This Sunday marks the first Easter service for Bethel's newest congretation in the Dallas area.

We are so grateful for all that have prayed and sacrificed to help those in need in the Nashville area due to the tragic flooding. The thousands that have been affected by the storms are being impacted by the love and service of others in their time of need.

Bethel has partnered with Samaritan's Purse, a relief organization founded by Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham. This organization has established a base on our Brentwood campus and is helping organize volunteers to be as effective as possible in their desire to help.

We have prayed for God to send revival to our city. This tragedy can be turned into one of the greatest victories if we rise up as believers and help our neighbors in the name of Jesus.

If we stand together in faith, all things are possible.

In the last few months I have blogged less and tweeted more. You can catch daily updates on Bethel, Every Nation, as well as personal activities and devotional thoughts @ricebroocks..

There will continue to be updates on Multiply. I am deeply grateful to all of you who continually pray for me and my family.I look forward to seeing all my Filipino friends at EN2010 in July.

Did you ever hear the joke about the Pastor who skipped Church to play golf and made a hole in one? The problem was he couldn’t tell anyone. I felt a little like that yesterday. (Though technically a day off for me) I sat in the stands with 2 of my boys watching the game between the Titans and the Cardinals in the middle of  the section where the coaches wives and families sit. 

Let me tell you there are some praying people in that organization.

For those that missed it or are not American football fans, the Titans were losing with about 2 minutes left in the game and had to go the entire length of the field to score and win. They did it in fairly remarkable fashion, winning on the last play of the game.

 Flashback to just a few weeks ago. Our team was 0-6. Everyone was speculating about what was wrong with the team. Not only that, they were embarrassed 59-0 in one of the worst losses in professional football history. I interviewed one of the coaches on TBN right after the loss.(http://www.tbn.org/video_portal/  You could hear the resolve in the interview. (click on the icon for October 23^rd)

 So what are the lessons?

1)   Don’t quit- no matter how difficult the challenge. You do this when you go to work, face the trials of being a husband or mother, stick it out with friends that let you down.

2)   Don’t listen to the crowd. The same ones that boo you will be cheering eventually.

3)   Don’t fear. Whether you win or lose in life or in a game, you can do it without letting fear be a factor.

4)   Don’t forget…Proverbs 11:2 “When pride comes then comes disgrace, but humility comes before honor” 

At the end of the game I was greeted by many of the coaches who certainly were aware that the remarkable finish was more than just another game. One coach said, “This happened for a reason”. Everything does.

 

It's clear and simple.

I would  telling a big lie if I told you that 25 years ago when we went to Manila for a summer outreach that I knew it would turn into a Church of almost 40,000 members. In my wildest dreams I would have stretched out and said that we would fill up a 5000 seat auditorium- someday.

If you are a fan of the NBA you have probably heard of the Nike ad campaign this year for LeBron James. It's slogan: "We are all witnesses". Last night we witnessed their (Cleveland) loss and elimination from the playoffs. We are all disappointed now because of the potential match up with Kobe in the finals is now gone. Maybe next year.

Well chances are you have heard of LeBron. His name is known around the world. His image is everywhere. So his witnesses been successful in spreading the news about him. (You know where I am going with this.)

Our 40 days of faith may be ending but a new day of power can begin for us if we receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit that God promised and was given on the day of Pentecost.He promised that with that power we would be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8) The first message preached by the apostle Peter gives the full picture of who these witnesses should include. Read Acts 2.

First there were people present from every nation under heaven. (Acts 2:5) When you see an assembling of nations you know something is up. God is working all things for His good purpose and that purpose is for all nations to know Him.

Peter stood up and quoted the Prophet Joel and said that the Spirit would be poured out on:

All people (Acts 2:17)- that meant all types of people, not just Jews but Gentiles.

Sons and daughters- (Acts 2:17) This means that God is concerned about our young people and wants them to serve Him in power.

Young men- (Acts 2:17) They will see visions. Psychologists know the reality that men are moved more visually than women. WIthout the power of the Spirit, the vision for sin and pride will lead young men astray, but God wants  the young men to be strong and see the vision of His glory.

Old men- (Acts 2:17) They will dream dreams. Our greatest treasure is not just our youth it's the older generation that still has the power to dream and help lead the next generation.

Servants, both men and women (Acts 2:18) The prophet makes sure we don't miss the fact that this is not just about men, but it is for women as well. Also, it's not just for superstars, but those that are humble servants.

You, your children, those that are far away, and as many as the Lord will call to Himself-
(Acts 2:39)This is a final summary of Peter that confirms that the power of God is for everyone.

To receive what they received we are given simple instructions in Acts 2:38:

Repent- that means to turn away from sin and darkness and turn to God in faith. Don't just say you believe with your lips but turn with your life and follow Jesus and His Word.

Be baptized- That means to so identify with Christ and His new life for you that you have a spiritual and symbolic burial of the old life you once lived. To be baptized is to be submerged in water and then raised up to walk in a new way.

You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit- This means that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead will live in you and me and give us the power to be His witnesses.(Acts 1:8)

We are now all witnesses of the one that remains the true Leader and Champion for all men:
Jesus Christ the Lord!
God wants to use everyone.Male and female, young and old, rich and poor, and yes LeBron and Kobe.

There is nothing more powerful and encouraging than our expectations of good things to come. I can imagine the atmosphere in the upper room where the 120 disciples were meeting and waiting for the promised Holy Spirit was filled with such anticipation.(Acts 1 and 2)

Put simply: Great Faith equals Great Expectations.

When we promise someone something we place an expectation in their heart. If we are trustworthy, that expectation builds until the promise we made is fulfilled. God has made us many promises and wants us to expect them to happen.

One of the greatest missionaries of all time William Carey, once a simple shoemaker, was famous for saying , "Attempt great things for God, expect great things from God."

Because God made us promises, He wants us to have great expectations of them happening!

Fear is nothing more than having bad or negative expectations.

Maybe, we have wrong expectations and when those don't happen we lose heart. Many of the good things God promises take time. The kingdom of God is like planting seed. So much of a seeds growth takes place underground,  beyond what we can see.

I think the most important thing to hold to is the love of God.Faith works through love. (Galatians 5:6).  Love, "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,endures all things. Love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13 :7-8 NKJV)

When we love God we don't mind waiting and letting our expectations build, regardless of the circumstances. Praising Him and thanking Him in advance for what we are expecting is a tremendous way to express those great expectations.

Loving people means we don't give up on them when they let us down. When you love your children you never quit expecting great things to happen for them and by them. As a pastor and leader, I have the privilege and challenge of praying and expecting great things from God's people. I am encouraged by the example of Jesus who never gave up on His disciples even when they let Him down.

May we come together as God's people and renew our faith and vision for God's work in this season. May we root out all fear and cancel our negative expectations of failure and begin expecting good things to happen.

Believe me, it's a  whole lot more fun.

I hope you will take the time to listen to the podcast on the Sabbath rest that faith brings us into.
Hebrews 4:1-3 talks about entering that rest by believing God's promises. Unbelief on the other hand can keep us out of that rest.

Any time I find myself lacking peace and the rest that God promises it's because I have fallen short in the area of trusting the Lord. Trust brings us into rest. That's why our children can sleep soundly at night because they believe their parents can protect them and keep them safe.

In a greater way, our heavenly Father is watching over us and is also watching over His Word to perform it as well. Therefore we can be secure and not shaken.

May His Shalom be in your home!

"I got saved".
 You don't hear that phrase as much anymore. The core of theological beliefs has shifted in America and that terminology sounds too "70's" to most people. The new theology presents man as simply needing to accept the fact that God loves them. Yes, God is love. He so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whoever believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.(John 3:16)

Salvation is mankind's greatest need. That's why it's God's greatest gift.

He is the Savior. When we realize how lost and helpless we really are or were, we are more aware of Him rescuing us than if we had been a survivor on the Titanic. He is not just a Savior, but the only one. He is the only Savior because no one else could or did.

Salvation really saves us. When we are saved by Jesus Christ, He works the ultimate miracle for us. He cancels out our spiritual debt that we have accumulated because of our sins. He gives us a new heart (we are born again). He gives us the power to walk in a new way, (love, purity, faith, hope). And that's just the beginning.

Salvation must be received. We must receive this gift by confessing with our mouth that Jesus Christ is the true Lord and Savior and believing in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead.(Romans 10:9-10)

Salvation must be preached. We must not assume that because a person knows about salvation that they are saved. We must commit ourselves to the preaching of the Gospel so that men and women, boys and girls will have the chance to believe and be saved.

I got saved in May of 1976 when a group of college students prayed for me and shared Christ with me. I didn't have much support due to the fact that summer break happened and I went home alone with little or no follow up or support. It would be almost two years before I would encounter another group of college students who prayed for me and took the time to follow me up and get me in God's word. I remain in debt to those who gave their time to help me. I  feel that I can only repay that debt by helping others in the same way.

I would love to hear from you who read this and tell me briefly when and how you got saved.

What do you do when you face something that seems to be an immovable mountain in your life? The disciples faced it in the form a young boy afflicted with a demonic spirit. They tried and tried and could not cast it out. When Jesus arrived on the scene He casts out the demon and rebukes His apostles for their lack of faith.

Later they asked Him why they could not cast it out. He told them, "This kind only comes out by prayer and fasting." (Mark 9:29) That's the reason Jesus rose early to pray. It's also the reason He fasted before He embarked into ministry. Somehow the seasons of concentrated prayer and fasting prepare us to defeat evil around us by subduing the desires within us, and sharpen our focus on God's Word and spiritual things.

Whenever I think about the miracles and breakthroughs that happen as a result of prayer and fasting I am bewildered why I don't do it more. Time and time again God has shown up when I seek Him diligently.

 I pray we would get serious as believers about God and HIs purposes and determine to make Him our passion and focus. When we return to Him with fasting and prayer we will tap into the power that can lift us out of despair and put us back onto the paths of righteousness.

"I baptize you with water, but one is coming after me that is mightier than I He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit." (Mark 1:8)

In February of 1978, I attended a small campus meeting at Mississippi State University at the invitation of two students, one of whom was Steve Murrell. I had prayed to receive Christ a couple of years before, but was deeply discouraged and defeated as a Christian.

 I had been hearing about an experience called the Baptism in the Spirit. I was told that the same power that came upon the original disciples on the day of Pentecost was still being poured out today. I was stunned by the thought that Acts 2:4 could still happen to me.

That night in 1978, I asked those students at the meeting to pray for me and indeed it happened. There was no "mighty rushing wind" like in the book of Acts. In fact, it was very peaceful. There was a calm assurance that came over me that God was filling me with His Spirit.

The impact of this experience was amazing. The most important thing was a boldness and confidence in Christ that came upon me.I received power to be a witness (Acts 1:8) The Scripture came alive. The promises of God became more real than ever. As Galatians 3:2 says I had received the Spirit by faith and now understood that all the other promises of God could be received in the same way.

I also received a heavenly prayer language. (As 1 Corinthians 14: 14-15 describes)
Since that time I don;t think a day has gone by where I have not benefited from this gift.
As we approach the day of Pentecost (May 31) may we stir up the gift of God that we received through the laying on of hands.(2 Tim 1:6)

While driving home with my boys the other day, I felt a deep burden to pray. We had been having a fun time together and I didn’t want to alarm them or come off strange so I began to pray in the Spirit quietly under my breath. (As we approach Pentecost Sunday May 31st, I am going to talk about this type of prayer in more detail (1 Corinthians 14: 14)

We pulled into a grocery store and noticed someone pulled in right behind us. When we got into the store the man who had pulled into the store behind us gave us a greeting and I recognized him as someone who used to attend our church. Within a few minutes we met again in the back of the store and started a conversation.

He looked at me and said, “I am dying spiritually” He described leaving Bethel several years ago and going from church to church and told how he had simply wandered from the things that he wanted to do and be. God certainly leads people from one church to another, but usually, it causes greater growth not a wilderness experience.

 He told me that he had been following me down the road with my boys for several miles. (obviously the burden of prayer was connected to this meeting) and that he knew the Lord had ordained our meeting. Very quickly, we were praying together in the back of the store and asking for God’s mercy and grace to lift my brother out of the spiritual darkness he felt he was in, and restoring him to the sense of joy and purpose he once knew.

Sunday he came back to Bethel and texted me later and said, “It was good to be back in the house again” Coming home to Jesus includes coming back to the place He has called you to be for spiritual growth and covering. Church is God’s idea. He designed it to be the place where He brings blessing to you so He can then get that blessing through you to others.

This summer we are praying that many who are wandering in the wilderness will find their way back home in the true spiritual sense. In coming home they will find Jesus again in their lives and realize that His calling and purpose for them has never changed!

Our theme comes from Philippians 4:13. The great apostle Paul is in prison, yet he writes letters to the churches that have stood for 2000 years as an anchor of faith, truth and encouragement. He is telling us in this passage about his ability to endure difficult circumstances. he says:

"I know what it is to be in need, I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."

God is allowing us to be shaken as a nation and a people. But we are going to be better as a result. We are coming back to the simplicity of His calling and His purpose. We are realizing what real riches are- our relationship with God and with one another. We really are more than conquerors. We will make it.

I keep hearing the words of my friend John Caplin, a minister and life-coach who constantly asks me, "What kind of person do you want to be in the midst of these circumstances.?"
Without hesitation I can say that I want to be like Paul and celebrate the promises of God in every situation.

"The secret of the Kingdom has been given to you. But to those who are outside, everything is said in parables." (Mark 4:11)

The secret of the Kingdom was then explained by Jesus to His disciples as something as simple as a seed that is sown in the heart of man. The condition of our hearts will be the biggest determining factor in terms of the impact of that seed, which was in fact, the Word of God.

I hope you will listen to the podcast, today at BWOC.org. Click on the 40 days of Faith graphic.

After spending 40 days with His disciples after the resurrection, Jesus brought them out to Bethany and was lifted up out of their sight. Today,  my friend Tom Hess, directs the Jerusalem House of Prayer which is located in this area and could have been the spot where the Lord departed for heaven. Think about it; walking on water, changing water into wine, multiplying bread and fish, raising the dead, and now flying away. All miracles that defy the laws of physics and also defy the notion that Jesus was merely human.

His ascension was a sight so spectacular that it took an angel speaking to the disciples to bring them back down to earth. If this didn't happen, Christianity might have digressed into merely a movement of sky-watchers and star-gazers. (That would have been a problem for Luke!)

Today we long for Christ's appearing and to return to earth as He promised. Yet, we are to be about His business until this occurs. If we didn't think this way, nothing would happen but a group of people waiting instead of obeying His command to "Go..". No nations would be reached,the poor would not be helped, no hospitals, schools, Churches built, just waiting rooms. 

May we be reminded that Christ has indeed risen and ascended and is actually waiting on His people to fulfill His Words before He returns.

Years ago, a infamous skeptic wrote a book entitled, "Why I am not a Christian." His reasons boiled down (in my opinion) to an emotional decision to simply "not believe". I have spent a considerable amount of time talking to people like him about overcoming those objections and serving the Lord. 

Evolution or Creation?
It is still the great question of our time. Our choice of beliefs about where we came from will ultimately define our lives. Were we created by a supernatural God or are we products of blind chance and random mutations?  Accidents or works of art?

Darwin had no idea of the complexity of our cells; that they were like small universes of detail, complexity and information. The wonders of both the smallest of particles and the greatest of galaxies cry out for the Creator to be praised for such majestic handiwork.

Because life has been created, we can have the confidence that there is a purpose for the universe, the earth, and our lives. Today, I want to praise our amazing Creator for the opportunity to think, feel, breathe, love, and live. When our thoughts try to focus on something  discouraging or disheartening, we should push back with this praise.

"Lord I thank you that you created me and designed me for your glory. My strengths are gifts from you, my flaws are forgiven and helped by you. I trust that you will use me to make a difference in this world as I continually acknowledge you in all my ways."

The biggest test of our faith comes at the graveside of someone we love. It is then that we fully understand how hopeless we would be without the resurrection of Christ. The fact that He has been raised gives us the assurance that there is life after physical death. It lifts our hearts from despair as we lift our eyes to the reality that those that "sleep in Christ" will

rise again.Great thinkers and philosophers have been baffled  by the thought of death. It
causes the most callus of people, with the hardest of hearts, to tremble and rethink their beliefs and actions.

The only thing that frees us from this existential despair is the knowledge that we will see our loved ones again. In fact, there is coming a day when the Lord will return to earth with all the saints who have ever lived.
This day is so monumental to us that it is called "Our Blessed Hope"  (Titus 2:13)

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Therefore encourage each other with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

May we be encouraged today to live fully for Christ in faith that all of His promises are true for us. The ones that pertain to life as well as death.

This week we are going to look at the strength of our faith in it's  logical  consistency as well as the evidences that confirm it's  validity. Jesus presented Himself alive and gave many infallible proofs to His  disciples. (acts1:3) It was enough to help them overcome their unbelief
and propel them to the nations.

Christianity started in the city where Jesus had conclusively and  undeniably died. The evidence of His death by crucifixion was so  overwhelming that His appearance three days later could not be doubted by a reasonable mind. 2000 years later, the message is just as compelling as it was in the  beginning. In Jesus said that the blessed person who has not seen but believed.

There is nothing that explains the human condition as well as offers  real hope for being rescued. That is why it is Good News. When we  believe this gospel we can access it's benefits.It's most glorious blessing is forgiveness that brings us into right 
standing with God.

The outcome of our faith is the salvation of our souls. This is reason  enough to trust in Christ as our Savior. It's promise is for anyone who will believe.