Thank you Pastor Piper and thank you Pastor Meyer

A little over three years ago we visited Bethlehem Baptist Church for the first time. Even though we didn't know anyone, everyone was very nice to us. Actually that is a total understatement. Bethlehem cared for us and loved us in very amazing ways. This was what drew me to that church in the first place, not necessarily because of all the help that we received, though I don't know what we would have done without it, but it was much more than that. They didn't know us - at all. They just heard of a need and responded - that is what drew me to Bethlehem. It was so intimidating at first. So big. So many people. My church in Germany had about 120 people. We went to our Pastors, two of them, to bible studies. As a new Christian I was mentored by my Pastors wife and we became friends. We had close relationships with lots of accountability. I learned so much there! Now, here we were in Minnesota at Bethlehem Baptist Church, three campuses - one church! So many people! Yes, it was intimidating. We tried a smaller church first, but that just didn't really feel like home. Once we got past the "bigness" of BBC, it got much easier. The people made it so easy for us, we were welcomed and we felt at home. So for the next three years we sat under the teachings of Pastor John Piper.
When we were in Germany, I only heard of John Piper and his name was mentioned right along with John McArthur, John Edwards, Mr. Spurgeon and other big names. So it was very amazing to hear him preach in person! I have learned so much and I have been challenged plenty of time by Dr. Piper's preaching. Every Sunday was amazing because though I may have read what he preached about, I was amazed how much more God showed him in the same passage. Not that I agreed with everything, but it challenged me to dig deeper and find the answer as to why or why not I agreed. It was amazing to listen to Pastor Piper, his love and passion for Christ is just contagious.
Today now Bethlehem celebrated John Piper's 33 years of pastorate at BBC. I really like what his wife, Noel, said that they are not retired but refired. It is sad that John Piper is not the Pastor of BBC any more, at the same time I rejoice with him and his family. He will now have the time to pursue the things he didn't have time for before. He will have more time for his family. Pastor Piper and Noel, I wish you all the best and all of God's blessings! I am looking forward to find out what else God has in store for you!

At the same time, I am also excited to see what God will do at BBC. Our new Pastor, Jason Meyer is good. I like his preaching, it is very strong. I can only imagine what must go through his mind as the successor of John Piper. I am certain that he is very confident in Christ and is filled with the Holy Spirit.
So I am excited to see what the future will bring :)

In conclusion I would like to say: Thank you for all you have done for the BBC family and Godspeed to the Piper family. Thank you for all you will do in the future and Godspeed to the Meyer family. I pray for God's blessings over all of Bethlehem and the rest of the world.

A friend says: God seems distant. What do you do?

Today I had the privilege to listen to C. J. Mahaney at church. It was a very powerful sermon.he was preaching from the book of Jude verses 20-24. When I first read the text, I thought it was very good but I failed to see what the Holy Spirit had revealed to Mr. Mahaney. His question was: How would you help or counsel your friend, who is a believer, if s/he would confide in you that his/her faith was growing weak? What would you say if they had lost their "fire" for the Lord? I thought this was a very intriguing question, because I think we all know someone who felt that way, or we ourselves felt that way. so what do you say and do??? It seems like such a small question yet so profound and of utmost importance. Yet I felt uncomfortably insecure when C. J. posed his question. I remembered the times when this had come up in discussions with friends and I always prayed for God to give me the right words, but I always worried that I may have said something to cause more confusion.....The answer to the question comes from Jude 20-21. Which is probably the shortest book in the bible after the 2 John, though it holds such an awesome answer! Anyway, the text reads: 

"But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life."

So, how do we keep ourselves in the love of God?

1)   Build yourself up in your most holy faith. We need to grow in our understand of the Gospel. We do that by preaching it to ourselves! We need to grow in our understand of the Gospel, preach it to ourselves and meditate on it - every single day! 

I don't know about you, but there times when I am not very good at this and those usually are the times when I run on my own power and don't understand why things don't work out and wonder about what is missing. You would think that I would know this after all these years.... " prone to wander" comes to mind.....but I digress....

2)   Pray! Pray to the Father, He will hear you. You are communicating with Him, which is more than just rattling down a wish list for us and others. 

At some point I think, I'll write a post about prayer......it is so important and so neglected......

3)   Wait! Wait for the mercy of God. Waiting can be rather daunting, but consider what you are waiting for. What a privilege it is to wait for God.

If you know someone who is losing his fervor for the Lord, ask a few but difficult questions:

Are you preaching the Gospel to yourself every day?

Do you pray every day? How is your daily prayer life?

Do you anticipate heaven?

The answer to these questions comes from Jude 1b: ....To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

and Jude 24: Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,

In these verses we find that God's love for us is not alter by our stumbling and falling! Isn't that great? When my grip on God weakens, His grip on me is fixed! This, of course doesn't release us from the responsibilities we have, to put effort in keeping in the love of God. It is a reassurance of His unending love for us. Be confident in the love of God!

This was C. J. Mahaney's sermon today, isn't it really, really good?! So very important that we are reminded of God's great love for us and for us to remind us to do our share and keep in his love. Now you know what you can say to your kids when they tell you that they feel God is distant.....

I have thanked God so many that His love for me is not as fickle as my love for Him. Not that I mean it to be that way, but there are times when Satan gets the better of me and it takes me a few days to realize that I need to go back home to the Father and Jesus Christ.