Radical Faith

In my office, I have a couple copies of the New Testament of the Bible that look like magazines. I picked them up a few months back because I liked how they looked and thought they were cool. I also thought that I could use them in conversations with students that I see in my office from time to time. I find myself using them more and more because of the relevant devotions and contemporary language that is used throughout. One of them is called Refuel 2008 and is published by Thomas Nelson. Last Friday as we were preparing for graduation, I had a moment of peace and quiet and picked up the Refuel 2008 Biblezine to read during the few precious seconds of calm in a busy and hectic day. As I was flipping through the pages, a section called "Radical Faith" caught my attention. It referred to the passage in Acts where Peter and John were speaking to the council about the life and power of Jesus Christ. It is in this passage that we read Peter's words in Acts 4:20, "We cannot keep quiet. We must speak about what we have seen and heard." (New Century Version) The article then went on to discuss what this means for us today.

When is the last time you couldn't keep quiet about the Good New of Jesus Christ? That's a good question that hits most believers hard. We often get more excited about our favorite team winning a close game than we do about what God has done in our lives. But there needs to be some passion in our witness, too. Peter and John were facing death here, square in the face. They stood in front of a group of the most important religious figures of the day, all of whom wanted them silenced, if not killed. Yet Peter was unapologetic about what he had seen. He couldn't keep quiet about Jesus. Refuel 2008 pg. 141, NCV, 2005 by Thomas Nelson.

This may seem a bit odd as an end-of-the-school year blog. Nonetheless, I hope you will hear my challenge for all of us as we head off into summer vacation. Let us all continue to share the Good News of Jesus Christ as we all go our different directions over the next couple of months. At MCS, we have much for which to thankful. We've had a great year! Many new things have happened and there are many more exciting things on the horizon.

Please join the leadership in prayer for God's provision and support as we enter into a campaign to raise money for our new education building and renovations to our current facilities. Plans continue to move forward in the area of parking lot construction, water retention and drainage, and master planning for the new building. Be looking for updated information on our website over the summer. We are looking for several volunteers that would like to help us as we establish 10 different committees to lead and serve in the following areas of our campaign. 1. Campaign Steering Committee, 2. Spiritual Emphasis Committee, 3. Public Relations Committee, 4. Major Gifts Committee, 5. Corporate/Foundation Gifts Committee, 6. General Gifts Committee, 7. Church Relations Committee, 8. Special Gifts Committee, 9. Estate Design Committee, 10. Alumni Committee.

As you can see, we have a lot of work to do in the days ahead. If you would like to help in one of the areas please contact me at the school, 268-8667.

Have a blessed and safe summer.

See you all in the fall.

In Christ,
Pat