Acts

On Wednesday nights at JOLT we are studying the Book of Acts. I am very excited about the coming weeks, because Acts is like a history book of the church. I love history, having taught it for the past ten years, this is a great chance to teach history again. Acts was written by Luke. The book picks up where the Book of Luke ended. Jesus has ascended into Heaven and now the disciples are left to continue on the message of Jesus Christ. God provided them with the Holy Spirit and now they have the power to go and spread the news.
This past week we read how the disciples filled the position left by Judas. We can learn how we need to make decisions for ourselves from this passage. They narrowed down the choices using certain criteria. They knew the man chosen needed to have been there since the beginning. There were two qualified men, and they didn't know which one should be selected. They prayed and asked God to show them which one should be chosen. God aswered their prayer and the men choses Matthias. We need to look to our God in prayer when we have a big decision to make too. He will guide us in the way he wants us to go. It is important for us to follow his lead and not resist what we are told.

A Sad Day in History

Today, April 4th, marks a sad day in the history of our country. This is the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was shot while staying at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN. The motel has since been transformed into the National Civil Rights Museum. http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/

King was in Memphis in support of the garbage workers strike. After years of working for desegregation in the south, he had changed the focus of the movement. It did no good to have the ability to go into a restaurant, if the means were not there to buy anything in the restaurant. The Memphis garbage workers were very poor, and really had no way to change their current situation. The workers were not allowed to go inside during breaks. One rainy day a worker was taking his break in the back of one of the trucks, when it engaged and he was crushed to death. This outraged the workers and inspired them begin a strike. Dr. King was asked to come and help the workers. It was in Memphis that he gave his last speech. Here is an excerpt:

"Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop.
And I don't mind.
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!
And so I'm happy, tonight.
I'm not worried about anything.
I'm not fearing any man!
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!"

Many believe that Dr. King preached the fear of death out of himself that night. Take some time and really read those words. Powerful! He was killed the next day.
Dr. King is a great American hero, and today we need to make sure we try to understand all that he has meant to our society.

What a Day!

Yesterday was quite a day around my home. First, I had the honor and pleasure of preaching at both Sunday services. I taught on John 20:19-31, the famous portion of scripture that tells us about Thomas's honest doubt. I have come to the conclusion that we all doubt, and have probably all doubted our faith at some time. Thomas teaches us that we can face those doubts and come out with a stronger more meaningful faith. It was a pleasure to study this scripture and put together a sermon based on what I learned from it.

Later that evening I had the opportunity to go and see Denver and the Mile High Orchestra. http://www.denvermho.com/ (check out the video on the front page) They are a modern day big band. The members are believers in Christ and the message intertwined throughout the concert was outstanding. Denver stressed that God has a plan for all of us, and we need to use the special gifts that we have to serve God. This is a great reminder to all of you students out there. You can't be someone that God hasn't made you, you can only be what God wants you to be. Whatever he has planned for you is amazing and more wondeful than you could ever imagine.

HE IS RISEN

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Yesterday we celebrated Easter. This is the day that celebrates our Lord and Savior Jesus Christs rise from the grave. His resurrection gives us all hope and the assurance of eternal life in Heaven. We can accept Jesus' free gift of salvation by acknowledging that we are sinners and asking for his forgiveness. What is so awesome is that Jesus can really save us because he is alive. All the other truth claims have "prophets" who are dead! Jesus is alive! This gives us confidence and assurance that what we believe is true.
Yesterday here at Grace, we had a sunrise service at 6:30 am . Now I realize that is really early, but it was a great service. The high school students read scripture and Chris put together some great videos that took the congregation through the Easter weekend. It was a very meaningful service and it was a joy to work with Chris and the students putting it all together.
This week, lets not forget that Christ is alive and we can have a relationship with him at anytime. Have a great week and I will have pictures added to this blog soon!

Tower of Babel

Genesis 11 tells us about the Tower of Babel. You see, after the flood, God told Noah and his family to populate the earth and scatter. The earth was becoming repopulated but the people were not scattering. The people decided to build a tower that would reach the Heavens. This would allow them to stay together and make a name for themselves. This was not what God wanted and this did not make him happy. God decided to come down and confuse their language so they would not be able to accomplish what they wanted.
On Wednesday night as we studied this, the students found this account very interesting. The Book of Genesis gives us great detail about creation, and the Tower of Babel is no different. Here we learn how the different languages of our world were created. Just like the earth, and everything on it, God created the languages we speak.
We closed our lesson time by asking our students to consider what their "towers" were. What are we putting up in front of God? Many students mentioned activities that they were involved in. These activities take the place of time with God, and give them their worth. God wants us to put him first and allow him to give us direction as to where we should go and what we should do.
Take some time this week and pray that God would help you to put your priorities in order, with Him at the top spot