Nehemiah #1

Luis was too ill to come today & give his testimony. He truly needs your prayers.

Today was Jessie’s last day after 5 years of being a house parent. We will miss her & all she contributed to the younger girls as well as the teams.

God leads one man to lead other men to do a great task. While he was in captivity he rose to become the cupbearer of Artaxerxes. He was trusted by that king. More than pouring wine or being a servant. The king trust this man with his very life. Poison was a constant danger so every king had one man he could trust.

Nehemiah asked some visitors “How are Jerusalem and her walls?” The answer was disheartening. Torn down and destroyed and the gates are burned! What moves you to joy or sorrow?

You can tell much about a man by what makes him laugh or cry. When LSU wins I rejoice and when LSU loses I am sad. This morning I was blessed to lead a teenage girl to Jesus. My joy was sky high. Nehemiah would weep when he was told of the condition of Jerusalem.

He feels a burden. No man is called of God until he first has a burden from God. God lays His hand upon you when you are most sorrowful in your heart. If you are not concerned about the pain or lostness of others God will not lay His hand upon you.

Look around you! Do you care what is happening around you? God will not call a person who does not have a burden.

My testimony is not special but there is one thing I can tell you without a doubt. When I made that one-week mission trip to Guatemala with Charles Rogers in 1988 I did not care one wit about Guatemala. I had to look at a globe to even know where it was.

But when I walked the streets at 4am in the cold, drizzling weather and saw the hundreds of children on the street trying to sleep under newspaper a burden hit me like an uncontrollable cancer. Within months Dottie and 5 of our children accompanied me to Guatemala and the rest is history.

No Burden No Call!!