Great Weekends

I would like to share with you the last weekend I had and the great testimony I heard. I also want to share with you the weekend I just completed. I call these the great weekends. Last weekend I went to the Men’s breakfast at my church and heard an amazing testimoney from Aurelio Barreto.Many of you may not know who he is. To be honest with you his name did not ring a bell to me either. He is the founder and CEO of not of this world products. I am sure most of you have seen the notw stickers on the back of car windows or maybe have one yourself. John 15:19 tells us that we are not of this world. What a great company. They give most of their money to Gods ministries. Aurelio before his BC days (before Christ) was a bad person doing the things that God would disapprove. I won’t get into details but Aurelio was a bad person like all of us before we gave our lives to Christ. Before age 36 he was a millionaire. His claim to fame was the creator of those doggie igloo dog houses you see at Lowes and Home Depot. He created them and sold the comany for 20 million dollars a few years later. You would think at age 36, with 20 million dollars in the bank life would be good. Not so. He felt empty and was depressed. He planned to kill himself. He was all set to do it until a friend gave him the gospel of Jesus Christ. He never heard it before. “What. This guy Jesus died for me?” This is what Aurelio’s said to his friend in disbelief. This blew Aurelio away and changed his life. He immediately called his business partner and shared Jesus with him. His business partner felt ashamed. He knew Jesus for 10 years but failed to share the gospel with Aurelio in fear that they wouldnt be friends anymore. Don’t ever be ashamed to give the gospel to a friend or even an enemy. 2 Timothy 1:8 “Do not be afraid of the testimony of our Lord”. Romans 10:14 “How can they hear without someone preaching to them”. Auerlio was awesome. He is now working for the Lord. Using his talents to get Gods message out. You want to keep him and NOTW products in prayer.

This weekend I am spending it with 3100 of my brothers and sisters in Christ. As I stated before I am a childrens supervisor in a large international non-denominational bible study. I encourge you to find one in your neighborhood. Its a great way to get deep into Gods word. Tonight was the first in a series of weekend studies. The theme for the weekend is biblical poverty. To many people have bibles and don’t read them. How sad. The Apostle Paul was encourging his young friend Timothy to carry the tourch and don’t be afraid to present the gospel to others. Sounds like Aurelio’s business partner. All of you have been entrusted to carry Gods message to the masses. As Citizens of Heaven I urge you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to be bold and present the gospel to all that you can.

So ends the great weekend. Three years in the planning. The theme, how do we end biblical poverty? The statistics of how many people in the US or Euorpe know or read the bible is declining. The youth preoccupied with social media and their digital toys think of the bible and faith as a waste of time. The age group 18-35 who say they have a bible let alone read one also declining. There is spiritual warfare going on and we as Christians are losing. I am encourged at this retreat that there is still a remnant of believers that will never waver from Gods truth. That our mission is not only to continue to teach this generation but the next, because if we dont we will go the way of the ancient city of Nineveh. Jonah was sent by God to save the city of Nineveh from destruction, which he did through preaching the word of God. His warning of certain destruction if they did not repent of their sins and turn towards God. They did and was spared. 100 years go by and they go back to their old ways. No second chances. They were destroyed. I believe the US and the world are in the same state as Nineveh. We have had our revivals. We have turned our backs on God. We know what is coming. It is time, more then ever to accept Jesus Christ as your savior and be called a citizen of heaven.

God Bless COH