If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who makes a mistake, when he sins unintentionally, to make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven. You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the people of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them. But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.

Numbers 15:27-31

I was reading through Numbers this morning when this passage struck me. It is something we too often forget under the new covenant. The laws of sacrifices under the old covenant were for unintentional sins.
They were for sins of forgetfulness or mistakes. There were a lot of laws, especially for the ceremonies of worship. To miss a detail was understandable. But once one consulted the Law and realized the mistake, a sacrifice was to be made to cover it.
Consider how seriously the mistake was taken! Do we consider our mistakes as strongly? Do we consider our day-to-day forgetfulness worthy of a blood sacrifice? Remember that David prayed in Psalm 19:12, "Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults." Yes, Christ was sacrificed once and for all for your daily negligence!
But consider the sin that is not ignorant. (This is what most of us consider to be sin.) It is a sin with a high hand, that is, it assaults God's authority. This is sin for sin's sake. This is when you want something so badly you dare God to do His worst. It rarely sounds so bold as you prepare to do it. No, it hisses in your ear, "You will not surely die." You know that no good judge would ever find you guilty in his court of law and say, "Aw, it's not that big of a deal." Because it is that big of deal. But you will deceive yourself into believing God is so unconcerned with your righteousness. You're too important to be bothered with righteousness. You're too good on your own (self-righteous). You're too wise to limit yourself with old Victorian taboos like that.
What sacrifice was prescribed for this sin? The person himself was to be cut off from among his people. He shall be utterly cut off. His iniquity shall be on him.
The example is next given of a man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath. A few sticks. What harm could there be in picking up a few sticks? That's hardly back-breaking labor. But God made an example of him. God ordered he be taken out and stoned to death.
What harm is there in a little envy? A little hate? A little lust?
I know in my own heart that too often I sin with a high hand against God and only do good works unintentionally. I have enough "faith" in God's mercy to sin against Him, but not enough faith in His justice and grace to obey Him.
Yes, we need another Great Awakening. We need another Reformation. We need to return to Sola Scriptura. But we must return to seeing sin as God sees sin. We need to take our holiness as seriously as God takes it. He died for your holiness. He died for your atonement. He did not die to free you to live in the sin that nailed Him to the cross. He died to free you from that sin and to free you to do good works.
Let repentance turn our hearts that we might intentionally do good and truly (positively) grieve for our unintentional mistakes.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Colossians 2:13-15

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

1 John 3:8

Now in Christ no accusations can stand against God’s people. “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33). Neither man nor Satan can make a charge stick. The legal case is closed. Christ is our righteousness. Our accuser is disarmed. If he tries to speak in the court of heaven, shame will cover his face. Oh, how bold and free we should be in this world as we seek to serve Christ and love people! There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Let us then turn away from the temptations of the devil. His promises are lies, and his power is stripped.

John Piper
The Passion of Jesus Christ

Some question how Satan can be a defeated foe when he appears to be thrashing about so well these days. Well, if you absolutely hate Monty Python, I apologize, but frankly I think this illustrates the situation pretty well... Satan is a looney who still wants to bite our legs off.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Romans 6:5

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Romans 8:11

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.

2 Timothy 2:11-13

The resurrection of Jesus is God’s gift and proof that his death was completely successful in blotting out the sins of his people and removing the wrath of God. You can see this in the word “therefore.” Christ was “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him” (Philippians 2:8-9). From the cross the Son of God cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30). And by means of the resurrection, God the Father cries, “It was finished indeed!” The great work of paying for our sin and providing our righteousness and satisfying God’s justice was finished in the death of Jesus.

Then, in the grave, he had the right and the power to take the keys of death and open the door for all who come to him by faith. If sin is paid for, and righteousness is provided, and justice is satisfied, nothing can keep Christ or his people in the grave. That’s why Jesus shouts, “I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:18).

John Piper
The Passion of Jesus Christ

During one of the Q&As at the Ligonier Conference, someone asked, "What was God doing before creation?"
Piper answered from Luther, "He was creating a hell for theology students who ask such questions."
Pretty funny.
But I was just pondering the question now, and I think the question is asked wrongly. God is eternally existent. Eternity is not bound by time. I've heard it described as God is always now. So, as I was pondering this question, I considered that time is just a "pocket" of the infinite "scope" of eternity. (I use these terms very loosely as, while time could be considered a pocket, eternity is by definition without scope). In eternity, there is not a before creation that is any different than the after creation. In that sense, there is no before creation. It is all eternity.
In my humble understanding, the question should be stated, "What is God doing in eternity?" The answer would be that He is both glorifying Himself and being glorified. He is both enjoying Himself and being enjoyed. Eternity is glorious joy and joyous glory.
How good is God that He has allowed this pin prick in eternity called Time in which He shines the light of His glory into our lives here and then prepared a Way for us to come enjoy the glory of eternity with Him.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Titus 2:11-14

When God’s forgiveness and acceptance have freed us from fear and pride and greed, we are filled with a zeal to love others the way we have been loved. We risk our possessions and our lives since we are secure in Christ. When we love others like this, our behavior is contrary to human self-enhancement and self-preservation. Attention is thus drawn to our life-transforming Treasure and Security, namely, God.

And what are these “good works”? Without limiting their scope, the Bible means mainly helping people in urgent need, especially those who possess least and suffer most. For example, the Bible says, “Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need” (Titus 3:14). Christ died to make us this kind of people—passionate to help the poor and the perishing. It is the best life, no matter what it costs us in this world: They get help, we get joy, God gets glory.

John Piper
The Passion of Jesus Christ

I like to add a hymn here, but today I'm reminded of the negro spiritual. We probably all learned it as a little child, and it seems that as I read this devotion today, I was reminded mostly of songs from my childhood. Don't glance at it and dismiss it as a child's song. We adults could stand to re-learn some of the lessons of our youth. Look at this song again. There's a lot of truth here:

My wife and I were impressed this week by a docudrama of Patrick. I enjoyed seeing his true story portrayed, but I especially enjoyed some of the insight by the commentators.

For example, on Patrick's conversion, the narrator said:

In no case -- Moses, Paul, Patrick -- did this conversion come about as an act of choice. It is forcefully done to the converted man.

This was followed by Patrick's own description of his conversion:

Before I was humiliated I was like a stone that lies in deep mud, and he who is mighty came and in his compassion raised me up and exalted me very high and placed me on the top of the wall.

There were no punches pulled regarded the conflict that arose between Patrick and the British church. When Patrick didn't want to play by the rules of society, namely calling the nominal christianity of the rulers into question, the British church wanted to call him back to Britain. Patrick let them know in no uncertain terms they were not the One who had called him to Ireland in the first place.

The end of the documentary did discuss the many legends of Patrick (snakes and shamrocks) and then addressed the celebrations of St. Patrick's Day.

Regarding the parades, Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes said, "If Patrick were to come back... he'd jump off the balcony and say, 'Stop! This is not what I was preaching at all. Disperse! Go home and pray and help the poor.'"

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Ephesians 5:25-27

...in God’s mind marriage was designed in the beginning to display Christ’s relationship to his people. The reason marriage is called a “mystery” is that this aim for marriage was not clearly revealed until the coming of Christ. Now we see that marriage is meant to make Christ’s love for his people more visible in the world.

Since this was in God’s mind from the beginning, it was also in Christ’s mind when he faced death. He knew that among the many effects of his suffering was this: making the deepest meaning of marriage plain. All his sufferings were meant to be a message especially to husbands: This is how every husband should love his wife.

John Piper
The Passion of Jesus Christ

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

...the first way Galatians 2:20 speaks of the new self: a Christ-inhabited, Christ-sustained, Christ-strengthened me. That’s what Christ died to bring about. That’s what a Christian is. The other way it speaks of the new self is this: It lives by trusting Christ moment by moment. “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Without this second description of the new self, we might wonder what our part is in experiencing Christ’s daily help. Now we have the answer: faith. From the divine side, Christ is living in us and enabling us to live the way he teaches us to live. It’s his work. But from our side, it’s experienced by trusting him moment by moment to be with us and to help us. The proof that he will be with us and will help us do this is the fact that he suffered and died to make it happen.

John Piper
The Passion of Jesus Christ

• RAJASTHAN - On March 7, 2007, Pastor Reginald Howell of Good Shepherd Community Church was brutally beaten by a Hindu extremist group in Hanumangarh, Rajasthan. According to The Voice of the Martyrs sources, Pastor Howell went to Hanumangarh to pray for the sick and visit Christians in the area. The pastor was beaten with an iron rod and suffered severe injuries on his back. The police refused to register his complaint and as a result, doctors denied him treatment. Rajasthan State has a so-called "Freedom of Religion Bill," that is used as a tool to harass Christians. VOM sources report cases of anti-Christian attacks in the area keep increasing, and the State Administration turns a blind eye to the persecution.

• ANDRA PRADESH - On March 11, 2007, Pastor Anand visited a village to attend services. He was attacked by more than 10 men from a Hindu radical group. Local police who arrived at the location of the attack did not protect him, resulting in further beatings. Pastor Anand was beaten on his face and legs with wooden logs until the early hours of the next morning.

Pray for healing for these pastors and that the Gospel of Christ will not be hindered, but it will spread in the midst of this persecution. Romans 12: 14, 21

Used with permission Voice of the Martyrs www.persecution.com

It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

Galatians 6:12-16

What does "only" mean here?
It means that all other boasting should still be a boasting in the cross. If we boast in the hope of glory, that very boast should be a boast in the cross of Christ. If we boast in the people of Christ, that very boasting should be a boasting in the cross. Boasting only in the cross means only the cross enables every other legitimate boast, and every legitimate boast should therefore honor the cross.

John Piper
The Passion of Jesus Christ

I just wanted to send out this special song to José Luis de Jesús Miranda and Joel Osteen. I hope its a blessing to them and to you.

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
2 Corinthians 5:14, 15

“Christ died that we might live for him” does not mean “that we might help him.” “[God is not] served by human hands, as though he needed anything” (Acts 17:25). Neither is Christ: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). What Christ died for is not that we might help him, but that we might see and savor him as infinitely valuable. He died to wean us from poisonous pleasures and enthrall us with the pleasures of his beauty. In this way we are loved, and he is honored. These are not competing aims. They are one.
John Piper
The Passion of Jesus Christ

"An excellent wife who can find?" I did!

“Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”

Happy Birthday, Alicia

Reporting to you from the streaming webcast of the Ligonier Conference, here are my notes on MacArthur's "The Problem of Evil"

1 - Evil exists. It is a massive reality.
a. Natural evil - impersonal, external. Diseases, disasters, catastrophes, everything from viruses to volcanos
b. Moral evil - personal, internal, spiritual. Sin.
c. Supernatural evil - demonic.
d. Eternal evil - eternal hell. Absense of good.
2 - God exists. The God of the Bible. The true and living God.
Everything is under His sovereign control. He does not shy away from claiming responsibility for "natural" disasters. He is the One who sent the Flood and killed millions (I would say Billions) of people, saving only 8.
Isaiah 45:5-10, but remember Psalm 5:5. GREAT QUOTE: "Arminianism is an attempt to rescue God from the bad press He gets in the Bible." To do this, the Arminians had to re-invent God. Many Arminians believe god has limited power - he's good and loving but just doesn't have the power to prevent the evil that happens - or was unwilling to use that power because there was something more important than stopping evil, which is giving sinners autonomy. Other Arminians by saying god has limited knowledge - process theologians (god is in process and getting better as history unfolds). Openness theology says that god doesn't know the future - he can't know it because it hasn't happened yet. They have created a new god - one without omniscience. "This god was shocked when he saw Adam & Eve sin. Of course, he did say everything was good when he created it. So much for positive thinking. It didn't work for god, doubt it will work for you." These people lack a God-centered, God-focused, God-dominating view of the way things are. They sit on their man-centered perches hoping God doesn't violate any of their sensibilities.
The absolute sovereignty of God is crystal clear from cover to cover in the Bible. You can't explain it away.

So, why evil?
a. Metaphysical theodicy - yin yang. Good exists because evil exists. Evil exists because good exists. Two co-eternal independent realities - always present - not created by god. (So who created them?)
b. Autonomy - The cause of evil is free will. The best thing god could give us is free will. Free will trumps evil on god's value scale. God wants you to love him all on your own just because you want to love him not because he made you to love him. He had to protect autonomy to protect himself from bad press. But this doesn't really get him off the hook, does it? Because he STILL created them knowing that not everyone would be saved and follow him, so he was STILL created them to fall and sin and spend eternity in hell.
c. maybe Al Gore is actually in charge of the world and global warming has more impact than we realize.

Would you rather have a god who can't get a grip on evil or a God who is in control of it?

d. God willed and ordained evil to exist. He didn't create it. He didn't prevent it. God even used evil for his own purposes - even eternal evil. Sometimes punishment, sometimes chastisement, sometimes to humble. He let Satan loose on Job. There was a remedial purpose - he let Satan have Peter so that when Peter was converted he would feed the brethren. Paul's thorn in the flesh - the demons that were directing the false teachers to attack Paul, to keep Paul humble.

Why did God will it?

For His own glory. (here he quotes the Westminster Confession on the very point I'm trying to illustrate on page 3 of my comic).

Romans 3:5 - our unrighteousness demonstrates, manifests, discloses the righteousness of God. Israel's sin doesn't cancel God's righteousness but makes it more glorious. We would never understand God's righteousness if we were not first familiar with unrighteousness.

Romans 5:8 - How else could God demonstrate the love that loves enemies and sinners if there were none?

Romans 9:22 - Literally, "God determined to demonstrate for Himself (for His own glory and satisfaction) His wrath"... If no son, no display of wrath.

Jude 4 - their condemnation was pre-written before history began. God predetermined that he would ordain the existence of evil without being the cause of it to display His Glory.

How holy is God? He is so holy He must send forever away from His presence anything that is not worthy.

Romans 9:23 - The vessels of mercy were ordained beforehand. God willed to make known His love, His holiness, His grace. "That He might make known the riches of His glory."

He did all of this that He might bring together with Him in heaven a redeemed humanity that would forever know how glorious He is.

Romans 9:17 - He directed the very genetic path to put Pharoah on the throne just to display His holiness and His wrath through the Exodus.

Footnote: Job 38-42. Get some tough talk from God for someone who thinks he might question God.

Earlier this week, on Way of the Master Radio, a listener asked Todd, "Who deemed that words are foul? Why do we consider curse words to be curse words? etc."
Todd explained that society dictates what is coarse. The Bible didn't set out a list of what's not okay to say, because it changes with culture and even changes within society over time. There are words that young people say today that he would never have said as a young person, but they've changed. He even gave the example that it was not until 490 BC that Greek men began wearing their hair short. Before that, long hair was masculine. Society made that change.
Until society determines throughout that a clothing is now a man's/woman's garment or a word is acceptable, Christians shouldn't jump into wearing or saying those things.
Okay. All that to say that that conversation was on my mind as I was listening to Ephesians 5 on the way to work this morning and this verse jumped out at me:

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
Ephesians 5:4

Todd had referenced it, but it is one of those I've always wanted to look into further. In a class in college, the professor asked, "Does God have a sense of humor?" Being at a staunch Fundamentalist institution, no one wanted to touch it -- except, of course, me. I said, "Look around the room. If He's seen this crowd, He at least laughs."
As a kid, I'd get to this verse, though, and sometimes wonder of the comedic was excluded from the Christian life.
Well, let's take a look at it.
"No filthiness." That's pretty easy. The Greek is aischrotes and means "obscenity, filthiness." No using obscene words or even discussing obscene subjects. Obviously, if you are in a counseling situation some discussion may be necessary, but this shouldn't be our day-to-day conversation. Oh, and this would include obscene gestures, too. You represent Christ on the interstate, too.
"Foolish talk" is morologia, which means, "foolish talking." Anything look familiar? This has the word moros in its etymology - as in, moron. According to Vine's the word denotes "dull, sluggish." But consider Matthew 5:22. Here, fool (moros) is an attack on the person's character, not his intellect. Paul describes himself and his helpers as fools in 1 Corinthians 4:10. Here he's refering to how they appear in their opponents' eyes. The world may see you as foolish for sharing the gospel. That's certainly not what we are to avoid here. In the South, we might say one was talking like an ignoramus. Don't be a moron for foolishness' sake. Think before you speak. Hey, here's another thought: as the Bible considers the atheist a fool, ask yourself if what your are about to say reflects a belief in God or practical disbelief in God.
"Crude joking" is eutrapelia which actually has a positive and a negative definition. In the positive, it means "pleasantry, humour, facetiousness." It comes from eu- "well" and -trepo "to turn." It originally meant quick-turning, witty jibes. But eventually it was used to describe a more negative use, and so it is used here. In the negative, it means, "scurrility, ribaldry, low jesting." There's nothing wrong with being witty. You'll find several examples of this within Paul's own writing. He even goes so far as to make others look ridiculous with his words. But I think here he's pointing back to Ephesians 4:29, which would connect it to the other two words he uses.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Be witty, but let your wittiness be for the good of building up and full of grace.

On a separate note, I was listening to "How Great is Our God" on the way to work this morning (after Ephesians) and as the song switched in medley to "How Great Thou Art," I was just turning the corner. With the lines, "Then sings my soul..." I was smacked in the face with the most glorious, flamingly brilliant sunrise. Very cool worship moment.

I just had the most amazing experience. I don't know if anything like this has ever happened to anyone else. I was dreaming. In my dream, I was actually test driving a classic car with my dad, but somehow we ended up at an open air service at my church. It must have not only been open air but also "open mike." (We do these from time to time where anyone can share a testimony, a song, or a prayer). A lady shared a song, but something about the song made it clear to the believers that she needed Christ. (The dream was fuzzy on the song but the impression was clear). I saw one of the elders approach the pastor who was officiating the service and then the elder approached me. He expressed to me his concern for the lady and then informed me that he had just asked the pastor to have me close the service in prayer. The dream gave me the sense that some time passed and then the pastor turned to me and indicated he wanted me to pray. I began praying in my dream. I know that the Spirit helps us in our weakness and himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words, but in this prayer, we were in sync. In this prayer we were interceding for the saints and I was just opening my mouth and His words were flowing out.
Now, I didn't share this dream to be mystical. I don't put that much stock in dreams. But here is what I found amazing this morning. For the first time in my life, I actually woke up already in the middle of a prayer. I woke up in the middle of the dream. I felt I had no other choice -- I wanted no other choice -- but to keep it going. For fifteen or twenty minutes, I don't really know how long, I just laid there in bed with my eyes closed and let the prayer continue until it came to its conclusion.
I knew prayer was the best way to start your day. I just didn't know you could start your day already in prayer.
I am overwhelmed just thinking about it. It was so humbling an experience.

* Maharashtra: A local house-church pastor has been falsely accused of forcibly trying to convert a villager. A few months ago a villager asked the pastor to pray for her mentally handicapped daughter. For more than three months, the villager attended Sunday worship services conducted by the pastor and when the daughter's condition did not improve, she falsely accused the pastor of pressuring her to convert to Christianity. The pastor is living in fear of imminent arrest. Pray for wisdom and protection for this pastor, his family and believers in this area. Ask that these false charges do not result in the pastor's arrest. Isaiah 49:13
* Himachal Pradesh: It has been reported that more than 100 Christian converts have been forced to return to Hinduism under the new Himachal Pradesh Anti-Conversion Law passed on February 19, 2007. VOM sources report the law has emboldened Hindu radicals to launch an anti-Christian campaign. Christians are coerced and forced to renounce their Christianity and embrace Hinduism. Pray God's protection for believers in this area. Revelation 2:10

Used by permission Voice of the Martyrs www.persecution.com

My 35 minute drive to work each morning has been a real blessing lately. I found a pretty cool gadget the other day that you allows you to plug into it any electronic device that can use headphones and it will broadcast it over your car stereo on a FM frequency you choose. But what really impressed me was the ability to plug a USB memory stick or SD card directly into the device, allowing you to save the batteries in your MP3 player. So now I've loaded a couple Chris Tomlin CDs and a Passion Worship CD onto my SD card and I've been listening to that. I also loaded Max McLean's Listener's Bible of Ephesians (really helping my memorization).
So I listen to Ephesians 1 about 10 times (yes, I am very behind) and then let it start shuffling through the music. This one makes me want to pull over on the side of the road and just worship:

I only knew part of this hymn as the Doxology. I'm glad to have found the rest:

Saturday morning, Ben and I went downtown to Falls Park for evangelism. The Reedy River Run was just completing as we arrived, so the park was full of people gathered for the event.
There were also crates everywhere of fresh fruit - apples, oranges, bananas - gatorade and bottled water.
Ben took his kids with him down into the park area where many families were enjoying the beautiful weather on picnic blankets. I stayed near the top end of the park and witnessed to anyone I saw unoccupied.
After about an hour, most of the runners and their families had left and the sponsors were clearing out the refreshments. I saw a young man struggling to carry a crate of gatorade and a plastic bag of more gatorade. I offered to help him carry them and took the plastic bag. By the time we had reached the top of the stairs, he was out of breath, so I took the crate, too. As we walked up Main Street, he said, "People saw me carrying this stuff all through the park, but no one offered to help me, except you."
I said, "That's what Jesus would have done."
"Yes, sir," he said. "He would have."
I asked him if he were a Christian and he said he was. Since we live in the buckle of the Bible belt, I never leave it at that. Everyone thinks they're a Christian. I shared with him my personal testimony, emphasizing sin, righteousness, and judgment. When we reached our destination and I got to set my burdens down, he was very grateful and I gave him a couple million dollar bills and asked him to pass them along to his friends. He said he would.
Then I noticed as I was returning to the park, I had been watched. You see, the young man was black. For some strange reason, a white man helping a young black man carry a crate of gatorade still attracts attention. It also let me put many tracts in many hands on the way back to the park.
One set of hands were in an SUV that came to park beside me on the side of the road. The passenger window was down, so I just thrust a million dollars through the window and said, "Hey, take some of these!"
When I got back to Ben, the young man I had just handed the money to in the SUV came running up to me. Then I noticed the cross around his neck. "Hey, man! Where did you get these? My mom works at a ministry where they use a lot of tracts, but I've never seen any like these!"
I handed him a few more and showed him the web address on the bill for ordering.
At this point, Ben was ready to leave as his kids were getting tired. I told him I would take one more walk through the park and then I would be going myself. I found some teenagers and a few adult takers. As I came back to the top of the park to leave, the young man who requested more tracts for his mother was helping his mother and friends collect some of the fruit crates to take back for their ministry. His friend asked me if I wanted a crate of bananas. I said, "Sure," and started carrying them back to my car. Thankfully, I met up with Ben and he helped me carry them.
These were the longest, biggest, yellowest bunches of bananas I'd ever seen. I think we ended up with 8 to 10 bunches each after we split the crate.
As Ben said, it was a fruitful day.

Tonight was a great experience. We were able to witness to several people downtown. Ben and I got to witness to a group of teenagers that went well. Amber also was able to witness one-on-one with a lady who had been to mass her whole life and seemed very bitter against Jesus.

Saturday morning we will be at Falls Park downtown from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. We will meet at the Bowater parking garage to divide up the icebreakers and pray before we head out.

* Andra Pradesh: Pastor Goda Israel was missing after attending a prayer meeting on February 17, 2007. His family and church members reported his disappearance to the police, but they did not take any action. After three days, Pastor Israel's body was found in a Canal. Pastor Israel was a pastor for more than two churches. Pray God comforts his family, church members and also that the truth will be investigated and reported regarding his death.
* Karnataka: There has been more violence against Christians in Karnataka. Police recently harassed believers demanding to know the location of the leader of a prayer ministry. The police alleged he was a terrorist from Sri Lanka. Police officers severely beat three Christians when they could not tell the Christian leader's location. Police gave them a strict warning and wanted them to turn the pastor in. Pray God will heal the injured believers as they receive treatment in a hospital. Ask for withdrawal of the accusation that the pastor is a terrorist and for God to open a way for this Christian leader to work peacefully in this area.
* Orissa: Christians continue to face persecution in Eastern India. On February 22, 2007, radical Hindu forces demolished a church which was under construction in the Niladeri Bihar slum. Christians living in the slum are being intimidated and threatened by the radicals. Pray for protection and boldness as Christians in India face uncertain times.
* Chhattisgarh: It has been brought to our attention that in last week's prayer update on India, only 30-35 Hindu extremists attacked a pastor's conference in Raipur, Chhattisgarh on February 2, 2007. The conference was attended by 80 delegates including four foreigners. The attackers stole two laptops, four mobile phones, three digital cameras and 15000-16000 rupees (about $350 US dollars). Thank you for your continued prayers for Indian Christians. 1 Peter 5:10, 11; Ephesians 6:19-20

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