Dan Gould

Author: dgould77

  • Acts 2:1-13

    “On the day of Pentecost[a] all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages,[b] as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.” v. 1-4

    What am awesome experience!  Have you ever been in a place where you knew God was?  This is that moment that Jesus, and the prophets have talked about, one that the disciples were told to wait for, and now, as promised, the Holy Spirit came and came with power like a mighty roaring wind. The Holy Spirit empowered the believers to do something they could not do on their own.  In this case, to specifically speak in other languages (tongues).  The believers were able to share the Gospel with all that were gathered and did gather because of this event.  Many people believed this day, while others walked away saying that those people must be drunk!  They totally missed what God was doing in their midst.

    Why did the Spirit come in this way?  Does the Spirit always come in this way? Here are some answers:

    Why tongues of Fire? Tongues symbolize speech and the communication of the Gospel (Good News).  Fire symbolizes God’s purifying presence, which burns away the undesirable elements of our lives and sets our hearts aflame to ignite the lives o others.  On Mount Sinai, God confirmed the validity of the Old Testament law with fire from Heaven (Exodus 19:16-18).  At Pentecost, God confirmed the validity of the Holy Spirit’s ministry by sending fire.  At Mount Sinai, fire came down on one place; at Pentecost, fire came down on many believers symbolizing that God’s presence is available to all who believe in Him.

    God made his presence known to this group in a spectacular way – roaring wind, fire, and his Holy Spirit.  However, God doesn’t always reveal Himself in this way. Be very cautious of thinking this is the only way God reveals Himself.  Elijah experienced a great wind, and earthquake, and finally fire, but God’s message wasn’t in any of those things!  Gods message came in a gentle whisper.  God may use dramatic methods to work in your life – or He may simply speak in a gentle whisper.  The key is to know when and how God is speaking and listen!     -NLT Life Application Study Bible

  • It’s Quiet . . . until tomorrow!!!!!

    WOW, my sister and her entourage of 5 kids just left.  Having that many kids in my mothers house, that is not child proof, was very challenging.  3 of the 7 kids are under 2 and all of them are under 10.  This is why I work with teenagers!!!  Anyhow we did have fun!  We played in the leaves, bowled, played hide and seek, got in trouble, ate some chicken noodle soup, all while making as much noise as we could.  As I sat and ate my soup I felt like i was on an episode of Super Nanny with Jo walking in at any minute!  Both Jackson and Josiah had fun playing with their cousins.  Tomorrow sounds like we do it all again.  Here are some pic’s from tonight!

  • The Gould Invasion has begun!!!

    Well after getting a later start than we wanted too we left McKinney last night at 7:15 and arrived at my moms house (AKA – Grandma Sheila) at 2:30 am. The boys slept most of the way, and of coarse when we got here, they both woke up and didn’t want to go back to sleep.  I think everyone finally fell asleep around 3:30am.

    So today, we tried to sleep as long as Jackson would let us, but both boys decided that both Steph and I needed to be up a 7 this morning.  So needless to say, neither of us got much sleep.  However, today was a good day with the family.  This morning I hooked the router up to my mothers cpu so we could have Internet, a process that took much longer than it should have.  But we have connection now, thanks to the AT@T service guy.

    When we come to Springfield there are always three places we want to eat,

    1. Mexican Villa – my favorite Mexican Restaurant
    2. Lamberts – Just plain good food and family fun, if you can catch a roll being hurled your way!
    3. Chinese Food – Springfield style – It’s much different in Springfield than anywhere else in the Nation, I promise!!!!  I miss it so much!

    Today for lunch we ate at Mexican Villa.  This place is like no other Mexican restaurant I have been too.  If you know me, you know I don’t like Mexican food; but this is one place that is to good to pass up.  Grandma Shelia joined us for chips and salsa and my favorite dish a Sancho enchilada!  It’s so good.

    Tonight my sister and her 5 kids are coming over for dinner.  Stephanie is making her famous Chicken Noodle Soup.  My favorite.  I am sure its going to be a fun evening, especially since there will be 3 kids under 2.  I’ll let you know tomorrow if we survived!

    Here are three pictures so far.  The room all of us are staying in while at my mothers house, my plate at lunch and Stephanie posing with her plate at lunch.

  • Weekend Review

    giveThis weekend we started a new series called the big give.  Kinda stole the idea from Oprah.  My wife and I caught a couple of episodes of the show and as I watched I couldn’t help but think how students could get involved in something like this that allows them to see a need and meet a need. This weekend I challenged the student to do these three things

    What is required to get involved in the Big Give!

    1. You have to DREAM BIG!
    2. You have to LIVE BIG!
    3. You have to SERVE BIG!

    We will have some organized opportunities for students to get involved with but the general idea of the series is to look at the needs around us and to get involved.  This week we talked about Gifts of Grace.

    This is how Gifts of Grace- Toys for East Plano was started and where I need your help blog land:-) Please, Please help a child in need. All you have to do is 3 simple steps!!

    1. Cut out a tag provided on this pdf file.

    2. Purchase a toy.

    3. Mail your NEW toy with a securely attached tag by Nov. 30th to:

    Grace Community Church
    Att: Toys for East Plano
    4501 Hedgcoxe Road
    Plano, Texas 75024

    OR drop it by the Church on Dec. 7th.

    **Please mail gifts by November 30th
    You may send wrapped or unwrapped toys as long as you include a tag.

    Our goal is to provide 800 Toys for this community need. Please help us reach our goal and make a difference in a child’s life!

    For more information about participating churches please visit: www.findgrace.org and www.willowcreekfellowship.us

  • Acts 1:12-26

    “So now we must choose a replacement for Judas from among the men who were with us the entire time we were traveling with the Lord Jesus—from the time he was baptized by John until the day he was taken from us. Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus’ resurrection.” v 21-22

    Peter, who Jesus called the rock, steps out as the leader of the approximate 120 believers to address the issue of finding a replacement for Judas.  Judas betrayed Jesus as the scripture prophesied would happen, but scripture also said that someone would have to replace him.  So, Peter actually leads the first Church Business meeting stating the standards of the new apostle and taking a vote.  Matthias was chosen and I am sure they fellowshiped with food afterward.

    This may not seem important but it really is.  Notice how small the gathering of believers was.  We are talking about 120 people, who had a love for Christ, lets be honest, some probably more than others, but they still gathered together in unity.  This is the group that spent the most time with Jesus.  This is the group that would take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.  We are believers today, because this group didn’t drop the ball, they didn’t give into the pressures of this world, they remained faithful to Christ by carrying the Gospel to others.

    The Question – Who will be believers tomorrow because of your impact today? Let’s not forget the responsibility we have as Christ Followers!

  • Guys and Paintball

    xpaintballlogo1Today I joined a group of 8th and 9th grade boys, with three adult leaders, in an afternoon of paintball.  It was cold enough that we had enough layers on that when we got shot it didn’t hurt.  The place we played is probably the best paintball field this novice has ever played on.  It was a lot of fun.

    I think the highlight for me was hearing one of our boys talk about how “he was a better paintball player than he thought!”  He wasn’t saying this with pride but with growth.  Growth of overcoming a fear and gaining some confidence.  This is the same guys who said before we started that he is usually is one of the last ones left on his team and last time when he was the last one he surrendered so he didn’t get shot!  Anytime you get to hangout with students in a different environment you learn a lot about them.  I really enjoyed getting to know Cameron better as well as the other guys!  We had a great time!  Makes me appreciate even more what our troops do to secure and maintain our freedom!

  • What a Week!!!

    It’s seems that the last two weeks have been crazy busy.  It has really impacted my blogging . . . I just haven’t had time to write so here is a highlight of the week looked like for us.

    Both boys have been sick.  Not running a fever sick but we took them both to the doctor on Monday to find out that Josiah had croup and Jackson was put on an antibiotic.  On Thursday, after the antibiotic seemed to be making no difference for Jackson and his congestion was causing him to throw up, we called the doctor and explained the symptoms and what we saw.  Based on our visit and the symptoms the doctor said he had a sinus infection and changed his medication.  Today he seems to be doing a little better.

    Josiah missed two days of school this week but wanted to make sure he didn’t miss his teachers B-day on Wednesday.  He made it on Wednesday and on our way to school we stopped to get her a little gift and Josiah picked out flowers.  He is going to be a Womanizer when he get older!

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    Stephanie has decided to turn our house in to Christmas wonderland over the last two days.  She called me scrooge earlier today because I was complaining about putting the lights on the tree. (FYI – I hate putting lights on a tree) What happened to Thanksgiving?

    Tonight we watched Kung Fu Panda.  It was really good!! Now Josiah runs around the house, like he didn’t before, karate chopping and kicking everything.  He reminds me of me when I was a kid.

    At small groups we made a music video and will show it Sunday during the Big Give.  Tomorrow I go play paintball with the 8th and 9th grade guys!  Should be fun I let you now how it goes tomorrow!

  • Acts 1:1-11

    “‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”  Acts 1:8

    This verses is used a lot when talking about missions, but Jesus intent in saying this is that we, the disciples then and now, will have the power needed, given by the Holy Spirit, to be representatives for Christ to this world . . . all of it.  We have a great responsibility to bring the Good News of Jesus to the world around us.  But we don’t have to do it in our own strength.

    In the book of Act, Luke continues the story he began in his Gospel, covering the 30 years after Jesus was taken into heaven.  During that short time the church was established, and the Good News of salvation was spread throughout the world, even to the capital of the Roman Empire.  Those preaching the Good News, though ordinary people with human frailties and limitations, were empowered by the Holy Spirit to take it all over the world.  In the book of Acts we learn about the nature of the church and how we, like these early believers, can turn our world around! – NLT Life Application Study Notes

    May we wait on the Lords timing, just as the Disciples were instructed to do, so we can move in the Power of the Holy Spirit, and not our own power!  Teach us Lord, Empower us Lord,  Impact the world around us Lord, not for our own kingdom, but for your Eternal Kingdom!


  • The Pulse – Fusion Weekly Update

    If you are a reader of this blog and would like to receive, The Pulse, our student ministry weekly e-mail update, please click here to sign up and it will be delivered to your e-mail address weekly!  Here is an excerpt from this week,

    The First to Know!!!

    We have been working hard on Summer Events.  Thank you for your input.  The general consensus was that cheaper was better.  Let me rephrase that, we are striving to provide the best camp experience for the least amount of cost!  Here is what we have decided.  This year Wild Week will actually take place in July at Camp WOW.  Camp WOW has a great facility that includes, water sports, blob, zip line, basketball, volleyball, ropes coarse and other activities.  Other Church’s in our area use Camp WOW also for summer camps.  I am excited about this opportunity and hope you will be apart of this great experience.  Ken Freeman, Kacy Benson, and Nick Thurmond will be back again this year to lead us!!!

    . . .

    If you would like to read more click here!

  • Matthew 28:16-20

    16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!

    18 Jesus came and told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[a] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” v. 16-20

    When someone is dying or leaving us, his or her last words are very important.  Jesus left the disciples with these last words of instruction; They were under his authority; they were to make more disciples; they were to baptize and teach these new disciples to obey Christ; Christ would be with them always. – NLT Life Application Study Bible

    Jesus was sending the disciples to the entire world (aka all nations) not just a group of people.  However, this command was not just for the twelve and the people that were gathered there.  This command is for all who profess to be Christ Followers.  Meaning you have surrendered and committed your life to Christ.  We hold a high responsibility.  Jesus has no plan B.  We are the “A” team that God is using to tell others about Himself.

    We are to go, whether it is next door or to another country, and make disciples.  It is not an option but a command to all who call Jesus “Lord”.   We are not all evangelist in the formal sense, but we have all recieved gifts that we can use to help fulfill the great commission.  As we obey, we have comfort in the knowledge that Jesus is always with us. – NLT Life Application Study Bible