Texas Revival Series II - Sept 26, Saturday

The Lost Cause Ministries and FBC Justin are pleased to announce this year’s Texas Revival Series! On Saturday, September 26th, from 1PM—8PM (with a break for dinner) we will enjoy solid preaching of the Word of God as it relates to evangelism. Our speakers this year include Jon Speed of The Lost Cause Ministries, Pastor Randall Easter of FBC Briar, Mack Tomlinson of Providence Chapel, and Keith Daniel of the African Evangelistic Band. Keith will also be preaching at FBC Justin on Sunday September 27th in both the morning and evening services.

US troops urged to share faith in Afghanistan - 04 May 09

From youtube:
US soldiers in Afghanistan have been filmed with local language Bibles and urged to be "witnesses for Jesus" despite anti-proselytising rules. Al Jazeera's James Bays reports.

Interesting to listen to the bias of the reporter and the documentary maker but thank God the troops are that bold! Pray that these men and women stand strong in the face of the persecution that this news report will most certainly bring them.

Mark Cahill - Texas Revival Series 1 (RECAP)

Organizing the event to bring Mark to speak in Dallas was quite a bit more difficult that I ever imagined but well worth the effort. And I never would have imagined that it would end with me missing most of the events because my wife would have our 2nd daughter, Hope, two months early on my dad's birthday. More on that later.

I came up with the idea of bringing Mark a little over a year ago (or God planted it) and called up his booking agency, Ambassador Speakers, got a quote for how much it would cost to bring him to Dallas and then put it aside. In January of 2008 I started a blog. I almost didn't do it because I was so busy and who really cares what I have to say but because I started this, Jon Speed of Lost Cause Ministries, found me. We met for lunch and I told him I wanted to bring Mark to speak. He checked with his partner, Tim, and they said they wanted to help. So now I had a ministry that could help me with promotion and spreading the word. Now we just to find a venue, no problem right?

Another great break occurred when a friend pledged to go in halves with me for the money for the event. We were really rolling so I thought.

But we just couldn't find a place to hold the event. The churches in north Dallas we contacted would not return emails or calls. The YMCA in Coppell said that would allow us to do it there but we knew we needed a little more space. By April we put the project aside.

I'd like to thank my men's group - Men of the Word lead by John Nieder for keeping my event on the weekly prayer list. Even as time passed with no results on my part, they kept it on, encouraged me and prayed for it's success. Looking back now this means so much to me.

In September I was having lunch with Jon and he mentioned meeting this guy who was street preaching at the gay rights parade in Dallas. I said that I hated to give up on bringing Mark but I was running out of time with my second daughter due to be born in February of 2009. Jon put two and two together and said he'd ask Keith from City Church International in Dallas if they would host Mark for the Dallas event. We met with Keith next week and he said they were interested and we never looked back. Jon and I came up with Texas Revival Series as the name of the event.

December 6 and 7 turned out to be the dates of the event. Everyone worked really hard with the short period of time we had to promote it, especially Jon Speed and Marv of One Million Tracts. It was truly amazing to watch how God wove this event together as the word got out with so little time. Unlike all the shows I used to play as a musician before being saved, I prayed frequently for its success and that God would get the right people there.

Friday nite, December 5th, I was driving back from getting ice cream with my mom and my daughter, Kat. We were doing what my dad loved to do best as we celebrated his birthday (he's now in Heaven). Lily who had been at work called to say that she was being taken to the hospital because she was bleeding. I dropped off my daughter at my mom's house and sped to the hospital. By 10:30 pm I had a new little baby, Hope. More on Hope's birth which was full of amazing blessings that only God could fulfill later.



From what I am told the Saturday event was packed with around 200 people with some people traveling from pretty far distances. I attended the Sunday morning service and was able to meet a guy who had traveled from Houston to hear Mark speak. Sunday night in Justin had around 150 people. I believe it was worth the investment as many people were encouraged in sharing the gospel with people they come across in their daily lives. I am so pleased to have had booths exhibiting some great ministries that participated in our event - Fish with Trish (Way of the Master); One Million Tracts; Gospel for Asia, Voice of the Martyrs and The Lost Cause Ministries.

TEXAS REVIVAL SERIES plans on doing future events and bringing dynamic speakers who proclaim the name of Jesus Christ boldly without compromise.

In Christ,
Steve

Mark Cahill to speak in DFW - Dec 6 & 7, 2008

TEXAS REVIVAL SERIES presents:

Mark Cahill is the author of “One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven” and "One Heartbeat Away." He has shared the Gospel with celebrities like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Vanilla Ice, and Charles Barclay.

Join us for an evening of evangelistic motivation in Dallas, TX on Saturday, December 6th! After wards, we’ll be taking it to the streets!

Schedule:

Saturday, December 6th (City Church International)
5-6PM: Session #1
6-7PM: Session #2

7:30-10:00PM: Outreach in Dallas, TX (location TBD)

Sunday, December 7th:

10:00AM: Mark Cahill speaks at City Church International worship service

6:00PM: Mark speaks at First Baptist Church Justin in the evening service.

Registration will be FREE but go to www.texasrevivalseries.com to reserve your spot at the Saturday events.

If you can use some posters and\or postcards advertising the event at your local church or Christian bookstore, please contact us at stpreach@gmail.com to get free promotional items. To download and print out the poster/postcard yourself, go to this page.

For weekly updates please, join Lost Cause Ministries' email list by contacting jon@lostcauseministries.com

Host churches:

CityChurchIntl is located 1530 North Carroll Ave, Dallas, TX 75204.

First Baptist Justin is located at 402 8th Street, Justin, TX 76247.

Sponsors:

Lost Cause Ministries
One Million Tracts
Streetpreacher in Texas

Daniel's prayer

We've been studying The Book of Daniel in our men's group. Even though his prayer was written 2500 years ago, I believe it can relate to the world we live in today. No matter how bad it seems, God is still in control!

Daniel 9:3-17 (NIV)

3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed:
"O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7 "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.
"Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

15 "Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

17 "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."

Abortion

Some say that there are circumstances like rape that there is a need for an abortion. Some say if the mother's life is in danger. Some just say it's a woman's choice. Does the baby deserve a choice?

A family member sent me a link to Eduardo Verástegui's website. This is a very strong message against abortion and some of the pictures are graphic. He's a very popular hispanic movie star who made it a mission to speak for those who don't have a voice. After watching this video, I don't know how people could continue to hold a prochoice view.

Guysforlife.org is a great website with some interesting video interviews. They interview men who look back to their teen years having had a girlfriend who had an abortion and how the experience still haunts them years later. They also interview men whose girlfriend/wife had the baby while they were barely adults and how the child changed their lives. Very stirring footage that makes you stop and think.

Aaron choose abortion interview

Reproductive "Choice" Campaign (RCC)posts images of aborted babies on their trucks and then drive them around town. Some say this is going too far. WARNING: Graphic material. What is a life worth if someone sees this and doesn't go through an abortion? But children can see this truck as well and isn't that bad? I'm not even going to pretend I have an answer for this. It's interesting to read the responses on their feedback page. They are either very positive or super negative.

There's a movie based on a true story called "22 Weeks" WARNING: Graphic material about a young woman trapped in the bathroom of an abortion clinic who watched helplessly as her baby died after being born alive. This film was made by Angel Manuel Soto Vasquez.

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From the 1966 movie Alfie a deleted scene about abortion:

"Finger of God" DVD movie - review

I first learned about Darren Wilson on Sid Roth's show this year. In an interview Darren explains that he was commissioned by an angel to travel the world and document the miraculous. Darren comes from a non-"Word of Faith" Christian background and was resistant at first to all this healing business but an angel forcefully urged him to make the movie and the money to make the movie made itself available. How could it not be of God - everything fit in place for him to make this movie? Intrigued by this, I purchased the movie.

First Darren visits church meetings in hotels where people magically get gold dust on their body parts, heavenly jewels appear in people's hands, and mysterious manna is baked in their bibles. Sad thing is I suppose we'll never really know in this lifetime if these people are sprinkling gold dust when someone is not looking or pulling out a planted blue jewel out of their pockets. Darren's own uncle and aunt developed some gold teeth at one of these prayer meetings. Another reason he choose to explore the world of healing stems from the fact that he knows his aunt and uncle and can vouch for them being reasonable, sane people.

I believe it doesn't hurt to air a word of caution. The Word-of-Faith gang tries so hard to justify it's goofiness in similar activities that they lack or rarely show any discernment even though recent modern history has proved many of these healing ministries are complete scams that ultimately turn many away from Christ. A recent example is Todd Bently's dying false-fire empire who they are still making excuses for him even after he's getting divorced, admitting a problem with alcohol and God only know what else he's been into. Even though the guy was into all that and never preached a true gospel, they believe people were saved at Lakeland or more importantly healed while Todd was kicking them in the face with his bikers boot.

The movie also interviews young people in the US who go out and ask to pray for people they meet who have visible physical problems. I can't verify from the footage whether the injured who are prayed for are truly healed or not. Of course Darren doesn't follow up with any of the people at a later period so it's hard to say. One thing really bothers me is that they don't share the gospel with these people they have just healed. One young man even admitted it's weird going out with no tracts or literature about Jesus. Is healing more important than saving grace?

As the movie progresses, Darren goes into Africa and shows some amazing footage of the underground Chinese church. I have to admit I was brought to tears with some of these scenes.

I can't say if this movie is of God or not of God. And there are some things that leave you scratching your head. One is I didn't hear the gospel presented (I guess Darren assumes the potential audience already knows it) and never once do you hear anything about the ugly word - repentance.

Pilgrims Progress - Journey to Heaven - movie review

Recently, I purchased a copy of Reelchristian's "Pilgrim's Progress - Journey to Heaven" DVD. Having read the book a few years ago I had the story fresh in mind and was eager to see how they would portray John Bunyan's timeless book. The website describes it as a modern retelling of a classic story. Overall, it's is a very compelling rendition of the story combining some modern touches along the backdrop of the literal story. I liked the cast and the scenery along the way is beautiful.

The movie sells for around $20 and I would highly recommend it. After watching it a few times, it challenged me ask whether I was getting off the path in my Christian walk.

From their website:
"The goal was to stay as faithful to the book and its’ Gospel message as possible. At this time, over 6,000 people have seen the film in test screenings, with over 200 people surrendering their lives to Jesus. It is humbling to know that God is using the film for His glory and it’s just getting out of the starting gate."

Fireproof - movie review

This weekend my wife and I went to see "Fireproof", the movie from the guys who made "Facing the Giants." I was floored by this movie, it's really good. Fireproof is well written and acted. It is funny with romance and some pretty intense parts as this young couple tries to decide whether to end their young marriage or not. Kirk Cameron of Way of the Master plays the part of Caleb Holt, a frustrated fire fighter whose marriage is falling apart. This role shows us a not-so-nice side of Kirk that was good to see he could pull it off. The movie even deals with the difficult subject of pornography. There is a strong gospel presentation from Harris Malcolm who plays Kirk's father. I really liked Mr. Malcolm's character, very strong presence. Overall, this movie glorifies Jesus Christ our savior in such a way I almost had to ask if I was dreaming seeing a movie like this in the local movie theater.

I want to stress this is a good movie. I rarely go out to see movies because we all know what the majority of it is these days. But when I do see a movie I am very critical so I was very much pleased to have been entertained and enlightened by this one. Please consider going out and supporting it.

Bart Blair - "All for you" ep

My friend and former band mate of the 80's has released his new ep entitled "All of you" from Mississauga, Canada. The five song ep features some great Christian worship music in the vein of Chris Thomlin. The songs are "Follow You," "Psalm 148," "All For You," "You Are My Friend," and "Love Song for the Creator." The songs are well thought out and I've been listening to them for several weeks.

He also has an ep he did in 2006 called "Lifewater," I'd recommend getting as well.

His myspace page to hear the tunes.

His webpage to purchase a copy.

Here's a blog I wrote about Bart when we both had a lot more hair.
Bart, a friend from my past.