The Champions Spirit
Volume 69, Issue 17
May 2, 2010
In This Issue
A Double Portion
Wrigley's Doublemint gum used to have an advertisement featuring twins—riding bikes, playing ball, and smiling and happy. The selling point of the commercials was that you could double your pleasure and double your fun...with their product.
I was reminded of that advertisement in reading 2 Kings this week. In the opening chapters of this book of 2 Kings there was an interesting story. It involved an unusual response by Elisha to a question put to him by Elijah. Elijah had been Elisha's mentor. Elijah had first thrown his mantle on the young man while Elisha was plowing in a field. Elisha's response was to first sacrifice the oxen that he was plowing with, then give the meat portions to his co-laborers and then he not only followed Elijah but "ministered" to him as well (1 Kings 19:21).
Such was the nature of Elisha. He was a good student and one who did not want to see that relationship end. The Lord had other plans for Elijah, however, as he would be carried away into heaven by a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). Before leaving his charge, Elijah asked Elisha what he could give him. Elisha said, "Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." As we later read, this desire was granted. We see some of the possibilities of its fulfillment as Elisha's own ministry was about twice as long and miracles he performed twice as numerous as Elijah's. These were not "bragging points" but rather "serving points" for which the prophet asked.
As I was thinking about this event, I wondered...who are our mentors, and what would we like a "double portion" of? Who do we know that we would love to have a double portion of their love for the Lord? Who is our mentor in the field of caring for others? Who has the sweet spirit of a reconciler of distant brethren? Who has the zeal for the lost of this world that you would like to double?
One more question—perhaps even closer to home—causing us to reflect. Of what characteristic or attribute of ours would someone want "A Double Portion?"
—Larry Keele
FAMILY MATTERS...
Visitors are always welcome to the services of the Lord's church in Champions. We are grateful that you have chosen to be with us today! Please leave us a record of your attendance by completing one of the visitor's cards and placing it in the contribution tray as it is passed. Thank you for your visit!
We are blessed to have Drew and Jamie Custer with us today. We have asked them here to discuss some possibilities as we have been searching for a man of God to help us fill some of our ministry needs, especially in the areas of Involvement, Education and Young Families. Drew is married to Jamie and they have two children, Hannah and Luke. He will teach our combined adult class as well as preach during the morning service. Following services this evening, everyone is encouraged to bring "finger foods" and enjoy an opportunity to get to know this family a little better. We pray that God will bless Drew, Jamie and their family for many years of faithful, active service in the Kingdom.
Tuesday evening will be TUESDAY NIGHT TOGETHER (TNT!) We will be focusing on putting together materials for Vacation Bible School and missions. 6-8 p.m.
Jeremy's Junction
Another weekend, another out-of-town trip for me. This morning, as I am sure you have noticed, I have taken a lot of our teens and adults with me. At the time of this writing, we have 41 teens and 13 adults signed up for our Spring Retreat at Camp His Way in Zavalla, Texas. The theme for this weekend is "Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me," and we will be focusing on how the 12 apostles were ordinary men who did extraordinary things through Jesus. A key verse we will be referencing is Acts 17:6, which in the NKJV describes the apostles as "the men who turned the world upside down." Please keep our youth group in your prayers as we try to show them how they can make a difference in their world. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to guide, guard, and direct us, and for Satan to stay far away. I am looking forward to being back with you all this evening and sharing stories about our amazing weekend.
This past Tuesday we had our bi-monthly "Starbucks Bible Study." We meet at the Starbucks across from Klein, form a circle outside with the Starbucks chairs and our own camping chairs, and conduct a Bible Study. At this open forum meeting, the teens share passages they have been reading on which they would like to comment or have questions. We have covered a very broad range of topics, from the "souls" of animals to the mystery of Melchizedek, but we always have a great time with whoever can come.
On this particular night, we had about 15 of our teens in attendance. We had just begun discussing one of our first topics when a young man rode up on his bike and asked if we were having a Bible study. "Yes," I said, and then Tony Brown, Jr., asked him to grab a seat. We found out his name was Victor and that he currently attends a Mormon church, though he was raised in a non-denominational congregation. Victor made a couple of comments, but for the most part sat quietly and soaked up what he was hearing. Several moments later, this happened again – this time with a young adult woman who inquired if she could simply listen to our discussion. She came in about the time we were talking about ancient Rome and the Messianic prophecies. Aubri got her contact information because she wanted us to let her know when we had our next study, and we are hoping she comes to see us at Champions sometime soon. Victor did come to class Wednesday night and, after speaking with him following the devotional, I got the definite impression he enjoyed his class and was lovingly welcomed by so many of our members. We are hoping Victor will return Sunday evening so we can strengthen the bond we started forming with him at the Tuesday night Bible study.
These evangelistic opportunities came about simply because a few teenagers decided to spend their Tuesday evening sitting around Starbucks talking about the Bible and what it means in their daily lives. They were asking questions they had on their hearts and talking about Jesus and how He led by serving. Sitting in public area opening up about their faith is a bold step our teens started taking over a year ago. Now, it seems that doors are opening through their spiritual boldness and people are being attracted to their brave faith. Please pray that we can all be so bold and that when opportunities like these arise, we all respond in love as our teens did that fate-filled Tuesday night. Keep our visitors in your prayers and let us try to show them Christ's love when they respond to our teens' invitations and come to see what Champions is all about. Let us all do our part in the spreading of the good news of Jesus Christ.
In Him,
Jeremy Geurin
John's Jogs
BIBLE BASICS #13
There is a section of the Bible known as "Wisdom" or "Poetry" literature composed of five books – Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. Job demonstrates man's free-will struggle between God and Satan. It shows that the power is in our own hands to put our confidence in God regardless of the terrible circumstance that Satan may throw in our way. Psalms is composed of musings of David and others concerning his relations with God. Proverbs are statements of the great wisdoms of Solomon on whom God had bestowed great wisdom. Following the Proverbs will usually lead to quality in life. Ecclesiastes is a story of Solomon's own struggle with his life of regrets and triumphs. There are various theories of the meaning of the Song of Solomon but as a great love story fits them all.
The 17 books of Prophets in the Old Testament are divided into two groups. There are five Major Prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. They are major only because of length not value. The Minor Prophets are divided into two groups. The Pre-Exilic including Obadiah, Joel, Jonah, Hosea, Amos, Micah and Post-Exilic includes Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
Biblically the term prophet means one who makes known the will of God. The history of the Jewish nation was to come close to God and then wander off after the idols. God would then raise up a prophet to bring them back to his service and this went on from time to time. A couple weeks back I had an insert put in the bulletin of a time-line chart of the kings and prophets. They interplay with each other so in studying the Bible in depth we must read the prophets and mingle them in with the kings. We need to look for the coming of the Messiah in each of the books as we study.
After Malachi penned his last words God evidently gave up on working through the Jews and went silent for the next 400 years until the time was right for His Son to take up the mantle. The prophecies of Daniel are fulfilled – Daniel saw a large statue with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and baked clay. While watching a rock was cut out. It struck the feet and smashed them. The rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
Daniel interpreted the dream that the king of Persia was the head of gold and succeeding kingdoms were the other items. If we follow history Rome would be the kingdom of Iron and as it lost its power it became iron and clay. Daniel then says, "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed...." I believe that kingdom is the Church!
—John Qualls
Next: The New Testament