Well, that's not true, but I thought it might catch some attention. But what if the title were true; what if I have gone three weeks, a month, two months, without reading the Bible. Would some of you question whether I'm a Christian at all? I think I'd be asking some questions, too. Why is that?

I think it's because we don't understand the gospel. What if Christ's work is enough? Period. What if it doesn't depend on my work...really? What if the gospel really is good news?   

For too long, I've said that it's all about what Jesus did on the cross, but I've lived as if my good standing with God depends on me. It depends on how often I read the Bible, whether I really understand it, whether I am making right moral decisions, if I am avoiding enough sins, if I am praying well enough. Times that I've been in a slump, I've questioned my own salvation, looking inward and not being satisfied with my performance on living up to God's expectations. I thought Jesus was supposed to bring freedom. Why have I felt so constricted, constantly checking my motivations, actions, and thoughts to make sure they are all lining up right?

In the past ten months or so, I have been flooded with a 'new' understanding of the gospel, being challenged by God's amazing grace. It has been a good struggle. I have read blogs, listened to sermons, read books and Scripture that reminds me of the truly good news that the gospel of Jesus is. 

Listen to some of these Scriptures again, and act like you've never heard them before:

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." -- Romans 8:1

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." -- 2 Corinthians 5:21

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus..." -- Ephesians 2:4-6

"...giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." -- Colossians 1:12-14

These are just a few of the plethora of verses that state declarations of things that are true, right now, for those of us who are in Christ Jesus. Not condemned, God's righteousness, loved by God's great love, alive with Christ, seated with Christ in heavenly places, qualified, delivered from darkness, transferred into light kingdom, redeemed, forgiven. Done deal. It is finished!

So, next time you go a few days without reading the Bible, or if you forget to wake up at 4:30 am for your daily quiet time, relax and remember what Christ accomplished on our behalf on the cross. Rest in his work for you. Enjoy God's grace! It will mess you up! (See picture below)

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Chloe is one of our Saint Mary’s students who was baptized last week.  So far this semester we have had five young ladies commit their lives over to Jesus.

In Luke 11 Jesus is casting out a demon that was mute and he was accused of being from the Devil.

“By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.”  -Luke 11:15

     So a guy has been unable to speak for who knows how long and Jesus comes by and casts out the demon that was torturing him.  How crazy must that be for the mute guy?  How great must that be for his family and friends and people around him?  Most people are excited, but some in the crowd don’t seem like they can be pleased by anything Jesus does.

     Whispered words start moving through the crowd telling people that this guy who seems impressive actually isn’t that great.  In fact, he isn’t only not impressive but he is dangerous because his power comes from Satan.

He is working for the bad guy!

Jesus, however, knows where His power comes from and He knows what is being discreetly discussed among the dissidents.

Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.  If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub.  Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.  But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.      -Luke 11:17-20

He goes on to talk about how if a strong man is protecting his house, the only way to overpower him is to be stronger than he is.

and then V23

He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.

People have some grudge against Jesus for healing and say His power is from Satan.  Jesus tells them that Satan wouldn’t give power to drive out himself but that He drives them out by the finger of God.  The next story is talking about a man in a strong hold that can only be overtaken by someone who is stronger.

Jesus here is talking about Himself being stronger than Satan!  He can drive out Satan’s demons because He is more powerful.  Jesus is making a claim that He has the power of God!

He then makes this comment that if you aren’t with Him, you are against Him.

Jesus just made the case that He has the power of God, that He is on the side of God, and that He is overpowering Satan.  So the people who are speaking against Him are on whose side?

THEY ARE NOW ON THE SIDE OF THE DEVIL!

Jesus has made some huge statements here about His power and what He is doing and the people against Him.

So what can we learn from this to share with those around us?

This chapter has a claim of divinity of Jesus.  He has the power to overthrow he who has a strong hold (Satan) and take his possessions (us) and give them as He sees fit and the people who want to fight Him want to stay true to Beelzebub.

I think this was a pretty good day reading chapter 11.

Your Thoughts?

-Zack

As a part of my doctoral studies, I recently read 12 Books that Changed the World, by Melvyn Bragg. He argues that the wisdom of others, through writings, is a powerful formative tool in our lives. He then proceeds to detail, from his perspective, the 12 most influential (formative) writings that have served to shape the modern world.

As I considered Bragg's ideas, I gave thought to my own list of 12 books. Actually, since some of Bragg's 12 were not actual books, I figure my list can be a bit broader as well. So...here it goes...

As I considered Bragg's ideas, I gave thought to my own list of 12 books. Actually, since some of Bragg's 12 were not actual books, I figure my list can be a bit broader as well. So...here it goes...

The 12 Most Formative "Books", by Bill Westfall (not in order of importance):

1. My "family" at Tigard Christian Church. This is the place where I spent some 27 years of my life, learning the basics of what it means to be a Christian.The list of individuals is immense, yet probably not important, because they all were instruments of God.
2. Jeff Prus. Matthew 28 in the flesh. He challenged me to think in new ways, and, as a result, I ended up on this long journey of "mission" to places outside of Tigard, and away from "home".
3. Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster. By the grace of God we have the ability to receive the character of God, the qualities of love.
4. The Bible, especially the books of Genesis, Ruth, Nehemiah, Ecclesiastes, Jonah, Mark, Acts, Galatians and Ephesians. God is a mystery, yet knowable. By His power and grace, I am who I am.
5. Brother Lawrence, and his Practice of the Presence of God. Actively expressing the love of God through our actions, revealing His presence to the world around us, is the meaning of life.
6. Dr. Bonnie Thurston, who introduced me to saints like Augustine, St. Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Evelyn Underhill, St. Francis, Thomas a Kempis, William Law, St. Ignatius, Bro. Lawrence, and to writings such as The Cloud of Unknowing, The Pilgrim's Progress, The Philokalia, and The Desert Fathers...her "monkish spirit" has allowed me to observe the power and necessity of prayer and introspection.
7. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together. The Christian way is one of community.
8. Jackson Erus. My African friend who has become my brother. He has taught me more about serving God joyfully in the midst of suffering than any "book" ever could.
9. Albert. The African boy I've watched become a man. By the grace of God Albert has used what little he was given for the glory of God. It's true, God uses the humble to accomplish His work.
10. Experiencing God, by Henry Blackaby. To experience the presence of God at work in and through our lives is humbling. This is our purpose.
11. Christianity in Culture, by Charles Kraft. Learning to understand our culture is essential to effectively communicating the meaning of the Good News of Jesus to those with whom we live.
12. My wife, Leah, a gift from God. The grace she extends to me daily is a reminder of the grace of God.

There it is...my 12 most formative "books". I'm guessing I have forgotten a lot of very important ones that have shaped me along the way. I'm grateful for the "great cloud of witnesses" that surrounds me each day. God is faithful to provide all that I need.

How about you? Can you identify your top 12?

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Praise Jesus! It does not get any better than that!

If we can reach the campus, we can reach the world.  I’m not going to lie… we can’t do it alone.

We need lot’s of prayer.  Satan will come at us on every corner to keep us from effectively ministering on campus.

We need funding and resources… with the Impact Campus Ministries organization, I need to be fully funded to be on campus full time.  We need to raise an additional 34.5%  in monthly commitments, our goal is to have this raised by August.

We need more campus ministers.  As Impact prays over possible expansion to more locations in the USA, we need people to answer God’s call to join the Impact team.

Please keep this all in your prayers as we rejoice over what God is doing on the college campus.

It is May and for the typical college student, finals are over.  Even though it always brings a flood of relief to be done with exams, it can also mean that chaos begins.  The comfort of Christian fellowship and group study is replaced by summer employment, non-Christian environments.  Moving home for just a few months can create a large amount of stress.

Last night, we had our end of the BBQ.  Awesome night, 61 people, celebrating our graduates… it just doesn’t get any better.  It is also bitter sweet as we won’t see many of the students for a bulk of the summer.

Pray for our Impact students… summer jobs, financial concerns and school loans, Godly decisions, and a continued focus on God’s work in their everyday lives.

There is more transition than just the season.  We now have a new executive board!  I am excited for the people who have stepped up to the leadership roles.  Peter Huynh, who is our current VP, will be stepping into the role of President.  New to the Eboard next year will be Kevin Luo as our treasurer and Shelly Zhou as our secretary.  We are still on the hunt for a VP for next year.

On Saturday, our current eboard along with our new additions will be joining together for a picnic and planning meeting to work through the first few months of the next school year.  Please be in prayer for us as we gather and seek how we can be a part of what God is doing on this campus.  We will be planning activities to bond our new students and help us grow as a ministry to this campus of 17,000+ students!

Hikes

Pizza Parties

Special Speakers

Howe Caverns

Corning Tower Observation Deck

USS Slater

Apple Picking

Movies

Bowling

Dinners

Retreats

Hope For The Future

Trash Takedowns

and the list goes on!

This past year has been good and I look forward to the possibilities of what God can and will do next semester!

If you don’t know, the student group Impact Christian Fellowship at UAlbany has a budget given to us from the school.  Our special speakers and much of what we do can be paid for out of this budget.  So earlier this week on Monday, we were trying to plan for our end of the year party at 6 Mile Water Works, a park down the road from the campus.  We figured that we would have around $150 available to buy food and supplies.  We went to the Student Association and spoke to an assistant-comptroller to figure out what remained in our account and we were told that we didn’t have enough to cover current receipts!  On top of that, $150 room charge hadn’t gone through yet!  They assured us over and over that we had $3 left.  We set up a time to go over the budget with them later that day at 4pm and we left.

“They assured us over and over that we had only $3 left”

I went back to the office and started asking people for prayer about this that something would be found to be in error so we won’t end up OWING the school money.  Our troubles were posted on Facebook, texted to friends and calls were made asking for prayer.  We went back at 4pm and were again told that we only had $3.  We were given the print out showing us that fact.  We took it back to the office to look over it and something didn’t look right.  We went back to the comptroller and asked about what looked like a contradiction.  Our budget was looked over by the Comptroller himself this time and he said that our account still had $3,355 in it!

“Our budget was looked over by the Comptroller himself this time and he said that our account still had $3,355 in it! “

WOW!

We then found out that many of our bills have not been paid but after they are all accounted for, we still had over $500 to be spent!

What’s a $150 room charge now?  Nothing!

Eboard picnic/planning meeting this weekend?  Expenses covered!

Party next week?  Plenty of food money!

God is Good!

-Zack