What is Our Passion?

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Yilda

“Let the glory of Your name be the passion of the Church”

That line above is part of a song I was hearing from Chris Tomlin. Although the song “All to Us” is a worship song, that line in particular has a powerful message, a call for all Christians to have a passion to glorify Jesus name in unity.

We commonly refer to a building or a congregation when we refer to a church. But the truth is that we as Christians need to understand that we are the Church.  It means that our passion should be to glorify our Lord as one.  A passion means glorifying the name of our Lord with enthusiasm, desire, fervor and/or excitement.  That passion is the response when we receive an unfailing love, a love without no equal. The passion to know Him more and more.

Then, how do we glorify Jesus name? To glorify involves an action, not only an understanding of who He is and what He did. But not just a mere action, it should be an action from the heart. An action with the intention of planting a seed for a beautiful growth. One way could be to make disciples who love God, love others, and serve the world. We make disciples by sharing the love of our God, by being a living testimony of Jesus love, either thru speech or using whatever talents God placed in us to spread His word and love. But to make disciples involves being ourselves disciples of Jesus. Being a disciple involves a close relationship to a master, not just being a follower. A disciple strives to learn from his master and strives to imitate him. As disciples we need to seek Him thru His word, seek communion with Him thru constant praying and cultivating a spirit to serve one another.

In fact there are many other ways we can glorify Jesus name. As the Church, do we foster unity in Jesus name or do we foster legalism? Do we preach legalisms that conform to rules or religious moral codes, or do we preach the love of Jesus to others? Are we striving to be good disciples? What should be our priority as the Church?  Let the glory of His name be our passion in all we do and say. Let His Spirit guide us in all our ways.

- May the glory of Your name be the passion of the Church, my Lord. Amen.

Posted in Ministry, Unity | 1 Comment

BACK TO BASICS

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Debra Hasty

There are times when we receive so much meat from the word of God that we try and feed this meat to those who are barely on milk  and all this does is leave those who we are trying to teach become lost and confused as to what we are talking about. Frustration and confusion may cause one to give up and never seek the truth of the word of God because they are not understanding and need to be taught simple basics of Salvation.

Salvation means to be whole mind, body and soul as we surrender our will to God and allow his will to work in our lives by applying Gods word to every aspect of our lives. This allows us to know the mind of Christ and all the promises of God for our own well being so we can face anything that tries to come against us while here on this earth so we can triumph and be victorious through the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. Grace pardons us and mercy loves us unconditionally.

Jesus was teaching Nicodemus in John 3:1-7 that it was a Spiritual rebirth or renewal of our spirit that through Gods spoken word we can reconcile our past sins through repentance to be made sinless again before God. We are all born with a sin nature because of sin being introduced into the world through Satan’s deceit when he told Eve it was alright to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil even though God forbid them to eat of it.

Our flesh will always sin because that is our nature and God can not see our flesh because of our sins nor can he hear the prayers of a sinner, John 9:31, and this is why we need to renew our Spiritual inner man because sin separates us from God as God is  spirit, not flesh and blood, and can only recognize his own children by what spirit is living in their hearts. We have to renew, rebirth – born again, Gods Spirit within us in order to be called a child of God and see the kingdom of heaven. We now put off the old man (flesh) and put on the new man (Spirit). We are renewed by the word of God and through the Holy Spirit teaching us of all things, Romans 8:6,8.

The basics we need to learn are written in Colossians 3:1-17 and if we follow these guidelines then we will remain in the will of God. The best place to start for learning and understanding Gods Salvation is reading the book of John to learn who Jesus was and is in our own lives and to know anyone can come unto Gods Salvation no matter who you are or what you have done God loves us all unconditionally.

We now have an intercessor (Jesus) who sits at the right hand of the Father and hears our confession that we are sinners and need his salvation as we believe in our heart that he was truly sent from God as the living word that we can indeed become righteous again not of our own righteousness, but that righteousness that is God whom through his Spirit is promised to dwell in us.  All we have to do is believe and confess that we are sinners and allow Gods righteousness to cleanse us and renew our spirit man. Jesus wants us to come as we are and allow him to make the changes that need made in our hearts. People want to clean the fish before they catch them, but Jesus says come as you are I will clean you from the inside out.


Posted in Ministry | 5 Comments

A Wakeup Call… How Could We Remain Together?

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Yilda

I was going thru 2 Corinthians 1 and somehow, stopped when I came across verse 24.

“Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for by faith you stand.” (2 Corinthians 1:24)

I questioned myself on how is it possible to have dominion over others’ faith, thus meaning trying to have ownership of others’ faith and thus our own faith in our Lord. Is that really possible? Suddenly I thought about our situation as Christians, so divided, sometimes so filled with conceit among one another… giving more reasoning and importance to disputable matters rather than seeking to nourish our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and grow as a body. Then I also was repeating again and again, it is by faith that we stand and remain firm as the verse states.

Here is a call for all christians to remain firm in the faith and not to take pride or boast of our faith.

Sometimes we as christians focus more on the mission, on the harvest, rather than in the Lord of the Harvest. Focusing more on the mission than in the Lord of the mission could lead to boasting in our own reasonings, with the potential to start molding the work of God to our own arguments, instead of having the word of God shaping and feeding our faith so that we could be “fellow workers” for the glory of our God.

The object of our faith is Christ and thru his word and Holy Spirit is how we can grow together and firm. This is how we should seek to share the gift of Christ in love and prayer. For the glory of God and not ours.

Many of our own reasonings focus more in what we called disputable matters and cause division, absence of love of Christ toward others, “cultic clubs”, “cultic societies”, accusations toward our neighbors, judgement, … lack of love. How could we have lack of love if we have Christ in our hearts! Let’s wake up! Let’s nourish and practice the fruit of the Spirit:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. [...]” (Galatians 5:22-23)

Let’s put our disputable matters aside and pray for our Lord Jesus to give us the growth and understanding through his word. He is the object of our faith, the object and purpose of our mission to go and work in the harvest in humbleness, joy and love. Whether it be by word or actions, we need to reflect the love of Christ in or lives.

Our faith in Jesus is what keep us firm and together in a way that we can share the Gift and grow in the knowledge of his grace. In this line, here comes this verse:

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)

Going back to basics, this is the way we can nourish our faith to be firm. Meaning that nourishing is to provide with food or other substances necessary for life and growth, to feed, to foster development and growth… for ourselves and ‘us’ as a body. And how should we seek and achieve this? Through reading and seeking the word of God. Let him shape our growth for his glory.

The faith and the harvest are not for us to own, but to share. We need to work on the harvest with love and care. And by doing this, please, let us not forget the Lord of the harvest.

“Then he [Jesus] said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Mathew 9:37-38)

Posted in Faith, Love, Ministry, Unity | 1 Comment

In the Valley of Shadows… An Attitude Toward Difficulty

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Yilda

When we face difficult situations, we can either ask “why?” and bump our heads against the wall; or instead, see those as another way to exercise our faith and grow in the knowledge of our Lord’s grace. Whatever your struggle may be or the storm you may be facing, the Lord in his Grace has promises for you.  

There is beautiful song I love which is called “Word of God Speak”. It is amazing how God’s Word speaks. In the same way the love of God unifies us, it does so His grace throughout our storms.

“7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. […] 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory
that far outweighs them all.”
(2 Corinthians 4:7-17)

When I read this verse I Pray: My Lord give me understanding to comprehend your Word and to know when you speak to my soul. In receiving you, I receive your life. Show me to understand the purpose of any storm or harsh wind in my life, so that instead of avoiding it, decide to carry with joy the certainty that together with your life, I will experiment in growth your renovating power through it.

“9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say:
Here am I. (…)” (Isaiah 58:9)

I can’t count the many times I have asked the Lord to guide me, to give me strength. And in the middle of the valley of shadows, then He replies so wonderfully.  Thank you my Lord for the certainty of your presence. Guard our hearts and minds from anxiety… lead our steps.

“4 Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love. 6 His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.”
(Song of Solomon 2:4,6)

The Word of God is still speaking. Feel the beauty of His love that surrounds us …that fills every space and every gap. In the middle of the dry wind beating my face I fall into my knees and pray: Thank you Lord because even if I feel insufficient, frustrated and/or overwhelmed by my circumstances, your love snuggles me, feeds me and heartens me.

“2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”
(Isaiah 43:2)

In the middle of the storm, hold on to God’s promises. Hold on to His Word. Seek Him with your heart, soul and mind…and you shall find. So I pray: If there is a storm surrounding me, Lord, show me your peace and sustain me in it.

“6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 4:6-7)

Posted in Faith, Prayer | 2 Comments

What would you do?

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Todd

The following is from Richard Burkey’s Blog, simply titled, “Richard Burkey.”  It is very thought provoking and well worth the read!

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If God gave you a blank check for your life, what would you do? Reading through the Bible in a year brought me to 1 Chronicles 17 where David wants to build a temple, a permanent place for worship for God. Not being into tent camping myself, it sounds like a great idea.

Read the full post here!

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New Christian Blog

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Todd

New Christian Author, Dean Burkey has started up a blog based on Christian Humor.  It’s clean.  It’s uplifting.  It’s funny!  In his inaugural post, he write about how any of us can be funny.  Here is an excerpt:

You can be a lot funnier than you are! Even if you’re already really, really funny.

Keep track of comical notions that pop into your head. You can turn your hilarious thoughts into jokes.

Find the Funny! Look for the incongruities and ironies of life! For instance: Before we acquire wisdom, we have all kinds of energy. But once we have a clue or two, we’re too feeble to do much of anything.

How can we turn that into a joke?

First that fact manifests itself best with the way children want to help us with household chores when they’re too young to be of any use, but when they are old enough to help, they often dread the thought and resent the inconvenience.

Children want to wash the car before they’re old enough reach the roof. But once they can scrub the top, they’ll only wash when they have a hot date. (The car and themselves.)

For the full post, click here!

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Caught up in the Rapture

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Todd

I will be the first to admit that the phrase “false prophet” or “false teacher” gets thrown around far too much these days.  Quite often when one Christian calls another a false teacher, they simply mean “you don’t agree with me, so I am going to insult you in the worst way I know.”  One of reasons for the foundation of this ministry was to try and combat, or at least diminish, the overabundance of false accusations about false doctrine (try saying that five times fast).

We need to be careful, however, that we do not fall too far to the end of the spectrum in allowing the true wolves free reign in the body of Christ.  Those who have been following us for a little while know that we have been highlighting areas or doctrines that have the very real consequence of keeping people away from Christ.  I personally believe that is a good measure to use.  If a doctrine will keep an individual or worse, lead an individual, away Christ, we need to speak out against it.

It is in this manner that I would like to weigh in on tomorrow’s rapture.  I personally believe that eschatology, or the study of the end times, falls in the category of “disputable matters” (see Romans 14).  There are as many theories as there are people.  Some are relatively recent (staring in the 19th century) and some go back to the apostles.  Still, this is not normally a salvation issue and is something, I think, is great for discussion and study.

Some people, however, take this study a little too far.  Harold Camping is one of those people who has taken things too far, in my own humble opinion.  People have been setting dates for centuries and Mr. Camping is no different in that respect, but that does not make it any less dangerous.  There is no question that the “date setters” are fully convinced in their own minds.  There is also no question that they are fully wrong.

There are two reasons why this is dangerous.  First, it mocks Jesus Christ and does so in front of the entire world.  Jesus told us that nobody knows the day or the hour…not even Him!  Think about that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, creator of the very earth we walk on, does not know when the rapture will occur.  He is waiting for our Heavenly Father to tell Him.  How then, can a mere man know?  By preaching a specific date and time, he is essentially telling Jesus, “I know more than you!”

It also causes the world to mock Jesus. Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins dismissed Camping’s prediction, writing that “he will inevitably explain, on May 22nd, that there must have been some error in the calculation, the rapture is postponed to … and please send more money to pay for updated billboards.”  There are websites out there run by atheists who are offering “post rapture services.”  Some are genuine (i.e. a genuine attempt to fleece Christians), but some are put up as jokes for the sole intention of mocking Christians and our Savior.  Numerous Facebook pages have been spawned that also mock us and our Savior. 

The second reason is even more dangerous, and the reason for this writing:  it keeps people away from Jesus Christ.  How can something that is a “disputable matter” keep people away from Christ?   First, Christians who believe in the prediction are going to be sorely disappointed…some of them will have their faith severely shaken.  Some of those will fall away.  They will think that Jesus lied to them instead of man.  Paul dealt with this.  Early Christians in Thessalonica believed in false teachings about the end and it had shaken their faith.  If not for Paul’s reassurance and encouragement, many of them would have walked away.  Who will reassure people today?  The same people who misled them in the first place?  I fear many will simply walk away from Christ rather than listen to what man has to say.

Not only is there the very real possibility of Christians walking away from their faith, but people who have not yet accepted Christ will have very little reason to do so.  When people set a date and are shown to be wrong, they not only hurt their own credibility, but they destroy the credibility of every Christian.  California Director of American Atheists Larry Hicock said that “Camping’s well-intentioned rapture campaign is indicative of the problems with religion.”  The world does not distinguish between Christians.  We are all the same to them, and if Christians are so completely wrong about when their savior will return, who’s to say there is even a savior to begin with?

Browse through any secular forum and you will see for yourself, these antics are diminishing the impact of our message.   Some people are so hard they will never accept Christ, but most are somewhere “in between” and have a high likelihood of being saved.  When Christians make “predictions” that cause Christ to be mocked and demolish the credibility of His followers, they are very effectively pushing the fences sitters to the wrong side.

That is why we need to speak out against it and why we need to do it now.   There will be plenty of “I told you so” come Sunday, but in order for us not to lose our credibility we need to take a stand now.  We need to let the world know the truth and let them know the people like Mr. Camping are speaking only for themselves…not for Christianity and certainly not for Christ.  Then, when the 21st comes and goes, we can go about our main mission: loving and saving lost souls.  After all isn’t that what Christianity is really about?  Loving others and bringing them to Jesus?

Posted in Faith | 1 Comment

Above and Beyond

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Todd

When I first reported to my last ship, I was greeted with the largest ammunition movement in that ship’s history.  We were shifting homeports and had to “mule” some missiles and bullets to our new duty location for their ammo storage.  While we were unloading at the new homeport, we had a show stopping malfunction.  One of the missile boxes damaged its cell as it was being pulled out.

The damage meant that the ship had no way of detecting a missile in that cell.  It became unusable and we were unable to load our full complement of missiles.  Being forward deployed, this was a very big deal.  Being the new kid on the block made it an even bigger deal.  Fortunately I had an ace up my sleeve…a few of them actually.

The sailors involved recognized the problem and brought it to my attention immediately.  They then when about solving the problem.  They worked late into the night, long after the rest of the crew had gone home to their families.  One of them even went so far as to fashion a replacement part from scratch.  A part that to this day is still working.  These sailors saved the ship and it’s reputation and truly went above and beyond the call of duty.

They did far more than I had expected they would, so I put each of them in for an award, one that my Commanding Officer was happy to endorse.  This situation was not unique.  While I was on this particular ship, many of my sailors went above and beyond the call of duty, far surpassing my expectations in what they achieved and solved.  Even when I raised my expectations, they surpassed them.

Lately, it seems like when I pray, I have certain expectations of a result.  Maybe “expectation” is not right connotation, but there is a certain way I see things being played out when I pray for a situation.  However, God has been exceeding those expectations.   For example, this morning my computer crashed…it crashed hard.  I have a lot of important data on here that had not been backed up recently.  It may seem silly to some, but I prayed.

I prayed for help, just in getting access so I could back things up.  I knew that God would answer the prayer, but I figured I would have to spend all afternoon messing with it to get it to work.  Nope.  After sitting off most of the day, I turned it on and it started right up, without a hitch!  On a side note, I am backing all my important files as I am typing this out.

That’s not all.  Yesterday I had a very important meeting with a contractor that we have had some issues with.  The professional relationship has been a rocky one, sometime even heated.  This meeting was promising to be another firestorm.  There were many issues that needed to be ironed out as their project was coming to a close, and it was not going to be easy.

To top it off, I was not yet recovered from a recent illness, so I was not in the best of moods myself and not eager to deal with this particular contractor.  Still, I prayed about the situation and for this meeting in particular.  I asked God for a polite discourse and resolution to each of the unresolved issues.  My hope was that the tone of the meeting would be, at the very least, professional and that we would be able to “agree to disagree” if need be.

The meeting was not only professional it was almost friendly, and the issues?  Each and every one of them was resolved.  Not only that, but when we pointed out things that needed to be corrected with their work, they agreed to correct every single item.  I’ve been dealing with this contractor for a year now and that never happened!

I understand that most of you reading this will think that my examples are minor or seemingly unimportant, but my point is this:  When we ask for help, God listens!  Many times He surpasses our expectations.  While I cannot give God an award, I can thank Him by being obedient and sharing what He has done.

Sometimes God says to wait, and sometimes He simply says, “no.”  However, when God answers in the affirmative, He never goes halfway.  When God answers, He answers!  Try it out for yourself.  Ask God to help you with something that is important to you.  Something you think that a success would merely be making it through.  Then, have faith that God will answer your prayer, stand back and watch Him go above and beyond the call of duty.

Posted in Prayer | 1 Comment

To Each Their Own

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Debra Hasty

How can we decipher what is Spiritual or literal when we are studying the Bible? Doesn’t everyone have their own opinions when it comes to studying and can we trust those opinions? Can Gods word be Spiritual and literal at the same time? Only the Holy Spirit can answer these questions when we ask for wisdom and understanding because God is not the author of confusion and wants to reveal all the hidden mysteries of his word to us.

God is Spirit and much of his written word is also Spiritual as much as it is literal. Like man is human in the flesh, but Spiritual through the rebirth or renewal in Gods Holy Spirit. I believe the Bible is more Spiritual than literal in many ways as when we read a chapter at a time we can have many different points of views on it, but if we take each chapter and read it verse by verse then as a whole it brings life to the whole chapter and reveals the importance of the knowledge God wants us to learn and share with others.

Jesus told us in Matthew 24:11 that many false prophets will arise and deceive many and we can see this more and more in our own present time then ever before and when you know truth taught by the Holy Spirit and not just take Gods word for granted by what others teach you then it is your responsibility to come against that which is a deceiving word being taught by those who teach with a carnal mind of rationalizing the word of God, which only produces ones own opinion or interpretation that can cause devastation in anothers understanding as truth is left by the wayside as the Holy Spirit is quenched and true wisdom and knowledge is never reached.

Each one of us will stand before the Lord Christ Jesus to give account for what we have taught others here on this earth and some will hear Jesus tell them well done and others will hear Jesus say I never knew you. Which do you want to hear? Be careful for what you hear and speak to others for your eternity depends on it.

2Pe 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
2Pe 2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

1Pe 4:11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

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We’re Going Too Fast!

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Todd

Recently, I took my family to an indoor water park for my oldest boy’s birthday.  The park was completely enclosed, but it still had pools, slides, play areas and even a hot tub for the parents.  The slides were the kind where you ride a tube.  You can either go solo or with a partner.  The older boy took his own tube and went for broke, but the younger boy was a little too small to go by himself, so we grabbed a double tube and rode down together.

He was scared.  He was very scared.  “I’m gonna fall!  We’re going too fast!  We’re gonna fall off the slide!”  He screamed the whole way down.   I tried giving him instructions and encouragement on the way down so I could ease his fears, but he would have none of it.  He was scared and nothing would change that…until we got to the pool at the bottom, that is.

We hit the pool with a splash, he turned around in his tube, looked at me and said, “That was…AWESOME!!!”  He wanted to do it again!  And again…and again…

He was scared, but when he made it, he realized that he wasn’t going to fall (out of the tube or the slide) and what I told him on the way down was right.  It was like his own little tribulation.  It was trying, but he came out if it wiser and stronger.

I look back and realize how many times I told my Heavenly Father, “I’m not gonna make it!  I’m gonna fall!  I can’t do it!”  I’m ashamed to admit the times are many.  However, during each of those times, my Father was patient with me.  He held on while I was screaming, thinking my world was going to end.  Then, when I hit the pool with that final splash, I realized that it was not as bad as I had feared it would be.

Don’t get me wrong, going through any trial or tribulation is certainly not fun.  When we are going down that slide, swerving way too fast, it is hard to see the bottom.  It is hard to see our Father hold on to us.  It is hard to hear our Father encouraging us.   Gabriel did not hear me trying to encourage him and many times I do not hear my Father trying to encourage me.  Yet, when the ride is over, I am able to get up, dry myself off and walk away wiser and stronger than I was before.

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