J. Lee Grady Newsletters - Fire In My Bones

After visits from three evangelists in four days, I figured it out. We've neglected the heart of our mission.

Something amazing happened to me last week during a ministry trip to Texas and Oklahoma. God sent three unexpected visitors over the course of four days to confirm something He is doing in the church today.

Last Thursday when I was speaking at Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, my friend Sujo John called to say he wanted to drop by the campus and attend the conference with me. Sujo is a full-time evangelist who is originally from India. He surrendered to the ministry on Sept. 11, 2001, when he was buried under the rubble of the World Trade Center.

by Dan Reiland

When it comes to dessert, the more the better! The Sun Dial restaurant is located in Downtown Atlanta at the top of the Westin Hotel. The Sun Dial is 73 stories up and 723 feet above the city with a 360 - degree panoramic view of Atlanta far below. The restaurant slowly revolves throughout your entire dining experience. It's very cool. The best part is the desserts. The Sun Dial serves a Sunday brunch that includes a huge selection of incredible desserts. Anything you can imagine and as much as you want! Twenty feet of desserts including a section of chocolate that makes my blood-sugar rise just looking at it.

You can be tempted to think the same way about the number of ministries in your church, the more the better. But it isn't true. The opposite is true. The fewer the better. Less is more.

In February, 2009, I had opportunity once again to travel to India to minister the Gospel with Pastor Larry Seeman from Weyburn, Sk. We arrived in Bombay and travelled down to Trivandrum, on the southwestern tip of India. We then traveled by train to Bangalore. On the train we had opportunity to minister Jesus to a high ranking army officer who was in charge of the Indian army in Kashmir where the Indian and the Pakistan armies have been at odds over the Kashmir territory for many years. This gentleman was so touched by the simple Gospel message that when we arrived in Bangalore, and a group of soldiers met him to carry his bags, he made them wait until we got off so he could thank us and was so grateful for having traveled with us. Jesus had touched him. In Bangalore we preached and ministered to a group of people and then returned to Trivandrum where we spend the rest of our ministry trip. We ministered to students in a Bible School and then spoke at their graduation, presenting them with their diplomas. After graduation, the graduates will be travelling to the northern part of India, each having been assigned to a church and a local Pastor, from which they will be reaching into the local area with the gospel, with the goal of starting their own church. In our travels we had the opportunity to lead some people to Jesus. We had a house meeting where we ministered prophetically and the baptism in the Holy Ghost. We also ministered in many churches in prophecy and healing. Since we have been back, for the last three weeks reports have been coming in from the Pastors of the many healings and miracles. They are calling it a move of God.

New Study Shows Greater Ambivalence to Christianity

Written by Kary Oberbrunner

Although twice as many Americans say they have no faith compared to 1990 there's a new hope on the horizon. Are Americans becoming disillusioned by religion? According to a new study, detailed in the new American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), released last week, traditional religion is playing less of a role in American life. More people are opting for non-religious weddings and funerals (30 and 27 percent respectively). In just 18 years, the swing is significant, revealing that despite nearly 50 million adults added to the U.S. population by growth and immigration, almost all religious denominations have lost ground since the first ARIS survey in 1990. Most significant-the percentage of Christians in the nation has declined, more than 11 percent in a generation. according to Cathy Lynn Grossman of USA TODAY, "the faithful have scattered out of their traditional bases: the Bible Belt is less Baptist ... the Rust Belt is less Catholic ... and everywhere, more people are exploring spiritual frontiers - or falling off the faith map completely." In fact, the number of people who say they have "no religion" has nearly doubled in the same time (8.2 percent in 1990 to 15 percent today). This dilemma largely stems from how people perceive Christianity in the U.S. Unfortunately most people are only exposed to two types of Christians-Separatists and Conformists and neither option is very compelling.

Americans Most Likely to Try Out Church through Family, Friends