I want to make a challenge to you – take love out of the “valentine’s day box.”  What do I mean?  I’m talking about loving far beyond chocolate candies, cheezy cards, and romantic dates.  Am I against these things?  By no means!  Actually, I’m quite partial to all of the above.  I’ve even been known to write a poem for the love of my life on more than one occasion or to embarass myself for the sake of expressing my love to her.  Romance is GREAT; but love is so much more for those who know Jesus as Lord of our lives!

Valentine’s Day began with an expression of love bigger than most of us ever experience in our lives.  Although stories vary a bit depending on your source, one historical account goes like this:

“Valentinus was the name of a young man who lived in Rome during the reign of Claudius II when Christians were being persecuted. Although he was not a Christian, he helped them, but he was caught and put into prison. In prison he became a believer in Jesus. Because of this, Valentinus was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs, stoned and finally beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate on February 14, 269. After his death, this gate was known as Porta Valentini. While he was in prison he sent messages to his friends saying, “Remember your Valentine!” and “I love you.”

St. Valentine died because he gave his life in love for others.  That’s what I mean by taking your love out of the “Valentine’s Day box”!!  Don’t change your plans that you’ve labored over for weeks…or have rushed to make happen in the last 24 hours!  And if you are hating this particular holiday for whatever reason, this challenge works for you to.

What can you do to lay your life down for someone in love…not just today but every day?  Romance your spouse, yes; but how can you make some changes to  sacrificially love your spouse?  So you’re single.  Take some time to reflect on how you can love friends and coworkers, fellow Christians and unbelievers by laying your life down for them.  Maybe you’ve been married so long that your spouse doesn’t even expect you to sacrifice for her/him because you haven’t for so long.  Here’s a thought – surprise them with more than a box of chocolates this weekend. 

 And for the record, as I type these words I’m trying to apply them to my own life and relationships, just like you.  What does it mean to take love out of the “Valentine’s day box” with my wife, my two kids, as I serve the Bethel family, as I love my family in other states, as I go to Wal-Mart or the Fayette Mall?  I don’t have all the answers, but I’m certainly going to be looking.

How about you?  What does it mean to YOU to take love out of the “Valentine’s Day box”?  Post your comments and share with me the creative ways you’ve responded to the challenge.

WOW!  It was a great weekend at Bethel as we honored the teachers of our community, in our schools and in our churches.  It was a blessing to see many teachers who were invited by their students who attend Bethel, as well as some special guests like the Superintendent of Jessamine County Schools, Lu Young.  My favorite guest of the day was Catherine Barnes.  She was a tutor of a Bethel member (Katie Baldwin) over 20 years ago and she was also the person that led her to faith in Jesus Christ.  Now THAT is a great story, and just one illustration of why we should also be grateful to the teachers who have been such a positive voice in our lives.

I know I’m grateful.  The morning got me thinking and I had to go home and Facebook my music teacher & choir director.  Mr. Mohler started teaching me in elementary school and ended up being an influence in my life all the way through my senior year as my choir director.  I don’t know about you, but it’s a good guage of a relationship that he and his wife drove 8 hours to be at my wedding in another state.  He was a voice in my life that constantly expected more and drew the best out of me.  My days at Millersport High School were extremely important years of my life and I couldn’t list all the positive voices of my teachers from that small town in Ohio in the middle of corn fields.  But let me name a few, just for fun – Mr. Keener, Miss Bennie (Senorita Bennie, that is), Mrs. Canniff, Coach Stought, CoachWeldon, Mrs. Boyer, Mrs. McGreevey, Mrs. Thompson, and Mr. Spears (even though he constantly told us we were all “a little squirrely”!).   Thanks to all of you for being a positive voice!  Maybe I’ll run into you at the Sweet Corn Festival (www.sweetcornfest.com) and get to say thank you in person!

We also want to give a shout out to the Wal-Mart at Hamburg here in Lexington, as well as the Portrait Shoppe(www.portraitshoppe.com)  for their generous donations to help us bless the teachers with special gifts this weekend.

This blog brought to you by Mark Keene.

I am the Children’s Minister for 0-1st graders here at Bethel, so, the topic of teachers excites me. I even wanted to be one when I grew up.
I remember when I thought that home schooling my oldest child, Logan, would be a good idea. Everyone said that was the best thing for them and he was so eager to learn and his pre-school teachers all talked about how great he was in class. I thought with the right tools I could manage this. Right? I was so wrong. I couldn’t seem to get him to sit still long enough to do his work or pay attention or even care. Teachers began to mean even more to me then!
This Sunday will be a special day at Bethel Harvest Church. We are going to take the opportunity to celebrate some of the hardest working folks around, TEACHERS!!!! One of the definitions for teach is: to cause to know something. That definition makes it sound kind of simple but, maybe it’s a little harder than it sounds…
Think about teaching a child to read or do long division or about what a war is. Then it starts to sound not so easy. What about trying to teach a room full of 30 kids how to do that. Add in different learning styles, attention spans, and behaviors. Starts to seem a bit more complicated, doesn’t it?! Now, take a few moments to imagine what that must be like, or maybe you know because that’s what you do. Every teacher needs our prayers!
Thank God for the wonderful, dedicated men and women who give their life to cause others to know something. Let’s join together this week and let teachers know how special, appreciated, and loved they are. See you Sunday!

This blog brought to you by Ashley Collins

We’ve been gearing up for several weeks now for an exciting weekend event at Bethel – we’re taking an entire morning to appreciate the impact of teachers in our lives.  Teachers at every level and in every arena of our lives, whether in our formal education, a Sunday school class, or a mentor who coached us along the way, THIS is a weekend for you!

I’m grateful for many teachers who have positively influenced my life along the way.  It’s because of many of these teachers that I am who I am today.  Most of my memories aren’t of earth-shaking moments that I recognized at the time; it’s more a recollection of the little influences and the seemingly inconsequential words of encouragement that I never imagined were a part of God working in my life to guide me in a certain direction.

Case and point:  Mrs. Canniff, my Jr. and Sr. year English teacher at Millersport High School in Millersport, Ohio.  I was a good student and I graduated at the top of my very small class.  So, getting an ‘A’ wasn’t all that big a deal to me.  I’m just being honest.  But Mrs. Cannif did more than teach me the finer points of english, writing, and literature.  She was a voice that was the first to encourage me in doing one thing – writing.  I can’t tell you what the assignment was or what her exact comment was, but I can tell you the impact it made on me.  She told me I was a good writer and that I should keep writing.

She was the first to encourage me to write.  My mom was the next, she said:  “You have a gift to write.”  And then there was a professor at Asbury College, Dr. Spann, who gave me a great grade on a term paper that most of the class bombed out on.  I probably enjoyed that moment more than I should have (Jesus, forgive me, please!).  And then, when I started working here at Bethel, there was the voice of my Pastors who drew out of me a gift that God had been developing since 11th Grade english class with Mrs. Cannif.  I’m not saying I’m the greatest writer or anything…the point is that the voice of a teacher made all the difference in my life.

I wonder if you can tell a similar story?  Sure, the details will be completely different but the bottom line is the same – a teacher made all the difference for you.  Whether you were in grade school or grad school, I want to hear your story.  What was the teachers name?  Where did it take place?  And why was their influence something you’ll never forget in your life?  You may have to think about it for a moment, but I’m guessing that if you do you will discover that those seemingly inconsequential words of encouragement made a bigger difference than you’ve ever stopped to recognize.

This blog brought to you by Mark Keene.

The Monday nite event with Pastor Laguerre was a wonderful success!  The Lexington and surrounding community responded with their attendance and their generosity; and Pastor Laguerre not only shared his story but infused everyone there with faith and hope.  The Bethel children also added a beautiful moment to the evening as they sang a song in Haiti’s language of Creole to honor and make our guest feel welcome.

Then,  last nite was a powerful time of ministry as Pastor Laguerre ministered in our Wednesday nite service.  I was sitting there listening to a man who came from the devastation of the earthquake and left his family there until his return, and he’s talking about the goodness of God and challenging us to stir up our faith and stand on God’s Word.  Talk about a perspective builder!

And then tonite at Ecclesia, Pastor Dalton stirred our hearts again to never allow anything in our lives to compete with our pursuit of intimacy with God.  It’s so easy, he reminded us, to get caught up in the doing of ministry or other things in our lives rather than stay focused on being who God wants us to be.  It’s so true:  if we’re not careful, we can become what we do!  In the second session,  Pastor Dalton challenged us to be barbarian Christians rather than allowing life or religion to make us civilized.  We may not be civilized and people may not understand us, but we can choose the barbarian way out of civilization!  And that’s what Ecclesia is all about!

If I were you, I wouldn’t miss this weekend at Bethel as Pastor Dalton ministers on becoming who God wants us to be!

If you are part of the Lexington or surrounding communities, I hope we’ll see you tonight at 7pm at Bethel Harvest Church.  What amazing few days it has been as God has opened up doors in the news media for Pastor Laguerre to share his story on multiple TV stations, in the Lexington Herald Leader (you can read the article at www.kentucky.com), and on the radio, as well.

We are praying that tonight will be a great opportunity for our community to respond in generous support of Pastor Laguerre’s earthquake relief efforts, as well as an opportunity to welcome a man of God from another nation.  Invite your friends, family, and coworkers and we’ll see you at 7 o’clock tonight!

Also, tomorrow morning at 9am you can listen to Pastor Laguerre and Marc Graviss on 590 WVKL on the Jack Pattie Show.  They’ll be interviewed for the full hour of the show.

Join us at Bethel Harvest Church to hear from Pastor Thomsley Budlaire Laguerre, a Haitian pastor who has come from the rubble of the earthquake to speak to our community.  This Pastor saved the life of one of our members who was in Haiti when the earthquake hit, and ensured his safe return back to Lexington.  Although his church building and his home were destroyed, he has been preaching every night since the devastation in the streets of Port-au-Prince.  God has given him an urgency to come and tell of the goodness of God amidst the tragedy AND give Lexington the opportunity to respond in generous support of relief efforts.  He will be at Bethel Harvest Church for one night only on Monday, January 25th at 7pm.  (Childcare will be provided.)

This is a community event and we encourage you to invite your friends, family, work associates, neighbors, and anyone else who has been moved with compassion at the devastation in Haiti.  There will be a love offering received and 100% of it will go to relief efforts in Haiti.  Bethel family, this is our opportunity to make a difference by raising the awareness of those around us and giving others an outlet for the generosity in their hearts toward the Haitian people.  There will be fliers available on Sunday morning for you to take as invitations to the event, but don’t wait till then to get the word out!  It’s time to show our love to Haiti!