BrianIngraham.com | ASPIRE

My family and I have enjoyed a great week with Micah and Casey Stroh. It is always interesting when people stay with you. They see how you live. They see what you do. They see how our team interacts. And this week, they have been able to see how our family together, reengages our life here in Scotland while being jetlagged.

I have found it extra humorous that we have had an exceptional number of community meals this week. I can only imagine what they must be thinking… these guys never slow down! Meals with the team every night! How fun!

It is just great to be back. Today I got a chance to slip away and write my message for Sunday. I feel really good about it. Stress levels for the week always go down once the message for Sunday is written.

Life is good. I hope yours is too.

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People who know me know that I am a huge fan of missionary biographies. There is something both inspiring and practical about reading the lives of real people attempting to live real faith in their generation.

While reading Rees Howells Intercessor (a book I highly recommend and a book I was highly impacted by especially in the area of prayer) I found it interesting at how impacted he was by reading a biography on George Mueller. Today I was reading about George Mueller and came across this…

“At Bristol, Mueller began reading a biography of a great leader of the “Pietism” movement, A.H. Francke who had founded an orphan house…he had trusted in God for every provision. As Mueller began to work with the poor in Bristol, he too wanted to trust the Lord and bring every need to Him in prayer.”

That was the mark of Mueller’s life, a man who brought every need to the lord in prayer. I find in inspiring that he was inspired by reading a biography of a man of prayer.

I was inspired by Rees Howells, who was inspired by George Mueller, who was inspired by A.H. Francke… I am sure A.H. Francke could point to people he desired to imitate. History is full of people with real faith in incredibly dark times. May we be people like them in our generation. People of the word. People of prayer. A people courageously doing what God has called us to do.

Today, Ethan and I were in the car listening to, “The Silver Chair” (book 6 of the Chronicles of Narnia.) As the CD played I would occasionally stop it and explain what was going on. I remember telling Ethan that Jill was supposed to remember the 4 things Aslan told her. If she would remember the things she was told by Aslan everything would go much easier. Aslan made her recite his words daily so she would not forget.

1 hour later I was in a conversation with Ken Long, a godly man with lots of ministry experience, and I asked him how could I avoid being torn apart by the stresses of our building situation. He asked me if I had received a ‘Promise from the Lord.’ He then opened his bible and shared a passage the Lord gave him as he pondered moving to Northshore.

I remember reading the bible and being struck clearly by the Holy Spirit about this building situation. God had encouraged me with several passages from the bible over the last 6 months, but as I sat there I couldn’t remember a single one specifically. It was like the Holy Spirit said, “I have been encouraging you but you keep forgetting my words and so you are torn. Remember.”

Faith is remembering what God has said to us, and being certain that it will happen. Today I needed the words of a man of God to encourage and remind me to remember.

I have been away from web access for the last week.  I will be back up and blogging in the next day or two… until then.

Scotty wrote a great blog post about the people of Re:Hope…

To read what he said click HERE.