God is moving at GHBC and I have a feeling, idea, impression — call it what you may — that God is up to big things in our midst!  I am honored to serve here as your new pastor.  These are important days of study and evaluating all that we are doing in ministry.  I deeply desire us to become a radiant church that touches Austin and the world.  This is not a cliché to me, but my honest, heartfelt desire. 

Satan is not omniscient, but he knows something big is going on at 10500 Jollyville Road among God’s people.  Keep praying and seeking the Lord Jesus and remember Revelation 12:11:  And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

This Sunday I will be preaching from Matthew 5:13-16 where Jesus tells His disciples that we are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  This coming Lord’s Day we will explore what it means to be a radiant church that shines outward by touching the world with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Please mark your calendars for Saturday, August 21, when we will be salt and light to the neighborhood around 12th and Chicon Street in east Austin for our summer 2010 Illuminate Austin.  I invite you to sign up and help us reach out to those in our own city who need a helping hand.  Let us follow Jesus and be His hands and feet to our neighbors. 

I invite you to join us Sunday night at 6:15 pm in the Great Hall as I begin a new series entitled Jesus Loves People.  This Sunday we will look in the Gospels and see how Jesus fulfilled the Father’s mission for His life as He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).  Take some time this weekend as you prepare your heart for the preaching of God’s Word and read over Matthew 5:13-16 for Sunday morning and Matthew 9:35-38 for Sunday night.

Thank you for praying for our family as we continue to adjust and make major, life-changing decisions.  Please keep praying for our home to sell in Greenwood, Arkansas, and keep praying every day for GHBC!  As I said earlier, God is moving and, as the Lord wills, great days are ahead.  Be prepared to step out of the boat of your comfort zone and be willing to change when change is needed. While commenting on Peter jumping out of the boat in Matthew 14:29, Ira Blue said, “I would rather be a wet sinner than a dry boat dweller.” 

May God help us be the radiant church and do whatever it takes to touch a broken world that is just as we once were, headed to hell.

Danny Forshee

1 Corinthians 2:9