Crossroads

Al Mohler speaks about how Christians should think about Halloween in this article. Here’s an excerpt:

"On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther began the Reformation with a declaration that the church must be recalled to the authority of God’s Word and the purity of biblical doctrine. With this in mind, the best Christian response to Halloween might be to scorn the Devil and then pray for the Reformation of Christ’s church on earth. Let’s put the dark side on the defensive."

We had a wonderful opportunity to give to the mission of Sovereign Grace Ministries this past Sunday. I was so inspired by all that the Lord is doing in Mexico. What a privilege it is for us to play a part in this glorious work for the kingdom of God! If you want to see more videos of how God is at work extending His kingdom, you can click HERE to see more. You can also make an online donation.

Your pastors and care group leaders (and their wives) are going on a 3-day retreat starting tonight. Please pray that your CGLs and their wives will be refreshed, encouraged, and further equipped to lead your groups effectively. Thanks!

Just to whet your appetite for what God is going to do at New Attitude ‘08… Check out this video in which CJ Mahaney, Josh Harris, Al Mohler, et al. talk about why NA exists.

Covenant Life Church has invited all you ladies to their Ladies’ Night tonight at 7:30pm. For more information and directions, click on the icon below!

Through our campus ministry, Patriot Christian Ministries, we have a great opportunity to serve the international students at George Mason University. We partner with a student organization called International Friendship Connection and participate in their Conversation Partners program. Here’s how it works:

Each international student who signs up for the Conversation Partners is matched up one-on-one with a conversation partner who is a native speaker of English for the purpose of getting together, practicing conversational English, and having fun! Conversation partners can meet for coffee, have a meal together, go to a movie, go play basketball, etc. The possibilities are limitless. Conversation Partners gives you numerous opportunities for you to learn about another culture, help someone from another country, and become friends with someone you wouldn’t have known otherwise.

Here’s where you come in: We have more international students who want a conversation partner than there are native speakers of English. I want to encourage you to prayerfully consider signing up to have a conversation partner. Coming from another country myself, I know how much they will appreciate and enjoy getting to know you!

If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Daniel Mayernik at 703-691-0600.

I mentioned before that I would be sharing some of the things that we are learning as we go through Kaiya’s surgery, hospital stay, etc. This is post #2.

Rom.8:28 is an oft-quoted verse:

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

No other circumstance in my life that I can think of has brought the truth of Rom.8:28 more clearly home to me than what we have been going though with Kaiya in the last couple of months. When the doctors at Fairfax Hospital told us that they didn’t have the expertise to deal with Kaiya’s trachea issue and that we would have to go to a hospital in Cincinnati, we didn’t know what to do. "What does this mean? Where are we going to stay? Are we going to bring J? How long are we going to be there for? Where the heck is Cincinnati?" We had many questions going through our minds. But by God’s providence (I’ll won’t give you many details here; maybe I can tell you in person;-), we ended up in Wilmington, DE. And this turned out to be a much better option: It was only a couple of hours away instead of 10+ hours; there was a Sovereign Grace Church 15 minutes from the hospital (And I will tell you in a later post how much of a blessing this church has been to us!), whereas there was no church that we knew of in Cincinnati; there was a room available for us to stay at the Ronald McDonald House right across the street from the hospital, where as the one in Cincinnati was undergoing renovation and wouldn’t have been available right away. Through the not-so-preferred circumstance of having to go to a hospital in another state for our daughter’s surgery, God has shown us His goodness in countless different ways. We have given thanks to God numerous times for these expressions of His goodness to us. 

Here’s what we are learning from this experience: God uses suffering to reveal the greatness of His goodness and grace and bring about our praise of Him. That’s how we see God working all things for good in our situation. Our ‘good’ doesn’t necessarily involve our peace and comfort, but it involves us knowing God better and loving Him more even through suffering so ultimately God is glorified. Understanding this has helped us to look for ways God is revealing His goodness to us in the midst of a difficult situation, and it helped us steer away from complaining or despairing. God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform!

Don’t forget, this week is a CG week. All the groups (college and career) will be meeting throughout the church building. One of the things you’ll be doing this week is to discuss the Crossroads message from last week. I’d encourage you to look at the application questions below (10/12 post) to prepare for your discussion. If you missed the meeting or you want to re-listen to the message, it’s available HERE.

The following picture was taken at the five15 Retreat in August. This is Vince, who just went to his 25th high school reunion, scoring touch down against our friend Mitch, who should be in his prime when it comes to athletics. What’s wrong with this picture?

Boys, maybe it’s time for you guys to challenge the old guys in the church in a game of football?

When you encounter trials, how do you respond? Through the preaching of God’s Word last night, we were taught that we ought to ‘count it all joy’ when we face trials because:

1. We have been rescued by God
2. We are being perfected by God
3. We will be rewarded by God

Here are some application and discussion questions:

• Why should we as Christians count it all joy when we experience trials?
• How does the gospel inform the way you view and respond to the trials you face?
• What is your primary temptation when it comes to trials? Complaining? Worry? Anger? Despair? How does your response manifest outwardly?
• What is one step you can take to count it all joy when you encounter trials? Who can hold you accountable for change in this area?

I’d encourage you to use these questions in your accountability groups and in your fellowship with your friends.