Last night was truly a tremendous night as leaders and friends from all over America came together for a surprise birthday party and time of honor for my 91 year old grandfather Roy Stockstill. He is the founder of Bethany World Prayer Center, faithful minister of the Gospel for over 60 years, and loving husband for 63 years. WOW! What a legacy he has created for our family!

In a day where scandal and reproach on our Lord Jesus name are not only common, but sadly expected, it is a great privilege and joy to watch the life of an average man born in Picayune, MS (as the 7th of 10 children) become a legend of faith. He lived a life of honesty, humility, and holiness before God and birthed many thousands and tens of thousands into the Gospel of Jesus Christ both locally and worldwide. HIs life and legacy will be remembered by so many incredible memories and sayings when he is gone and in all of this there is not one mark against him as a man of God, husband, or pastor. This doesn’t mean he was perfect, or that to be a great man of faith you have to be perfect, but it does mean that you can make it all the way from salvation to eternity without blowing it or compromising the name of Jesus. This does mean that you can love one woman your whole life and never dabble in the desires of the flesh or fall prey to the lure of greed and pride.

As I write this blog to primarily young people, I want to say to you and any believer reading that a life like Brother Roy’s is proof that we can be like Christ and live our whole life in integrity. It proves that we do not have to be like the world but can be changed into a new creation that is circumcised at heart from the sin nature that constantly seeks our destruction. It proves that a man can be filled with God’s Spirit for every day of His existence in Christ and sing, shout, dance, preach, weep, laugh, and love with all the grace that Christ has given us. It proves that if you will stay in love with Jesus for your whole walk with Him that countless lives WILL be affected and Jesus will receive great glory from your life. Finally, it proves that you can receive great honor in your memory and be received into your heavenly reward with many crowns to cast at Jesus’ feet.

I pray today that you will be stirred in your heart to press on till you reach the mark of the high calling set before you. It is a high calling! Don’t worry about fame or money, but instead, be filled with God’s Spirit every day afresh and watch how He will raise you up and honor you before the watching world.
Psa. 31:19 How great is the goodness You have stored up for those who fear You. You lavish it upon those who come to You for protection, blessing them before the watching world.

My heart is overflowing with passion for the Gospel this morning as I woke up heavy in heart over the 500,000 possibly dead in Haiti. What a tragedy! If these numbers are true then we have witnessed something that could double the catastrophe in Asia when the tsunami hit and be yet another wake up call to the fragility of human lives. When the world sees these type of things they feel a great sadness and desire to help with physical relief, but the church of the Living God should be compelled to do even more than ever to reach souls and moved with compassion for those who are left in Haiti with lost loved ones and incredible need. We don’t move with a fleshly pity, for who can even fathom the magnitude of devastation in a case like this? We must move with the urgency of Christ, the Lord of the Harvest, as He places within our heart a fresh urgency to herald His Good News and carry His Cross to a dying world.

My dad did a statistic on the tsunami death toll that was very moving to me. If the 250,000 dead were laid next to each other shoulder to shoulder the body bags would stretch 40 miles! This means that if half a million died in Haiti it would be 80 miles of dead bodies. My God, the souls that were not ready for eternity! My God, the people who grew up in the most satanic, voodoo infested nation of the western hemisphere and may have never heard the Gospel! Dear Jesus! Please incite within us a fresh fervor for the lost. May we not wait until tragedy strikes to reflect on what we should have done and then days later move on with our lives. May we live every day and every encounter with the revelation that eternity is coming and the default setting for the human soul is hell!

This morning as I write this blog there is a distinct sound in my spirit of the Master knocking on the door of human hearts. I hear Him calling for anyone and everyone to open the door of their heart through repentance and embrace His marvelous grace by faith. I hear the weeping of the Risen Savior as He longs to take humanity under His wing as a mother with her chicks. I hear the prayers of the saints as those with the heart of Christ march onward toward eternity with purpose and clarity. Dear Jesus, let there be an explosion of passion for Your name and Your Cross within the hearts of complacent believers all over this nation. Let the slumbering Bride be awakened to the moment of destiny before her. The final harvest is here! AWAKE you who sleep in paths of convenience and delusions of religion. Attending church will never save the billions, yes billions, who need the opportunity to hear that name we have become over familiar with, JESUS.

Rev. 3:20 Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. \\\Do you hear the knocking today? He is knocking on every door until their last breath and then the knocking stops! The knocking stopped for those precious souls in Haiti and they will never be able to open the door again.