When Do I share My Faith?

At what point in your spiritual journey should you start sharing your faith with others? When is full disclosure about your relationship with Christ appropriate to tell others? The answer is really simple: RIGHT NOW!!
Instead of waiting to mature, simply share what you know right now. What has God done for you? How do you know God is at work? What difference has God made in your life? These are questions that others are looking for answers to and you don't have to a Christian for a long time to answer these questions. Simply share what you know!!

Man Made Excitement vs. God Made Excitement

We live in an entertainment driven society. Everything that is developed nowadays is geared to stimulate the senses of the human body. What seems to spur growth, cause synergy, and facilitate change is EXCITEMENT!!
We want to be part of something exciting...we want to see exciting things happen...we dream of having excitement in our life. Listen to some peoples' complaints: "My _____________ (fill in the blank) is boring." So they try to make things exciting on their own; whether that be a change in marriage partners, a job, a hobby, and/or their church affiliation.
You know, it would be easy to succumb to the pressure to try to make an exciting atmosphere each and every week in our ministry. Yet the simple truth is: when people see God at work, there is no better excitement. We should pray, long for, and anticipate God doing what only God can do in our midst and rejoice at his work and his invitation to be fellow workers with him. It is an excitement that lasts, preaches, and changes!! It provides a compelling testimony that God is still alive and at work.
Therefore, we attempt to help connect people to God, Godly people to lost people, and believers and friends to each other. And then watch what God does!!

Radical

I am in the process of reading a book by David Platt called Radical. Needless to say, the book fits the title. This morning while I was reading, the question came to mind: "What am I doing or what is my church doing that can be explained that it is the work of God and not based on my abilities?"
It is interesting to think about. Because if God is doing and I'm not, I can't package it and sell it. Heck, it is even difficult to transfer to another situation. What is happening that can only be explained that God is at work?

Are You Someone that Others Want to be Like?

This is a great blog entry by Blake Coffee. Check it out:


http://churchwhisperer.com/2010/04/20/making-new-friendsare-we-ready-for-that/

What a powerful thought.

Anticipation

Have you ever looked forward to an event, a place, a family gathering, a vacation, or just something you anticipate is going to be incredible? What do you do to prepare for it? I'm one that really likes to plan ahead. I'll start setting stuff aside to pack a couple of weeks out (until Amber makes me put it back and wait!!) and then run a checklist in my mind daily of all the stuff I don't want to forget. The only problem is that I tend to overlook the things I need to get done then that will affect the trip if I have to stay and get them done.
I hope you have a huge expectation of what God is doing in our church; however, there are things we have to plant today if we want to harvest them tomorrow. Be faithful to plants the seeds of invitations, the gospel, kindness, compassion, etc. so that you can harvest a spiritual bounty the days ahead. Don't look back and wish you had done today what you desire God to do tomorrow!!

Interceding for Our 4xFour

What have you been praying for in the lives of the people you have identified on your 4xFour list? One of the easiest ways to pray if you have not recieved a specific request from your friend is imagining better circumstances for them. For example, if their marriage is struggling, begin imagining what a better marriage would look like and then pray towards that. Its amazing how our imagination can be a useful tool in praying towards God's will.

Praying in Participation with God

Our college group studied Numbers 14 Monday night and tried to wrestle with the implied/suggested thought that Moses was able to change God's mind. I don't want to get into the whole Open Theism discussion because I firmly believe the transcendent God knows all things from beginning to end. But, you have to wrestle with what is the purpose of Numbers 14?
Throughout the New Testament, we are called God's fellow workers. What does this mean for our prayers? Jesus told us that we are to pray for God's will to be done. Since God allows us to work alongside him in bringing about his kingdom and will, shouldn't our prayers also be in participation with what he is doing? Mose's prayed toward God's intended & original purpose with the Israelites...God wanted to make them a great nation by his power and might and let it be a declaration of his glory and power. Praying in participation with God is praying toward God's intended purpose & glory.