"Believe!" - Not for the faint of heart

 I've chosen "The New Inductive Study Bible - Discovering the Truth for Yourself" (NASB) to do my daily Bible reading. It's a unique way of studying the Bible because before every book, you are given a great deal of information to seek after and observe along with questions to answer. You make many markings in the margins as you read. For example, when you come across a location, you double-underline it with a green pen and then locate it on a map. When there is a period of time passing, you draw a small clock in the margin.

The part of this Bible study that has intrigued me the most, is the list of words you are given with each book to find and highlight in orange. 

I'm currently reading in the book of Acts and some of the words to highlight include: Synagoge, faith, believe, disciple, baptism, and any reference to persecution to name a few. 

The word that has stuck out to me, is the word, believe. It seems the entire challenge for Peter, the Apostles, and all the new disciples in Acts, is to persuade people to believe this new story of this man named Jesus. And it proves to be no easy task. In fact, it's a mission that leads to not only persecution, but death threats, riots, and murder! 

Many times Paul and his companions arrive at a city, enter the Synagogue or town square to share their message, only to learn that the people already have some very strong beliefs of their own ingrained in the heads. The challenge then is to undo the lies that they believe and replace them with the truth. Again, a very dangerous undertaking. People hold tightly to their beliefs whether they are true or not!

Nonetheless, the message of the gospel, believing in Jesus as Lord and Christ (the anointed one or coming Messiah) slowly takes root and the church is birthed out of "unschooled, ordinary men." This same movement of which we are part of today still grows. In fact, our leader said, "even the gates of hell will not prevail against it." 

Believing in something or someone is powerful. Belief is the seed that has the power to change lives and forge futures. What we chose to believe, is prime. Even in Christianity, we are warned, there will come many false prophets and deceivers trying to tempt people away from the truth. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Be careful where you place your belief. The world is still full of wolves in sheep's clothing. 

Bible verses referenced: Acts 4:10-12; Acts 4:13; Acts 7:54-60; Acts 19:28-35; Matthew 16:17-19; Matthew 7:15

Community is just a click away!

Church billboard on M-72 by Bill Marsh

If you have driven west on M-72 towards Traverse City recently, you may have seen a new billboard just after the Bill Marsh auto dealership. The billboard features a smiling family of 6 sitting at home on their couch with the words, "Community is just a click away." The only other text on the board is a url, kccwired.com. 

Pop-up on kccwired.com

Those who visit the website, which is a local church, are greeted with the same photo on the home page and a drop-down message that says, "I saw your bulletin board" along with a button that says, "Ok!" Clicking "Ok" invites the user to share their contact information. By doing so, a relationship is created allowing the church staff to send automated emails and text messages. The initial message in part reads:

Dear <<Name>>,

Welcome to a faith community, a group of people who trust in God and believe He loves every one of us. His plan was that we do life together, not apart. Despite not being physically together, we have found ways using technology, media, and communications to stay together. We care for each other. We pray for each other. We love each other. 

We want to give you a place to belong, a place to find community during these unprecedented times. The COVID pandemic has put a halt to so many opportunities to come together. We’ve had to figure out different ways to stay connected with one another. We may not have a substitute for being together in person, but we want to at least attempt to stay in touch. People are home, alone, and tired of living life isolated. 

Fill out the Community Card to connect with KCC

The church billbaord didn't openly claim to be connected with a religious organization, and that was on purpose. The concept was to simply appeal to people in the area who may feel isolated, alone and in seach for connection, for community. 

If an individual did take the step to share their contact information, they were then invited to participate in the Christian community by doing things such as "liking" the church Facebook page, watching Senior Minister Andy Bratton's Morning Dive, watching Sunday morning Worship services, and more. 

Another billboard sponsored by the church will be going up in February/March on the south end of town. Be sure to look for it. It's sure to create a lot of buzz around town.