Palm Sunday

So yes tomorrow is Palm Sunday, the day when Jesus rode in on a colt, the foal of a donkey and everyone cheered him as their KING! What an exciting moment that must have been!

For some this was the moment when they thought Jesus was ushering in His Kingdom and defeat the Romans. I have seen portrayals of Judas where he imagined this event turning into Jesus conquering the Roman threat and then when it didn't happen he went nuts and went to the religious leaders trying to force it to happen, unfortunately we all know how it turned out. He betrayed Jesus and the rest is history.

But let's look at that moment of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. He entered through the East Gate, the Golden Gate, to fulfill scripture, and this was the first time Jesus took public applause for him to be the Messiah. The religious leaders trying to tell Him to silence his followers is funny. His response? Luke 10:40, "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." Could you picture it if they had kept quiet? Imagine the stones around Jesus crying out in praise of Him? Wow. Good thing the disciples shouted out! Imagine how that would have changed the story!

Tomorrow is a great day to celebrate! Enjoy!

Are you ready?

So Thursday night I spoke to our youth about being ready fr Christ's return, it was part of a talk about Annihilationalism - that those who don't believe will simply just stop existing someday as part of the "eternal punishment" from God. I told them no, there is a place called hell, it is a place of pain and fire and as the Bible says the smoke rise from it forever. To wrap things up I showed this video... 

Needless to say it impacted the youth. We asked around if they were ready if Jesus should come back before even our meeting ended. Some interesting responses, some said yes, others weren't sure. We stressed to them they should make sure! Hoping some of them went home that night and put their full faith in Christ, but time will tell. The question now is - are YOU ready? Yes, you who are reading this. Are you ready?

Leonard Nimoy, secret Star Trek symbol origins, and God

As a Trek fan, it was sad to hear about the passing of Leonard Nimoy aka Mr. Spock - the original. Who would think that this man was very religious? 

He was a Jewish man who grew up in Russia and never gave up on God. He was beaten for being Jewish at times but never gave in. As we take time to celebrate the life of this man, his dedication to what he believed, in Judaism, I stop to think of how dedicated Christians are - or should be. There are stories of Christians being persecuted around the world, the most recent of course being the 21 men beheaded from Egypt by ISIS. We see examples of this and even of little Leonard Nimoy who wouldn't abandon his faith despite being persecuted. Are we that strong here in North America? If someone started beating us because of the name of Jesus, would we stand strong? If someone came into our church service and pointed a gun at us to renounce our Lord or die, would we? What if they threatened our families in front of us? Tough right? This will come our way one day, the Bible says that. We need to be ready.

So once again, farewell to the original Mr. Spock, he lived long, and he prospered. By the way, did you know the Vulcan "Live long and prosper" symbol...

...it's actually a Jewish symbol? Watch Leonard Nimoy explain it in this video... 

Being on a supply list...

So I am once again on the Supply List for the school board after someone else got the job I had been holding for 5 months. Stinks yes I know. I keep applying to positions when they come up in the board, with Honda, with... you get the point. I am on supply for LIFE 100.3 as well so you may hear me more again as time goes by. We'll see. In the meantime this day to day uncertainty is a test of faith. You are literally living by the grace of God day by day. Literally trusting in Him to provide work day by day. It's humbling to be like this every day after you once had full time work, then see the position reduced to part time from the board level, then see it go to someone else. In times like this I search God out more, lean on Him more. What else can I do right? Some training yes, but still, it's all in His hands.

I put this here to encourage anyone in a similar situation, that God is our only hope in all circumstances. Am I stretched right now? You bet. God's working on me for sure. 

God bless.

Super Bowl and other sports and believers...

So tomorrow is the Super Bowl. I have gotten excited at times for the big game, I'll admit that. It's great with friends for sure. But here's a unique perspective on things like this from the Skit Guys...

Cool keep it in perspective right? It's okay to have fun. Maybe use it as an outreach as some churches do, or have it in your home. So the big question now is, who am I routing for tomorrow in the Super Bowl? Hard to say, I like the friendly wager Chris Evans...

 ...and Chris Pratt...

Chris Evans is a Patriots fan and Chris Pratt a Seahawks fan. They have wagered that if the Patiots lose, Chris Evans will go to Chris Pratt's charity of choice, here's the Tweet... Seahawks win you fly yourself to Seattle, visit @seattlechildren hospital as Captain America, waving the 12th man flag. to which Chris Evans responded on Twitter... I accept. And when the Patriots humiliate your seachickens, I expect Star-Lord to arrive at @chris_haven in a Brady jersey. That's pretty cool. So no matter who wins or loses everyone's a winner here! That's class.

So be creative with your Super Bowl party for the Lord! Just a thought... :)

God's Chisel

God's Chisel - amazing piece from the Skit Guys that I love. You'd have to be hard to not cry with this...

They've done a remastered version, but this first original version got me and I think it's worth sharing. Share this with someone who doubts who they are in Christ, it'll be sure to change them today! Thanks Skit Guys!

Winter BLAHS

Okay, I'm not a winter guy. I used to be kind of, when I had time to go do things like tobogganing, skiing, and so on. But when your winter consist of shoveling snow off the car and driveway and battling those winter roads - the fun kind of leaves, except for maybe the occasional doughnut in an empty parking lot!

For me, the winter is finding great indoor activities until it's warm enough to go outside, and using our hot tub!

Netflix, reading, computer, hanging out with friends and family, using my small electric fireplace with a built in heater is great too! So yes, this weekend when we hit the positive temps? I'll be rejoicing! I'm counting the days until we see spring again! 

In the meantime...