Leonard Ravenhill

No, I haven't read any of his books. I wouldn't even know where to start or if I'd even understand them. But my good friend and pastor, Nathan, sent these quotes to me a while back and I thought I'd share them.

They're from a writer by the name of Leonard Ravenhill. And if these quotes do any justice to his writings, well then, I should probably get to reading him!

Enjoy.

"If weak in prayer, we are weak everywhere."

"Men give advice; God gives guidance."

"Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?"

"A sinning man stops praying, a praying man stops sinning"

"The only reason we don't have revival is because we are willing to live without it!"

"God pity us that after years of writing, using mountains of paper and rivers of ink, exhausting flashy terminology about the biggest revival meetings in history, we are still faced with gross corruption in every nation, as well as with the most prayerless church age since Pentecost."

"The Church used to be a lifeboat rescuing the perishing. Now she is a cruise ship recruiting the promising."
"The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity."

"My main ambition in life is to be on the devil's most wanted list."

"If Jesus had preached the same message that ministers preach today, He would never have been crucified."

"Entertainment is the devil's substitute for joy"

First Glance

So, there's a dark cloud circling over the Kenmore/Barberton area. I have heard more bad news in the last 2 weeks than I have ever heard. What the heck is going on? People losing jobs. People getting sick or hurt. People dying. The sun most certainly needs to come back out over our little neck of southwest Summit county!

As I said, I'm pretty much settled into Akron Baptist Temple. I still need to check out some other churches but I'll probably be sticking here for at least a few weeks. Next week they're having a class for people who are interested in becoming members. Yes, I'm going! It'll be interesting to see what they can do to try to get me to join. I mean, I am no ordinary church member. I am the one, the only, world renowned, Wandering Reverend. There's doctrine to consider, practices, orthodoxy. . . and if they offer good food. I'll join for a juicy burger and fries.

However, this past Thursday I did have the pleasure of checking out the best kept secret in Kenmore. A little teen outreach center by the name of First Glance. I have to say, I was most impressed.

First a little honesty- we all know that I love Kenmore. Love it! But it's not an ignorant love. It's kind of like the bathroom. Yeah, it's a great place to be but sometimes it stinks. We got crime, drugs, and a slew of other problems but dang it, I still love it. It's where I grew up. It's where I live. And if I get my wish, it's where I'll start my world empire.

The fact that something like First Glance exists gives me a lot of hope for our little burg.

I can't remember exactly how I found out about them. I think I read something in the Beacon Journal about it. I checked out their website and was immediately impressed. So the other week I sent an email to their leader, Noelle, asked if I could check it out, she said yes, and voila, I was in there like swim wear.

Once I made my way into the door (which took some effort, as it was locked and I wasn't sure how to get in. Thankfully some other adults showed up. . . ) and got the introductions, I got a little tour of the place. After seeing what they have, no wonder they draw 200-250 kids a week!

They had computers for the kids to use. A small skate park with ramps. An area to play basketball. Lots of places for kids to sit and chill. A snack bar. And something that almost brought a tear to my eye - X Box's and Wii's set up for the kids to play. Awesome! Not only can I hone my Guitar Hero skillz, but I can write it off spiritually as "outreach time"! Woot!

What is awesome about this place is that their goal is simply to get the kids in and get to know them. On Thursday and Friday nights there is not "bible talk" time or lesson. Just come in, hang out, have fun. As Noelle stated, a lot of these kids would never set foot in a church but will come to First Glance.

They do have a "church" that they invite the kids to called Second Look (get it, "First Glance", "Second Look". . . which I'm sure is followed by "Third Stare" and "Fourth Gaze").

After I left, I couldn't help but be excited. How freaking awesome is this thing and it's in K-Town to boot! Aaah!

Obviously, I'm sold. I just sent my email to their director, Noelle, to ask which night I could volunteer. I can't wait. Personally, I think I made a good impression when one of the kids from my old youth group at Southwest came up and gave me a big hug. Thanks, Christy!

Peace and chicken grease,

Reverend

ABT - The Bridge Service

FINALLY!

This is it. I finally made it to the Bridge service at the Akron Baptist Temple. This time there was no "special" service or rain storm to blow this one out! I almost can't believe I'm writing this. . .

As I stated before, to find your way around this building you need a compass and a map (GPS for you non-map readers). And remember, way back when before I started this, I had been to a service here and I still couldn't find my way easily to the Bridge. However, when I asked the lady standing at the door, she was more than friendly and pointed me in the right direction.

Once we (yep, "we". My cousin Rob and my disciple, Colin, went with me) made it to the Bridge, we found a good seat and things got going.

The worship band is awesome. They rock out pretty much from start to finish. The lead singer does a great job of getting things going and leading you to worship the Lord. The whole experience is more like a rock concert. They have fancy stage lights and smoke machines that really set off that rock concert mood. They even have kids that stand up at the stage! Sadly, no moshing. Weak.

And look! They have a Youtube page! http://www.youtube.com/abtbridge

Next up, the sermon. Since they only have one preacher, they do a kind of live feed to the Bridge area and show him on the big screen. Sounds kind of weird at first but really, you never even notice it.

His message was titled Fear vs. Faith. I have to be honest, at first, I was afraid of where he was going with it. Lot's of talk about earthquakes, storms, war, etc. and how it's pointing towards the end times. . . hrm. . . whenever I hear talk of the end times, I always question it.

If you look back at every generation that ever lived, they all had a reason to think that it was the "end of days". There have always been wars, storms, pestilence, plagues, and the like and, unless I missed it, there has been no rapture yet. People tend to take situations and apply the book of Revelations too liberally.

When it's truly the end of the world, we'll know it (and I'll feel fine). Jehova's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, sorry, you're just going to have to wait until God says it's time.

But to be clear, the pastor only touched on this for the moment. His main thrust is that you shouldn't live in fear but in faith. In Christ, we have nothing to worry about. So in the end, his message was definitely more uplifting and empowering. Good stuff, Ed Holland.

As I have stated before, this is the place I'm going to be calling home for a while. There are really great people that go there and the worship is awesome. There are even these guys in a band called Chasing Chariots that go there. Check them out, they rock.

The only issues that I see is that they don't have a bible study for those people in my age group (no, I'm not quite ready for the Senior Study). However, I think that instead of doing a Bible study, I'm going to see about volunteering at a local teen hang out called First Glance. Getting my volunteer on at a Christian outreach center is sounding pretty good right now. I'll let you know how that works out.

Stay classy, Akron.

Rev.