The Greater Work

My dear Grace Chapel Partners,

Each month I'm send a chapter of the book I'm writing, GET UP! GOD IS NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!

This month is chapter 1. It is attached.

Bible verses quoted, unless otherwise stated, are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB). 

Also, this is a draft. If you have suggestions or helpful corrections please let me know. I'm looking for readability. Does it make sense? What is your opinion of what I say? Is this helpful to you? Would you recommend this book to someone else?

If I'm going to try and publish this book, I would like a good chance that it would have value to someone who would read it. Please help with your evaluation.

Thank you and blessings,

Steve Bragg

GET UP!

GOD IS NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!

Chapter 1

Introduction

The Greater Work

Apostle Paul' defense before King Agrippa

“To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the

dominion of Satan to God,” (Acts 26:18a).

It is a traumatic experience to fall from ministry. In fact, I am convinced it is hell this side of the grave. It is a living death. Living in rebellion is a life lived separated from God in darkness, almost completely void of His goodness and blessing. However, God does not entirely abandon us in our rebellion.  By allowing us to reap the error of our ways and through the relentless ministry of the Holy Spirit, God continues to woo us toward repentance. In the process of getting up from my fall, I am coming to know God and His forgiveness, mercy, and grace intimately. Being renewed in my Lord is unquestionably heaven this side of the grave. I am learning to live an incomparable life of faith that is wrapped up in His love. Thank You Lord!

Only in recent years is the Church coming to accept that God can restore the life and the ministry of a fallen church leader. According to God’s Word those in leadership of His Church should be held to a higher standard. In his Word, the Lord states the spiritually mature qualifications and life standards for His leaders. Also, well stated in His Word are the honest observations of the lives of God’s leaders. In the lives of many of God’s leaders, He reveals the strengths and accomplishments and weaknesses and failures of their lives. Some of God’s leaders fell and never recovered from their fall. However, those who repented were restored. Their lives become powerful messages of the Great God we serve and who saves us. Amen!

When the Lord puts a life back together, He does it in a miraculous way that brings glory to His name. In the same way, Jesus heals the lame or blind, He heals our lives. By faith, He renews our lives and makes us whole. “He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake,” (Psalms 23:3).

The Lord’s Greater Work in Our Lives

The night before His death, Jesus told the Apostles, “He who believes in Me… greater works than these he will do,” (John 14:12). Jesus declared this after He had raised people from the dead. The greater works He is speaking of is the raising of the spiritually dead unto eternal life. The Apostle Paul said it like this, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,” (Colossians 1:13).

Jesus raised the physical dead before He died on the cross and we, through the power of the Gospel after His death on the cross and resurrection, proclaim the message that raises the spiritually dead unto eternal life. By spiritually dead I mean those who are separated from God by sin. “Even when we were dead in our transgressions, he made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),” (Ephesians 2:5). Which is the greater work, to raise someone physically from the dead only to die again? Or is it a greater work to raise us from the dominion of darkness, eternal death, to the Kingdom of His Son, eternal life, never to die again? The greater works are salvation, and the resulting changed lives of salvation.

At the point of salvation we are changed from death to life. By grace through faith we are saved. The Apostle Paul writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast,” (Ephesians 2:8, 9). However, salvation does not end there. Paul also adds in the next verse; “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them,” (Ephesians 2:10). Salvation is an ongoing, greater work. God is in a continuous process of changing the dark human soul from the inside out. “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him,” (Philippians 2:13 NLT).

Salvation Is an Ongoing Greater Work

The Apostle Paul’s life is an example of the greater works Jesus talked about in John 14:12, of a saved life that is changed forever. In Paul’s conversion, he not only meets the Lord on the road to Damascus, but he is baptized and commissioned within three days. Paul was entirely and utterly forgiven of his violent sins against God’s church, His people, and from that point on Paul served Jesus as one of His greatest evangelist. Paul’s life becomes a living testimony of the power of God’s salvation and its greater work to change lives. The Book of Acts reveals the unfolding of Paul’s life as a result of his salvation.  His new life brings glory to God in completing the task of delivering the message God had given him. The message God gave Paul is “to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God's people, who are set apart by faith in Me,” (Acts 26:18). God not only gives Paul this message, but empowers him to preach it. "So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses had said was going to take place,” (Acts 26:22). Paul's new life now has a greater purpose and meaning. After bringing Paul out of the darkness of persecuting the Church, Jesus, who is the risen Christ, brought him to the Light. The message that God bestowed to Paul was what God had done for him. Jesus opened Paul’s eyes and turned him from darkness to light. This message now had greater power because it was not only God’s message to the world, but Paul’s life became its living testimony. The work of saving and changing Paul’s life was to God’s glory. The work of God saving us and changing our lives brings glory to God.

Here is the testimony of God’s great work of salvation in Paul’s life. “And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is indeed the Son of God!" All who heard him were amazed. "Isn't this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus' followers in Jerusalem?" they asked. "And didn't he come here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests," (Acts 9:20, 21)? Everyone was amazed that the same man who came to imprison Christians was so quickly changed to become one of them, and a new leader of God’s church preaching the Good News. This was a shocking and striking event and testimony of God’s astounding power of forgiveness offered even to Paul the violent aggressor of God’s church.

In Paul’s defense to King Agrippa, Paul uses his changed life as evidence that the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead. First Paul explains to King Agrippa about his life before meeting the resurrected Lord Jesus. "Why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead? So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them. And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities,” (Acts 26:8-11). Then Paul presents his changed life as the result of meeting the resurrected Lord as proof of the resurrection.  "So, King Agrippa, I did not prove to be disobedient to the heavenly vision, but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance. For this reason, some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to put me to death. So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles," (Acts 26:19-23). Paul life immediately changes when he meets the resurrected Lord. He now knows Jesus and His resurrection are true. This results in Paul’s salvation. This is the power of the resurrection to save from our sins and change our lives.

Whether we are a new Christ follower or a mature Christ follower, God is in the process changing our lives. Our failures are not the end of our lives and ministries, but a continuous process of turning us from darkness to light. Each time He turns us to repentance and heals us, He deepens a better understanding of His love, mercy, and grace within our souls. This better understanding of God becomes a richer message of the Gospel and is evidenced by our lives. In the cutting away of each dark part of our lives, a greater Light prevails. God is continuing the greater work of salvation by changing us from the inside out. If you were and thief and steal no more, your life is a living testimony that God forgives and through His salvation come His continuous greater work of a changed life that bring testimony to God. If you have fallen from leadership in God’s Church and you have repented, then your life also brings testimony to the wondrous power of God to forgive and restore lives. Your life, like Paul’s, brings a remarkable testimony of God’s forgiveness, mercy, and grace. Like Paul’s testimony, your testimony as greater power as one forgiven, you are evidence of what you proclaim; God’s forgiveness; His salvation.

“I cried out to You, O LORD. I begged the Lord for mercy, saying,

"What will You gain if I die, if I sink into the grave? Can my dust praise You? Can it tell of Your faithfulness?

Hear me, LORD, and have mercy on me. Help me, O LORD."

You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,

that I might sing praises to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give You thanks forever,” (Psalms 30:8-12 NLT)!

Dedication of the Church Land at Barangay Esparar

The Barangay Esparar church official name is

Jabez House of Prayer RRCP.



Singing praises to our Lord for His provision

There are three of our 8 churches that were delayed to build a church building because of land issues. Praise God the issues are being resolved one by one and the building of the churches and parsonages are beginning.

Last week we dedicated the land at Barangay Sugnod for Victory Christian Church RRCP.

Today we dedicated the land for the church at Barangay Esparar, Jabez House of Prayer, Thank you Lord!

Pastors Alagos, JoJo, Lachica

Lord willing, we will dedicate the land for the church at Barangay Tagumpay in May. Tagumpay’s church is yet to be named.

The enemy is roaring and the Lord Jesus is blessing.

Your partner in this ministry to the Filipinos,

Steve Bragg

Getting Ready for Daily Vacation Bible School (DVBS)

Praying for you

We are praying for each other.

At our prayer meeting, Friday night, we prayed for our Daily Vacation Bible School (DVBS). We also prayed for all of our supporters everywhere.

We thank God because of your prayers and gifts that we will be giving DVBS through our 9 churches in the Philippines.

We praise God and thank Him for your faithfulness. We have asked our God to bless you all 1000 fold.

Please keep us in your prayers as we reach out to children and parents in 9 Barangays, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Getting our lessons ready

Getting our hearts ready


 

Our New Church at Sugnod

Announcing the dedication of the church and parsonage at Barangay Sugnod, Malinao, Aklan, Philippines.

 

Dedicating the land to our LORD JESUS

We always thank God’s for His timing. With God’s providence come His blessings!

 

The land is finally donated and dedicated. Building the church and parsonage begins TODAY! Thank you LORD JESUS!!!

 

Because Sugnod means “pile of dead bodies” (named from the battles of WW2), we named the church VICTORY!

 

Breaking ground in the name or our LORD JESUS

Victory Christian Church of RRCP at Sugnod is the official name.

 

Please continue to keep this church in your prayers. There still remain strongholds that do not want this church to succeed.

 

 

The Enemy Is Roaring and God Is Blessing!

 

“Day by day the LORD takes care of the innocent, and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.

They will not be disgraced in hard times; even in famine they will have more than enough,” (Psalms 37:18, 19).

 

Pastor "Billy" Aclo setting the foundation sake

Your partner in this ministry to the Filipinos,

 

Pastor Steve Bragg

My Rebellion ~ God's Restoration

GET UP!

GOD IS NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!

Chapter 2

My Rebellion

God’s Restoration

             

“For the wages of sin is death,

but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 6:23).

My Fall

My fall was at the beginning of my ministry. I was relatively new in my salvation. I started Bible College only three months after I had given my life to my Lord. In less than four years I graduated from Bible College. I knew the scriptures well. My desire to serve the Lord was great, but I had not dealt with the sins of my past. My sins were still lurking in my heart. They would soon overwhelm me.

I had kept sin under control during college. However, after graduation, little by little, I began to give into my sins. In a short period of time, I had given into them.  I was an interim preacher for about a year before the sin in my life had totally overtaken me. I could no longer hide the sins from the Church and my family. My inner struggle was no longer hidden, but out in the open. Now in the open, I used this situation to go all the way with the darkness that had overwhelmed my heart. Part of me said that my hope to be God’s servant is destroyed, so why struggle any longer. However, looking back, I now think this was actually the excuse I needed to break free from the Light and embrace the darkness. I used blame; it is my wife’s fault, and God’s fault that I am here because they let me down. I thought they justified my fall. The truth is I was forsaking my life ambition, my family and friends. Solomon said this state of heart is evil and insanity, “This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives…” (Ecclesiastes 9:3).

I had crossed back over the line. I knew God and then walked away from God knowingly and willingly. Peter said this, “And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. They prove the truth of this proverb: ‘A dog returns to its vomit.’ And another says, ‘A washed pig returns to the mud,’" (2Peter 2:20-22).

How I Fell

I had reached a point where I was feeding my flesh a regular diet and had stopped feeding my spirit. My prayer life was diminished to a want list. I mostly complained to God in my prayers. Sometimes I asked for forgiveness, but as I progressed in sin, asking for forgiveness faded. I began to blame God for things going wrong in my life. I read His Word for sermons and lessons only. I had stopped communing with God through prayer and His Word. The voice of the Holy Spirit, talking to me about repentance, began to fade. My conscience was being seared. My flesh was lit up with passion. My heart and soul had become the devil’s playground. I’m sure Satan and his henchman had determined that they had taken me out. And as my sin found me out and became apparent for all to see, they must have cheered thinking I would no longer be one of God servants. Certainly, I was in agreement with them at the time. My life as a Christ follower and leader in His Church was over. But my future surprise was to learn God was not finished with me and GOD IS NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!

God Was Not Finished

My life does not end in rebellion. Thank You Lord that You will not let us go. In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Roman Church, written after he had murdered and persecuted believers in Jesus Christ’s Church and then was saved by grace, he now proclaims with power and authority, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 8:38, 39 NLT).

Recovering From My Fall

I had not been plucked from His love. However, by allowing me to fall and reap the severe consequences of my rebellion, God was preparing me and getting me ready to do His best work in me.  

In His preparation for my recovery, there was still one more thing God needed to do to make me ready for His restoration. God needed to break me. He needed to break my heart. He needed me to understand that sin is death, and how terrifying death can be. Death is separation from Him. I was learning how unbearable life without God could be. God wanted me to return to my knees. I needed to come to the point where I would cry out, “I need You, my Savior! I cannot endure this life any longer. Please save me O God!” But before my cry to God could be sincere and genuine, I needed to be wholly broken. I needed to be prepared for what God calls the circumcision of the heart. “…circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit…” (Romans 2:29). "Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:6). I needed to be prepared for the Spirit’s circumcision of sin from my heart. Listen to this verse. It is a look at God’s open-heart circumcision. "Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us,” (Hosea 6:1). That is right, it says, “He tore us… He wounded us.” He does this, so “He will heal us.”

Consider the sin going on at the Corinthian Church. “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife,” (1Corinthians 5:1). This Corinthian man was openly and blatantly in sin, immorality. Paul says it was immorality that even the Gentiles do not do. This man apparently had an immoral relationship with his father’s wife. Paul’s solution was first to get the man out of the Church. Second, was to do what I think Hosea is talking about, to tear and wound him hoping that the man would be healed. Acting in the authority of our Lord Jesus, here is Paul’s solution, “In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus,” (1Corinthians 5:4, 5). For me also, I needed to reap the error of my way. It was as though God had said to Satan about me, as long as he is in rebellion, do what you want with him until he REPENTS!

My Repentance

My repentance came at age 49. In 13 years of rebellion I was divorced 3 times. My daughters were seriously hurt by me, a father who let them down. My employers and my church had lost their trust in me. The pain became intolerable. My consumption of alcohol and drugs could no longer mask the tremendous emptiness and disappointment of my life. Totally broken, and under the extreme burden of grief and guilt, I came to my knees before the Lord. I prayed, “Lord, my sorrow, guilt and pain are too much to suffer. Can you help me, please? Lord, if only I can find a little happiness and joy in this life I would be so thankful.” My heart had been torn and my wounds were deep. The circumcision of my heart was in progress. Now God could begin to heal my life.

Circumcision and Healing of My Heart

The Lord heard my prayer. In Bible College, I had memorized substantial portions of God’s Word, but now after years of rebellion and sin, I could only remember one partial verse and one whole verse. The partial verse, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit,” (Hebrews 4:12a). The whole verse, “…for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God,” (1Peter 1:23). God’s word is living and is active in my soul and spirit. The two-edge sword of the God’s word would do its work of circumcision. I think God had left me these two verses, so He could begin the circumcision of my heart and healing at the time that I would be ready.

The Holy Spirit was now speaking to me again loud and clear, telling me His Word will heal me. I began listening to God through His Word and the Holy Spirit. I also began talking to my Creator through prayer. If He made me, He could fix me; at least I hoped and prayed this to be true.

Becoming My Lord and God

I remained faithful in reading His Word and talking with my Lord. He was no longer just the Lord, but my Lord now. I read the Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes often. These books taught me about the heart of God. The book of Psalms unveils the heart of David talking to God. David shared everything; his sorrows and joys, doubts and trust, cries for help, and praises for God’s rescues. Psalms also taught me God’s heart as He responded to David. I became like David sharing everything, and I started learning how to listen to God for His responses. The book of Proverbs is God’s standard, or ruler, by which I began to measure the actions and thoughts of my life. The book of Ecclesiastes is my reminder to stay on God’s path. All is folly except to know God. I also began to systematically read the Word from start to finish. This time by reading God’s Word, I read and listened. I had no agenda of reading a certain number of verses or chapters per day. I only read to hear and understand. “Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance,” (Proverbs 1:5 NLT).

Our New Relationship

It was at this time that the Lord shared through His Word, speaking to my heart about what would be the essence of our new relationship. And, of all places, this life-changing message came out of the Genesis genealogies. Usually, I would quickly scan through them because they were so boring, but this time I was reading and listening. Genesis says, “Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years,” (Genesis 5:22, 23). “Enoch walked with God.” He only lived 365 years compared to everyone else living 700 to more than 900 years. In comparison to his generation, his life was short. But, the quality of his life must have been unequaled. The NLT Bible puts it this way, “Enoch lived in close fellowship with God.”

Now at about age 50, I lived most of my life in ruin. I wanted to live the rest of my life in a worthwhile and close fellowship with God. I am learning to walk with God. Daily my life grows in greater intimacy with my Creator. My friends, life is hard, but through walking with God in the valleys and mountaintops, I am discovering my Redeemer.

“Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God,” (Ephesians 3:17-19). Noah was another person who the Bible says walked with God. The result of Noah walking with God changed the world significantly and forever!

Restoring My Life

Two years later the Lord started talking to me about going back to Church. I resisted, but He was talking; I was listening, and I needed to go. I worked up the courage to start going back to Church. I went to a local community church because I was too embarrassed to go back to the church that originally trained me for ministry. I went to an evening service and sat in the back. I wanted to be able to make a quick exit to avoid the anticipated probing questions that I was not prepared to answer. I did not want to explain that I was once in the ministry, and now my life is in ruins. To my surprise, at the end of the message the pastor started talking about communion. I wanted to run out the door, but as he talked of the cross and shedding of the Lord’s blood for me, all I could do was weep. This time communion was up close and personal. While glued to my chair and weeping, the emblems came to me. I shared in the Lord’s sacrifice of dying on the cross for me and for my rebellion. Never did it mean so much to me as it did in that moment.

Since that day, I cry easily. I went from tough guy to humble guy. To this day I’m still broken, but I am restored and I walk by His grace only through his mercy. I went home humbled and grateful. My prayer that night was “Lord, You arranged that for me, thank You. You are an awesome God!”

 Restoring Me in His Church

A few months later my wife and I started looking for a church we both could attend. We found a community church, River Rock Church, in Camas, Washington. They had a new pastor, Kelly Backstrom. I took him to coffee to describe who I was, Damaged Goods. As I began to explain Kelly stopped me. He said he had found Christ when he was in a youth center for boys, also known as a reformatory for boys. Kelly also explained how he had once been in ministry and then had fallen. God had restored Kelly’s life and ministry. I wondered, is there hope for me too? Could God restore such a one as me?

Kelly’s testimony was encouraging because he was now the lead pastor at River Rock Church. God turned Kelly’s life around. I decided to put myself under Kelly’s authority, and let him be my pastor and shepherd. Peter’s instructions were, “You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,” (1Peter 5:5, 6). I was not young in years, but I had become young in the Lord again. I was learning about my Lord and what He means to my new life. Paul’s instructions to the Ephesians’ elders were "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood,” (Acts 20:28).

I now had God’s living Word and the Holy Spirit talking and breathing life into me, and one of God’s shepherds to mentor me. Along the way, the Lord brought more shepherds to help mentor me. I carried within my heart, and still do, humility caused by the reality of how wicked I became. Now, all of God’s provisions to bring about His circumcision and healing of my heart were in place.

Continuing with Healing

The process of the circumcision of my heart is continuous even to this day. Currently, I am in the Philippines starting new churches for our Lord. I have been commissioned and sent by the Elders of River Rock Church to accomplish this work, Lord willing. God has confirmed by His power and favor this ministry in the Philippines. Still, I work under Pastor Kelly and the Elders of River Rock Church, and I am a fellow pastor/elder working in concert with them.

I daily seek forgiveness from my Lord. I spend time on my face before His Throne of Grace. “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” (Hebrews 4:16). I read, listen, and gain an understanding of His Word. Each day I thank Him for this precious gift of life He has given me. I thank Him for my family and health. I thank Him for all His provisions and kindness in my life. But most importantly, I thank Him for forgiving me and restoring me. It is because of His awesome love for me that I give my life back to Him as a sacrifice and offering. “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith,” (Romans 12:11-3). I thank Him for the privilege of allowing me to work in His Church, in His name, and in His authority. I love Him because He loves me. My Lord, my God and my Friend, my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ! Thank You Lord for allowing me to walk with You through this amazing life. Amen!

Psalm 30 A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House.

A Psalm of David.

I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my enemies rejoice over me.

O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me.

O LORD, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.

Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name.

For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

Now as for me, I said in my prosperity, "I will never be moved."

O LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong; You hid Your face, I was dismayed.

To You, O LORD, I called, And to the Lord I made supplication:

"What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?

"Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me; O LORD, be my helper."

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,

That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

Sunrise Service & 11 Baptisms

My Dear Grace Chapel Partners RRCP

This was an amazing Easter here in the Philippines. There were about 200 that came to the Sunrise Service and Easter Service at Tabernacle of Praise that followed.

Our Lord moved 11 to be baptized at the Sunrise Service.

Amazingly, 2 people walked 25 km to be baptized this day.

 



They walked 25 km to be baptised

Thank you Lord for the fruits of your harvest!

John 11:25, 26

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,

and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?

Your partner in this ministry to Filipinos,

Pastor Steven Ray Bragg