"In the Garden"

"In the Garden" is the first of three messages I recently preached on the topic of failure. We can not only learn from our own failures in life, but also from the failures of others. John 18 gives us the opportunities to do just that. In the Garden of Gethsemane, we see Jesus confronted by Failure #1...Judas Iscariot.

God is Awesome

We had an awesome time washing cars today. We definitely got to share the gospel with more people and on a deeper level than we would on an average day doing traditional visitation. A few signs of God at work:
* The first vehicle that pulled up had a mother and a daughter from Fort Lauderdale on their way to the Keys for a day of fun. The mother was TOTALLY new age. The daughter, however, has visited Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale and had had numerous seeds that had been planted. She clearly did not agree with her mother's theology. Long story short, the daughter prayed and accepted Christ, even while her mother was telling one of our church members about her new age beliefs just a few feet away.
* A Haitian man showed up for a car wash who turned out to be a believer. However, he told his boss this past week that he wanted Sunday's off so that he could go to church. Tomorrow is his last Sunday working. I said, "That's great. What church do you attend?" He replied, "I going to be looking for one. But I'll start with yours!"
* At the end, we were recounting the wonderful stories the Lord had given us that day. As we were doing so, I said, "Boy, I sure would love to do this about once a month." I went inside to thank Don (owner of Homestead Rex Tire) for allowing us to wash cars at his shop. Don said, "This has been great. You should do this once a month."

Who's Who?

Check out the two pictures below. Can you tell which one is Brenda and which one is Rachel?

Washing Cars for Jesus

Pray for us on Saturday. We'll be washing cars for FREE at Rex Tire on US 1 starting at 10:00 am. Why? To communicate the love of Christ in a visible way, to meet new people with the goal of establishing relationships with the unchurched in our community and, if God gives us divine appointments, to share the reason for the hope that is within us. Pray that all of the above will take place!

Stem Cell Research Lecture by David Prentice

Dr. David Prentice is the Senior Fellow for Life Sciences, Center for Human Life and Bioethics at the Family Research Council. He gave a speech on embryonic stem cell research that is worthwhile. You can watch it HERE. Of course, embryonic stem cell research sounds like Christian compassion because it offers to alleviate the suffering of those with various diseases who hope this research will provide cures. However, the research itself destroys human life which was made in the image of God. Christians need to understand why this type of research should not be supported legally or financially.

It's Gonna Take a Team Effort

The president is set to sign the $787 billion dollar stimulus bill that the house and senate just approved. This debt, of course, will have to be repaid, so I've been thinking about some ways we can do it. Today being Valentine's Day, it hit me.

Americans are spending about $14 billion per year on Valentine's day, including cards, candy, dinner and flowers. What if we all agree to forgo Valentine's day for awhile and instead, send what we would have spent to Uncle Sam as payments on this bill? If we start next year, and if everyone in America agrees, we'll finally have the principle paid by 2066. I'm not sure what interest rate the Chinese are giving us for this loan. But suffice it to say, my son Levi (about to be born) will probably never live to see Valentine's day if we follow this plan. His life expectancy will have passed before this bill, meant to stimulate the economy today, is finally paid off. Maybe we could all send consolation notes to the would be recipients of our goodies. A card in the year 2055 might say, "Dear ______. in lieu of flowers, I just sent $112 to the Internal Revenue Service in your honor. Just think, thanks to our sacrifice, our grandchildren will once again experience the joy of Valentine's bliss and the 2009 stimulus (which we weren't around to enjoy) will be repaid. Love, __________."

Of course, I haven't run this by my wife yet. But let's get some momentum going on this thing. Maybe we can use Christmas to knock out the bank bailout. What do ya think?

Lessons From the Lord's Prayer

Many people confuse the "Lord's Prayer" with a model prayer that Jesus used in Matthew Six as a means of teaching the disciples how to pray. However, the real Lord's Prayer - in which we get a glimpse of Jesus himself praying to the Father - is found in John 17. The following is a four part series I recently preached on this prayer.

"Lessons From the Lord's Prayer"
Part 1
John 17:1-5
January 4, 2009

"Lessons From the Lord's Prayer"
Part 2
John 17:6-12
January 11, 2009

"Lessons From the Lord's Prayer"
Part 3
John 17:13-19
January 18, 2009

"Lessons From the Lord's Prayer"
Part 4
John 17:20-26
January 25, 2009

How Ironic

A local woman is suing a Miami abortion clinic after the abortionist failed to show up on time and an actual birth took place. The baby, at 23 weeks, was then placed into a garbage bag, hidden in a closet and left to die. A tip to the police enabled them to discover the body.

The ironic thing is that this mother went to the abortion clinic for the purpose of terminating the life of her child. The end result was exactly as she had intended. However, something happened in the process that changed everything...she saw her baby girl gasping for air. Suddenly, her desire to end this child's life was overwhelmed by a desire to preserve it.

This is why stricter laws are needed to ensure that babies that make it past the mother's womb in an abortion clinic be given every chance of survival. This is why every mother should be given adequate information about the life inside of her. And this is why we should never stop praying and working for the end of abortion.

A Good Arrangement

I have had several friends who started churches renting public school facilities that went unused on the weekends. The church benefits because it provides them a place to meet for worship without having to build a facility they cannot yet afford. The schools benefit because they increase their revenue without having to make any changes to their weekly operation. And there is no blurring of the line between separation of church and state.

Apparently, this arrangement may come to an end. Some of our friends on Capitol Hill are using a stipulation in the much discussed stimulus bill to refuse federal funds to any school that rents its facility to churches (or any religious groups, for that matter) on weekends. This would mean that schools right here in Homestead would be forced to choose between kicking out the renting churches or losing funding. Churches in our own backyard could suddenly be without a place of worship.

Let's make this a matter of prayer and make sure our representatives know that this is an arrangement that does not need to be federally terminated.