To Med School and Beyond

A Christian Christmas
Dr. Reggie Weems
I Peter 3:18

I. Jesus's wonderful sacrifice.
-'Christ also hath once suffered for sins...'
-Isaiah 9:6, Romans 10:9-13, John 1:29, Heb 10:12
-Greek - once for all time
-No other way to heaven, any other way is wrong.
-If Christ's death is not the only way then His birth is pointless.

II. God's wonderful mercy.
-'the just for the uniust'
-Rom 3:10, 3:23, 6:23, 1:4
-None of us have always lived what we know is right.

III. God's wonderful design.
-'that he might brings us to God'
-Matt 27:51, John 14:6
-To say or defer that there are other ways to heaven you say that God is not all knowing or all powerful and not all loving. He did not know the other ways. He did not provide the way. He let his son suffer when there were other ways.

Diet Snapple 16 oz $1.29... $10.32 per gallon

Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz $1.19... $9.52 per gallon

Gatorade 20 oz $1.59 ..... $10.17 per gallon

Ocean Spray 16 oz $1.25 ....... $10.00 per gallon

Brake Fluid 12 oz $3.15 ........... $33.60 per gallon

Vick's Nyquil 6 oz $8.35 .... $178.13 per gallon

Pepto Bismol 4 oz $3.85 ..... $123.20 per gallon

Whiteout 7 oz $1.39 ....... $25.42 per gallon

Scope 1.5 oz $0.99 ..... $84.48 per gallon

And this is the REAL KICKER...

Evian water 9 oz $1.49...... $21.19 per gallon?!

"Joy to the World"

Luke 2:8-12

Dr. Reggie Weems

Luke 2:11 is the only place in the English Bible you find the words, Savior, Christ and Lord, in one verse.

I. Christmas is the joy of a son's birth.

Jesus came like us so that we could become like Him. We couldn't ge to where He was so He came to where we are.

II. Christmas is the joy of a savior's blessing.

Isaiah 43:11 & 49:26; I John 4:14 & Matthew 1:21

The title, Savior, the noun; salvation and the verb to save are found in every book of the New Testament.

Salvare (latin) = to make safe or secure

You can't seperate the hunger from the cross w/o losing the meaning of his birth. The word Savior not only tells us who Jesus is, but also who we are...sinners in need of a Savior.

III. Christmas is the joy of a unique Lord

The title Lord is used 9,000 times in the OT and over 6,000 times it refers to Jehovah.

Heritage Baptist Church
Johnson City, TN
Dr. Reggie Weems


Purity and Missions
1 Tim 2:1-6

1. Pray for People in Authority
(2:1-2a) (Dan 4:17)
If we believe our God is in control then how can we bemoan or put hope in the govt rather than our God

2. Live well in our own society, live peacefully, quietly, godly, and dignified. (worthy of respect)
(Tit 2:1-15)

3. Hold up the cross.
(1 Tim 2:4-6)
a. There is no other way
(Heb 10:27)
b. Understand the ransom
(2 Cor 5:20-21)
i. Christ exchanged his righteousness for our sinfulness
ii. God exchanged our sinfulness for Christ's righteousness
c. Offer your testimony - our daily faithful testimony outways media displayed downfalls


APPLICATION
1. Pray about our testimony
2. Live purely

My trip to Ethiopia was amazing. It was incredible to see a family that has been seperated for two decades reunited. Here is a little bit of background to Abraham's story.

Six year old Abraham Deng was tending his father’s cattle with the other young boys when his village in Southern Sudan was attacked. Islamic militias from the north were attacking the southern Christian villages. The boys tending the cattle fled into the jungle with the sound of machine gun fire echoing behind them.
Abraham’s group was soon joined by 20,000 other boys and girls. Their sheer numbers attracted the attention of airplane bombs, camel raids and wild animals. Traveling by night with only roots and berries to eat and muddy water to drink, the children eventually reached Sudan’s eastern border with Ethiopia.
In Ethiopia they find rest in a refuge camp sponsored by the UN, and here they received some food - although only a few kernels of corn per day. However, four years later the new government became sympathetic to the Islamic government of Sudan and the military chased the boys out of Ethiopia across the crocodile infested Gilo River with machine guns and grenades.
Abraham and the thousands of others cross Sudan again to another refugee camp in Kenya. These surviving Lost Boys, as they have come to be known, traveled barefoot over 1,000 miles including twice through the desert. They saw others killed by wild animals and starvation, and had to swim with crocodiles amid machine gun fire and grenade explosions. Many wonder how he is still alive, but Abraham will tell you that God heard his prayers and God sustained him.
In 2001 Abraham was selected, along with other Lost Boys, to come to the US in an effort to restore the future of Sudan by educating these boys and giving them a future. Abraham was pursuing this dream of an education in order to go back and minister to his people through medicine when one phone call changed his life.
Miraculously, Abraham’s mother and three of his siblings survived the attack on his village. They are alive in a refugee camp in Ethiopia called Fugnido. Fundraising began to send Abraham and his cousin, fellow Lost Boy Peter Mading, to Fugnido to be reunited with their families and to provide much needed food, medicine and clothing for the refugees. More than twice the amount of money needed was given, and now I have the opportunity to go with Abraham and Peter to document there reunion in photograph and video.
It has been my dream to be a missionary doctor in that part of the world and to the Islamic people. I am excited to see God provide this opportunity to continue to grow a passion in my heart for the African Muslims right before I begin medical school this fall.
I ask that you keep Abraham, Peter, and I in your prayers daily as we embark on May 14th for a very spiritual and emotional journey. Pray that God will use us as we minister to a very broken people and shape our hearts for the future work He has prepared for us.
Thank you for your prayers and support. I look forward to sharing this experience with you.

In His Service,
Aaron Tolan


*If you would like more information on Abraham’s story, you can visit www.abrahamsdream.com.

I have been offered an incredible opportunity. A good friend of mine from undergrad was one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. He was six years old when his village was attacked and he with other young boys had to flee for their lives. To read more of his story and of the Lost Boys go to http://www.abrahamsdream.com/ at that site there are also more links to find out more about the Lost Boys. When I met Abraham he was a freshman at Southern Wesleyan University and I was a Junior. He and I became friends and we talked about our common dream of becoming doctors and how both of us wanted to return to Africa, the continent of our youth, to practice medicine. God has directed my life toward becoming as a medical missionary to the Muslim world and possible returning to Africa. When Abraham found out that somebody was going to be able to go with him and Peter to Ethiopia he asked if I could go with them. I was honored to be asked to go with them and to be offered this opportunity to allow God to form and shape his dream for me in my heart and to form and shape my heart and life through this experience. The day I was offered this opportunity I called my good friend Barry and we met for lunch. We had already scheduled to meet for lunch to talk about something else, but all I could talk about was this opportunity to go to Ethiopia. I was so excited that my hands were shaking. However, if I learned nothing else from my parents as I was growing up as a missionary kid I learned the importance of prayer. If you happen to read my blog and you pray please pray for Abraham and Peter and I as we travel to Ethiopia and minister to the refugees at the refugee camp, Fugnido.

A family with a boy about 4 years old came to eat today at Red Lobster. When I brought the food to the table the young boy was very excited and started to eat. His father stopped him and reminded him that they had to pray first and that it was the boy's turn to pray. The little boy quickly bowed his head, folded his hands and closed his eyes and prayed, "Thank you, Jesus!!" and then dove into his food.


As told by Janie

Just tonight I was offered a full time EMS job with Sullivan County EMS. I am excited. It is not exactly a full time job becuause I will not get any benefits because the county can't afford it, but I will have full time hours on a set schedule. The scheduling is weird. I work 24hrs, and then 24 hrs off, work 24, 24 off and then work 24 and then have 96 hours (4 days) off and start the cycle again. I am excited to be offered the position because all of the other part time employees have been working there longer than I have, but supervisor said he has only heard good things abuot me so he offered the position to me. Also my wife just finished final contract negotiations with a family practice office in Greeneville, TN and is signing tommorrow.

I got a letter this week from Quillen offering me a position to start school in the fall. I will start during the last week of July.

My interviews for med school went very well. The first interviewer told me that I was exactly the kind of student that they want at the school. The second interviewer said that the only reason he saw that I wouldn't be able to get into school was that they had already filled all of their 60 positions for next year. I should hear from the school by the end of next week.