Some things to get excited about

I've had this draft for weeks now, so I guess it's time to finish it up and get it out! Here are some things I've come across of late ...

• A friend recently shared a sermon from Pastor Tim Juhnke of FCC up north. There is power in the Blood is the name of it, and it powerfully pulls out of the text in Hebrews 9:14-28 the significance and prominence of blood in the Old Testament sacrifices, and by extension the emphasis on the blood of Christ in the New Testament. This forgotten significance has been forgotten. The next time you eat fast food, remember, "Something died so that I can live." Says Juhnke, there is one reason the Bible emphasizes the blood of Christ the way it does: to graphically illustrate God's utter hatred of sin. (Ezekiel 18:20a) Also helpful was how he explains about how people before Christ got saved. They were saved 'retro-actively' by the blood of Christ (Heb 9:15). Check out this powerful message! Tim has agreed to bring this message to the Bible Study Group at work when we have our Easter celebration on April 9th.
  
• You have never heard John MacArthur like this! You can find his personal testimony story here. Phil Johnson interviews and you'll hear some funny, interesting and edifying stories. Neat how he could have played wide reciever for the Cleveland Browns but wanted to preach instead! To whet your whistle here is an excerpt from the transcript where MacArthur talks about his childhood:

JOHN: I do have a great curiosity. And I love to see what things would do if I did this, or that to them. Or, I mean, I don’t know, one time my little sister was...my little sister, Jeanette, was in her little playpen in the kitchen, it was really cold and she kept say, “I’m cold, I’m cold,” she was about three and I was about five or six. And so I took the pillows off the couch and put them in the stove, in the oven. I didn’t know, I just stuffed them in the oven and turned the oven on.

PHIL: (Laughing)

JOHN: And, of course, when I could smell them, I figured they were warm enough to put in her little playpen so she could get warm. And I took them out, and they were on fire on the back.

PHIL: Ooh.

JOHN: And when I pulled them out and realized that, I just kind of flipped them and they landed inside the playpen and so I...my mother says I went in the bedroom and said, “You better get up,” it was early in the morning and they were in the bedroom, I said, “You better get up because Jeanette’s on fire.” And my Mom’s jaw dropped and my Dad says, “What are you talking about?” But having lived with me for six years, they realized there could be some truth to the statement. And they came bolting out to the kitchen and sure enough, these pillows are going up in smoldering flame and they grabbed her out of there. And I don’t know, I was really just trying to help, Phil...I...

PHIL: (More laughing) Pretty helpful.

• We recently had a guest speaker at our Bible Study Group at work. Lucas Hannah, associate pastor at Shawnee RPC, came and talked about evangelism. If you work at State Street you can see the video on our intranet site. For everyone else, here is a summary of Lucas's message.