Charlotte Airport

After a quick flight from Akron-Canton to Charlotte I am now sitting here waiting to catch a flight to Phoenix which will then take me to Anchorage. Charlotte has free wi-fi so I thought I would take a minute to share with you. On my first flight I really started diving into the book "Let the Nations be Glad! The Supremacy of God in Missions" by John Piper. I spent an hour just trying to digest the forward which is about 30 pages. I love the heart for God that you see come out in Piper's writing. This book is all about the worship and supremacy of our God. Here are a few highlights from the book, hope they inspire and encourage you today.

• Methods change. But worship, prayer, suffering, unreached peoples, the gospel, faith, heaven, and hell remain.
• Is there a distinct God-magnifying, Christ-exalting mindset in your life?

"All the earth-shaking awesome forces unleashed on the world are released by the Lord Jesus Christ. He reigns today. He is in the control room of the universe. He is the only Ultimate Cause; all the sins of man and machinations of Satan ultimately have to enhance the glory and kingdom of our Saviour. This is true of our world today - in wars, famines, earthquakes, or the evil that apparently has the ascendancy. All God's actions are just and loving. We have become too enemy-conscious, and can over-do the spiritual warfare aspect of intercession. We need to be more God conscious, so that we can laugh the laugh of faith knowing that we have power over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:9). He has already lost control because of Calvary where the Lamb was slain. What confidence and rest of heart this gives us as we face a world in turmoil and such spiritual need." - Patrick Johnstone

machinations: crafty schemes, plots, intrigues

ascendancy: governing or controlling influence

• Worship has always been and will always be the ultimate purpose of God in the universe.
• Suffering is the normal cost of godliness. (2 Tim. 3:12)
• You can't commend what you don't cherish.
• When the flame of worship burns with the heat of God's true worth, the light of missions will shine to the darkest peoples on earth.

I want to leave you with the opening paragraph from chapter 1. This statement is profound and is a truth that we must grasp and live out. May worship be your fuel and your goal!

"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever." - John Piper