Old School

When I say, "Old School," immediately different thoughts and images roll through my mind. I think of the "Welcome Back Kotter" days with the butterfly collars, bell-bottoms, feathered bangs, and disco music. Others may think of tight-roll jeans, bow-heads, teased bangs, and major hair spray. We have been going "Old School" in Late Nite the past three weeks and we have had a lot of fun taking a look at the past and extracting valuable lessons from the Old Testament. When it is not valued and not learned from, history has a unique way of repeating itself. Sometimes, it helps to take a look backward and understand where we came from before we can move forward in God. In our first week, we saw how the Israelites went in circles for forty years because they forgot the goodness of God. Our second week focused on the story of Ruth and our instinctive need for community. Last week we examined the prophet Hosea and learned about God's extraordinary love for us. We described God's love in 4 ways: 1) It takes initiative--God doesn't drag His feet when it comes to our need. He took the first step toward us by going to the Cross. 2) It is sacrificial--He became everything we were, so that one day we could become all that He is. 3) It is knowledgeable--It's amazing that the God who knows the worst about us still believes the best in us! 4) His love is stubborn--I'm so thankful that the stubborn love of God would not let me go. When I was motivated only by selfishness and running the opposite direction, His stubborn love chased me down! We will finish out this "Old School" series on Wednesday night and then make preparations to take the Late Nite experience to the Varsity Theater the next week on the campus of LSU! We're living in exciting times and believing God for an incredible harvest of souls this spring semester!! Rock on and keep it Old School!