Monday Morning Reflections

-What a great Sunday! As always, Dan Southerland was absolutely incredible - clear, funny, compassionate, compelling, biblical. His call to return to the fire - and to act that out by coming forward for prayer was dead on. I predict that many of the hundreds who did come forward will look at yesterday as a spiritual turning point for their lives.

-If YOU were one of those who came forward, way to go! An encouragement and a warning. Be encouraged that God was there with you and wants to help you grow and fan that moment into flames. Be warned that your Enemy will do everything he can this week to discourage you and to make you doubt what you experienced yesterday. Remember this - the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world!

-Interesting weekend for me aside from church. My car blew its water pump and overheated in the middle of Monroe Road. To ward off my friends from the Car Repair Ministry, there was no time to call you and there was a reputable car repair place right there. Where I waited six hours. Now, this part is funny: the place had a TV tuned to basketball. But not March Madness. For some bizarre reason the TV could not get CBS, only something called CBS College Sports. So I got to watch the Division III mens' and womens' finals (Congrats Wisconsin-Stevens Point! Congrats Washington University of St Louis!) and, improbably, the Division III hockey final (congrats either Norwich or St Norbert! - i had to leave before you finished playing).

Oh, and a customer brought her "sweet little puppy" in to wait with her. A Rottweiler.

-Also got to watch BJ play soccer, score once, and win handily, which was great. The game was in Gastonia and in the pouring rain, which was not.

-BUT...FUEL was amazing! Great worship with Cody Dermid subbing for the voice-deprived Harrison, a very moving time of Communion, and a commitment from our leaders to pray regularly for three folks whom they want to invite to Easter at Next Level...and to have someone else pray with them. Very cool video honoring volunteers. You know, it is really true that there would be no NLC without YOU!

-Thanks to everyone who asked about BJ's migrane. He texted me during FUEL asking when I could get home - in a lot of pain. He was OK by bedtime and fine this morning...but he suffers regularly from these and it kills me. Would you pray for his complete healing from them?

-Whom are YOU inviting to Easter at Next Level?!?!

-One more thing...I would love for every NLC person to LIVE with this passage of Scripture for the next week: John 1:35-46...I am going to teach on it Sunday and I would love it to be engrained in our hearts by then!