Hello friends. I hope and pray that you’re doing well. In this week’s newsletter I will share more information on the biography of Ruth Bell Graham, Billy Graham’s wife. As I was reading the biography I was wondering how the writer, Patricia Cromwell knows so many private details. When I read the back of the book where she thanked people; I realized that her research was very thorough. It took her 15 years to research and write this biography. Ruth Graham wrote a personal journal and also wrote many, many letters to family members. In addition, there were countless hours of interviews with Ruth Graham, her family members, colleagues and friends. What I’m saying is that readers can learn a lot from her biography on what it looks like to follow Jesus Christ completely and wholeheartedly, if you are looking for a good example.
I’m currently in the chapters where their eldest son, Frank Graham was a very rebellious teenager. Her approach and the wisdom that she received from the Lord was very good. I highly recommend everyone to read her book before your children become teenagers. It will help you.
I did a lot of reading and research on child development and learning in past 15 years; and I found that the Bible principles for parenting matches what the research finds. Trust me when I say that parents have until ages 12 or 13 to build their foundations. After, the children’s guides will be everyone else. Please be very involved and intentional about the foundations that you are building upon in your children. Please do not lose your sowing opportunities. Remember also that “more are caught than taught”. Be mindful of what you do and say in private and public. When in doubt, my advice is to keep quiet and pray for wisdom, and also seek counsel from godly friends and mentors who know their bible and show a discipleship lifestyle. And read Ruth Graham’s biography.
One of the things that shocked me was discovering that growing up in a good Christian household doesn’t mean that their children will follow Jesus Christ too. I learned from various study reports that many millennials in the USA walked away from their Christian upbringing. The statistics often surprised me. As I met many friends in the church, I learned that the statistics were accurate.
If your children grew up learning about Jesus Christ but have rejected his teachings, please do not despair. Consider my story 15 years ago – I was living life like an atheist. One day when I was running an errand at a local Target store, I suddenly received an outpouring of God’s love that reignited my steps back home to God and His people in the church. God did not use a person but a shirt on sale. This shirt said “love will find a way”. When I saw the shirt, suddenly the heavens opened up and an outpouring of God’s love washed over me like Niagara Falls. Today, here I am – leading two prayer groups for almost a decade now and writing my weekly newsletters for you. With God, all things are possible. (If you are wondering, yes I bought the shirt.)
As for my children and my family members, only God knows when and where they will be reached. Until then, they have many angels securing their steps, and protecting them from the evil one. My job is to pray for them, to love upon them and be a good example of what it looks like to follow Jesus Christ. It’s a daily review of my work everyday. Don’t beat yourself up if you fail. It is about progress, not perfection. Apologize along the way when you make mistakes and hurt people.
One of the topics that everyone will wrestle with when they are considering Christianity is, who is Jesus Christ. This pastor that I’ve been listening to lately, did an excellent job of summarizing what other major religions say about Jesus Christ. What I learned over the last 15 years; you can learn from hearing this one sermon. It’s accurate.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/north-coast-church/id115170926?i=1000760143911
If you want to watch it, here’s the YouTube link. He shared a map of Jesus’s ministry reach. It is worthwhile to see the map, the historical sites and images, and the Greek/Roman idol statues.
I have read that the ancient Greeks/Romans were a very sexualized people and incorporated that into their religious practices. It was worse than I expected in the way that this pastor described it. It’s like Jesus took his good Jewish boys to a porn convention in Las Vegas to make a point about “who do people say that I am”. Unbelievable. 😱🫣
Jesus’ male disciples were about high school and college ages.
(That’s why I never understood the movement in American churches in the 90s when they used to challenge their people to consider “what would Jesus do?” Jesus did too many things that I don’t understand until I delve deeper into the history, and human psychology of teaching and learning. I think a better challenge question would be “what would love do?” And then review closely 1 Corinthians 13 about love.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2013&version=NKJV )
I laughed so hard when the pastor thought saying “yes to Jesus Christ” is to do things that you hate such as being a missionary in some third world country in the jungle. 😂 Enemy used that lie on me too. I really feared that one day God was going to order me to go somewhere that I didn’t want to go such as a third world country in the jungle. I am way too high maintenance! Today, I noticed that many missionaries are being sent to first world countries like Japan, Germany, UK and even here in the USA.
Here’s a very good short devotional from Billy Graham’s ministry about Jesus Christ.
They also have a link to Billy Graham’s classic message on the bottom of their devotional. This one is titled “Sex, Riches, Power and Materialism.”
“Many people try to buy happiness, yet remain lonely. If you or someone you know is seeking purpose, listen to Billy Graham’s 1987 message from Columbia, South Carolina.”
This week I heard two more of Carl Lentz podcasts, and his guests were really good and practical on their advice. They talked a lot about their traumas, and the addictions that so many men have but do not talk about. I think what Carl Lentz is doing is good for the church and the men.
Here is the ministry website of his guest. Their mission is simple and very powerful. “To pull men out of addiction and to rebuild the marriages addiction has shattered.”https://www.houseofresurrection.life/about-1
Here’s the interview: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lights-on-with-carl-lentz/id1747789103?i=1000758632425
I remember being so surprised by the high statistics of boys who are sexually assaulted in the USA. As I hear more male leaders like Carl Lentz and his guest, Tim Ross bringing up their childhood sex traumas into the light, I think it’s a very good thing so that the men can heal properly if they choose to heal. Here’s the interview:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lights-on-with-carl-lentz/id1747789103?i=1000755948881
Please read this good interview with Jennie Allen about Gen Z. She is the one who has been leading revival meetings in colleges across the USA for the last 4 years. She is very inspiring. Let’s also be praying for her, her family and ministry. The enemy also wants the next generation very badly, and targets leaders like her. We must be praying for them. It is our duty and responsibility.
https://relevantmagazine.com/faith/church/jennie-allen-gen-z-has-a-fresh-and-new-hunger-for-god/
Oh wow I didn’t know this happened in NYC! Amazing. 🤩
“Pastor Mike Signorelli is on a mission to bring the Gospel to New York City, holding a massive Easter service in the heart of New York City’s Times Square.”
I’ve not heard about this pastor. Here is his ministry website:
https://mikesignorelli.com/about-mike
I think your children and grandchildren will appreciate this interview. I would have appreciated this interview when I was younger and working in corporate. I didn’t understand God’s heart and intentions back then. Therefore, I took back control of my life and career path in my mid-20s. Now I see that God was trying to lead me to a career path that suited my personality and gifts. Instead, once I gained back control I followed money and appearance. It’s really important to tell the young people that God doesn’t want everyone to be pastors or missionaries in third world countries in the jungle. It’s funny to say that now, but that’s the lie that I bought into. That’s why I like to listen and share interviews like this guest. He is a very successful venture capitalist who is also a Christian. Now it seems he wants to invest into the next generation of young people to succeed in their careers. He also gave his thoughts about AI.
“Bill Gurley, legendary investor behind Uber, Snapchat, and Twitter, shares why “follow your passion” is dangerously misleading, what to chase instead, what the best startup founders do, and the delusional factor that separates outliers from everyone else.
Plus, his best advice on finding a mentor, landing your dream job, his biggest mistake (passing on Google), and what he’d tell young leaders just starting out.”
That’s about it for this week. With much prayer and in the love of Jesus Christ.
P.S. You know, we are all missionaries when you think about it. I am placed in affluent, suburban USA neighborhoods. Ruth Graham was a missionary to the mountain peoples of North Carolina and to the many lost, young people that went to college nearby there. She was very involved in their college ministry group. Patricia Cromwell, her biographer, moved nearby when her parents divorced. Ruth Graham basically took her in as her spiritual mother and mentor.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. – Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205&version=NIV—
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