On Sunday, I had the joy of bringing the Sunday morning message at Big Island Baptist Church (http://bigislandchurch.org) in Big Island, Virginia, for Baptist Women's Day 2010. My sermon wrapped up a three-day long Women's Retreat, "There Must Be More Than This," based on Ephesians 3:20-21. I will likely put those talks up here sometime in the future, but for now, here is my message entitled, "The Mystery and the Means of the Gospel," based on Ephesians 3. SERMON NOTES:"The Mystery and Means of the Gospel"

Ephesians 3

1. The Mystery of Christ Revealed (Ephesians 3:6)

2. It Was There All Along (Gen. 12; Gal. 3; Pslm 67; Matt. 28; Rev. 7)

3. The Means of the Gospel for All Nations (Ephesians 3:10)

4. The Glory of Christ in Our Jerusalem (Ephesians 3:20-21)

My latest IAM Conversations (http://iamconversations.com) interview features "photographer to the stars and the suffering," Jeremy Cowart, who returned from photographing the devastation and signs of hope in Haiti, which was hit exactly one month ago today by a massive earthquake.

Jeremy is helping A House in Haiti (http://ahouseinhaiti.com) purchase and distribute 200,000 tents to those left homeless by the quake. Please consider supporting their efforts.

To see Jeremy's photographs, including images of Britney Spears, Switchfoot, Zachary Levi, Donald Miller, Imogen Heap, Indigo Girls, Sting, and many others, visit http://jeremycowart.com.

Music by Joel Limpic (http://joellimpic.com)

This is the week of my church's annual fast, and part of my participation involves spending each night that we don't have a prayer meeting reading scripture and other good books and singing to God in the privacy of my home. So far, two new songs have come from this week, and I recorded one of them for New Hope's worship team to learn. I thought I would share it with you, too.

At the end of Tim Keller's book "The Prodigal God," he refers to Isaiah 25 and includes a beautiful passage from that chapter. After I finished reading it, I went to the Bible and read the whole chapter. That is what inspired this song.

My latest IAM Conversations podcast features musician and author Michael Card, who is performing tomorrow night in NYC. Hope to see you there!

I am so excited about this film. Visit http://thateveningsun.com to find out when it is playing near you. And then listen to my interview with the director and screenwriter, Scott Teems!

My parents lived at Fort Hood in 1973, when my dad was still in the Army. In fact, my brother Matt was born at the Army hospital there. When I spoke with my dad yesterday, he was deeply troubled by the events yesterday. Of course, all of us are troubled, but for military personnel, active or retired, this is a particularly difficult thing to walk through.

I wrote this song right after the Virginia Tech shootings in April 2007, and when I heard about the Fort Hood shootings yesterday, I wanted to share it again. I am praying for all those affected by this horrible tragedy.

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, You are with me..." (Psalm 23)

Donald Miller is on tour right now promoting his latest book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. My good friend Susan E. Isaacs is also touring with Don, performing her solo show based on her book, Angry Conversations With God.

Don was my guest on IAM Conversations last week, where we talked about his non-profit organization, The Mentoring Project which pairs boys growing up without fathers with men who are trained to mentoring them (a.k.a. be their friends). It's a wonderful organization that I support financially and hope you will too.The tour stops in NYC this Thursday, and IAM is co-sponsoring the tour stop in our city. Hope to see you there! Get your $15 tickets here.

My latest podcast for International Arts Movement (http://www.iamconversations.com) features an interview with Nate Barksdale, curator of Culture-Making.com, the web site born out of Andy Crouch's book of the same title.

About the Song:

This is a simple worship song I wrote about nine years ago. I was leading a worship musician training workshop at a church in Chinatown (NYC), and as I was preparing for it, I was thinking and praying about some conversations I had with my pastor and the leaders at the Chinese church. As I prayed (which I often do sitting at my piano), I began to play and sing this song. Several churches are using it now, and I have had some requests for a recording, so I made this one day with a friend.

LEAD SHEET

ONE HEART, ONE MIND (by Christy Tennant, 2001)

Verse 1:

C

One heart

G/B

One mind

Am F

One life to lay before You

C

One hand

G/B

One dream

Am F

One Bride to stand before You

Chorus:

F

For You are God

G

And You are King

Am F

It’s our desire to bring You everything

F

You are Lord

G

You are Love

Am F

We bow down to lift You up

IAM Conversations is a weekly podcast produced by International Arts Movement featuring interviews with artist and creative catalysts who are impacting arts and culture in a positive, rehumanizing way. Here is part one of my recent conversation Dan Siedell, author of "God in the Gallery."