Delighting in God

The Mercy of God led to Calvary - A.W. Tozer

I love the writings of A.W. Tozer

I first discovered Tozer back in 1994.  I was in the midst of a YWAM Discipleshp Training School.  Assigned a book report, I scoured the shelves and came across The Pursuit of God.  That book changed my life.  It challnged me, encouraged me and left me thirsty for God!

Over the years I have picked up old Tozer books whenever I found them.  Over the last decade, many of Tozer's sermons and magazine writings have been turned into books.  The majority of those have been compiled and edited by James L. Snyder.

So I got excited when Bethany House published a new book of Tozer's writings called Delighting in God. I eagerly dove into this book. Like every Tozer book I have ever read, this one challenged me in new and exciting ways.  Snyder does a brilliant job of compiling Tozer's writings on the theme of delighting in God.  I found numerous passages that caused me to pause, reflect and pray.

For a man who passed away in 1963, Tozer's writings are a much needed breath of fresh air!  His words challenge still today.  At times his words are even prophetic. 

If you like old school preaching, having your faith challenged or find yourself craving more of God then Delighting in God  is the book for you.

"This book has been provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications and Baker Publishing in exchange for an honest review."

Winter Road

So I read this really awesome book this week. It's called Winter Road: Journey of a Russian Mission

Now to be fair, I know the author. My wife and I actually were in the same YWAM Discipleship Training School back in 94-95. We went on outreach together. Our destination: Perm, Russia. The same Perm, Russia that our friend, Andy Frecka, returned to as a missionary.

Andy and his wife Rachel have been serving in Perm for 10 years now.

SO with that out of the way, you STILL need to buy and read this book. I found myself laughing out loud at his missionary adventures while praising God for the way He has been (and still is) moving in Russia today.

To quote Andy himself: "Russia is not just the land of Sputnik, Gorbachev, borscht, post-Communist civil strife, impressive Olympic gymnasts, and endless landscapes of industrial gray. Russia is also a place where total strangers will spend a morning teaching you to speak without an accent, where the bureaucracy is truly a marvel of human engineering, where the airlines "fly with soul," where hospitality approaches a fine art, and where a village will rescue you if you try, during the spring thaw, to travel a winter road."

So please harass your local Christian bookstore until they bring in this soon to be missionary classic. Or go to Andy's website for more info on the book. You can find the book at Amazon, Amazon (Canada) and Barnes and Noble as well.

You won't be disappointed. You'll find yourself praying for Russia, praying for missionaries to go into the harvest and praying your side will stop hurting from laughing so hard.

Just A Thought #20

The Heart of Worship

There is a worship song I love that says something along the lines of, "I'm getting back to the heart of worship, and it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus." I remember years ago in my DTS (Discipleship Training School) a man who worked on the campus as a plumber. He was always saying Jesus only Jesus. Recently I attended a conference in Florida and the one thing that really touched my hear was the worship. I was able to just close my eyes and focus on the Lord Jesus without distraction.

These random thoughts are not so random. The main point is Jesus! I once wrote a Just A Thought (#9) that spoke about worshiping with abandon. Well lately I have been thinking more about Who I worship, not how. We have an incredible Savior! An awesome Savior. I am so excited by Jesus Christ that my heart is bursting with desire to sing His praises. I am drawn to Psalm 95 which says:

"Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.” (Psalm 95:1-2) and "Oh come let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." (Psalm 95:6)

The whole point of this thought is Jesus. We need to worship Him. Not just sing to Him but to really focus on Him. To sing with joy to the Lord, to desire Him with our whole hearts....to enter into His presence! It is not always easy to set aside our distractions....to just sing to Him! We get distracted sometimes by the person in front of us, the thoughts rambling in our head and yes sometimes the "worship team"! We need to come to God wholeheartedly though. Setting aside these stray thoughts and really pursuing God! Pursuing! Worshiping! The heart of our worship, Jesus Christ!