"To be successful in God's work is to fall in line with His will and to do it His way."
Henrietta C. Mears
Monday, August 24, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
An Evangelistic Thrust
All true theology has an evangelistic thrust, and all true evangelism is theology in action.
J. I. Packer
J. I. Packer
Monday, August 10, 2009
From Rick Warren
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, 'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity..
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life..
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity..
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life..
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
The Mountains Showcase His Splendor
62 kilometers into the heart of the Adirondack Mountains
2.9 miles on a dusty road
750 ft. elevation from main road to lodge
Mountains Showcase His Splendor
Meet men who love Jesus
Fun
Fellowship
Food
God speaking
Fun
Sleep interrupted by Loons praising their Creator
Stillness
Wildlife
New Friends
Boat Ride to Wolf Point Island
Worship under the trees
God's Word: Micah 6: 6-8
He speaks
Hearts changed
FUN
Life-long friendships planted
My weekend as guest speaker at The Men's Retreat
2.9 miles on a dusty road
750 ft. elevation from main road to lodge
Mountains Showcase His Splendor
Meet men who love Jesus
Fun
Fellowship
Food
God speaking
Fun
Sleep interrupted by Loons praising their Creator
Stillness
Wildlife
New Friends
Boat Ride to Wolf Point Island
Worship under the trees
God's Word: Micah 6: 6-8
He speaks
Hearts changed
FUN
Life-long friendships planted
My weekend as guest speaker at The Men's Retreat
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Lead in Establishing Kingdom Values
I read this today from David Jeremiah and am moved to imitate this man's perseverance:
"England's William Wilberforce was born in 1759. At age twenty-five, he rededicated his life to Christ. His spiritual awakening might have threatened his future political career as he had just been elected to a seat in the British Parliament. He sought the advice of a pastor named John Newton, the former slave trader, asking whether he should leave politics and enter the ministry. Newton answered: Stay where you are. God needs Christians in politics. Newton suggested they might even be able to put an end to British slave trade.
In 1787 Wilberforce introduced a bill in Parliament to that end, but strong opposition resulted in the bill being defeated. Not until 1807 was Wilberforce able to get legislation through the Parliament that banned England's participation in the slave trade. Buoyed by the victory, Wilberforce pushed for legislation freeing all slaves and abolishing slavery in England once and for all—legislation that was passed in August 1833, a month after Wilberforce died.
Every Christian is not called to lead a church, but every Christian is called to lead the Church in establishing kingdom values in the world." (Dr. David Jeremiah)
"England's William Wilberforce was born in 1759. At age twenty-five, he rededicated his life to Christ. His spiritual awakening might have threatened his future political career as he had just been elected to a seat in the British Parliament. He sought the advice of a pastor named John Newton, the former slave trader, asking whether he should leave politics and enter the ministry. Newton answered: Stay where you are. God needs Christians in politics. Newton suggested they might even be able to put an end to British slave trade.
In 1787 Wilberforce introduced a bill in Parliament to that end, but strong opposition resulted in the bill being defeated. Not until 1807 was Wilberforce able to get legislation through the Parliament that banned England's participation in the slave trade. Buoyed by the victory, Wilberforce pushed for legislation freeing all slaves and abolishing slavery in England once and for all—legislation that was passed in August 1833, a month after Wilberforce died.
Every Christian is not called to lead a church, but every Christian is called to lead the Church in establishing kingdom values in the world." (Dr. David Jeremiah)
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