New Bethel Weekly (22 June 2017)

6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.
7 “May peace be within your walls, And prosperity within your palaces.”

                                        Psalm 122: 7-8 (NASB)

There is physically only one place on Earth that the Lord God has set aside as His, Israel. “‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine;’” (Leviticus 25:23).  For this reason alone, there may be no more important place on the whole Earth.  Yet, there is also so many promises associated with the land and the people of Israel that makes this small piece of land important.  Speaking to Abraham, the father of Israel, “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who [a]curses you I will [b]curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’” (Genesis 12:3), maybe the most famous of these. Of course, it is also the place where our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, lived, died, was buried, and rose again.

Israel even gives us reassurance that the promises God has given us personally will be fulfilled.  It is amazing that we can read Leviticus 25 and later read accounts of Israel being overrun and restored in scripture.  Not only can we read it, but we can see that promise being fulfilled in modern times.  The most notable being the restoration of Israel, to the world, on May 14, 1948.  God’s promises are not only yes and amen, but eternal!

There are many things that I love about New Bethel and just one of them is the honor we show Israel.  Part of our Morning Prayer Call includes a time to pray for the peace of Israel.  Our WhatsApp Prayer Group regularly has people calling on our members to prayer for specific events happening in the Holy Lands.  We are not only passionate about what happens in our community, but are passionate about the destiny of Israel.

This Sunday will be extra special as two of our own, Judy Biemer and Ellen Cureton, have returned from a recent trip to the Holy Land. They will be sharing about their time there, complete with pictures, stories and even testimonies.  I am so excited to hear what they will say!  In addition to being a special day for us, it is a great chance to invite a friend to experience Israel.

Blessings,

Allen Wilson

 

New Bethel Weekly (15 June 2017)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

                                                                             Galatians 5:22-23 (NASB)

 

 

Two days and two shootings in the news.  The United States seems to love tragedy and hatred.  When it is not in the news, it’s readily available in the form of entertainment.  I cannot even begin to count the number of CSI, Law & Order and true life crime dramas on TV.  Throw in reruns and it seems the message of outrage and violence can fill our minds 24/7.  Where is the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?

 

The truth is, all of those things are the fruit of the Spirit and should be within us.  When Jesus told us to love our neighbors, I am convinced He wanted us to show them love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  When He said we would do “even greater things,”  I am convinced He expected us to get out and help a stranger, neighbor or friend.  I believe a key to bringing freedom to our region isn’t just setting ourselves apart from the world in our hearts and minds, but stepping into the world and shinning.

 

The truth is, we have the answers to every question, problem and/or situation in Christ Jesus.  We ARE the solution in most cases.  My challenge to you is to go be the solution.  Find a person you can help and start helping.  Help fix a broken fence, babysit a young couple’s kids so they can have a night out, teach a teenager how to work on a car, or make lunch and share it with a grandmother.  There are thousands of problems in our area and we have the answers to each one.  You, you reading this, you have the answer!  Just pick one problem and start being awesome!

 

Here’s the kicker, you don’t have to talk about Jesus.  Sure, because He is such a big part of your life, Jesus will come up at some point.  When that happens, go with it and let Holy Spirit speak through you.  Until that happens, just keep problem solving.  The kindness of a stranger is so counter cultural that stories about it go viral on social media.  The world is starving for good news and the Good News.  With that in mind, I encourage you to be strange this weekend.  Be counter cultural.  Show your neighborhood a little more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and a lot less of the other stuff.

 

Blessings,

~Allen Wilson