seeds that start it all
One of our friends in Portland, Oregon recently sent out a letter that I wanted to pass on to you…
FREEDOM IN JESUS
In the second film of The Lord of the Rings trilogy-The Two Towers-there is a king who is reluctant to go to war. Theoden is fearful and timid. But an army is marching through his lands, an army bred for a single purpose: to destroy the world of men. Villages are falling all around him; women and children are being slain. Still Theoden balks: “I will not risk open war.” “Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not,” Aragon replies.*
When I (Rich) first heard these words, I almost exploded out of my seat. “That’s it,” I thought, because they perfectly describe so many of us. Believers and unbelievers alike, who unknowingly are living in the midst of a brutal and vicious battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil, and yet will not go to war. Why this deception? Because either we don’t know there is a battle, or have been told we don’t have to fight for our freedom in Christ. It’s both sad and chilling.
Yet into the midst of this war-torn, fallen world, the Father sent His Son, our Savior Jesus declaring:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-20).
The Father has been graciously leading Kimberly and me into an increasingly deeper understanding of what Jesus meant by this “Good News.” He wasn’t just proclaiming these words to the masses. His mission was to incarnate them experientially into His needy follower’s lives, as we see throughout the gospels.
To us, this Good News recognizes our need for intimacy with Jesus (discipleship), life-transformation, healing, and deliverance. We are seeking to allow Jesus to do His work in and through us, as we minister to those who so desperately need the life-changing power of the Gospel. Let us describe the fallen-world pattern we’ve seen unfolding among those the Father is sending to us in our church planting ministry.
Frequently, we are meeting with people who have life-dominating problems. Food, drugs, sex, alcohol, sickness, idolatry, fear and anxiety, abuse, co-dependency, perfectionism, stress, compulsivity, passivity, broken marriages and relationships, unforgiveness and bitterness, hopelessness, and despair, to name a few. At base level, these are people like you and me, broken from the battle to varying degrees.
But in the fallen-world pattern we are seeing time and again, these presenting problems are symptoms of even deeper, crippling wounds from their past. Damaging life events, sometimes chronic in nature, that have led to wounds of rejection, abandonment, betrayal, abuse, and neglect, often inflicted from their family-of-origin or other close bonds.
Left unaddressed, these wounds give rise to faulty belief systems, as people struggle with lies about themselves, other people, and God. Lies like “God doesn’t care about me,” “I’m no good,” “No one could love someone like me,” etc.
From lies like these, vows are made. For example, “/’// never trust anyone again,” “I’m so dirty, that I will never be free,” “I’ll be so perfect on the outside, that no one can question what’s on the inside.” The apostle Paul calls these broken places “strongholds or footholds” (Ephesians 4:26-27), that give Satan and his demons a measure of influence, bringing oppression and affliction into our lives (Romans 6:16).
The results are damaged, broken people. And it’s because of these dark, unhealed places from our past that we develop reactive sin patterns and dysfunctional coping skills to dull and medicate the pain. And it’s here that the life-dominating problems we noted above come into play.
But amid all this darkness, there is hope! The Good News is that Jesus came to “heal the brokenhearted and set the prisoners free!” But to gain this freedom and life offered to all of us by Christ, we must learn to fight for it, with and through Him (Mt 11:12, 12:29; Jn 10:10; 2 Cor 10:3-5; Eph 6:11-12; James 4:7).
Along these lines, a good buddy and I recently had the privilege of ministering this freedom in Jesus to a mutual friend whose life and marriage was experiencing the fallen-world pattern we described above. Below is a portion of his email response to us, after our weekend together and a week back home with his wife and family:
“… WOW, GOD IS STILL WORKING MIRACLES! PRAISE TO HIS NAME! THIS WEEK HAS BEEN SIMILAR TO A NEW HONEYMOON. MAN, WHERE HAVE I BEEN ALL THESE YEARS?! My prayer as we start life over is that I can remain steadfast to the task of living from my heart and laying my life down for my BEAUTY. PLEASE PRAY FOR ME AS I PRAY FOR YOU BOTH. MAYBE WE SHOULD MEET EVERY WEEKEND?!”
Our Father is so good! Thank you for your prayers and partnership in mission which makes this ministry possible.
Rich and Kimberly Hagler
* Paraphrased from John Eldredge’s book, Waking the Dead, which is an excellent resource on the subject of Freedom in Jesus
Thanks Rich & Kimberly for your lives and ministry. They are a part of Summit Fellowships and you can check out more here
One of our friends in Portland, Oregon recently sent out a letter that I wanted to pass on to you…
FREEDOM IN JESUS
In the second film of The Lord of the Rings trilogy-The Two Towers-there is a king who is reluctant to go to war. Theoden is fearful and timid. But an army is marching through his lands, an army bred for a single purpose: to destroy the world of men. Villages are falling all around him; women and children are being slain. Still Theoden balks: “I will not risk open war.” “Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not,” Aragon replies.*
When I (Rich) first heard these words, I almost exploded out of my seat. “That’s it,” I thought, because they perfectly describe so many of us. Believers and unbelievers alike, who unknowingly are living in the midst of a brutal and vicious battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil, and yet will not go to war. Why this deception? Because either we don’t know there is a battle, or have been told we don’t have to fight for our freedom in Christ. It’s both sad and chilling.
Yet into the midst of this war-torn, fallen world, the Father sent His Son, our Savior Jesus declaring:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-20).
The Father has been graciously leading Kimberly and me into an increasingly deeper understanding of what Jesus meant by this “Good News.” He wasn’t just proclaiming these words to the masses. His mission was to incarnate them experientially into His needy follower’s lives, as we see throughout the gospels.
To us, this Good News recognizes our need for intimacy with Jesus (discipleship), life-transformation, healing, and deliverance. We are seeking to allow Jesus to do His work in and through us, as we minister to those who so desperately need the life-changing power of the Gospel. Let us describe the fallen-world pattern we’ve seen unfolding among those the Father is sending to us in our church planting ministry.
Frequently, we are meeting with people who have life-dominating problems. Food, drugs, sex, alcohol, sickness, idolatry, fear and anxiety, abuse, co-dependency, perfectionism, stress, compulsivity, passivity, broken marriages and relationships, unforgiveness and bitterness, hopelessness, and despair, to name a few. At base level, these are people like you and me, broken from the battle to varying degrees.
But in the fallen-world pattern we are seeing time and again, these presenting problems are symptoms of even deeper, crippling wounds from their past. Damaging life events, sometimes chronic in nature, that have led to wounds of rejection, abandonment, betrayal, abuse, and neglect, often inflicted from their family-of-origin or other close bonds.
Left unaddressed, these wounds give rise to faulty belief systems, as people struggle with lies about themselves, other people, and God. Lies like “God doesn’t care about me,” “I’m no good,” “No one could love someone like me,” etc.
From lies like these, vows are made. For example, “I’ll never trust anyone again,” “I’m so dirty, that I will never be free,” “I’ll be so perfect on the outside, that no one can question what’s on the inside.” The apostle Paul calls these broken places “strongholds or footholds” (Ephesians 4:26-27), that give Satan and his demons a measure of influence, bringing oppression and affliction into our lives (Romans 6:16).
The results are damaged, broken people. And it’s because of these dark, unhealed places from our past that we develop reactive sin patterns and dysfunctional coping skills to dull and medicate the pain. And it’s here that the life-dominating problems we noted above come into play.
But amid all this darkness, there is hope! The Good News is that Jesus came to “heal the brokenhearted and set the prisoners free!” But to gain this freedom and life offered to all of us by Christ, we must learn to fight for it, with and through Him (Mt 11:12, 12:29; Jn 10:10; 2 Cor 10:3-5; Eph 6:11-12; James 4:7).
Along these lines, a good buddy and I recently had the privilege of ministering this freedom in Jesus to a mutual friend whose life and marriage was experiencing the fallen-world pattern we described above. Below is a portion of his email response to us, after our weekend together and a week back home with his wife and family:
“… WOW, GOD IS STILL WORKING MIRACLES! PRAISE TO HIS NAME! THIS WEEK HAS BEEN SIMILAR TO A NEW HONEYMOON. MAN, WHERE HAVE I BEEN ALL THESE YEARS?! My prayer as we start life over is that I can remain steadfast to the task of living from my heart and laying my life down for my BEAUTY. PLEASE PRAY FOR ME AS I PRAY FOR YOU BOTH. MAYBE WE SHOULD MEET EVERY WEEKEND?!”
Our Father is so good! Thank you for your prayers and partnership in mission which makes this ministry possible.
Rich and Kimberly Hagler
* Paraphrased from John Eldredge’s book, Waking the Dead, which is an excellent resource on the subject of Freedom in Jesus
Thanks Rich & Kimberly for your lives and ministry. They are a part of Summit Fellowships and you can check out more at http://www.summithome.org/
Famous football coach Vince Lombardi once said to his team in the locker room after some sub-par playing, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” What Coach Lombardi was speaking to was clear–to carry out our assignments, we must understand and succeed at the basics.
The basic building block of life is DNA. As we watch CSI, we understand that you can tell where someone was when you get a little tiny hair from them…because it contains DNA. We* have co-opted the initials DNA to be an acronym for the basic building block of church life.
Divine Truth
Nurturing Relationships
Apostolic Mission
Divine Truth
Where God intersects with humanity and sheds light on who we are and what reality is—both in the spiritual world as well as the material. It is a union of both human and divine but without any blemishes. It is the Word—both in the person of Jesus and the Scripture.
Nurturing Relationships
A building of spiritual family and brotherhood (brethren if you please) based on a love relationship with our Father and His Son, Jesus.
Apostolic Mission
By “apostolic” we mean sent. That’s what the word originally means “sent one.” The church is to be a sent agency, not a sending agency. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, so send I you.” (John 20:21)
So we want to make sure that our life springs from this building block> the interlocking of Divine Truth, Nurturing Relationships & Apostolic Mission. We want these to be present in us as individuals, as groups, as house churches, as a network of house churches and beyond.
We see this represented in Jesus’ “Great” teachings:
Divine Truth—The Great Commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. (Mt. 22:37-38)
Nurturing Relationships—The Second Greatest: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Mt. 22:39)
Apostolic Mission—The Great Commission: Go and make disciples of all the nations. (Mt 28:19-20)
This is a football…well…a return to the basics…what does the Spirit strike up in you as you pursue balance in the basics?
*This is from the Organic Church Planters Greenhouse Story 1 Training (c) 2001 by Paul Kaak and Neil Cole/CMA Resources.
Famous football coach Vince Lombardi once said to his team in the locker room after some sub-par playing, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” What Coach Lombardi was speaking to was clear–to carry out our assignments, we must understand and succeed at the basics.
The basic building block of life is DNA. As we watch CSI, we understand that you can tell where someone was when you get a little tiny hair from them…because it contains DNA. We* have co-opted the initials DNA to be an acronym for the basic building block of church life.
D ivine Truth
N urturing Relationships
A postolic Mission
Divine Truth
Where God intersects with humanity and sheds light on who we are and what reality is—both in the spiritual world as well as the material. It is a union of both human and divine but without any blemishes. It is the Word—both in the person of Jesus and the Scripture.
Nurturing Relationships
A building of spiritual family and brotherhood (brethren if you please) based on a love relationship with our Father and His Son, Jesus.
Apostolic Mission
By “apostolic” we mean sent. That’s what the word originally means “sent one.” The church is to be a sent agency, not a sending agency. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, so send I you.” (John 20:21)
So we want to make sure that our life springs from this building block–the interlocking of Divine Truth, Nurturing Relationships & Apostolic Mission. We want these to be present in us as individuals, as groups, as house churches, as a network of house churches and beyond.
We see this represented in Jesus’ “Great” teachings:
Divine Truth—The Great Commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. (Mt. 22:37-38)
Nurturing Relationships—The Second Greatest: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Mt. 22:39)
Apostolic Mission—The Great Commission: Go and make disciples of all the nations. (Mt 28:19-20)
This is a football…well…a return to the basics…what does the Spirit strike up in you as you pursue balance in the basics?
*This is from the Organic Church Planters Greenhouse Story 1 Training (c) 2001 by Paul Kaak and Neil Cole/CMA Resources.
PS. Several of us from Ohio had opportunity to be at a gathering in California last week. I wanted to share with you some of the notes from Leadership in Organic Church Planting Movements- sponsored by CMA Resources Check out the notes here
“Jesus told them,
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Luke 10:2 NIV
This verse was in our prayer study of the life of Jesus in the INSTITUTE. Many times I have read this passage. I have been impacted by it personally over the last year or so. I finally took the time to look into the original language of this verse and unpacked some important things. I thought I would share them with you here:
Jesus said it twice!
This verse is parallel to the passage in Matthew 9:37-38. But even though it is parallel, Dr. Luke seems to make it clear that this is the second time Jesus said the same thing.* If Jesus thought it was important enough to say twice…we better listen!
Jesus used a strong contrast!
The contrast between the “many crops”/”much harvest” and the “few” workers is a pointed part of the statement. In fact, the word used for “few” here is the same as in Matt 7:14; “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Jesus used strong language!
The words in the instructions are not wimpy.
The word often translated as “pray” or “ask” is the word BEG or IMPLORE. Begging is something most of us try to stay away from doing…but that is what Jesus tells us.
We are to beg the Lord OF THE HARVEST–not anyone else. No one else has control over the harvest like the Lord of it, so we are to ask Him.
The word “send out” is the same as “CAST OUT” like what Jesus did to demons. In the context of the Matthew passage after He says “send (cast) out workers”, the text goes on and uses the same word; “Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits…” (10:1)
That’s a power packed instruction from Jesus!
About a year ago, my friend Ed Waken from Valley Life Church in Phoenix told me about Luke 10:2 and especially the “B” part of the verse… Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
He told me that he infected me with the Ten2b virus. This is a good virus…not like most. He told me about this passage and challenged me to pray. In fact, he got t-shirts done up to get people praying. The reason for dubbing it a “virus” is the hope that it will spread virally…to everyone it touches. Now you are being exposed to it!!!!
Luke 10:2B…beg the Lord of the Harvest to cast out workers…
If you’ll indulge me in a little practical application for this…
Everyday my cell phone alarm goes off at 10:02am. Most days I am cruising along and not thinking much about Jesus’ desire to see a harvest, and my alarm goes off.
Normally I stop and pray right then and there…maybe a sentence or two. Maybe just recite the verse. Sometimes I’m in the middle of something, and I stop and tell the people around me why my cell phone is going off. Today, I took time an prayed for just about every worker from thequest…and prayed for more!
Just this weekend I helped another house church planter in Eastern Pennsylvania set his alarm to 10:02am so he can start praying Luke 10:2b each day. The virus is spreading….have you caught it?
In keeping our eyes on Jesus, we are looking intently at the life of Jesus as it relates to prayer in the INSTITUTE. We had a rich and deep discussion this past Sunday as we were sharing what we had learned from Jesus.
There were many things that were intriguing…and I think we all were beginning to beg God to “teach us to pray.”
It was good for me to examine the Scriptures about Jesus and see they never pointed to His “method” of prayer. The Bible doesn’t say, “Every morning Jesus rose before the sun and prayed.”
Jesus lived out a lifestyle of prayer. He knew when he needed those special times away. He took advantage of those times, but he wasn’t piling on a legalistic rule of pray at 5:30am or you are unworthy to follow me. Jesus lived and breathed prayer. He did it at meals, on the road and in many situations that confronted him.
In the study of Christ’s prayer life, we were asked a question: why don’t you think the first 18 months of Jesus ministry had so little recorded about prayer? This question moves us into a little bit of speculation, but it would sure seem that it was just an assumed part of Jesus’ life. It was also an unassuming part of Jesus’ lifestyle. He lived, as John tells us, to please His Father, so he must have been talking and listening to him regularly.
He lived out a lifestyle of dependence upon His Father. Jesus didn’t compartmentalize prayer into a special prayer team…it seems as though he would just do it. He loved interacting with the Father. So he kept doing it.
One other thing I wanted to share: Jesus gives a corrective instruction about prayer in the Sermon on the Mount–Matt 6:5-18. He is fixing what the religious leaders and others were doing wrong in prayer. I never realized that the commonly called “Lord’s Prayer” came on the heals of the incorrect prayers of the people in Jesus time. The Good Teacher–Jesus–points out the falsehood, and then gives a corrected perspective. You should look it up (right there in the margin is a place to look it up.) I have begun to ask myself…am I praying wrong?. Maybe Jesus needs to correct my prayers today? ouch! If I’m violating something that He wants it is gonna hurt, but it is so worthwhile at the same time.
In keeping our eyes on Jesus, we are looking intently at the life of Jesus as it relates to prayer.
Prayer was central to every aspect of Christ’s life and ministry. In my study of Christ’s life, I find over 45 sections of Scripture and 30 different instances in which you see prayer taught and modeled in Christ’s forty plus months of ministry on earth.
Prayer was such a significant part of Christ’s life that the only time you see His disciples say “teach us…” was when they said, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). Even the slow learning disciples recognized the uniqueness and strength of Christ’s life was based upon His walk with His heavenly Father in prayer. They did not say “teach us to do miracles…heal the sick…or raise the dead.” They saw the source of power in Christ’s life and said “teach us to pray.”*
That should draw you in…
* FOUNDATIONAL PRIORITIES—Excerpt: Prayerful Dependence by Dann Spader , Son Life Ministries © 1995,1996. Third Edition; page 3.
join the journey
To keep us in the Good Book, we’ll keep our eyes on Jesus during the Passion week through the Gospel of Mark. If you click here, you can see a daily reading plan for next week…starting on Palm Sunday and going throughout the rest of the week up till Resurrection Sunday and beyond.
osu house church commissioning 3/17/2005
Here’s a picture of our house church commissioning Mike, Christina & Zach to begin a new house church in The Ohio State University Campus area. Christina has been hanging out with us for the last three years and exhorting us to reach out…and now God has called her and others to go and do it. Mike has been with our house church about eight months and Zach just became a Christian about three months ago and was baptized a month ago. We are excited about what God has in store for them…and for our house church as we pray for and shepherd them and as we find another pocket of people to focus on!
I got the following email this week:
Mike,
You might be interested to know that 3 people at Millwood Chapel (Etna Green, IN) completed the Proverbs 8x in 8 weeks challenge. I reminded them every week what week we were on and yesterday I announced that the end had come, and for all who had finished to report to me.
Additionally, we had several people who initially started the challenge, so they read through several times and I even had one guy say that after reading Proverbs through a few times he switched over to Hebrews. So my people are reading the Word. One of the fellas who finished Proverbs is a guy who, quite honestly, I did not think stood a chance. Wow! Was I wrong! Thanks for the challenge.
Mark Perry
What an encouragement! I hope your were pushed forward. Ineed to know if you finished the challenge as well. I have a gift for each person who finished it. Just let me know and I’ll get you your reward!
One last thing, I had the opportunity to fast with a group of folks from thequest yesterday. That was the first time I have fasted in a while. It was a good day for focusing prayer on the birth of our new house church at Ohio State. It also was used by the Lord to challenged me to fast and pray more often.
The Lenten season is a great time to fast. Saints have done it for centuries. I’m gonna do another day this coming week.
Maybe you never have done it, I’d encourage you to pursue it. You can talk to me about it or here is a little website that could help you with the details of it. 7 Basic Steps to Successful Fasting & Prayer I’d encourage a day-long fast to start and then see what God wants you to do next.
I got blown away by a couple of Scriptures this week. We were talking about the relationship between Jesus and the Father in the INSTITUTE. We looked at Jesus breaking into prayer prior to raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus says, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so they will believe you sent me.” (John 11:41-42 NLT)
Jesus has this tremendous relationship with the Father that spurs on prayer. We get the sense through the Gospels that Jesus at the drop of the hat talks with the Father. Their interchange was constant and ongoing. In the middle of a miracle, Jesus connects with the Father.
Then we looked at a passage a chapter later where Jesus is prepping the disciples for His death. After Palm Sunday, Jesus is teaching about true disciples: Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who despise their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. All those who want to be my disciples must come and follow me, because my servants must be where I am…
Those are some hard verses. Some true verses. But some real rewards too. Jesus goes on…
…And if they follow me, the Father will honor them…
As Jesus is speaking the weight of the reality of “despising his life in this world” is very heavy. He knows his death is around the corner. He is talking to those gathered around him, then he breaks into prayer in the middle of this teaching moment. Look at this…
Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from what lies ahead’? But that is the very reason why I came! Father, bring glory to your name.
The Father hears this precious prayer. Like Jesus said, He always hears. But something very unique happens in this communication between the Father and Jesus. The Father talks back…
…”Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought it glory, and I will do it again.” When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him.
Jesus and the Father carry on a dialog…a real conversation! Out loud for others to hear in real time and real space. It was reality!
Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine…” (John 12:25-30 NLT)
This conversation was for their benefit and for ours. We so often forget that we have a real dialog with the Father and with Jesus. They always hear us and they speak to us. I’m not advocating that thundering voice from the sky each time that God speaks to us. I am reminded of the fact that we are having a real conversation with a real God in real time and in real space as we pray. What a joy for us to CONVERSE WITH GOD!
I hope you enjoy your dialog with Him today, tomorrow, and the next day, and the next…
We are in the Lenten period and it is only a short time till our remembrance of the passion and resurrection of Jesus. It’s a great time to reflect and talk about Jesus. As it emerges in your conversations…talk about your story and Jesus’ story!!!
As we keep our eyes on Jesus, I read a story this week we I wanted to pass on to you
It is not difficult to be a Christian…
From: Petrus Kristian
Indonesia
“My name is Petrus Kristian. I am the oldest son of Pastor Ishak Kristian, who was burned to death a few years ago. It happened on October 10, 1996. At 11:30 A.M., about twenty people came and surrounded the church. My father, the pastor, tried calming those angry people, but they did not move away from the church. My father went into the house and prayed with six other people, including the rest of my family.
“Thirty minutes later, about 200 people came on foot bringing many kinds of tools. They started smashing the church building and parsonage. Six of the people in the house, including my father, ran and hid in a room at the back of the house. The other person hid upstairs where he was safe. Some of those angry people saw them and told them to get out of the room. Since they did not leave, the people started burning the building.
“One of those seven people, Didit (a church worker) ran through the fire and escaped. My father, mother, sister, cousin, and a church worker were trapped in the house and burned to death.
“During the fire, the local police did not take any action, probably because they were afraid of the mob. I hurried to the church at 1:30 P.M. but by that time, all were gone. The army, whose military base was four kilometers from town, were at military training elsewhere and were not available. When they arrived at 5:00 P.M. to guard the area, everything was in ashes.
“The night before the funeral, a local government official apologized. He advised me not to take revenge. He also said that the incident might be my family’s fate. (This is Muslim teaching — the will of Allah.)
“At first, I was really disappointed because I lost all of my beloved people. But this made me realize that material things around me are not eternal or worth loving. After the fire, most of our congregation became stronger in faith.
“Because we have Jesus, it is not difficult to be a Christian, although there are many oppressions.”
Whatever we do, it is because Christ’s love controls us…. Those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them.
Paul the Apostle
Martyred in Rome, 65 AD
(2 corinthians 5:14,15 nlt)
from: Jesus Freaks by dcTalk and Voice of the Martyrs (Bethany House: 1999) p. 228-229
Because we have Jesus…it is not difficult to be a Christian WOW!
zach taking the plunge for Jesus
serena getting baptized!