To register, please click on the link below. Once you reach the registration page, select "friend of Ambassador" to receive the discounted $15 rate. Our Ambassador is Lois Jowers, so please place her name in the "Ambassador" box. We look forward to having a group of women attend this event!!

Have you ever wondered why Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden? Our first response may be "because they sinned". But that's not what is implied to be the most import reason for this happening. In Genesis 3:22 God says that mankind has become like "one of us". But what made this to be true. Read on, "They have become like one of us, to know good from evil." What in the world does that mean, and why is that wrong?

When Adam and Eve ate of the tree, they broke a rule. And since they broke a rule, their awareness of doing something "wrong" became real. So, they then knew good from evil. But is knowing good from evil a sin? Yes and no. Think about it, the only way we know good from evil is to break a rule, which is later called sin. But God didn't say I'm removing them from the garden because they sinned. He removed them because they now knew good from evil. Well, isn't that something we pray that all humans would become aware of? Don't we hope our children develop a true sense of what is right and wrong, good from evil? Of course! So what's wrong with that?

Why the removal from the garden? Because, the only way we learn it is to break the rules, and once we know about good and evil, we simply can't fix it. It causes us to become selfish, controlling, fearful, angry, depressed, anxious, and doubtful, the list goes on and on, but why? Because once we know good from evil, we always want to be good in our own and everybody else's eyes, and that by its nature is SELFISH!

Think about EVERY situation that we call a trial. At its core is the idea or worry that either we or someone else is or isn't doing something that we consider good or evil; there are NO EXCEPTIONS! And that "knowledge" is what makes the situation a trial. In fact, some may say, "The more I care, the worse it seems to feel!" What do we "care" about; things that would make us feel good!!! And that is SELFISH. It's like the famous line by Jack Nicholson in a movie with Tom Cruise. When he was pressured on the witness stand to tell the truth he yelled back, "you want the truth, you can't HANDLE the truth!!" And believe it or not, that is absolutely "true".

Now, does that mean we should say, "Well if that's what causes all of our heart ache and trials, I'm just going to 'not care' about things"? Well, that too is selfish! That's why God had to come in the form of Jesus Christ and "fix this" for us. That's why we have to begin to grasp the reality that in our lives, RULES will NEVER save us. They may bring order for a time, but they will NEVER bring peace and perfection. Why, because they make us aware of what is right and wrong and then it just goes down hill from there. So, what's the answer, LOVE, or another word for love in the Bible, GOD. The only thing that can fix this reality is for someone to come along who has the authority to establish ALL of the rules, keep them, and then do something with the feelings that are caused when they are broken. Because if the rule maker comes and destroys those who are breaking the rules, that's SELFISH, and selfishness is not LOVE!!!! So, that's what He "LOVINGLY DID". He came, kept the rules perfectly, and let all the rule breakers transfer all of their selfishness and anxiety TO HIM. Thank God for Jesus.

Until next time, Pastor Mark