We were blessed to have a special day of worship at Mt. Sinai yesterday. First of all, we one first Sundays, we celebrate the Lord’s Table together, which is always a special time in the life of our congregation. Likewise, our fall semester of small-groups began on yesterday. But what really made the day so special was the presence of Dr. Ray Pritchard, president of Keep Believing Ministries, who preached in both of our morning services.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Dr. Pritchard spent Saturday morning with us, giving practical advice for faithful and effective preaching. But, come on, how many practioners are there out there who cannot do what the teach?!?! Ray Pritchard is not one of them. He is a clear and compelling preacher. And it was a joy to sit under his preaching in worship. And the message was very pastoral, touching on an often-overlooked but important subject: when believers doubt. Preaching from the story of John the Baptist in Matthew 11:1-6, the Lord used Pastor Pritchard to richly bless our congregation yesterday. And his kind comments about our church were so encouraging to us. And his kindness to preach and then patiently sign copies of his various books for our members was just another expression of his humility and big heart. Praise God for Ray Pritchard! May the Lord enlarge the platform of his spiritual influence. And may his tribe increase.

By the way, I have recently switched from a PC to a Mac. And I have not really figured how to put links onto my blog yet. So let me just give you Dr. Pritchard’s web address: www.keepbelieving.org. There should be a couple of recent posts there about his trip to MSMBC, along with Pritchard’s weblog and sermon manuscripts. You can also find his various books – he has written almost 30 in the past 13 years or so – on the sight.