Real men love Jesus

We had huge crowds August 18-20 to see Team Impact, a group of athletes who do some amazing feats of strength, and then preach the gospel. Above, Greg Lewis bench pressed a 350-pound log 18 times. But more importantly, they lifted up Jesus Christ. Estimated attendance: Friday we had 700 people, Saturday we had 800, and Sunday we had 1,100! We counseled 113 people who made decisions, including 78 professions of faith!
The Savannah Morning News wrote a good article about the event, too. Pray for us, as we are very busy doing follow-up.
I highly recommend using Team Impact for evangelism in the local church, especially if you want to reach youth and children. I have never seen so many young people crowd into our church.

Mel Gibson isn't the hero, Jesus is!

I've been thinking about what, if anything, to say about my disappointment in Mel Gibson, director of the wonderful film, The Passion of the Christ, for his recent arrest for drunk driving and anti-Semitic remarks. Then I ran across Joel Rainey's blog in which he reminds us that we make heroes out of Christians who are still sinners and we forget that the real hero is the Lord. Says Rainey:

"We forget that Abraham was, at heart, a liar, David an adulterer, Solomon a
pervert, Elijah a whiner, John a doubter, and Peter an indecisive hot-head."

How true!

World Trade Center movie emphasizes Christian faith

Today I went to see the new movie, World Trade Center. It was a gut-wrenching experience that made me relive the feelings I had that day nearly five years ago. But I was pleased at the way it honored the faith of several participants.
The movie tells the familiar events of 9/11 through the true experiences of two policemen who were trapped in the rubble of the twin towers, and a rescue worker who comes to help. All three men express their faith. The police sergeant prays the Lord's Prayer in the rubble. The other cop has a vision of Jesus bringing him water, and cries, "You won't believe this, I saw Jesus." A former U.S. Marine goes to church to pray after the attacks, tells his pastor that "God gave me gifts to help people and he's calling me to help," and he cuts his hair short, puts his uniform back on, and shows up to work with the rescue workers.
This is a movie that reminds us of how we felt that day, lest we too quickly forget. With all the negative things said about the radical religious motivations of the Muslim terrorists, it is refreshing to see a movie about 9/11 that emphasizes the positive effects of Christian faith on many of the victims and rescue workers. Caution: there are disturbing scenes of violence, and there is strong language, including one use of the F-word.

Sermon ain't over 'til the fat lady sings

Sometimes a preacher's words just don't come out right.
A pastor in Louisiana was praying at a graveside service. As he prayed for the deceased, he said, "Thank you, God that..." and he named an elderly lady who was sitting in the chair by the grave, instead of the lady in the casket. Oops! He stopped, said the correct name, and went on. What else was he going to do? He couldn't say, "God, thank you that so-and-so isn't dead, too!"
A certain preacher was waxing eloquent in his sermon, and he felt the need to explain that he was not quite finished. So he said, "I won't be finished preaching until the fat lady sings," an obvious reference to that great American proverbial statement, "It ain't over until the fat lady sings."
Shortly after saying this, the preacher concluded his sermon, and a soloist came to sing the last song of the service. She was, um...chubby. Polite people would say she was big boned. To put it bluntly, she was a fat lady. The preacher's face turned blood red. Graciously, she made a joke about it and the congregation burst out laughing.
Another minister was conscious of the lengthy sermon he delivered the previous Sunday. In an attempt to assure his congregation that this week would be different, he said, "To compensate for last week's sermon of twenty points, this week's sermon will be pointless."
Bloopers are a professional hazard of preachers. It's a simple matter of statistical odds: if you speak frequently, at some point you're going to say something that you wish you had not said.
The Bible says, "Preach the Word, be prepared in season and out of season." (2 Timothy 4:2, NIV) Sometimes the preacher's words may sound "out of season." But if he's faithful to preach the word, be understanding when he messes up. After all, even the best cook burns the bread sometimes.