On February 14 around the year 278A.D., Valentine, a holy priest in Rome in the days of Emperor Claudius II, was executed.Under the rule of Claudius the Cruel, Rome was involved in many unpopular and bloody campaigns. The emperor had to maintain a strong army, but was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. Claudius believed that Roman men were unwilling to join the army because of their strong attachment to their wives and families.To get rid of the problem, Claudius banned all marriages and engagements in Rome. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Valentine was arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. The sentence was carried out on February 14, on or about the year 270.
Legend also has it that while in jail, St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine.” HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to You all!
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I had mentioned that the ministry there in this church had started very slow and difficult. In spite of all the obstacles God was blessing. We started a Wednesday night gathering for the youth. I think we had about ten the first night. I didn't know what I was doing but God did. There was a young man learning to play the guitar and I ask him to play and we would sing some choruses we were learning. At first they all sounded the same but we soon got better. Some one would come on Wednesday and say, I learned a new song and they would teach it. Soon we had a collection of mostly Scripture songs. Then one day some of the youth ask me, can we have a Rec night in the gym on Saturday night. I consented and they organized it. They set the time, they got parents to sponsor and we started a Saturday night Rec Night. All of this was totally the leading of the Lord. We started out with three young people and now on Saturday nights there were 50-70 youth showing up. I will share with you what we did.
Every night after the terribly boring worship service we had our own service on the front lawn of our cabin. We would sing, pray, give testimonies, I would share a short message and we would head to bed. One night as we were having our worship time, it began to rain. However, no rain was coming down on the place we were worshiping. You could hear the rain on the roof of the cabin and in the woods around us but we were as dry as we could be. It was one of those extraordinary things happening with us that week. As I recall this evening was exceptional as many of our young people were sharing wonderful testimonies of God grace and love happening in their lives and in the groups they were participating. When we dismissed, the rain came down where we were meeting. In fact, some of them played in the rain and got soaking wet. Raindrops of joy fell upon us.
After God had moved so mightily upon our group they were joyfully ready to participate in the various activities that were schedule. They would grab their Bibles and off they went to the Bible studies , etc. The free times saw them reading their Bibles, sharing and praying with one another. It was something to behold. It seem like the Holy Spirit had settled in over the cabin. I would be sitting inside and one of the young people would come and say, Lynn there a guy down on the road and he is crying. I would go down and ask him or her what do you need. I mean they were weeping, under conviction. And immediately they would say," I need to get saved." Now that my friends is easy to lead someone to Christ who ask to be saved. We would kneel right there in the road and they would give their heart to Christ . Off they would go saved and full of joy. Other sponsors would ask us, what is going on at your cabin? All we could say was God showed up. Oh, how I desire to see God show up.
Here we were in this urban church. it wasn't a big church but a nice size one. One day the pastor asked me to preach on a Sunday night. I think we had been there for maybe a month. I was excited to do so. I began to prepare and pray. I prepared a message on "Revival". Not really knowing what it was but desiring to know and to see it. That night before the service we had a prayer meeting and then the service. I cannot recall how many people were there but a significant number. This was still a time when we had Sunday night services. I preached and offer an invitation. The Lord began to move. One young person ask to speak and I let her come to the microphone and she shared from her heart. The Spirit used that sweet testimony to begin to touch peoples hearts. People came repenting, some more shared openly. Before the evening was over, we had seven saved, many revived, a whole family restored. It was a glorious night in the Lord. To God be the glory! I think we finally got home that night about 10 pm.
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What we Learned on Sunday? Insights, ideas and InspirationWritten by Pastor Chris Hudson Archives
April 2024
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