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December 2001 Table of Contents
A View From The Front Lines
Abide
By Kirk Lyons
 Hello from the great state of Alabama! Another quarter has passed and again we meet through the pages of our world famous Communicator. I pray the Lord has continued to bless all of your ministries since our last article and that He has given you super human strength as you prepare for the glorious celebration of His birth. We are currently on the tail end of remodeling here at the "J" and are gradually preparing for another incredible month of January. I must tell you I have a new respect for folks that remodel their homes and live there during the process! If I trip over one more ladder or have to vacuum my office one more time I will... well you know. Anyway, if you're in the area be sure to stop by and see all the changes.
On the product front we have had the privilege of hearing some of the incredible works that are coming for the Easter season. I probably should let you get through Christmas before I talk about this but… we were treated to a special evening kick off to Easter with Lillenas Publishing on Tuesday the 30th of October. Sam Mehaffie and George Baldwin gathered with all our sales team members at the Stadium Club restaurant on the grounds of Hank Aaron Stadium. Along with local Ministers of Music we enjoyed a wonderful time of praise and worship and were treated to a special premiere of Bow the Knee led by Chris Machen himself. This is a powerful musical from the viewpoint of one of the Roman soldiers left at the foot of the Cross. Listen and be blessed, perform it and bless your congregations.
Look for another special we will be running on Pastor Jim Cymbala's new book "Grace at Ground Zero". This book will be in our warehouse by the time you read this article and will be specially priced at only $8.00. I would also encourage you to get you orders in quickly for the new Integrity musical "God in Us". Again by the time you read this article we will have CD and Cassette preview packs available. We were fortunate to be at the live recording of this project and it is awesome! I also want to encourage all of you to register early for our January conferences. They are going to be more incredible than ever. You can read Jerry's article on our Houston event…. It will truly be the event of the Millenium. Last but not least I'd like to mention our clearance items. Many of you received information on this in your October statements. If you did not, please visit our web site at www.jjonline.com and look for the clearance section listed on our Home page. There are incredible values on product that can not be returned to publishers. Savings start at 50% off their retail prices. With our shrinking budgets this area is sure to be a blessing.
Finally I'll close with what's been on my heart...
I was talking with our Pastor at First Baptist North Mobile (Ed Litton) on a Wednesday evening not too many weeks ago, sharing with him how my life was at that particular moment in time. You see I've been dry with a capital D! After rambling for several minutes Pastor asked if I had ever read "Secrets of the Vine" by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson. I told him I had started it several months ago but had never completed it. Pastor continued to share the profound effect this book had had on him and his time with the Lord. You see my definition of a quiet time with the Lord for the last several years has been speed reading through "My Utmost For His Highest" each morning or tearing through "The 21 Most Powerful Minutes in a Leaders day" in 12 minutes. I am thankful (however this opinion is not shared by my wife) for long hot showers in the morning. If it wasn't for this dysfunction in my life God would never get to speak to me. Well after about three weeks I found the old copy of "Secrets of the Vine". My page marker was still nicely in place and my favorite highlighter (I thought I'd lost) was also tucked away inside. Glancing at the cover of the book I noticed in small print just below the title "breaking through to abundance". I thought to my self, "Self, breaking through to anything at this point would be a move in the right direction". After rereading the first few chapters (so I could remember what I had read several months ago) I realized my basket was empty. I also understood very clearly the first secret, that of God's discipline. Continuing on I saw clearly the sometimes-painful aspect of pruning as each season has passed. This brought me to the second secret "If your life bears some fruit, God will intervene to prune you". God's discipline had allowed me to begin bearing fruit. So far so good. Then I got to the point that stuck like and arrow in the side of a wounded buck on an early October morning Secret number three and I quote "If your life bears a lot of fruit, God will invite you to abide more deeply with him". Dr Wilkinson goes on to explain the definitions for abide are, to remain, to stay closely connected, to settle in for the long term. He also states that at this point God's purpose is not that we will do more for Him but that we will choose to BE more with Him! Hello now! I'm a doer! That's the way I'm wired. Give me something to accomplish. Better yet give me everything to accomplish. Every one else can go on home because the DOER is in the house! Yeah right! This same doer is typing this letter sick as a beached whale, burnt out, dried up and blowing in the wind with the rest of the leaves and dust on this autumn day.
With my attention level soaring Dr Wilkinson goes on to say that in our seasons of chastening and pruning the Vinedresser is proactive. He pursues. He initiates. Our role is only to respond. But with abiding the roles are completely turned around and we must act. We must be proactive. We must pursue and initiate. Yeah, God is waiting. He has no record of time and invented patience.
My prayer is that you will choose each day, to put aside your busyness and abide with the Lover of our souls. I humbly ask that you will pray the same for me.
Until we meet again, we'll be sittin and abidin down here in lower AL, just a looking for a cloud!
Looking for a cloud!
Kirk
email Kirk
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