Do you pray for the saints?

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:16-20 ESV).

I was praying for my dearly beloved Singapore brother, who by the grace of God leads an evangelistic team somewhere in Singapore. And I was thinking of how I do not pray often enough for them and also for all the saints. There are believers I know personally, who I pray for. But I also sometimes pray in general for all the saints around the world who are undergoing trials, temptations, difficulties, persecutions, and the list could go on. If you have come to the end of yourself, and have cast yourself completely on the Rock of Christ Jesus, and feel the need of the hour, then would you join me in praying for all the saints, especially those who like Paul, need words and boldness to proclaim the eternal gospel of God's grace?

Grace be with you.

Street Preachin, People & Poems

I just got home from being in West Philadelphia, a.k.a. the city of brotherly love, where the brothers are getting tired of all the crime and killing. It isn't as bad as many foreign countries, and my experience has been that the people are very religious in Philadelphia. That doesn't mean that the gospel is understood by too many people. But I've met some people while witnessing on 69th street who seemed to be genuinely filled with the Holy Spirit and faith in Christ. Calvary Chapel has a strong ministry in Philadelphia. Once, I met two young woman from the Antioch church who acknowledged that "Christ did it all" (my slang for "Christ has accomplished full salvation and redemption on behalf of us who helplessly trust in Him").

However, my reason for writing this post is because in recent conversations with my friend Herman, we were talking about poems. Herman is over 70 years, but has the appearance of being in his early 50's. He has lived in the hood most of his life, and has been back and forth from Philly and NYC. He used to play guitar with a friend in the subway underneath the twin towers. Now he lives back in W. Philly and shows up every Saturday to hand out Chapel Library tracts and pray with us in the evening. He was showing me some poems he wrote and telling me he wants to put them into a book or something. I asked him to give me some copies of his poems so I can post them here. Well, maybe soon? But for now, I'm inspired to post a poem I wrote when I was 19 and had been first awakened to the gospel in the Bible:

Oh, Life Everlasting,
You are my home
where Christ Jesus my King
sits on His throne.

To Him I made a vow
to live as a slave,
to serve Him now
and beyond the grave.


I still feel as motivated as I did then to serve Christ Jesus, my everlasting King. This comes solely by His grace both now and in eternity. I am glad to belong to Jesus!