ACTS NINE... GOO... NEUF ... thats all i know

Hey guys im finally caught up!
woot woot sorry i slakced in devos this weekend. i dont really know why and i definetly dont have an excuse, but i will try my best not to let that happen again
this chapter's pretty instense as well - mad conversion and someone is raised from the dead!
So Saul, one of the most powerful persecutors of Christians, converts and becomes one of the most powerful evangelists!
Man God can do great things.. Jesus spoke to him, telling him to obey his comand to go into Damascus. He was blinded and starved of food and water, but then when he was blessed with the Holy Spriit, scales fell off his eyes and he was able to see! I think that Jesus did this to really show him how helpless and weak he is without Jesus - the experience proabably really humbledhim and broke down his hardened heart, which was so closed to hearing the gospel in th epast. However, this experiencce really showed him how much he needed Jesus Christ in his life, and accepted the Holy Spirit
I think it's really important to note this crazy conversion - a lot of the times, we look at some people and think 'ohh theyll never change. its too late now' but Saul's story really tells us that it's not too late, its never too late (hahahaa)
Jesus has the power to change even the hardest of hearts so let's not give up. THere's proabably a lot of people around us that are so unwiling to open up their hearts, and all of the arguing or debating that we do wont change it. But let's ask the Holy Spirit to do what he did to Saul - to really humble them and show them the power of Jesus.
Have a fantastic week
I'm really crossing my fingers for a snowday

its not even snowing right now, jeez. way to get my hopes up high. and what happend in the EM service? anyone care to share? aha

This chapter is sick. It encourages me to speak out for God. God was easily able to change this mans life around and used a once a persecutor of God to bring glory to his kingdom. Lets open ourselves up to them, and let Him use us to bring glory to his throne. We sing that song "king" (sick song) and it goes " we will give you glory" How can this glory be obtained and given to him? Bringing glory to his kingdom means to bring heaven into someone elses life. Thats how i see it. aha. anyway i'm doing en english ISU on the tempest. ahahaha, crap. meh

ciao. byye kyungchanee.

Why? What happened in the EM service, Mountain?

Acts 9

HEAVY HEAVY STUFF. One of the best testaments to the power of God's spirit. I'm pretty sure that just one chapter before, in Acts 8, it talks of how Saul had been going from house to house, dragging out Christian men and women and putting them into prison. And then we see him accept and get baptized in Christ. CRAZY.

15But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."

Despite his horrid, sinful nature, God CHOSE this man to do great and mighty things, as we'll see later on. Some might wonder why he wouldn't choose someone more "deserving", per se, to carry out His great works, but we serve a very intelligent God. He knew that the testament would be so much stronger coming from a person who everyone to be a bona fide, public, Christian-hater, like Saul. The drastic change would cause people to wonder and re-evaluate, and there was a much greater chance they'd find an interest in accepting Christ.

I like how God always uses the most unlikely of people, situations, and even the most painful and hurting of times and makes it into something amazing. (i.e. Joseph, who was abandoned by his brothers; Saul, who arguably never 'deserved' to be saved) It reminds me of 2 things:
1. God will never give up on a person. No matter how deep they've gone into the sinful nature of this world, He will go all the way back and forth to get them back.
2. We always need to wait to see the will of His work. Everything happens for a reason, and God might not show you the reason right away, but with time, He'll reveal His plans to you.

EVERYBODY, DO YOUR DEVOS!!!!
We're all slacking and it's the weeeekend!!
I'm gonna start busting out the texts...and then I'll be "Poppa" mad...Hahahaha.

Have a great Funday, everyone!

- H

HEYYYYY

Good job today everyone! I had a chat with Sam and he said that he's really encouraged that you guys are doing an amazing job! I want to give you guys a lot of credit too and thanks for committing to such high levels and loving your jobs as praise leaders.

Hannah made a good point in her devos and I'm just going to follow up on that and I hope you read this, but I'm going to relate why I chose that song named "Lifeline" as one of our songs for the retreat.

I like what God did here. He chose a God-hater and miraculously turned him into a God-lover. And it wasn't easy. This guy wasn't stupid, and he is probably equivalent to a lawyer of today. He knew the law, he new mathematics. He had brains, is what I'm trying to say. And to convince a guy like that into a religion is not easy. But obviously, God worked in his life in amazing ways and made it happen! This is a great example of miracles. This shows how God can take ANYONE and turn them into believers. There are other amazing stories of people turning into believers even today. Stories of hard-core atheists turning to God, stories of people converting religions, etc. etc.

Do you remember when Sam talked about reaching out to at least one friend this year? Keep that in mind, and don't be discouraged when it seems like it's not going your way. Because as long as you're praying and trying, it's going GOD'S way.

The theme of our retreat is "Break Free". It's about breaking free from bad habits, sins, values, etc. of our lives and this world. And so many times, I understand...it's hard! And you feel like giving up. And I know this sounds emo, but it is TRUE. That's why I like this song. Because it helps you to remember to continue to pursue your dreams and your beliefs and to do it WELL if you're going to do so. Look into and you shall see!


Roh

i am inspired to how Saul changed. So polar opposite to what he was before. I think hes a testament to what God does in our lives. Like i ve learned and changed a lot because of this team and more time involved in the church. I think that goes for a lot of you aswell.

Okkkk so in the EM service. Am i allowed to tell you??? Sam said i can say it after i leave church. If not, dont tell anyone just to stay safe. Well i guess since its already been said, its fine. ok ill stop blabbering. Pastor Danny is leaving. To grow and other reasons i suppose.

Have a good week guys!
E-Sek OUT!

Your best ally is your worst enemy is what I learned from this Chapter
So... this Chapter was very straightforward for me, I mean, if you can make someone who is on the polar opposite side of the scale of you agree with you, then that's just pure win.
Sweet... did my devo on time for once

Acts 9

v.15 "This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles..."


From this part of the chapter, I realized that all believers doubt God's purpose sometimes, just as Ananias told God of Saul's persecuting the Christians in Jerusalem. However, God tells us to have faith in Him because He is the One that chooses each one of us to carry out His purpose.

Because God is the sole judge, we are not at liberty to judge people or doubt their capabilites.