WBC Ministry Partner for March

Matt and Maggie Raines. The Raine's lead Frontier Camp Ministries in Grapeland, TX. Here are their prayer requests for the this month 1. Summer Camper Recruiting - God would move in hearts of children and their families and provide a way for campers to come. 2. Summer Staff Hiring - God would give discernment, enablement and provision. 3. Summer Camp Planning - wisdom and God's direction. 4. Spiritual Results for the coming summer - That God would transform lives. 5. Safety for the coming summer - protection for campers and staff on every level. 6. The year-round retreat ministry with over 40 groups a year and 4,000 people coming through the gates - God would continue to use Frontier Camp to impact many. 7. The full-time staff and their families - God's protection and provision. 8. Adoption process…our family is at the outset of adopting two children from Haiti! 9. Jacob’s Well Camp in Haiti—that the Haitian staff would begin using the camp for ministry in between times that American teams come and visit. 10. Angel Tree Week for children of prisoners…that cycles of sin would be broken and entire families would be brought into God's kingdom. 11. Summer Staff Discipleship/fellowship year-round - growth and encouragement. 12. Fossil Creek Camp fundraising…a new teen camp on our current property…specifically we have a challenge grant that we need to be met by April 30. 13. Fossil Creek construction…the new teen camp we hope to have ready for campers in summer 2014 - smooth process and timely completion. 14. Protection from environmental concerns such as extreme drought that might impact our ministry.

What do our dreams and aspirations have to do with experiencing the Resurrection of Christ on a daily basis?

A simple answer to this question is that it depends on the content of your dreams and aspirations. If you hope for the things of God then you are on the right track to experiencing real life with Christ on a daily basis. If you desire selfish or worldly things then you can hinder your ability to walking in the resurrection and newness of life. One of the struggles that Christians in America face to determining the content of our dreams is the constant thrust of the American Dream mentality. What is the content of the American Dream? Originally, the American dream was to provide hope for people to prosper equally despite there race or social status. This in itself is a good thing. Over the years this basic belief as evolved into a picture of married couple with kids and a house with hopes of being financially stable enough to retire from work at a reasonable age. All of these things seem ok to pursue, but are they really? What if God's will for you does not include you being married, having children, or owning a home? Is retirement a Biblical principle? Another part of this mentality that is popular in America is that if you believe in yourself enough or work hard enough that you can be anything that you want to be when you grow up. Is this true? Is this a biblical principle? Much of the content of the American Dream is in conflict to what the Bible teaches about what we are to put our hope in. Psalm 37:4 says... Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. This verse does not say that God will give you what you desire. It says that God will give you what you desire if you desire God. It does not say that if you desire and follow God then you automatically get the American Dream fulfilled in your life. Instead, a person who desires God will get God and the blessings of God. What are the blessing of God? Psalm 1:1-3 says... Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. This passage gives more insight on what the blessing of God are. Having the Bible as a source for how to live is a blessing of God. Another blessing of God is found in Psalm 16:5-6 that says... LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. This psalm unfolds that another blessing of God is an eternal inheritance of being with God forever. Not a monetary fund that could run out or a retirement stage of life that ends in death, but an inheritance that lasts forever. So what should the content of our dreams be if we want to experience the resurrection on a daily basis? Seek God, His Bible, and the hope of seeing God face to face. Surely that is enough to pursue. Recently, in the fall out of the great recession on the economy there has been much written and debated about how the American Dream is dying. It may sound strange but if you are a Christian that may be a good thing. If the American dreams dies that is one less thing that Christians have to die to in order to keep their focus on Christ alone. One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Psalm 27:4,13

The Resurrection

It is hard to believe that Spring is almost here. Spring is always a good representation of new life. Spring is also the season of the year that the church of Christ celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This month at WBC we will focus on the truth of everlasting life that is found in Christ. As the month of March unfolds we hope to unpack the following ideas as we seek God's face together this month. Did the Resurrection of Jesus really happen? What do our dreams and aspirations have to do with experiencing the Resurrection of Christ on a daily basis? How can social media bog us down from experiencing the Resurrection on a daily basis? More to come. For now remember these words from Matthew 28:1-6 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.