Carl Boberg was struck by how rapidly a thunderous storm appeared. It rained for just a short time, followed by a breathtaking rainbow.

That night he wrote the words. The original sown was called ‘O Store Gud’ which basically translated to ‘O Great God’ in English.

Through the years, the song, which was sung with the melody of a Swedish folk song, was translated into several languages. In the early 20′s, Mr and Mrs. Stuart Hine were English missionaries that moved to Poland. Stuart heard the song and later translated it into English. This is the version we know as ‘How Great Thou Art.’

Today, there are over 1700 recordings of this song! It’s is said to be the #1 favorite hymn in polls conducted in the US and in Britain. I’m certain that Mr. Boberg would be shocked to find that his inspired poem was translated and loved by so many Christians all over the world!

I’m currently filming a couple arrangements of this beautiful hymn.

There’s nothing like sweet home-grown tomatoes and this year they provided a perfect illustration of those Bible verses.

A few months ago we bought a little tray of 6 baby tomato seedlings. In the video below, you can see for yourself what a difference soil can make. The other difference is that the huge tomato plant was directly in the ground which allowed the roots to go down deep into the soil.

The secret to the success of their church happened when ordinary people chose to meet during the week to pray and call out for God’s presence and intervention in their lives and the lives of the people around them.

The book is filled with stories of how God transformed the lives of people caught in a lifestyle of drugs, alcohol, and more. For example, a transvestite was set free from drugs and his homosexual past.  Later, he fell in love with a Christian woman and they married.

Of the many stories, I didn’t know that Charles Finney had a prayer warrior, Daniel Nash, that went ahead to each city Charles was going to preach in. Daniel gathered people of prayer to intercede for souls to come to Christ. It reminded me of Billy Graham’s Crusades. They gather churches together to have them pray and to equip people to help at the events.

This book is filled with Scriptures and personal stories from the church. The emphasis is encouraging people to go deeper into prayer and shows what a difference it makes to have a praying and active church. The apostle Paul exhorted us to pray without ceasing, and this book backs it up with Scriptures and the lots of stories of changed lives.

Ed’s friend was on duty one night and gave a ticket to a speeding driver. When he went to the car, he sensed something evil. He told Ed that as he walked towards the car, the hairs on back of his neck stood up.

The next morning, this highway patrolman got a phone call from the head office inquiring about driver he had given a ticket to. Turns out, that driver shot a policeman later that night.  When the police caught him, he told them he wanted to shoot a policeman that night.

They saw the traffic ticket from the first policeman on his car seat. and when asked why he didn’t shoot the first one, he replied that there were too many in the car. He said the car was filled with policemen.

Ed’s friend was asked how many were in his car. He replied that there was no one with him. He was driving ALONE. His wife, also a Christian, always prayed for his safety. Were they angels or did God just change the driver’s vision to look like there were others in the car? I don’t know. But I do know that God does answer prayers and that nothing can touch us without going through His permission first.

Kindness – A Fruit Of The Spirit

I love God stories and love sharing them. This is one from a Pastor we know, in a country that persecutes Christians. He told us about one of his church members that had gone to jail for her faith. Although there wasn’t much food, she would always share it with the other prisoners. They could not break her kind spirit.

When she was released, a policeman was assigned to follow her. After following her for an entire year, he became a Christian too!

He told her that he had seen her kindness in prison and that he had been watching her for a year and had never met anyone with such a wonderful kind spirit. Then he asked her to marry him!

Surprised, this woman asked our friend, her pastor, what she should do. They did get married and are now serving the Lord together! Kindness is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.