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There’s Hope for a New Generation of Young People

Nicki was cleaning the house the other day and found a paper airplane one of the boys had made lying on the floor. As she went to put it into the trash can she noticed that it had writing on it, so she opened it up and found a note Gavin had written. Apparently, Gavin had a class assignment where he had to write a note which included all of his spelling words. Nicki showed me the note, I was totally amazed.

Gavin is 9 years old and is writing about God as if he has known him for 25 years. I wish I had this level of understanding about God when I was 9 years old and now that I am 31, I wish more adults had this level of understanding about God. I am biased being that I am Gavin’s dad, but I am proud of him that he would write something like this for school, but also because he seems to truly understand our God. I read this and immediately felt confident that there is hope for the upcoming generation of young people. May God continue to raise up a generation of young men and young ladies who will live gospel-centered lives for the glory of God.

Click on the image to enlarge it, if you still can’t read it, I typed the words out below and underlined his spelling words as they appear in the note.

CLICK Photo to Enlarge

 

I live in the state of Georgia where we lively honor God. He wants us to be honest. He will direct us away from evil. He is the direction. There is no doubt that he is good. He is not doubtful of people who worship him. I know he is good and not evil. He is not unknown he is known by people who love him. He can make me relive. He is living and there are statues of him, but we worship he himself. He is honorable. Honestly, I love him. He is my director. He will not indirect us, he is always leading us in the right direction. He is undoubted and always trusted. He gives us knowledge.

My favorite parts:

He is living and there are statues of him, but we worship he himself.
Honestly, I love him.

 

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Ministering When It’s Inconvenient

I am re-posting this from my wife Nicki and my mother-in-law Elaine on Facebook. It appears the original post came from the True Woman blog by Erin Davis. This is a great article…

In Matthew 15:29, we find Jesus trying to rest on a mountainside. He barely sat down when a crowd of people came to Him looking to be healed. How did He respond? He healed them.

When Jesus received word that His cousin, John the Baptist, had been killed, He tried to grieve alone. But crowds of people followed Him and begged for His attention. Scripture tells… …us that instead of hiding in His grief, He had compassion and healed the sick in the crowd (Matthew 14:13–14).

On the night before Jesus was betrayed, He didn’t hide out. He didn’t run away. He spent the evening with His disciples. He even took the time to serve them by washing the mud from their feet (John 13:1–17).

If we look closely, we find an interesting pattern. We know that Jesus spent His time on earth serving others. But have you ever considered how often He ministered when it was inconvenient?

  • He served others when He was tired.
  • He served others when He’d have rather been alone.
  • He served others when He was sad.
  • He served others when He’d been serving non-stop for days and days.
  • He served others when things went terribly wrong in His own life.
  • He even served others when He knew His own death was right around the corner.

I am deeply challenged by this truth. You see, I don’t mind serving others when it’s convenient for me. I like to help out when it works into my schedule or fits into my agenda for the day. But there are lots of times when ministry is inconvenient. I’m tired. I’m stressed. I’ve got more important things to do than to meet the needs of those around me. Under those circumstances, I feel justified in giving priority to my own needs and temporarily ignoring the needs of others.

But this isn’t how Jesus lived. It isn’t how Jesus served. And it isn’t what He wants from you and me.

The reality is, serving others requires sacrifice. If we only do it when it’s convenient, we’re missing the point.

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When God Promises then Waits

Last Sunday, my sermon was When God Promises then Waits. I was reading this devotional today from Experiencing God Day by Day by Henry Blackaby from November 14 and it fit so well with the sermon from Sunday. Check it out, you can watch the sermon below (for some reason the audio was not recorded for the last 5 minutes of the sermon):

God is Faithful

He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

God never calls us to do anything without faithfully keeping His word and enabling us to do it. We are not always faithful to do what God tells us, but He remains faithful and stands by His word to fulfill what He has promised (Isa. 46:11).

When the children of Israel reached the Red Sea, they might have concluded that God had abandoned His promise to them. The sea was barring their advance, and the murderous Egyptian army was racing to overtake them! Yet God proved then, as He has ever since, that He is absolutely faithful to every word He speaks to His children.

God may have spoken to you about something in particular—a ministry in your church, the way to raise your children, or what you should do in your job. You have obeyed Him, but now you face a Red Sea experience. It seems that what you thought God wanted to accomplish is not happening. Perhaps your ministry has not been well received, or your children are rebelling, or those at your workplace are criticizing your actions. Trust in the character of God. It is His nature to be faithful. The testimony of His people throughout the ages is expressed by the psalmist, who declared: “I have been young, and now I am old; / Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, / Nor his descendants begging bread” (Ps. 37:25).

Regardless of how bleak your present circumstances are, do not lose hope. No one has ever experienced unfaithfulness on God’s part! Allow time for God to reveal His faithfulness to you. Someday you will reflect on what God has done and praise Him for His absolute faithfulness to you.

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Celebrate with New Passion on Our Birthday

Hey, friends and family and anyone else reading this! I would love to have you join us at New Passion Church this Sunday, September 11, to celebrate our 2nd Birthday! God has used our small church to make a big impact in people’s lives in just two short years, and we want to celebrate his faithfulness. From 9:10-9:40 am enjoy a pancake breakfast. Immediately following the worship service (begins at 10 am), we’ll have birthday cake and inflatable bounce-houses for the kids.

Invite others to join you this Sunday, we’d love to have you celebrate with us! You can get directions to Patriot’s Park on our website.