Does such a group of believers exist today?? I truly believe I'm a part of just such a group. God is certainly doing something in our Church that this lake area has never seen before and all the glory must be given ot God. The group that God has assembled is nothing more than a bunch of misfits surrendered to His service.
Margaret Mead, anthropologist of the early twentieth century once said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Citizens could be replaced with Christians, and this quote would accurately describe the faith of the church in Thessalonica.
Paul commended this community of believers for their faith. The church in Thessalonica was birthed as a result of the missionary efforts of Paul, Silas, and Timothy in the context of intense opposition (cf. Acts 17:1—9). First Thessalonians is a letter written to encourage this young community of believers, which faced internal and external challenges to their new faith in Christ.
The faith of the Christians in Thessalonica is first commended for the fruit it produced (v. 2). The triad of faith, love, and hope (cf. Rom. 5:1—5; 1 Cor. 13:13) resulted in sharing the gospel, service toward one another, and hope in Christ’s return. The way they received the message of Jesus was also noteworthy (vv. 5—6). The work of the Holy Spirit made the gospel effective and granted the community joy while they experienced suffering, which authenticated their faith. The faith of the congregation was praised because it was dynamic. It transformed the lives of the community members so that they conformed to Christlikeness. In all of this, the faith of the church in Thessalonica was exemplary to other believers in their region (v. 7).
The congregation in Thessalonica did not simply thrive in their city, but also committed themselves to spreading the gospel of Christ beyond their local sphere. Their lives witnessed to their vibrant faith, which became renowned in the whole region (v. 8). The message of their faith inspired others to abandon the idols of the day and commit themselves wholly to the one living and true God, revealed in Christ Jesus, who will return one day soon (vv. 9—10; cf. 4:13—5:11).
Taken from Moody Bible Institutes, Today in the Word.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Here I go again!!!!
I got so busy yesterday I didn't even post this.....Better late than never I suppose.......
Wow, where does the time go? Last week was such a blur I seriously cannot remember anything I did with the exception of a couple of days and yet I was exhausted by Friday. Then I helped Trace and John house sit at Oak Street while Dee and his family took the weekend off to go to a family reunion. I maybe got 3 hours of quality sleep in two days. My Sunday ended by crawling into bed around midnight last night knowing I had to get up and start work at 5 this morning. So here I go again. Let the blur begin.
I sit here typing this thinking of how Jesus must of dealt with His exhaustion. You know He had to be absolutely dragging at times. The one thing that keeps coming to mind is God. I see Him retreating to the mountains to be with God. I see Him separating Himself from others to be alone with God the Father. I see Him in the desert tired and hungry relying on the Gods Word to bring Him out of temptation. Now I look at my life and how I dealt with my exhaustion last week and I see just how un Christ like I am due to the fact I tried to rely on my own strength.
I read my Bible maybe a total of an hour last week, I only remember one time during the week that I had qulaity prayer time and that was with others and not me alone with God.
When I am at my weakest point God is at His strongest in my life and yet I turn to myself and my own understanding and unplug from God the source of my everything and don't allow Him to energize me. He is the Vine and I am the branch and IF I abide in Him I will bear fruit for without Him I can do nothing. If I don't abide in Him I wither, the scripture says, and am cast out and burned in the fire. Last week I felt very withered. My prayer is this week will be spent with God and not away from Him.
Wow, where does the time go? Last week was such a blur I seriously cannot remember anything I did with the exception of a couple of days and yet I was exhausted by Friday. Then I helped Trace and John house sit at Oak Street while Dee and his family took the weekend off to go to a family reunion. I maybe got 3 hours of quality sleep in two days. My Sunday ended by crawling into bed around midnight last night knowing I had to get up and start work at 5 this morning. So here I go again. Let the blur begin.
I sit here typing this thinking of how Jesus must of dealt with His exhaustion. You know He had to be absolutely dragging at times. The one thing that keeps coming to mind is God. I see Him retreating to the mountains to be with God. I see Him separating Himself from others to be alone with God the Father. I see Him in the desert tired and hungry relying on the Gods Word to bring Him out of temptation. Now I look at my life and how I dealt with my exhaustion last week and I see just how un Christ like I am due to the fact I tried to rely on my own strength.
I read my Bible maybe a total of an hour last week, I only remember one time during the week that I had qulaity prayer time and that was with others and not me alone with God.
When I am at my weakest point God is at His strongest in my life and yet I turn to myself and my own understanding and unplug from God the source of my everything and don't allow Him to energize me. He is the Vine and I am the branch and IF I abide in Him I will bear fruit for without Him I can do nothing. If I don't abide in Him I wither, the scripture says, and am cast out and burned in the fire. Last week I felt very withered. My prayer is this week will be spent with God and not away from Him.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Which bone are you??
I have my home page set to the Way of the Master Minute and most if not all of the time the devotionals tend to smack me right in the face. I found this one kinda interesting. I could see people I know and come across on a daily basis in each one of these scenarios, it sort of reminded me of the Parable of the Sower. Where are you? IF your not at the Goliath stage yet what will it take to move you there? I certainly don't expect anyone to comment on their spiritual state, but I do hope if you aren't where you need to be this will be the wake up you need.
Friday, July 27, 2007 The Backbone
It would seem that there are only three types of people in this world-the jawbone, the wishbone, and the backbone.
The jawbone says he will do something for God one day. He never puts his muscle where his mouth is. He prays about things, but never does them.
The wishbone gazes with starry eyes at his godly heroes and wishes he could be like them. His is a world of dreams. He wishes he could preach, write, pray, sing and dance. Yet, no one ever did anything without doing something. An aspiration will only become a realization with perspiration. If he wants to see revival, he should stop wishing and start fishing, but his dreams are not fuel enough to motivate him.
But the backbone sees Goliath and runs toward him. He leaves the fat cat of indifference sleeping by the fire.
There goes another minute. Gone forever. Go share your faith while you still have time.
Friday, July 27, 2007 The Backbone
It would seem that there are only three types of people in this world-the jawbone, the wishbone, and the backbone.
The jawbone says he will do something for God one day. He never puts his muscle where his mouth is. He prays about things, but never does them.
The wishbone gazes with starry eyes at his godly heroes and wishes he could be like them. His is a world of dreams. He wishes he could preach, write, pray, sing and dance. Yet, no one ever did anything without doing something. An aspiration will only become a realization with perspiration. If he wants to see revival, he should stop wishing and start fishing, but his dreams are not fuel enough to motivate him.
But the backbone sees Goliath and runs toward him. He leaves the fat cat of indifference sleeping by the fire.
There goes another minute. Gone forever. Go share your faith while you still have time.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Where have they gone?
Well, we just returned from our second meal and time of fellowship with the Brown family in celebration of Anthony's one year anniversary of being drug free, only by the grace of God. What a great testimony he has.
No time spent with Trace would be complete without listening to sermons from various preachers of old and one preacher of now Paul Washer. We were listening to a compilation of sermons from preachers such as Leonard Ravenhill, Paris Reidhead and so on. A thought came to my mind listening to Ravenhill speak about sitting under the teaching of AW Tozer. Where have these men gone??
Paul Washer speaks of his time of sitting under Ravenhill. Keith Green also speaks about sitting under the teaching of Ravenhill. Then you have the preachers of very old like Wesley, Bunyan, Whitfield, Edwards and of course Spurgeon. I know I have left so many others out, these holy men who feared God and knew salvation was so much more than just a prayer a flu shot so to speak. I have done it once and nothing more is required.
It scares me when I think about these men and then look at the men filling pulpits across America today and I have to ask, where have they gone? How did Christianity get to the place it is today? And more importantly what are we doing to rectify the situation.
I know there are men out there that have the same burden as I. I know God has placed many of those men right here around me. Are there others? If so why is there no Great Awakening part II so to speak? Have we become so engulfed with the concerns of the world that the Word of God is being choked out of our lives? Are we in this crises of watered down Christianity because there are no more holy men? Am I just fooling myself into thinking I'm some sort of spiritual machine putting on a face to ease my own conscious??
These thoughts really scare me. Could the preachers of old have been just as concerned and asking the same questions?
God help us to see the absolute necessity for holiness in out lives, without which no man shall see the face of God. God help us to have a passion for the lost and raise up strong disciples of Christ. God help us to be faithful with the knowledge we have right now. God help us to fall on our faces crying out to you to heal our broken spirits and our land. God help us to repent toward you and send revival in our own lives and our land.
Where have they gone????
No time spent with Trace would be complete without listening to sermons from various preachers of old and one preacher of now Paul Washer. We were listening to a compilation of sermons from preachers such as Leonard Ravenhill, Paris Reidhead and so on. A thought came to my mind listening to Ravenhill speak about sitting under the teaching of AW Tozer. Where have these men gone??
Paul Washer speaks of his time of sitting under Ravenhill. Keith Green also speaks about sitting under the teaching of Ravenhill. Then you have the preachers of very old like Wesley, Bunyan, Whitfield, Edwards and of course Spurgeon. I know I have left so many others out, these holy men who feared God and knew salvation was so much more than just a prayer a flu shot so to speak. I have done it once and nothing more is required.
It scares me when I think about these men and then look at the men filling pulpits across America today and I have to ask, where have they gone? How did Christianity get to the place it is today? And more importantly what are we doing to rectify the situation.
I know there are men out there that have the same burden as I. I know God has placed many of those men right here around me. Are there others? If so why is there no Great Awakening part II so to speak? Have we become so engulfed with the concerns of the world that the Word of God is being choked out of our lives? Are we in this crises of watered down Christianity because there are no more holy men? Am I just fooling myself into thinking I'm some sort of spiritual machine putting on a face to ease my own conscious??
These thoughts really scare me. Could the preachers of old have been just as concerned and asking the same questions?
God help us to see the absolute necessity for holiness in out lives, without which no man shall see the face of God. God help us to have a passion for the lost and raise up strong disciples of Christ. God help us to be faithful with the knowledge we have right now. God help us to fall on our faces crying out to you to heal our broken spirits and our land. God help us to repent toward you and send revival in our own lives and our land.
Where have they gone????
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Serving One Another
The Life Group topic this week is centered on serving one another. I thought I had a decent handle on this and thought I did a fairly good job until I went to Life Group @ Oak Street. If you ever need a good dose of humility I would suggest you go spend an hour or two talking with some of the folks God has brought to this house.
For those that might read this and not have a clue what I'm talking about I'll give you a high level picture. Oak Street Outreach is basically a 6000 square foot metal building with a kitchen, 1 bathroom and several rooms that have been sectioned off around the building and a sanctuary in the middle. A man named Dee and his family sold their new house and moved in to this building to be able to house people in need of temporary shelter. Currently their are 25 people living there and that number can rise or fall each day. Did I mention Dee is on disability and unable to work for extended periods of time?
Tuesday night while facilitating the Life Group I met a man there. I went and shook the mans hand and looked in in his very tired looking eyes. His skin is leathery and his hair wild and a gauze bandage covers one of his ankles from recent surgery. He told me name is Mack and that he had just come from Dallas the night before.
As I talked with Mack I found out that he didn't live in any of the apartments that Sean and Lisa minister at on MLK in Dallas but he lived under the I45 bridge in downtown Dallas, some call this box city. Mack told me how glad he was to be off the streets and wasn't sure he would ever be able to get out of there. He said he kept Sean's number at hand and would see him every once in a while and Sean would ask him if he still had the number and to call if he ever wanted out. Finally Mack called him and told him he had to get off the streets. Sean told him he would be there to get to him and Mack figured it would be sometime that evening but ventured up on the hill where he would meet Sean and much to his surprise Sean showed up in less than an hour. Mack was then taken to Trace another friend who lives in this area and Trace took him to Oak Street.
Can you even fathom what must have been going through Mack's mind as they were driving an hour away from anything he knew? What made this man trust the people that were suddenly paying him all this attention? Mack said he would never have thought he would be brought to a place as nice as Oak Street and that he would have a bed to sleep in and three meals a day. Mack came to Oak Street without anything. He had no clothes other than a ragged pair of pants and a t-shirt. When I asked him if he needed anything he said he would really like to have a Bible to start reading, at first being the most selfish thing I know, I ignored the Holy Spirit's prompting to give him my Bible but after a bit I did give it up. WHY would I even think twice??
Folks, I'm a man that has close to 10 Bibles, although this was my favorite I had it broken in just right and the pages were dirty, tear stains, tape holding some pages together, sweat stains from when I preach. I couldn't believe I hesitated. Maybe that is why God prompted me to give it up, man I need prayer.
He also asked for some size 9 shoes and a change of clothes. I have a line on clothes and all their sizes to hopefully get all 25 at least 2-3 changes of clothes this weekend from another ministry we support. Mack also told me he is a vet with an honorable discharge, a vet living under a bridge with 10's of thousands of people passing overhead all to busy to lend a hand.
Serve one another.........Awfully big words to live by. Sure we can go through the motions of serving others especially those we have a lot in common with and those who really aren't in desperate need. What about the Macks of the world? What if Sean wasn't willing to go under that bridge? What if Trace wasn't willing to pick him up and bring him to Oak Street? What if Dee hadn't been obedient to God and move his family to a metal building in the country to open the doors to complete strangers and feed them and house them by FAITH in God's provision???
I thank God he has given me the opportunity to minister to the folks at Oak Street. Maybe I should thank Him for those at Oak Street ministering to me. I feel I have a lot to learn about humility and serving others and I pray Oak Street will continue to teach me.
For those that might read this and not have a clue what I'm talking about I'll give you a high level picture. Oak Street Outreach is basically a 6000 square foot metal building with a kitchen, 1 bathroom and several rooms that have been sectioned off around the building and a sanctuary in the middle. A man named Dee and his family sold their new house and moved in to this building to be able to house people in need of temporary shelter. Currently their are 25 people living there and that number can rise or fall each day. Did I mention Dee is on disability and unable to work for extended periods of time?
Tuesday night while facilitating the Life Group I met a man there. I went and shook the mans hand and looked in in his very tired looking eyes. His skin is leathery and his hair wild and a gauze bandage covers one of his ankles from recent surgery. He told me name is Mack and that he had just come from Dallas the night before.
As I talked with Mack I found out that he didn't live in any of the apartments that Sean and Lisa minister at on MLK in Dallas but he lived under the I45 bridge in downtown Dallas, some call this box city. Mack told me how glad he was to be off the streets and wasn't sure he would ever be able to get out of there. He said he kept Sean's number at hand and would see him every once in a while and Sean would ask him if he still had the number and to call if he ever wanted out. Finally Mack called him and told him he had to get off the streets. Sean told him he would be there to get to him and Mack figured it would be sometime that evening but ventured up on the hill where he would meet Sean and much to his surprise Sean showed up in less than an hour. Mack was then taken to Trace another friend who lives in this area and Trace took him to Oak Street.
Can you even fathom what must have been going through Mack's mind as they were driving an hour away from anything he knew? What made this man trust the people that were suddenly paying him all this attention? Mack said he would never have thought he would be brought to a place as nice as Oak Street and that he would have a bed to sleep in and three meals a day. Mack came to Oak Street without anything. He had no clothes other than a ragged pair of pants and a t-shirt. When I asked him if he needed anything he said he would really like to have a Bible to start reading, at first being the most selfish thing I know, I ignored the Holy Spirit's prompting to give him my Bible but after a bit I did give it up. WHY would I even think twice??
Folks, I'm a man that has close to 10 Bibles, although this was my favorite I had it broken in just right and the pages were dirty, tear stains, tape holding some pages together, sweat stains from when I preach. I couldn't believe I hesitated. Maybe that is why God prompted me to give it up, man I need prayer.
He also asked for some size 9 shoes and a change of clothes. I have a line on clothes and all their sizes to hopefully get all 25 at least 2-3 changes of clothes this weekend from another ministry we support. Mack also told me he is a vet with an honorable discharge, a vet living under a bridge with 10's of thousands of people passing overhead all to busy to lend a hand.
Serve one another.........Awfully big words to live by. Sure we can go through the motions of serving others especially those we have a lot in common with and those who really aren't in desperate need. What about the Macks of the world? What if Sean wasn't willing to go under that bridge? What if Trace wasn't willing to pick him up and bring him to Oak Street? What if Dee hadn't been obedient to God and move his family to a metal building in the country to open the doors to complete strangers and feed them and house them by FAITH in God's provision???
I thank God he has given me the opportunity to minister to the folks at Oak Street. Maybe I should thank Him for those at Oak Street ministering to me. I feel I have a lot to learn about humility and serving others and I pray Oak Street will continue to teach me.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Why am I doing this??
Okay, so I thought since everyone else seemed to be blogging I needed to as well. This will probably end up like the myspace page and be done away with after the fun wears off but oh well, such is life.
Thoughts from a shallow mind seemed rather fitting for me as I like to ramble at times. My wife can certainly attest to that fact. I can say a whole lot at times and really say nothing at all, my wife, Dreama, says I say it best when I say nothing at all and she isn't talking about love....LOL. Someone should write a song about that. One thing you must know about me is I have certifiable ADD and things can change rapidly in my little world so you must go with the flow. I did try medication for a while but that took all the fun out of the joys of adult ADD so I quit taking my meds and live life for God and His Son and try my best to enjoy it all. Hang on things can move fast, oh, look a cat......Just testing you.....
Although I can ramble I can just as quickly have nothing to say and turn to only the thoughts running around in my head, yet another thing that drives my wife crazy because she naturally assumes something must be wrong and she is a fix it person and she wants to fix me....LOL....
I truly pray this blog is an enjoyment to the one or two people that end up reading it. You will find out I don't take too many things seriously except my relationship with Christ and leading others to Christ. I try to find humor in just about all situations and love to make people laugh and will sometimes go to extremes to make this happen. Once you become my friend, which only the bravest of souls attempt, you automatically expose yourself to me goofing on you. It may not happen at first but as I get to know you and discover your weaknesses I will exploit them but never to hurt you, always in love and good clean fun. The great thing is I'm pretty good at taking it as well.
I would like to try and keep this blog centered around God, family and the church that God is building here in Mabank Texas. To my friends, the few that I have, you will be included in the church part. I love to be surrounded by people who love God and absolutely love to have a good time while loving Him. Life is entirely too short to not have a blast at everything we do. I don't want to mislead anyone into thinking I'm some happy go lucky always got a smile on my face type guy, because just like most genuine people I have my own fears, pains, doubts and insecurities.
So, all that said let the blogging begin. My only question is, how do I let people know I have a blog? I don't see a link to send this out to anyone. Man, here I go again having to talk to myself. All this good stuff to say and no one to share it with. Oh well, your loss.
Thoughts from a shallow mind seemed rather fitting for me as I like to ramble at times. My wife can certainly attest to that fact. I can say a whole lot at times and really say nothing at all, my wife, Dreama, says I say it best when I say nothing at all and she isn't talking about love....LOL. Someone should write a song about that. One thing you must know about me is I have certifiable ADD and things can change rapidly in my little world so you must go with the flow. I did try medication for a while but that took all the fun out of the joys of adult ADD so I quit taking my meds and live life for God and His Son and try my best to enjoy it all. Hang on things can move fast, oh, look a cat......Just testing you.....
Although I can ramble I can just as quickly have nothing to say and turn to only the thoughts running around in my head, yet another thing that drives my wife crazy because she naturally assumes something must be wrong and she is a fix it person and she wants to fix me....LOL....
I truly pray this blog is an enjoyment to the one or two people that end up reading it. You will find out I don't take too many things seriously except my relationship with Christ and leading others to Christ. I try to find humor in just about all situations and love to make people laugh and will sometimes go to extremes to make this happen. Once you become my friend, which only the bravest of souls attempt, you automatically expose yourself to me goofing on you. It may not happen at first but as I get to know you and discover your weaknesses I will exploit them but never to hurt you, always in love and good clean fun. The great thing is I'm pretty good at taking it as well.
I would like to try and keep this blog centered around God, family and the church that God is building here in Mabank Texas. To my friends, the few that I have, you will be included in the church part. I love to be surrounded by people who love God and absolutely love to have a good time while loving Him. Life is entirely too short to not have a blast at everything we do. I don't want to mislead anyone into thinking I'm some happy go lucky always got a smile on my face type guy, because just like most genuine people I have my own fears, pains, doubts and insecurities.
So, all that said let the blogging begin. My only question is, how do I let people know I have a blog? I don't see a link to send this out to anyone. Man, here I go again having to talk to myself. All this good stuff to say and no one to share it with. Oh well, your loss.
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