Haiti Earthquake Relief

Just wanted to pass along two different organizations that you could donate towards to help minister to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti last week. They include:

Compassion International

-donate here: http://bit.ly/8aps1E

Convoy of Hope

-donate here: http://bit.ly/8EiNAH

Large amounts are wonderful, but I understand that sometimes funds are limited. Even as little as a dollar helps. I would encourage you to chose one (or both) of these and get involved and help turn this catastrophe into an opportunity for the Gospel to go forward in a place that needs it a lot. I've donated to both of these organizations so don't worry if the web addresses seem a little shady. I know there are a lot of hoaxes out there but I promise you that both of these are legit. If you still don't trust the links just go to there websites and go from there.

Until we speak again...

Escape

Romans 5:12-21

In this there is a very interesting comparison made by Paul between Adam and Jesus. Both are covenantal heads of the human race. What this means is that Adam was supposed to be the forerunner for a complete and wholesome life, but due to his disobedience in the Garden of Eden, he became the forerunner of sin and death for the entire human race. Now everybody who would be born after Adam would experience sin and all of its consequences which all comes to a head in death. Jesus, on the other hand, comes onto the scene as a "second Adam", in that instead of an act of disobedience, he obeys God and his act of obedience brings about righteousness before God.

The issue here is that, you, me, and Dupree are all under the curse of Adam by default. We are born into the human race under the law of sin and death, and to them both we are destined to pay debt. What Jesus offers us in being a second Adam is an opportunity of second birth. We are given an opportunity to ultimately cancel out the curse, and not by our own merit, but by the act of obedience of Jesus on the cross. He died so that the law of sin could be destroyed and he rose again that we also might follow him as the forerunner in beating death ourselves one day. We still will die on this earth, but if we have experienced second birth, we also will experience eternal life.

We can be one or the other: We are either "in Adam", or we are "in Christ", one of which causes us to die forever, and another that gives us life abundantly that starts now and continues on for eternity.

"All are in Adam by physical birth, while only those with the new birth are in Christ." -- ESV Study Bible

Acts 2 and the last days

I began a Bible reading plan courtesy of YouVersion (http://www.youversion.com). YouVersion is a website/smart phone application that has a numerous amount of Bible translations and also contributions by users on selected texts. It is a great tool, and I really recommend taking a look at it and signing up. It is completely free. I just began an 83 day reading plan that takes me through the New Testament Epistles and Acts. I am really enjoying it so far.

Today I read Acts 2 and something stood out to me about Peter's retelling of Joel's prophesy. It says this:

¹⁷"'And in the last days it shall be, God declares,that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
¹⁸even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
¹⁹And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
²⁰the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
²¹And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' (Acts 2:17-21)

What stood out to me was that at the coming of the Holy Spirit to the church a significant prophesy from the Old Testament was fulfilled. However, in vintage Jesus fashion, it didn't happen like everybody thought it would happen. The above prophesy was preached by Peter on the day of Pentecost as if it had all come to pass at that moment, meaning that verses 17 and 18, which had just immediately occurred, were soon to be followed by verses 19 through 21...the second coming of Christ and restoration of all things. As Peter preached this message at Pentecost, he believed that the end was very imminent. In fact, most of the New Testament church believed that Jesus was going to come back very imminently. For example the church at Thessalonica had quit their jobs and sold most of their things and were sitting in the pubs with paper bags over there head like in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy waiting for Jesus to come back. Paul later corrected them by telling them not to that and to keep living life. He was still a believer in Jesus' imminent return though. The interesting thing with this collection of scriptures in Acts 2 for a 21st century reader like myself is that the bridge between verses 18 and 19 still hasn't been bridged yet...

What I would say is that, even though that gap in the text still exists, Jesus' return is still imminent, and as Christians, we must live accordingly. The entire 21st century world does not live in this imminence. In fact, most Christians do not live like it either. We as Christians must realize that the end is near, and I'm not saying that we go nuts and sell everything and quit our jobs and put paper bags on our heads, but here are a few things that come to mind for living in expectation:

1) Live life: I once heard someone say, "Live like Jesus is coming back today, plan like he's coming back in 100 years". I find a lot of wisdom in this statement.

2) Live out your purpose: Realizing that the reason we are still alive is to fulfill God's purposes is important. If you are a Christian, then you are alive to bring healing to the world. If you aren't a Christian, become one because there is healing here. The reason Jesus hasn't come back yet is because he is waiting for more people to experience salvation (2 Peter 3:9)

3) Realize other people are more important than you

4) Serve God and people

5) Seek the will of God instead of your own for the future. I think this is why Jesus got so upset over people's planning. There is a lot of pride in it if it's not rooted in the will of God.

6) Find urgency in introducing people to the real Jesus: Many non-Christians have no idea why we do this thing. I think there is a reason for that: they don't know the real Jesus, they only know the severely skewed, heretical, Discovery Channel Jesus. There is a real Jesus who really cares about people and wants to heal them.

7) Practice repentance, daily: Grace is wonderful, and I don't think there is a day that goes by that we don't need it. Don't think that a day goes by that God doesn't want to give it either. Peter's sermon is climaxed by his call for repentance, so let's realize that we need it and act accordingly.

8) Take the bag off your head do something: This wraps up the last seven in that we as Christian commit terrible sins of omission by simply DOING NOTHING. We don't expect Jesus to come back, and we do nothing. It's a double wammy. Let's flip this. Let us expect Jesus and do something about it. Acts 2 recounts the giving of the Holy Spirit. We've been given power, so let's use it and make a difference for the King. Jesus is coming back, and even if it seems like he never will, that's okay, because he said it would be like that. He's coming like a thief in the night, so maybe if today is a day that seems like he could never return, it could be a great day for him to bust into the house. Let's live.

...oh yeah...one more thing...