Quick Gospel

Psalm 33:15
 he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.

Thought:
With whom do you feel most fluent?  For whom do you feel most  compassion? (exert from Max Lucado's Out live you Life)  it always amazes me when I see someone finally get it.  The fact that Our God has taken time to create us as a being of his own image.  He did this after creating the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the oceans...need I go on.  The most magnificent things in teh world have been created by God.  And he also created us...magnificent as well.  So why then can we not imagine that God has a pre-destined plan for all of our lives.  There is something in each and everyone of us that God has a plan for us to be able to reach.  Who is yours?  The elderly, the sick, the lost, the youth, the homeless!!!  If we can just take off our masquerade to go and do.  We would be able to see what God wants for us all.  More importantly we would be able to view who it is that God has planned for us to reach.

Prayer:
Dear God, remove my blinders so that I can se who it is you need me to reach and teach.
Amen.

Tuned in Tuesday

Hoping all had a blessed Easter.
Here is the viral video of Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill "How Great thou Art" What a great song to celebrate the risen Saviour!!
God Bless.

FRIDAY!!!

We all have our Friday's to go through to get to our Sunday's!!!
Thank you Jesus for enduring yours!!!
Happy, and Blessed Easter to all

Quick Gospel

Matthew 28:6,8
6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

Thought:
The darkest days that were now in the past, have brought new life into this world.  The miracle of the resurrection is what we celebrate during Easter, but let us never forget the trials that were endured to get to this day.  Sounds a lot like life does it not?  Even better than this, is when we come through the trials, let us not sit and keep quiet, GO AND TELL!  This is your evangelism, and most re not aware that they are even doing it.

Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, taking your guidance to reach those with our everyday life stories can be the greatest form of evangelism.  Thank you for including this in your text to let us know that we need to tell others about life, and in doing so we tell them about you!  In this Easter season, guide us with courage, wisdom, and strength to carry on through our trials as you  Son did for us!  Amen.

Tuned in Tuesday

Several fold reason for my choice of music today. The song is Leeland "Via Dolorosa" Reason 1: This is the path that Jesus took from the garden of Gethsemane to the hill of Calvary carrying His cross, he took that path for all of us knowing Him or not knowing Him. Reason 2: Leeland will be perfomring this year at the Baltimore Acquire the Fire Event on May 6-7, I have tickets still available for this event if any would like to join us for this weekend contact me.
May you all have a wonderfully blessed Easter Season!

Love and God Bless to all!

Quick Gospel

Matthew 27:17
So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"

Thought:
What a week this is in the life of the church!  Our Pastor at my church has a great way of taking the hidden messages in text and allowing me to see them in a different way.  A gift I think it is, and the congregation loves him for that ability too!  In pointing out the truths of today's Christians, we seem to bee like the Jews of that day.  How?  Because ask any ordinary christian this question.  Would you willingly take the place of Jesus on the cross, or just stand at the feet of the cross?  There lies the difference between disciple and admirer!  The Jews willingly took Barabbas, a convicted felon of the time to free him over Jesus.  How many Christians do you know that choose that every day by their reactions to calls for help.  Choosing something else over following Christ!  Gulp!!   That is indeed a very hard pill to swallow. Yet in essence that is what we do each, and every time we choose to not follow God's will for our lives.  Think of how differently life would be had you listened and DONE all that He called you to do.  Here is the greatest point though to Christ taking the cross for us, we can freely choose right now to change our lives and live them for God in the very next decision that you make, and then after that, and so on.  How great is our God?

Prayer:
Giver of light and dark, this week let us not think about anything else other that what you sent your Son to do for each of us on the cross in Calvary.  Amen!

Friday Thoughts!

So here it is Friday, yet again.  Happy Friday to all!  As in this lenten season many have given up things to grow closer to God, at least that is the thought premesis behind Lent.  I have given up lunch for lent in preperation for the 30 hour famine I am doing with my youth group in two weeks.  Giving something up is suppossed to be hard rght?  Well I will tell you it is indeed difficult.  I know. I know I still get to eat breakfast and dinner, but it is hard to get by the day without eating any lunch.  So what have I learned so far in this process?  Oddly enough I learned that it is not as easy to give than it is to receive in this case.  I gave up lunch, and in that time that I am hungry I have been communicating more with God than I ever have before.  I have felt the presence of the spirit on my like I have never felt before.  I have felt drawn to do more than just sit and concoct!  So for me it has been easier to receive than it has been for me to give.  All I gave was a simple task of eating, and in replace of that I received God truly as a part of my daily life, and what a blessing that has poured into my life.  With the ability to see and hear more clearly where God intends for me to go this season of Lent has allowed me to grow into a mature christian that God had intended for me to be.  The vision that I feel that he has called me into is wide open.  And in this process of communicating with God instead of eating has allowed me to see those visions as well.  I hope that all of you have had as great of a lesson and lenten experience as what I have so far.

Tuned in Tuesday

Gungor has the spotlight this week with "Beautiful Things". Wonderful worship song! Hope all enjoy and have a great and blessed week.

Quick Gospel

Matthew 20:28
 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Thought:
So I went to see "Soul Surfer" yesterday with some friends and this is the one text that my family walked away learning.  When you take your mind off of your own problems and realize that many others have worse problems then you do.  AND you go and help those people with the bigger problem, God will take care of your problem. 

Prayer:
Dear Gracious God, who are we too complain, we have been given sooo much, but yet we find it so easy to.  When small things effect our daily lives, we beome paralized to the outside world.  But it is in those moments that if we pay attention that is where we will see you best in our lives. Amen.

Friday Thoughts!

Based on Proverbs 22:7

What can I say I, like my wife, love coupons...this is a good and thrifty thing...bad thing though is that most of today's store coupons in order to redeem them you need to use the store credit card.  All that know me, know I like a good bargain, and I am an impulse buyer too!  Just because it is on sale, and you may never see it again in the store especially at that price, why not purchase it...right?
Well last evening on my way home I  stopped  by the local retail store to pay the credit card bill off, because when I singed up to get the card I would be able to save yet another 10% -you mean to tell me if I put one more credit card in my wallet I can save even more today- what a concept, and I bought it hook, line, and sinker.  (The wound is still healing) When the new card showed up, guess what came with it-yep a coupon.  Last evening after I paid off the credit card I was determined to use that coupon too!  My hands were full, I had the latest  fashion hanging in my arms, heck I even had Christmas shopping started.  I just could not pass these deals up and with that coupon it sweetened the pot.  My flesh was burning though, I wanted this stuff badly!  That is when my new years resolution came back as a hard reminder.  I vowed to not use any credit cards this year without having the cash to pay them off once I charged them.  I had, had enough of purchasing things that I did not have the funds to cover the cost of.  I did not need these items, they were simple materials.  If we constantly spend what we don't have, how will we ever pay off what we borrowed to begin with?  Don't borrow against a lender, for they will want payed back.  So if you did not have it to spend, stop spending what you do not have.
God does not want us so caught up with these materials that we are constantly worrying about getting and paying for them.  As long as we owe creditors they will own you.  If you are owned by someone else how will you submit yourself to God? So as hard as your flesh hurts by giving these things up, and believe me it will burn for the material world, we have to give it to God and let him provide for us.
Have a great and blessed weekend!
Craig

Soul Surfer -release April 8th

So what are your dreams, and most importantly what are you telling yourself that keeps you from acheiving those dreams? Check out the trailer for Soul Surfer in theaters this friday the 8th. Then try telling yourself that God does not have a plan for you, and do you still choose to not follow that plan??



Go out today and this week and start on the journey that God has laid out in front of you. Knowing that He has your back and will bring you through what ever gets in your path. God will fill you with exactly what you need to do what He calls you to do.

Amen.

Tuned in Tuesday

Kari Jobe (pronounce like the bible book of Job), walks onto center stage this week with an awesome version of  Phillips, Craig, and Dean's "Revelation Song".  Hope you all enjoy it and have a great and blessed week ahead.

Quick Gospel

Ephesians 5:14b
"Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

Thought:
Yaaawwnn!  Waking up on a monday morning is a difficult task for most.  Like myself, waking up with back aches and the daunting concept of another week starting.  Especially for myself where it feels like there is no weekend anymore.  But look at me grumble over these small trivial details.  That is what makes the secular world full of darkness.  As I tell my Sunday school and youth group kids, The only reason that this world seems so dark is becasue it is absent of light.  We, that call oursleves christians are to be that light.  How many times does someone come to you in a days time maybe just for a brief second or two for advice, consulation?  How do we respond, even as a church, by shrugging them off because we are to tired to deal with it.  Well to me this verse plainly tells us to WAKE UP AND DEAL WITH IT!!  If we don't, the devil will get you right where he wants you...idle hands!!!

Prayer:
Awesome God, we get tired, most of the time that is all you hear from us. Lord give us the wisdom, courage, strength, and patience that is required to get through each of our days being the light that you call us to be. Let us go out and be that light in this dark world that so many are lost in.
Amen.

Shared Thoughts!

Another opportunity for me to share some thoughts about life around me.  This article may be old, I am not sure, but new to me though.  The article I found this week was about the finding of what is believed as codices from biblical times.  The archiologists are not proclaiming them to be specifically from the bible, yet the research that they are performing is indicating that they are leaning to that specific era of time.  As I read this, my mind went into seminary mode and allowed me to revisit what my professor taught us about the possibility that other books of the bible may still be out in the world to be found.  For some this process might pull them away from their beliefs that what is written in the bible as merely a story, and quite possibly does not have ALL the information in it.  One thing that we need to keep in mind is in essence the bible really is written as a story for it's readers.  Now don't get on your soapbox quite yet to want to disagree with me.  The bible is written by many translators, by how they researched the land, the social classes, and demographics of that specific time era.  Now, I do believe that the bible is written as the Word of God, but we need to keep in mind that as stories and research change so will our interpretation of how the bible is written.  And therefore also how we read it too!  Just as in this case of this discovery of the codices, if they are proven to be from the biblical era in there translation and interpretations, that might change yet again how we read the bible.  In this ever changing world that we live in, we need to accept the fact that as the UCC mantra states "God is still speaking", we have to believe that He truly is still speaking to us.  And although His Word will never change, the way he teaches us that word though may very well change indeed.  Can we as secular ridden human beings adapt to this though? Hmmm...
Thanks all and have a great and blessed weekend!
View the article here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110330/ts_yblog_thelookout/could-lead-codices-prove-the-major-discovery-of-christian-history