Acts Fellowship Church

What have I been up to you ask?

Well...

1)  I got certified in CPR by American Heart Association.

2)  I attend a pastors' conference in Monterey, CA.

3)  I got trained to become a "diaster relief" chaplain.

4)  I bought a used VW Jetta through ebay for $4200 + ttl.

5)  I donated blood.

These are just some of the few recent, random things...

Our natural instinct is to boast about our wisdom, might, and/or wealth - our accolades, our abilities, and/or our resources - our smarts, our accomplishements, and/or our possessions.  "Why is boasting so bad?"

Before I answer that question, we must be able to answer another question... "What is the chief aim of man?"  The right answer is "to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever."

Now, let's go back to the former question.  It is bad because when we boast (or glory) in anything other than God, we are taking glory away from God... thus sinning against God.  At minimum, it is a form of pride.  At worst, it is idolatry. 

God longs to bless His people, for He is a generous and giving God.  However, He warned His people in Deut. to beware not to focus on the 'gift' rather than the 'Giver' (Deut 8:11-20).  As God's people, may we not sin against God by boasting in ourselves or others.  May we strive to know and understand God and boast in Him for He is worthy of our boast.

Thus says the Lord, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him to boasts boast of this, that the understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteous on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the Lord.  NASU  (Jer. 9:23-24)

Here's what God said... "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things." (Jer. 9:23-24)

May our church grow to know and underestand God more and more as we seek Him with all our hearts in Christ Jesus. 

Our church is a strong advocate of "local" churches.  We firmly believe that unless the local churches are strengthened, the "universal" church cannot be strong.  Many in our society approach church in various ways.  Some practice a "cafeteria style" church where they go here for this and there for that.  Usually, they have no spiritual authority over their lives and are not members of any particular local church.

Some practice a "convenient store style" church where they go in for what they need and quickly come out as soon as they can.  Their motto is "What's in it for me?"  Often, these folks only attend Sunday services and rarely get integrated in a particular local church.  Generally, no church leader knows of them.  Their primary value is "convenience." 

Some practice a "leap frog style" church where they only stay at a church for a short length of time.  One year there, six months here, and two years at another place.  They are usually fickle and uncommittal.  When the going gets rough, they are the first ones to hop out the door. 

Some practice a "holiday style" church where they only go to church for special days in the year such as Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.  Usually, they have no idea that God desires to work in and through the local churches to accomplish His redemptive plans.

Some practice a "wherever the wind blows style" church where they go wherever their friends invite them.  They go to a different church every week or every other week.  Generally, they rotate among a hand full of churches based on where they feel like going for that week or what event a church might be having.  They have no ownership of any church and are primarily concerned about "what I can get out" of the church than "what I can put in." 

As you can see, there are many types of "church goers" out there.  Our church strongly advocates the "local body of Christ style" church where each person is asked to become an integral part of the church family.  Together, we strive to become more committed to God and to one another.  We function under the spiritual guidance of God-ordained-servant leaders, and we seek to follow Christ in submission and obedience.  In addition, we seek to be available to God in carrying out His redemptive plans.  In other words, we strive to be a church modeled in Acts 2:42-47. 

Saturday morning started out in the same way as any other mornings.  Little did I know that God was preparing a lesson for me to learn.  Little after my devotion time, Michael called to inform me that the guest speaker for the retreat had missed his flight.  Thousand questions flooded my mind... "are there other flights?" "Can he go on stand-by?"  etc. 

Eventually Pastor Jong called to let me know that he was seeking to get on the 8:30 a.m. flight.  I was waiting to see what would happen.  It was, then, that I remembered a verse that I read in my morning time with God.  I reopened my Bible to read the following verse, "Trust in the LORD forever, For in God the LORD, we have an eternal Rock (Is. 26:4)."  I believed that God was saying to me... "Trust me."  I meditated on that verse and found God's peace. 

When Pastor Jong called again and said that he could not board the 8:30 a.m. flight, I was not too worried.  I shared the verse that I reflected on during my morning devotional.  Pastor Jong told me that the next flight was scheduled for 9:30 a.m.  This was the last plane available if he was to have any chance at speaking that night at the retreat.  Needless to say, he got on.  The flight was headed for Chicago, and he would again be on stand-by for a flight to Austin.  

When he landed in Chicago, there was yet another problem - weather.  There was a major snow storm, and flights were being canceled or delayed.  In addition, he was on stand-by.  We communicated again over the phone and continued to trust God to work out the details. 

To make the long story short, Pastor Jong was able to board the plane.  However, the flight was delayed.  While all this was going on, many people were praying.  And by the grace of God, we made it safely to the retreat site to hold our first worship on Saturday night. 

I learned about "having faith and trusting God."  It was an incredible encouragement to me; and now, it serves as a reminder for me that God is more than trustworthy.  Praise God!!!

On Saturday morning, right before the retreat, I discovered that one of my tires were low.  I concluded that I must have a small leak in the tire.  After all, this was the second time, I've seen the tire low in a week.  First time, I just aired it up.  Since it was the second time, I took the tire to Walmart to get it checked out.  I did not want to risk driving a long distance on a tire that might have a flat. 

Walmart told me that they could not find any hole.  I was sure that there was a leak somewhere, but I could not do anything about it.

When I returned from the retreat after dropping off the guest speaker at the airport, I started to wind down.  About 5 minutes later, Harrison walked in and said... "did you know that your tire is low, and I can hear the air coming out."  I went out to look.  Sure enough, the tire was 1/2 way flat, and I could hear a loud "Shhhhhhhh" sound coming from the tire.  I, immediately, took the car to Walmart, and they repaired the flat right away.  I was praising God throughout the process. 

I believe that God protected us until we got home, and I had just enough time to take the car in for the repair.  Wow!!!  My God is so good.  Thank you so much, LORD.

What a great retreat!!!  God, out of His grace, blessed us richly in Christ Jesus.  I was reminded that God loves our church more than I know.  I have once again learned that God is fully trustworthy to work out all the details as long as we continue to seek Him and to funtion in obedience to His word. 

Through my discussions with Pastor Jong, I was also reminded how blessed we are as a church.  Though we have many challenges and short comings, we are incredibly blessed.  Thank You, God!!!

It is my belief that many seeds were planted during the retreat.  Many wepted, and many made decisions to better follow Christ.  My prayer is that we may so cling to God that He will produce in us fruits... 30, 60, 100 folds. 

May we continue in our journey to love God and one another for His glory.  May we share our experiences with others so that God would be exalted --- and that we ourselves will be reminded of God's wonderful blessings in our lives.  Once again... Praise God!!!

Our annual churchwide retreat is upon us once again.

What a great opportunity for us to draw near to God and to one another.  I hope and pray that through this retreat, our church family can grow stronger in Christ Jesus and more intimate with one another. 

Let's get ready to retreat away from the routines of life to more intensely engage God in seeking Him, His kingdom, and His righteousness.  May God bless this retreat beyond what we can imagine.

Great Commandment... Great Community... Great Commission...  may our hearts be reignited with a passion to follow Christ.  See you there.

We, as a church, are blessed in many way.

In the past 4 years since the birth of our church in Jan. 04...

1.  We have been used by God to see 7 people go to seminary.

2.  Given an affordable building to use.

3.  Continue to be actively involved in missions.

4.  Have been able to accumilate a nice savings for a rainy day and for future building purchase.

5.  Continue to have an amazing web site.

6.  Large number of volunteers that continue to serve faithfully.

7.  Wonderful worship team.

8.  Great leadership team. 

Among many other things...  Praise God!!!

Today, I received a newsletter from a missionary friend of mine in West Africa.  It made me think...  look below:

It's hard to follow Christ - the road is narrow, but it is impossible if you are not "alive" in Christ.  It takes a live fish to swim upstream.  Dead fish just flows with the currents.