Imagine someone who was told that they had AIDS, only to discover when further tests were done that the virus had disappeared. Or imagine a convicted felon in a capital murder case on their way to the chamber where they will receive a lethal injection having their final walk interrupted with a pardon from the governor. Excited isn’t a strong enough word for this kind of joy and this joy should be yours.

Ethnic, religious, national, and international differences--they divide us humans and many men and women are willing to live and die for their group and cause. Did you know that God divides the entire human race into just two groups and it has nothing to do with race, citizenship, or social standing?

The most beautiful event that ever took place in history becoming common place? Ignored? That would be a tragedy and yet this is exactly what many do with the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ is not raised from the dead then our faith is useless

How can we be sure that this almost two thousand years of talk about the Savior who left death behind is not simply the wishful dreams of his original followers which mushroomed into the biggest delusion this world has ever seen?

Do you ever feel that God is speaking to you in a language you don’t understand, that He is turning away from you and won’t have anything to do with you? There is a good chance that you are not listening to the voice of the true God. He speaks in the language of your heart and He wants you to listen to His love.

Maybe it is time for us to take a careful look at how someone who comes to our churches, seeking to figure out what this Christianity is all about might react. Can they even understand our inside jargon? Are they faced with a truth and a love that exposes what is really going on deep in their own heart?

The music is loud. The words are unintelligible. The participants have sent their minds on vacation while their emotions sore into ecstasy. Unbelievers experience this in the frenzy of a disco, but some groups of believers are experiencing this in what is called the exhilaration of worship. What does the New Testament teach us about “out of our mind” experiences?

Have you ever gone to church and found yourself sitting back and going through this kind of evaluation? “I don’t know this song and I don’t particularly care for the praise band. The people sitting next to me didn’t even try to make me feel welcome. The pastor’s message was ok but his delivery was terrible." This might work for an evaluation of a restaurant, but when we gather with other believers, the issue is not your taste and satisfaction, it is your vertical connection with God and your horizontal giving to others.

No great social reformer could tear down the barriers that existed between God and mankind. In the Old Testament God especially chose one group of people who were to become an example that would wet the appetite of all men and women to come to Him. But after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God tore down all the walls of separation and invited anyone who would believe in his son to come to celebrate at his table as part of the family.

A drug addict will risk their life for the moment. A long distance runner will endure severe pain and oxygen deprivation for the experience. A musician will live for the union with the music that yields the euphoria. What is this experience called the “high” that so many live for? We all know that the drug high can be deadly and we warn our young people about the deleterious effects of drugs, but what about beginning to live for even legitimate highs?