Forgiveness

In his book, Beneath the Crops of Jesus, A. Leonard Griffith tells the story of a young Korean exchange student, a leader in Christian circles at the University of Pennsylvania, who left his apartment on the evening of April 25, 1958, to mail a letter to his parents. As he turned from the mailbox, he was met by eleven leather jacketed teenage boys. Without a word, they beat him with a blackjack, a lead pipe, and left him lying dead in the gutter.

All of Philadelphia cried out for vengeance. The district attorney planned to seek the death penalty for the arrested youth and then, this letter arrived signed by the boy’s parents and twenty other relatives in Korea:

Our family has met together and we have decided to petition that the most generous treatment possible within the laws of your government be given to those who have committed this criminal action....In order to give evidence of our sincere hope contained in this petition, we have decided to save money to start a fund to be used for the religious, educational, vocational, and social guidance of the boys when they are released...We have dared to express our hope with a spirit received from the gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ who died for our sins.


"You Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you."
- Psalm 86:5 NKJV

From time to time I receive letters, phone calls, and emails of encouragement. Many are stories of how God is working and touching lives. I wanted to share a few that I received recently:

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Happy New Year Sam. I wanted to share how your teaching at Manhattan Beach this past summer helped to change my life. I was asking the Lord about the direction in my life as I sensed I was at a crossroads. I also sensed that I was physically moving. During your week of teaching you taught on the "rope holders"... boy, did that minister to me. During that week the Lord kept giving me a single word "Calvary" and through various other "hints" I ended up moving to Winnipeg in October… Up till your message on "rope holders" I really felt that I was headed in a totally different direction.

So a thank you from me to you to start your year! Your teaching was one of my life changing times.
I hope I have the opportunity to hear you again soon!

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Just wanted to say thank you for your help in the last year. Your insight and support has been a blessing to me and the ministry. May the Lord bless you in the New Year.

Fearless to Risk

One simply cannot live without taking risks. Risk is woven into every aspect of our daily experience.
· To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
· To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
· To reach out for another is to risk involvement.
· To expose feeling is to risk exposing our true selves.
· To place your ideas, your dreams, before the crowd is to risk.
· To love is to risk not being loved in return.
· To live is to risk dying.
· To hope is to risk despair.
· To try at all is to risk failure.
- Unknown

“God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and of a sound mind.”
- 2 Timothy 1:7 KJV

If you know you couldn’t fail what would you risk? What would you attempt?

What an incredible Christmas!
I felt so privileged to spend time with our son, daughter-in -law and granddaughter the week before Christmas. Then to come home to NC and have my mother and sister come down for a week. I laughed, ate, ate, went to movies had parties and ate. We had 20 over to eat on Christmas eve after speaking at Hope church at the first Christmas eve service. What a great day.

This season has also been a time I have been privileged to speak each week at Morganton NC First Church. It has been a joy to be home and feel the joy of sharing the message of Christmas in a congregation throughout the season. New Years eve Vicki and I shared the message of the Passover. Passover marks the New Year on the Jewish calender. What a great night we had as people took bitter herbs, a part of the Passover meal put it on bread and then dipped it in the juice of the cup symbolizing the the shed blood of Christ covering the suffering of our sin, past bondage's, tears of the past year. Many left suffering from 08 at the altar. I then shared from Acts 12 the story of another Passover experience, the jailing of Peter and his miraculous deliverance. The expectation of the church as they prayed for his freedom was heard by God as an angel came to the prison. Those in attendance wrote out their expectations for 09 and then Vicki and I prayed over ever person.

Tomorrow I will talk about faith that God responds to. It is not the size of the faith but the believing (pisteuo) that ignites the possible (dunata). Believing the spark that ignites the impossible and causes it to become possible. Believing activates supernatural power that enables what normally would never be possible. Don't worry about the size of your faith. If your believing, then faith the size of a mustard seed, will ignite supernatural power.

These days news about the economy is everywhere. Amidst all the talk, the kingdom of God is advancing! Jesus said, “When we find ourselves witnessing this kind of turmoil, there is only one priority—the proclamation of the glorious gospel.” As we watch all the upheaval and uncertainty in our world today, I believe the stage is gradually being set for the return of the King!

Could the current economic crisis, so inter-connected around the world, be moving us toward the end? What I know is that this past year I traveled more miles proclaiming salvation through Jesus Christ because it is our most urgent task. Your support touched 5 countries last year, including Malawi, China, Philippines, Canada and the United States, as we reached more people with the Gospel of Christ.

In Malawi we had the opportunity to team with 200 young people from Canada in partnership with Extreme Dream, who blanketed the area around the capital Lilongwe. Over 5,000 decisions for Christ were followed up by local churches in the area. The final weekend was held in the large soccer stadium. Thousand gathered for Friday night and multiple events on Saturday, and more than 15,000 people filled the grounds for Sunday’s day long outreach. Each and every time I gave the invitation to become followers of Christ, throughout the weekend people walked forward and hundreds of counselors prayed with each person individually.

Twice this year you made outreaches to Asia possible. In June I spent four days in the Philippines using God’s Word to challenge leaders from 15 Asian countries. Approximately 61% of the world’s population lives where these men and women will lead and minister. All will give their lives to reaching people with the Gospel of Christ. In October I traveled back to Asia, this time stopping in Southern China. It was a privilege to take a team of 9 U.S. business and church leaders to share the Good News of Christ in five separate venues, and it was an incredible sight. Members of the team used their individual, personal strengths and stories to move Chinese men and women toward Christ, many of whom were hearing the Gospel for the first time. We flew from China to Manila for a business leaders’ outreach. This outreach was the dream of the General Superintendant of the Assemblies of God, Reynaldo A. Calusay. The response was overwhelming as professionals from North America shared with leaders from Manila. The Kingdom of God was advanced in a new and powerful way.

Canada has been wide open to the Gospel this year. I have been privileged to share the Gospel in large venues all over Canada. It may surprise you to know the nation to our north has a lower percentage of evangelical believers than many nations in Africa! The Holy week outreach in Pickering, Ontario was a highlight. From Palm Sunday through Easter people filled the auditorium bringing friends and neighbors to Christ. Whitby, Ontario was the location of special weekends of outreach to men. When men come to Christ, there is a great impact—whole families are changed. Another weekend titled, “Breaking the Generational Code” focused on parent-teen relationships. The response was great; they packed the auditorium with 4 generations of people. Again the Gospel went out with power. Edmonton, Alberta and Winnipeg, Manitoba were cities of wide open response to Christ. Add to that the many cities we visited in the United States and truly 2008 was one of the most gratifying years for Vicki and me. We thank God for allowing us to work for Him in these Last Days.

On a personal note, this year has been filled with the joy of watching our granddaughter, Olivia, grow. She is now over a year old. She loves blueberries for breakfast and has learned they live in the refrigerator. This revelation has motivated her to now stand at the refrigerator and try to open the door. This is truly a sign of brilliance. I have contacted Harvard about pre-admission in 2017. Tory and Elizabeth continue to make us proud as the church they pastor grows and they continue to carry the Gospel to the southeast corner of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Vicki and I are praying for all of you. We love to hear from you and learn of the joys and the obstacles that fill your walk. We can only pray specifically if we hear from you. Contact us by mail, the internet, phone, or text. We’d love to hear from you!

We pray that you and your family have a wonderful, very blessed Christmas!

Wow! What a wonderful season. Last week Vicki and I spent 3 days with our son Tory, Elizabeth and Olivia. We celebrated the birth of Christ with gift giving and a whole lot of hugs, pictures and food.
I arrived home to the coming of my mother and sister Candy to Charlotte. Again my heart sings with the joy of the season. family is all it is cracked up to be. I am happy, thank you God.
Tonight a Christmas gathering with friends, tomorrow sharing the Christmas story of salvation in Morganton NC, and tomorrow night another party. This must be what joy overload feels like.
If only Vicki were home that would be the cherry on the Sunday. She is with her mom for the weekend but home Monday, alright!
My heart does go out to those who will face the first Christmas after the loss of a loved one. I just emailed a mother who's son was killed in Iraq this year. If you are reading and you fit this picture remember as you draw near to Christ even though the hole in your heart is still real He is the healer of the broken hearted, the balm the soothes the bruised, and He loves you even when you cry or feel angry.

Thoughts on Giving

There are three kinds of givers: the flint, the sponge, and the honeycomb. Which kind are you?

To get anything from the flint, you must hammer it. Yet, all you generally get are chips and sparks. The flint gives nothing away if it can help it and even then only with a great display.

To get anything from the sponge, you must squeeze it. It readily yields to pressure, and the more it is pressed, the more it gives. Still, you must push.

To get anything from the honeycomb, however, you must only take what freely flows from it. It gives its sweetness generously dripping on all without pressure, without begging or badgering.

Note, too, that there is another difference in the honeycomb. It is a renewable resource.

If you are a “honeycomb giver” your life will be continually replenished as you give. And as long as you are connected to the source of life, you can never run dry. When you freely give, you will receive in like manner so that whatever you give away will soon be multiplied back to you.

- From God’s Little Lessons for Leaders (Tulsa, OK: Honor Books, 2001), 73.