Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’

Walking in The Light

Posted in Bible Study, I'm Just Sayin', tagged , , , , , , on May 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you , that God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth, but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”  John 1:5-7

Walk in the light.  I have heard that grace is easy.  Walking in the light is not.  Walking in the light means denying everything that I am.  Walking in the light means absolutely giving up my independence.  Even more than that it means that I am responsible for the dependence of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

“This is the message you heard from the beginning:  We should love one another.  Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother…”  1 John 3″11-12a

But you don’t understand she…but he…they deserved what they got.  There is no they fell in the body of Christ only WE fell.  “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:26

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”  Hebrews 3:12-13

The Walk in the Light is a walk of fellowship.  It is a journey with companions.  The chief among them being our Lord Jesus Christ himself.  It is the narrow way.  It is the hard way.  It requires death and rebirth.  It is at once a rejection of all that I have been and a fulfillment of all that I was ever meant to be.

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The Family of God, The Kingdom of God

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on April 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »

We just finished our first full week at The Lewis House.  It was a great week!  We had three awesome ministry events.  Wednesday our youth group from Compelled Church (EVERFREE) came and went door to door in the neighborhood handing out fliers for our Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday.  Thursday we had our last Soup Kitchen Cafe.  On Friday we were so blessed.  The public elementary school agreed to distribute 510 fliers to all of their students.  So Saturday we had many children new to the ministry!  Two of our fine arts teams from EVERFREE performed as well as the Master’s Commission from New Life Tabernacle.  My lovely wife Allana led the children in a couple of worship songs and George took the opportunity to speak the Gospel to the crowd after our first fine arts performance.  We definitely put Jesus back in Easter for a whole bunch of children and parents.  It was such a blessing to see the people of God come together to server the Kingdom.  Members of Calvary Bible Church put together and ran a crafts table, while the teens from Compelled Church Assembly of God and the young adults from New Life Tabernacle Open Bible Church performed at an event organized by The Lewis House and hosted by the awesome pastor and congregation of Collingwood United Methodist Church.  Guess what folks, God does not belong to a denomination!  I believe I felt him smile even as I did looking out at His Family working together for His Kingdom.  I was so blessed to have the small part that I did in the incredible event.

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ…contending as one man for the faith of the gospel

Philippians 1:2

Thank you Lord Jesus for all the workers who planted your field on Saturday. Bless them for their faithfulness!  Bless them for their love for You and for the Lost!

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The Prodigal’s Simple Prayer

Posted in I'm Just Sayin', Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , on January 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »

We had a week of prayer and fasting for Compelled Church last week.  I found myself pondering this thing we call prayer.  Prayer means many things to a lot of people.  Prayer can mean a lot of different things to me.  But the prayer that I found myself praying time after time last week and I think one that is going to be an ongoing part of my prayer life, devotional life and life.  It is a simple prayer.  It is a prodigal’s prayer.

Lord don’t let me blow it…again. 

It seems a little self-deprecating to me, but it is my heartfelt prayer.  It does not relieve me in any way of daily walking out my faith, but it is the cry of a man who knows beyond a shadow of a doubt how easily holiness and righteousness can slip away into the night when his focus wavers from the one who sacrificed so much to save him.  It is the cry of the man standing before Jesus, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.”  (Mark 9:24) when the fate of his son laid in the balance. It is the recognition that God is not the one that stands in the way of my spiritual growth.  My biggest roadblock is me.  It may not come in anything that I say or in any of the big things that I do.  It is the little stuff of unbelief that add up in our lives until suddenly we look around and realize that we have drifted far from where we want to be.  Perhaps it is part of the 12 step program for prodigals.  Everyday, Lord don’t let me blow it….again and Thank you for ALWAYS being their for me.  Keep me focused on Love, Love , Serve.  I lay it all at your feet, if I try to pick any of it up again do what it takes to keep my hands off. (as gently as possible 🙂

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Ministry Is…..

Posted in Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , on August 3, 2010| Leave a Comment »

So if there is one thing that God has been teaching this summer it is about what Ministry is…

We often have a very narrow view of what ministry is. As the lovely pictures of me that my wife recently posted on Facebook demonstrate, sometimes ministry is getting beat at basketball by an 11 year old on an elementary basketball hoop. Ministry is demonstrating God’s love in an authentic way 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. It is an expression of the relationship that we have with God and flows exclusively from the renewed mind and spirit of the born again believer. (Colossians 3:1-17, Romans 12:2).  As Paul shared with Philemon (verse 6), it is also the way that we can appreciate and experience all the best that Jesus has for us!  Share your faith.  Share God’s love.  Minister and know the best that Jesus has for you, whether it is playing basketball, saying hello, smiling, crying, sharing, be the pipeline to the world of God’s kingdom of power and love!

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Metro Hope Ministries

Posted in Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , on July 31, 2010| Leave a Comment »

www.metrohope.org

God is so cool.  I knew when we started this trip that it would not just be a vacation but a journey of ministry.  When we first came here it was weird because I did not feel the need to search for opportunities.  I had asked around for some ideas but the urgency that I had felt at other times was not there.  It was almost to the point that I was questioning my committment to the idea of ministry on this trip when God just gently nudged me to look around online.  It was pretty amazing.  My friends at Bethel would say that the choices were highlighted to me.  I still don’t really understand what that means but I know it happens.  Within a couple of minutes online I was looking at www.metrohope.org and knew that this was the place that God had for us.  I emailed them and 15 minutes later was talking to Mary A. from Metro Hope Ministries.  They are a Jesus centered addictions recovery ministry here in the Twin Cities.  We will be serving at a facility that houses women who are battling addictions and their children.  We will be helping out with the daily program they have for the kids.  I am excited about what God is doing in our lives and excited to what God will do through our lives!

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Bringing His Kingdom to Earth

Posted in Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , on July 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

July 2010

Bringing His Kingdom to Earth.  This link is the newsletter for the ministry that we are serving this month.  What a joy it has been to serve God here.  What an awesome goal this ministry has.  I think that sometimes we have a skewed view of what it means to Bring God’s Kingdom to Earth.  We measure that in so many ways that have moved our focus from God to so many other things.  The kicker is that the things are not bad, they can even be important parts of our Christian walk, but when they become the focus instead of the means of our walk with God then we begin to lose the essence of His Kingdom. 

 Sometimes we feel that we are inadequate to bring God’s Kingdom to Earth.  We dont’ have the skills.  We don’t have the confidence.  We have a past that continues to haunt us.  God’s word is full of the unskillful, the timid, the downright fearful and those with pasts full of evil, whom He has used in OUTRAGEOUS ways to serve His Kingdom.  He may not call you to be his vessel for parting the Red Sea, or defeating 135,00 Midianites with 300 men, or raising the dead and bringing the Gospel to the totally un-evangelized, (and then again maybe he will).  He IS calling you.  Focus on HIM.  Let the “locusts” fade and way and then serve.  Clean a floor, paint a wall, hold a hand, high-five a child, raise the dead, part the sea.  Ministry is in the focus.  The opportunities are out there.  Let God enhance your vision of the world.  When you focus on him ministry opportunities abound.

14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body ; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.  Colossians 3:14-17

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Focused on the Locust

Posted in Bible Study, tagged , , , , , , , on July 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

” Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.” Judges 7:12

Yes I am still hanging out with Gideon.  Up to this point I was really focused on God’s commands to Gideon.  Then I caught the metaphor of the locusts.  We all have locusts in our lives.  For Gideon and the Israelites they were the Midianites and the eastern people.  If there were just a few of them it would not have been a big deal, but there were enough that they could keep coming and coming.  The author of Judges gives a picture that there were so many that even their camels could not be counted.  What are the locusts in our lives?  Perhaps the economy, unemployment, illness, bad relationships, poor working conditions, low pay, debt, or expenses are some of the things that come together to overwhelm us.

“Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds.  Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country.  They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys.  They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts.  It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land and ravaged it.”  Judges  6:2

It is all too easy to focus on the Locust.  We make the problems and issues of our lives the focus of our attention.  This takes our attention off of God.  When I lost my job in July of 2009, my attention was fully focused on the locust.  I blew the trumpet and gathered my army and marched off to get a new job.  When one job fell through after another I was crushed in my spirit.  I had not been unemployed since I was 16.  I looked over my army and felt ready to march against the locust again.  I felt that I gave God his due, asking him to bless my army and assuring him that when he blessed me with a new job I would serve him as never before.  BUT the whole time my eyes were not on GOD they were on the locust.  My focus was not on what God would have me do but on gathering my army and setting off to battle the locusts on MY terms with MY army….in God’s name of course….

So perhaps you have already read “What do you do when God says send your army home”.  So I sent my army home.  Don’t get me wrong I am still out there looking for a job but my focus is on GOD and the blessing have been incredible.  The opportunities for ministry have multiplied.  I don’t want you to get that unemployment is intrinsically a blessing from God or that we should just sit back and wait for God to do it all.  Gideon had to step way out of his comfort zone.  He had to tear his focus away from the Locust and move it onto God.

God anchored this focus by leading him directly into the middle of the locusts.  While he was hiding in the middle of perhaps 135,000 locusts God let him know that HE IS THE GOD OF THE LOCUSTS TOO.  And what happened to Gideon?

 ” When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has given the camp of Midian into your hands.”  Judges 7:15

Gideon worshiped.  There in the middle of the locusts, Gideon’s focus shifted to God.  The fear was gone.  The contentment that Paul talks about settled in

 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.  I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity ; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.  Philippians 4:11-13

Gideon found the source of strength that Paul is talking about.  He was ready to go with God and the 300 men chosen to serve God in a unique and miraculous way.  He was ready to follow God to victory.  The locusts were defeated the moment Gideon took his eyes off of them and put them on God.  The Spiritual victory won that day far outstrips the footnote in history that the real defeat of the Midianites amounts to. 

Lord help me to truly keep my focus on you and thank you for the opportunities for Spiritual Victory that you provide for my family and I.  Amen

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I Serve an Outrageous God- Repost

Posted in Bible Study, tagged , , , , , , on June 15, 2010| 4 Comments »

(more…)

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The Blend

Posted in Bible Study, tagged , , , , , , , on May 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Life is such a blend.  The good, the bad, the indifferent all swirling together.  That has certainly been true for the past couple of weeks.  As we plan our missions trip for July to the Lewis House it has been joyful as the pieces fall into place.  We also are looking forward to a long trip that has come together by the grace of God (and many awesome christian family members and friends).  Enter the flu.  Enter family tensions.  Enter life milestones that we would just as soon forget.  Enter unexpected financial stress.  Enter allergy season.  As much as I try to keep my focus on the good and great things that God is doing in my life, sometimes I lose my balance in the swirl.

As it would happen through this time I have been reading Acts.  Talk about the swirl!  Pentecost and Healing/Threats and Persecution – Fellowship and Unity/Deception and Death – Salvation/Martyrdom – they all swirl through the story.  I think that it is all summed up in Paul’s defense before Agrippa:

So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.  First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.  That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.  But I have had God’s help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike.  I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen- that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles.  At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”    “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied, “What I am saying is true and reasonable.  The King is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him.  I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.  King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?  I know you do.  Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”  Paul replied, “Short time or long- I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”  Acts 26:19-29

Acts is full of these speeches (I think that several of them may make their way here).  Peter, Paul, Stephen, all preaching their hearts and souls through the Spirit of God.  Paul here actually begins his defense in his past and follows the swirls through the sorrow of being on the wrong side of things, to the joy a relationship with Jesus to obedience in the midst of persecution.  He doesn’t give the detail of the beatings and imprisonments but they lie just under the surface of his words.  Then comes the big BUT…. “But I have had God’s help to this very day…”  Sometimes when I am caught in a swirl it seems that God’s help is far away but I can always look back and say “I have had God’s help to this very day.”   The response is to be expected.  “You are insane!”.  It hurts when it comes from the lost, but it really hurts when it comes from those that you think should understand.  Yet we see Paul’s heart and what should be ours, “Short time or long- I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”  And there is the kicker, as Paul is speaking he is standing before these two great men….in chains.   

Lord help me keep my eyes on the goal, on you, no matter how violent the swirls become!

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Who hears, Who listens? II

Posted in Bible Study, tagged , , , , , on May 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »

This message came to me several days ago.  I heard it but I wasn’t really listening.  As I often do when God lays a message on my heart I immediately wanted to get the message out.  I sat down I tried to compose this very blog.  Much to my frustration it just wouldn’t come together.  So I pushed it to the side and almost relegated to indigestion.    I had moved my eyes from the source to the message.  I had heard God, but I had not listened.  Several days later during a Bible Study when my body, soul and spirit was focused on Him, I received the clear “OK now” and shared this message with the group.  There was an immediate feeling of peace and fulfillment. It is in this process of hearing and listening that maturity comes.  One without the other leads to frustration, fear and even despair.  For me it has opened the door to a new season of growth in my walk with Him.  This is going to be a season of positioning myself to hear Him and focusing on His face to Listen.  It is going to be a season of speaking His word and reflecting His face.

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