It was, is and always will be

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for all who believe..." (Romans 1:16).

This past weekend was like taking a deep, fresh breath of air. To see the power and work of God so clearly and wonderfully has been refreshing.

This past Friday we had a student ministry event called March Madness. The event included a mechanical bull, bungee run, obstacle course, food and video games. It was all free of charge. We also gave away a Nintendo Wii during the night, along with some other smaller items. The entire purpose of the event was to reach students who might not otherwise be reached.

It is easy to get stuck. Stuck in our programs. Stuck in our church buildings. Stuck spending all our time, money and energy on the 99 while forgetting the 1 lost sheep who is outside the flock. Outside the flock...all alone...in danger. So our goal was to reach students in the Greater Raleigh Area with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

During the evening, we shared the message of salvation. After all, we made everything free so we could then share the greatest FREE gift of all time. It was an interesting night. For one thing, Friday was March 7. It was exactly 6 months to the day of when Micah and I had surgery. What a fitting time to use that as an illustration. The event was free and that in itself was a nice and valuable gift. Giving away a free Nintendo Wii was considered by most a pretty sweet gift and highly valuable. But on September 7, 2007, I gave my son Micah 33% of my liver. I still get asked about it as people marvel at the thought. And as valuable a gift as that might be, it still doesn't compare.

Jesus Christ has given to all the world the greatest gift...and it's FREE. I gave 33% of my liver so my son might continue to have life. Jesus gave His life in order that I might have life.

When students were given the opportunity to respond on Friday, two students made decisions to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. It wasn't me. It wasn't my persuasiveness. It wasn't the lights, the music or the games. It was and is and always will be the power of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Add to that the student who on Sunday night at The Gathering came to talk with me about salvation and prayed to trust Jesus as Savior and Lord and I would say it was a great, refreshing and powerful weekend.

Micah is still home. The past couple days he has not seemed to feel as well as the majority of time he's been home. His eating has been down a bit. He certainly doesn't seem to have the flare of a few days ago. But with all the colds and stuff that have been floating around, including the ones in our house, it could be he has picked something up.

We will return tomorrow to Duke for his weekly check-up. They will draw blood to check his levels and to insure everything appears to be going well. Micah still has his bile drain and bag. Sometime in the near future the doctors are going to do another scan to look at the collection of fluid and the site where the bile duct attaches to the intestines to see if there has been any change with the blockage and "communication" between that connection and the fluid cavity.

I know it may not sound "urgent." But I certainly want to ask for your fervent prayer. Seeing Micah not feeling well the past two days has reminded me of his downward spiral back at the end of November. It could be nothing. But certainly we pray the Lord continues to place His hand on Micah, healing him and sustaining his life and health. We pray there would be no need of this likely surgery. And yet, we realize God already knows. He sees perfectly. He has a plan and purpose. To that, we simply say, "Lord, may we glorify you."