Back In Memphis

Tracy and I have made it back safely to Memphis, and are unloading our loving-affection on our our children.

Thank you again for your prayers for the camp. It appears that a few of students reckoned with God. The day will tell it.

One Week Earlier And...

Seeing the tragedy of the Minneapolis bridge collapse brings a burden to the heart of us all. Let us join in praying for the families who lost loved ones, and for the health of those who are recovering.

The fragility of life stares us all in the face as we view footage like that of the collapsed bridge. Most likely, none of those frightened I-35W passengers were thinking of the possibility of his or her life ending today between the banks of the Mississippi. No, they were talking on the cell phone, or chatting with a fellow passenger. Others were thinking about being on time for a special meeting.

I wasn't thinking about life ending last time I was there either. You see, between Monday and Thursday of last week I drove across that very bridge eight times. Why did it fall today, and not last Wednesday evening at approximately the same time of day when I was crossing it? Friend, our time is coming sooner than we may suppose.

May I ask you a crucial question? Are you right with God through His Christ? If not, won't you trust Him now? Eternity is calling, and very soon, you will answer...

Prayer For Today & Tomorrow

I will appreciate your prayers this evening (Sat) and tomorrow morning as I will be preaching at Grace's mother church.

Nate, praying for you, and all of GC tomorrow morning as ya'll worship through Deuteronomy 6.

GC, praying for you all and the Uptown community as you seek to impact the neighborhood with the gospel at BYBC #2.

2 Ways 2 Live (For Kids)

I'd guess it was about 2 years ago when I was first pointed to Matthais Media's helpful discipleship and evangelistic material.

As a parent I'm always wanting to find helpful ways to point my children to Christ. This simple version of "2-ways-2-live" for kids is great.

(HT: Steve McCoy...who would appreciate your prayers for his wife, Molly).

A Prayer

"Lord, we pray that You would make Yourself the exclusive object or our ultimate devotion."
- Mark Dever, Promises Made: The Message of The Old Testament, 587.

Pray for PTI

Nathan and I will be leaving shortly for Ethiopia.

• Nathan has been given the wonderful task of teaching the Doctrine of Christ
• I have been given the joy of teaching Christ-Centered Theology of the Bible

We covet your prayers!

We already miss our families, and our church family. We are praying for you all!

Annalee's Home

...and is making noticeable progress. The Smith's thank you for your prayers!

Nigeria Prayer Help - #2

During our Vision Trip in Nigeria, we were bombarded with the plain awareness of persecution toward Christians in Northern Nigeria.

The same day we departed the country to return home, also marked the day that the new Nigerian President was elected, Muslim Umaru Musa Yar’Adu. The election of Yar'Adu to office was of concern to Christians for a number of reasons...not the least of which is their freedom to worship Jesus Christ!

Yar'Adu was formerly the Governor of Katsina State, a place we visited on our first day of visioning. Katsina is just below the Sahara Desert in the extreme North of Nigeria, and is only a fraction of a percentage point away from being an exclusively Muslim region. But Christ, as He promised, has sheep of that fold who must (Indeed, some already have!) come to Him (John 10:16)!

As Pat Nave shared on Sunday at the Grace Lunch Fellowship, talking about the persecution of Christians in Nigeria is not simply anecdotal.

Below is a well-written article that sheds even more light for our praying about our future involvement as a church in Nigeria. Perhaps Katsina will be our target location?


Maybe it was because visiting Katsina (top-center of the map of Nigeria) was our initial Nigerian experience, but more likely because of the tug of the Holy Spirit, I've not been able to get Rev. Aliyu Auta's face out of mind. Auta is the pastor of an ECWA church in Katsina. This is a godly brother. He is faithfully pastoring his flock, and preaching the truth of Christ crucified, buried, and raised for our salvation!

Rev. Auta is mentioned in the quote below. I encourage you to read the entire article. Most of all, pray!

Our minister here, the Rev. Aliyu Auta, went to see Gov. Yar’Adua on this issue (i.e.; being permitted to complete the construction of our church building), and [Governor Yar'Adu] promised he would do something about it, but we are now at the end of his tenure as governor and nothing has been done.”

A House of Prayer for All the Nations

In an attempt to move toward being a church with a vision for Christ's global glory, Grace prays for a different country/people-group during each Sunday's service. This year, we are focusing our prayer support for the believers in the 52 most Christian-persecuted peoples/places in the world. For those of you who were at GC on Sunday, you may remember that we prayed for Gaza/West Bank.

Now, I don't want to confuse "American" with "Christian," but I think the following prayer (From the lips of Sheik Ahmad Bahr; Acting Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council) for Allah to effect the total anahilation of all Jews and Americans is reason enough to continue to pray fervently to the only true God for our Christian brothers and sisters who are living and ministering in Palestine.

Oh Allah, vanquish the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them all, down to the very last one. Oh Allah, show them a day of darkness. Oh Allah, who sent down His Book, the mover of the clouds, who defeated the enemies of the Prophet defeat the Jews and the Americans, and bring us victory over them.

Read the short article here.

(HT: Drudge)

Nigeria Prayer Help

As Grace Church continues to prayerfully consider how the Lord intends to use us for the glory of Christ in Nigeria, the following short supplement from SIM will helpfully inform our praying:

At least 120 unreached people groups exist in Nigeria. The rapid growth rate of many of the churches indicates that people are receptive. However, areas of strong resistance remain among Muslims in the north. Indications point to some Muslim groups, such as the Fulani and certain Hausa sub-groups, becoming more receptive to the message of Jesus.

Read the entire article here...

(HT: Pat Nave)

Pray

Now.

Nigeria

Lord willing, just 55 hours from now the six-person Nigeria Vision Team from Grace Church will be arriving at Memphis International Airport to catch our flight to Abuja, Nigeria. May the Lamb Who was slain receive the reward if His sufferings!

Here is a copy of our daily itinerary. Please use it as a prayer guide. On behalf of our team, "Thank you!"

Friday April 13th
Depart Memphis at 7:30 PM via KLM/NWA flight 6058

Saturday April 14th
Arrive Amsterdam at 11:10 AM. Depart for Abuja at 2:05 PM on KLM flight 577. Arrive Abuja, Nigeria at 7:35 PM. John Hassan, our local pastor host, will pick us up at the airport.

On arrival, we will spend one night in Abuja at the Sheraton.

Sunday April 15th
We shall be leaving Abuja at 6:00 A.M for Zaria. Jordan will be preaching in a combined service at the church John Hassan pastors, ECWA Church Wusasa Zaria (Evangelical Christian West Africa). It is going to be a congregation of about 1200 people. John told Jordan to feel free to preach what the Lord lays to his heart. The Church has a theme this year; i.e "Preach the Word..." 2 Tim 4:2. We hope to arrive Zaria from Abuja by 9:00 A.M for the service. John says the service will have lots of “celebrations.”

Monday April 16th
On Monday, we shall be going to Katsina, far in the North. It is about four hours drive. We will come back to Zaria the same day. We shall be having supper with John’s District Executive members with their wives by 6-8 P.M local time.

Tuesday April 17th
On Tuesday, we will travel to Kano, one of the biggest cities in Northern Nigeria. It is about three and half hours drive. From there we will proceed to Bauchi, another three hours drive. We will spend one night at Bauchi. At Bauchi, we shall be visiting with one of the biggest game reserves before we continue for Jos.

Wednesday April 18th
On Wednesday, we will continue to Jos, the seat of the National Headquarters of ECWA We will have the privilege of meeting with John’s national leaders. On our way, we will stop at Jos ECWA Theological Seminary one of the biggest Seminaries in the country, where John received his Bachelor’s Degree before he came to Mid-America Seminary in Memphis. From there, we will stop again at one other seminary where he taught for a year before his relocation to Zaria. We will also stop at Kaduna the capital city of John’s birth before we finally come back to Zaria on Thursday.

Thursday April 19th
We will return to Zaria and have dinner with John’s Church Elders and their Wives.

Friday April 20th
On Friday, we will receive a welcome from John’s “Babby” School. It is a school the church and he started a few years ago. Since then they have seen many children around the community gave their little hearts to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. John said “It will be my joy to see you in the midst of this little ones, who are the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” This will happen at about 10:00 -11:00 A.M.

The remaining time during the day we will be getting ready for departure on Saturday by 2:00 P.M to Abuja.

Saturday April 21st
Leave for Abuja by 2PM and depart Abuja at 9:10 PM on KLM flight 577 for Amsterdam via stopover in Kano, Nigeria.

Sunday April 22nd
Arrive in Amsterdam at 6:10 AM. Depart at 2:20 PM on KLM/NWA flight 6057 to Memphis. Arrive in Memphis at 5:05 PM.

TEAM MEMBERS

• Chris M.
• Pat N.
• Paul N.
• Kelly R.
• Nathan S.
• Jordan T.

PRAYER REQUESTS

Pray that God will...

• Smooth our paths as we prepare and travel
• Prepare the hearts and minds of the people to whom we will witness
• Help us proclaim the gospel with power
• Bring a harvest of believers among the Hausa people
• Give us wisdom to discern future missions & church planting opportunities among the Hausa people.

Biblical Prayer - Part I

Let's consider some of the prayers of the bible...together. In this ongoing series, we will post prayers recorded for us in Scripture, and interact with them...together. What do these prayers teach us about God? What do these prayers request from God? How should these prayers inform our praying? Well, that sets the stage. Our first biblical prayer is found in 1 Chronicles. Interact away!

1 Chronicles 29:10-20:

So David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, "Blessed are You, O LORD God of Israel our father, forever and ever Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name. But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You. For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours. Since I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You. O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, preserve this forever in the intentions of the heart of Your people, and direct their heart to You; and give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies and Your statutes, and to do them all, and to build the temple, for which I have made provision.

Then David said to all the assembly, "Now bless the LORD your God." And all the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed low and did homage to the LORD and to the king.

A. Begg Will Appreciate Your Prayers

You can read his brief note.

You can also read how two other saints responded to the same issue.

Abortion

You should consider the fact that you will never be able to forget what you see before watching this video. I am not suggesting that everyone should watch it.

If you watch or not, pray for the unborn!