Thoughts from the weekend:

Saturday evening, Debbie and I were out at a restaurant and ran into Jon and Cheri Hollowell. We went over and sat down with them after our dinner. Great people. Faithful people to God's work. We had fun talking about our families and life in general.

Then, yesterday we had lunch with Edwin Mendez and his wife (who recently came back to Christ four months ago), along with a new convert, a new believer in the faith by the name of Tim. Tim owns a window business in Oak Forest and came to Christ a couple of months ago. It's so encouraging and inspiring to me to hang out with new believers. They get me reved up in my service and relationship with God.

Jeff and Debbie Schwab were also there. Debbie and I love and appreciate Jeff and Debbie a lot. They continue to serve the Lord, even as they struggle in the midst of this difficult economy.

Each Saturday, at our weekly prayer meeting, we are laying resumes on the altar of our church and praying for jobs. Already, God has brought in two or three. We rejoice with those who are receiving answers to their prayers!

The highlight of my weekend was watching 4 adults and one child being baptized last night! It begin to choke up at the thought of what God is doing in their lives. Their testimonies were so powerful and encouraging!

God is doing some great things in our church! It's like the old adage, "How to you eat an elephant - one bite at a time." How do you grow a healthy church? One person at a time.

The spontaneous response to a call for healing was also touching. Here's what I know: God is enough. Every believer in Christ can pray for the sick. We can pray for the sick every we go and every where we are.

I anticipate God touching our church family in the next few weeks, leaving us with stories and testimonies of His healing power (I am including the story I read Sunday of a little girl's healing in an Assembly of God church - read it below).

We rejoiced Sunday at the miracle of our first fruits offering on April 19th. It came to over $201,000. Truly, I say, and I mean this, PRAISE GOD!

It's in the top five of miracles that I have seen in my life. In the midst of a crummy economy and job layoffs, our church family came through.

We have such a giving church. I am so privileged to shepherd them and thank God daily for the joy I have in serving them.

We are gaining some big "Mo" or momentum!

Here's the story I read Sunday:

"Amy Knight—single mother of Kayla, Ryan, and Alex—attends Whitehouse (Texas) First Assembly and had heard stories of divine healing, but she had never personally experienced or seen one. When 11-year-old daughter Kayla began complaining about ongoing headaches that continued to grow in severity, Amy desperately needed those healing stories to become a personal reality.

The headaches grew in intensity. In May Amy took Kayla to the emergency room.

"They took an X-ray and noted an abnormality," Amy says. "They recommended I see a neurologist."

Neurologists' fees are high. Due to their income level, Kayla qualified for Medicaid, but it took weeks for Amy to find a doctor who would accept Medicaid payment. Two months later, Kayla finally saw a doctor in nearby Tyler who ordered a CAT scan and then an MRI.

By this time, Kayla was spending most of her time in bed unable to get up. Her headaches were nearly unbearable.

The doctor in Tyler noticed a large white blotch on the MRI—a tumor in Kayla's brain. He immediately sent the pair to see a specialist in Dallas. Another MRI confirmed the tumor had grown significantly.

"The doctor took me aside and told me that if it continued to grow at its current rate, within two weeks the tumor would cover her brain and Kayla would be brain dead," Amy recalls.

The other option was surgery, but there was a 95 percent chance Kayla would not survive.

"It was a difficult decision, but I chose to let Kayla at least have what was left of her life rather than take such a long chance on that operation," Amy says. "I told the doctor I was going to leave it in God's hands."

Amy told Kayla everything. "We're going to let the church pray for you tonight," she said. They would believe together that God would remove the tumor.

"During the service that night," senior pastor Michael Fleming says, "Kayla…sat on the front pew, and we gathered around her. We started to pray. We could feel the presence of God. We prayed that the tumor would be removed and the reports would be changed."

Two days later, Kayla was back in Dallas for another MRI. The doctors soon called for Amy.

"I was thinking it was bad news," she remembers. "The doctor put the MRI in front of me and I really didn't know what I was looking at. To me, I didn't see a thing, so I thought the tumor had spread across her brain."

In fact, the doctor was stunned and was struggling for an answer. The tumor had vanished without a trace. And Kayla's headaches? Gone as well. …

"The doctor had told me during our visits that he believed there was some 'higher Being,' but he didn't believe in God," Amy says. "But after he saw these results, he said that if he didn't believe in my God before, he would now. I told him, 'He's not my God. He's everybody's God.'" …

Since the initial report, Kayla has undergone two further exams, both giving her a clean bill of health.

"I wasn't letting God take care of things like I was supposed to. My faith wasn't where it was supposed to be," Amy says. "I now know I don't have to worry about anything. Whatever happens, happens for a reason. God is in control." …

And what about Kayla's thoughts?

"When you put something in God's hands, it's nice to know He's going to do something about it."