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VBS is June 25th - June 28th 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.

Hebrews 12:1-2. “Run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Source and Perfecter of our faith.”

Gameday Central is a jam packed hour and a half of fun competition, dancing, rallies, dramas, and learning more about God's Word! Each evening there will be separate programs for Preschool (Ages 2 up to kids that are just entering Kindergarten) and Elementary (Kids ENTERING Kindergarten through kids ENTERING 5th Grade). Students entering the 6th grade are welcome to attend our Revolution Student Ministries VBS at the same location and time!

For more information on Preschool and Elementary aged VBS, contact Mike King and for details regarding VBS for middle and high school students, please contact Pastor Keven Christy.

If your child is attending VBS, please register here and do not forget to help us spread the word by responding on the VBS Facebook event page.

See all God did on Mount Hope's recent trip to Haiti.

My three year old daughter has two "cell phones". To be accurate she has one pink plastic toy flip phone that beeps and buzzes when she pushes the buttons and then she has one of our old cell phones that isn't charged. This morning she told me that the pink plastic phone was her "real" phone and the other one was her play phone. Her logic is that because the pink one makes noise when she pushes the buttons it must me more real than the other phone that does nothing when she pushes the buttons. The irony of course is that with a charge and connected to the right network what she calls her play phone is capable of doing far more than her toy phone ever could.

Her three year old logic made me laugh, but not too hard because I realized that we adults often make similar mistakes. We often get distracted by the beeps and buzzes, the glitz and the bling, so much so that we also mistake the false for the real. We can get so fascinated by the temporary that we fail to recognize the eternal. We can waste hours staring at a screen on a wall that has a lot of pretty colors and some cool sounds, but fail to take even a few minutes to talk with the creator of the universe, the Lord of Lords, the lover of our souls.

May the Lord give us discernment to recognize the real from that which is only a toy.

On May 16th Mount Hope Christian School will host its 2nd Golf Tournment.

Click HERE for all the details and to register.

Stephen was the first Christian martyr. Since then there have been many more martyrs for Christ. However, the majority of Christians who have ever lived and ever will live have not been martyred for their faith. Even though we likely won't experience a physical death for our faith we all need to die to ourselves if we are going to follow Christ. In fact I think the reason many people have a hard time following Jesus is because they refuse to die while they are still living. The cost of a sacrifice is the reality that you have to kill it.

It has always been this way. It is the reason the rich young ruler walked away from Christ. It's because of this dying to self that the crowds walked away from Jesus when he talked about the cost of following him.

In Colossians 3:5 Paul tells Christians to, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry." Death means killing, it means to take the life out of something, to stop feeding it, to cease to gain any benefit from it, to cease relationship with something or someone - death. The problem is that many times it is not until our flesh actually dies that the deeds of the flesh get put to death. Following Jesus means that we die while we yet live.

So what is it in our lives that we need to put to death? Is there something we need to hold a funeral for in our lives? Perhaps it is lust, idolatry, anger, prejudice, desire for approval. Put it to death. Choke the life out of it. Stop feeding it. Stop saying you want to get rid of it while still trying to gain benefits from it.

May you and I learn to die to ourselves while we are still living and then find the greatest life of all is found through death.

Profile:

Gene & Lynn Breitenbach
Chi Alpha (Boston University)

I (Gene) became a Christian the summer before I left for university at Western Washington University in Washington State. At the time, I was warned that campus life would most likely destroy my new-found faith. The first weekend on campus I was approached by two students and invited to join their Bible study. Through Chi Alpha I was grounded in my faith, learned to study the Bible, pray, worship, and share my faith. The goal of Chi Alpha is to reach students, root them in the faith, and train them to be life-long coworkers in the faith. It was here that I learned to lead small group bible studies and reach those far from the faith. Lynn and I were married, and we became Chi Alpha's first national evangelists, traveling the country to share the gospel and to train students to carry on the outreach on their campus. We did that for twenty-three years. In 2004, God finally told us it was time to pack up and move to Boston.

We have seen a dramatic change in the U. S. over the last decade and a half. The A.G. calculates that about 64% of their youth that attend college walk away from their faith. Interestingly, even a greater percentage of those who don't attend college walk away. The number of youth coming into college with little or no Christian experience has risen sharply. Boston University has the highest international student population of any private university in the U.S. One third to one half of our group is regularly either international students or first-generation U.S. students.

Our job is to catch the interests of a population who dismissed God as an active player in the world. We have to be creative, persistent, and willing to break into the lives of the preChristians around us. This has to happen through a committed community of believers who live alongside them. Students live most of their lives on campus. Most of them will never leave the campus to visit a church without a very good reason. Outsiders are not allowed onto campus property to share the gospel. If students are going to be reached, it will have to be done by becoming part of the campus community. Therefore, we work to establish that kind of community at B.U.

Lynn and I have committed ourselves to colleges and universities of Boston for the long haul. We see ourselves dedicating the rest of our lives here. Boston University is our first focus. We need to establish a healthy, growing group on one campus before we expand. In the past, rapid expansion onto several campuses has led to many small, struggling groups.

Join us Friday, March 30th at the Stubblebine Company.

Breakfast is from 7:15 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. and Larry Johnson will speak from 7:45 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

RSVP to Sharon Perko at the Stubblebine Company HERE

Larry Johnson is an extremely talented cartoon artist and radio talk show host. For over thirty years Johnson was the Editorial Sports cartoonist for The Boston Globe, The National Sports Daily, and ESPN’s Quickie page. You can listen to Larry Johnson on the radio on 850 AM, 103.7 FM or streamed live on WEEI.com. Johnson’s interest as an artist extends beyond cartoons. He is also an accomplished book/Commercial Illustrator. Johnson has had amazing success selling original works to Oprah Winfrey, Vernon Johnson as well as a series of 5’X 5’ paintings for the Adams Mark Hotel in Texas. Please join us on March 30th to hear more about Larry Johnson’s remarkable art, his successful radio career, and how his personal faith has made a dramatic difference in his life.

Visit www.larryjohnsonart.com to learn more.

View the event flyer HERE.

Registered forum users can log in to access more information.

We spent an entire day touring the sites around the Sea of Galilee. I am struck by how much of our Lord's ministry took place in so small a geographical area. On the shore of this Sea Jesus got into Peter's boat and changed his life and legacy forever. Later Peter would walk on the water of this Sea, and he would also be in awe as he witnessed his Lord speak and the winds and the waves obey his words. When Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount this Sea (really a lake about 13 miles by 6 miles) was the back drop. It would be on the shore of this lake that the resurrected Lord would prepare breakfast for the disciples and then reinstate Peter after his denial just days earlier. On the shore of this lake Jesus would feed thousands of people with the simple lunch of one boy who was willing to give what he had to Jesus.

As I consider all these things I am struck by the power of Jesus and the faith that I am called to have in him. Faith to let him in my boat and obey him when he tells me to put down the net again even though I have been working hard fruitlessly all night. Faith to keep my eyes on him and be able to do the impossible. Faith to know that no matter how hard the winds blow Jesus is Lord. Faith to believe that failure is not final. Faith to give to Jesus all I have, as meager an offering as it is, and trust that in the hands of the master it can feed multitudes.

I try to keep my backyard clean, but the truth is that it is a battle I often lose, or willingly forfeit. As I look through the sliding glass door at my cold frozen yard today, I am quickly reminded of the leaves that missed the final yard waste pick up last fall. The grass could have used one final cut, but of course the leaves would have had to have been raked first. The balusters on the deck railing have needed a second coat of stain ever since I first stained them when I built the deck and now the deck board also need another coat. There is the pile of sticks along the rusted fence that are not pretty to look at but for now don't seem to be bothering anyone. For the most part though, I have made my peace with my yard. I get to what I am able, and the rest I live with. Today though as I was looking at my yard I noticed snow flakes starting to fall. Immediately the thought occurred to me that when the snow falls it covers all the shortcomings of my yard; the leaves, the grass, the unstained deck, and if enough of it falls even the pile of sticks and rusted fence won't betray my neglect. In fact when the snow falls my yard looks the exact same as all my neighbors' yards. Even the ones who might spend large amounts of money caring for their yards and large amounts of time fertilizing and manicuring their lawn, it all looks the same covered in snow. It's a lot like the grace of God. We do a lot to mess up this world and our lives as a part of it. But, when we turn to God in repentance and faith, when we call out to him in prayer, he sends his blessings down like a winter snow that cover everything - let me say it again EVERYTHING. So what was a mess when left to our own effort becomes a beautiful white blanket knit together by the Lord as beautiful as any in all the world.

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding." Ephesians 1:7,8

Thinking about the beginning of a new year here are a few quotes that stuck with me this past year and one area that the Lord has been teaching me about.

"It is not your job to fill someone else's cup, but you are responsible to empty your cup" - Andy Stanley. (Founder & Pastor North Point Church)

This concept is pretty simple and probably one I have heard before, but as usual Andy Stanley (master communicator) has a way of putting things that just all of the sudden click on a light bulb. I find this statement so liberating to simply be faithful to do what God calls us to do without regard for the things we are not able to do. Emptying my cup may likely leave those I am leading wanting more and that is OK. The truth is if I am pouring myself out to people who are more gifted and talented than I am (which any good leader is doing) then of course I will not be able to fill their cup, but I am still responsible to pass on all that I have received from the Lord.

"Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone." -Andy Stanley

Sometimes we will avoid doing something for one person because we can't do it for everyone and we consider that unfair. But, another Andy Stanley quote says, "Fairness ended in the garden of Eden." We are limited people with finite resources of time, energy, and money we will never be able to do for everyone, only God can do that. But, we shouldn't let that limit keep us from helping those that we can help. So in 2012 do for one person what you wish you could do for every person.

"Don't settle for the promise without the presence." - Jim Bradford (Leader in the Assemblies of God)

This was from a sermon regarding Moses' experience leading the people of Israel in the wilderness. At one point God says they can go into the promised land, but God's presence will not go with them. Moses says "no", there is no point receiving the promise if God's presence is not with them. I want to have that same heart. Am I ever tempted to just desire the blessings of God at any cost even at a cost of His presence? I want the heart and the hand of God in 2012.

"Who comes, comes." Jean Picariello (My Grandmother)

My paternal grandparents were both blessed with long lives (96 years), both passed away in the last 13 months. There is a lot I will remember and take from both of them, but this quote from my grandmother seems especially applicable to me. She would say it when she would have a party or event at her house. I would ask, "who is coming?" or I might ask, "Is so and so coming?" her response would always be the same, "Hey, who comes, comes." In other words they are all invited, they know where I live, there will be plenty of food and room for them if they come, we will be grateful if they do come, but it is up to them, "Who comes, comes." In ministry it is easy for Pastors and leaders to focus on numbers and who is not there, when we do that we can miss the people who are there and who God has called us to enjoy and empty our cup to that day. As I read the gospels Jesus didn't seem to spend his time trying to attract huge crowds, in fact he seemed a bit uncomfortable when the crowd got too large and he would often withdraw and make statements he knew would challenge people and even thin the crowd. Jesus focused on the person in front of him at the moment and what their needs were. I think my grandmother understood this truth of Jesus, she was not going to be distracted by who was not there, but enjoy those were there. In 2012 I want to have that same heart.

These quotes turned into a longer entry than I expected, I will have to use a future entry to talk about the lesson that God has been teaching me. To be continued...

Find out how you can help!


April 14th to April 21st a group will be traveling from Mount Hope Christian Center to Cote Plage to continue work on a church and school. In November 2010 a team from Mount Hope began work on this project to rebuild the church and school which had fallen in the January 2010 earthquake. The goal of this trip is not only to help rebuild physical structures, but also to share the love of Jesus Christ in very tangible ways.

As we prepare to travel we need your prayer support. Please keep the safety of this team in your prayers. In addition, please pray that God will use us to spread his love to those we meet and that as a result of the trip those who travel and those that we encounter would be drawn closer to Jesus Christ.

We also need to raise funds that will be used to cover travel expenses, construction materials, and employ Haitian workers. If you are interested in donating to this trip you may do so HERE.

If you have any questions regarding this trip, please contact Pastor Brian. Thank you for your support!

Read more about the April trip to Haiti in this Burlington Patch news article HERE.

Watch the highlights from the November 2010 trip below: