Lord help me live from day to day
In such a self-forgetful way
That even when I kneel to pray,
My prayer shall be for others.
Help me in all the things I do,
To ever be sincerely true,
And know that all I do for you
Must needs be done for others.
Others, Lord, yes others,
Let this, my motto be.
Help me to live for others,
That I might live for thee.
—Author Unknown
Just like Jesus—so it’s what we do.
Go make someone else’s day.
—j
“The leaders God chooses are often more broken than strong…more damaged than whole…more troubled than secure. God’s greatest leaders do not rise up from a bed of roses; they rise from beds of nails.” —Scott Sauls
Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Deborah, Gideon, Ehud, Joshua, David, Elijah, Peter, Paul, you.
There. Your excuses just evaporated.
Go give ’em Heaven.
—j
“Here from this stable, here, from this Nazareth, this stony beach, this Jerusalem, this market place, this garden, this Praetorium, this Cross, this mountain, I announce it to you. I announce to you what is guessed at in all the phenomena of your world. You see the corn of wheat shrivel and break open and die, but you expect a crop. I tell you of the Springtime of which all springtimes speak. I tell you of the world for which this world groans and toward which it strains. I tell you that beyond the awful borders imposed by time and space and contingency, there lies what you seek. I announce to you life instead of mere existence, freedom instead of frustration, justice instead of compensation. For I announce to you redemption. Behold I make all things new. Behold I do what cannot be done. I restore the years that the locusts and worms have eaten. I restore the years [that] you have drooped away upon your crutches and in your wheelchair. I restore the symphonies and operas which your deaf ears have never heard, and the snowy massif your blind eyes have never seen, and the freedom lost to you through plunder and the identity lost to you because of calumny [slander] and the failure of justice; and I restore the good which your own foolish mistakes have cheated you of. And I bring you to the Love of which all other loves speak, the Love which is joy and beauty, and which you have sought in a thousand streets and for which you have wept and clawed your pillow.”—Thomas Howard, Christ the Tiger
On this Good Friday and on the brink of Easter, pause—go quiet and listen. You may just hear Jesus speak. I wonder what He will say to you.
Rejoice.
—j
“Let God be responsible for the consequences of your obedience.”
—Charles Stanley“One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons.”
—Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Obedience is your sermon. Preach away.
Have a great Sunday!
—j
If you haven’t seen the full stage presentation of the Galilean Wedding, have a look here. Huge thanks to The Life Center in Orangevale, CA.
Biblical Dinners in South America
As you may know, I have a ministry called ‘The Biblical Dinner’—a live presentation of the historical Last Supper, and you’re in it. I’ve also been given the privilege of sharing this ministry all over the world, with powerful results and lasting good fruit. Let me tell you what happened today…
I was embroiled in a conversation with two other pastors over coffee when we all realized that we were late for dinner, and being Calorie Chapel pastors, we were late for our calling. As we entered the dining hall, eight hundred pastors were already seated and working on their salads. We needed to find seats, preferably together and we rushed past a table with three open seats right next to each other. Over the deafening noise in the room I called to the other pastors and pointed to the empty chairs, and they turned and quickly sat down. The other pastors seated at the table were all from Latin American countries, including Guatemala and Columbia. The Columbian man was at my left elbow, and he introduced himself as Luis from Cali.
I had visited Ecuador on several occasions, and since Ecuador borders Columbia, I told this to Luis hoping to stimulate a little conversation. He immediately asked me if I knew pastor Freddy Bernadino of Calvary Chapel Cuenca, Ecuador. I not only know Freddy, I ordained him. More than that, Freddy learned the Biblical Dinner from me and has been busy presenting them all over northern South America. Luis then told me that Freddy did these dinners and has asked him if he would like to learn how to present them.
Here’s where it gets interesting…
Luis looked at me and said he would like to meet the man who taught Freddy how to do the dinners. Now it gets even more interesting. He looks at me, having never met, and said, “you are the one who does the Biblical Dinner…!” I was stunned, to say the least.
He then explained that he had been praying about if he should launch out into this amazing ministry, but was still unsure—until now. There is much more to tell, but I think you get the idea. We now have another Biblical Dinner presenter!
But it gets even MORE interesting. During our amazing conversation the Lord showed me something that had never occurred to me. I have had many people urge me to raise up other men to do Dinners in order to spread this powerful ministry and to help lighten my schedule. So far no one here has taken up the torch, though there are now four men doing it in South America. But wait—do you see it? We Americans are often ignorantly arrogant about ministry. Ministry is not ours to command, keep or even define. God determines what He will make of it, and i am now quite convinced that the ministry of the Biblical Dinner was primarily meant for, of the places on earth, the people of South America. To us, South America is a forgotten continent, an afterthought in geography class. But it is full of all kinds of people, Indian and Hispanic, Portuguese and European, and all of them need to know and can appreciate the understanding of ancient biblical culture as much as all the rest of us. And God has paved the way through men like Freddy, Fernando, Luis and others. As I continue ministering these Dinners, I am beginning to happily understand that I am the one orbiting these pastors, and not the other way around. This is tremendous. I would have never imagined—the Biblical Dinner—determined by God for South Americans!
As I continue to minister these Dinners, I will continue to seek for a few good men to expand the ministry here, north of the equator, but now with the knowledge that God has done something wonderful, completely outside my imagination, with this ministry.
For South America. Who would have thought?
Bless the Lord…!
Jay McCarl 