Today is my mom's birthday and I think of her and pray for her everyday.  She has Alzheimer's Disease and it is really sad, but we trust God and know that He is in control.  This is my mom's favorite time of year and the weather is beautiful here in Austin TX.

Ashley, the kids, and I are doing well and staying quite busy.  We are grateful to God for His blessings upon our lives. We are adjusting to our new city and church and we are all so blessed.  Here at Great Hills we are celebrating our 60th anniversary Oct 3.   Great Hills has been serving the Lord here for 6 decades and God has been so faithful to bless and use us for His glory.  I have only been here 3 months but appreciate so much the witness and influence GH has on Austin.  On Tuesday night Ashley and I attended the Austin Pregnancy Resource Center's fall banquet.  It was a great night to celebrate life, and Pam Tebow spoke and she did a wonderful job of sharing her story of God's faithfulness to her and her family.  Due to a difficult pregnancy she was told by a doctor to abort her baby but she did not.  She gave birth to Timmy and most of the country knows him today as Tim Tebow, Heisman Trophy winner. Pam said since 1973, 54 million babies have been aborted and someone figured that in that number there would have been 12 Heisman winners.  So sad.  But I appreciate Mrs. Tebow and all those who stand for life and help create a culture of life over death.  I will try and post the photo of Mrs. Tebow, Ashley, and me.  If the photo does not come through here you can see at my Facebook page.

Have a blessed fall day and let me know if I can serve you or pray for you.

Danny Forshee

Psalm 1:1-3

I feel like I am in an episode of Star Trek and living life at warp speed!   I love it and there is never a dull or boring moment. God continues to bless our family and we are so very thankful.  Ashley is holding down the fort at home and being a great wife and mother.  She enjoys making hospital visits with me on Wednesdays.  And she really enjoys the Beth Moore Bible Study at Great Hills on Wednesday mornings.  Hannah, Bryant, and Leighton are active teenagers with church, school, homework, and sports.

On Sunday mornings I am preaching a series of sermons on the Hebrew names of God.  I enjoy this study as I learn something new each time I preach on the names of God.  Last week I preached on Elohim--Creator God.  My desire is to send this message to everyone on our mail out list with DFEA.  It is a message that honors God as the creator and the One who keeps covenant with His people. 

Thank you to those who continue to pray for and support financially our ministry through DFEA.  I got a kind note from a new viewer in Indiana this week and she encouraged me.  And one of my cousins in Alabama, Janet, accidently came across our broadcast on DIREC TV and she wrote to tell me. God continue to bless and use this our broadcast and we are so grateful.

 
This Sunday morning our topic of study at Great HIlls is El Elyon meaning God Most High, and our text is Genesis 14, a most interesting narrative in biblical history.  We meet some fascinating characters in Genesis 14.  There are two kings mentioned and they could not be any more different.  The King of Salem and priest of God Most High was Melchizedeck. He was a righteous man and one who blessed Abraham and then Abraham gave a tithe to this king and priest. But then we read of another king, the king of Sodom, a cowardly, careless, and complaining individual. He does not bless but rather makes demands.  It is so easy to be like the carnal king of Sodom, but God has called us to be like the King of Salem about whom Psalm 110:4 says that the coming Messiah is a “priest forever according to the order of Melchizedeck.”  

Let me encourage you who read this blog to be great leaders and focus on depth and quality over quantity.  During the early years of Chick-fil-A the leadership held an important meeting about how another company (Boston Market) was growing faster and doing more business than Chick-fil-A.  The leaders debated among themselves for about 2 hours then founder Truett Cathy, who had been conspicuously quiet for the meeting, spoke up and said, “Gentlemen, let us quit talking about getting bigger, and talk about getting better.  If we get better, our customers will see to it that we get bigger.”  Good word from a good and godly leader.

Have a blessed weekend.  Pray. Love your families. Invite someone to join you for Bible Study and worship.

 
Danny Forshee

Genesis 14:19-20

It is already Fall, one of my favorite times of the year.  Football fever is on and many have contracted it!  I am a big Auburn University fan and my wife a Roll Tide Alabama fan so we have a divided home.  My two sons have followed dad in pulling for the Tigers and Hannah does not care.  She likes Liberty University and Texas A&M.  We are having some fun times in the Forshee household.  I am so blessed to have the family I have.  Thank You Jesus!

And the Lord continues to bless and open the doors to preach His Word.  Tonight I get the privilege of preaching to our students here at Great Hills.  I am preaching on Elijah from 1 Kings 17-19 in a message entitled "Faith or Fear?" And this Sunday I cannot wait to preach on the Hebrew name of God, Elohim.  Please pray for me as I preach this sermon from Genesis 1:1, 17:7 and Psalm 19:1 on God as our creator and covenant keeper.  Here is an excerpt from the message--

The sun is one of only 100 billion stars in our galaxy.  And the average distance between these stars is 30 trillion miles.  To travel from our sun to another star traveling at 17,000 miles an hour would take you 201,450 years to reach it!  And that is just the distance between two of the 100 billion stars in our galaxy, amazing.  And the Bible says God knows them all by name!  This is why In Isaiah 40:25-26 God tells us to compare Him to the heavens.  “Because God has no limits and from our perspective neither do the heavens.”   (Geisler and Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, 108-09).  Yes the heavens declare to us the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork as David said in Psalm 19:1.

If you would like a free copy of the manuscript of the sermon e-mail me at dforshee@dfea.com and we will send to you.

Next month our team goes to India and I ask for your prayers for all of us going to lead a pastor's conference, medical camp, and conduct a 3 night crusade.  Please pray that God would move in wonderful ways as we preach Christ and minister to the Indian people.

God continues to bless and allow us to preach on the DIREC TV channel 378 each Sunday at 12:30 p.m. CST.  I thank you so much for your continued prayers and financial support that enables me to preach nationwide through the National Religious Broadcasters(NRB) on DIRECT TV.

Sincerely,

Danny Forshee

Genesis 1:1

Looking forward to sharing God's Word with about 100 men here at Great Hills tomorrow on Sept. 2 as we kick off our men's Bible study.  I am preaching from 1 Kings 17-19 and looking at Elijah a great man of God who had a nature like ours says James 5:17.  He had great faith at times and other times he gave in to great fear.  The Bible tells the true story so we can learn from other's successes and failures.  Elijah trusted God at Carmel and God moved mightily in consuming the sacrifice by fire (1 KIngs 18).  But in 1 Kings 19 he fled in fright when Jezebel threatened him.  We can live on one of two planes-- either faith or fear.  I want to live in the realm of faith when I trust God and not lean on my own understanding (Proverbs 3:5).  

-          Abraham Lincoln was a remarkable man.  I encourage you to read David Donald’s biography of our 16^th president.  Talk about a man who had every excuse to be fearful and quit.  Even before he made it to the White House after he had been elected as the next president, in the words of Donald, p. 267, “the country was falling to pieces.”  On December 20, 1860 South Carolina withdrew from the Union and by the end of January 1861 the following states followed suit: FL, MS, AL, GA, and LS, “and secession was underway in TX.”  (Ibid.)  When Lincoln said good-bye to his hometown of Springfield IL on his way to Washington DC, he told those gathered, “I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington.  Without the assistance of that Divine Being, who ever attended him, I cannot succeed.  With that assistance I cannot fail. . . . let us confidently hope that all will yet be well.  To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.”  (Donald, p. 273)

-          Against all odds, Lincoln chose to trust God and not cave in to fear.  He also said on another occasion about faith or belief, “Believing things that you can see and touch means you don’t believe at all, but to believe in what you cannot see is a victory and a blessing.”  (Jack Newman sent this Lincoln quote to me from a speech he gave at the Austin Tennis Academy.)

        May the Lord bless you as you walk by faith and not sight (2 Corinthians 5:7)

        Danny

Ma

Dr. Roy Fish once told our class in seminary that we do not need impressions when we have commissions.  What a powerful statement.  We do not need to wait until we feel emotionally led to help someone or share Christ with them because God has already commanded us to do these things in the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-38 and Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20).  This Saturday our church here in Austin TX, Great Hills Baptist Church, is going to east Austin and participate in the Illuminate Austin outreach, and I am very much looking forward to it. Please pray for us as we share the love of Jesus in practical ways.  And pray for me as I will be one of the preachers preaching the gospel.

In a couple of months I am going to India to minister with my friend Finny Matthews in Lucknow, India.  We are going to preach and encourage pastors who were just recently attacked by radical Hindus for their preaching of the gospel.  I ask for your prayers for our team as we go to share Christ and encourage these precious pastors who are persecuted for their faith.  

Our TV ministry continues to go strongly and we so very much appreciate all your prayers and financial support for this endeavor.  We continue to broadcast on DIREC TV each Sunday at 12:30 CST.  

Let me know if I can serve you or pray for you.  I am so grateful to God for allowing me to preach Christ and serve Him.  My family ad I enjoy living in Austin and ministering here in this great city.  God is blessing Great Hills Baptist Church and we are reaching out and touching many in Jesus' name.  May God continue to bless you and use you powerfully to broadcast His name and fame to your neighbors and the nations.

Danny

Matthew 5:16