There are some days that I wish I could preach like this.
Here is the Transcript also-
The Bible says
He’s the King of the Jews
He’s the King of Israel
He’s the King of Righteousness
He’s the King of the Ages
He’s the King of Heaven
He’s the King of Glory
He’s the King of Kings
and He is the Lord of Lords
Now that’s my King!
David says
The Heavens declare the glory of God
And the firmament showeth His handiwork
No means of measure can define His limitless love
No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply
No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing
That’s my King!
He’s God’s Son
He’s the sinners’ Saviour
He’s the centrepiece of civilisation
He stands alone in Himself
He’s august
He’s unique
He’s unparalleled
He’s unprecedented
He’s supreme
He’s pre-eminent
He’s the loftiest idea in literature
He’s the highest personality in philosophy
He’s the supreme problem in higher criticism
He’s the fundamental doctrine in true theology
He’s the cardinal necessity of spiritual religion
That’s my King!
He’s the miracle of the age
He’s the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him
He’s the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously
He supplies strength for the weak
He’s available for the tempted and the tried
He sympathises and He saves
He guards and He guides
He heals the sick
He cleansed the lepers
He forgives sinners
He discharges debtors
He delivers the captives
He defends the feeble
He blesses the young
He serves the unfortunate
He regards the aged
He rewards the diligent
And He beautifies the meek
Do you know Him?
My King is the key of knowledge
He’s the wellspring of wisdom
He’s the doorway of deliverance
He’s the pathway of peace
He’s the roadway of righteousness
He’s the highway of holiness
He’s the gateway of glory
He’s the master of the mighty
He’s the captain of the conquerors
He’s the head of the heroes
He’s the leader of the legislators
He’s the overseer of the overcomers
He’s the governor of governors
He’s the prince of princes
He’s the King of Kings
And He’s the Lord of Lords
That’s my King
That’s my King!
My King
His office is manifold
His promise is sure
His life is matchless
His goodness is limitless
His mercy is everlasting
His love never changes
His word is enough
His grace is sufficient
His reign is righteous
His yoke is easy
and His burden is light
I wish I could describe Him to you
He’s indescribable
He’s indescribable
He’s incomprehensible
He’s invincible
He’s irresistible
I’m trying to tell you
The heaven of heavens cannot contain Him
Let alone a man explain Him
You can’t get Him out of your mind
You can’t get Him off of your hands
You can’t outlive Him
And you can’t live without Him
The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him
but they found out they couldn’t stop Him
Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him
The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree
And Herod couldn’t kill Him
Death couldn’t handle Him
And the grave couldn’t hold Him
That’s my King!
He always has been
And He always will be
I’m talking about
He had no predecessor
and He’ll have no successor
There was nobody before Him
and there’ll be nobody after Him
You can’t impeach Him
and He’s not going to resign
That’s my King!
Praise the Lord
That’s my King
Thine is the Kingdom
And the power
And the glory
The glory is all His
Thine is the Kingdom
And the power
And the glory
For ever
And ever
And ever
And when you get through with all of the forevers
Then
Amen
Starting this week Calvary Spartanburg will be running a new spot on 2 radio stations here in the upstate. 93.3 the Planet (hard rock) and B93.7 (top 40) will be playing the spot for the next 2 weeks, and after a short break for Valentines day week, for 2 more weeks.
These 2 stations have a combined reach of 700,000+ people. That’s a lot of people! The figure that I’ve heard is that more than 80% of Spartanburg county is un-churched. I’ve never claimed to be a math nut but my back-of-the-napkin figure says… well, lets just say 80% of 700,000 is big number.
Luke 19:10 says that Jesus came “…to seek and to save that which was lost.” I think Jesus is still doing this today through His church. This spot is in line with that purpose. To seek out those who are lost so that we can tell and show them the live saving and changing message of Jesus.
Join me in praying that God would lead people to hear this spot and respond. That they would come to call on Jesus as Savior and Lord.
Kevin Miller is the pastor of Awaken Church in Clarksville Tennessee. He is a great Bible teacher, fellow church planter and good friend. Head over to Kevin’s Blog today. He’s posted an interview he did with me as a part of a series about church planters. Even if you are not a church planter I still think you’ll find this blog series interesting.
Almost twenty years ago I went on a mission trip to Jamaica. I know what you’re thinking…Jamaica…mission trip…yeah right. But really, it was a mission trip; snorkeling was only slightly involved. On that trip was a guy from my Sunday school class, Wes. Today he’s a pastor down in Columbia, SC and his dad runs a Spartanburg tradition: the Beacon.
The Beacon is a staple of Spartanburg culture and history. Its greasy chili-cheese burgers, onion rings and icy cold sweet tea have been filling Southerners up (and out) for over 60 years. It opened on Thanksgiving Day in 1946 and has kept going six days a week (closed on Sundays), 52 weeks per year, serving 1,000,000 customers yearly.
Not only is the Beacon good eats, but it’s a meeting place for the community. Posted along the walls are weekly high school football scores, ads for local businesses and schedules for monthly or bi-monthly Bible studies held right there in one of the dining rooms.
A few weeks ago I reconnected with Wes’s Dad while also reconnecting with a Chili Cheese A-Plenty (think giant hamburger covered in Texas chili and hidden beneath a pile of onion rings). I shared with him about the church and he said he wanted to help. He said he would let Calvary Spartanburg advertise at the Beacon, for free. He put me in touch with the man who hand paints every sign that goes up in the restaurant. Last week I saw it for the first time.
The New Sign at the Famous Beacon
If you live in the area or ever have the opportunity to visit the Beacon, swing by and take a look. It’s just opposite the main cash register.
God keeps blessing me with opportunities through old relationships like this. I guess there is something to be said for ministering where you grew up.
Sometimes I felt like this day would never come. It always seemed off in the distance. Yet here I am on the other side of Calvary Spartanburg’s amazing first service. We had a great crowd and “Calvary Kids” (our Children’s ministry) was pretty active. It was a great time that went by in a flash.
It wasn’t without its share of problems however. I found out last week that we would only have 15 minutes before service to setup. That obstacle alone would have made yesterday very challenging but we had 2 families from Calvary Chapel Pickens helping us and we were able to start the service only 5 minutes late. I want to give a big thank you the Hudsons and the Lathrops for all their support and sacrificial service to this new congregation.
We are going through the Gospel of Luke at Calvary Spartanburg and yesterday I started with the first 4 verses of chapter 1. Luke wrote this gospel to Theophilus (which is translated “Lover of God”) so he would be informed and assured of what he believed as a young Christian. I think a lot of people think they know what the message of the Bible is or who Jesus said He was, or how Christians should act. This is often based on experience, tradition or hearsay rather than from carefully reading the Bible to find the truth. The Gospel of Luke is a message to all modern “Lovers of God” so that they can know for sure the answers to those questions. Next Sunday we will be picking up where we left off in verse 5 as we continue in Luke chapter 1. If you plan on attending next week, feel free to read ahead.
Our park outreach yesterday was a big success! Everyone who came was very surprised that everything was free; a few folks thought it was a birthday party. One person who was new to the area even told us that they would be coming to the first service today. We gave out all but 4 of the gift bags, most of the hotdogs and all of the balloons! In all we had about 200 people stop by.
Let me just say thank you to all of you who helped out and to those who were praying for Family Fun Day. Thanks also to all of you who are helping out and praying for our first service today.
A perfect day for the event.
We had 5 games for kids to play; everyone got a prize bag when they finished.
The expertly manned info table.
“Go past the fire eater and you’ll see the prize table on the left…”
I love this sign; we can use it at events or at church and it collapses into a small container.
Passionate Harvest is a coffee retailer whose coffee comes directly from either Christian coffee farmers and/or missionaries from around the world. So when you purchase their coffee (and you really should) you are also supporting Great Commission work.
They also partner with local churches, and provide them with whole sale coffee beans so they can sell 1lb bags as a fundraiser for short term mission trips. The end result is Missions supporting Missions. It’s a great concept and a great ministry. You can visit their site at www.PassionateHarvest.org or by clicking the banner at the top.
Mark is the main roast master there and I’ve had the privilege to work with him a number of times. He used to be the assistant manager at Calvary Albuquerque’s coffee shop and while we where in Montreal he built and donated a mobile espresso bar to the church. He also let me make his website.
I called him the other day to order beans and get some advice on making coffee at Calvary Spartanburg. He recommended a Bunn Airpot Brewer. It makes a perfect pot of coffee in about 3 minutes and the Airpot will keep it hot for hours. After I got off the phone I ordered a small one online. The next day Mark called me and told me to cancel the order.
“I’ll get something in the mail for you in a few days” he said
Well, look what just came in the mail!
Bunn is beautiful
It barely fits on my counter!
Not only did Mark donate the Bunn to the church, but it’s also a much bigger brewer than I originally had ordered. Thanks Mark!
Today we went to the YMCA and did a practice set-up. Basically we went a week early to set things up so we could look for problems and snags so we don’t have to deal with them next week as people are coming in. It’s something we had done in Montreal and I thought that it was a good idea to use here. Glad we did!
About 80% of what we had planned worked out fine the first time around,but the other 20% took some creative problem solving. For starters there were two big trash cans full of water in the middle of the area we had wanted to set up chairs. The building is pretty old so the roof leaks right there after a big rain. We also had to trouble shoot the placement of the projector. Everywhere that would be out of the way of the congregation was either too close or too far away from the screen. Finally, I had to play with the recording settings on the laptop until the audio didn’t sound like I was talking through equipment from a Wendy’s drive-thru. Most of the bugs we were able to fix before we left, and the few things that remain I can easily fix this week.
Please pray for this final week as we get ready for not only the first service of Calvary Spartanburg but also Family Fun Day.
I’ve got two opportunities to speak this week. Monday night I’m leading worship and teaching at a home Bible study withHarvest Chapelin Travelers Rest SC. Harvest Chapel is a Calvary church plant not far from where I went to college that just started up this March. I’m looking forward to getting to know this congregation better and encouraging them as we discuss the Word.
Thursday, I’ve been invited to teach at the weeklyCampus Crusademeeting atUSC Upstate. I met with some of the staff of Campus Crusade last week to discuss how Calvary Spartanburg could help them reach the area Colleges. We had a good time of fellowship and at the end of the time they asked me to come a speak at their meeting. I’m very excited about this opportunity because I have such a desire to see students encouraged in their Christian walks.
Pray for these two speaking engagements, that God would speak through His Word and those that hear it would act on the message.
Re:deemed is a place for me to talk about my life and thoughts. Also it's a place for you to track the spiritual and logistical journey of planting Calvary Spartanburg. Please bookmark this page, leave a comment and/or send me an email.
