Tuesday, April 21, 2009

What would Jesus ask me?

Wow - Back home in Santa Cruz after a week or so in Gainesville, Florida. We were awaiting the birth of our second grandchild: Leah Rose born to Stephen and Rachael. She is beautiful!

Jeanie stayed the extra day to see the long awaited Leah Rose (nearly a week overdue), but I came back on schedule to be with our son, Andrew and get to work. Two hours after getting through customs I was leading a Bible study for 24 university students, both men and women.

We eat pizza and divide into small groups to learn more about Jesus. We'll do the same with a different group of students today. This week we studied the story in Luke 10 of the man who asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus' reply includes the story of the Good Samaritan.

I was struck by how Jesus answered his question with a question based on all the teaching God had already provided the man: "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?"

How often do we cry out to God with a question or doubt (or even a challenge) demanding an answer? I wonder if we shouldn't be still and listen to Jesus' question in reply:

"Child, do you remember my faithfulness last year?"
"What did I show you yesterday in the Psalms?"
"Son, do you already know the right thing, the thing that honors Me?"

I am going to be listening more for His question.

Ron

Sunday, April 12, 2009

On Baby Watch in Gainesville


This week Jeanie and I are in Gainesville with our son and daughter-in-law, Stephen and Rachael, awaiting the birth of their first child. We had a beautiful Resurrection Day service at their church and then dinner at the home of friends. Here is a picture of Stephen and Rachael just a few steps down the patio of their friends house.

Jeanie shows Magdalena

This past week we had a group of 34 from LSU with us in Santa Cruz. We did campus ministry, door to door evangelism, and high school outreaches.
On Tuesday evening, Jeanie had planned an outreach for Bolivian women at our church. This is Holy Week and people are more aware than normal of the reality of Jesus' death on the Cross. The women showed the new film from the JESUS Project called Magdalena: Released from Shame. More than 120 women came to the event and the girls from LSU helped with comment cards and conversation after the showing. It was a great success and many of the Christian ladies were moved to purchase the DVD to show in their own homes and churches.

Overall the team from LSU, together with our staff and students presented the Gospel to more than 1500 people with more than 600 praying to trust Christ as their Savior!