Grace to Glory, Inc.

It’s taken me a few days to get things together to share with you about a dream that came true last week.  Back in 2003, I walked through a discipleship process called “The Ultimate Journey.”  When I went through it, it was called “The Christ-Life Solution,” so named because embracing Christ as our life is the solution to every need we have and every challenge we face. The journey is based on the Exodus journey of the Israelites.  If you would like to read a complete overview of the Ultimate Journey, you can find that here.

Ever since I experienced it, I have been about providing that experience for others, but could only do that through the 13-week format.  This past week I had the privilege of walking with two men, Phil and George, through Phase One over the course of three solid days, what we call a ”turbo.” Until the last couple of months, you had to go to the headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa to experience the the three-day intensive version.  I’m thrilled to bring the opportunity to the Southeast!

Within the first five minutes, all three of us knew that God had perfectly orchestrated our coming together.  Both men were accomplished musicians and shared a love for the guitar.  All three of us had been involved in leading worship.  On the third day, we all brought our guitars and celebrated what God had done.  How it must have blessed our Father!

This morning, I stopped by to say hello to Phil.  He was barely awake, but still lit up and gave me one of the best hugs I’ve ever gotten.  It hit me a little later, after I had enjoyed a beautiful conversation with Phil, that I was enjoying a moment of being acutely aware of my communion with Jesus.  Jesus must have experienced this kind of encounter everywhere he went.

Everyone who had been touched by Jesus and recognized Him as the Son of God were aware he knew everything about them, and yet he still loved them.  Jesus let me know that the love I felt for and from Phil this morning was a taste of what He experienced for and from the people he walked with during His days on earth.

“Thank you, Jesus, for the awesome privilege of embodying your love to Phil and George last week, and for the joy of receiving love from them in your Name.”

So, let me introduce to you two beautiful image bearers of God who just discovered for the first time the person that God created them to be, my new brothers Phil and George. Listen to their testimonies, and enjoy some of the music that I was blessed to hear during our celebration.