MIND OF TRUTH

I am grateful that Jesus has given Himself for me and that He lives. I am grateful that I have yet to discover the limitless possibilities of His greatness and His power. I am grateful for His Holy Spirit who is always working on my behalf, interceding for me, and helping me even when I hide myself overwhelmed with fear and anxiety about what life may bring. He is still there, still speaking, still leading me, and still forming wonderful plans for my wellbeing and future. I am grateful that He holds my family in His hands and that He will take my children beyond my talents and abilities, beyond my life, and far far beyond my own contribution to this world and the next. I am grateful He loves my wife, watches over her, and that He comes into the midst of our relationship to make it wondrous and eternal. I am grateful for the opportunity to stand in the presence of my King and serve His will and His desires, to be at His beckon call, to see His glory fill the Earth, to see Him

Great challenging message by David Platt

What are you committed to? Are you committed to Jesus Christ and His desire to live through you? Are you committed to God having His way and His will in you? Some may say I’m committed to the plan God has for me, I’m committed to this mission, this church, this ministry, this task or need. That’s wrong and if you are committed to that then all your efforts will accomplish nothing. I think many would be shocked to see how little of what they are committed to is what God is committed to. Be committed to Jesus and to Him having His way. In John 14:10 Jesus said “I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.” We need to be confident in God’s confidence, in His own commitment to us, and in His own ability to fulfill His will and His Word.

What a great lesson and reminder for all of us to practice the principle of edification.  Edification is the act of restoring or building a structure. God has given us the privilege and the opportunity to build each other up in the body of Christ. I confess that edifying others can be difficult. I often find myself engaging in thoughts or conversations that do not work to build up others. We must be vigilant that the old self doesn’t try to resurrect itself and have its way once again. Self seeks to promote itself, but Jesus living through our lives will seek to promote others. The key is to focus ourselves on Jesus so that He can live selflessly through us. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:11-13 that God has given us the five-fold ministry gifts to equip the saints, build up the body of Christ, and to bring us all into a place of maturity and fullness in Jesus. As we exercise our gifts in ministry our goal should be to build up the lives of others, to come alongside them and help them f

Major Ian Thomas Please take a minute to listen to this message by Major Ian Thomas. Dedicated to God Not Man "What qualifies a man to be used by God? ... I f only you recognize the principle that it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do His good pleasure and that the only source of divine activity of all spiritual life is God himself ...  All God demands of man is to be available so that God might be Himself in and through our lives."  - Major Ian Thomas

More notes from my module this week on the church. Church statistics from George Barna ... A. No growth in Christian church in America since 1980, despite:      1. billions of dollars on evangelism      2. over 10,000 hours of Christian television      3. over 1,000 Christian radio stations      4. over 5,000 new Christian books published B. No change in proportion of adults who attend church services since 1970. C. Average Protestant congregation in United States has only 60 - 65 adults who  regularly attend D. Fastest growing churches in America today are cults E. Throughout the United States, growing number of adults are not aware of the  churches or particular church ministries in their community Maybe we should just keep doing the same thing for a few more decades and see if something change.

Starting to get into the swing of things with my new classes "Church & Ministry" and "Systematic Theology". You have to be motivated and schedule your time well to do online classes. I have weekly deadlines, but its still easy to skip a few nights and get behind. I have to write a 500 word blog every week for the Church & Ministry class so I may not be posting here as much, or I may post my class blog here as well. My blog topic for this week is "B iblical descriptions of a healthy church today". Here are some highlights to digest. The Central vision and the primary purpose of the church should be "Ministry to the Lord", and the secondary purpose being ministry to people. (Can't stress this one enough) A Victorious, militant church - Mt. 16:18-19 A Unified church - John 17, Acts 2 A Glorious Church - Eph. 5:27 6 essential qualities from "Natural Church Development: A Guide to Eight Essential Qualities of Healthy Churche

I've been thinking about freedom again. Freedom is something we all want, but don't know what to do with it when we get it. We often find freedom uncomfortable and unnerving. We like to feel our boundaries and know that our limits help define us. We are like newborns who like to be wrapped tightly in a blanket after coming out into the big, new, cold, unknown of a new life. Many would rather live in an acceptable bondage than brave the wide open spaces of freedom. I believe God is looking for men and women of courage today who will prayerful, humbly, but boldly step up and step out into the empty spaces of freedom. I believe God wants many to release the five loaves and two fished that they are so desperately trying to hold on to. We have not yet seen the far reaching scope and grandeur of what God can do in our lives when we simply let go and say "Yes Lord". He wants to empty our lives so that He can fill them with His Son, His love, and all the good things He has