Hello and greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Well, this is the Thanksgiving Season and I want to say, as the writer of 1 Chronicles 16:34 said, “O, give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good; for His mercy endures forever.”
There is so much I want to thank God for and I will start with the following…
On Saturday, October 29th, we had the privilege of being in a service where Fuet Hang was licensed by the North Carolina Baptist Association and the Baptist Hmong Association of North Carolina into and for the ministry of preaching the Gospel.
Fuet, formerly incarcerated, served 14 years in prison. I was with him for several of those years. He has a great love for Jesus, for people, and a passion for serving the Lord with all of his heart. It was so special for me to witness how God picks up ole messed up sinners, transforms their lives and, once released from prison, continues to use them in His Kingdom work.
It was such a spirit filled time as we witnessed the mercy and goodness of God to Brother Fuet. It was so awesome to watch him, knowing how far God has brought him to this season and time in his life. I observed his mom as she was all smiles for all that God has done and is doing for her son. It was a glorious service.
I sat with tears in my eyes, praise coming out of my mouth, and a heart full of thanksgiving unto the Lord. He is good! He is so rich in mercy! Congratulations Brother Fuet. We are so proud of you for allowing Jesus to use you.
I also want to thank God today for the opportunity Mary and I had to spend a few days with my daughter and her husband from London, England and my son, his wife and their children in the beautiful mountain area of Ellijay, Georgia.
This was the first time in over 20 years I was able to be with my son and daughter in this kind of setting. Words cannot describe how I felt. What a wonderful time of healing and restoration that was taking place as my daughter and I were up early in the mornings drinking coffee together; as we all sat around the fire pit at night making S’mores and listening for bears and other varmints; as we took a hike and looked at a waterfall; as we went zip lining, grilled hotdogs, and played in the creek.
O, I have to give thanks unto the Lord. He is good! His mercy endures forever! It’s only the mercy and grace of God that my children would have anything to do with me at all. I have to praise Him!
I want to share a few quotes I read about mercy and grace – Billy Graham said, “I am fallen, flawed and imperfect. Yet drenched in the grace and mercy that is found in Jesus Christ there is strength. God’s mercy and grace give me hope for myself and for our world.”
Another man said this – “Our sins are nothing but a grain of sand along the great mountain of the mercy of God.”
“God’s mercy is bigger than any mistake you’ve ever made.”
“His mercy is new every morning.” (Lamentations 3:22)
“Where grace flows, mercy thrives.”
Max Lucado – “The difference between mercy and grace? Mercy gave the prodigal son a second chance. Grace gave him a feast.” Wow! I love that one!
I am so thankful for the mercy and grace of God in my life which leads me to the next thing I want to share…
I am excited to announce that my book, But For Mercy, has been published and went live on Amazon.com two weeks ago. I am so thankful for Mary who pushed, pulled, challenged, and encouraged me for the past four years to write and get this book finished.
As we were nearing the completion of the book, I was still not settled on a title. Several weeks ago I wrote down on my prayer list, “God, I need a title for this book. We are almost done and I don’t have peace about the title. I’m coming to you with this specific request. Show me a title and give me peace about it.”
I prayed this prayer each morning for around two weeks. While at church on a Sunday morning, our praise team, led by Andrew Berry, sang a song I had never heard before. The name of the song was Mercy. What a blessing it was!
Following are some of the lyrics to the song:
I’m living proof of what the mercy of God can do. If you knew me then you’d believe me now. He turned my whole life upside down. He took the old and made it new. That’s just what the mercy of God can do. I thought I deserved to be six feet beneath the earth for all the things I’ve done; the things I’ve said; the choices made that I regret. I’d still be lost but for the mercy of God. Now I’m alive to tell the story how I’ve overcome. It’s His goodness and mercy and the power of His blood, nothing based on what I’ve done, but His goodness and mercy and the power of His blood. Was the cross meant for me that my Savior carried? Was the grave meant for me where my sin lay buried? Now I stand redeemed by the mercy of God.
You can listen to the song for yourself by clicking the video below.
As they sang this song, Mary and I both were just worshipping and enjoying the song. All of a sudden Mary nudged me and whispered, “But for mercy.” I said, “I know, what a song. It’s all God’s mercy.” She said, “For the book.” I said, “Yes, that’s it.” But For Mercy would be the title of the book. And how fitting it is!
“O, give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good; for His mercy endures forever.”