Merry Christmas!

"Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son."

1 John 4:10

Fall Social on the Farm

Michelle's P & P

Congratulations to Jason, Michelle, and Parker!  Keep them in your prayers as we await the arrival of baby girl Merritt!!

100 Prayers God Loves to Hear: 100 Praise Songs

My kids and I were very interested when we found 100 Prayers God Loves to Hear: 100 Praise Songs in our mailbox.  It is a book created by Stephen Elkins and includes two CDs with 100 praise songs for children.  The book is a great collection of prayers for all occasions, and it is a very useful tool for teaching children how and when to pray - anytime, anywhere, and about anything.  I would characterize the book and songs as creative and fun!  

My children are five and three and LOVE the songs on the CDs.  My three-year-old son insisted on repeating the songs over and over, while my five-year-old daughter enjoyed looking through the book and listening to the stories, prayers, antecdotes, and Bible verses.  Both of my kids give this set five stars!

I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as a blogging book reviewer.

God is at work!

Continue to keep Greg and Sarah Mann in your prayers as they minister to the Palaung people in Thailand.  Praise the Lord for the new believer who just last week found the Lord in the middle of a field by her home.  The Manns are expecting a baby in the next few weeks, so keep them in your thoughts and pray for a safe delivery and healthy baby girl. 

We Need One Another

This is a neat post I read today on Beth Moore's blog for Living Proof Ministries:
Thinking About Stuff
July 23, 2010

Last night my man and I had the neatest experience and it’s on my mind so I think I’ll share it. We were invited to the 30th birthday party of a young woman we’ve known all her life. Kay’s parents and Keith and I have been dear friends since our early 20′s. Many years ago we served together in our young marrieds’ Sunday School department. Kay’s Dad, Roger (one of the finest men I’ve ever known), taught the men’s class and I taught the women’s. Each set of couples had 2 daughters almost exactly the same age. They grew up together at the same church and have known each other all their lives. We have vacationed together a number of times as families and as couples and leaned on each other more times than I can count. During difficult seasons, we have wept together and in times of victory, celebrated like wild people. Our oldest daughters served in summer missions together and met and fell in love with two guys from Missouri who were best friends. They each married those guys and were in each other’s weddings only two weeks apart.
We got invited to Kay’s birthday party because Roger and Mary Ann (one of the finest women I know) would be the only other older couple there. The rest were all in their late 20′s or early 30′s. As we sat at that table with our life-long friends right beside us, I looked around at those young people and remembered just yesterday when it was us sitting in their positions. We had so much life ahead. So much joy. So much victory. So much defeat. (I’ll just apply that part to Keith and me) So much need. Life – and marriage, for Heaven’s sake – is flat-out HARD. But you really couldn’t tell it last night. It was a celebration and time to put our troubles aside and boast in the graciousness of our God. And we did.
I thought last night how much God used that band of married couples so many years ago to keep Keith and me together through hard times and how much sweeter they made the good times. Many of us from that original young marrieds’ group at our church are still friends today. All but two couples have stayed together (no condemnation to those who haven’t – the devil is relentless) and through many very difficult times. None of us are without scars. None of us are as full of ourselves or as sure of ourselves as we were back then. We’ve been broken over and over and sometimes to pieces but last night there we sat, telling some of those people our stories and hearing a few of them say,
“That’s pretty cool.”
The way God ordained it, we don’t just need our vertical relationship with Him to make it in life and marriage. We need one another. We need Hebrews 10:24-25 kind of people. We need folks around us to cheer us on and even to question us and hold us accountable. We need people who will not only pray for us but laugh with us and cry with us. Eat Mexican food with us. Live life with us! We need more than Facebook and blogs and tweets, as much as I enjoy them. We need real people and real face-to-face, life-to-life relationships. Last night when Kay’s husband, Jerrell, prayed over her before we sat down to the birthday feast, for some reason Mary Ann, Roger, Keith and I grabbed onto each other for dear life and hugged each other with all our might. We are still standing after the enemy has done you-can’t-imagine-what to try to destroy us. Not one of us would take an ounce of credit. Jesus. It’s all Jesus. He’s been so much better to us than He had to be. He did not let the devil bring the destruction he wanted.
It seems only yesterday we WERE those young couples. In the blink of an eye those young couples will be our age, having endured what they were sure they couldn’t and having celebrated more than they deserved.
God is so good.
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed…Therefore we do NOT lose heart.” 2 Corinthians 4:7-8, 16.

Discipline

The following is from author Wendy Blight, seen on the Proverbs 31 Ministries Blog:

Discipline.
Dictionary.com defines discipline as the rigor or training effect of experience or adversity. My parents disciplined me as a child. With a teenager and a tween, my husband and I find ourselves in a continual process of discipline. But me? I am an adult. I don't need discipline. And who really has the right to discipline me?
Hebrews 12:5-6 discusses just exactly who has the right to discipline me…and you. God. Our Creator. Our Heavenly Father.

I love how the writer of Hebrews 5 begins: "And have you forgotten the encouraging words that God spoke to you as His children?..." God intends for the words that follow to encourage us and not discourage us.
In Hebrews 12:5-6, the writer of Hebrews quotes from Proverbs 3:11-12 which says, "My child, don't reject the Lord's discipline, and don't be upset when He corrects you. For the Lord corrects those He loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights."

This word discipline in the King James translation is "chasteneth," which in the Greek denotes "to train" and is most often used with training up a child.

Elsewhere in Scripture it is translated learned or taught, but in Hebrews 12, it refers specifically to the part of training that means infliction of evils and calamities. When I read that, my first thought was surely not, God. But as I continued my study, God's Word helped me understand.

God knows who He created us to be. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you…plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

God promises in Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them."

God balances these encouraging truths with the reality that we are sinful and selfish creatures. When given the choice, we will choose to please ourselves, serve ourselves, and put ourselves first. God knows to accomplish the plans He has for us, He must burn away that which is selfish and self-centered. He also knows that we will not willingly surrender to this chastisement.

But we all have faults and follies that need to be corrected. And at the time God led me to Hebrews 12, I was in the midst of struggling with those faults and follies. He wanted me to see that I had to walk through His refining fire to burn off all evidence of self in my struggle. Such a hard truth to hear. But the end result, the wonderful truth is that God promises me that when I emerge on the other side of His refining fire, I will be closer to reflecting His image and closer to being the woman He created me to be.

When we look at Hebrews 12:5-6 this way, we should willingly surrender to His discipline. For it is His discipline that assures us we are legitimate, loved children of God. He is treating us as His own. He is preparing us. He is training us. He is transforming us.

Dear Lord, thank you for disciplining me. It is hard to take but I understand it is for my good and Your glory. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet & Frank Viola

"Who do you say that I am?"

I received Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola several months back.  The authors do a good job using Scriptures to explain who Jesus is and how the Church in America is missing out on what Christ truly wants us to be and do.  Basically we have lost our first love by making Christianity into many different things when it should be all about Christ.  

It took me almost a month to finish the book.  I didn't just "love it" or find it an easy read, but I did gain some insight from what the authors had to say.  Maybe it was too scholarly for me?  I have read books on the same topic I would recommend before this one, but if you are truly searching for direction in your walk with Christ and want to be reminded of his sovereignty and glory, I would recommend this book to you. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for my opinion.

The book gets 2 stars our of 5 from me - **!

The Case Against Marriage, Thanks to Newsweek

Taken from the Girls Gone Wise website...

by: Dr. Albert Mohler

One essential task for the Christian Church is to rebuild and maintain a marriage culture — even when marriage itself no longer makes sense to so many around us.

“Once upon a time, marriage made sense.” So write Jessica Bennett and Jesse Ellison in the June 11, 2010 edition of Newsweek magazine. The two women who wrote the article are both young adults who identify themselves as “committed to our careers, friendships, and, yes, our relationships.” But, as for marriage, not so much.

As Bennett and Ellison explain their case, marriage once made sense, at least for women, because it “was how women ensured their financial security, got the fathers of their children to stick around, and gained access to a host of legal rights.” But now, thanks largely to the feminist movement, they claim, the financial and legal rights are theirs without marriage. They never actually get around to saying much about fathers sticking around to take responsibility for children.

The Newsweek article represents what may be the most direct journalistic attack on marriage in our times. Though only an op-ed column, it presents arguments that had to date been made largely, if not exclusively, outside of mainstream circles. Consider this column an opening salvo in a battle to finish marriage off, once and for all.
Both women identify themselves as secular, and their rejection of marriage reflects the inevitable crumbling of a marriage culture in the wake of a moral revolution. As they explain, reserving sex for marriage is simply unthinkable to them and their peers. “And the idea that we’d ’save ourselves’ for marriage? Please.” Interestingly, they quote a young man who makes a remarkable case for why the loss of moral stigma for premarital sex breaks down the institution of marriage itself: “If I had to be married to have sex, I would probably be married, as would every guy I know.”

And when it comes to having children without marriage: “We know that having children out of wedlock lost its stigma a long time ago.” They then point with envy to Scandinavia, where a majority of children are now born out of wedlock, but parents claim to spend more time with their children than parents of other nations.
The secular worldview represented by Bennett and Ellison is joined to their status as young professionals. Marriage does not enhance professional prospects, they argue. Women who take their husbands’ last name are considered less professional, less competent, and less ambitious than women who keep their own names.

As they explain, “We are also the so-called entitled generation, brought up with lofty expectations of an egalitarian adulthood; told by helicopter parents and the media, from the moment we exited the womb, that we could be ‘whatever we wanted’—with infinite opportunities to accomplish those dreams. So you can imagine how, 25 years down the line, committing to another person—for life—would be nerve-racking.”
And just who are they seeking as partners, anyway? They explain that their generation of young women is looking for a “soulmate” — a fantasy they admit is hard to define and even harder to find.
And an adult lifetime is just too long for any realistic commitment, they insist. “With our life expectancy in the high 70s, the idea that we’re meant to be together forever is less realistic.” So while their generation of young women is, by their admission, unrealistic in what they are looking for in a partner, they are supposedly cold sober realistic when it comes to calculating the value of marriage, and finding it wanting.

This duo of young women go so far as to claim that “the permanence of marriage seems naive, almost arrogant.” Others, of course, might be forgiven for seeing unbridled arrogance in dismissing an institution that has been central to human flourishing for thousands of years.

They cite authorities who make the predictable arguments that humans are not hardwired for monogamy, anyway. Bennett and Ellison propose that perhaps a series of short, mostly monogamous relationships is best. “For us, it’s not that we reject monogamy altogether—indeed, one of us is going on six years with a partner—but that the idea of marriage has become so tainted, and simultaneously so idealized, that we’re hesitant to engage in it,” they explain.

In their essay, Bennett and Ellison cite a considerable body of research on marriage and make reference to our disastrous divorce rate. Nevertheless, it never seems to cross their minds that the very social trends they celebrate were the cause of marital decline — both in terms of individual marriages and the institution of marriage itself.
The moral revolutions of the late-twentieth century brought personal autonomy to preeminence. These moral revolutions included the rise of “no fault” divorce and a host of other developments that subverted marriage. Chief among these was the “liberation” of sex from marriage. Once sexual intercourse was no longer limited to married couples, marriage lost respect and binding authority, becoming more like a mere legal contract. Once having children out of wedlock was normalized (at least in many sectors of the society), marriage became a lifestyle option and little else.

There is an amazing lack of humility in the article by Bennett and Ellison, and a breathtaking lack of concern for other women as well. What about women who are not so professional, so secular, and so liberated from a desire for marriage? They are simply thrown under the bus, run over by the very social trends and moral revolutions these women champion and celebrate.

The Christian church should take careful note of this essay, not because its arguments are unprecedented, but because its distillation of these arguments in one of the nation’s two major newsweeklies must not escape attention. Christians see marriage, first of all, as an institution made good and holy by the Creator. Its value, for us, is not established by sociology but by Scripture. We also understand that God gave us marriage for our good, for our protection, for our sanctification, and for human flourishing.
In other words, the Bible compels us to see marriage as essential to human happiness, health, and infinitely more.
The essay by Jessica Bennett and Jesse Ellison is an undeniable reminder of our challenge to rebuild a marriage culture, and to start inside our own churches. “Once upon a time, marriage made sense,” Bennett and Ellison assert. One essential task for the Christian Church is to rebuild and maintain a marriage culture — even when marriage itself no longer makes sense to so many around us.

The Love of the Father

"When my children were small, they would make art projects for me at school or camp. Often these creations featured stuff like dry macaroni, glitter, construction paper, clay, and pipe cleaners. From a purely aesthetic point of view, sometimes they were kind of goofy-looking. But because these gifts came from my child’s heart, I loved them. I praised my son or daughter, and I hung the artwork on my wall at the office for all to see.

I was thinking of this recently as I reflected on God’s love for me—an earthly father’s love magnified a million times. He sees our hearts and loves who we are, and He praises us for what we do for Him. Sometimes our best efforts might look to Him like old pasta poorly glued on paper, but like any Father anywhere, He cherishes them.

I like to think God hangs my rudimentary “art projects” on His wall in heaven. This breaks my heart and fills me with joy, all at the same time.

Father’s Day is a great opportunity to celebrate our earthly fathers—but also the ultimate Father, who teaches us, every day, what love truly is."

by Richard Stearns, CEO of World Vision
www.theholeinourgospel.com/blog

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Note from Natalie

Hey Everyone!

I am really looking forward to our upcoming Bible study which starts a week from this Tuesday, on June 15th. We will be meeting from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at the church in the CLC-2nd floor-room 206. (The CLC is the building adjacent to the Venue and the fellowship hall.)

The study is called "Living Your Life as a Beautiful Offering," by Angela Thomas; it is based on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. The church has already ordered the workbooks, and they will be available for you the first night at a price of $11. Please bring cash or a check made out to FBCT.

Childcare is available and arrangements have been made for all of you who let me know in advance that you needed that service. If you didn't sign up for childcare and still need it, please let me know ASAP.
Can't wait to see all of you and find out what God has in store for each of us through this study!
See you soon...

Natalie Johnson

More from Samaritan's Purse

1 MILLION REASONS FOR HOPE

A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE HIV/AIDS MINISTRY

Samaritan's Purse has reached a milestone in HIV/AIDS ministry. More than 1 million people worldwide have been reached through our Biblically-based education programs, which include basic facts about the disease, marital faithfulness, home care programs, reducing discrimination, and overcoming the fear of testing.

Martin is one of those million. His neighbors suspected he had HIV/AIDS after a severe case of tuberculosis and frequent bouts of malaria left his body frail and weak. Ignorance and fear caused them to shun Martin, leaving him isolated and alone.

Samaritan's Purse workers in Uganda found Martin hiding behind a mango tree when they came to his village to teach people about HIV/AIDS. "I sat away from the people, because they never wanted me to be near them," he said.

One of the workers talked to Martin about the disease and presented the Good News of Jesus Christ. "They talked to me at length about HIV and shared the love of Jesus," Martin said. "I received Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. It was a turning point in my life. Hope and peace were restored."

Please pray that millions more will come to know the grace and the truth of Jesus Christ—the only true source of hope in this world—as we equip local Christians with the knowledge and resources to reach out to families and communities vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.

What part of the Gospel is optional?

Love Your Neighbor Benefit

You know how I love to pass on random things I find...  Tuesday night in Nashville is a concert to help the victims of the flood waters.  Of course, Nashville is too far away for us to go for a concert, but you can watch it online to see Brandon Heath, Toby Mac, Jason Ingram, Britt Nicole, and Mike Donehy (Tenth Avenue North) at this link for Fellowship Bible Church.

National Day of Prayer

"[If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

-2 Chronicles 7:14

Remember to keep our country and its leaders in your prayers and boldly enter the presence of God through prayer for the United States of America.

What is fruit?

(I read this post by Ron Duncan today on the I Am Not Ashamed blog.  Very thought provoking!)   

When you hear Christians talking about producing “fruit”, what are they talking about?

Do these things come to mind when you think of “fruit”?

1.Number of people saved/baptized
2.Increase in number of people attending church
3.Increase in number of people in small groups or Sunday school
4.Lots of church activities/opportunities
5.Number of people involved in ministries
6.Tithes and offering increased
7.Plans for building additions/building new buildings
8.New ministries started
9.Mission trips
10.Personal growth plans
11.Add yours here . . .

It's funny how so many people think of fruit as the things we do or accomplish instead of what the Bible calls fruit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. (Gal. 5:22)

Why is this? God’s word is clear about where fruit comes from—“I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”—John 15:5

We would much rather be in charge of producing the fruit, wouldn’t we? I mean, this way we get to determine what we do and where we go. You know, God just tell me what your plan is for my life and I will handle it from there. We get to maintain control instead of having to trust God. The problem here is, that is not how God works.

God is more interested in real “fruit”—the fruit from Gal. 5:22. Why? Because He is interested in changing us! Not just doing some stuff! He created everything just by speaking! Don’t you think He can accomplish things without us to help out?

Changing us means complete surrender to God. You know giving up credit, giving praise only to God, allowing God to receive credit for whatever happens. This is one of those statements that have been so overused to the point that it does not hold much credibility anymore. You must think more of God than you or maybe all of God and none of you.

Jesus said “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”—Matthew 10:37-39

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”—I Corinthians 10:31

“For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off. See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.”—Isaiah 48:9-11

Maybe we are a little too self-centered instead of God-centered. What if God got all the glory for building His church? (He is the one that does it anyway!) I have prayed with lost people who got saved, but I have never saved anyone. I have shared and taught believers Truth and encouraged them to follow God, but I have never sanctified anyone.

God produces the fruit in us. God empowers and accomplishes the good works through us. God does it all! God does it for Himself!


*Don't forget the social planned for April 30 at Jason & Michelle's house!  Get your babysitter now!!

Prayer & Pampers for Becky!

Continue to pray for Becky as she goes through her last few weeks of pregnancy and for a safe delivery when Hudson decides to make his debut into the world!

"Sons are a heritage from the Lord,

children a reward from him."

Psalm 127:3

Happy Easter! Now what?

"And from everyone who has been given much, much shall be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more."

Luke 12:48

As we all come down from the sugar high of Easter, what are some ways we can live Easter all year?  In the Bible study I am currently in (Anointed Transformed Redeemed), Priscilla Shirer wrote about the benefits and responsibilities of being one of God's children.  She writes, "God's desire to bless His children with abundance and blessing is seen from the very beginning of the Old Testament and into the church age.  However, his blessing was most often tied to a requirement on the part of those He loved."  The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a free gift to us, but a heart in line with God should be compelled to take on the responsiblities that go along with the benefits.  I hope you'll listen to the following song and look for ways this week to be Jesus to the world (or in our world of Trussville) by being "his voice calling, his hands healing, his feet walking to a broken world."  By just simply loving others whether it's the clerk at the grocery store who needs a friendly face or the person who cuts you off in traffic because they must be in a bigger hurry than you are.  Or in my case, the daughter who is pushing all of your buttons!  Jesus needs our help to do His good work.  Will you be His love?

Announcements

• Prayer & Pampers shower for Becky Rogers and Baby Hudson TONIGHT at Elaine's house - 6:30
• MetroChangers - Saturdays in April
• Let's get social!  Class dinner (adults only) at Jason & Michelle's on Friday, April 30.  Details about food will come soon.  Get your babysitters now!!!
• Class members, for prayer requests see the class facebook page.

FYI - Operation Christmas Child Update

I received the following email from Samaritan's Purse about the Operation Christmas Child project in the Birmingham area.

"31,314 shoe box gifts were collected this past year in your area alone. That’s 31,314 opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus with Children around the world! Your group was a big part of the 31,314 gospel opportunities that were collected and contributed to 5.1 million shoeboxes collected in the United States. You may also be encouraged to know that through the gifts collected in all 13 OCC sending countries, a total of more than 8.1 million hurting children will receive a gift, have the opportunity to hear the Gospel, and connect with a local church for on-going follow up and discipleship."

I hope this will inspire everyone to participate next year!  I would be thrilled to see 100% participation!

Do you know him?

Happy Easter Week!  This is an exciting week in the life of Christians as we celebrate and remember Jesus' final week on earth before being crucified and resurrected.  There are many opportunities for you to reflect on this important week... lunch services at the Methodist church every day at noon (Buddy will be speaking on Wednesday), Ladies Night Out with Sherrie Burgess (tonight at 6:00), and a Good Friday service at 6:00 on Friday night...  Take the time to invite someone to church this Sunday when you run across someone this week.  You could change their life!

"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.  Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.  Amen."

- 1 Timothy 1:15-17

Announcements

• Welcome new members to the class - Chris & Beth and Jason & Michelle
• Easter Egg Hunt at the Akridges on Saturday, April 2, at 11:00 - Bring your family's picnic lunch, Easter baskets, blankets, and lawn chairs and come ready to have a good time!
• The Prayer & Pampers shower for Becky Rogers is Tuesday, April 6, at Elaine's house.  Come help shower Becky as she waits on the arrival of baby Hudson.
• The girls of the Hollingsworth and Akridge classes enjoyed showering Kris and baby Kate with diapers and wipes this past Sunday at Emily's house.  Continue to pray for Kris, Drew, and Andrew as they wait the last couple of weeks to meet Kate. 

In case you didn't see this video last Sunday, here it is again.  I can't see this too many times!  That's my King!

Creation Science

I saw this today on the I Am Not Ashamed website.  It's a good read.

Not Ashamed to be a Creation Scientist
by Dr. Andrew Snelling

As a Christian, I am thoroughly enthralled when exploring the world created by our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 1). As a scientist, I see so many mysteries yet to be solved.

Invariably what I discover reveals more of God’s wisdom, awesome power, and His character which loves beauty and order. Yet we also see disease, decay, and death that mar the entire world around us (Romans 8:20–22). These are the result of God’s judgment of man’s rebellion and sin in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:14–19). Fossils, for example, are testimony to the global Flood judgment (Genesis 7:19–24), and the different human languages are a reminder of the dispersion judgment at Babel (Genesis 11:1–9).
What was at the heart of man’s rebellion that brought sin and death into the world? Was it not Adam and Eve’s doubt of God’s Word and His sovereign all-knowing authority? Satan set a trap by causing doubt: “Has God indeed said”? (Genesis 3:1). Adam and Eve fell for the trap by choosing to become their own authority, rather than totally submitting to God’s authority and what He had told them.
Sadly so many scientists and scholars today, even those who call themselves Bible-believing, fall for Satan’s same trap. This in spite of the apostle Paul’s warning (2 Corinthians 11:3). Rather than always beginning with God’s Word as our ultimate authority, they instead place more trust in the ideas and opinions of those who ignore, and even oppose, God’s Word as the basis for investigating earth’s history.

Haven’t we learned from the repeated failures of God’s people, Israel? Don’t we often think how “dumb” the Israelites must have been to repeatedly fail in their obedience to His Word? So often God delivered them by His powerful actions—the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the drowning of Pharoah and his army—but sometimes even within days they grumbled and rebelled against His authority.
Yet we are no better today! Over the past 25 years I have met so many professing Christians, including scientists and pastors, who are adamant that Genesis can’t really mean God created in six literal days only thousands of years ago; they also deny that God later judged the world with the global catastrophic Flood. They claim that geologic evidences presented by evolutionary scientists and scholars (evidences that have been interpreted without the Bible as the ultimate authority) don’t agree with the Bible! Well, of course they don’t! Therefore, they say, God’s Word can’t be taken literally, and has to be re-interpreted!

I am utterly amazed by this totally inconsistent reasoning. Those who are guilty of it are in reality accusing the infinite, all-powerful, triune Creator God of not being able to communicate accurately and clearly what He meant to tell us in His Word. Instead, the reasoning of sinful, finite, fallible men who are in rebellion against God is regarded as more reliable in explaining earth’s history!
This is why I am not ashamed to be a creation scientist. Science (so-called, 1 Timothy 6:20) cannot save me from God’s judgment which I deserve as a rebellious sinner. God in His grace and mercy has provided His free gift of salvation (John 3:16). The living Word, my Creator (John 1:1–3), died for me, so how can I not trust His written Word that He used by His Spirit to draw me to Himself? It is the fear of the Lord, not man and man’s opinions, that is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. And God has told us clearly in His Word (the Bible) that He created every thing in six days, and subsequently judged the whole earth by a year-long, mountain-covering, global catastrophic Flood.

One day we all have to stand before our Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, to give an account of our lives (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Let us not forget that Jesus said: “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed” (Luke 9:26; Mark 8:38). I am not ashamed to be a creation scientist who stands on the authority of God’s Word. Will you stand with me?

News for the Week

Brian and I missed seeing everyone yesterday in Sunday School as we were spending our morning with a fun group of four-year-olds.   If anyone has any prayer requests or announcements to add, go to the class Facebook page!  Take some time to go there this week and post when you are unavailable for a class "get-together" during the next month.  Mike and Alison are trying to plan a time for us to get to know each other better!

There are several announcements that need posting, so check them out.

• The Akridges have invited our newly formed class to the annual Easter Egg Hunt at their house on Saturday, April 2.  Be there at 11:00 with a picnic lunch for your family, lawn chairs, blankets, etc.  If you plan to attend, Mike and Brenda need 2 dozen plastic eggs filled with candy (no chocolate or anything that melts) next week.  If you are able to help hide the eggs on Friday night, April 1, let them know.  Our class needs to figure out who wants to bring chips, drinks, and desserts (brownies, cookies, etc. that don't require utensils).  Another treat for the day is the Easter story being told by Ann Hill for the kids!  It should be a fun day, so make plans to attend!!
• Upcoming Prayer & Pampers showers!  Prayer & Pampers showers are showers for mothers who are having their second (or third or fourth) child.  The class shows up and showers them with diapers and wipes and (most importantly) prayers!  We will be celebrating the impending arrival of Baby Kate with Kris Rush on Sunday, March 28 at 5:30 at Emily Wolfe's house.  We will be celebrating with Becky to get her ready for Baby Hudson on Tuesday, April 6 at 6:30 at Elaine Price's house. 
• A new Tuesday morning Bible study led by Natalie Johnson begins tomorrow morning at 9:45!  Books have been purchased by the church and are $13 so bring cash or check. 

When Life is Unfair

Andy Stanley is pastor of North Point Community Church and son of Charles Stanley. In his book How Good is Good Enough his summary of Christianity goes something like this...  “Christianity is based on the premise that God laid aside fairness and opted for mercy and grace instead."  As we enter this Easter season, let's remember Mark 15 and what Jesus suffered in order to save a world of sinners.  Justice is getting what I deserve, mercy is not getting what I deserve, and grace is getting what I don't deserve...

"With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.  The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." 

Mark 15:37-38

Announcements

• Prayer & Pampers for Kris Rush - March 23 at 7:00 at Brenda's house
• Prayer & Pampers for Becky Rogers - April 6 at 6:30 at Elaine's house
• MetroChangers - Saturdays, April 5 - May 1... Chris Chambers will hold a short informational meeting in the Chapel this Wednesday night at 7:30 if you are interested.
• We will be starting the Love & Respect marriage series next Sunday.  Mike will hit play on the dvd at 9:30.

I am not ashamed.

Has anyone seen this commercial yet?  I thought it was pretty cool when I saw it last week.  It definitely made my ears perk up, so look for it and check out the site here. 



Announcements

• Prayer and Pampers shower for Kris Rush on March 23 at Brenda's house - 7:00!
• Prayer and Pampers shower for Becky Rogers on April 6 at Elaine's house - 6:30!
• A Prayer and Pampers shower is an opportunity to celebrate the upcoming arrival of a new life!  Since the Akridge class recently branched off into the Hollingsworth class, we'll all be showering Kris and Becky together.  Bring a gift of diapers and have a time of prayer for the mother and baby - lots of fun!

New beginnings...

The Akridge Sunday School class has been extremely blessed in recent months with a growing crowd with new faces each Sunday to study God's Word.  Due to the tremendous growth it is time to start a new class to make room for even more growth.  Several couples from the Akridge class have joined with Mike & Alison Hollingsworth to start this new adventure.  We will be meeting in Room 307 of the Francis Building at 9:15 each Sunday morning, so please come join us.  This is an exciting time in the life of our church, so pray for the new class as it begins and for those looking for a church/Sunday School home!

"Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;

his greatness no one can fathom."

Psalm 145:3