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JULY, 2004

Hello, everyone!

AUGUST 2 GATHERING

opefully you have received the invitation to a special Prayer Gathering on theeve of the special election. Please spread the word; it would be wonderful to

fill the Old Stone Church in Branson and the United Methodist Church in KimberlingCity to overflowing. Just as important, please be praying now. How? That the Holy

Spirit guide and direct the people of the State of Missouri to vote on these criticalissues that Gods holy and perfect will be done. The Body of Christ must stand up;as Tony Evans said at a Promise Keepers meeting, It is time for Christians to comeout of the closet! Prayer is good and important; prayer that is a crying out fromthe depths of our spirits is critical. There is an Old Testament pattern that servesas a model: When the people of God were sinful and when they were complacent,disaster came; when the people of God repented and cried out to God with sincereand earnest hearts, God delivered them.

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CORRECTION

peaking of repentance, I haverepented to Pastor Sue Ewan. I

had almost all of the letters stuffedand sealed when I realized that I hadspelled her name wrong on one of theflyers (there was a full page one andthere were also two smaller ones forpastors to use as bulletin inserts). Onthe full-page flyer she is listed asSue Ewing. So, I publicly state: It isEWAN! She graciously permitted meto go ahead with the mailing as is.

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THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST

his is the title of one of DavidWilkersons Times Square Pulpit

Series messages, datedTMay 10 of this year. Following are

some excerpts: What is the truegospel of Jesus Christ? Even mostnon-believers know the Bible containsfour gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark,Luke and John. So, what is the

essence of these gospels, or thegood news? When Christiansspeak of the gospel of Jesus

Christ, what is it were talkingabout?1) Jesus says His Church isone of self-denial and a crossClearly,

belonging to Jesus Church meansmore than merely believing in Him.Many Christians today merely cast avote for Jesus. The attitude is, Ivoted for Christ. That makes me amember of His party.Jesus says

belonging to His Church goes muchfurther than that. And that involves alife of self-denial and taking up across. (Matthew 10: 38)The fact is,Christs Church has never beenapproved or accepted by the world.And it never will be. If you live forJesus, you wont have to separateyourself from others company; theylldo it for youYet, Jesus adds, this isthe path that leads to true fulfillment.(Matthew 16: 25)2) Jesus Church isa place where sinners repent of sins,with their heart and their mouth.

(Romans 10: 8-11)What was Jesusfirst message? He preachedrepentanceyou may think Christsgospel of repentance sounds like adowner. Buta repentant heartbrings true life. (2 Corinthians 7: 10)3) Jesus Church is a place where youmay hear a hard, troubling messageIn Christs Church there will comeoffensive words. Yes, you will hear amessage of good news, a gospel of


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love, mercy, grace and long-suffering.But there are also messages that darenot be tampered with. And thosemessages include the preaching ofChrists blood and the crossThe signof every true follower of Jesus is thatof surrender to Christs every word

4) How do you think Jesus would starta church in your city or town? Thefirst thing Christ would do is go on aweeping tour throughout your city.(Luke 19: 41-42) What made Jesusweep? It began with a heartbreakingwalk he took around the city. He wasovercome with grief at the sight of somany people who had no peaceAsHe walked through the temple; He saw

tables of moneychangers,

merchandising the things of God. Therewas no real prayer, no fear of theLord. And Christ wept over it all.

Today would Christ find His peoplepraying?God help us never to softenHis gospelEncourage pastors whopreach the true gospel of JesusChristThank the Lord thatthe HolySpirit is allowed to do His true work inyour midst. When the gospel of JesusChrist is preached with conviction,heaven opens and devils flee.

IHOLY SPIRIT INTERRUPTIONjust now received a phone call froman UP Team member who received theinvitation to the Prayer Gathering.She wanted to reinforce the

importance of the call to prayer. Shesaid something fascinating: We werecreated to pray. That is an awesomestatement. We were created in Godsimage and likeness in order to have anintimate and eternal life of union withHim, with Father, Son and HolySpirit. Prayer is thedialogue between Godand us, now as well asin heaven. God seeksfor us to communicatewith Him, to make it themost important event of our daily life

to make all of life a living prayer.Thank you!

PRAYER WALKING

ou have heard this conceptdescribed here before. I strongly

encourage you to prayerfully considerdoing this, within your sector ofprayer and/or elsewhere in our area.In the most basic sense, prayer

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walking is: Going to a specific placeor area, ideally with at least one moreperson (based on where two or threeare gathered together, but alone isfine also) and quietly praying for thepeople and needs there, as the HolySpirit guides. It is not something

done in a way to draw attention, it isnot Bible waving; if it is two ormore, it is quiet sharing of prayers. Isit necessary to physically be in a placeto pray for it? Obviously not; but it isa proven way to focus prayer, toclaim the land for God, to intercedefor people and situations. Forexample: A few weeks ago, six men Iwas privileged to be included withthem met in downtown RockawayBeach and walked through thebusiness district, praying that Godbless the people and that His will bedone. We specifically prayed that

there be economic blessings withoutcasino gambling and the baggage itnormally brings with it; but, again, wesought to yield to Gods perfect will.One of the prayer walkers was a localbusinessman there, and another was acounty official. A second example:Two-three people have quietly walkedthe Herschend Family Entertainmentproperties in this area and prayed forthe employees, the guests, for safety,for Christs love to touch people, foreconomic success. If the Holy Spiritprompts you to go to a specific place

and pray, invite someone and do it. Ifyou are uncomfortable because it isnew, I would be happy to go with you.I was talking recently with one of thepeople who prayer walked at SilverDollar City; she said that she was alittle nervous before we did it, butthat it proved to be a wonderful anduplifting experience. Be creative also:Prayer driving is an option either byyourself or with others. I know an UPTeam member who drives to theparking lots of churches and prays forthe pastoral teams and thecongregations. My older son is a

pastor in Colorado; once a weekmembers of the congregationphysically go to another church withthat pastors blessing and prayinside the church. I have a request:When you do some form of prayerwalking, formal or informal, alone orwith others, would you please let meknow? I would like to keep track ofthis so that I can continue to


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encourage prayer walking by sharingexamples and success stories. Justleave me a message at 336-7076 ifyou get my voice mail, or drop me anote at 7347 W. State Hwy 76,Branson 65616, or e-mail me [email protected]. Also,

please let me know when you haveprayers answered, whether throughprayer walking or through yourregular intercession. That will be agreat encouragement to us all.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: ANIMAL

STORIES

hile cleaning out the aviary of arundown British zoo, the keeper

found a finch that had dropped deadfrom old age. He put it in a sack.

Later he found twodead monkeys in their

cages. He put themin the sack, too.When he went by the

lions cage at feedingtime, he thought about

what he had in the sack and decidednot to let the contents go to waste.So he emptied the sack into the cage.But the lion wasnt happy and roared,Not finch and chimps again!Guide:I never guide hunters anymore, justfishermen. Hunter: Why? Guide:Ive never been mistaken for afish.I came face-to-face with a liononce. And can you believe it, I foundmyself alone and without a gun.What did you do? What choice didI have? First, I tried looking straightinto his eyes, but he slowly began tocreep towards me. I moved back, buthe kept coming. I had to do somequick thinking. So, how did you getaway? I just left him and passed onto the next cage.A womanwent to the pet shop tobuy a parrot. When shepicked out a rare breed,the owner congratulatedher on her choice. If youd

like, I could send you the billat the end of the month, the petowner said. No, thanks; Id like totake the whole bird today.Twofrogs were sitting on a log, feeding onpassing insects. One remarked to theother, Times sure fun when werehaving flies.(and the last one:Whether you get this one may havesomething to do with your age, or

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maybe not)A pig went

to the bank for a loan to buy sometrinkets for his new house. One of thebankers said, Hi, my name is Mr.Paddywhack. How can I help you?When the pig explained, the banker

frowned and said, Im sorry, but wenever lend money to animals.Please, said the pig, I promise topay it back. Perhaps you had betterspeak to the manager, said Mr.Paddywhack. The manager appeared,and the pig repeated his request:Please, all I need is a little money tobuy some trinkets. The first bankerreplied, I told him we dont lendmoney to livestock. The managerthrew his hands up into the air andsaid, Oh, for goodness sake! Its aknicknack, Paddywhack, give the hoga loan!

CHURCH ARMY, BRANSON

teve Brightwell, the NationalDirector of Church Army, USA, is

leading a service in The Old StoneChurch on the evening of Saturday,July 24. He will be commissioning thePeace in the Storm Fellowship ofBelievers as the first Church ArmyUSA congregation. The Saturdayevening services there are both funand inspiring proving that those twowords can indeed go together. If youwould like more information, call the

Church Army office at 339-3804.Steve Baughan, the local Director isdoing a terrific job. I recentlyreceived a card from the previousDirector, Tim Scheuer, who is now theNational Director of Australia. Hemisses the area but God is blessinghis work and his family. Please prayfor Church Army everywhere, as itministers to people in need of Christshealing love. A recent Church ArmyBranson Newsletter included atestimony from Cody: He smoked potand drank alcohol beginning in the

third grade; he then discoveredcocaine at age 14. When he came toBranson, he got caught up in analcoholic lifestyle and attemptedsuicide. Then he met God throughChurch Army. He writes, Since Iveaccepted Jesus Christ as my Lord andSavior, I read the Bible now. I go tothe weekly Peace in the Storm service,I have been baptized, and I want togive away what has been given to me

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and to help people who are sufferingas I once wasGods Grace and Loveworking in my life is the mostbeautiful thing thats ever happenedto me. I want to tell people aboutwhat they are missing and to leadothers to Christ. I know that God

wants me to make a difference forHim and thats why He kept me alivethrough all the situations Ive been in.Most importantly, I have learned togive God all the credit for everythingthat has happened. Church Army isincluded in the UP Team in twosectors: Churches and Ministries andSocial/Civic Services.

RECRUITMENT

here are literally thousands ofpraying people in Stone and

Taney Counties (and in Polk and Cedar

Counties to the north, where a sisterUP Team is now located). People whoare already committed to prayerunderstand the mission of the UPTeam that Gods perfect will be done and recognize the immenseimportance of intercession. I trulybelieve that getting to the point ofhaving every hour of every week filledwith prayer is just the first step; thinkof the power of having every slot filledwith two, three, four or more people!Current members and sector leadersare the key people in spreading theword and encouraging others to

commit to an hour a week. Thisshould never be positioned as a hardsell; it is mentioning the UP Team topeople who already pray, to prayergroups, to pastors, and asking themto pray about joining, while notmoving away from current prayer andprayer group commitments. SilverDollar City has a hire-a-friendprogram; it encourages employees toinvite friends and family to considerworking for the Company. Of course,they utilize a monetary incentive; theincentive I can offer is the spiritual

satisfaction of being used by the HolySpirit as a vessel for increasingfocused prayer. You believe in the UPTeam, or you would not be a member;please share your enthusiasm withothers. And, I would be absolutelythrilled if you can open doors for me,or you, or others, to speak tochurches, prayer groups,organizations, etc. Thank you! Andthank you for your faithful

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commitment to prayer, as we movesteadily ahead in our third year ofseeking Gods richest blessings for ourarea and the people who live and workand visit here.

SHARING A VISION

everal weeks ago, I had theprivilege of sharing my

testimony at a mens prayergroup, during breakfast at arestaurant in Forsyth. Afterwards,a man came up to me and shareda dream that he recently had. Ifyou are like me, that kind ofcomment produces the spiritualantennae going up and asking the

Holy Spirit fordiscernment. Well, assoon as he shared what

he had seen, I knewthat it was truly fromGod. I believe it willresonate with many orall of you, as it did withme: He saw the Branson

area (not just the city, the twocounty area and I am quitecomfortable in saying now theentire State of MO) as alighthouse on a hill. At the bottomof the hill and for as far as onecould see there was confusion and

stress and desperation, but on thehill there was serenity. Peoplefrom far away saw it and flockedto the lighthouse, for they wantedto know what made the areadifferent. The light was Christ,and He was drawing people fromaround the nation like a magnet,to be refreshed, renewed andencouraged to spread His loveelsewhere. The man also saw onthe hill a farmer tilling his field and since it was the Ozarks, the

tilling was very difficult, withmany rocks and clumps of clay toremove. The message to him, andit sure sounds right to me, is thatwe are not yet the place God inHis plan truly wants us to be;there is tilling to be done, sin tobe repented for and removed. Butour area and our State can trulybe a key element in Gods moving

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our nation to revival, to a newawakening. This is not a Hurrahfor us! but a continuing call tolive 2 Chronicles 7 -- If Mypeople, who are called by MyName, will humble themselves,

and repentI will heal their land.There is a strong need for prayerand action and for the realizationthat fervent and crying outprayer is action in Gods sight.

MORE ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:

CHILDREN

epending on whether youhave small children or can

remember when yours were smallor have experienced the childrenof other people or your

grandchildren, this maybe funny at best ornostalgic at worst:From an anonymousmother in Austin,Texas: Things I havelearned from mychildren (honest andnot kidding)1) A king sizewaterbed holds enough water tofill a 2000 square foot house 4inches deep; 2) If you spray hairspray on dust bunnies and run

over them with roller blades, theycan ignite; 3) A 3-year-olds voiceis louder than 200 adults in acrowded restaurant; 4) If youhooka dog leash over a ceiling fan, themotor is not strong enough torotate a 42 pound boy wearingBatman underwear and aSuperman cape it is strongenough, however, if tied to a paintcan, to spread paint on all fourwalls of a 20X20 foot room; 5) Youshould not throw baseballs upwhen the ceiling fan is on. Butwhen you use the ceiling fan as abat, you have to throw the ball upa few times before you get a hit.(A ceiling fan can hit a baseball along way, and the glass inwindows, even double paned, doesnot stop a baseball hit by a ceilingfan.) 6) When you hear the toiletflush and the words uh-oh, its

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already too late; 7) Brake fluidmixed with Clorox makes smoke,and lots of it; 8) A six-year-oldcan start a fire with a flint rockeven though a 36-year-old mansays they can only do it in the

movies; 9) Certain Legos will passthrough the digestive tract of a 4-year-old; 10) Play dough andmicrowave should not be used inthe same sentence; 11) Super glueis forever; 12) No matter howmuch Jell-O you put in a swimmingpool, you still cant walk on water.Also, pool filters do not like Jell-O;13) VCRs do not eject PB&Jsandwiches even though TVcommercials show they do; 14)Garbage bags do not make goodparachutes; 15) Marbles in gastanks make a lot of noise whiledriving; 16) You probably do notwant to know what that strangeodor is;17) Always look in theoven before you turn it on; plastictoys do not like ovens; 18) Thespin cycle on the washing machinedoes not make earthworms dizzy.It will, however, make cats dizzy,and cats throw up twice their bodyweight when dizzy; 19) 80% ofmen who read this will try mixingthe Clorox and brake fluid!

FUND RAISER

ove INC has an ongoing fundraising effort to help support this

important ministry. They arerecycling cell phones and ink/laser jetprinter cartridges. If you have any ofthese ready-to-be-discarded items,please call Cally at 336-7056. Also,Love INC requests your prayers for theupcoming School Readiness Fairs for

a cup-runneth-over donation ofschool supplies.

The goal is to serve 500 children thisyear. If you would like to help withthis effort, cash donations may bemade to the Bank of Kimberling City.For more information, call Cally orAnita . Love INC is working with a

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client, a single mom with two kids,who is looking for a stackingwasher/dryer or at least a washingmachine. If you have one available callCally or Anita. Our thanks to AnitaCallison and Cally Ross for thewonderful services that Love INC

(Love in the Name of Christ) provideindividuals and families of our twocounty areas.

WEB SITE

or those of you who have e-mail,dont forget the new UP Team web

site: www.up-team.org.FSeveral folks have signed up for thesite, and all UP Team member with e-mail will be receiving an invitationfrom Ken Greening, the ChristianBrother who developed the site for us.Ken is also the VP of Businessmens

Fellowship in Branson and developedtheir area web site as well. Thankyou, Ken! Kens e-mail address [email protected].

POEM

ay Johnson is the long-timemaster knife maker at Silver

Dollar City. People come literallyfrom all over the United States(and probably beyond) topurchase his collector knives. Ifyou have never watched one of hisknife making demonstrations, Iencourage you to do so. I wasvisiting with Ray recently, and hewas reflecting on the days hespent in ICU when his dear wifewas very ill. She is doing betternow. Ray, during one of the longvigils in the waiting room, wrote apoem. He gave me a copy of itand I asked his permission toshare it with you:

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I no longer see the sun, or hearthe redbirds song;the many trials of life seem, oh so

hard and long.I try to handle my troubles,sometimes Im all alone;I push to the limit, til Im weary

to the bone.I work and worry all day long, withall my many cares;at last I can go no more, and I

bow my head in prayer.

And as I lay me down to sleep, Iknow it will be alright;cause I know one comfortingthing my God dont sleep atnight.

PERSONAL REFLECTION, TO SHARE

WITH YOU

everal weeks ago, the HolySpirit showed me a connection

among three Scriptures. It was soencouraging to me that I

developed them into amessage that I gaveat two Senior

Living Centers.Hopefully, they will

bless you. 1)Philippians 4: 4-7:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I willsay it again: Rejoice! Let yourgentleness be evident to all. TheLord is near. Do not be anxiousabout anything, but in everything,by prayer and petition, withthanksgiving, present yourrequests to God. And the peace ofGod, which transcends all

understanding, will guard yourhearts and your minds in Christ

Jesus. Why rejoice? Why not beanxious? Why be thankful? Whybe at peace? An answer is foundin 2) Ephesians 2: 17-22: Hecame and preached peace to youwho were far away and peace tothose who were near. For throughHim we both have access to theFather by one Spirit.Consequently, you are no longerforeigners and aliens but fellow

citizens with Gods people andmembers of Gods household,built on the foundation of theapostles and prophets, with Christ

Jesus Himself as the chiefcornerstone. In Him the wholebuilding is joined together andrises to become a holy temple inthe Lord. And in Him you too arebeing built together to become a

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dwelling in which God lives by HisSpirit. We can rejoice, becausewe are no longer foreigners/aliens(strangers/wanderers) but we areactually citizens of heaven, rightnow, in fellowship with the Father,

the Son and the Holy Spirit. Werecognize this only by eyes offaith, but with those eyes of faithwe see awesome spiritual realities so we can rejoice, be thankful,be full of inner peace. So, then,how should we live? Paul tells us:3) Galatians 6: 14, 16-18: May Inever boast except in the cross ofour Lord Jesus Christ, throughwhich the world has been crucifiedto me, and I to the worldFinally,let no one cause me trouble, for Ibear on my body the marks of

Jesus. The grace of our Lord JesusChrist be with your spirit.

CLOSING THOUGHT

n his book, I Shall Not Want,Robert Ketchum tells of a

Sunday School teacher who askedher group of children if anyonecould quote the entire 23rd Psalm.A four-and-a-half year old girl

raised her hand. A bit skeptical,the teacher asked if she couldreally quote the entire Psalm. Thelittle girl came to the front of theroom, faced the class, made aperky little bow, and said: TheLord is my Shepherd; thats all Iwant. She bowed again and satdown. As the author stated, thatmay well be the greatestinterpretation ofPsalm 23 everspoken!

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Peace to you andyours.

Bob Burton

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