Eclipse

If I were God, I'd end all the PAIN

A book reveiw by a MEBC student:
Pain is something all humans encounter, regardless of race, religion, wealth, or social status. During that time of pain, people start to ask questions about God. "Where is God when it hurts?" "Is God really in control of all things?" "If God is so loving, why does he allow bad things to happen?". Christians often shrink back when faced with these questions and say we should just trust.
In the book, If I were God, I'd end all the PAIN, John Dickson address the struggle with faith, pain and the power of God. In the first chapter, Dickson address questions all people (Christian or non) ask and are somehow afraid that asking those questions will dispel their faith in God. He deals with those questions from a Christian point of view, and then goes on in following chapters to explain other major world religions beliefs and ways of dealing with pain.
The book is an excellent read. At only seventy pages long, If I were God, I'd end all the PAIN, is a swift, but deep look at ways of dealing with pain and answers to questions people
have about pain and God.
-written by Alissa Futhey

Questions to ask as I read (God's Word).....

Fall Retreat was awesome! The best part of just being alone with God. Several of you mentioned how much it helped to have questions to ask as you read the Bible. Here's that list we used. There are probably more, if you have any more idea's, post a comment - and let's talk. Happy reading!
- What do I learn about God in this passage?
- What do I learn about me?
- Is there an action I should take?
- Is there a warning or sin that I should avoid?
- Is there an example for me to follow (mostly in story)?
- Is there some wisdom I should walk away with?
- What stands out to me as I read?
- What does God want me to do becuase of what I have read?

Fast & Pray - Listen & Obey

What is fasting? ● “In Scripture the ‘normal means’ of fasting involves abstaining from all food, solid or liquid, but not from water.” –RICHARD FOSTER ● Fasting involves denying our physical desire for food to focus on God. “First, led it [fasting] be done unto the Lord with our eye singly fixed on Him. Let our intention herein be this, and this alone, to glorify our Father which is in heaven.” -JOHN WESLEY

How do I start fasting? ● As a beginner, you may want to start with fasting one meal, or one day, once a week. ● Fasting before or during physical workouts or sports practices needs to be done with discretion.

1 Corinthians 15:1&2 tells us the gospel is powerful........

but sometimes we struggle in our day-to-day living to feel its impact in our lives. Let's fact it, some of the things we do don't look or feel very Christian. Most of us at one point or another have wondered if we really believe the gospel and have trusted in Christ. Below are ten questions from a man named Don Whitney that give us a "heart check". The goal is not perfection but growth. Ask yourselves these ten questions. See if you have the kind of growth the gospel promises.
1. Do you thirst for God?
2. Are you influenced increasingly by God's Word?
3. Are you more loving?
4. Are you more sensitive to God's presence?
5. Do you have a growing concern for the spiritual and temporal needs of others?
6. Do you delight in the church?
7. Are spiritual disciplines becoming more important to you?
8. Do you still grieve over sin?
9. Are you a quicker forgiver?
10. Do you long for Heaven and to be with Jesus?

evangelism or selling something

Sometimes it feels like we are trying to sell something to people we talk about Jesus with them. We go door to door we make the presentation we talk about the benefits. And while we should do these things, if we think of evangelism as a sales pitch we may have a gut reaction not to want to do it. I simply do not like sales people at my door! And if I think I am trying to sell Jesus to people it can feel dirty.

Last night we spent time talking about how evangelism is not a sales pitch, because you are not trying to get anything from other people – you only want to give to them. Paul says in 2 Cor 2:17 “we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.” Oh that we would be people who were sincere and really cared about people.

Someone said last night that there is a good way that evangelism is like selling something . . . the more you love it and the more you believe in it the more likely you are to convince others that they should love it too. What if as we focused on evangelism we also focused on loving God more. Spend some time reading over 2 Cor 5 and let hearing about how much God loves you feed your love for him.

(Kip selling Tupperware bowls is one of the funniest salesman clips I have seen.)

praying for eachother

As you pray for each other keep in mind some of the things Paul prayed for his people. This is not an exhaustive list but highlights some important things for us to pray for each other.

2 Cor. 13:7-9
7 Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.
9 We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection.

Eph. 1:18
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you,

evangelism can be hard

As we continue talking about sharing our faith with others I know the topic can be intimidating. For most of us the thought of talking with our friends or strangers about Jesus can totally freak us out. And while we know it shouldn’t be that way the fact remains that it is. So rather than shame us or make us feel bad I want to talk about what those obstacles are and why it seems hard for us. We will start there next time we pick the topic up on Wednesday night.

The video below is a funny way to think about some of the excuses we have for sharing our faith. It is called the “Evangelism Linebacker” – very funny.

allow me to reintroduce the Christ

This video is amazing and will cause you to think about who you really follow and why. Watch and Pray!!

back to community

This week we picked back up in our series on Acts as we try to get a picture of what community is really supposed to be like. Sunday we studied Acts 16 and the way Paul was redirected by God from doing ministry in one place to doing it in another. It is a strange and awesome story as we think about God being able to lead and guide us as we pursue him. What a great and unexpected application to community - let God lead you to people to love and care for them and be sensitive enough to the Holy Spirit that you might even embrace the unexpected.
As we start back into this series let me remind you that we have a journal you can pick up to help you study Acts on your own during the week. You can either read it on pace to match our topics in Sunday School or you can read it at your own pace. They are $10 and you can get them from booth in the youth room.

kris' friend - tom

Some of you have asked about my friend Tom Vetterani. You can go to a website that his dad updates daily and send him a note to let him know you are praying for him - it would really mean a lot to him. You can get there by going to www.caringbridge.org and then when it asks you who you want to visit type in tomvetteranijr. Thanks!