What does the Resurrection mean to me? (An excerpt from prayer & Worship night)

This is an exciting time to be at the Bridge*. This is an exciting time to be a Christian. God is moving in powerful ways and we are here tonight to ask God to lead us and bring us favor as we actively move in the lives of our neighbors during this Easter season and during a Radical Objective*. In devotional time I started thinking about how Jesus’ Resurrection changed my life. I was reading…

 Col 3:1-3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

So now we are redeemed and raised with Christ to a new life where the fears and habits of this life are no longer define who we are. Sin no longer defines who we are. We have been set free of all the things that keep us in bondage in this world.  Seek things that are above. Jesus is renewing our minds and the cares of this life don’t hold the same weight as the things of God. Now we seek a deeper knowledge of Christ, fellowship with Christ, and victory over sin through Christ. We seek an effective prayer life and effective witnessing. These are what truly matter more than any riches or anything offered on earth. Our life is hidden with Christ in God. We have a relationship with Christ that the world cannot understand. We are his and we no longer need to have fear, or anxiety about life or even death for that matter. We can be bold because we are connected with God, we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us and we have eternity to look forward to.

We have this new life but now what do we do with it? Jesus didn’t save us so we could sit in church and wait for eternity to happen. We need to share this new life the same way we received it. Someone shared the gospel with us, shared their testimony with us or invited us to church.  In my story it was my sister. I pray when my children tell their story it will be something like; we just always knew Jesus because mom and dad raised us with the gospel. Your story has someone sharing Christ with you. The fact is someone brought you to Christ and Christ changed your life. So what do we do now? We give what we have received and point other to Christ.

Now is the time to pray! Now is the time to share your hope! God is moving and active in the lives of Christians all over. The gospel is spreading like wildfire in China, India, and Iran. The Church is growing even though Christians are persecuted and killed. People are being saved and lives are being changed in the face of death and persecution. The enemy cannot stop God from moving in the lives of his people. God wants to move in powerful ways right here in Des Plaines.

God is doing powerful things. Just as Pastor Scott said," God is moving in a wave right now and we need to catch that wave". In my life alone God is changing lives in three individuals I’ve been pray for. In two families in my neighborhood he has allowed my family to connect with theirs through our children. Doors that seemed closed are opening. That is one person’s story. We have hundreds of stories happening right now all around us. God is moving in our church and in our lives and our neighborhood with a powerful force ready to answer our prayers.

One of the goals for Radical Objective is that God will move to reach the unchurched and the lost for His glory. We are praying that the Bridge family will double. This is a big goal and our God is able. But God is much bigger than that. I pray the Bridge is only the tip of the iceberg and God's plan is bigger than we can even imagine. I pray that God's plan is an outbreak of salvation coming across this area and even this country as a title wave. We have our small part in God’s big plan I’m excited to be part of this.

Romans: 1:16a For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes”

*The bridge is my local church

*A Radical Objective is a current church goal to spread the gospel

Inspired

I know a young college student and his heart is wide open to serve the Lord. He is going to a secular college and is attending a bible study twice a week through a Christian ministry. On campus he has engaged other students with the Gospel and asked them to attend bible study with him.  His offers have been rejected by everyone he has asked. When I heard this I wanted to feel sorry for him but by the grace of God that is not where this man’s concerns were. He knew he was serving the Lord and he was unconcerned for his feelings. He was concerned about the souls of the students who didn’t know Jesus. He plans to continue with bible study and he’ll continue to invite people knowing he may be planting seeds by the word of God for a later time and may not see the harvest. I believe God will reward his faithfulness.

Sharing your faith is one of the hardest parts of the Christian walk. God has given an awesome gift and I want the whole world to know that Jesus came to this world and freely gave his life so we can be forgiven. Some people will read this and think a man giving his life for another man is just foolishness. That is because they don’t even realize they need salvation. Some will not believe that God created everything seen and unseen. Regardless of what they believe God did create everything including human beings. God created everything perfect and God walked with man in the beginning. Sin changed all that. Sin separated God and man and the curse of death was upon man. Even though sin separated us from God, he had a plan for our salvation. Jesus is that savior. Jesus the Son of God being fully God and fully man lived a sinless life. He demonstrated his authority as the Messiah by performing great miracles. He healed the sick, brought sight to the blind, the lame walked and the dead lived again. He taught the truth of the Kingdom of God and was put to death by the people he came to save as a criminal. He was crucified on a Roman cross and while dying God laid on him the sins of all mankind past, present and future. Three days later he rose from the dead crushing sin and death under him. He was seen by hundreds of his followers in the forty days after his resurrection and this is written in the scriptures. Jesus paid the price for my sin, your sin and the sin of anyone who by faith will accept this free gift of Jesus. Accept it and it will change your life.

I am a follower of Jesus and sometime sharing my faith with others is the hardest thing to do. Even though I know Jesus is the only way to fellowship with God, Jesus is the only way to be forgiven of sin and Jesus is the only way to eternal life. It is still hard. But I do share. I have been mocked. I have been teased. I have been laughed at and worse. But Jesus called us to be the light of the world. Jesus called us to proclaim the gospel to all nations and make disciples. So I will. I am inspired by that young college student who keeps sharing and keeps sharing even though he has not seen the fruit of his labor. I am inspired by the thousands of persecuted Christians who even under the most severe adversity continue in faith to proclaim the Gospel. Many throughout history have given their lives to share this “Good News”. In my comfortable life I call it hard and no one has sought my life because of the gospel. My prayer tonight for me and all Christians is for God to grant us boldness to proclaim the truth of the Gospel in love.

Why do I follow Jesus?

Have you ever sat done and asked yourself a question like that? Have you ever tried to discover why you do anything? Usually we come up with answers like; because that’s what my parents did or that is what I was taught in school or that is one of our traditions or even because that is the law. All these reasons when put into the light of Jesus are the recipe of religion. Truly following Jesus is so far beyond religion. You can not follow Jesus by rules, traditions or laws. Following Jesus requires a relationship.

My family introduced me to the idea of Jesus but he never felt real. The giant sized Jesus statues, the candles, repetitive prayers, church organs, priests and rules never made me feel close to God. I didn’t get it. I just felt insignificant and far away from the person, Jesus, who people said was my savior.  

I had some friends that lived around the block. They spoke of Jesus as having a relationship with them. This was so foreign to me. No one in my church ever mentioned a relationship. My aunt was a Catholic Nun and she never spoke of a relationship. The priests who read the gospel to us and spoke homilies to us never said anything about a relationship. So one day I asked those friends, how do you have a relationship with someone in heaven when we are here on earth? They said, “’You must be born again’. This is what Jesus said.” I was in eighth grade when all this was taking place and I was very confused about Jesus. Why don’t I know Jesus? What relationship? What is born again? We were getting ready for confirmation in church but what could I confirm I had nothing but questions and no one had answers.

I gave up on religion and just lived. I always felt something significant missing and tried to fill it with many things. Everything I tried to fill my life with left me feeling emptier than before. It was like I was running further and further from my destination even though I had no clue where I was to go. One day I ran into my cousin at work and he spoke to me about Jesus. He told me things like “Jesus came to give me an abundant life, Jesus loves me, He loved me so much that he gave his life for me” my cousin let me know all the stories I heard in church and religion class about Jesus were done for me. I eyes were starting to open; I had never heard the gospel made so personnel. A week later I received a package in the mail. It was a MacArthur study bible with a list of scriptures I should read. The bible sat unopened for weeks. I remembered reading the bible once before only to discover I’ve been lied to and I wasn’t sure I was willing to do this again.

I opened the bible to John 3:16 and I read; “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” I was so intrigued by this verse. Could Jesus really love me? I read on for a few weeks trying to wrap my head around this Jesus and his love for the world, his love for me and being saved. I soon lost interest and went on just doing what I’ve been doing. I tried so many things but was never satisfied I just felt like every relationship I had and all the parties I went to and trying to do all the world had to offer just left me empty. I had so much regret and depression. I was at my end. It was at my end is where I realized the most powerful relationship I ever had. I was depressed, suicidal and utterly rejected. This is where Jesus found me. He found me in a place where I couldn’t get any lower. He saved my life that night through my sister who had found Jesus a few years before. I read his word and it fed my soul and gave me life. I went to a bible teaching church and I learned the truth about Jesus. I prayed and he answered. I got it. I know what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. I prayed he would forgive me for all my sin. I prayed that he would enter my heart and stay with me. He forgave me and he is with me through his Holy Spirit and he has given my salvation through his grace by his work on the cross and nothing I have done.

This is how I came to have a relationship with Jesus, but why do I follow Jesus? Can I have this relationship with Buda? No. Can I have this relationship with Allah? No. Can I have this relationship with the many gods of Hinduism? No. Can I have this relationship as a Jew? Only if I realize Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the promised messiah. Can any religion give me fellowship with God the creator of the universe? No, there is no religion that can give me fellowship with God only a relationship with Jesus can give fellowship with God. Jesus said, “…I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” John 14: 6, 7

So why do I follow Jesus? The apostle Peter said it best “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,” John 6:68

Should be the most wonderful time of the year

This may sound ridiculous but the holiday season is sometimes the hardest time of the year to be a Christian. Stores and mega sellers have been advertising Christmas specials and Black Friday deals since October. The commercialization of Christmas is heartbreaking, especially when those profiting have tried to take Christ out of everything. Everything has a price and we are sold dreams and desires. We are made to believe that consumerism and stuff will make us “happy”. People have been trained by television to respond like Pavlov’s dog to the sound of the bell. People hear a jingle and whip out a credit card while Pavlov’s dog ran for the Alpo. I really want to know, how much is enough? How can we want more when we don’t appreciate what we have?

Personally my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I am so blessed to have the freedom I have, to have the family I have, my health and so much more. I love the idea of gathering with family and friends to enjoy our blessings. To thank God for all the good things we have, to remember that all good things come from God, and to pray. It’s a simple holiday with God at its center. I love the service we have a church the night before Thanksgiving Day. We have a simple worship service based on thanking God for all he has done and giving him the praise he deserves with music, prayer and reflection. It is amazing what God can do in your life when you have a thankful heart. I love the story of the first Thanksgiving. In September of the year 1620 people suffered a two month journey to reach a new land so they could enjoy religious freedom. Their first winter in New England nearly wiped out half their colony. These people cried out to God in their suffering and he answered them by sending them two friendly native men to teach them how to live in this new and strange place. The next year they had a bountiful harvest and celebrated with their new found friends and their people. Ninety Wampanoag Indians and Fifty Pilgrims feasted, played and prayed giving thanks to God for all he has blessed them with. They endured many hardships but they didn’t forget to pray and thank God through their trials. Three American President signed Thanksgiving proclamations including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Grover Cleveland. I believe Thanksgiving should be a bigger deal than it is but it lands right in between two of the biggest money makers in the retail world, Halloween and Christmas.

Don’t get me wrong I enjoy Christmas once I’m with my friends and family, but it’s the time leading up to Christmas that gets on my nerves. Commercials, ads, spam e-mails, the Church and Sate separators and the Happy Holiday Sayers are out in force right now and it is enough to drive you nuts.  A friend of mine posted this poem on Facebook and it pretty much sums up how I feel right now.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! T'was the month before Christmas__When all through our land,__Not a Christian was praying__Nor taking a stand.__See the PC Police had taken away__The reason for Christmas - no one could say.__The children were told by their schools not to sing__About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.__It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say__December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.__Yet the....................................... ...shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit__Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!__CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-Pod__Something was changing, something quite odd!__Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa__In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.__As Targets' were hanging their trees upside down__At Lowe's the word Christmas - was nowhere to be found.__At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears__You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.__Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty__Are words that were used to intimidate me.__Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen__On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !__At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter__To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.__And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith__Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace__The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded__The reason for the season, stopped before it started.__So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'__Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.__Choose your words carefully, choose what you say__Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS ,__not Happy Holiday !__Please, all Christians join together and__wish everyone you meet__MERRY CHRISTMAS__Christ is The Reason' for the Christ-mas Season!__......pass it on if you like. :) MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!-Author Unknown.

The only gift I want for Christmas I have already received and that is Salvation. The only gift I want everyone I meet to have is to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) This was and is the greatest gift you will ever receive for Christmas or anytime. This is the reason of Christmas, the holiday season, and your existence in this life. Jesus is the reason.

The Colors of the Season

It seemed like it just happened overnight. One day the trees were full of green leaves and now golden leaves all over the ground. It seems like I didn’t have time to enjoy the changing of the colors. Now it’s time to rake up all the colors of fall before I ever had time to prepare for the changing of the seasons.  You would think that I would not get caught by surprise anymore but I still am. I will feel the same way when I see the first snowflake of winter. I know no matter how late in the season it will be too soon. The same things happen in our seasons. Looking back things seemed to start off so slow and everything took forever to unfold and before you know it I was learning how to read and write and suddenly I'm teaching my children how to read and write. All the seasons in between happened so fast I hardly realize the transitions.

Now I’m more aware. I have changed focus on my life and I seeing life in the context of eternity. With this perspective I notice the changing of the seasons in my life. I don’t know exactly what is to come but I know change is coming. I will be turning forty this year but that is just a number it has some but little to do with the season. So what’s changing? Well as a father and a husband I am teaching my children now just as my parents had their season to teach me. I am teaching them about Jesus and if I teach them nothing more in this life I know I obeyed the Lord in my most important assignment as a parent. I have embraced God’s instruction to be the spiritual leader in my home and to show the love of Christ by example to my family. Although I fall short, I try and love my wife as Christ loves the church and by the grace of God I am training up my children in the way they should go. I am teaching my family to have a social conscience. I’m helping to equip them to share the gospel and resources. I’m showing them a life outside of ourselves. I make sure they thank God for what they have and making sure they understand that most of the world lives on a small percentage compared to our blessings. I’ve taught them about the persecuted church and as we worship Jesus in our lives in the open we must pray and support our brothers and sisters around the world who are persecuted, tortured, and killed for the name of Jesus.

My season is changing as a follower of Christ as well. I have gone from unsaved to saved over a dozen years now when I accepted Jesus and let him take my sins with him on the cross. Now I am going from the one being ministered to the one God is using to minister to others. Now I am being asked to lead a ministry at church. I know I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. By his grace I will be ready for this season as well. I don’t know exactly what Jesus has planned for the rest of my life. I have small children and my primary mission is to raise them up to fear the Lord, to trust Jesus as their savior and to live a life pleasing to God. God has placed a desire in my heart to minister to the homeless in and around Chicago. I have only acted on this in small ways so far but I have a vision of a ministry to come and I pray for God to make a way, but I know right now is not the season. When my children grow older more and more seasons will come and go. There will be ministries and missions God will call me to and I will serve, in their season. I don’t know how long or how short the rest of this life will be. What I do know is Christ will make sure I am ready for all seasons of this life and my final season in eternity.  Can you feel the changing seasons in your life?

Ten Years Gone: Remembering September 11, 2001

I spent a good portion of this morning reliving our countries worst nightmare. In a few days is the tenth anniversary of the most horrific recent event on American soil; an event that changed American history forever. The average American lost their innocents and belief in their own security on September eleventh two thousand one. The fact that WE are hated by others went from being an idea to reality in seconds. Americans were burst straight out of our bubble into the same reality Israel has endured since its reestablishment in 1948. That is WE have enemies and they want us dead. I am sure at this point you are expecting me to start a rant against fundamental Islam; I am not. The war we are in is much bigger than that the “War on Terror” former President George Bush declared ten years ago. This scope is much bigger, the scope is biblical.

Paul tells is in Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”. Before you can fight a war you need to know your enemy. We are not fighting Islam. We are not fighting terrorism. We are not fighting against people at all. Right now the armies of the United States and its allies are in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting Al Qaida.  In Israel it is Hamas. In Somalia there are warlords and pirates killing innocent people who have been starving after years of civil war. In the Balkans July 1995 Slobodan Milosevic ordered the mass murder of over 7000 Muslim men. Adolf Hitler attempted to exterminate the Jews in the Holocaust during WWII. Prior to that there was the colonial slave trade of African Nationals perpetrated by the British and the Dutch and finally ended in the United States by the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln. In 1520 after some of Cortes’ men massacred Aztecs in their temple and after fleeing for his life Cortes left behind the bodies of dead crewmen whom died of small pox. Millions of Native Americans died due to this action. Evil and evil plans can be followed all the way back to the beginning of man. Man was tempted by evil in the garden by our true enemy, Satan. He is the enemy of our souls and the same enemy who will rise up one evil puppet after another until the last days when “the Anti-Christ” comes to power.

Now that we know who we fight let’s talk about how we fight. We fight in the spirit in prayer. We fight by being light in the dark. We tell the world about Jesus. We follow Jesus’ “Great Commission Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matt 28 19, 20. Our battle field is our neighborhood reaching neighbors, friends and family for Christ. Our purpose is to spread the gospel for the glory of God. Our weapons are truth, the word of God and prayer. Our tactics are evangelism, discipleship, giving to foreign missions or participating in missions, fellowship in our local church, caring for the needy and prayer. Jesus ordered us to watch and pray. Jesus ordered us to “fear not”. Jesus promised to be with us. Jesus has already giving us the victory when he died on the cross taking all our sins and then defeated death and sin when he proved that he is God rising from the dead three days later. We can be confident even as the world becomes darker and darker that Jesus will return in victory:

Revelations 19:11-21. Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, "Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great." And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

Take heart my friends because this is how the war ends. Peace and Love. Amen

Remember in your prayers:

The families of the World Trade Center victims

The families of the fallen heroes from NYPD and FDNY

The family of the victims in the pentagon

The family of the passengers and crew of American Airline flight 11

The family of the passengers and crew of American Airline flight 77

The family of the passengers and crew United Airline flight 93

The family of the passengers and crew United Airline flight 175

Great is Your Faithfulness

Ok the family is back into its routine. Mom and Dad are back to work, Makayla is living the kindergarten life and Daniel is back on his nap schedule. Tomorrow we will all go to our church for worship and see our friends there. Makayla will be in her regular children’s ministry and Daniel will be in a familiar nursery. Last week we were out of town at my brother’s house on Castle Rock Lake for our annual family reunion. This year my sister Jean could not make the trip and she was greatly missed. Despite the absentees we had a great time. My family arrived late Friday night. It was just my eldest brother and his wife there. On Saturday my other brother, his wife and in-laws, my eldest sister, then later her eldest daughter, boyfriend and his kids showed up.  On Sunday my third sister came with her family. We had a great time Saturday. My wife and I took the kids paddling on the lake in kayaks. Makayla caught her first fish that evening right off the peer. Her secret is a “Barbie” fishing pole, night crawlers and it doesn’t hurt fishing on my brother’s home turf with him knowing exactly where to put the line. We put Daniel to bed and when it got good and dark the rest of us went outside by the fire. We were reminiscing about being a kid in our family. That conversation turned real dark real quick. So the subject changed and we all talked about being juvenile delinquents. In the mist of all this I started looking at the stars. The sky was clear and I was thinking about God who created all things great and small. It was midnight and Makayla had eaten too many s’mores and we had to carry her to bed.

Sunday morning the alarm on my phone is rang at 6am. I shut off the alarm and for the first Sunday in a long time I was debating if we were going to church or not. I knew the voice in my head telling me it’s ok, your on vacation go back to bed, was not God. Then the Holy Spirit started bringing things to my recollection. First he reminded me that it was God’s Faithfulness that brought me out from my backsliding. My wife and I were looking for a church. Then one day my daughter had woken up from a dream. She told my wife, “Mommy I saw Jesus coming in the clouds.” This caught me by surprise because although we prayed with her and read to her from the children’s bible she had no way of knowing this piece of scripture. This dream had to come from God. A few weeks later God really started to work on my heart. He was letting me know he has a purpose for my life and I needed to live the life he has set before me and to stop running away from his will. Later he showed me a vision of what he had done for me. I was there at Mount Calvary and it was me hammer in one hand and a spike in the other driving the nail through where his palm met his wrist. For me, he showed me that he did it for me. I felt my hard heart ripped from my chest and replaced with a heart of flesh filled with love. That day I cried out to God and I promised if he made a way for me to go to church, with his help, I will be faithful to go with my family. A week later I had Sunday mornings off from work and that day my family made plans to go to Des Plaines Bible Church. To our surprise it was now “The Bridge” and we felt the love of God as soon as we walked through the doors.

By 7am everyone was showered or bathed and we were heading to Mauston for Church. God is good. We had time to pick up some breakfast, feed the kids, and get to the church. Along the way we thought we made a wrong turn and were going to turn around. What do you know? The driveway we were going to turn around in was the Church. We had ten minutes to spare. I liked this church, it wasn’t “The Bridge” but the worship was genuine, the message was convicting and the church was alive with the spirit of Christ. I did take with me one pearl of wisdom from the service. The Pastor had a great illustration I’m going to hold onto for a while. He said,

“When a vessel is full and it is upset whatever the vessel is full of will pour out. You have a jug full of liquid and when you tip it you see water pour out you know that it was full of water. You have a wet sponge and when you squeeze it water comes out you know it was wet with water. Now ask yourself the last time you were upset, tipped, or squeezed what came out? Was it blessings or curses? Was it good or evil? When you were tipped what poured out? Did you forgive the person who tipped you? Did you bless them? Did you pray for them? Or did you get angry, curse them out or push them back? When you are tipped and the things of God pour out you show you are filled with the Holy Spirit but if things that are not of God pour out…?”

After hearing this I thought of the words of Jesus in Matthew 15:18 “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.”

We went back to my brother’s after service and everyone was up and moving around and by this time my sister had arrived with her husband and two boys. I was in a great mood; I was ready to hear all the jokes and all the teasing about going to church today. It didn’t happen and I was surprised. I think now, compared to all my saved life, I wasn’t hiding my light under a basket in front of my family. I wasn’t just going along to get along. Jesus is the first love of my life and for the first time I don’t think my family is questioning it anymore. I remember seeing what my sister Jean has gone through when she professed her faith and I guess she may have paved the way for me. Instead of reticule I received questions. I was asked genuine questions about the church I went to, the service I was at, and other things. The door closed quickly when I went from answering question to witnessing but I’m happy with baby steps. They still see me as the little brother. I’ll keep praying for the salvation of my family and friends.

I know God is faithful.