Bethlehem Baptist Church

I had the privilege of attending Bethlehem Baptist Church this morning with two of my brothers and my little sister. This church is pastored by Pastor John Piper of Desiring God Ministries. Piper also was a speaker at this year's Resolved Conference in Long Beach, CA. Unfortunately, Mr. Piper was not there this morning, but it was a privilege to be able to participate in services at the church this morning in downtown Minneapolis. I enjoyed the service and was encouraged and challenged by the message from 1 Kings 17 & 18 by David Livingstone (no, not the Scottish missionary to Africa), but one of the other pastors at the church. The message was on praying earnestly and fervently, trusting God and dealing with our sins seriously. It was the first time I have been in a Sunday morning church service since returning to the US. It was really neat to see how my time in Israel is impacting my life now. All throughout the message I had the pictures in my head, standing on Mt. Carmel, overlooking the Jezreel Valley, knowing how far Elijah had to run to beat Ahab to Jezreel after the duel with and defeat of the prophets of Baal, then slaughtering them at the Brook Kishon. I am so thankful for the opportunity I was given...and it is neat to see it bearing fruit beyond credits toward graduation :)