Pastor Jesse Part12

Good, great or Christian?

This morning I was sharing about a good man. He was a good friend, a good husband, a good family man and an active man of faith. His name was Philemon and he was a friend of the Apostle Paul. He was all the above things plus he refreshed the hearts of the saints.

I would like to think that we all could be that kind of good man or woman. It just requires us to love our friends and families and the saints. That should be easy enough. After all Jesus told us that the world would know we are His disciples when we love one another. The making of a good is right here.

But Paul encouraged his friend to be more, to go farther. He prayed for him to have an active faith so that he would have an understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. I was reminded that the more we tell the world about Jesus the more we see Him and know Him and ultimately are conformed to His image. This is what makes a great man! Paul encourages Philemon to be a great man in Christ.

If that was all to learn from this epistle it could be enough but Paul says there is more. Paul wants Philemon to be a Christian man! Apparently Philemon owned a slave named Onesimus who had escaped after stealing from his his master. Paul wants Philemon to forgive Onesimus who has gotten saved while with Paul in Rome. And take him back. And to treat him like a brother not a slave or a thief.

In my self confident, self righteous flesh I always thought this would be easy for Philemon or any Christian but then the Lord started to remind me of how many I had "forgiven."

Philemon was being told not just to forgive but to take this slave, who defied his authority, who had stolen from him and embarassed him, and put him back inside his home! To set him free and treat him like family. Who could do that? A Christian that's who!

The Lord was showing me that I have the talk down but the walk still needs work. I easily say "You're forgiven" but do I let them back into fellowship with me or even to be part of my family?
That's what Jesus did for me. He has forgiven me, brought me into His family as a brother and is even building me a place to live.

I tell you that I have no idea what that kind of forgiveness is like on the giving side. I know it on the receiving end but I still struggle on the giving end. But I will keep trying because Jesus didn't quit doing the Godly thing and I need to do the Christian thing.

Until this morning I was willing to settle for the good man and possibly hoping for the great. But now Jesus challenges me to be the Christian man.

Lord I need to learn to live an active faith by forgiving like you do. I have to admit I'm a little nervous to teach the last 18 verses of this letter next Sunday. But with God all things are possible!

from here

Newsletter Tom and Jean August 2012

newsletter august 2012

Pastor Jesse Part 11

You Are The God Who Protects Us 

I thank you Father for protecting Bev's life and the lives of our staff today.

Bev could have died when that gunshot shattered her window but You made the bullet divert through the roof of the car.

Steven or Davis or Rogers or Joseph could have been shot and killed when they chased the robbers but You made them miss and none of us got shot.

Thank you Lord for putting such a bond of love between us that my brothers would chase down two armed robbers in a dense banana plantation and capturing one because they had tried to harm Bev.

God you are so good to us that we cannot say thank you enough.

Lord thank you for giving me more time with my wife.

You indeed are the God who saves. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Ebola Outbreak Prompts Ugandans to Stop Kissing ABC News - 30 Jul 2012

The president of Uganda is calling on people in the East African country to avoid physical contact, including handshaking and kissing, to prevent the spread of the deadly and highly contagious Ebola virus that is believed to have killed 14 people in the last few weeks.

The disease has no known cure or vaccine and some strains can kill up to 90 percent of victims within days. Ugandans are so fearful of the disease that residents in Kibaale province where the outbreak was reported said that people immediately fled the hospital after hearing patients with Ebola were there.

In a nationally televised speech today, President Yoweri Museveni said health officials are working to contain the disease to the rural district where the outbreak was confirmed Saturday, but at least one of the suspected victims was taken to a hospital in the capital city of Kampala. Now, nearly two dozen medical workers at Mulago Hospital are being held in isolation.

"We have asked people in the whole country to be careful and aware of those who present with symptoms. We have informed health facilities of the right way to respond," said Dr. Anthony Mbonye at Uganda's Ministry of Health.

[Related: 5 things you should know about Ebola]

Mbonye said no other patients at Mulago Hospital in Kampala are at risk, and he is optimistic the outbreak in the Kibaale district 125 miles west of the capital city can be contained soon.

"I have hope because since Friday we have not had any new suspected cases of Ebola," he said.

However, another health official from the affected district told the Associated Press up to six more patients suspected to have Ebola have been admitted to a hospital there and said people in other villages are reporting possible Ebola infections.

Mbonye said people are frightened because many illnesses that are common in the region, such as malaria, have the same symptoms as Ebola. He said health officials have to balance the need to inform the public while not wanting to cause unnecessary panic. In Kibaale, schools are closed and social gatherings have been cancelled.

Experts from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are in Uganda to advise health officials responding to the outbreak.

[Related: Mysterious nodding disease afflicts young Ugandans]

People infected with Ebola usually have flu-like symptoms at first. They can then begin bleeding internally and externally as their vital organs shut down.

Ebola was named for the river near where it was first reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976. Scientists believe an Ebola outbreak usually begins when a human contracts the disease from an infected animal.

The CDC operates a laboratory in Uganda where a team of scientists is studying Ebola and other deadly viruses in Africa. In the past couple of years, U.S. defense officials expressed concern that terrorists could try to use Ebola as a biological weapon. The threat posed by Ebola and other little understood viral diseases has been dramatized by best-selling books such as "The Hot Point" and Hollywood movies like "Outbreak" and "Contagion."

This is the third outbreak of Ebola in Uganda since 2000 when 224 people were killed. At least 42 people were killed in another outbreak in 2007, and there was a single confirmed case in 2011.