Mike Deasy Newsletter - August 1998
Dear Friends,
I pray this writing finds you in health and prospering in all God has called you to. Blessings, glory and honor, power, might and dominion be unto thee my precious Lord. If they are the Lord's, they're yours.
Hebrews six says that we are to imitate those we want to be like. If you want to be a basketball player, you wouldn't copy Mark McGuire. However, if you want to hit home runs, you could study Mark's every move. In Hebrews 11, it says that we are surrounded by a great crowd of witnesses. This faith hall of fame is there to inspire us, to be an example for us. Hebrews six says that we, you and me, do not need to lay the foundation again. Once you have laid the foundation, it is there and it is forever and it determines the shape and size of the house. Once we have put down the foundation, we will become discouraged if we don't become imitators of those who are now inheriting the promises of God.
In the book of Galations 3:13-14, it says that Jesus "...purchased our freedom...from the curse of the law...to the end that through their receiving Christ, the blessings promised to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles." That is you and me. Everyone who is not Jewish is a Gentile. By receiving Christ as our Lord and savior, we become the inheritors of the blessings God promised to Abraham. That is why it says in Hebrews six for us to imitate those who are now inheriting the promised.
That is how I learned to play the guitar. I copied other guitar players who were better than me, and who played the style and type of music I wanted to play. I laid a musical foundation, I took lessons, I went to school, I practiced my scales, but if I hadn't listened to other musicians and been inspired by their ability, I would have become bored and discouraged. That is what the Bible says happens to believers, if you don't copy or become imitators of those who are inheriting the promises we will become discouraged. One version says that we become slugs. I definitely do not want to become a spiritual slug.I look at my life and count the blessings and then give them away. If you want a blessing, be a blessing. I count it a privilege that God would use me to reach others with the Gospel. I look at the events in my life and those things that are not blessings must go. Learn the lesson and go on not laying again the foundation but build the wall. It says in the Bible that "You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion." I have faith heros, people I see walking with God, people in the Bible like Daivd and Paul and John and Jesus. Jesus even said the things he did, we can do more. I look for people to copy in the Body of Chirst, Pastors, Evangelists, Prophets, Teachers, men and women of God who are "now inheriting the promises." I don't copy the life style and spiritual life of slugs.
This weekend, we are ministering at Mercer County Park in Trenton, New Jersey, with "Big D" at a biker ralley called the Gathering of Tribes. We believe that many souls will be reached, and once again we are reaching the unreachable. People who wouldn't darken the door of a church, we take the Gospel to them. This type of outreach needs your prayers and your giving to help us get there; for motels, transportaion, food and all of the necessary things it takes to reach the unreachable. Thanks for your financial support and your prayers.
Last weekend, we did a classic rock outreach in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The electric guitar's ripped through the atmosphere, bouncing off the walls, richocheting off parked cars and piercing the heart of all in front of me. I wiped the sweat from my face with a towel borrowed from the motel. My shirt was drenched and stuck to my skin. Florida in August! I stepped down off the stage and a young man asked me for an autograph. Still drying the neck of my guitar, I said, "Sure. I'd be happy to." I asked him if he was born again. He looked at me quizzically and asked, "What's that?" His mother told me he had pictures and posters of Marilyn Manson on his walls. We all need heros. We all need people to be examples; people to look up to. Just like it says in Hebrews 6. As I signed the autograph for the young man and his brother, I explained how we become like those we emulate, how music goes deep into the mind, and more than any other single influence, becomes a part of us and determines who we are and how we act and react. I prayed with them to be born again and they gave their lives to Jesus. The next morning, there they were with their mother on the front row of the church we were singing in. Praise God, for His mercy, His love, His caring for us.
After we finish the New Jersey biker rally, we go home for a few days and plan to finish our new CD. Pray for its successful completion. Also, we are producing a CD for an anointed young man named Dustin Dale. Pray that his album is completed and doing the work of the Gospel.
In February, we are going to Paris, and then on to India where we will reach many people who have never heard the Gospel. Your financial support will be seed planted in ground that is dear to the heart of God. Be Blessed in all you do and receive the blessings of God by imitating those who are now inheriting the promises.
Here is our prayer:
Father, in Jesus name, I receive your word as the last word in my life. I rebuke everything within me that would resist the Word of God. Help me Lord to be humble enough to believe that you really want me to copy the life of Jesus and the other faith heros in the Bible. Help me to be humble enough to believe that the things Jesus did, I can do more. Help me to be humble enough to receive the blessings and promises you made to Abraham as my own. Help me Jesus to see the real heros in my life.
In Jesus name, Amen.