Sunday, October 24. 2004

I was just reading an article titled, "The Devil Goes to Church," from the magazine Pray. The very first sentence reads, "I believe the devil spends more time in church than many Christians do." He knows who we are, he refuses to let conversion happen easily, he sows seeds of hatred and bitterness in us, and he makes things go wrong. I think that if he is going to show up, we ought to count him in the attendance, but since he isn't a tither...All kidding aside, that scoundrel shows up and tries to ruin things. Recently he has been attacking the babies at The Journey - the baby Christians that is - and I am dealing alot with these attacks. It is time to turn up the prayer pressure!

This Sunday was a good Sunday. We were lower in attendance (55) than we have been, as we were missing many people. But it was a good service, especially with Julie's husband Floyd raising his hand for salvation!!! She just got saved this past week, and now he has made a commitment to God this week. Hallelujah!

So far as visitors, we had James Smith (Candace's husband) with us as he is on leave from the army (?), and he is such a great guy. I thank God for men and women like him who have given up so much to defend our country. Also back with us was Betty Smith (?), who is looking for a church here in Rochester, having come from a Congregational background. We will see what that produces. Also, Floyd's son, Floyd Jr. was visiting with us for the first time.

It was a good service as I continued preaching on Irresistible Evangelism: Life and Death on the Fairway. I talked about Jesus being a Risk-taker and a Friend-maker, using John 4, and that we should follow His example in leading others to Christ. During the sermon, I also played and sang (for only the 2nd time) the song Thank You by Ray Boltz, talking about the reward making the risk worth taking in getting to know and love others.

One other note: it has been an interesting week and a half as I have gotten more involved with Nick (Donna's son) and Carrie. She was saved in our service last week, and I was able to lead him to the Lord on Friday night - but the situation between them still is no where near good, and I am just praying for a miracle in their relationship. A miracle has happened in their hearts, and now we entrust the rest to God.

Overall, God continues to work even with satan present, and lives are being changed every week here. To God be the glory!