Day 211

I thought I’d pass along this entry from my devotional A Daily Encounter with God. I hope you will meditate on that Scripture and that you’ll get a glimpse of what an extraordinary God we serve!

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.—Genesis 1:1

Most Christians have read today’s verse, the first verse in the Bible. But I’m not sure many realize its simple, yet profound, message!

You see, this verse clearly states where mankind began and who created everything. God is the beginning of it all!

Yet Satan knows that if he can attempt to destroy the root of our faith among unbelievers, then he can go as far as trying to destroy the entire legacy of our faith.

This verse in Scripture signifies so many things—beginnings, generations, creation, the origin of man and woman, the family, and so on. The Bible’s first sentence is the perfect segue into discovering who God is and how He has chosen to bring us into a relationship
with Him.

Genesis 1:1 disperses all the ideas of atheism, polytheism, pantheism,
humanism, secularism, and naturalism. The Word of God deals with these theories at the outset.

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

Over the next several days, I want to encourage you to read through the first chapter of Genesis. And as you do, it’s my prayer that your love and understanding of God’s Word will deepen… that you will be better equipped to share the message of Christ with our post-modern culture… and that you will deepen your biblical world view!

ARE YOU LETTING GOD’S WORD INFORM YOUR VIEW OF THE WORLD?

Must Read Books

I love to read. And one of the things this sabbatical has provided is time to catch up on my reading...I’m always reading a few books at a time—currently, it’s these eight:

FEARLESS, by Max Lucado
ELIJAH, by Chuck Swindoll
THE INVISIBLE WAR, by Chip Ingram
TEMPERED STEEL, by Steve Farrar
LIVING UNDER THE RAINBOW, by Edwin Young
GUARD US, GUIDE US, by J.I. Packer
BASEBALL AND THE BABY BOOMER, by Talmage Boston
SATCHEL: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND, by Larry Tye

I’m enjoying each and every one of them... Also during these days, I have to say it’s been hard for me to stay away from Prestonwood, the church I love so dearly, so, I have been in the office a bit. I’ve worked on my files and library. And that got me to thinking about my “Must Read List” for ministers (but, actually, this goes for any believer). These are insightful, incredible, life-changing books. I hope you will take a moment to check out the list, and then go out and read a few of them...And let me know what you think of the list....Happy reading.

THE SAVING LIFE OF CHRIST, by Ian Thomas
THE KEY TO TRIUMPHANT LIVING, by Jack Taylor
SERVANTS OF GOD, by Warren Wiersbe
THE CHRISTIAN PERSUADER, by Leighton Ford
WALKING WITH GIANTS, by Warren Wiersbe
THE MAKING OF A MAN OF GOD, by Alan Redpath
HEART CRY FOR REVIVAL, by Stephen Olford
ORDERING YOUR PRIVATE WORLD, by Gordon MacDonald
THE PROBLEM WITH JESUS, by Joe Stowell
WORSHIP, by Warren Wiersbe
WHY I PREACH THE BIBLE IS LITERALLY TRUE, by W.A. Criswell
EXPOSITORY SERMONS ON REVELATION, by W.A. Criswell
LECTURES TO MY STUDENTS, by C.H. Spurgeon
A DIARY OF PRIVATE PRAYER, by John Baille
PREACHERS & PREACHING, by Martyn Lloyd Jones
KNOWING GOD, by J.I. Packer
THE CROSS OF CHRIST, by John Stott
THE CHARISMATICS, by John MacArthur
EVIDENCE THAT DEMANDS A VERDICT, by Josh McDowell
SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP, by J. Oswald Sanders
CRUCIAL EXPERIENCES IN THE LIFE OF D.L. MOODY, by Paul Gericke
THE PARABLES & METAPHORS OF OUR LORD, by G. Campbell Morgan
THE PURSUIT OF HOLINESS, by Jerry Bridges
WORLD AFLAME, by Billy Graham
JUST AS I AM, by Billy Graham
WITH CHRIST IN THE SCHOOL OF PRAYER, by Andrew Murray
A TREASURY OF PRAYER, by Leonard Ravenhill
THE SOUL-WINNER, by C.H. Spurgeon
BETWEEN TWO WORLDS, by John Stott
TWENTY-SIX TRANSLATIONS OF THE HOLY BIBLE, by Curtis Vaughan
THE TREASURY OF SCRIPTURE KNOWLEDGE, by R.A. Torrey

The Scott Wilder Show

I was so disappointed to hear last week of the cancellation of The Scott Wilder Show on The WORD (100.7 FM). I have appreciated Scott’s insight on the program over the past 12 years and can truly say his voice will be sorely missed on the airwaves.

Scott is a good friend and longtime member of Prestonwood. He has also been in the studio with me over the past six years, introducing PowerPoint Ministries—which, in fact, airs on The WORD at 8:00 a.m. each weekday.

Like many others of you out there, I’m going to miss Scott’s show. But God is faithful and I’m excited to see what He has in store for Scott in the coming days.

(Click here to catch up with Scott.)

The Passion of Our Students

As the end of summer draws near, I’ve been reflecting on the love our church family has always had for our students—this rising generation of young adults who daily face societal monsters that we never had to ... at least not to this magnitude. We’ve supported this next generation and prayed for them and loved them. And, in a few short weeks many of them will leave for their first year of college, where it becomes so easy to stray off the path, to give in to temptation and follow the wrong crowd.

I’m so grateful for our Student Ministry and Student Choir Ministry staff who walk alongside parents in grounding their sons and daughters in the Word and guiding them as young believers. And our students have learned to share that love and grace with others through missions here locally and globally. We recently witnessed the passion our students have for people through their experiences with the High School Choir in London and Romania. It’s a passion so genuine and powerful it brings joy to our heart. Watch this video again, or for the first time, and you’ll know what I’m talking about. And remember to continue praying for our students, that they may forever show that love and passion for God and His people.

Prestonwood North Excitement

It’s truly exhilarating to be around kids—especially when they’re excited about God’s Word! Today I was able to spend some time at Vacation Bible School at Prestonwood North, our second campus. Man, kids make you feel young. I had a great time and even wore my Chuck’s, you know, Converse All Stars. I used to wear them back in the 50s—but they’re back, and I love wearing them...In fact, I bought a pair for my grandson, Ian, and he digs them, too!

Anyway, back to VBS...In June, we had more than 4,600 kids at VBS at our Plano location. This week, we hosted our very first VBS in our new facility at Prestonwood North and 700 came! These children, ages 3 through 6, come from all over the 380 Corridor, one of the fastest growing areas in our region. There are so many young families here in Prosper, Celina, Little Elm, McKinney and so on. Many of these families have never had someone explain the saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to them. That’s why God led us to this northern region when He placed on our hearts a second location.

And I’ve got to say, I am absolutely amazed at all that God is doing through Prestonwood North. Just this year we’ve baptized nearly 150 people! And new families are joining our church and our Bible Fellowships each week. Our Student Ministry is doing a great job of reaching teens and keeping them grounded in the Word, at a cool hangout like The Warehouse.

I’m grateful for our staff and the leadership of our Campus Pastor Marc Rylander. God has great things planned for our church family here and we can’t wait to experience it. This week, it was through VBS ... 39 children made decisions to follow Christ ... two made decisions for baptism ... and 8 rededicated their lives to Christ. And these precious children gave nearly $4,400 to the missions offering.

What a blessing ... and this is only the beginning! We’re taking big bold steps (some of us in our Chuck’s) as God guides us in serving this thriving region.

Baseball on the Big Screen

Today I’m thinking about my all-time favorite baseball movies. Here they are:

The Natural
Field of Dreams
A League of Their Own
The Sandlot
Eight Men Out
Fever Pitch
It Happens Every Spring
The Pride of the Yankees
The Bronx is Burning

Tell me your favorites....

My All-Time All-Stars

Since it is All-Star Week in the Major Leagues, I thought I would give you my all-time all-stars. Tell me what you think and add your own.

C Johnny Bench
1B Lou Gehrig
2B Roger Hornsby
3B Brooks Robinson
SS Cal Ripkin
OF Babe Ruth
OF Willie Mays
OF Mickey Mantle
DH Ted Williams
LHP Sandy Koufax
RHP Nolan Ryan

The Ultimate Victory for Connor Cruse

Today I was blessed to do the celebration service for my sweet friend Connor Cruse. I wrote about Connor last month, about how he courageously battled an aggressive cancer for four years. On Friday, the ultimate victory was won when this special 8-year-old boy was welcomed into heaven and into the arms of our loving Lord. Our hearts ache terribly for his parents, Tait and Joy, and sister, Mackenzie, and brothers Carson and Mason. Our entire church family and Prestonwood Christian Academy family lifted up this little boy in prayer for so long. We will miss Connor desperately. But we rejoice that Connor has gone home ... that he is playing in heaven with his Father. And we’ll see him again.

REACHING LONDON

For the past three years, PowerPoint Ministries has shared a wonderful partnership with Premier Christian Radio in London. It’s been a blessing to broadcast in London, and I’ve been touched many times during visits by the pure passion of the believers there. They want so desperately for their nation, our Mother Country, to know the saving grace of our Lord.

This past week, our PowerPoint team joined about 300 other Prestonwood members, including our High School Choir, on a mission trip to London (most later went on to Romania). I was unable to make the trip but have been excited every day to hear about how God is working through our people in that city. One of the best pieces of news we heard was that Premier will go national later this year! I can’t wait to see all that God will do in the coming years as the Gospel is broadcast on Premier throughout the UK.

We partnered with Premier for several events throughout the London area including in malls, at the great Trinity Baptist Church and at the historic Methodist Central Hall Westminster. Scott Seal, Executive Director of PowerPoint Ministries, spoke about our presence in London, one of Prestonwood’s Associate Pastors Jarrett Stephens preached at Trinity Baptist, and our students performed concerts throughout. Our students and adults on the trip did prayer walks through the government and theater districts of the city, and prayed that our broadcast would continue to impact powerfully the people of London.

It delights me to see our young people passionate about sharing the Good News of our Lord and Savior. To view videos and check out some photos of their trip, click here.

I Got Your Back

One of the things I love most about the Prestonwood family is its incredible heart. I’ve witnessed it for two decades now … whether we’re taking the Gospel to places like Brazil or Africa or Romania or helping meet a need right here in our community. Sharing the love of Christ is what we do.

Many of our members are serving in London and Romania this week (more on that tomorrow) … and our people will be in Boston and New Orleans and San Antonio this month. And for the last few weeks, we’ve been collecting school supplies for less fortunate children in the Dallas area through a partnership with H.I.S. BridgeBuilders, an inner city ministry founded by two of our members, Mike Fechner and Velma Mitchell. Already, we’ve collected about 1,100 bags filled with school supplies and more continue to come in.

I especially love the name of this initiative—I Got Your Back. After all, we’re all God’s children, part of one big family. And when someone in the family needs help, you give it, without question. That’s the way it is at Prestonwood. God has blessed this church, and we in turn bless others.