Heritage: Are you leaving one of victory or defeat?

This past Sunday was dubbed by the leadership as 'Heritage Sunday: Building Homes that Glorify God.' In effort to give the flock a biblical focus on what is truly important.

Therefore, I thought and prayed of how I can speak about this topic to Timothy's Well. The Lord led me to the small New Testament book of Jude. I really love this little letter for from it I have learned the biblical importance of knowing your history, knowing what you believe, and knowing who you believe. So this past Sunday I began a study oncerning the main point of this letter.

First let me give the context from which this letter was written.
From the introduction in the ESV:

"The letter of Jude warned against those who, having gained admission to the church, were perverting the grace of God, denying “our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (v. 4). Jude used Old Testament examples to warn of these “blemishes” on the church. He wrote multiple denunciations of these ungodly people who “defile the flesh” and “reject authority” (v. 8). In contrast, he urged Christians to continue in godliness and love toward such people, convincing some, “snatching them out of the fire” (vv. 22–23). The book of Jude closes with one of the most beautiful doxologies in all of Scripture (vv. 24–25). Jude was probably the half brother of Jesus Christ and the brother of James. Jude likely wrote in about a.d. 69."

The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 . Standard Bible Society: Wheaton

How does this context apply to the church today?

Burying A Friend

A month has gone by since my last post. Much has happened since then that has contributed to change and transition in my life. It all happened on Tuesday, August 21.

That morning I awoke with a new task ahead of me, my first day of teaching at Twin City Christian Academy. The day went so well! I was able to begin all my classes by laying the foundation of a Christian Worldview and it seemed that all my students were eager to soak up the truth I presented. I realized that this was going to be the routine for the next nine months of my life.

As I was reading my email after school, I discovered that one of my childhood friends passed away. Matt Potter, one of my closest friends. I immediately drove to his mother's house to find her and Matt's older brother mourning. Susan, Matt's mother asked me to do the funeral services. I agreed.

Daunting Dangerous Dean

As I type this post Hurricane Dean is a growing Category 4 storm with stats like: Winds - 150 mph, and could dump 20 in. of rain. Right now it is on a collision course for Mexico. People are evacuating like there is no tomorrow. Foxnews reports that people are sleeping on the floors of the airport just to get a flight out to anywhere as long it is away from Dean. People might be leaving, to the risk of a high death toll now limited but does that excuse the church from being on her toes to help? No way! We need to ready to jump in to these disaster zones. We need to be more ready than the government. It is our mandate to take opportunities like these to show the lost and dying world the action of the gospel! For the Gospel of Christ is alive and powerful! Therefore, let's pray that the Lord will send laborers to this field of harvest. Maybe you will be one of them.

End of Summer!

Well friends, the end of summer has arrived. Now it's time to go back to our school/work schedules. We had so much fun last night with everyone coming to my apartment for the end of summer bash. I want you all to know that I thank the Lord for each of you in prayer. I am excited to see each of you grow in your walk with Christ, and I am excited to see the gospel be displayed in your lives. May you never forget that involvement is grounded in the gospel. In fact, it is a gospel mandate. Each of you have orphans and widows in your midst, God has placed them in your lives so that He can show forth His Fatherhood and you get to be a part of that! WOW! How amazing and humbling! So often we seem not to care enough about the people around us be it at school, work, or neighbors to get involved in their lives. The gospel gives us a mandate to be involved, and it motivates us to get involved because it His power that transforms lives, not our power.
Grace and Peace!
Michael

Back to College Party!

When: This Sunday night after church, around 7:30
Where: My Apartment
Food: Grilled Brats, Hot- Dogs, Burgers
Bring: Yourself and pop (not soda), water or juice

I am looking forward to seeing everyone!

Only one Life to Live - P2

My grandfather ended up passing away a week ago today at 6:40 in the morning.

The Lord allowed me the privilege of having the last conversation with my grandfather. It was the Sunday before his death. That afternoon I found him in the lunch room sitting at a table all by himself. My heart sank like a rock in water. As I came into his view he turned and looked at me. Then his face lit up into a bright smile from ear to ear. He said to me "Boy you surely are looking sharp today. You're all color-cordinated. The only thing you need is a tie clasp." I had just come from church. As we sat there he enjoyed a couple glasses of red kool-aid, which he offered me some. He told me he liked being there, especially in the dining room because the workers would get him anything he requested. He was very nicely dressed, 'classy', and topped with one of his favorite 'Yale' styled summer caps. What is most important about this time with him is what I got to say to him, for I knew that the end was near.
I started off general. I told him that everyone loves him and wants him to get well. Then I told him that I love him very much. I thanked him for all that he has done for me, teaching me a strong work ethic, the importance of history, of writting and doing the best possible job. He really shaped me as a man. He just looked at me and smiled. I came over to him and we hugged and I kissed him. After a while I wheeled him back to his bedroom where he had trouble getting out of his chair. So I helped him up and layed him in his bed. It didn't take long for him to close his eyes and drift off into a deep sleep. I stayed there watching him for over fifteen minutes. Then I left. What I didn't know is that he would never again wake out of that sleep.

Oh how we never know the time when the end will come. We too could very easily take a nap and never wake from it. After that happens, then the judgement. Are you ready for that? Or have you wasted your affections, emotions, and desires on loves of this world that you will one day have to cease to love. It will all be nothing at that point; it is all already passing away. The only thing that will matter is what is done for Christ. That is what will truly last. That is what will really count. May our lives truly be described by the Apostle Paul "For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain."

Life Truly is a Vapor!

As I was about to order my lunch this afternoon I got a phone call from my mother who knew that I was about to eat lunch. She told me that my grandfather is unresponsive and an ambulance is taking him to the ER. So I immediately went up to the hospital. Here is one of my experiences while sitting with him.

Alone, watching him struggling to breath. His legs look like they should be on a corpse, dark, purple splotches all over, they are cold. I put my hands in his hands and began to tell him how much he means to me. How I am so thankful for his teaching me a strong work ethic, how to respect people and oneself. He taught me to respect authority and the law. He showed to me faithfulness to his church. He taught me the importance of initative, and the importance of studying, reading and writing. I told him that I love him and that I will be with him all the way. Therefore, I proceded to read the Gospel to Him and told him that I want someone to do that for me when I am in his state. I exhorted him to believe in the words of Jesus, in the death of Christ on the cross for the remission our sins, of His resurrection and ascension, and of the eternal hope promised to those who are born again into the adoption of God. I told of the promises of the Gospel, and again exhorted him to believe. Looking at him, I noticed he had not opened his eyes. I kept my hands in his and asked him to squeeze my hand if he heard me. I felt his fingers feeling mine. He opened one eye and looked at me. Then he closed it and his hands fell limp again. Maybe he believed, just maybe. Our God is sovereign!

He is going to be 84 this coming September 11th. A day that is marked by tragedy for him, for not only is it the day the Twin Towers fell, but it was the day his mother was buried. That makes him almost 84 years young! Around 1 AM my cousin came in to the hospital room to visit him. One of her last memories of our grandpa was from just a few weeks ago. Her memory goes a little like this: "Me and my best friend from college went to visit grandpa. As we went into the house we found him not only doing his laundry but he was watching it. Here is a man that has had all the money a man could want, all the toys he could want, all the successes, with a great influence upon the community over the years with nothing better to do with his time then to watch his laundry being washed." 84 years seems like a long time, but in all reality it truly is only a whisp of vapor. All the things that we do or do not do will count for eternity. Even the small things. Our lives will be marked by tragedies and flaws. We are flawed saints but the beauty is in the remembering of that flawed saint's life. Remembering the grace and power of God wokring through and flowing out from that flawed life. It brings Him great pleasure and it brings us unspeakable joy!