Fellow Believers in Christ,
Psalm 95:1-3, says, “O come, let us sing unto the Lord: Let us make a
joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence
with thanksgiving, And make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, And
a great King above all gods.”
Genuine Worship engages the Heart and Emotions
(SPIRIT) and is according to the True Revelation of God (TRUTH). All
that is within me should bow down and love Him and everything I do should honor
and ascribe worth to the Lord, our Great God.
Then we also see the early Church worshiped the Lord
Jesus with great joy! So, Luke 24:49-53, says, “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but
tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and
he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed
them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they
worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: And were continually
in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.”
Jesus was taken up into heaven (see also Acts 1:9–11)
and those early believers worshiped with great joy and kept praising God in the
temple. Believers repeatedly praised Jesus with joy and praise.
A genuine worship experience ought to be empowering,
encouraging, enlightening, enriching, and enabling. Gladness and joy
characterized their worship also. These Believers were not prune-faced
religious scrooges whose very presence dumped a cloud of gloom on others. Acts 2:46 says that “gladness”
characterized their activities, and they favorably impressed all those who saw
them. Joy and gladness should mark our very real worship as we reflect on God.
Now this is my first update in over a year. In May of
2022 I experienced a stroke, and it has been a matter of relearning and
rediscovering a great deal. I am finally at about 80 percent now, and that may be
the extent of my recovery, though recovery can take up to about 3 years. My great
wife, Patrice, was a great source of encouragement and strength during this
time. I have been back in the pulpit and reassuming many of my former duties as
an Evangelist since February of 2023. Praise God for our home church,
Crossroads Baptist Church and our pastor, Dr. K. Baldwin. I am also very
thankful for the churches who allowed me to enter their pulpits and stand
behind their teaching lectures.
From February through December of 2023, I addressed several
meetings in the Mid-Atlantic region of the country. There were meetings in
Baltimore, Odenton, Elkridge, MD, then out to Roanoke, Fredericksburg, Manassas
Park, VA and Myrtle Beach, SC to name a few. There were about 35 meetings
during last year. Through these various engagements I emphasized the Joy of Fellowship
in Jesus, the 7 Qualities of a Maturing Believer, the Attitudes of Joy,
Gratitude, and Thanks, Knowing what You Have in Christ, the Foundation of
Forgiveness, Stand in Awe of the Cross, Regeneration, Why bother with Worship and
many more. The Lord was gracious to bless these meetings with conversions, spiritual
decisions, and touches of revival. The Lord kept us engaged with a Men's
Retreat, a Missions Conference, a group of special meetings, and a number of
pulpit fill ins.
God’s Spirit was pleased to use these efforts and embow
them with His extraordinary power and favor. We are also very thankful for the traveling
mercies we have been afforded by our gracious Lord as we addressed his
business.
In addition, we have published or updated about 14
articles through MaxEvangel.blogspot.com, my blog. The recent additions bring
the total number of published articles to 424. Last month there were 6, 500
visitors and 487, 941 people read articles or watched videos on the website to
date. You may recall that through this venue we strive to reach the sinner and
edify the saint. Still God is using this tool to take the Gospel of Jesus
Christ around the world for very little cost. I have been thrilled to see how
God is working through this platform to strengthen thousands of believers and to
expose the loss to the gospel. Please pray in concert with me that the Lord
will continue to use our evangelism, preaching and writing ministries for His
glory.
Going forward we are looking forward to filling my
schedule for this year. Excited about the prospects of seeing our Lord work
among us. We sincerely desire your prayers for God's blessings on these
endeavors. Interested in our ministry serving your church? Please give me a
call at 703-819-9747 or simply send a text message. I am available for
conferences, revivals, special Sundays, pulpit fills, and retreats. As
aways, please trust the Lord with us for wisdom, power, grace, and strength to
execute His plans. We do appreciate your prayers and each gift you send to
sustain these labors for Christ's glory.
The McCrays
No comments:
Post a Comment