Read: John 3:1-21          

On February 9, 2009 Facebook created the “like” button on their social media website.  Since that date people have been “liking” updates that friends have posted on their lives, activities, opinions, food choices, and just about everything else you can think of.  Too often people try to gauge their validation or satisfaction by how many people “like” their latest post.

Justin Rosenstein was one of the four Facebook designers that invented that “like” button back in 2009.  In a recent interview with Julian Morgans he said, “Initially the button was an innocent thing. It had nothing to do with hijacking the social rewards systems of a user’s brain. The main intention I had was to make positivity the path of least resistance.  I think it succeeded in its goals, but it also created large unintended negative side effects.  Today most people seek our social media sites with one vague thought in mind: Maybe someone liked my stuff.  And it’s this craving for validation, experienced by billions around the globe, that’s currently pushing platform engagement in ways that in 2009 were unimaginable.”

We all like to be liked.  There is really nothing wrong about liking someone else’s Facebook post. But when we use those means to validate our worth we lose site of who we are in the eyes of God.  God’s love for us goes far beyond the approval or validation that people will or will not give to us.  It is in God’s love that we must focus our attention.

God’s Word validates God’s love for us in so many ways and in so many places.  One of the best-known verses is John 3:16 which says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  Romans 5:8 also says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The Holy Week of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter are times in which this love that God has for us is remembered and celebrated.  My hope is that we can live with that truth each and every day of our lives.  God loves you, God likes you, and God’s Son Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected for you.  You are loved!

Make it personal:  In the days ahead remember to look to God for your worth and validation.  It does not rest in how many people like your social media posts or in what they say about you.  God loves you and that is the final word!

Have a great week everyone, Glen Rhodes

Read: 1 John 5:1-12

With the arrival of March the NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament will capture many fans attention. Each team (not Illinois) will begin their quest to win six games in a row and become the 2018 National Champion.  Many of those fans will fill out their brackets and choose who they think will win it all.

If we knew who was going to win it would be easier to fill out those brackets.  But then that would take away much of the excitement.  Kind of like hearing a friend tell us about the end of a good book or movie before we actually get to experience it for ourselves.

Sometimes however it is nice to know the outcome of things.  Christians who are followers of Jesus have this assurance through our faith.  In 1 John 5:1-12 we are told that those who are born of God and are believers in Jesus as God’s Son will overcome the terrible things of this world.

While there is much good in this world we are often weighed down by the difficult consequences of sin, evil, violence, and disobedience towards God.  Too often people get down on themselves, get upset with world issues, and feel hopeless in the midst of it all.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  Jesus can help us to overcome and win.

​Read: Matthew 25:31-46       

There are great areas of need around the world.  From the neighborhoods of our communities to the other side of the world the opportunities to make a difference are more than we can count.  Sometimes that reality can be overwhelming.  Perhaps instead of counting the need we should be asking what we can do to help those in need.

In Matthew 25 Jesus is very clear about the importance of helping the hungry, thirsty, stranger, sick, destitute, and imprisoned.  His actual words are, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me.”  The key word there is “one.”  If we are going to help anyone it must start with one and then hopefully it will extend to many others.

The story of Sir Nicholas Winton is an example of this.  He was a well to do stockbroker in London, England back in 1938 when he heard about the German Nazi’s marching into Czechoslovakia.  He read about the parents who were trying to get their children out of the country before the Nazi’s took them away to concentration camps.

Mr. Winton used two of his vacation weeks from work to fly to Prague and begin helping children find their way to safety.  After weeks and then months of work, over 600 children were saved by his efforts.  For over 50 years he humbly remained quiet about his massive effort to save the children.  

In 1988 the BBC invited him to a live television program and invited some of those 600 to sit next to him without his knowledge.  At one point of the program they all stood up around him as children who were saved by his humanitarian efforts.  He began to weep.  His effort to help one led to helping over 600.  In the years that followed he helped many mentally handicapped people and built homes for the elderly in England.

Helping a world in need begins with one and then extends to many others.  Recently, pastor and evangelist Billy Graham passed away.  I had to think about how his ministry of hope, salvation, and unity will extend on for generations.  One person who finds new life in Jesus Christ can then share that hope and new life with many others.  Just another reason for us to share the good news and do what we can for those in need.

Make it Personal:  Who is hungry, who is thirsty, who needs clothing, who needs housing, who needs a friend, who needs help?  Jesus encourages us to be on the lookout for these people in need and help them in his name.  The needs may be overwhelming if we look at the whole picture, but start with one person and then let it grow like a mustard seed (Mark 4:30-32)

Have a great week, Pastor Glen Rhodes