Category: God

1.  Neither Anne J. nor myself were the first to arrive this morning at the movie theatre. Pastor Paul beat both of us. He was determined to build that Information Booth piece by piece in no time flat like nobody else can !

2.  At precisely 8:58 AM I turned on the two-minute countdown at the laptop that controls the small video screen at the Information Booth, and the loud Christian punk anthem that plays totally frightened Anne J. as she was standing right in front of the screen and the stereo speakers. She recovered nicely from the momentary fright-fest and proceeded to do a little bit of the ‘robot dance’ circa 1982. If you snoozed then you missed it !

3.  It was Luciana and I that rocked the Kids Life Registration tables before and during the 9 AM service. Luci led, and I followed her lead. I filled in for the vacationing Lisa Trinidad. We prayed for her safe return back home to Homestead and Life Pointe Church real soon.

4.  Pastor Travis led this week’s teaching for Week 3 of our current ‘Simply Jesus’ message series entitled ‘Why Did Jesus’ Mom Need To Be A Virgin ?’ We learned about 7 items that Scripture does NOT teach us about the Virgin Birth of Jesus:
– That Mary did not have a normal delivery. (Yes she did.)
– That Mary remained a virgin for the rest of her life. (No she didn’t.) 
– That Jesus’ virgin birth was a myth taken from other religions. (No.)
– That belief in the virgin birth proves the deity of Jesus. (No.)
– That our sin nature is only passed through the male line. (No.)
– That Mary ‘mixed it up’ with God. (No she didn’t.)
– That the virgin birth is unimportant. (It is important.)

5.  Some people have elevated Mary to a position that is virtually equal with Jesus while other people have diminished her importance. Mary should not be an object of faith. She should be an example of faith for all Christians, as she loved God, was a woman of prayer, and lived in holiness as marked by her virginity up until marriage.

6.  This afternoon about 3 dozen of us jam-packed into Travis & Kelly‘s dining room to eat CiCi’s Pizza and brownies and discuss the ‘Moonlight Easter Egg Hunt‘ of 16 nights ago. We’re going to do it all over again in April 2009, and we’re going to do it bigger and better next year with a whole lot of planning and with a whole lot of help from our friends. We’ll be starting up a fresh new blog for the sole purpose of planning next year’s MASSIVE event, so that we can instantly interact with each other online on how to make it all happen.

Tomorrow night in my Life Group I’ll be leading, and we’ll be studying 1 John 1:1-10 to discover the true meaning of faith and to commit to living in a faith-based relationship with God.

Introduction
1  We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw Him with our own eyes and touched Him with our own hands. He is the Word of Life.
2  This one who is Life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen Him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that He is the one who is eternal Life. He was with the Father, and then He was revealed to us.
3  We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
4  We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.

Living In The Light
5  This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all.
6  So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.
7  But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.
8  If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.
9  But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
10  If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts.

As we discuss these first 10 verses of the First Book of John I’ll be asking these questions:

1.  Do you really want to believe Jesus is who He claims to be ?

2.  What are some things you have seen Jesus do in your Life ?

3.  In what ways are those experiences affecting your willingness to talk about your faith ?

4.  If living what you claim is the test of authentic faith, how authentic is your faith ?

5.  Have you taken Jesus at his word ?

6.  Have you accepted His control of your Life ?

7.  Are you acting in obedience to His instructions ?

It’s going to be a really cool night tomorrow night hanging out with some of my best friends on this fantastic journey talking about Him. I am so looking forward to it. I truly get excited talking to Him, and talking about Him. He is the only one in my Life that I can really brag about !  It’s all about my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ !  AMEN ! 

1.  I woke up at 4 AM this morning and lingered around my home for a good 3 hours before I departed for the movie theatre. I arrived at 7:20 AM, and that still wasn’t early enough to beat Anne J. to the main lobby !

2.  Happy Anniversary Anne J. !  It was one year ago today that you asked me if I ever considered serving The Lord at Life Pointe Church. I responded that I had been thinking about it for a few weeks. Anne J. responded, ‘Well then let’s do something about it,’ and she put me to work as an inside usher with Marcela J. On that day I officially became a proud member of the Hospitality Team, and the rest is history on God’s fantastic journey !

3.  Gabriel and I made a fantastic team working the first shift manning the ‘Welcome & Information Center’. Venus was sparkling in her fresh new role as ‘Lobby Center Manager / Roamer’. Lisa and Luciana totally ruled the ‘Kids’ Life Registration Table’ as usual. Hattie was tough as nails as the ‘Kids’ Life Security Officer’. Everyone on the Hospitality Team should be proud of themselves for carrying out their duties in a most professional manner. This is how we serve God at the L.P.C. !

4.  A bunch of our first-time guests from Easter Sunday last week became second-time guests this week. That was so cool to see. It’s all about coming together corporately to praise and worship God, and Life Pointe Church is a wonderful place to do so. We’re hoping that our second-time guests become regular attenders every week, and that our regular attenders eventually become members of their church. Welcome to your family. This is how we roll – not just on Sunday mornings, but 24-7. We are the church !

5.  Pastor Travis continued our ‘Simply Jesus’ message series this week which runs through the entire month of April. He spoke on Jesus who was sent from Heaven to Earth on a mission by God the Father. Jesus came as the Prophet, the Priest, and the King. Jesus is alive today, as he sits at the right-hand of the Father. Jesus created everything that we possess; therefore, it all belongs to Him. Pastor Travis asked us to stand up if we needed Jesus to help us see Him as either our Prophet, our Priest, or our King. Nearly everyone stood up. For me personally I stood up because I need Jesus to help me see Him as my Priest. 35 years ago I was taught in Catholic School that the Priest of our church stood between me and Jesus. In reality Jesus Himself is our Priest. No one stands between us and Him.