Thursday, January 29, 2009

Check This Out - Yo!

This is funny. Enjoy!

Be Careful Little Eyes...



I watched a video sent to me by Chuck King yesterday. It was very good. The one part that challenged me was how we watch garbage on T.V. and in movies, then we come to church to pray for revival. Now I am not saying you can't watch T.V. or movies, but (and I want to emphasize the but) we need to guard our minds. How can we pray for God to do a great work in our lives when we continually let garbage fill it. We must guard our eyes and what they see, our feet and where they go. It is a song that a lot of kids learn when they are children. But it is something we think we can grow out of when we get older.
We can never grow out of guarding what comes into our hearts and minds. Our minds need to be filled with the Word of God so we can combat the enemy. To many times though, the only thing we can spit out in times of trouble are doubts and fears because it's all we know. Check this video out by Casting Crowns (this is not the video I was sent) and let me know what you think. I know I've been challenged even more so to guard what my eyes see because I have two sets of little eyes watching me and what I watch. Heaven forbid I lead them astray by what I do. (Check out Matthew 18) Be challenged.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Ending the Fast...

We ended our fast this past Friday night by going to King's family restaurant. I know that you should watch what you eat after fasting for a long period of time, but I couldn't help myself. I got a steak. It was very enjoyable. But it's funny, after fasting and thinking about when you are going to eat again, when the time comes to eat again it does not carry that much weight. As I sat at King's and drank down a couple of lemonade's, I felt as though I had eaten. Thank You, Lord for getting us through this week and I look forward to what you will do from this.
I also wanted to share how prayer went Friday night before we went to eat. Powerful! We ended the prayer time by sharing promises that God has given us from His Word. It is something we do not do enough of. Mainly because we do not know His Word. I encourage you to get into the Word and meditate on it. If we want to overcome anger, fear, loneliness, doubt, worry, lust, pride, you name it, we need to soak our minds and quote His Word. It is how we will overcome. So get into the Word.
Here is one I found to be very meaningful for me:
Psalm 112:7 NLT
7 They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
Be Blessed!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

4th Day

I can't believe we are already at the 4th day of fasting. Though my belly is letting me know. One thing the Lord showed me today was about praying for God to fill us to overflowing. So many times we pray that but we set up barriers to keep Him from truly filling us to overflowing. He gave me the picture of a fountain drink. You don't want it to overflow because then the drink gets all over your hand, all over the side of the cup, etc. We frown upon that.
I believe we have brought that it into God's world when we think about filling us to overflowing. We think it is going to be messy. And in a way, it is going to be. It is going to mess with your life, your thoughts, your actions, everything that you are. When God messes things up it is for the best.
So don't hesitate to let your cup hold the dispenser down on God's Holy Spirit fountain and overflow.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Second Full Day of Fasting

We began our second annual week of praying and fasting Sunday evening. There were a few of us who braved the weather to come in and seek the Lord. This year, I tried to prepare my body by only eating one meal a day a few days before I went in to not eating anything. The transition was not to bad, though I find myself thinking about eating. But it is not a feeling of eating because I am hungry but more a feeling of eating just to eat. There is something about putting something into your mouth as you sit around that has become enjoyable to me, and many Americans. That is a problem and one that I want to see fixed now, while I am still young. I want to develop in myself the need for God's Word more than food.

One thing I am really seeking Him for this week individually is for a greater boldness in sharing my faith and being a servant to those around me. I don't want to ignore needs when I know the One who can respond to those needs whether through me or supernaturally through my prayers. For example, yesterday I was leaving the church to head to my basketball game. There was an elderly gentlemen who had gotten his van stuck in the snow covered parking spaces that are in Ford City. Elyn and I helped him get out by shoveling out the snow under his tires and giving him a good old push. Then on my way down to the high school, there was a young girl from Ford City who was stuck. I continued on to the gym to get some of my players to come help me push and we were able to help her. It felt good to help those in need.

I am also looking forward to God using me supernaturally to minister to people with needs that only God can answer. This is truly going to be a year of newlife, healing, and the gifts of the Spirit.

Please, share with me what God is showing you this week. Leave a comment. Send an email. Leave a voice mail (if I'm out). But let us spur one another on with what God is showing us this week. Stay tuned.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

What Do Their Eyes Say?

I was talking to Al Harriger the other day and he was telling me some of the things they have been going over in their small group on evangelism. One of the things he was telling me he told the people to do was to look at those they pass on the street, in the store, at work, etc. Not just at them, but right at their face. Look them in the eyes and tell them hello. You can tell a lot about a person by how they look and respond to you. This can lead into opportunities to share the love of Christ.

Now skip to today. I'm doing my devotions and low and behold I find this in scripture in Genesis with the story of Joseph. Joseph was in prison, after being falsely accused for a crime he did not commit. While there, pharaoh sends his cup bearer and baker to prison. Now after a night of sleep, the cup bearer and baker have a dream. The next morning they look troubled. How do we know this? Because Joseph looked them in the eyes and saw that they were troubled and then began to talk to them. He just didn't notice the trouble, he went a step further and began to talk to them about it. They opened up to Joseph and he was able to interpret the dreams and help them.

If only we all can take this example and run with it. God wants to use each and everyone of us to speak into peoples lives. So many are hurting and need someone to notice them. They need someone to tell them about Jesus and pray with them. They need someone who believes in an almighty God that is greater than any hurt or pain to come along side of them and spur them on. Is that you? I pray that it is all of us. That we may all be like Joseph.

Lord, may we be like Joseph and look at the faces of the people around us. May we have the courage and boldness to ask them how things are going. And may we have the faith that if we do this, You will give us the words to encourage them and point them to Jesus and His saving grace, not matter how they may respond. Amen.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

I've begun to read a book entitled "The Knowledge of the Holy" by A.W. Tozer. (Thank you Pastor Jeff Leake for mentioning this book.) I've only read a couple of chapters but the chapters I've read go along with what I've been studying on healing and the gifts of the Spirit. Here is an excerpt from chapter 2.

Left to ourselves we tend immediately to reduce God to manageable
terms. We want to get Him where we can use Him, or at least know where He
is when we need Him. We want a God we can in some measure control.
We need the feeling of security that comes from knowing what God is like, and
what He is like is of course a composite of all the religious pictures we have
seen, all the best people we have known or heard about, and all the sublime
ideas we have entertained.

If all this sounds strange to modern ears, it is only because we have for a
full half century taken God for granted. The glory of God has not been
revealed to this generation of men. The God of contemporary Christianity
is only slightly superior to the gods of Greece and Rome, if indeed He is not
actually inferior to them in that He is weak and helpless while they at least
had power.

WOW! We have made God into something our minds can comprehend when God is so much greater than that. I believe we need to repent of the idols we have created to satisify our appetite for a god we can wrap our minds around. God is much to big for our minds. He is infinite and our minds are finite.

What do you think?

Monday, January 5, 2009

2009: The Year of New Life

Sorry for not posting in awhile. The holidays are a busy time. Plus, I took some time off to relax and hang out with family.

I wanted to share that I am really looking forward to this coming year. I believe that this year is truly going to be a year of new life for the New Life Center. Our name, given when this church was founded, is very significant and I believe we will begin to see the blessing in our name come forth this year. There is so much that God wants to do in and through us this year to release new life in us as well as to our family, friends, and coworkers.

I've been praying for the release of new life, healing, and the gifts of the Spirit in 2009. I want to encourage you all to pray that with me. Also, starting January 18-23, we will begin our corporate prayer and fasting time. We will kick off our prayer and fasting time Sunday evening, January 18, at 7:00 pm here at the church. Then all week long at 12:00 pm and 7:00 pm, the church will be open to come in and pray.

Keep in mind the scripture verse that has come to be part of our mission:
Acts 26:17-18 The Message
17-18"'I'm sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.'

You got to love that verse.