owned by Yahoo.  There’s a good bit of interactivity to it so you can organize your photos, share them with a few or many people, and instantly see and comment on your friends photos.

 
The Lord is showing up in great ways through media and technology tools Campus Crusade has built to connect people with the gospel around the world:

• About 4,000 people each day are indicating that they have received Christ through one of Campus Crusade’s evangelistic web sites in multiple languages.

• Recently I received an email from Lewis - a young man who visited one of the sites and had several questions about God:  “How can I trust in Someone I can’t see?  Why doesn’t God show Himself so we can believe beyond a shadow of a doubt?  Also, is the Bible the word of God or is it just a noble-minded fabrication of man?”  These were just a few questions he posed.  After corresponding for quite some time, it seemed that the Lord was really working on Lewis’ heart.  I asked Lewis if he would like to talk with a Christian on his campus (amazingly, as it turns out, Lewis is a college student at a nearby university where Campus Crusade has several staff members!)  Lewis agreed and now has met with a staff member who is helping to answer his questions.  They have met several times now and God is knocking on the door of Lewis’ heart.

• One of our co-workers in Orlando recently responded to another email from an evangelistic web site.  The message was from a man in Turkey who indicated he had just invited Jesus into his life!

Here’s where we’re at:

(Not geographically, but as a representation of how much support we still need in order to move.)


For those of you who like to do the math:  Orlando is about 450 miles from Atlanta; We’ve seen the Lord provide about $1500 out of the needed $2400/month in additional support; . . . so the corresponding ratio yields 280 miles traveled out of the total 450.

“We’re called to do the work of God, but only God can do it. That’s why we pray. We’re called to do the impossible, but only God can do it. He’s got us again. . . If the Holy Spirit doesn’t do it, there’s nothing to it.” - Armin Gesswein*
from Everything by Prayer: Armin Gesswein’s Keys to Spirit-Filled Living by Fred Hartley III

*During the late 1940’s, little known Lutheran pastor Armin Gesswein started the dynamic prayer ministry that launched the Billy Graham evangelistic crusades in Los Angeles. He was a mentor and inspiration to many of the great Christian leaders of our generation, including Billy Graham and Dr. Bill Bright. Gesswein entered heaven in 2001.

FAITH GOAL
Shannon and I have prayed and talked, and feel like the Lord wants us to trust Him to have everything we need to move to Orlando by October 9th. T-Minus 30 days and counting!

What does “everything” include?
A) New financial supporters. We still need a minimum of $900 monthly in commitments.
B) Our house in Mableton sold.

Only God can accomplish these things. As we think about it, since we have so little direct control over A or B, it almost sounds ridiculous to think all this could happen in less than four weeks.

We literally have no idea where the new supporters will come from. God will simply have to introduce us and bring into our lives those whom He has prepared to share in our ministry.

So, again: only God can accomplish these things! Amen?

That’s why we ask you to pray with us each day through October 9th. Please let us know if you are praying specifically in this way. Simply ask God to show up in a God way - beyond our feeble efforts and beyond human understanding. As the quote above suggests, asking for anything less is asking for trouble.