Facebook..., it seems you either love it or hate it. You must admit that it has been a potent force in our culture. I use it to reconnect with old friends and to add another dimension to the “reach” of this newsletter. I have enjoyed some sites that have a nostalgic feel to them. When we think back to the times of our youth, it seems that things were so much better at that time. This is probably because we only want to remember the good times and block out the difficult times. I do think the era I grew up in was a simpler time. There was, on the surface, a “Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It To Beaver” air about things back then.
Think back now, if you will, to the time when you first began a relationship with Christ. What was it like? For me, it was like a light going on inside me. It was a dramatic event. I remember the day and the hour I surrendered my life to Christ. It was 8:30 p.m., April 29th, 1975. I made a conscious decision to follow Christ at that time. I know that many of you cannot point to a specific time in your life. Either it was more of a gradual process or you feel you have always been a follower of Christ. For me, it was a time of great excitement and change. In fact, four days after I committed my life to Christ, I lost my job, but I had a sense of peace that God was in control and I was not worried. Please note that losing my job had nothing to do with my decision to follow Christ. I spent the rest of that spring and summer immersed in reading the Bible every chance I got. I got involved in ministry to high school kids that fall and began an almost 15-year career in youth ministry. I have a very nostalgic feeling about that time.
Fast-forward thirty-five years. I have been in ministry all these years. I am wondering whether or not Revelations Chapter Two Verse Four applies to me, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” Do I have the same passion for reading the Bible?
Do I have the same sense of peace I had when “the wheels were falling off” in my life? Do I do ministry with the same sense of zeal I had when I first got involved with Young Life? I ask these scary questions of myself. Has being in full-time Christian ministry for thirty-five years jaded me to the glory and wonder of my redemption? The only answer I can give is that I am different now. My love for Christ is deeper, just as my love for Peggy is deeper and richer than when we were first married forty-four years ago. I feel I have matured in my faith. I may not be as emotional as I was at that time. I am not where I want to be. I have not arrived. Let me state that emphatically. But I am further down the road of faith. I love His Word. I read it every day of my life. I know, in a settled way, that I am doing what God has prepared me for in all those past years. It is still good for me to examine myself on a regular basis and ask the hard questions.
Nostalgia is useful in that it reminds us of times past that were pleasant and enjoyable. We must not, however, allow it to rule our lives. We must not find ourselves stuck living in the past. Let the past pleasant times challenge us to recapture positive traits and practices we had, but let us move forward seeking to grow more deeply in love with Christ.
Now, in closing, may I say a word to those of you that are not followers of Christ. I came to love Christ because I discovered that He first loved me long before I ever gave a rip about Him. He loved me so much that if I were the only person who ever lived, He would have given His life on the Cross for me. How do you respond to that kind of love? I pray you will discover and experience the love Christ has for you.
MINISTRY NEWS
We have moved our Friday Morning Men’s Group to Marietta Country Club as of June 17th. Guys, please join us at our new location at 7:00 a.m.
I will be ending my involvement with Crime Victims Advocacy Council at the end of June as we have found someone who has both experienced first-hand being a
family member of a victim of murder and has completed counseling courses and national training in this area. She will be a great fit for the organization. We feel that this is God’s timing.
I continue to walk alongside men in their journey of faith on an individual basis each day.
I had a chance to go on a much-needed family vacation because of the generosity of one of the members of our Friday Morning Group.
Bless each one of you for your friendship and support!
Christ - The ReeseSource - The Newsletter of Net Work Ministries, Inc.
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ReplyDeleteNow you can know the true God. The woman of Revelation 12 is now here. God is precise: It is a woman Rev 12 that delivers the true word John1:1, Rev 12:5, Rev 12:13 who restores Acts 3:21 all things to the world before Christ’s return. This woman exposes the lies of Satan who has deceived the whole world Rev 12:9. This woman creates a new thing in the earth by fulfilling God's promise to Eve Gen 3:15, Jer 31:22, Isa 14:16. Moses and Elijah are together with the word Matt 17:3 they all three are in this one woman. She is like unto Moses Num 12:3. She was raised up Acts 3:22 from the Laodicean church that becomes lukewarm because they refused to hear her Rev 3:14-17. She is bold like Elijah Matt 17:11, Luke 1:17. As Elijah was alone declaring the true God to the people 1 Kings 18:22 so also her witness alone turns the hearts of the fathers to the children Mal 4:5-6 to prepare a people for the Lords return before the great and dreadful day of the Lord Matt 17:3, Luke 9:30. Those who will not hear Acts 3:23 the true word of God she now deliveres to the world free of charge, as a witness, at the heel of time from the wilderness Rev 12:6 will not be allowed inside the walls of God’s coming kingdom from heaven Rev 21. This true testimony of the true value of the blood of the Lamb delivers the truth that not one child of God will be put in a hell fire no matter what their sins. It never entered the heart or mind of God to ever do such a thing Jer 7:31, Jer 19:5. God created evil Isa 45:7 to teach his children the knowledge of good and evil Rom 8:7, Gen 3:22 so that at their resurrection they become a god Matt 22:29-30, Ps 82:6. Prove all things. You cannot rightly judge this unless you read all that has been written by this woman first Pro 18:13. http://minigoodtale.blogspot.com Check out the bruising of Satan and the reason for all of mankind’s sufferings.