Jehovah Shalom: The Lord is our Peace

How much blood has been shed over the years in the name of “peace”? People seek peace at any price, yet peace, the genuine article, is freely given by God to anyone who wants to receive it. The problem is, many people do not know about God’s offer, or if they have heard of it, they have not heard the truth about it and have a flawed conception of God’s peace. Are you a person who would give anything just to have peace? Do you have peace at work, at home, at church? Today’s lesson reveals the secret to having peace wherever you are.

Jonah 4: Learn to have mercy like God

It has been a pleasure to study through the book of Jonah in order to teach at the day camps as well as write these articles. It is always so nice to restudy a book of the Bible. The truths that you learned the first time you studied the book are reinforced and you also see things that you did not see the previous time. I pray that these lessons will have a great impact in the lives of the children who are studying with us as well as in our own personal lives.

Jonah 3: A picture of true repentance

For the past couple of articles, I have been focusing on the truths that we have been learning and teaching to the kids at our day camps this summer. It has been really neat to see people’s reaction when they study the Bible for the first time in their lives, especially when they understand how interesting and practical the Bible is. The children are journalists, sent out on a mission to find out what happened to Jonah and why. By doing the first 2 lessons, they learn that there are 3 types of people in this world, 1) those who are far from God’s presence, 2) those who are running from God’s presence, and 3) those who are seeking God’s presence.

Jonah Chapter 2: Cry out to God in your distress!

In Jonah chapter 1, we learned that there are 3 types of people in this world; 1) those who are far from God’s presence 2) those who are running from God’s presence 3) those who are seeking after God’s presence. We saw the characteristics of each group and why they are the way that they are. The last group of people were desperate for help and they cried out to God in their distress.

Let the people vote New York!!!

The homosexual movement strikes again. This time in New York. Instead of allowing the citizens of New York to vote on the matter, the homosexual movement has once again pressured the lawmakers to make laws via loopholes. When people are given the right to choose whether to allow the degradation of society by allowing gay marriage or not, they choose traditional marriage every single time.

Jonah Chapter 1: People’s Relationship to God

For the past 3 weeks at our Day Camps in Moldova, we have been studying the book of Jonah for kids. The participants of these camps are studying the Bible for the first time in their lives. It is so amazing to see how the Word of God can impact grownups and children alike. I would like to share some of the truths that we have been learning with you through this post and several others that will follow in this series. In chapter 1 of Jonah, we learn of 3 different categories of people in this world.

Day Camps in Moldova Summer ’11

I just wanted to drop a few lines about how the day camps are going this summer. Last summer we had a team of 5 Americans come and spend the summer with us, leading day camps together with our Moldovan leaders. We organized 4 day camps over a 4 week period. This summer, we planned to have 3 Americans come and spend the month of June with us, leading day camps in 3 villages and in the capital city, Chisinau. So far, we have completed 2 day camps in 2 villages and we are currently in the city (tomorrow is the last day). We have had an absolute blast. In all, there are about 12 to 15 of us who have been leading these day camps. The team stayed on site in the villages. The first week they slept in a gym and the second week in a school (in classrooms). For the 3 American guys, using the outhouse was a bit of a shock, as well as having to take a spit bath for a week. They survived and had a great time while doing it.

The first camp was in the village of Horesti, where our church is trying to plant a church. We have a missionary who has been working in this village for almost 3 years, teaching weekly TKD/Bible study classes. The children were waiting on us upon arrival. They remembered us from last year.

Jesus Christ is the Rock

I love the way that the Bible completes Itself. What do I mean by this? I mean that a man living on a continent speaking one language, can be moved by God to write a passage of Scripture and then, thousands of years later, a different man, living on a different continent, speaking a different language, can be inspired by God to write a passage of Scripture that explains the previous one.

Jehovah-Rapha: The Lord who heals

If you pay close attention to the world around you, especially the people, then you will notice that there is a lot of suffering. In fact, one of the most frequent questions addressed to me as a pastor is, “if God is a good God, then why does He allow people to suffer?” That is a very good question and the beauty of the Word of God is that in It, we find the answer. Today’s Name (character trait) of God will be “Jehovah-Rapha” which translates, “The Lord who heals”. We have seen the Name “Jehovah” and what it means as well as the implications of knowing God as Jehovah. Now we want to focus on the name “rapha” and its explanation, which will give us insight into why God allows suffering, being a good God and all.

Happy Fathers’ Day

To all the dads out there (and especially my own dad), have a great and wonderful day, blessed by the Lord. It is a privilege to have a father and be a father at the same time. As men and fathers, we have a great responsibility to raise our kids in the ways of the Lord.

6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22)