Isaiah 58:9: Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry, and He will say,"here I am. If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
10:And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday.
11:And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden,and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
12:Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will raise up the age -old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
This morning in Sunday school, this scripture was in our classes book called Crazy Love. It was a reminder to me to stay focused on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. He who began a good work in us will be faithful to see it to it's completion. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we could ask or imagine.
So I will continue to encourage and spur others to get involved in good deeds so we will see the harvest of righteousness in due season. God is continually working in us and with us for His good pleasure so that when we reach the point of our purpose we will be able to walk into it. (My paraphrase).
The journey began when I was holding onto a root of bitterness and I could not stand it any longer so I called upon Christ. I cried out to Him when there was no other place or other people to turn to, and He heard my petition and He answered me that very day and said' "Here I am." I was trying to handle the situation in my own strength, but He reminded me that my thoughts and ways are not the same as His. My own way was to point fingers and speak wickedly of others instead of showing forgiveness to them. Because of doing things my way I was holding to my own thoughts which was creating a division in the body. Hebrews12 talks about that root of bitterness and if we allow it to grow and share it with others it will cause other believers to be defiled. So Jesus Himself taught me the power that comes with letting go and how to cultivate forgiveness.
I have given myself to feed those who are hungry. I don't mean for food (I am a terrible cook) but those who are hungry for the Word of God and try to help those who are afflicted. The more I spend time with others doing that, I have seen peoples lives change, but many times it becomes a slow process, but I am beginning to see change in peoples lives as they apply the powerful Word of God into their situations. I am seeing light beginning to pierce through the darkness. I was frustrated for a long while, but that gloom is changing into midday.
I will continue to trust the Lord to guide me and show me what is the best course to take to teach my brothers and sisters to be changed into the image of God, but I will always remember without Christ I can do nothing on my own. I must also remember that I have not reached perfection myself and on this side of glory, I never will, so I must also study the word myself so I can rightly divide the Word of truth. I also must become obedient to what the Holy Spirit is trying to instruct me to do. As I do this I will become like the watered garden and continue to be healthy, so I can be that example for others to follow. My desire for others is not to be legalistic, but that they would experience the same freedom that I have experienced in areas of my life as I have applied the scripture to my life and that I might grow as I learn from other church family members as they share their walk of faith.
As we make this commitment to work and walk together then we will become united in purpose even though we may have different ideas on how to accomplish good works, but as Pastor Cliff always reminds us let us cherish those differences, then we will grow in our knowledge which is a gift from God and we will be able to build our cities and communities as we begin building on the foundation and allow Christ to be the chief cornerstone. He will use us as an organized body to repair and restore that which the enemy has destroyed and stolen from us.
I thank Jesus for this reminder and encouragement from His Word this morning. As Paul Cobb always reminds and encourages us, keep pressing forward in the things of the Lord.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Preserving the Bond of Peace: Is it Possible?
Ephesians 4:1: Therefore I the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling which you have been called,
2:with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,
3: being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
I do believe it is possible to create and maintain a bond of peace in the body of Christ. As Paul is asking the believers in the Ephesian church to walk in a manner worthy of their calling. Imploring means to earnestly request that they would walk that way. Sometimes as a believer,I find myself getting upset at times. I find myself needing to sit back and examine my thoughts and actions. If I act out and speak out against others, is it worth creating a division in the body in order to get my way. Have I lost my focus on Jesus and the mission and vision he has placed on my life and why he has placed me in this local body of believers.
Have I been humble enough to take time to listen to what my brothers and sisters in Christ are trying to show me? Am I looking at the interests of others above myself and looking at Christ's example of looking at others interests when He voluntarily gave His life that others may live and have life to the fullest? Do I have a gentle spirit when others are speaking to me? Am I patient ?Am I willing to seek a resolution or mediate with them and come up with a solution that will benefit both sides? Am I willing to love others more than myself? Am I willing to be steady and constant at working and refocusing on outcomes that if I follow the leading of the Holy Spirit that the end result will be the strengthening of the bond of peace in His church which is the bride of Christ?
The other day I was looking in a dresser drawer in one of my upstairs bedrooms and I saw some dish clothes that my Aunt had made several years ago. As I looked at two of them, one was in great shape. She liked using several bright colors and as I was looking at it carefully, and each little loop of yarn although it was different in color in several areas was it's own individual circle of yarn, but it was able to be connected with other loops that were the same color, and later in the pattern their were other places just like it, but a different color, but still joined together with strength. I pulled on the corners to see how the clothe was bonded together, and that this carefully knit item was put together to serve a purpose. She had made it during her time of illness. She was able to finish this project, even though to some people it may seem to be just a little thing she made, to her it was difficult, because not only was she ill, but she had trouble with her vision also. She was able to complete it because of her gentleness, patience, love, and diligence. She had another one that I lifted up and for some reason it had a whole in the middle, and I lifted it up and the yarn started falling apart. the circles and loops that were supposed to be held together to serve a purpose were separating from one another. This one lost it's purpose because it was not able to stay together in unity.
This illustration shows me that even though the church is composed of several ministries and several groups of people working in various ministries within the local church body, the end result should be to build Christ's kingdom and bring non-believers to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. So I pray Lord that my greatest goal in serving you is to strengthen the bond of peace so that we will be gathered in unity and spirit so we can be effective in reaching a lost and dying world both here and throughout the world.
Ephesians 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household,
20:having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
21: in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple of the Lord,
22,in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
So is it possible to maintain the bond of peace. Yes, as long as I am willing to let go of my free will and allow Christ to be the cornerstone in whatever I do.
2:with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,
3: being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
I do believe it is possible to create and maintain a bond of peace in the body of Christ. As Paul is asking the believers in the Ephesian church to walk in a manner worthy of their calling. Imploring means to earnestly request that they would walk that way. Sometimes as a believer,I find myself getting upset at times. I find myself needing to sit back and examine my thoughts and actions. If I act out and speak out against others, is it worth creating a division in the body in order to get my way. Have I lost my focus on Jesus and the mission and vision he has placed on my life and why he has placed me in this local body of believers.
Have I been humble enough to take time to listen to what my brothers and sisters in Christ are trying to show me? Am I looking at the interests of others above myself and looking at Christ's example of looking at others interests when He voluntarily gave His life that others may live and have life to the fullest? Do I have a gentle spirit when others are speaking to me? Am I patient ?Am I willing to seek a resolution or mediate with them and come up with a solution that will benefit both sides? Am I willing to love others more than myself? Am I willing to be steady and constant at working and refocusing on outcomes that if I follow the leading of the Holy Spirit that the end result will be the strengthening of the bond of peace in His church which is the bride of Christ?
The other day I was looking in a dresser drawer in one of my upstairs bedrooms and I saw some dish clothes that my Aunt had made several years ago. As I looked at two of them, one was in great shape. She liked using several bright colors and as I was looking at it carefully, and each little loop of yarn although it was different in color in several areas was it's own individual circle of yarn, but it was able to be connected with other loops that were the same color, and later in the pattern their were other places just like it, but a different color, but still joined together with strength. I pulled on the corners to see how the clothe was bonded together, and that this carefully knit item was put together to serve a purpose. She had made it during her time of illness. She was able to finish this project, even though to some people it may seem to be just a little thing she made, to her it was difficult, because not only was she ill, but she had trouble with her vision also. She was able to complete it because of her gentleness, patience, love, and diligence. She had another one that I lifted up and for some reason it had a whole in the middle, and I lifted it up and the yarn started falling apart. the circles and loops that were supposed to be held together to serve a purpose were separating from one another. This one lost it's purpose because it was not able to stay together in unity.
This illustration shows me that even though the church is composed of several ministries and several groups of people working in various ministries within the local church body, the end result should be to build Christ's kingdom and bring non-believers to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. So I pray Lord that my greatest goal in serving you is to strengthen the bond of peace so that we will be gathered in unity and spirit so we can be effective in reaching a lost and dying world both here and throughout the world.
Ephesians 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household,
20:having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
21: in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple of the Lord,
22,in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
So is it possible to maintain the bond of peace. Yes, as long as I am willing to let go of my free will and allow Christ to be the cornerstone in whatever I do.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
My Vision is Getting Clearer
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keep the law, happy is he.
My frustration that I have been sharing in my past few blogs is beginning to turn into passion and concern. I am spending much time in the Word and devoting myself to prayer. Today I was able to speak to Pastor Cliff about my desire to go out into the deep and follow Christ in a deeper commitment. I shared with him my willingness to start a small group leadership training ministry. I shared with him that I would devote my time to much study on how to develop the ministry with a target date of meeting with potential leaders early in January. I feel a burden to equip people to be able to reach people in their communities by having home Bible studies and not only for unchurged people, but to have opportunities to disciple and shepherd people who are already attending church and fairly new in the faith.
I purchased a book last week on small group studies and one of the reasons it gave to start was because of the growth of the church. When Pastor Cliff first started here there were only 75 or so coming, but that has increased to around 130 or more regular attendees. As this continues to increase he will be less able to meet and shepherd those who seek spiritual care, but if we were able to have those who would like to be shepherded and discipled visit in homes, many more people would be cared for and as they begin to grow spiritually and new people began to be added to their numbers those being changed into the image of God would be multiplied and the church will become even healthier than it is today. People will be able to be taught to develop and use those gifts that God has given to each man.
The thought that comes to my mind out of the book is people building up a community so they can reach other communities. It also came to mind when Moses uncle came to him and said their are too many people for you to take care of by yourself. Appoint others to take care of hundreds, and break it down to groups of tens, and you take care of the bigger issues.
I want to become more involved in people's lives. I want to be a part of teaching truth out of the scriptures, Help them develop spiritual discipline of prayer, time spent alone with God, and to help new believers to better understand terms and words and Bible phrases that will help them better learn about the faith. As they grow in these areas perhaps Christ will lead them to disciple others. We also need to allow time for them to ask questions. Many times as long time believers, we assume everyone understands the Bible, but many have never heard. Some don't even know the main characters in the Bible. We need to pray for them, encourage them, help affirm them and walk beside them as they begin to follow walks of faith.Through these steps we will fulfill the great commission to make disciples of all nations and to follow the new commandment to love one another as Christ first loved you.
Today, I took the first step, with fear and trembling, but Christ's grace is sufficient for me.
Jesus spent three years with the 12 disciples teaching and training them in the first small group ministry, and after he left, the promised Holy Spirit continued to teach them and show them what to do.
I will close this week with a promise from Christ Himself:
John 14:12: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
The same Holy Spirit that taught the twelve lives in each one of us, and He will teach us what is next to come. We were bought with a price we are His and He is mine. We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people for God's own possession so that we may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Help me Lord to not be ashamed of the gospel. Help me to not want to keep the good news to myself but loosen my tongue and grant me courage and strength to share it with my neighbors who are perishing and without hope.
My frustration that I have been sharing in my past few blogs is beginning to turn into passion and concern. I am spending much time in the Word and devoting myself to prayer. Today I was able to speak to Pastor Cliff about my desire to go out into the deep and follow Christ in a deeper commitment. I shared with him my willingness to start a small group leadership training ministry. I shared with him that I would devote my time to much study on how to develop the ministry with a target date of meeting with potential leaders early in January. I feel a burden to equip people to be able to reach people in their communities by having home Bible studies and not only for unchurged people, but to have opportunities to disciple and shepherd people who are already attending church and fairly new in the faith.
I purchased a book last week on small group studies and one of the reasons it gave to start was because of the growth of the church. When Pastor Cliff first started here there were only 75 or so coming, but that has increased to around 130 or more regular attendees. As this continues to increase he will be less able to meet and shepherd those who seek spiritual care, but if we were able to have those who would like to be shepherded and discipled visit in homes, many more people would be cared for and as they begin to grow spiritually and new people began to be added to their numbers those being changed into the image of God would be multiplied and the church will become even healthier than it is today. People will be able to be taught to develop and use those gifts that God has given to each man.
The thought that comes to my mind out of the book is people building up a community so they can reach other communities. It also came to mind when Moses uncle came to him and said their are too many people for you to take care of by yourself. Appoint others to take care of hundreds, and break it down to groups of tens, and you take care of the bigger issues.
I want to become more involved in people's lives. I want to be a part of teaching truth out of the scriptures, Help them develop spiritual discipline of prayer, time spent alone with God, and to help new believers to better understand terms and words and Bible phrases that will help them better learn about the faith. As they grow in these areas perhaps Christ will lead them to disciple others. We also need to allow time for them to ask questions. Many times as long time believers, we assume everyone understands the Bible, but many have never heard. Some don't even know the main characters in the Bible. We need to pray for them, encourage them, help affirm them and walk beside them as they begin to follow walks of faith.Through these steps we will fulfill the great commission to make disciples of all nations and to follow the new commandment to love one another as Christ first loved you.
Today, I took the first step, with fear and trembling, but Christ's grace is sufficient for me.
Jesus spent three years with the 12 disciples teaching and training them in the first small group ministry, and after he left, the promised Holy Spirit continued to teach them and show them what to do.
I will close this week with a promise from Christ Himself:
John 14:12: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
The same Holy Spirit that taught the twelve lives in each one of us, and He will teach us what is next to come. We were bought with a price we are His and He is mine. We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people for God's own possession so that we may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Help me Lord to not be ashamed of the gospel. Help me to not want to keep the good news to myself but loosen my tongue and grant me courage and strength to share it with my neighbors who are perishing and without hope.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Celebration Time, come on were Going to Have a good time
Tuesday night was my birthday and I had a lot of friends at church for a surprise birthday party.
It started out with several young people coming for a special art project taught by Ron Bayuzick. I want to thank Ron for giving of his time and talent and helping the night be successful. There were also several adults who shared in creating the art project. Ron seemed to be the happiest that I have seen him in a long time. I am hopeful that he will establish some sort of art program for young teens at the church or I heard that he may want to use Tom and Betsy's barn for an art studio. He is gifted as an art teacher and I will continue to pray for him that he would give that gift to advance others in expressing their creativity. After the art project we had pizza and then came the surprise the birthday cake and magic candles. I am not to good at blowing out candles so some of the young people tried to help me. It was a blast. I was also given a musical birthday card that played the song Celebration time. All those who came signed it. I asked my neighbor when they all signed it and they were doing it one at a time while we were doing our art project, and I hardly noticed anyone leaving the room. I wanted to thank you all for making the evening special for me.
Tonight is Wednesday and we are having our weekly Bible study at my neighbors house. we are studying the book of Ephesians. I recently got a book about causing small group members to be trained in growing in their faith. It has several suggestions on adding new things to your study to encourage people to grow in their faith and how to gradually get them to be disciples. Tonight I will add hymn singing and a icebreaker question. I am not sure of the question yet, but you are supposed to think of a simple one and encourage all participants to take turns answering it. During the opening prayer time, I will encourage each to pray with something they are thankful to God for. i have been having trouble to get them praying at all, so the book gives some advice how to get others started in feeling comfortable in sharing. We will also be sitting in chairs, as laying on the living room floor on the carpet was causing too many distractions. I also bought a thank you card for someone special that we will be sending it to this week, because I want them to begin learning how to reach out to others outside of ourselves . Please pray for this group as we excercise our faith to ourselves and others.
One of the eventual goals as we grow and become more comfortable is to break up into two or more healthy groups. There are a couple of other small groups meeting outside the church in others homes. My encouragement to these people is that if you feel that God has done a good work in what you are doing together in your comfortable group, begin to pray and seek out a few other couples and share that blessing with them. As these groups begin adding to their number the work of the Holy Spirit will multiply those who are being changed by the teaching of the word. A good example of how this is working is with the Wednesday night prayer groups. It was sad for many who regularly attend to see some of us leave and start two home bible study and prayer groups, but as a result we ended up not dividing but multiplying those who are now able to study and pray Wednesday nights. It also worked that way in the early church, when the church was persecuted people met in homes and shared things and met the needs of each other and had things in common. Although they were not able to meet together in one place the gospel was further spread because of the work that was being done in individual homes and as they had opportunity they met together in groups as they were able. So if you are in a small group every so often think about who would be someone new you can invite to help in the spread of friends and neighbors being discipled and cared for and they will be changed also into the image of Christlikeness.
It started out with several young people coming for a special art project taught by Ron Bayuzick. I want to thank Ron for giving of his time and talent and helping the night be successful. There were also several adults who shared in creating the art project. Ron seemed to be the happiest that I have seen him in a long time. I am hopeful that he will establish some sort of art program for young teens at the church or I heard that he may want to use Tom and Betsy's barn for an art studio. He is gifted as an art teacher and I will continue to pray for him that he would give that gift to advance others in expressing their creativity. After the art project we had pizza and then came the surprise the birthday cake and magic candles. I am not to good at blowing out candles so some of the young people tried to help me. It was a blast. I was also given a musical birthday card that played the song Celebration time. All those who came signed it. I asked my neighbor when they all signed it and they were doing it one at a time while we were doing our art project, and I hardly noticed anyone leaving the room. I wanted to thank you all for making the evening special for me.
Tonight is Wednesday and we are having our weekly Bible study at my neighbors house. we are studying the book of Ephesians. I recently got a book about causing small group members to be trained in growing in their faith. It has several suggestions on adding new things to your study to encourage people to grow in their faith and how to gradually get them to be disciples. Tonight I will add hymn singing and a icebreaker question. I am not sure of the question yet, but you are supposed to think of a simple one and encourage all participants to take turns answering it. During the opening prayer time, I will encourage each to pray with something they are thankful to God for. i have been having trouble to get them praying at all, so the book gives some advice how to get others started in feeling comfortable in sharing. We will also be sitting in chairs, as laying on the living room floor on the carpet was causing too many distractions. I also bought a thank you card for someone special that we will be sending it to this week, because I want them to begin learning how to reach out to others outside of ourselves . Please pray for this group as we excercise our faith to ourselves and others.
One of the eventual goals as we grow and become more comfortable is to break up into two or more healthy groups. There are a couple of other small groups meeting outside the church in others homes. My encouragement to these people is that if you feel that God has done a good work in what you are doing together in your comfortable group, begin to pray and seek out a few other couples and share that blessing with them. As these groups begin adding to their number the work of the Holy Spirit will multiply those who are being changed by the teaching of the word. A good example of how this is working is with the Wednesday night prayer groups. It was sad for many who regularly attend to see some of us leave and start two home bible study and prayer groups, but as a result we ended up not dividing but multiplying those who are now able to study and pray Wednesday nights. It also worked that way in the early church, when the church was persecuted people met in homes and shared things and met the needs of each other and had things in common. Although they were not able to meet together in one place the gospel was further spread because of the work that was being done in individual homes and as they had opportunity they met together in groups as they were able. So if you are in a small group every so often think about who would be someone new you can invite to help in the spread of friends and neighbors being discipled and cared for and they will be changed also into the image of Christlikeness.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Leading Life-changing Small Groups
This has been a very busy week for me to fit in my job responsibilities along with going to camp meeting every night. But I have been attending each night so far. The speaker is talking about developing the correct kind of attributes and character that would be most Christ-like. He is using several people out of the Old Testament and teaching us through their faults and successes how to accomplish the work of God. He is showing us that god uses those who are week in a worldly sense and how God makes them strong. There is also a missionary family who speaks each night. Their last name is Volstad and they are in Russia. Last week I wrote in my blog the discouragement I had with ministering to people who had issues involving alcohol. The missionary addressed that last night as he shared a testimony about a young man who struggles with that same problem. His family are Christian and he also has accepted Christ, but still struggles with it. In fact his doctor has warned him many times that he will die if he doesn't quit. The missionary shared that the average life expectancy in Russia is around 60, because of the abuse of alcohol. It is good to know others who are also experiencing similar struggles in their ministries. They have also been sharing the testimony of a lady who they have been descipling and she has now been trusted with some ministries in the church they have developed in Moscow. It has taken about five years for her to reach that point of ministering. It shows me that if you work with descipling people it will be frustrating and it will be a long commitment and it takes lots of love and nurturing.
I was sharing with Pastor Cliff last week some of my frustrations with ministry. At first it seemed like things were going great, but my Bible study at the neighbors house seemed like it was getting stale. It seemed like I was just going through the motions and not seeing any progress being made in me or those who are coming. Let's watch the video, pray a few sentences eat cake, go home and see you next week. I felt like I was supposed to go to the book store after camp meeting Tuesday night, and I promised Pastor Cliff that I would pray about what to do. As I started looking at the book titles I reached down and found this book Leading Life-changing small groups and it had many of the same ideas that Pastor Larry taught me when I was a part of a leadership team of small groups several years ago. We also last summer had to fill out a questionnaire for the church health group team that is an outside of the church organization that determines where a church needs to go next in order to become healthy. Through this study, it was determined that we need to develop small group Bible studies. After I began to read the advice in the book, I realized how off the course I am in leading my neighbors in this study group. I have been writing down many of the suggestions in the book. We are so off course that at this point it would be impossible to go next week and just do all the things suggested in the book, but I am praying about it, and I will plan to add something new every couple of weeks and we will gradually change and become more Christlike. One of the ideas is to pick one or two of those who are now coming and gradually train them to be leaders and gradually invite a few new people and as those leaders begin to lead the group that already exists the idea is to divide the group into two or more other groups in other homes. It is suggested that this process may take more than a year. In future blogs I will give you information about what I added to the group and keep you updated on the progress we are making. I am glad to see that Christ is so quickly giving me new hope and through the sharing of the night speaker and the missionary that reaching out to people will be difficult at times, but if we continue to be steadfast and patient we will bear fruit in due season. Continue to pray for our church that we will continue to see lives changed and that we will work on getting people placed in caring ministries and that Christ will show us unique and new ways to show love to our brothers and sisters in Christ and also those who are not yet part of His church. Pray that Christ will cause us not to spend time with just friends we feal comfortable with, but that we would get out of our comfort zones and reach out in some way to include and minister to the new families and individuals that He has sent to us that we would include them in our fellowship in a loving way.
I was sharing with Pastor Cliff last week some of my frustrations with ministry. At first it seemed like things were going great, but my Bible study at the neighbors house seemed like it was getting stale. It seemed like I was just going through the motions and not seeing any progress being made in me or those who are coming. Let's watch the video, pray a few sentences eat cake, go home and see you next week. I felt like I was supposed to go to the book store after camp meeting Tuesday night, and I promised Pastor Cliff that I would pray about what to do. As I started looking at the book titles I reached down and found this book Leading Life-changing small groups and it had many of the same ideas that Pastor Larry taught me when I was a part of a leadership team of small groups several years ago. We also last summer had to fill out a questionnaire for the church health group team that is an outside of the church organization that determines where a church needs to go next in order to become healthy. Through this study, it was determined that we need to develop small group Bible studies. After I began to read the advice in the book, I realized how off the course I am in leading my neighbors in this study group. I have been writing down many of the suggestions in the book. We are so off course that at this point it would be impossible to go next week and just do all the things suggested in the book, but I am praying about it, and I will plan to add something new every couple of weeks and we will gradually change and become more Christlike. One of the ideas is to pick one or two of those who are now coming and gradually train them to be leaders and gradually invite a few new people and as those leaders begin to lead the group that already exists the idea is to divide the group into two or more other groups in other homes. It is suggested that this process may take more than a year. In future blogs I will give you information about what I added to the group and keep you updated on the progress we are making. I am glad to see that Christ is so quickly giving me new hope and through the sharing of the night speaker and the missionary that reaching out to people will be difficult at times, but if we continue to be steadfast and patient we will bear fruit in due season. Continue to pray for our church that we will continue to see lives changed and that we will work on getting people placed in caring ministries and that Christ will show us unique and new ways to show love to our brothers and sisters in Christ and also those who are not yet part of His church. Pray that Christ will cause us not to spend time with just friends we feal comfortable with, but that we would get out of our comfort zones and reach out in some way to include and minister to the new families and individuals that He has sent to us that we would include them in our fellowship in a loving way.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Loving neighbors as you Love Yourself
Matthew 22:36: "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?
37: And He said to him,"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."
38: This is the greatest and foremost commandment.
39:The second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
It has been a difficult summer for me to minister and share the word with my neighbors and friends. Many of the people I have been sharing with have had difficulties themselves or with family members who have been using alcohol. There has been many anger issues in these families, and divorces and people fighting depression and many of them have financial problems and they have problems keeping a job. I have been showing care and concern and tried to reach out to these people. Often they realize that they have a problem, but it has such a stronghold in their lives that they can't give it up.
I have spent the last couple of weeks praying about what to do about the situation. One of the prayers has been for Christ to somehow show me why people are drawn to the bar even though it is causing so much hardship in their families lives.
A couple of weeks ago two people gave me part of the answer and both shared an example of a TV show called Cheers. Paul Cobb wrote on Facebook that the bar was called Cheers and that real joy could only be found in fellowship with Christians and is only found through Christ who strengthens us and we all have a desire to belong to a fellowship, but those who seek it in a tavern will only find a counterfeit fellowship. Later that week, I went to the bank and Robin Groll handed me a printout from Christianity.com which was talking about the same thing. It also mentioned the show Cheers and that people like the fellowship they receive their, and that they can talk about anything they are doing, even if it is shocking because there it will be acceptable to most.
Later in the article it shared a testimony about a marine who accepted Christ. He used to curse severely, got drunk frequently, got into fights, was sexually active with several women, and he hated going to chapel.After he surrendered his life to Christ, he admitted that he missed that fellowship with those friends because in the church he had no one to admit his faults and struggles with, because people would judge him.
Christ wants to give that fellowship to his church. The tavern is a counterfeit or imitation, It dispenses liquor and not grace, escape from your problems and not reality. The bar becomes busy not because people enjoy alcohol and its effects, but because God put into the human heart the desire to know others and be known, to love and be loved. The church needs to become that place where people can come as they are and share their faults and still feel loved by others.
It also explains about the church in Philadelphia in Revelation which is the church of brotherly love. It explained that we need to show affectionate love to each other and it reminded us that we who have been born again have all come from the same spiritual womb. And we all have God as our heavenly Father.
Romans12:13: contributing to the needs of the saints, practising hospitality.
14: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
15: Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
In the phrase contribute to the needs of others, it doesn't necessarily mean just whatever we give Sunday morning in the offering plate. There are many needs in the family of God that never get met, because we don't really get close enough to get to know each other so we don't see the needs of others. It may not always be a financial need. It may be a need of supporting others or giving of your time.
Genuine hospitality. In the article it says we should pursue hospitality. This word in Greek means kindness to strangers. Two things that are explained in the article are that hospitality should not be thought of as entertaining others. It is a good thing to invite friends or family or those who you feel comfortable with over for a party or a meal, but what Paul is challenging people to do is to come up with ways to reach out to people who are strange or unknown to us. God wants us to think about new unreached people and how we can reach out to them. We somehow need to get out of our comfort zone. I recently read a blog that Pastor Cliff's sister Kim wrote about a new church she has been going to and in the first couple of weeks she has been invited to two homes for meals and also another person invited her to their home for coffee. This is an example of the impact we can have on others by reaching out to strangers with hospitality.
Gracious Forgiveness. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. It is sometimes hard to forgive those who trespass against us, but it is required of God to do it. One of the things I exercise when I am angry at others, is that I begin to pray verses that will cause them to grow in the Lord and as I begin to do that, the focus goes to Jesus and not toward the bitterness I have towards others. I pray positive verses for them such as the ones found in the books written by the apostle Paul, that people will grow in knowledge and they would keep their thoughts on Christ, then I also pray those prayers for me. I can then watch Christ do the work of reconciliation in them and me.
Rejoice when others rejoice and weep when they weep. We need to rejoice when others are happy about things that are going on in life. I know this older person and every time someone tells her something she should be happy about with them, she almost always ends the time with a negative thought. When people cry, we should cry or feelsorrow with them. Many times as Christians we hide our sorrow or crying as though we are ashamed that we are showing weakness to others, but I am always reminded of the shortest verse in the Bible right after Lazarus died. It consists of two simple words. Jesus wept. If our shepherd cried , why are we to hide our tears and sorrow from brothers and sisters in Christ. In order to follow this example to the fullest, we need to get to know others better, especially our fellow neighbors. We can not get to know their joys or sorrows by just waving to them when we go to the mailbox. We all need someone to share these truths with and our faith should begin to move us in pursuing them. If we do not reach out to our brothers and sisters in Christ in these ways, they will look outside the church to feel the void of loneliness they are experiencing, and many will choose that Cheers atmosphere which is the counterfeit fellowship to fill that hole in their hearts.
Now we our stuck with a challenge. Where do we begin to make the difference. Let us begin right here in the church. Let it begin with us. As new people come through our doors let us not become comfortable with just us, but let us pray how we can get out of our comfort zones, and get to know the people who God has drawn to Himself. I am grateful to the Cambridge Springs Christian Missionary Alliance church family that they have made great progress in all these areas that were mentioned in this article, and I am continuing to pray how God can use me to share the good news with my community so the taverns will not have all this negative control over all these hurting families.
The article ended with this prayer that I would like to echo:
Our Father, thank you for calling us out of the world and into your family. Teach us what it means to truly love each other. We pray that your love would continue to unite us and that your Spirit would continue to break any barriers that might separate us. May we be your people with a loving purpose, Quick to reach needs, eager to reach out to strangers, help us to bless those who our enemies, rejoice with those who rejoice and help us to weep with those who weep. Fill us to overflowing with your love so the world will see Jesus in us. In Jesus' name. Amen.
37: And He said to him,"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."
38: This is the greatest and foremost commandment.
39:The second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
It has been a difficult summer for me to minister and share the word with my neighbors and friends. Many of the people I have been sharing with have had difficulties themselves or with family members who have been using alcohol. There has been many anger issues in these families, and divorces and people fighting depression and many of them have financial problems and they have problems keeping a job. I have been showing care and concern and tried to reach out to these people. Often they realize that they have a problem, but it has such a stronghold in their lives that they can't give it up.
I have spent the last couple of weeks praying about what to do about the situation. One of the prayers has been for Christ to somehow show me why people are drawn to the bar even though it is causing so much hardship in their families lives.
A couple of weeks ago two people gave me part of the answer and both shared an example of a TV show called Cheers. Paul Cobb wrote on Facebook that the bar was called Cheers and that real joy could only be found in fellowship with Christians and is only found through Christ who strengthens us and we all have a desire to belong to a fellowship, but those who seek it in a tavern will only find a counterfeit fellowship. Later that week, I went to the bank and Robin Groll handed me a printout from Christianity.com which was talking about the same thing. It also mentioned the show Cheers and that people like the fellowship they receive their, and that they can talk about anything they are doing, even if it is shocking because there it will be acceptable to most.
Later in the article it shared a testimony about a marine who accepted Christ. He used to curse severely, got drunk frequently, got into fights, was sexually active with several women, and he hated going to chapel.After he surrendered his life to Christ, he admitted that he missed that fellowship with those friends because in the church he had no one to admit his faults and struggles with, because people would judge him.
Christ wants to give that fellowship to his church. The tavern is a counterfeit or imitation, It dispenses liquor and not grace, escape from your problems and not reality. The bar becomes busy not because people enjoy alcohol and its effects, but because God put into the human heart the desire to know others and be known, to love and be loved. The church needs to become that place where people can come as they are and share their faults and still feel loved by others.
It also explains about the church in Philadelphia in Revelation which is the church of brotherly love. It explained that we need to show affectionate love to each other and it reminded us that we who have been born again have all come from the same spiritual womb. And we all have God as our heavenly Father.
Romans12:13: contributing to the needs of the saints, practising hospitality.
14: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
15: Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
In the phrase contribute to the needs of others, it doesn't necessarily mean just whatever we give Sunday morning in the offering plate. There are many needs in the family of God that never get met, because we don't really get close enough to get to know each other so we don't see the needs of others. It may not always be a financial need. It may be a need of supporting others or giving of your time.
Genuine hospitality. In the article it says we should pursue hospitality. This word in Greek means kindness to strangers. Two things that are explained in the article are that hospitality should not be thought of as entertaining others. It is a good thing to invite friends or family or those who you feel comfortable with over for a party or a meal, but what Paul is challenging people to do is to come up with ways to reach out to people who are strange or unknown to us. God wants us to think about new unreached people and how we can reach out to them. We somehow need to get out of our comfort zone. I recently read a blog that Pastor Cliff's sister Kim wrote about a new church she has been going to and in the first couple of weeks she has been invited to two homes for meals and also another person invited her to their home for coffee. This is an example of the impact we can have on others by reaching out to strangers with hospitality.
Gracious Forgiveness. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. It is sometimes hard to forgive those who trespass against us, but it is required of God to do it. One of the things I exercise when I am angry at others, is that I begin to pray verses that will cause them to grow in the Lord and as I begin to do that, the focus goes to Jesus and not toward the bitterness I have towards others. I pray positive verses for them such as the ones found in the books written by the apostle Paul, that people will grow in knowledge and they would keep their thoughts on Christ, then I also pray those prayers for me. I can then watch Christ do the work of reconciliation in them and me.
Rejoice when others rejoice and weep when they weep. We need to rejoice when others are happy about things that are going on in life. I know this older person and every time someone tells her something she should be happy about with them, she almost always ends the time with a negative thought. When people cry, we should cry or feelsorrow with them. Many times as Christians we hide our sorrow or crying as though we are ashamed that we are showing weakness to others, but I am always reminded of the shortest verse in the Bible right after Lazarus died. It consists of two simple words. Jesus wept. If our shepherd cried , why are we to hide our tears and sorrow from brothers and sisters in Christ. In order to follow this example to the fullest, we need to get to know others better, especially our fellow neighbors. We can not get to know their joys or sorrows by just waving to them when we go to the mailbox. We all need someone to share these truths with and our faith should begin to move us in pursuing them. If we do not reach out to our brothers and sisters in Christ in these ways, they will look outside the church to feel the void of loneliness they are experiencing, and many will choose that Cheers atmosphere which is the counterfeit fellowship to fill that hole in their hearts.
Now we our stuck with a challenge. Where do we begin to make the difference. Let us begin right here in the church. Let it begin with us. As new people come through our doors let us not become comfortable with just us, but let us pray how we can get out of our comfort zones, and get to know the people who God has drawn to Himself. I am grateful to the Cambridge Springs Christian Missionary Alliance church family that they have made great progress in all these areas that were mentioned in this article, and I am continuing to pray how God can use me to share the good news with my community so the taverns will not have all this negative control over all these hurting families.
The article ended with this prayer that I would like to echo:
Our Father, thank you for calling us out of the world and into your family. Teach us what it means to truly love each other. We pray that your love would continue to unite us and that your Spirit would continue to break any barriers that might separate us. May we be your people with a loving purpose, Quick to reach needs, eager to reach out to strangers, help us to bless those who our enemies, rejoice with those who rejoice and help us to weep with those who weep. Fill us to overflowing with your love so the world will see Jesus in us. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Praise the Lord in all Things
Psalm 100:1: Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
2: Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.
3:Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5: For the Lord is good; His loving kindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.
We just received our new computer at the church yesterday and it is set up, so I am so thankful to be back writing on my blog once again. I tried doing it at other places, but sometimes their our many distractions. I feel more comfortable in a relaxed environment where it is quiet and peaceful, and people are not talking and dogs are not jumping on you while you are thinking about what to write.
This week is our annual Fireman's carnival, and true to tradition, we are having several bouts of heavy rains and stormy weather, I am planning to go down later this evening, as it is the once a year time that you can have a reunion with friends and family to catch up on things and spend time with those who plan their vacations so they can be here during this 4 day festival. One of the highlights of the event is the 18 hot-air balloons that they launch at various times in the evening and also the big parade on Saturday. I work at the Pharmacy for two hours on the evening of the parade to sell snacks and beverages. I enjoy that time to talk to people. Last year we sold almost 125 bottles of pop in that small period of time.
I chose this section of scripture about remembering to give praise and thanksgiving to God for the great things He has done. We just finished off a week with an event that was managed by various churches in our community who sent many of their members who were volunteers for the annual Vacation Bible School. It was well attended this year with over 180 young people coming on at least two of the 5-day program. There were several who made decisions to accept the salvation message. We will be having another marriage ceremony this coming Saturday morning for a couple who are sort of new to our church in the past year or so. I am so thankful for them bringing honor to Christ in making that decision. Soon we will be meeting to make plans for restarting the Team Kid's club again and also planning to get the children's bell choir along with singing and other activities, so we can once again begin allowing these young students become a part in the worship services. On the first Sunday in August we will be having a concert from the Needhams during the morning worship service. They came last year and provided us with some really great music. If you are reading this blog, and like great gospel music, plan to attend. Last week, we were blessed to here an encouraging message from Tom and Betsy Henning's son Aaron. He was encouraging us to get involved in church ministries, and he used several Biblical examples of ordinary people who God had chosen to fulfill His purposes and they were insecure and had fear, but because they believed and stepped out in faith, they were able to accomplish and fulfill the mission they were chosen for. He read a letter to us from a young man who Aaron preached the gospel to and this young man heard several of his messages, but it wasn't until about four years later that the man received and believed the free gift of salvation in Christ. He shared some other examples such as another student who came from a farming community and he was working towards a degree in architecture and how the young person went on a short term missions trip to help build simple homes for families. The young man was later given a burden to use what he had learned in his architecture classes and was able to design a beautiful orphanage overseas and he was able to go and help build it, and now he and his wife have moved there to help it operate. Aaron will soon be going there to visit his friend and see how the project is going. Isn't it great when we can see how Christ is able to select someone for a specific task and place them in the right circumstances and the right encourage rs and those who are able to equip and they end up doing great and mighty things to help build His kingdom. I thank Aaron and Amy for answering the call that Christ placed on their lives to pastor this unique college setting so this person would find and discover the mission he fulfilled. Let us also as the body of Christ continue to spur and encourage one another to perform good deeds that Christ had prepared in advance so in due time we also may be prepared to walk in them.
Continue to give praise and thanksgiving to Christ for the great things He has done and things He is doing and things He will accomplish in the future. Keep your eyes focused on Him, do not turn away to the right or the left. Let us keep our eyes on Him until He shows us His vision and purpose for us, both individually and corporately.
Well, until next week, I will be back, but for now I am off to the fair.
2: Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.
3:Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5: For the Lord is good; His loving kindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.
We just received our new computer at the church yesterday and it is set up, so I am so thankful to be back writing on my blog once again. I tried doing it at other places, but sometimes their our many distractions. I feel more comfortable in a relaxed environment where it is quiet and peaceful, and people are not talking and dogs are not jumping on you while you are thinking about what to write.
This week is our annual Fireman's carnival, and true to tradition, we are having several bouts of heavy rains and stormy weather, I am planning to go down later this evening, as it is the once a year time that you can have a reunion with friends and family to catch up on things and spend time with those who plan their vacations so they can be here during this 4 day festival. One of the highlights of the event is the 18 hot-air balloons that they launch at various times in the evening and also the big parade on Saturday. I work at the Pharmacy for two hours on the evening of the parade to sell snacks and beverages. I enjoy that time to talk to people. Last year we sold almost 125 bottles of pop in that small period of time.
I chose this section of scripture about remembering to give praise and thanksgiving to God for the great things He has done. We just finished off a week with an event that was managed by various churches in our community who sent many of their members who were volunteers for the annual Vacation Bible School. It was well attended this year with over 180 young people coming on at least two of the 5-day program. There were several who made decisions to accept the salvation message. We will be having another marriage ceremony this coming Saturday morning for a couple who are sort of new to our church in the past year or so. I am so thankful for them bringing honor to Christ in making that decision. Soon we will be meeting to make plans for restarting the Team Kid's club again and also planning to get the children's bell choir along with singing and other activities, so we can once again begin allowing these young students become a part in the worship services. On the first Sunday in August we will be having a concert from the Needhams during the morning worship service. They came last year and provided us with some really great music. If you are reading this blog, and like great gospel music, plan to attend. Last week, we were blessed to here an encouraging message from Tom and Betsy Henning's son Aaron. He was encouraging us to get involved in church ministries, and he used several Biblical examples of ordinary people who God had chosen to fulfill His purposes and they were insecure and had fear, but because they believed and stepped out in faith, they were able to accomplish and fulfill the mission they were chosen for. He read a letter to us from a young man who Aaron preached the gospel to and this young man heard several of his messages, but it wasn't until about four years later that the man received and believed the free gift of salvation in Christ. He shared some other examples such as another student who came from a farming community and he was working towards a degree in architecture and how the young person went on a short term missions trip to help build simple homes for families. The young man was later given a burden to use what he had learned in his architecture classes and was able to design a beautiful orphanage overseas and he was able to go and help build it, and now he and his wife have moved there to help it operate. Aaron will soon be going there to visit his friend and see how the project is going. Isn't it great when we can see how Christ is able to select someone for a specific task and place them in the right circumstances and the right encourage rs and those who are able to equip and they end up doing great and mighty things to help build His kingdom. I thank Aaron and Amy for answering the call that Christ placed on their lives to pastor this unique college setting so this person would find and discover the mission he fulfilled. Let us also as the body of Christ continue to spur and encourage one another to perform good deeds that Christ had prepared in advance so in due time we also may be prepared to walk in them.
Continue to give praise and thanksgiving to Christ for the great things He has done and things He is doing and things He will accomplish in the future. Keep your eyes focused on Him, do not turn away to the right or the left. Let us keep our eyes on Him until He shows us His vision and purpose for us, both individually and corporately.
Well, until next week, I will be back, but for now I am off to the fair.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
