People I am Thankful for that I Haven’t Actually Met
It’s Thanksgiving and it is customary to state what we are thankful for. It goes without saying I am eternally grateful for my salvation (literally). I am thankful for my wife Tracey and my wonderful kids Isaac and Anastasia. I am also thankful to have such an amazing spiritual family God has given me the great privilege to lead. I am deeply humbled and give thanks for having such incredible spiritual sons and daughters.
But instead of going into all that I wanted to say a formal “Thank You” to people I don’t actually know. This list is not exhaustive but represents some of the folks who have poured into my life and have not gotten anything in return. I am fully aware they most likely will not actually read this post. Nevertheless here it goes:
Steven Penn – Father of my bride. Can’t wait to see your mansion.
Peter – For giving me an endless supply of preaching material from his message on the feast of weeks.
Reinhard Bonnke for showing me it is not possible to dream too big. Proof? Lagos prayer for the Baptism in the Holy Ghost.
Mel Tari – Like a Mighty Wind. Haven’t read it? And you call yourself a revivalist? I read this book when I first got really hungry for a move of God.
Leonard Ravenhill – Why Revival Tarries
Charles Finney – One page of his autobiography would be an endless stream of videos, emails, and pleas for support today. Finney just collected souls. Finney’s relentless quest for souls and genuine conversion stamped my early walk in a way that won’t let me compromise in my ministry.
John Arnott – I went to Voice of the Apostles last month. It is the Revival Alliance conference basically. Their tie? Toronto. I saw their worship leaders Jeremy and Connie Sinnott in south Florida and it completely changed my life. I met him and told him as much but surely lots and lots of people have told him the same.
Barak Obama – We have a President that has repeatedly told his story of conversion to Christ, his baptism, and the baptism of his children. In that sense I don’t think we have ever had a President that evangelical. That should be enough, but when he talked about how his mother would wake up early to prepare him for school tests it challenged me as a parent. There is not enough of that in America today. (Most Christians feel they must qualify positive statements about our President. I feel no such pressure. Be offended if you want.)
The 400 folks who download The Mission Delray podcast each week – The people of The Mission may come Sunday morning for my good looks but you can’t get that on the podcast. You make me think I am preaching something worth listening to.
What about you? Who are you thankful for?
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It is not hard for me to come up with things to be thankful for. This picture sums it up for me.
