Good Friday Recap & Video

I haven’t posted anything this week because I’ve been busy and focused on Easter weekend preparation.  Tonight kicked off the weekend’s activities with our Good Friday service at church, and it was an incredible time of worship!  About 50 people came together to focus on the crucifixion of Jesus, and the theme of our service was that Jesus was God’s plan from the beginning and can be found throughout all of scripture.  We used a lot of Scripture tonight, and I was blessed to have my friend, Justin Hanneken, here to help lead the service.  His speaking tonight was incredible to help me (and hopefully others!) to focus on eternal Jesus!

We showed a video tonight of this boy who briefly explained Jesus throughout all of scripture.  I thought I’d share it here for those who haven’t seen it.  Enjoy!

"Carried" Book Tour Recap

There is no Monday Morning Rewind today because we hosted the carried Book Tour yesterday at Central, and were greatly blessed! I hope the same opinion is shared by most in the church that it was such a blessing to see authentic lives following after Jesus, using their gifts to serve Him, and lead us in worship.  You can see that the Holy Spirit is working through the live of Justin Hanneken, Jeremy Willet, and the band, Willet, as music and a great message was shared.  The message is available on our online audio page, but the music can not be distributed because of copyright issues.

I was really excited to see the response of the people at Central toward our guests and to their message.  The response to the message was shown with 10 children being sponsored (through Food for the Hungry, the organization Willet is endorsed by)!!  What a great response for our people to help in changing the lives of 10 different children around the world by giving about a dollar a day!  In addition to that, 33 books were sold, a book that encourages readers to pick up our crosses and follow Jesus.  AMEN!

What a great opportunity it was to host the tour.  More information on the tour and band Willet and their mission (including info on Food for the Hungry where children can be sponsored), can be found here.

Excited About the "carried. book tour" This Sunday!

This Sunday will be such a blessing for our church and any others who might be in attendance to the book tour for carried., a book written by Jeremy Willet and Justin Hanneken.  Sunday’s worship service (11:00am) will be a time of hearing what God is doing through the band Willet, and through the authors as they minister in their respective areas.  I shared initially about their coming here.

What has turned out to be an extra blessing is how we just found out that Jeremy’s wife, Kathleen, will be with us at Central on Sunday.  I shared before about Kathleen’s calling to be an orphanage mother in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and how she survived the devastating earthquake recently.  She is in America now for a couple weeks before going back, and it will be an extreme privilege to spent time with her this weekend.

This article ran in the Carroll County Times about Kathleen and Jeremy and the band.  It will give you a better idea of who they are and what they do.  But the best way to get to know them is to meet them this Sunday at Central Baptist Church at 11:00am at the carried. book tour.

Pray for Haiti & Missionaries There

Picture from Fox News' article of the destruction in Haiti.

Yesterday, Haiti suffered from a devastating earthquake, said to be the strongest one the country has seen in 200 years.  You can read the Fox News article here.

I was driving home last night and the radio station had a girl call in asking for prayer for her sister and brother who are missionaries in Port Au Prince, the city in Haiti where the earthquake occurred.  They have not been heard from since the quake.  It was a powerful moment of agreeing with the prayer that was spoken by the radio host.

Returning home, I received a text message from my friend Justin, who is coming to Marion in a month on a book tour for his new book that was written with Jeremy Willet.  Jeremy is in the band Willet, and they are currently touring in New Zealand.  The band is serious about mission work and helping the poor, and even commissioned Jeremy’s wife as a missionary to be an orphanage mother.

In Port Au Prince, Haiti.

The text message from Justin said they have not heard from her.  They are not sure what is happening, and from reading the article, it sounds like communication lines have been disrupted in Haiti to where there is not full communication.  Jeremy is in New Zealand, his wife in Haiti, and I’m asking you to pray for Jeremy’s wife and other missionaries who have surrendered their time and perhaps even lives to serving the people in this devastated country.

Pray that God will be glorified through all of this and that there might be new opportunities to share the love of Jesus because of this disaster.

Excited About the "carried." Book Tour

Central has a great opportunity to host the book tour for carried (see info here). Justin Hanneken and Jeremy Willet have authored this book about social justice and the gospel of Jesus.  The book tour comes to Central on Sunday, February 21, during our 11:00 worship service.  In that service, the authors will be speaking and the band Willet (Jeremy is part of that band) will be leading our music acoustically.  It should be a great time of worship!

Justin is a good friend of mine from Maryland.  He and I have worked together in ministry efforts for several years and I have grown to respect him greatly for his love for the Lord and the people he serves.  He is as genuine as they come as someone who realized the grace of God and let Christ change his life and impact others through him.  I got to know Jeremy through Justin and in the small amount of time I’ve spent with him and the band, their commitment to the Lord is humbling for me to see.  Jeremy and the band have amazing musical ability and have surrendered their lives to spreading the gospel through their music, even if it means they sacrifice opportunities to make more money or live more extravagantly.  They finished school as quickly as they could to be able to tour and be available to the mission efforts their band leads (see their website for a lot more information).  As I am typing, they are in New Zealand on tour with great Christian bands like Switchfoot.

The guys who are coming are not as important as their message though.