Welcome Todd and Amy Block

Pontiac Bible Church is committed to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).  We want to see the Gospel spread in our community, our county, our country, and on the continents.  We support 20+ missionaries or missions organization around the world.  

Last night, we had our semi-annual business meeting and we voted to welcome Todd and Amy Block as our newest missionaries.  They are in Guatamala and help run an orphange called Eagle's Nest. They are young, passionate, and God is using them to bring hope and light to a very dark place.  They are exactly the kind of people we want to get behind!

Dan and Christi Ucherek are planning on moving there soon to help work at Eagle's Nest.  

The children's ministry missions collection are now going to Eagle's Nest.

The student ministry is talking about taking a group there next summer.  

Pray for  the Blocks.  Pray also how God would lead you to support them.

If you want to learn more about Eagle's Nest, click here.  

If you would like to read the Block's blog, (she is an amazing writer!), click here. 

Flying High Again!

Saturday, I went with Josh for his first flying lesson.  It was exciting and terrifying all at the same time!  

Whenever I'm on an airplane, I keep my eyes on the the flight attendants.  They are in the air all the time and they know what is normal and what insn't.  If we hit some turbulance, I watch them and if they acting normal then I don't worry.  

Saturday, I had no idea what was going on.  Joshua and his instructor were talking a language that I didn't understand.  When we took off, I thought I thought I was going throw up.  The plane is basically the size of a small car with wings.  

When we would turn, it felt like the plane was going to flip over.  At one point, I was looking straight down at the ground.  

When we landed, I didn't want to act scared, but we were actually coming in to the runway crooked!  

But niether Josh or his instructor, ever looked phased or concerned.  

That's because they knew what they were doing. They understood it.  They knew what was normal.

(BTW, it is normal to land "crooked" because of the crosswind)

I had a choice to make.  

I could either worry the whole time about things I didn't understand and couldn't control.  Or I could trust that they knew what they were doing and would get me back to earth in one peice.  

The same goes for our relationship with God.

There are many times I don't understand the course He is plotting or the twists and turns of the journey, but I know that He knows where we are going and how to get there.  

Solomon wrote to his sons:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Prov 3:5-6)

Is He your pilot?  Do you trust Him? Even when the landing looks "crooked?" 

Nine Lashes Video is here!

Last fall, a group of bands played at the Vermillion Theater headlined by "The Letter Black." One of those bands were a group of southern boys (Alabama) in a group called, "Nine Lashes." They hung out with the students and shared the Gospel with ease. We saw them again in Streator a few months ago and I got to talk to them again. They got picked up on a tour with RED and their CD was about to come out. It was produced by the guys in Thousand Foot Crutch. Now, the video is completed and was just posted. I highly recoomend these guys! Their hearts are right and their music is rocking! And their music is great to run to!

Satan's Equation vs. Sexual Healing

I'm teaching through Andy Stanley's "Seven Checkpoints" with the junior high students and last night I taught on "Ultimate Authoirty." Most students see God as a rule maker but what they fail to realize is that there was only ONE rule in the Garden, God's ideal creation. God loves freedom! Satan came in with this equation - "rebellion equals freedom." How did that work out for Adam and Eve? They didn't get free. They lost everything! Many of the junior high students understand this because they have watched older siblings try the "the rules don't apply to me" route with terrible consequences. With all the panic about STDs at the high school, I wanted to share another spoken word by Jefferson Bethke. True freedom is found in doing it God's way!

Man Up Anthem

I mentioned Sunday about the sad state of male leadership in the American Church. Lately, we've spent a lot of time as a leadership team talking about how to best reach and disciple men. I recieved the "Congradualtions" CD in the mail today. This is a CD we give our graduating seniors. One of the tracks is called "Man Up" by the 116 Clique. The 116 Clique is a group of Chrsitian hip hop/rappers like Lacrae that want to spread the Gospel through their music. They have a new initive called "Man Up." Here's rapper K.B. talking about it. Here's the song, "Man Up Athem" Here's the lyrics: All: MAN UP! Lecrae: Momma want some more Obama in me the hood want PAC hip hop wanna see the Common in me. And since this a senseless contradiction I end up a misfit tryina fit In. This ends when I stand up and see the hands of the standard: holy is The lamb huh(holy is the lamb) Now we holding you to man up cause we were made In his image start looking at what you came from. KB: Right after Adam every atom in our anatomy had to make adamant after what Adonai is against. Let me take you back to the tree in Eden, if you read it you'll see that eve was deceived but Adam is the one who let it in.(Man up) Standing Leading no, we ain't leading we (Bump that) Basically little boys with Muscles and a mustache! The femininity, we need a remedy, the God-Man, a 100 percent (strength) masculinity Trip Lee: Where the men at, seems like they all lost, none of them are on the scene, Seems like they died off. They extinct but my dream is to rise up, we Chasing the prize of the King the divine boss, but we fell away, now we UnGodly we lose and we really got the blues like Navi, I wanna celebrate the dudes that's beside me fellas lets elevate we through with the lobby [ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/0-9/116_clique/man_up_anthem.html ] Tedashii: Go ahead I say boy Get your shine on. and if a sucker try to block you get your 9 home and What I heard you gotta do to be a man now, stand up for yourself so I took It in my hands now. And that's the problem man we busy trying to solve it All the while we walking dead man somebody bring the coffin, boy drop Peach fuzz now you think that your a man cause you feeling yourself you Need to man up! Sho Baraka: Sex and models, and tipping bottles back a pile of excuses right next to Your bottle caps. A rolodex filled with names that you aim to Please next to the stack of money, building up a heart of greed. Ice on his Neck give the jokers a cold shoulder, you drunk off pride plus you loving The hangover. You gotta whole lotta stuff that won't amount to gain life Will never make sense cause you never made change PRo: You got it Twisted sick like a fever, little man live to stack doe Keebler. Man up! Get up out of the treehouse leave the cookies alone it's Time to eat meat now. Trying to show you a new way to live now, no charge You can call it a freestyle. without Christ you know how your man is, was A boy in a mans body like Tom Hanks in BIG. Andy Mineo: Being a man got nothing to do with age. You can be a boy till the day you Lay in your grave. None of us behave in the image of who were made, cause We've fallen away it's better known as depraved. Running from Responsibility really we crave the easy way out of places that call us to Pull our weight. Man there going through everyday decisions are made, Responding to the call God's giving em from the... All: Man Up! Andy: Let the process begin, separate the boys from the men All: Man Up! Andy: Doesn't matter how you started, partner, it's about how you end All: Man Up! Andy: Jesus is the model follow us we gon' follow him All: Man Up! Andy: We-we the last of a dying breed it's time that we All: MAN UP! More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/0-9/116_clique/#share