My Most Memorable Easter ...

I have had the privilege of seeing many wonderful miracles during our nearly half century of ministry in Eastern Europe. The Lord has given us boundless grace and mercy as He has lead us down many paths, protected us from great harm, and strengthened us to do His bidding.

During that time we have celebrated many Easter Sundays in many places. However, our most memorable Easter was not behind the Iron Curtain or in a small Russian village or a large Polish city … it was in Tacoma, Washington in the U.S.A. on an Easter Sunday evening, 19 years ago, when a dear brother placed his broken life on the altar and accepted Jesus Christ’s gift of a new heart.

As I meditated on the Cross and the perfect Lamb, Jesus Christ, I thought about how this selfless act of love by the Creator of the universe was a game changer for all of humanity. His beloved creation had taken a turn down a crooked path … a path to certain destruction … He had to straighten that path, and did, by offering his only Son as the sacrifice for all.

But while it was for ALL humanity, it is a wonderful blessing to see it being played out on a personal scale … with just one lost man. As my Easter offering to you, the reader, I share the remembrance of a man whose life was changed that Easter evening in 1993;  a man who has continued to grow under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit. I have watched his life change and bloom. And though he calls me “mentor” I call him “brother”. He is on our editorial team, a frequent contributor to “Let’s Talk” and a beautiful example of God‘s love.

“Our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”  Titus 2:13-14

Happy Easter to all of our readers and to you, Larry Abele, my friend and my brother in Christ.

Paul Weresch

Easter - the Gift of Love ...

1 Peter 1:3-4 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.”

Easter is a message with special meaning for Christians around the world. It is a message of God’s love for mankind, it is a message of renewal, it is a message of mercy and grace, it is the message of salvation.

It is a statement to the lost and hopeless that there is hope … a chance to start over.

It is the promise from God that though his people had a rocky beginning … they can have a glorious, eternity.

It is a gift from a loving Father to an errant child.

Nineteen years ago, this Easter 2012, I was the errant child (a 58-year-old child) who opened that gift. I never dreamed that the simple acceptance of an unearned gift could change a life so dramatically. I never dreamed of the love, forgiveness, acceptance and possibility that sprang out of that gift given to me and to all mankind 2000 years ago.

I never dreamed that by simply admitting that I was much less than my boasts proclaimed; simply admitting that I was a hopeless sinner who needed a savior; and, simply admitting that only Jesus could pull me through, that I would become a brother in Christ and have life everlasting.

You, too, can open that gift. Easter Sunday 2012 would be the ideal time to complete that act and begin again. Don’t let the chance go to waste.

As Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15:10: “But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I'm not about to let His grace go to waste.” (The Message)

Happy Easter and Praise God!

Larry Abele – Editorial Team

What is of “First Importance” to you?

Paul in speaking of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the Corinthians said in his letter (1 Corinthians 15:3-5)

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.”

Of First Importance!

Is the resurrection of Jesus Christ of first importance in your life? If it isn’t … or even if it is of “some” importance … today is the day to pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you through the steps it will take to make the significance of our celebration this Easter the most important thing in your life.

Once you have accepted, as Paul is suggesting to the Corinthians, that the resurrection and your reaction to it are the most important thing in your life … you will find all the other “important” things in your life are easier to achieve through Jesus Christ.

Hallelujah … He Is Risen!

Larry Abele – Editorial Team

He Is Risen!

Look in your Bible and you will find the account in all four gospels.

Mary went to the tomb in which Jesus had been laid and discovered that He was not there.

What a shock that must have been, how heart wrenching … she had not only witnessed the tragic death of her beloved teacher … but then had been deprived of serving him in his death! Imagine the agony she must have felt. The depth of her sorrow.

But then the angels appeared to her and said,

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he is risen!"

If she had found him there in that tomb, we would today be worshipping another dead prophet. However, that one phrase changed everything. "He is not here … He is risen!"

We serve a living God … a Savior … a Father … a Friend.

And because He lives, we who believe in Him shall live also. Because the tomb is empty, Christians around the world fill churches to praise Him and thank Him for His selfless act. Because the tomb is empty, we have hope in the future and guidance in the present. We are not alone!

Let the spirit of Easter live in your heart the rest of your life on this earth ... He Is Risen!

Larry Abele - Editorial Team

Alleluia - Alleluia - He Is Risen!

What a wonderful thing happened that day when our Jesus was resurrected! It is the defining event of our faith … the power over death. A new beginning … how fitting that we should celebrate His resurrection in spring … a time of new life!

I will remember Easter forever, because it was on that day, 16 years ago that I became a new man … was given a new heart and a share of that great event … resurrection. That was the day I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into my heart.

Two things have happened this week that has had me musing about that glorious event. Although my mother had gone to heaven a decade before, my father – a wonderful Christian man – enjoyed the last eight years of his life with me, his born-again son. I could see the joy shining from his heart as we would talk about the Lord we shared. I will see them both again in heaven because that is what resurrection is all about.

The first thing that happened this week was the posting by my friend Alexander (Sasha) Shein of the video right under this posting. You should stop reading for a moment, go down a few inches and take a couple minutes to see this young boy talk about his father.

The second thing that happened was during my weekly phone conversation with Paul Weresch.

Paul and Betty have been in Germany, Poland and Russia … revisiting churches they have planted. It has been a glorious few weeks with the Lord blessing them greatly. They are so very thankful for that. However, the thing Paul wanted to talk to me about was a note from one of his sons, Jonathan. He and his wife Jen have been moved by the Lord to build some houses in El Salvador this summer with Habitat for Humanity. You could hear the joy in Paul’s voice as he spoke to me about his Godly son.

You see, all of Paul and Betty’s sons are serving the Lord. And, with all the joys and success the Lord has given the Weresch’s by His grace … the greatest is that they are witnessing God work in the lives of their children.

It is simple … Jesus Christ died for us and was resurrected … He asks us to remember that and believe … then pass it on to our children.

If the little boy in Sasha’s video clip sees a father who loves God with all his heart and shows it, he will follow in his father’s footsteps. And, the father will experience great joy, just as my father did, just as Paul and Betty did, just as you can if you pass that love on to your sons and daughters.

And, my dear friends, our great Father in heaven will also experience great joy and know … it was worth it!

Happy Easter!

Larry Abele - Editorial Team