Charles Spurgeon talks about Himself

“Once I had nothing but a heart of stone, and although through grace I now have a new and fleshy heart, much of my former obduracy remains. I am not affected by the death of Jesus as I ought to be; neither am I moved by the ruin of my fellow men, the wickedness of the times, the chastisement of my heavenly Father, and my own failures, as I should be. O that my heart would melt at the recital of my Saviour’s sufferings and death. Would to God I were rid of this nether millstone within me, this hateful body of death. Blessed be the name of the Lord, the disease is not incurable, the Saviour’s precious blood is the universal solvent, and me, even me, it will effectually soften, till my heart melts as wax before the fire. (Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening : April 28 PM)

The Influenza Pandemic of 1918

“The 1918 has gone: a year momentous as the termination of the most cruel war in the annals of the human race; a year which marked, the end at least for a time, of man’s destruction of man; unfortunately a year in which developed a most fatal infectious disease causing the death of hundreds of thousands of human beings. Medical science for four and one-half years devoted itself to putting men on the firing line and keeping them there. Now it must turn with its whole might to combating the greatest enemy of all–infectious disease,” (12/28/1918).

Read about the 1918 Influenza Pandemic which killed 1/5 of the world’s population  http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/

Happy Easter!

In many respects I find an unresurrected Jesus easier to accept. Easter makes him dangerous. Because of Easter I have to listen to his extravagant claims and can no longer pick and choose from his sayings. Moreover, Easter means he must be loose out there somewhere.
Philip Yancey

Taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no single historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ.
B.F. Westcott

The Easter message is a word about God, a grand Te Deum that joyfully declares that God is still the master in his own household.
Ernest W. Saunders

Thus we may say of our ministers and Christian friends, yet a little while, and we shall not see them, either they must leave us or we must leave them, but it is certain that we must part shortly, and yet not part forever. It is but a good night to those we hope to see with joy in the morning.
Matthew Henry

The Resurrection is the central theme in every Christian sermon reported in the Acts…The first fact in the history of Christendom is a number of people who say that they have seen the Resurrection.
C.S. Lewis

The great value God gives to the body is best shown by the physical resurrection. We will be physical for eternity.
Jerram Barrs and Ranald MacCaulay

The Gospels do not explain the resurrection; the resurrection explains the Gospels. Belief in the resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith; it is the Christian faith.
J.S. Whale

Please don’t come to our church just yet!

We have such a great unity in our group right now but there is also a little nervousness about space.  Primarily, about places for people to set when they come to our home meeting.   

We are concerned that a few people might not want to come back if they come to our study and there is no room for them to set. Brazilians are the most hospitable people on the planet. The Brazilians are beginning to express their concern.  We have several people checking us out right now and several that are thinking about coming and many that are dying to invite friends.  Last Sunday, Esperanza, Patty’s mother prayed that no more would come and that there would not be a need of some to set on the floor. The Lord answered and all the seats were full but that meant that some did not come.  Have you ever prayed, “Lord, help them not to come to our church this Sunday”.  Well, while we want more people to come we don’t want people to have a bad first impression of our service.

Truly, we don’t need to fear but rather believe that God knows we are in need of a location and that when it is right He will open the doors of Hope a little wider so more in the community can fit in. 

Lord, give us patience to endure just a little longer!