LIVING PROOF LIVE

Oh, I'm home, I'm home. It's good to be home, but I have to tell y'all that I SO enjoyed the trip to Jacksonville, FL this weekend to see Beth Moore at Living Proof Live. Ten ladies from our church went and we really had a great time. Jacksonville is just a little bit bigger than Glennville, so we were fish out of water! Here are a few pictures of our trip. Beth is just a breath of fresh air and I am so glad that I finally got to see her in person.

It Is Well With My Soul

Just a little history that I found very interesting:



This hymn was written by a Chicago lawyer, Horatio G. Spafford at a time when he had suffered almost unimaginable personal tragedy.

Horatio G. Spafford and his wife, Anna, were pretty well-known in 1860’s Chicago. And this was not just because of Horatio's legal career and business endeavors. The Spaffords were also prominent supporters and close friends of D.L. Moody, the famous preacher. In 1870, however, things started to go wrong. The Spaffords' only son was killed by scarlet fever at the age of four. A year later, it was fire rather than fever that struck. Horatio had invested heavily in real estate on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1871, every one of these holdings was wiped out by the great Chicago Fire.

Aware of the toll that these disasters had taken on the family, Horatio decided to take his wife and four daughters on a holiday to England. And, not only did they need the rest -- DL Moody needed the help. He was traveling around Britain on one of his great evangelistic campaigns. Horatio and Anna planned to join Moody in late 1873. And so, the Spaffords traveled to New York in November, from where they were to catch the French steamer 'Ville de Havre' across the Atlantic. Yet just before they set sail, a last-minute business development forced Horatio to delay. Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go as planned. He would follow on later. With this decided, Anna and her four daughters sailed East to Europe while Spafford returned West to Chicago.

On November 2nd 1873, the 'Ville de Havre' had collided with 'The Lochearn', an English vessel. It sank in only 12 minutes, claiming the lives of 226 people, including the Spafford's four daughters. Horatio Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales. It read: "Saved alone."

Upon hearing the terrible news, Horatio Spafford boarded the next ship out of New York to join his bereaved wife. Bertha Spafford (the fifth daughter of Horatio and Anna born later) explained that during her father's voyage, the captain of the ship had called him to the bridge. "A careful reckoning has been made", he said, "and I believe we are now passing the place where the de Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep." Horatio then returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of his great hymn.

The Spaffords later had three more children, one of whom (a son) died in infancy. In 1881 the Spaffords, including baby Bertha and newborn Grace, set sail for Palestine.

This story reminded me of Job, and it is another reminder of how blessed we truly are and how no matter what happens, we should always put our trust in God. "All things work together for good to them that love the Lord" (Rom 8:28)

POWERFUL EASTER MESSAGE

This clip illustrates in a powerful way how the sacrifice of Jesus must have completely broken the heart of God the Father, and how Easter should also include a time of expressing our gratitude not only to Jesus, but to the Father as well.

This week over a billion people will celebrate Easter. We celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ came back from the dead after paying the ultimate price for our sins. We celebrate the fact that salvation is available through trusting in the risen Savior of the world. But even though we celebrate, sometimes we forget. There was more than one sacrifice that was made on the hill called The Skull where Jesus hung on the Cross and poured out His life.

There was also a Daddy. He watched in heaven as His precious Son was spit on, insulted, tortured, and finally murdered by people who had no idea who they were killing. The heart of God the Father must have been shattered into a million pieces as the land grew dark and Jesus cried out to His Papa. Then Jesus shouted, "Father, I entrust My spirit into Your hands!" And with those words he breathed his last." (Luke 23:46)

That's why this Easter you need to remember and celebrate not only the earthly side of the gospel message, but the heavenly side as well. "But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." (Romans 5:8)

While we were on the train, headed for destruction, while we were addicts and selfish, sinful people, while we were clueless about the destiny of eternal souls, a Daddy chose to love us and choose to let His one and only Son be crushed by the gears of Crucifixion.

On Easter Sunday, take some time to watch the video again. Let it remind you of the tragedy and triumph of that first Easter, and let it convince you that you have a heavenly Daddy that loves you too much to live without you. What you need to know about this truth is that Easter is the time when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we also need to remember how God showed His amazing love by sending Jesus to die for our sins.

And what you need to feel about this truth is that Psalm 22 was written from the perspective of Jesus as He was hanging on the Cross. Read it and imagine how Jesus felt and how the Father felt as He watched Jesus suffer for us.

What you need to do about this truth is to thank God the Father for sending Jesus to die for our sins.

WAKE UP!

Things have been happening lately. Happening locally and happening nationally. Storms, strange weather, young people having heart attacks and getting cancer, freak accidents taking the lives of people young and old. I don't know if I'm just now noticing all this because I'm getting older (no comment), or if it really is happening more and more. We are receiving more and more wake up calls. How many wake up calls do you need? If you haven't gotten serious about God, you are taking a risk. Because you are not promised tomorrow, come to think of it you aren't even promised the next minute. The good news is that if you are saved, you have an eternal home to look forward to. That means that even if you don't live to see tomorrow here on earth, you will wake up in a mansion that was prepared for you by Jesus himself. John 14:1-3 tells us this: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

But if you have not prayed and asked Jesus to come into your heart to be Lord of your life, what do you have to look forward to in eternity? We are all sinners, we all come short and do not deserve the mercy God gives us. Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" The wages of sin is death. We deserve to die, because we have all sinned. But Jesus Christ, the son of God, paid that debt for us when he died on the cross. He died for us. He gave the ultimate gift. Salvation is the most wonderful gift you will ever receive. All we have to do is accept it.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Well, it's true. Today is the big day, I'm the big 30!



Don't worry April, you're next! Ha, ha!

Rise Again

Rise Again
Ray Boltz
Words and Music by Dallas Holm

Go ahead drive the nails in My hands,
Laugh at Me where you stand.
Go ahead, and say it isn't Me,
The day will come when you will see,

'Cause I'll rise again.
There's no pow'r on earth
Can tie Me down.
Yes, I'll rise again,
Death can't keep Me in the ground.

Go ahead mock My name,
My love for you is still the same.
Go ahead and bury Me,
But very soon I will be free.

'Cause I'll rise again.
There's no pow'r on earth
Can tie Me down.
Yes, I'll rise again,
Death can't keep Me in the ground.

Go ahead, and say I'm dead and gone,
But you will see that you were wrong.
Go ahead, and try to hide the Son,
But all will see that I'm the One.

'Cause I'll come again.
There's no pow'r on earth
Can keep it back.
Yes, I'll come again;
Come to take My people back
Yes I'll come again;
Come to take My people back.

Checking In!

Well, this busy week is coming to an end. Today our church served food for the migrant church's health clinic in the migrant community. They had a pretty good turnout and we seemed to have plenty to serve everyone. They were all so thankful to be receiving some good medical care and some good food. I believe everyone that helped, received a blessing, as well as those being served.

This week, it is time to sign up for t-ball and softball. Matthew is a little nervous this year, he'll be using the pitching machine. Lily will be playing t-ball. I think they will both have a great time once they get started. So, once ball gets started, we'll be even busier! But, it only lasts for a couple of months.

By the way, the kids are doing better. Lily started running fever mid-week and had to get an antibiotic. Still coughing, but that's about it. I haven't come down with anything (other than sinus and allergies). Bryan had a touch of something during the week, but he seems to be feeling better too. Everyone at work seems to be getting over it. I am praying that it all gets better, maybe once the weather gets warm and stays warm.

Looking forward to another busy week!