Thankful for God's WORD

Are you thankful that God reveals himself to us through a physical book?

When was the last time you praised him for what we do know of his great and amazing character?

How often do we manipulate the Bible to make our own graven images?

Praise God because he has compassion on humanity and in our enmity reached down to save us from the judgment we deserve. Praise him for revealing himself to us through his living and abiding Word, that we can physically hold. Now let us encourage one another along to read it more and rely on it alone more faithfully.

Romans 5:6-11

⁶You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! ¹⁰For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

What happened in New York City?

Well I wanted to write an update for anyone who is wondering what happened over my spring break. I hope this message finds you well as well as I am, refreshed to know God is certainly good. For one week a group of us from VCU stayed in Harlem and traveled on the subway everyday to Washington Heights to work with an organization called Operation Exodus. If I had any expectations before going, they were certainly shattered the first day.

When we first got to New York we had the opportunity to go to times square and walk around the city with all the bright lights. Sunday we went to a church called Redeemer which I was super excited about because the pastor there is an author that I like a lot. His sermon was the prefect set up for the week. He spoke about examining what our rightgeousness hangs on. Do we rely on our jobs or skills or kids or money to be what makes us who we are? Do my grades in school make me right with God? No Christ is our righteousness and to cling to him is essential in all aspects of life.
Monday through Friday was essentially the same with fun notes here and there. We would spend four hours in the morning working on organizing and cleaning up the facility that the kids come to after school. When the kids would arrive at 3 in the afternoon the choas would start. It was quite sobering to see the lack of respect the kids had for authority but their willingness to spend time working and talking with us was surprising. I think the main goal of the week for us was to make God's grace clear to these children. Most of them were of Catholic backgrounds or apart of homes that were very legalistic in nature. It is so important that we all know that it is nothing that can be done on our part but all of what God has done on our behalf. To make the impression on these kids that they are not good enough on their own, but need to embrace Jesus to be right with God was what the week was about (for them and us).

We want to continue to pray for this organization, the people who work there and the children who attend. We want to pray that God will use it for his glory and to bring people to understanding of his wonderful grace that is so essential in eternity. I am very thankful for the outpouring of grace by the people in my life who provided the finances, way more than was need for me alone but benefitted the group. I am extremely humbled by the many many things God has been teaching me over the last week in numerous ways.

"What do you think God's favorite color is?" --A first grader

If you want to look at more of my pictures click on the I love Photography link to the right.