God of the Towel

Yo yo and hello everyone! I hope and pray everyone reading this right now is having a great day.
I'm in the process of re-reading a classic book by Jim Mcguiggan. It is called God of the Towel. Here is a part of the book that especially sticks out to me. "People are running past Jesus in their multiplied thousands and throwing themselves over the revine to destruction. He tearfully asks them, 'Where are you going?' They say, 'We're going to hell!' He wishes to know why and they tell Him, 'Because God is sending us there. He wants us to go there.' And the bewildered Master replies, 'But I'm God and I don't want you to go!' Hasn't He made that clear? And upon hearing that many of us have said, 'You mean we don't have to go? Then we're not going!' And having identified ourselves with our Master He asks us, 'Now will you stand here and tell these others that they don't have to go.'" Isn't that wonderful! I love that! God loves people. Not just good people. Not just bad people. He loves PEOPLE! Period. He is very much against active rebellion. He will punish us in our rebellion. But that's our choice. He wouldn't have it so. Even when we give our selves to Him we still live with our conscicences of our sins. But we will always have a fresh start with God. No matter what.
God bless you today in Jesus' name!
Zack
Luke 15:32
"But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."

Servant

Yo yo and hello! I hope and pray everyone reading this is having a blessed day today. I was talking to a gentleman at church a few weeks ago and he read me this story from his own personal notes. I asked him to make a copy of it for me. He did. Here's the story:
Ibrahim ibn Adham recalled 'I once bought a slave'.
"What is your name"? I asked him.
"What you call me". he answered.
"What do you eat?"
"What you give me."
"What do you wear?"
"What you cloth me with."
"What do you do?"
"What you command."
"What do you desire?"
"What does a servant have to do with desire?" he replied
At this Idrahim broke down. "Oh what a miserable creature I am", he said to himself. "All my life I thought I was being a servant of God, but I never learned the meaning of the word "servant" until now. (Faridudddin Attar, Muslim Saints and Mystics, 75)
Very thought provoking stuff. Please tell me what you think.
God bless you today in Jesus' name!
Zack

Lamentations 3 thoughts

Yo yo and hello everyone! I hope and pray everyone is doing well. I was reading alittle bit of Lamentations 3 today. The auther talked about he and his people being seiged (spelling error?) and all these terrible things that happened to him and his people. Picking it up in verse 18 "So I say, 'My splendor is gone and all that I hoped for from the Lord'. I remember my affliction and my wondering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me." (notice now) "Yet this I recall to mind and therfore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are knew every morning; great is Your faithfulness".
Even when our lives may seem to be caving in on us, the Lord is still in control. Even when there's termoil and chaous (spelling error?) all around us in the world, the Lord still reigns supreme. Is that great or what?
God bless you all today in Jesus' name!
Zack
ps. Go Cardnals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seek Small Groups

Hello everyone! Off and on I've been reading a book called Seeker Small Groups by Garry Poole. Garry is on the ministry staff at Willow Creek Community Church in the Chicago area. There are 4 sections in the book. The first section is about how to start a small group. In the second section he tells us how to attract seekers to small groups. The third section talks about leading small groups. And the forth section is about reaching seekers through the small groups. Then he has sample lessons you can use in a seeker small group setting.
The small group idea is a very good one. Jesus had 12 disciples. And in that larger group there seems to have been little small groups (ie. Peter, James, and John were always invited to go with Jesus like to Gethsemene and on the Mount of Transfiguration). Paul always sent greetings to certain individuals and the church that met at their house.
Small groups certainly seem to help people grow faster then in a large group all the time. It gives people more chances to try and succed at things.
Thank you for reading. God bless you today in Jesus' name!
Zack

Here I am!

Hello everyone! I remember attending a gospel meeting while a student at Harding University. Kurt Picker was the speaker and Tquan Moore was the worship leader. Kurt was the preacher at the West Houston church of Christ at the time. Tquan is still the youth minister at West Houston.
Anyhow, they taught us a song called Here I am. I love it! Here are the words:
Here I am!
I don't have much to bring.
But here's my heart!
And I lay it at Your feet!
Draw it near!
To Your presence and thrown above.
Hear it's praise!
Of Your never-ending love!
You are my Lord!
You are my King!
This sacrifice of song I bring!
I offer it up to You My Lord Most High!
These humble hands
I lift to Y0u!
Praise and thanks for all You do!
Here I am!
Hear my heart my Lord Most High!
Great song! What are some of your favorite worship songs (old songs and knew songs)?
Thank you! God bless you today in Jesus' name!
Zack

A Faithful Church (Col. 2:2-7)

Hello everybody! Hope and pray all is well with everyone. I was looking at the Correspondent (a newsletter from Sunset International Bible Institute, where I plan to attend in a couple years) and found something very interesting. It is Colossions 2:2-7. There are 7 points the writer makes. A faithful church has the following: courageous hearts (that their hearts may be encouraged ... v. 2); loving fellowship (having been knit together in love ... v.2); wisdom and knowledge (in whom are hidden all the tearsures of wisdom and knowledge v. 3); resist false doctrines (I say this so that no one will delude you with persusive arguement v. 4); rooted in Christ (... walk in Him v. 5); hold fast the faith (having been rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith ... v. 7); overflowing gratitude (and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing gratitude).
These are marks of a true faithful church. If all of God's children do these seven things the whole church will be stronger then ever. May God's rich grace be with each of you in Jesus' name.
Zack

There's a stirring deep with in me!

This is one of my favorite worship songs.
There's a Stirring Deep With In Me!
Could it be my time has come?
When I see my gracious Savior
Face to face when all is done.
Is that His voice I am hearing,
"Come away My precious one?"
Is He calling me? Is He calling me?
I rise up! I'll rise up,
And then I'll bow down.
And lay my crown,
At His precious wounded feet!
There's a Stirring deep with in me!
That song sends chills down my spine every time. Mission work has been on my heart for a long time. This song reminds me that God wants all of us to be reaching out to everyone around us for Him. No matter where we are. Across the streat or across the ociean.
God bless you all!
Zack
Isaiah 6:8
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Isaiah 49 thoughts

Hi everyone! Whatz up? Do you know what a frog says when it sees a book? It says, "read it" (ha ha).
As I've said I like to read books. If you haven't read the book The Bible Jesus Read get it and read it. Great book. It was written by Philip Yancey. In the book Yancey just talks about the Old Testament and how some Christians hardely if ever read it because they think it's an out dated section of the Bible and has no sinificance to live. But nothing could be further from the truth. Yancey told of a time when he was asked to speak at a Christian conference and was given Isaiah 49:16 as his text. That verse says "See, I have engraved you one the palms of my hands; ...". Read the whole chapter though. The Israelites were in some real termoil and thinking God had forgotten about them, that He didn't really care about them as some people in our society think today (maybe even some Christians). Picking up the text in Isaiah 49:14-16 "But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me'. 'Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands'; ...".
So, when someone thinks that God doesn't love them or doesn't care about them, He says "Yes I love you! Yes, I care about you!" He sent His only begotten Son Jesus to show us how much He loves and cares about us. He sent Jesus to bridge the gap between us and show us how to live and give us hope of being with Him and God in heaven for all eternity. When Jesus was on that cross He had your name on the palms of His hands.
God bless!
Zack

Prayer

Hello there everyone! I love to read books. One really good book I've read is called Prayer: The Voice of Faith by Charles Hodge Jr. He said alot of really thought provoking things in there. Excellent book! He said things like "the greatest blessing in prayer isn't getting what you want, but getting God". Sometimes I find myself praying "God change this situation" or "God change this person", or what have you. What I should be praying is "God change me". We shouldn't ask God for lighter loads, but for stronger backs. I got the book from Resource Publishing based in Searcy, AR. I don't remember the web address for Resource, but if you run it through google it will lead you to it. Thank you and God bless each of you.
Zack

Welcome!

Hello world of bloggers! My name is Zack Blaisdell. I'm an aspiring writer and aspiring church planting missionary. God bless all of you.
By the way, here is a conversation I heard: The first person says "It smells like 'up dog'. Second person says "whats 'up dog'? And the first person says "nothing. What's up with you"!
Thank you for reading.
Zack