Earthquakes

The recent earthquake in Haiti and news reports are heartbreaking. I hope that I will not forget the tragedy. If I’m honest with myself I know that it will become like September 11. I haven’t forgotten but it doesn’t come into my thoughts everyday.

I have been thinking more about earthquakes though. I have been recalling Scripture verses that mention them. Earthquakes are mentioned about 20 times in the Bible (depending upon the translation).

Here are a few: 1 Kings 19:11-12, Matthew 24:7, 27:54, 28:2, Rev. 11:13, 19.

In Isaiah 2:19 the word “earthquake” is not used, but whatever God is going to do I don’t want to be around when it happens.

They shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily.

I read the ICR devotional Days of Praise each morning. I would encourage you to check out their website and read it yourself. It just happens to deal with earthquakes. On the web page you will discover other important info that deals with science and the Scriptures.

www.icr.org

Gordon

The Information Age

The first desktop computer at the left sold for $18,000

First binary computer was developed in 1936 and since that time to present they have grown at an dynamic rate.

The following table explains where we are headed, with some nice analogies:

BYTE AMOUNT	DEFINITION
Byte	8 bits, or a single character. 10 bytes is a single word
Kilobyte	1,000 bytes. 2 kilobytes is 1 typed page
Megabyte	1 million bytes, or a small novel
Gigabyte	1 billion bytes, or 1 Pick Up Truck filled with paper
Terabyte	1 trillion bytes. 1 Research Library is 2 terabytes
Petabyte	1 quadrillion bytes. The WEB is 8 petabytes
Exabyte	1 quintillion bytes. 2 exabytes is all data produced annually

The Bible says, “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase..” Daniel 12:4. We travel all over the globe and we are constantly bombarded with information. Like this BLOG post for example!

Scripture Memory Verse for February 2010

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (NKJV)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (KJV)

But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. (NLT)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self‑control. Against such things there is no law. (NIV)

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 [ESV]

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

Sunday Night Services-1-31-10

We had a great worship experience this morning which included the Scripture being read in Hebrew!

Brad Fogerty as usual had a timely word from God for us from Proverb 29:18 and 1 Samuel 3.

There will be NO evening activities even though our website seems to indicate evening activities. We are concerned about the darkness and possible patches of “black ice”.

Try listening to the NT with your family or read along as it is read. The portion for today is John chapters 6-9.

Blessings, Gordon

MY316

Our recent Evangelism Conference introduced the theme “MY316″. This is taken from the well known verse John 3:16.

We were encouraged to take it personally by sharing our faith using our testimony and John 3:16. Most Christians know the verse by memory and can use it to share Jesus with others.

Check out the website www.my316.com for more information and great testimonies.

www.my316.com

Sunday Services

I just talked to the man who plows our church parking lot. He will plow us out as soon as the snow stops. At this point all our activities are a “go”.

As always we want you to be safe. If you feel at risk then don’t chance it.

We will keep you posted if any changes occur. Have a great weekend listening to the Bible!

Listening to the NT in 40 Days

Dear Eastwood family and friends,

I know you’ve seen this on our announcement screens and you may have received an e-mail about it but I’m reminding you again as your pastor.

This Sunday morning (Jan 17) we are going to give each family a free Mp3 of the entire NT. It is a dramatized version of the NT in the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible.

Our goal as a church is to listen to 28 minutes a day for 40 days. If we do this we will listen to the entire NT together in only 40 days! This is not something entirely new. People have listened to the NT on cassette for years. You may still do this. I regularly listen to the Bible when I drive to and from the Church and when I take long trips.

The uniqueness of this ministry is that we do this together! Statistics show that every aspect of a churches ministry increases in effectiveness: sharing your faith, church attendance, giving, serving, etc. The benefit that I have received personally is an increased hunger for God and His Word. The more I listen the hungrier I get.

The theme is “Faith Comes by Hearing” from Romans 10:17. This verse is also our monthly “Scripture Memory Verse”. I will be preaching from that verse this Sunday morning.

Let me encourage you as your pastor to take the challenge. Do you want to see your faith increase? Do you want to see our congregation come together in unity and faith? Then take the challenge. We are trusting God for 100% participation. You can do this. If you have a question make a comment below and we will try to answer the question before Sunday!

Bro. Gordon

Ask the Pastor

Thank you Eastwood Baptist Church for participating in our second “Ask the Pastor” night. I hope the answers will stimulate you to more study of the Scriptures.

I felt like God showed me that a couple of my remarks were not good. One had to do with Greek scholars. I love languages and especially the Greek language. The scholars dedicate their lives to study. My remark may  have been funny but it wasn’t good.

Most of my memorization has been done in the KJV. However, as I mentioned, I now read the NKJV from the pulpit and in my devotional reading.I switched to the NKJV when I saw that it was helpful to most hearers. I have been memorizing our monthly verses from the NJKV. I use the ESV and NIV and many others in my study.

I have received other questions which I will try to answer on the BLOG. Remember that you, along with your Bible and the Holy Spirit and prayer can receive great comfort and answers!

g

Cultural Exchange in China

Check out a few pics from the recent trip that our students took to China:

Just Some Angel Dust

It is Jan 3, Sunday Morning, 8:05 and all is go for our services this morning. We have a little “angel dust” on the parking lot. Curtis is blowing it off with a leaf blower. See you soon.

I169 by the National Guard has a little ice in the left hand lane but other than that I169 is clear. 11th Street is clear.

Gordon