Links to Love

Two real-life friends of mine have started blogs, and maybe they are friends or acquaintances of yours too, if you've ever attended our church (the one in IL...).

***

John Fawcett is an amazingly gifted man who has led worship at our church for over 15 years. (He is also one of Papa Rooster's very best friends, going back to Wheaton College days.)

John has just been diagonosed with a recurrence of an aggressive form of cancer. He's started a blog to update friends and family on his situation, and to record his thoughts and observations as he walks through this trial. It won't take much reading to realize that this is a man with an incredible intellect--and a humble willingness to submit himself and his life to God. (He's also one of the most gifted pianists you could ever meet, who improvises between and during worship songs "in the chords of Bach and Beethoven"!) (Is that the quote, Sarah? Correct me in the comments.) John is a gifted teacher and minister of healing, too--many of us can point to a life-changing time John prayed with us.

Even if you don't know John or don't plan to follow his blog, would you still take a moment to pray for him, his wife Margie, and their two very young children? And for our church, and Papa Rooster...this family is dearly loved by many.

***

Val McIntyre is an old dear friend who also has been involved in healing ministry. Many know her as former assistant to author and teacher Leanne Payne and as the Registrar, for many years, of the Wheaton PCM. She just got her MA in Church History at Wheaton College, where we were undergrads together.

She is an author and is often invited to speak at healing conferences internationally; she just returned from Holland and reports on her time there at her ministry blog Burning Bush. While doing her MA, she became fascinated with the writings of Thomas Aquinas, and at her other blog, Aquinas for Dummies, she explores the pastoral implications of Thomas's theology.
She's also a wife and a mom of a tweenage daughter.

***

While we're on the subject of healing ministry, there's one more website--newly-updated--that I've got to link to. I used to be on the board of Redeemed Lives Ministries till Mario Bergner and his family moved to Boston and relocated the ministry there, so this is a ministry that is near and dear to my heart!

Mario is a wonderful teacher with an amazing testimony of transformation from practicing homosexual to priest and father of five. His teaching is grounded in solid theology, classical thinking on the virtues, great faith in God, and years of pastoral experience with those from the most troubled backgrounds. God has uniquely gifted and placed him to be able to speak to the church about a Christian response to homosexuality.

So many lives have been totally transformed in his courses and conferences...and now those courses, with the inimitable Mario lecturing, are downloadable from his website! This is a wonderful resource for churches. (Take a careful look at the course descriptions; some courses are expanded versions of the shorter courses.) HIGHLY recommended.

***

Enjoy!