"Visit Orphans and Widows in their Affliction"

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27

Haiti is a beautiful country filled with strong Haitian men, women and children, estimated at 10 million. The country is also the poorest in the Americas battling political corruption, malaria, cholera, child trafficking, and the daunting task of rebuilding after the the January 2010 earthquake that still has over 500,000 people living in tent cities.

I had the privilege of joining a team of 11 other men traveling to Haiti with the mission of finding out how we can best "visit orphans". What was evident throughout the trip is that the Lord is gracious in leading us as we seek Him for direction. We saw many doors closed, at one point we were stopped by a band of rioters after a 3 hour bus ride to visit with a group of 25 orphans, we were used as road block for protest and then turned around to head back to the mission house, in addition supplies we needed to do the work we had initially planned on were not present and some that we initially trusted were now appearing questionable. But as we committed our path to the Lord it was clear to see that God had others in place that we were to visit. God used a young lady named Sarah, who has committed to working at God's Planet Mission House and serving the orphans and street kids of Haiti, He used a young Haitian gentleman, Eve, who guided us through Port Au Prince, and a Haitian Pastor and his wife who care for 35 children at Agape Children's Home.

Our visit with Agape Children's Home was pure evidence of God's plan for us being in Haiti. The children were delightful, well cared for, sang worship songs for us, were appreciative when we presented them with gifts but lived in conditions worse than what the incarcerated are treated to here in the states. Our project for the time there was to love on the orphans and the care givers and to provide running water to the two bathrooms in the home, as the current water situation included the kids running the water in buckets for bathing, washing clothes, cooking and filling toilets. Through a team effort we were able to devise a plan, bring together the monetary resources for a pump and materials, obtain the necessary parts, water line, 300 gallon basin and connectors and then see the project to completion-water flow and smiles stretched across happy faces.

The Lord works in amazing ways and it certainly is blessing to be a apart of what he has ordained. There is still much that is to be done in visiting with the orphans of Haiti and I know that our work is not done.

"For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing." Deuteronomy 10:17-18

Matt

Our Town, Tornado!

When the devastation is seen in the news it is not quite as real as it is when experienced first hand. The watch, the warning, the urgent call from a family member or friend, the afternoon-evening-night in the basement, closet or hall, the hail, the winds, the power outage, the tears, the prayers the freight train... And now we see 100 year old trees ripped from the ground, trailers turned into shards, roofs pried open, houses picked up off there foundations and lives lost. All this the evidence of what we cannot completely understand.

What we do know about God, Tornadoes and Life is this:

God is Gracious no matter what the circumstance.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Tornadoes are a reminder that life here and now is short and we all need a Savior.

There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one

Romans 3:10-12

God is Sovereign over the Earth, the Wind, You and I

When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

Jeremiah 10:13

We must repent and worship the one and only true God

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 10:28

God has called all who have faith to be the Gospel voice

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:19

The Mark of a True Christian Steps Up in a Time of Need

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Romans 12:9-13

Grace Orphanage Haiti

This past weekend it was our pleasure to have Donna Davidson with us for a visit. Donna graciously shared with us what the Lord has been doing in Haiti, in particular to the orphanage she has worked hard to support and grow. The needs in Haiti cannot be forgotten and Donna has worked tirelessly to ensure the children of Grace Orphanage receive adequate food, shelter, health care and schooling.

Presently the children of Grace Orphanage live in a simple shelter with dirt floors, roll out mats to sleep on, no running water and an out house. Recently the orphanage has been able to secure a house in Port au Prince to call home. The house will provide sufficient space and facilities to care for the orphans. The house presently needs plumbing work, electrical work, painting and a few other fixes in order for it to be ready to move into.

Pray for seven men from Grace Point and three other from our local churches who will spend time in Haiti during the end of April helping Grace Orphanage get the house in Port au Prince ready for move in. Along with the house fixes we will be assisting Pastor Robenson, the man behind the mission, with any spiritual mentoring that we can offer.

Thank you for your prayers, Matt

Sufficient for all Efficient for Some

The Atonement is what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross, cancelling the debt of our sin, bearing the wrath that we deserve and ensuring for the believer all the benefits of salvation. We live in a wonderful country filled with great people with sincere hearts to help others. We are surrounded by great organizations like Habitat For Humanity, YMCA, United Way, LiveStrong, Feed The Children, Salvations Army.... which show a love and desire to help others in a way that extends care and mercy. The question that needs to be answered in today's context is how does the atonement fit into a society that sees itself as doing so much good in the world.

So, doing good for good sake is not good enough, loving other for the sake of loving others is not enough. What is enough is Christ and the Cross, that is where all that is good and loving starts and ends. We must go to the cross as sinners in need of a savior, we must put our faith not in our abilities to do good or to love, but in God who sent his son to be the substitution for our unrighteousness. The good news is that even in our depravity through God's grace we can enjoy all that is pure, holy, just and loving, forever. The bad news is that those who do not put their faith in God will suffer the wrath of God. He is a Holy God and in order for Justice to be served and in order for there to be everlasting peace He must deal with sin.

I urge you to seek first the one and only God who enables salvation through the sacrifice of His son. If you are not presently pursuing God as the Lord of your life, I plead with you to cry out to Christ, seek forgiveness for the faith that you have in yourself and your own works and ask Him to give you a new heart that puts complete faith in Him and through Christ alone.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinctions: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:21-26, ESV

May the Atonement be Effective in your life.

Matt

Heaven, Hell and Bell

There is quite a stir brewing regarding Rob Bell's new book "Love Win's" and I feel it appropriate to deal with the matter here in light of the fact many at Grace Point have seen or used "Nooma" material in a small group. "Nooma" is Rob Bell's trademark video study series consisting of titles such as Dust, Bullhorn, Noise, Flame, Rhythm, Rich... where Bell asks thought provoking questions, tells intriguing stories and leaves the audience to look to scripture for the answers. Inherently the study material itself may not be wrong as it very obscure in its teaching and at face value does not touch on the gospel, the participant is left to fill in that part. The issue with Rob Bells teaching heats up with "Love Wins", even before it's release it has communicated more about Rob Bell's stance on the gospel, Heaven, Hell and the God of the Bible. Through this book, previous books, interviews and his teaching at Mars Hill he has opened up a theology that is deep with questions but shallow at best in Biblical doctrine.

This leads me to the point where Rob Bell has been cleared from the shelves of Grace Point small group material, some may have even noticed the Nooma studies were not listed in our suggested material and this out of concern for his teaching over the past couple years . Not simply because of a three minute promotional video of his new books, but because his teachings do not line up with sound Biblical doctrine have I decided that I will not recommend Rob Bell as someone to look to for truth.

The following is taken from an interview with Christianity Today where Bell summarizes the gospel.

CT: You're essentially reframing the gospel—at least the gospel you inherited, the gospel we have known as the gospel in North America for the last couple hundred years.

Bell: I am leery of people who have very clear ideas of what they're doing from outside of themselves: "You have to understand that I'm doing this and doing this." I would say that for 10 years, I have tried to invite people to trust Jesus. You can trust this Jesus. You can trust him past, present, future; sins, mistakes, money, sexuality. I think this Jesus can be trusted.

I often put it this way: If there is a God, some sort of Divine Being, Mind, Spirit, and all of this is not just some random chance thing, and history has some sort of movement to it, and you have a connection with Whatever—that is awesome. Hard and awesome and creative and challenging and provoking.

And there is this group of people who say that whoever that being is came up among us and took on flesh and blood—Andrew Sullivan talks about this immense occasion the world could not bear. So a church would be this odd blend of swagger—an open tomb, come on—and humility and mystery. The Resurrection accounts are jumbled and don't really line up with each other—I really relate to that. Yet something momentous has burst forth in the middle of history. You just have to have faith, and you get caught up in something.

I like to say that I practice militant mysticism. I'm really absolutely sure of some things that I don't quite know.

CT: How would you present this gospel on Twitter?

Bell: I would say that history is headed somewhere. The thousands of little ways in which you are tempted to believe that hope might actually be a legitimate response to the insanity of the world actually can be trusted. And the Christian story is that a tomb is empty, and a movement has actually begun that has been present in a sense all along in creation. And all those times when your cynicism was at odds with an impulse within you that said that this little thing might be about something bigger—those tiny little slivers may in fact be connected to something really, really big.

And the following is taken from an advance copy of "Love Wins", read and written about by Tim Chailles and Aaron Armstrong.

A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better…. This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus’ message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that our world desperately needs to hear. (ibid)

As soon as the door is opened to Muslims. Hindus, Buddhists, and Baptists from Cleveland, many Christians become very uneasy, saying that then Jesus doesn’t matter anymore, the cross is irrelevant, it doesn't matter what you believe, and so forth.

Not true.
Absolutely, unequivocally, unalterably not true.

What Jesus does is declare that he,
and he alone,
is saving everybody.

And then he leaves the door way, way open. Creating all sorts of possibilities. He is as narrow as himself and as wide as the universe.

…

People come to Jesus in all sorts of ways.

…

Sometimes people use his name;
other times they don’t.

…

Some people have so much baggage with regard to the name “Jesus” that when they encounter the mystery present in all of creation—grace, peace, love, acceptance, healing, forgiveness—the last thing they are inclined to name it is “Jesus.”

…

What we see Jesus doing again and again—in the midst of constant reminders about the seriousness of following him living like him, and trusting him—is widening the scope and expanse of his saving work.

These are simply samples of where Rob Bell is heading with his teaching, which is very dangerous to the gospel of the Bible. God is a just God, a righteous God, a Holy God and a perfect God and one who reveals himself through his word not through our own understanding. My prayer is that the body of Christ will reflect His glory and His gospel, as it is communicated by the one who created it all. (2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Timothy 4:3-5)

Grace, The Power To Change

I love watching the Lord change people from the inside out. It is such a great joy to humbly watch as the Lord works in the lives of those who love Him and respond to a work that can only be completed by a perfect, holy and sovereign God. Looking a little deeper we might wonder how do people change, how do we as believers in Jesus Christ become more like Him. Is it by doing good things, is it by giving a certain amount of money, is it by how involved I am at church? Well, I could be the king at each one the fore mentioned and not be more like Christ. (Galatians 3:3) What I see transforming the lives in those around me is the grace of God, it truly is his love, sacrifice and sovereignty that regenerates and continues changing the lives of those who believe.

"But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:20-21

May we look to the power of the cross to see His truly amazing grace and be humbled to the point where we commit ourselves to share in his everlasting love.

Does Your Brain Control Your Heart or Your Heart Control Your Brain?

The question above could be one debated from many different angles, with many different perspectives both physiologically and spiritually. I will let you hash it out while I concentrate on the fact that a healthy mind creates a healthy heart and a healthy heart helps create a healthy mind.

Finally, brothers, whatever if true, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8

The following is a link to a free web protection tool that can help protect yourself and your family from unhealthy material that is so easily obtainable on the internet.
http://www1.k9webprotection.com/

I encourage you as I have done myself to make the smart choice in helping your family keep a heart, mind and soul that is committed to what is honorable, just, pure, lovely, excellent, and worthy of praise by taking the necessary steps in protecting our families from unnecessary temptations.

In Christ, Matt