Snow/Icemageddon

Snow/Icemageddon has come and is still lying around my house. Our hearts go out to those who have been impacted negatively by the storm. Some thoughts came to my mind as we prepared for the storm. I guess I started hearing about the storm the Sunday or Monday before it hit. It is amazing what God has allowed us to learn about our world. God, in His love, gave us intelligence so we might observe and create things that would help us have better lives. That was on full display this past week. We have created models that measure what we know about nature to predict what will happen weather-wise. When these forecasters started talking about this storm, it was still in the ocean. Thank you, God, for the intelligence to learn some of the laws of nature so we can run to the store and buy milk and bread before the storm gets here (Psalm 19:1).        

The second thing I was reminded of is we are not God. Sometimes we can think too much of our abilities, but in the end, God is God and we are not. My thought about this comes from the same storm. Even though we sent planes and drones into the storm and we have all kinds of super computers crunching the numbers, forecasting a storm is still a guess. How many times have we heard a forecast that turned out wrong? Do not get me wrong, I am thankful for the weather folks. They are making the best educated guess with all the information they have, but in the end, it is a guess because God is God and we are not.  We are fearfully and wonderfully made and so is our world (Psalm 139:14).

So, be grateful that God has given us intelligence to know some things about our world that can help us, like preparing for a snow/icemageddon. But remember God is all-powerful, and we will never fully understand Him or His ways this side of eternity. What kind of God would He be if our small minds could understand Him completely?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Planting and Watering

It has been an exciting month of baptisms here at Huntingdon. Praise God! I am reminded of what 1 Corinthians 3:6 says, “God was causing the growth.” Sometimes we get hung up on who baptized a person. Sometimes one person taught another person the gospel all by themselves, but the reality is that when we see an immersion into Christ, there are usually many who played a part in that conversion.

Let’s think about those young people. Who has poured into their lives? Maybe there were parents, grandparents, or family of some kind who have planted seeds, prayed, or allowed them to come to services. Maybe there are friends who have set good examples or said encouraging words. Do not forget about those in the cradle roll classes who have shown the love of Jesus and laid a foundation in God’s word. How about those who have shown kindness by preparing and serving food or driving the bus, etc. Then there are the teachers and helpers and others striving to live Christ out in front of them. The list could go on. For those of you who are helping plant and water for God, thank you. If you are not, what can you do to plant and water for God? We need the whole church making that a priority in their lives.

That is just where the work begins. In class the other night, we got into a discussion about following up with new Christians. We do a good job of getting folks to baptism, but once they are baptized, we seem to turn them loose. How can you continue to help new converts grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus? I heard someone say that every new Christian needs a friend and a job. How about making it your mission to get to know them and be their friend? If you do something here at church, encourage them to get involved. They might fit in your work or maybe not. If not, help them find something else. Let’s not forget them but bring them into the family of God.

Growing Your Faith

This past Wednesday night we started our new class with Mark and myself co-teaching. We have never done that before, but I hope it will be beneficial to your study of God's word. We paused our study for a moment to discuss reaching out to new converts which I think is a good discussion, and I hope you are thinking about and looking for opportunities to do that. That caused us to miss out on the last part of our class.

The author talks about increasing our faith. That seems to be a question that many have: how do I increase my faith? There have been many answers given and many things tried to various degrees of success. Have you ever thought about what God says about it? Romans 10:17 says, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." If the God of the universe says that is how our faith grows, who am I to question Him or teach something different? Even though that is what God says, it does not make it the popular choice of many.

May people find sitting down and studying the Bible boring. We have tv; who wants to read the Bible? We find it hard to understand. It can be. I find it hard to understand sometimes, and I have been doing this for a while. May I suggest starting in one of the gospels (not Revelation, lol). Find a good notepad to take notes, a good Bible dictionary to find the meaning of words, a good commentary to help when you have questions. Write those questions down and ask the elders. Take a chapter a day or set aside fifteen minutes until you get the hang of it. Find a quite place. Put your phone up. Pray before and after you study and ask for wisdom (James 1:5). Then look for opportunities to apply what you have read (James 1:22-25). Do you want your faith to grow? Get into the word of God, and it will help you grow, grow, grow.