Happy Easter!

Hi Gang,

Today's Good Friday!  It was 2000 years ago that Jesus died on the cross that first Good Friday. But isn't that such a strange name for the day Jesus died?  Well, it's because of all the great things Jesus released for us on that day: open access to God, salvation, forgiveness, kingdom authority, the Holy Spirit, etc. 

This Easter, we're going to have a great service and hopefully we'll be podcasting and possibly vodcasting (Video Podcast) our Easter service. 

A few weeks ago, the Lord gave me the Easter message.  And like most Sundays, I can't say everything I want to communicate in that short time on Sunday.  So, I post those thoughts here. 

This Easter I believe the Lord is telling us that we will never understand what's happening in our lives or in His kingdom apart from his words to us. Easter Sunday I will share about when God speaks to us as He spoke to Mary Magdalene.  But God also speaks through His word.  Check out Luke 24:13-35. Those men on the road to Emmaus did not understand what was happening in their lives or the kingdom apart from Jesus explaining it from the Scriptures. 

We all want to know God's will for our lives because we want to follow His plan. We beleive He has our best interest in mind.  So stay close to Jesus, keep listening to Him speak to you, and remember the Scriptures. 

Love & Blessings!

pastor arlen

Kingdom Response

Luke 5:17-26 gives us a good picture of how people react or respond to God doing a new thing.

In Isaiah, God told us that he would do new things and that his thoughts are higher than ours. But somehow when we see something new happening, our first reaction can be to judge it. That's what the Pharisees did in this story. Yes they were trained, and yes they knew the Scriptures. But they were not in touch with the God of the Scriptures.

It's His power that was present with Jesus that enabled Him to heal and even to forgive sin.

At the end of this chapter we see the correct response to God's work and to the miracles of God. "Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God."

Friends, God is continually doing new and more wonderful things. Let's stay in touch with Him. But never lose the sense of awe and amazement at what God does. And He will do more and more because we cannot put God in a box much less keep Him there. And let's give praise to God.

Through praise we can command a blessing from God. And praise is the pathway of breakthrough in our lives.

Blessings!

Pastor Arlen

The Old vs. The New

The gospels mark a major shift in God's work in the world.  The Old Testament looked forward to a day when the Messiah would come.  The turning point of the gospels is that the Messiah has come and he is changing everything. 

Read Luke 5:12-14.

In thte Old Testament, if you were to touch a leper like the one in the story, you would become "unclean". But from here on, when someone touches an unclean person, they become clean.  People have refered to this as the power of holiness. 

The kingdom of God is here and it's changing all the rules.  Are you willing to "touch" someone who is unclean or unacceptable in the name of Christ? That's what Jesus would do.  He would eat with sinners, cheaters, and prostitutes in order to communicate the life and love of God. 

Blessings,

Pastor Arlen