Eph 2:8- For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Main Meal A few meals back (“Pass IT On”) I included the following letter: Sheri Johnson, WOW! You have impacted my life and I want to first start off by saying thank you so much for taking your time to chat with me inside of the Family Christian Store. I took the book everywhere with me- reading it knowing that the words in the book are meant for me :) I dont know where to start with what I want to say in this email because there is just so much to say and thank you for! 40 Days in the Jesus Cafe was a blessing to me. I went into the store looking for this book without even knowing it. I have been able to spend the time with God that I was yearning for... through this book. I posted the title of the book onFacebook to my friends and family and I was surprised to see that I was the first to read this book. I am now telling the world about 40 Days in the Jesus Cafe because I want everyone to have the opportunity to feel Christs love in this way. I also want to apologize if this email is too late to plan for Winter Jam with my mom. I heard Winter Jam being advertised on the radio and it sounded like a lot of fun! Do you think you could still connect us with some tickets? It would be fun if you could come with my mom and I. Or if you already are planning on going, we would love to sit with you there and I could introduce you to my mom :) No matter what happens, I will plan on being there. Thanks again for your love and Godly example to me, Sheri! God bless you, Katey I HAVE to follow this up! Sheri did her part. She took (literally) the gospel and placed it in the hands of a very down and out, needy little soul who was desperately looking for an immediate rescue. Little Katey went into that Christian book store sort of like “a last resort!” Then, Sheri followed up on this by contacting me about getting Katey and her mother into Winter Jam with some special Jesus love added. Eric and Steph (our tour managers) really jumped in big time to procure special parking, etc. for their handicap van and getting them in! I had them special seats up front, name and all, just waiting to try to give them what we know Jesus would…UNCONDITIONAL, COMPASSIONATE LOVE. WE ALL NEED THIS DAILY! Kurt loaded our precious Sheri and wheel chair into their van and they came to Winter Jam! She and I were so excited to see each other as we hadn’t seen each other in over a year, since before our book was printed! (And she really put hundreds of hours into editing and helping the team get it out! Yall keep lifting Kurt and Sheri up! I don’t know if I have ever seen two Christians who have been through more “hell on earth” who have kept the most heavenly attitude about it!) But the problem was Sheri couldn’t get hold of Katey. Phone had been dis-connected or something…no contact. And the concert was beginning. Parking, as always, is difficult near the concert arena so we began to pray. And again, Jesus Cafe, this is where your general prayer for me and Winter Jam is heard by God. He begins to order and orchestrate whatever is needed (using our free wills and His Sovereignty), to do very specialized things to accomplish His Will. Folks, regardless of our free wills, God’s Will will be done! (He takes pleasure in sinners who receive, by faith, His Word-Son as truth!) So for a little while, it looked like Katey wasn’t going to make it to Winter Jam in Glendale, Arizona. Then, BOOM, HE showed up and out! Not only did she make it…she brought her mom. And her mom is the real story. Katey, like many, came up in a split home with NO FATHER AROUND! (No comment. I don’t wanna go there right now.) And the man she remarried worked with the famous music group, Journey. She later shared with me that he had just died with a long, painful struggle with cancer and she was really still struggling real bad over this…so much so that she had told Katey, who was also really struggling too with both that and the fact that she had recently had to break off friendships with all of her lifelong friends to get out of the their drug culture. She was a new, but weak, Christian who was wise enough to know that who you hang around you become just like. So she knew that although she now had no friends but her mom and JESUS, she could not go back to her old running buddies. That’s why Sheri met her in the Christian book store. She was looking for something she could understand (beside her Bible) to help her get to know Jesus better! Anyway, they came in and I sat them down right close to Sheri and Kurt. In fact, I ended up taking them back stage to meet some of our musicians, and that’s where the healing began! God bless Michael Tate, lead singer of the News Boys. I gave him a 30 second briefing on all 4 of them, and I asked him if he would just go by and speak to them sometime. As soon as I told him about Sheri’s cancer, car wreck, Katey and her mom’s situation, he shot back very quickly: “Let’s go right now man!” Mike is easily the most popular “star” of west coast winter jam, having helped form DC TALK with Toby Mack back in the 90’s, and now the lead singer with the famous News Boys! (I love those guys!) Mike walked over to Sheri (by the way, earlier Kurt had whispered that Sheri would like to meet Mike) and reached over to her sitting in her chair on wheels and gave her a huge hug and friendly peck on the cheek! Then, he proceeded to talk with the 4 of them for a long time. And this was not just a political meeting like so many others would have done! Real fellowship and love! And GOD used that! All during the concert, little Katey kept on thanking me for writing the book Sheri gave her, “40 DAYS IN THE JESUS CAFE…It’s About Time.” She had it for only a few days, and she had almost finished it. Most people I give it to probably read a few pages, look at some pictures, and put it down for future reading, which often never comes! But guess what? Matt 7:13-14 already warned me that I wrote it for the FEW, not MANY. And I NEVER know who the few may be! She had tears in her eyes as she said, “Bobby, you just don’t understand!!! Everything you wrote was written like you knew everything I needed to hear, know, and do! It’s unbelievable!” “No, it’s GOD!” Her mom began to open up and within an hour, was raising her hands praising God, singing along with the songs! Katey was so, so excited for her mom because she had told Katey after her husband died that she could never go to another concert again, never get close to another stage because of her husband’s close association with Journey! And they stayed for the entire four and half hour concert! If we hugged once we hugged 10-15 times! Each time they kept thanking me for the concert and how God had used it to free them from their inner pain and how this had given them NEW HOPE! That’s what JESUS does for a living! And I bet that Katey and her mom go out and begin giving this NEW HOPE in CHRIST to others HE places in their path! 1 Tim 1:1- Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Hope… Remember that the Greek word translated “hope” is best translated “confidence” because the English word “hope” often carries with it doubt. And, most do not HAVE to become a preacher, missionary, minister or get on a bus like me to fish for souls! These lost fish are in your family, on your street, and in your school and work place! REAL LOVE AND JOY will attract them to the Hook! And let’s never forget that although we do have to be very wise to use the right bait for different type fish (people), we never change the HOOK! JESUS is the only HOOK Who works, Who rescues, and Who saves! Going to church, becoming “good”, and giving (tithing to some) do not save! ONLY receiving, by faith, JESUS as SAVIOR saves any soul! Eph 2:8- For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Matthew 7:14: For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Unsubscribe | To contact us please email [email protected]
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 06:40:13 +0000
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