AMAZING GRACE

God is truly amazing. So much has happened in our corps in recent months. In September we began having a Salvation Meeting again. It has been a long time since we have had to have a Sunday evening meeting. Our territorial leadership set a mandate to begin these services a while back. We decided to begin them in September of 2006.

We have three corps in our county and an ARC. All of us join together every Sunday evening to celebrate Jesus and to preach the gospel. This meeting is focused around salvation. We expect that those who are unsaved will be in the meeting. Believe it or not, every week we have someone who does not know the Lord come to the meeting.

Last week we had 79 in the meeting. The altar was packed with those who felt the Lord tugging on their hearts and lives were won for HIM.

We also have a county Bible Bowl team and practices are held on Sunday afternoons at 4:30 pm, prior to the Salvation Meeting. That has been such an experience for the kids. The corps are three VERY different corps, with VERY different types of kids. By God's grace they have bonded and it has been a tremendous blessing to see the Summit County kids hanging out together at divisional events. I bring the kids up because on Sunday evening as I looked around our chapel I realized how God was working in them - the kids.

Every week these kids see the grace of God at work. They hear the testimonies of the guys who are new to the ARC program and have been saved. They hear the guys praising God for one more day of sobriety. They watched as a gentleman who has lived as a woman for the last 20 years was saved, and literally overnight went back to living and looking like a man (and they rejoiced with him in this change). They see the homeless guy who was picked up out of the park the night before sitting in our service. AMAZING GRACE is played out for them each and every week. Think of the impact God is making on their young lives!!

On Sunday night I sat behind three eight year old boys: an african american, a caucasion, and a puerto-rican. They giggled and talked through the whole service (quietly of course). Let's talk about racial reconciliation! God is AMAZING!

Time

It is a new year already. The older I get the more I realize that time passes quickly. I have been helping my son with a timeline of his life. Though he is only eight years old, he has quite a bit he'd like to put into this timeline.

I sat down with him and have gone through many old photos. The photos were instant reminders of times past and of a future that is coming very quickly. Before long, my house will be empty of children and probably pets too. In all honesty, it makes me a bit sad.

Why does time seem to go so much quicker when we are adults? As a kid I just wanted to grow up. Now I wish I could go back to my younger years.

I think as we age we realize that there is much that we would like to accomplish in our time on earth with very little time to do so. I sometimes wonder if we go overboard with our own desires for accomplishments rather than spending our moments pondering and asking God what He'd like us to accomplish.

I constantly preach to people that they have a purpose in this life and that God has a plan for them as individuals, a plan that will help HIM to carry out HIS will on earth through them. I am a believer in that philosophy.

The trouble comes when WE try to figure out that plan and more of OUR plans get in the mix than HIS plans.

Maybe the answer, if there is an answer, is to enjoy the time God gives us. Enjoy and marvel in THIS day! Maybe at any age we should be living in the present rather than constantly dwelling on the past or trying to change our future. Maybe if we did that with gratefulness in our hearts, time would not be such an issue with some of us. Something for me to think about on this day!!