Omaha Review!

OK, I am back from Nebraska, admittedly a state I never thought of visiting, and let me tell you I had to eat some crow and ice-cream. Before departing for Omaha, I could only imagine lots of cow pies and a lot of corn growing between the skyscrapers. I was totally wrong! The city was laid out in a nice grid with plenty of room between the blocks for pedestrians and vehicles to traverse allowing it to be less crowded feeling. The sidewalks and streets were very clean and most corners had large trash cans that had recycling on one side and trash on the other. What an awesome concept! I thought a lot of my wife as I was there because all the things I know she hates about the city life was really non-existent in Omaha. It was a city she could actually live in.  Well, we are not moving anytime soon but if we do ever have to relocate, I hope it is to Omaha, Nebraska - a great compromise for the both of us.

Now let me tell you about the best thing there. An ice-cream place called Ted & Wally's in the historic downtown area. They have homemade ice-cream that is awesome. Made right there in front of you with many different signature flavors as well. They always kept about twelve flavors on hand and as you are standing in the line, some of the flavors may run out and is replaced with a different flavor. It is awesome! You can't even decide what you want till you get to the counter because they may be out of it. I am not even a big ice-cream eater but I would go here at least three times a day if I could, probably good I don't live there. Ahhh!

Now on to the stuff I know you really care about. The conference. It was a celebration of 40 years of the Great Commission Movement. Each night we traveled back through the beginnings of the movement from the 1960's to today. Four men from each decade took the stage and shared their stories. Many of the stories were told before but can you ever get tired of hearing a story? Especially stories of great faith and God's grace. Generation after generation of men who believed God wanted the Gospel of Christ to be told to the entire world on their generation. Among them you would find men with the character of Paul, John, Peter, and even Jonah at times.

The local church in Omaha was having a festival and we went door to door one evening inviting people out and offering to pray for them. There were some that were receptive and some that were not. Those who slammed doors in my face were prayed for whether they liked it or not, perhaps they didn't want to hear it from me but I pray that, before it is too late, they hear it from somebody. One lady exclaimed, as the door was closing, "I have been Irish Catholic since birth!," I pray that she finds out what it means to be Irish Catholic and starts living out her faith. The center of the Church of Ireland's teaching is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Among the basic teachings of the Irish Catholic Church include Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God in one person, He died and was resurrected from the dead, Jesus provides the way of eternal life for those who believe, The Old and New Testaments of the Bible ("God's Word written") were written by people "under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit." The Apocrypha are additional books that are to be read, but not to determine doctrine, and belief in Heaven, Hell, and Jesus's return in glory. You can compare this to my "Faith Statement" above.

Anyway, my take away was this: God is doing all of the work no matter what, when we step out and decide to cooperate with Him, whether it makes sense or not, it makes it much much easier on everyone and the Kingdom advances because He is in full control. And it is possible that we can reach everyone in this generation with the Gospel. Do your part!