It is Nathan, the newest addition to the Uzziah lineup.  He is our new lead guitarist extrodainare.  As you can see from the photo, he knows how to rock wether it be with his guitar in front of thousands, or in his room with a mandolin.  There is no stopping the rock in this guy. 

We are extremely blessed by Nathan and what he brings to the band.  We are grateful that God has yet again provided for us what we needed when we needed it.

So who is this guy?

Joy seems to be an appropriate topic for a time like this.  Just about everyone thinks that the world is in some rough times right now, and a spirit of pessimism and despair seems to have settled across the world.  Our finances are in shambles, our freedom has been compromised, and our security is threatened.  If you were to evaluate the world around us I think you would find little to take much comfort in. 

But if you look at what Christ did on the cross and what that means to us, then you should be filled with a joy that cannot be contained.  Each and everyone of us were born sinners, and were enemies of God.  We stood seperated from our Father by our sin and rebellion, and there was nothing that we could do about it.  We had a criminal record with our every offense against God written down on it, and there was a price that justice demanded must be paid for these offenses.  But Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross, and bore God's wrath for us so that we could stand blameless in the eyes of our Father and be restored to a right relationship with him. 

How does that make you feel?  I think David put it best.  "Oh, what joy for those whose rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight.  Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!" 

No longer do we live guilty and condemned.  We live forgiven.  We were all guilty of so much, and we deserved death, but Jesus took upon Himself the penalty for our sins, and gave us life.

How do you feel when you think about the ramifications of that?  What you're feeling right now is called joy, and that is something that nothing going on in the world around us can take away.

I read part of an interview that Lee Strobel did with a guy named Viggo Olsen.  Viggo is a brilliant surgeon who has all of these titles to add on after his name,  "M.S., M.D., Litt.D., D.H., F.A.C.S., F.I.C.S., D.T.M.&H."  Viggo and his wife were athiests, but his parents were Christians.  They'd get together and have long discussions about God, which finally made Viggo and his wife so frustrated that they decided to read throught he Bible and right down all of the scientific errors that they found in the Bible as a way to disprove it.  Ironically, it was this attempt to disprove the Bible, and therefore God, that made them realize that science, which they had put all of their trust in, lead them to a belief in God.  They ended up becoming missionaries in Bangladesh where they founded a hospital and started 120 churches. 

When recounting the years  of hardship in an undeveloped country like Bangladesh he had this to say.  "It was the greatest adventure we could ever have.  When you're in a hard place, when you're over your head again and again, when you're sinking and beyond yourself and praying your heart out-then you see God reach out, and touch your life, and resolve the situation beyond anything you could have ever hoped.  We got to experience that again and again and again.  We wouldn't have missed it for the world.  In my opinion, finding the purpose for which God made you-whatever that may be-and then fully pursuing it is simply the very best way to live."

I couldn't agree more.  Find the purpose God made you for and pursue it with everything you've got.  And just like Viggo experienced, our purpose is much greater thananything  we could ever accomplish on our own.  We have to rely full upon God for the provision of everything we need.  When doing what God has called us to do we will run out of resources, strength, opportunity, and ability.  When we realize that we are utterly incapable of the great things God has laid out for us, and plead for Him to step into the situation and glorify Himself, He is faithful.  He will always provide for us. 

If you are in a situation where you need God's miraculous provision then cry out to Him.  If you are in a situation where you don't need God's miraculous provision, then you aren't where you should be.  Find out what it is that God has called you to do.  It will be something you can't do on your own, and you will need to count on God to make it happen. 

Here is the second thing that made me really re-think God as my Healer. Pastor Lee tipped me off to this very powerful song with a very powerful story behind it. A must watch!