In the book of Acts one of the greatest evidences of God’s transforming grace is the story of the apostle Paul. On the road to Damascus, Sauls eyes are opened to see the truth about his sins and his persecution of the early church.

Immediately in his encounter with God he recognizes his need for a savior and make Jesus Christ the lord of his life.There is however, a great step of faith on Ananias’s part to go to Saul and pray for him knowing that Saul was a murderer of Christians.

Then the Lord speaks of Paul’s wonderful ministry to kings, the children of Israel, and the gentiles. Amazing what God saw in Saul, a murderer…one of the greatest messengers of Hope in Salvation to the gentiles.

The Lord so often sees in us, what we cannot see in ourselves, once we receive Him and believe Him, He can use us to accomplish magnificent things in the ministry that Christ has planned for each of us.

Here the former Pharisee, Saul, is now witnessing to the gentiles, the people who were outside the covenant of God became heirs to the promises of God.

At our last community fellowship Pat and Cheri Summerall joined us and shared their incredible story. Pat shared how even with all the successes of the world, he didn’t see the destruction his addiction to alcohol was causing in his life and the lives of those who loved him. Through God’s grace, Pat received Christ and is now daily walking with the Lord and has overcome his addiction.

We were so honored to have Pat share the ministry of his testimony to recent graduates of employment training classes. He has believed God to show him how his life and his testimony may be used to set others free from their sin. I know that Pat never dreamed he would have such a tremendous impact in the inner-city. The voice of sports is now the voice of proclaiming Jesus Christ as savior. It is such a blessing to see Pat and Cheri being bridgebuilders!

Each of our graduates has their own amazing story of God’s miraculous tranformation in their life. We would love for each of you to join us October 9th for our next community fellowship. Below is a short summary of what happened at September’s Community Fellowship.

Medically, we are going back to Germany for a second round of treatments at the end of October. We will spend a week in Romania first, as part of HIS BridgeBuilder INTL’s first mission trip led by Marc Rylander and 15 men from Prestonwood North. We are grateful to God that the cancer is now downgraded to Stage 3…to God be the glory!

The power of the Spirit of God is never more evident than when you see a life transformed and willingly living under God’s authority. The word authority has such a great feel to it when you are in charge and leading. It has a completely different feeling when you are the one under authority. Ultimately, the true follower of Christ is a man or woman who is daily surrendering to the authority of our God, His word, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. So often we can sense that we are so spiritual and having an amazing walk with God as long as it is just us and God in our own prayer closet. The moment we have to submit to our parents, Pastor, employer, government, husband, other authority, it is another story. From Adam and Eve in the garden until now, we live in a constant state of denying the authority of Christ and the authority he places in our lives.

How many of us speed daily and just brush it off as our right and no big deal? How many times do we resent and speak against our bosses as uninformed and out of touch? Perhaps for some the issue of following the leadership and counsel of a Pastor is difficult since most of them have never had real jobs in the real world. I can go on, but the evidence is mounting that many of us who profess to be devoted followers of Christ are really devoted followers of self.

This past week I was once again touched by one of our men in south Dallas. Rodrick Yarborough was a man on the streets dealing drugs and now is a man transformed and learning the blessing of being under authority. For several years, Rodrick has not had a drivers license, but would still drive periodically. By God’s grace as Rodrick has continued to seek God’s lordship and spend time in the Word, he was convicted that he didn’t want to do anything that could hurt his witness by breaking the law. He began to walk or ride a bike to work. Several of the men in his community laughed at his choice and he was even stopped by some police officers and questioned about some crimes since he looked like he was just strolling around.

To God’s glory and through the help of some of our BridgeBuilder volunteers, Rodrick received his driver’s license last Friday. It seems like such a small thing to most of us, but it is a reminder to me of the blessings that come to each of us when we live under God’s authority spiritually and practically. I pray that we will be convicted by the Holy Spirit, like Rodrick, and surrender areas of our lives that are still not under His authority, and when we do we will gladly submit to the authority that is over us.

Medically the tumor in my upper right lung is less than 1 centimeter and has shrunk 53%. There is no new sign of cancer anywhere else. We see our Doctor on Friday and are prayerfully seeking God’s next steps for our healing. We long to be under His authority for His glory. Thank you for your love and prayers.

This past weekend I had the honor of preaching my “Life Message” at Prestonwood Church. The title of the message is Jesus First. You can listen to my life message at the following link or watch the message at prestonwood.org:

Audio Only Version

Thank you for you continued prayers for me and the ministry. We serve an awesome God who is worthy of all the praise.