My brother, Jack, and I ended up at the same sixth grade campus in Riverview, Florida. We both spent our respective year there, and by the good hand of God's providence we had the same teacher only a year apart from each other. Now I couldn't tell you the name of all the teachers I had over the years, but I could never forget this one (and that was 37 years ago!). Her name was Mrs. Deangelo. Neither of us boys would know of the spiritual impact this woman would have on our lives until we were in Bible College many years later. Let me explain...

While Jack and I were home for Christmas break in 1981 we went to the mall one afternoon. As were were walking through one of the stores we both recognized this sixth grade teacher and she recognized us. If I remember correctly she asked us what we were up to and we said that we were in Bible College. That may not shock you now, but you didn't know us in 1973, and she did. Just let me say that we were not believers then and we were not her best-behaved students. What she did tell us that day is that she was a Christian and prayed for her students almost every day!

God answered her prayers years later by moving in the hearts of two young men. In time both Jack and I trusted Christ and followed His sovereign plan for our lives.

The effective prayer of a righteous person has great power! (James 5:16)

For whom are you praying? Have you given up? Please don't quit, because you never know when or how God will answer.

Grace & Peace,

Scott

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

In other words, magnifying God must be the priority in all that we do, and that definitely includes our money. Money can become a touchy subject because we wrongly see all we can get from it...power and control, and we don't want to give those up very easily. I think this is wrong because after all, money is just money, and it really can't accomplish very much on its own. It is also wrong because it shows that we value money more than God. I like what the "wise guy" in Proverbs wrote:

Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce (3:9).

Solomon is teaching that the way we show that God is more valuable to us than wealth is by giving to Him off the top, not the bottom. We honor God with our paycheck when we look at the entire amount and give to Him first. I believe that by giving to God before buying even the necessities of life shows that my appetites don't run my life, but God does, and then I am going to trust Him to take care of the "necessities."

But Solomon doesn't end with just an encouragement to show the worth of God by giving to Him first, he follows with a precious promise:

Then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine (3:10).

This is not a promise to make us rich, or to give us a Cadillac. I don't believe that just because we give to God first that we will live in a nice house or retire on the beach someday. That type of theology is self-defeating. The promise is that God will continue to meet the needs we have in life. And when we find that our "barns are full" or our "vats are bursting" then we will have all the more reason to be generous to those in need.

Grace & Peace,

Scott

After cleaning the eves with a borrowed pressure washer (thanks Keith) I wanted to get to the hospital at a specific time to check on a prospective church member who landed in CCU a couple of days ago. After checking on Jimmy's progress, which was good, and praying with him and his sweet wife, Gwen, I went back to the waiting room to say good-bye to the rest of the family. To my surprise all I saw were butts. Yes, I did write that. Almost everyone in the room was staring out the window just trying to get a glimps of somebody famous who was going to be visiting the hospital. No, none of us knew who that would be but we were all curious. After a cup of really bad coffee and some fun conversation I decided it was time to go home. Exit Scott. When the elevator opened on the ground floor I was greeted by a throng of police, hospital personnel, TV cameras, secret police, and all the other "what have you's."

I didn't get off, I just asked who all the fuss was over. The answer: Laura Bush. They said she was here to do a special promotion, or something like that, on the hospital. Kuddos to Spartanburg Regional Hospital. You are an awesome institution that takes excellent care of its patients. I hope Mrs. Bush does you proud.

I guess I was in the right place at the right time. And no, I didn't get to see her, but on my way out I did hear her voice as they were interviewing her.

Grace & Peace,

Scott

First, Greg Mickey has announced that he has been called by God to the ministry of the gospel. This has been weighing on Greg's heart for some time now and in a way he has "stuck his neck out" by telling everyone. This is a step of faith and I believe God will honor him and Beth because of it. One huge hurdle that is out of the way for Greg is his education; he holds a Master of Divinity degree and so his official training is complete, but he still has more to do. Sunday morning Calvary Baptist Church approved to move forward to ordain him. Ordination puts our personal stamp of approval on his life and call. More details to come...

Second, we had a wonderful day of family worship. It was fantastic to see the familiar faces, and some new ones, gathered to give thanks to an awesome God for raising His Son from the dead. The resurrection gives us hope for the future. The last great enemy we face is death. Paul wrote that "death is swallowed up in victory" (1 Corinthians 15:54). In that context what "swallows" up the sting of death is the resurrection (cf. vv. 51-53).

Finally, the Building Fund Easter Offering...I know, you've probably already looked at the financial report if you get one, but if you just read this blog I want you to know. But really I just want to honor God and not us. Yes, the offering was off the hook for Sunday with $8,070 coming in just fore the building fund, and the general offering was one of the best also. But we must, and I mean must, keep in mind that we don't get any of the credit. I am thrilled that even though we are in a recession that God's people can, and will, give sacrificially beyond their means. This offering is huge for us, but it proves that when we look beyond our ability and see life in the heavenly realm where we are seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:6) that nothing is impossible for God to accomplish! This brings our total giving for the Building Fund Easter Offering up to $18,261.28 which means we still have $1,738.74 to go to meet the goal.

Grace & Peace,

Scott