And the angels threw a huge shindig...

The Scriptures tell us that when someone comes to the Lord for salvation that the angels rejoice. And rightly, they should. It is always a cause for celebration when someone turns from a life of sin and emptiness and embraces Almighty God who loves them with a passionate love.

This past week, we had a group of nearly 80 people from Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy. CHCA sends down several groups a year, but this week, known as McCullom week for the trips leader, is always a HUGE success. The group comes and does soccer camps at each of the homes and the Rios and passes out water bottles, soccer balls and T-shirts to kids who never have the opportunity to attend soccer camps.

But as usual, as great of an outreach as that is, God also works in the hearts of the people who come on these trips, and this week was no different. On Wednesday night, we had an incredible time of worship and then a baptismal service that was a sweet time of sensing the Lord's presence amongst us. 7 jr/sr high girls, 1 jr high boy and one ICU nurse all made public declarations of their faith and commitment to Jesus Christ by being baptized in our pool. I was honored and privileged to be a part of this wonderful time. Through the lead of one of our worship directors, we tried something new. Usually in churches, when a person is baptized, we tend to smile and maybe offer a polite, quiet golf clap. We decided to shout and holler for each person. As each person came out of the water, they were met with a thunderous chorus of applause, laughter and shouts of joy and celebration. It was just a wonderful night. Pray for these 9 people. Pray that their desire to live lives on fire for the Lord would never wane, would never falter, would never be thwarted by the evil one. By the way, I think the party is still going on, so if you want to let out a holler for these precious ones, feel free to do so. -Greg