Overdue with thanks

Tear streaked with praise

Humbled at forgiveness, never deserved

I add my voice to the miracle community

that sees joy in unexpected graces

 

for a messy desk

for books that irritate

for the love of a wife

for the phone call of a son

for the work to be done

for the glory of the gospel

for the silence of an emptying house

for the memories of its fulness

for the smile of an old friend

for the friends who remain

after all the whitewash

has been torn away

 

I give thanks to You oh great and measureless God.

 

You can join the gratitude community too at the best blog on the worldwide web [ aholyexperience.com ].

Click on the link or cut and paste it into your browser and sign the Manhattan Declaration today and declare your loyalty to Christ.

 

 

You can read the document there and you can read about it at my other blog chosenrebel.blogspot.com.

Started a project to memorize a book of the Bible.  First one I'll work on is 2 Timothy.  Goal is to be done memorizing the book by the end of March.  I was inspired to take on the project by a youtube message by John Piper.  See it below. 

 

Pick a book and join me.

 

   

 

 

From Kairos Journal: Without Compromise, Saint Francis Preaches to the Sultan In 1219, in the midst of the Fifth Crusade, Saint Francis of Assisi crossed unarmed into the enemy camp in order to preach the gospel to Sultan al-Kamil, the Muslim ruler of Egypt and Saladin’s nephew. In his hagiographic account of this incident, Bonaventure relates the following: When [Francis and his companion] proceeded farther, the Saracen sentries fell upon them like wolves swiftly overtaking sheep, savagely seized the servants of God and cruelly and contemptuously dragged them away, insulting them, beating them and putting them in chains…When that ruler inquired by whom, why and how they had been sent and how they got there, Francis, Christ’s servant, answered with an intrepid heart that he had been sent not by man but by the Most High God in order to point out to him and his people the way of salvation and to announce the Gospel of truth.1 Francis was neither naïve nor mad. He knew very well what he was getting into. Contrary to the excessively tender image of him propounded by Hollywood and supported by popular piety, he was a knight of Christ and a seasoned soldier with crusade combat experience before his conversion. This feature is often overlooked in attempts to portray him as a syrupy environmentalist. On this, his third attempt at converting the Muslims,2 he once again knew that his life was at stake, and he was prepared to sacrifice it. According to Bonaventure and earlier biographers, the sultan was so overwhelmed by Francis’s courage that he invited him to stay longer. Francis said he was not interested in the sultan’s favors, but only in his conversion. The saint even offered to undergo ordeal by fire, similar to the one Elijah went through in 1 Kings 18:17-40, in order to convince the sultan of the truth of Christianity. While approving of the saint’s determination, the sultan replied that his acceptance of Christianity would cause a military uprising and was, therefore, a political impossibility. He repeatedly offered Francis gifts and alms for the poor, but the saint refused to accept them and returned to Italy. This story is an eloquent testimony to the inspired boldness of the Christian saints. It also provides a stirring example of integrity in the face of an offered bribe, this time in the form of compromising hospitality. Furthermore, the incident is a prophetic condemnation of the use of violence to advance the cause of a religion—whether through crusades or terrorism. In the midst of a bloody warfare and in the time when forced conversions were a sad reality, St. Francis manifested the power of Christ, which “is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). Footnotes: 1 Bonaventure, The Life of St. Francis, 9.8, in Bonaventure: The Soul’s Journey into God, The Tree of God, The Life of St. Francis, trans. Ewert Cousins (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist, 1978), 269. 2 Ibid., 9.7.

 

Pray that the scourge of the properity gospel would be cleansed from America.

Books are starting to arrive for my next doctoral class. Can't wait to read, analyze, learn and apply.  1500 pages to read in the next couple of months on top of all my other activities and duties.  It's great to be busy.

  The video embeded below is worth the wait it will take to download.  I am asking you to pray with me for this conference.  I have been asked to go and represent Dynamic Church Planting International.  I don't know if I can.  But my place in this historic conference is immaterial.

 

This will be a gathering worthy of your most passionate prayers.  Please, give a few moments to watch the video and then pray for the fruitfulness of its purpose.

 

And while you are at it, would you pray that God would give me both wisdiom and means if he calls me to attend.

 

Here's a post I have been hanging on to for some time.  It is relevant for all believers but especially perhaps for church planters. Kimberley Wagner is a writer and pastor's wife.  She writes for Revive Our Hearts.  I have appended the first comment that was made when the post appeared back in June.   I hope it will challenge your heart to pray and your mind to think more clearly about how your church is "doing ministry". 

I will post an update on our ministry tomorrow.                                            __________

Losing the Millennial Generation

Your Purpose posted on 06.22.09 by Kimberly Wagner

Several years ago my husband, (also my pastor) became burdened by the growing number of young people who were leaving the church. Sadly, his burden was backed up by alarming statistics:

• 69–94 percent of Christian youth forsake their faith after leaving high school.
• An additional 64 percent loss after college graduation.
• 75 percent loss of students from The Assemblies of God churches within one year of high school graduation.
• 88 percent loss of students from churches within the Southern Baptist Convention.
• 94 percent fallout within two years of high school graduation was reported by Josh McDowell Ministries.¹

What is the problem?

A heavy burden for the next generation of Christian leaders caused my husband to spend an extended period seeking God's guidance and direction for insight into this growing trend. What he came away with resulted in (for us) a completely new approach toward ministry.

We grew up in the "program-driven model" of doing church. That's all we'd ever known or experienced. My husband surrendered to ministry when only 13 years old and was asked to preach a message at youth camp the very next evening! He was called to pastor his first church when he was barely 18, before he even started college. We kind of "slid into" the pattern of "doing ministry" the only way we knew how. But after seeking the Lord on His view of the church, my husband came to a few different conclusions than what we'd practiced most of our lives.

We noticed our young families were spending more evenings attending church activities than they spent at home, often dragging young ones through the church door, rushing them into some childcare program, dashing down a hall to slip into an adult Bible study class without even having time to eat an evening meal until possibly 9:00 at night! We started counting up how many hours that our church was dividing up the family in order to have "spiritual activities." We were alarmed by what we discovered.

We are not opposed to church activities. Bible study classes, outreach events, and even church softball leagues can have beneficial aspects in our spiritual formation. But what may have begun as discipling opportunities in many cases seems to have grown into a high-speed treadmill of activities with no way to jump off.

Is the church accomplishing its mission of making disciples? Equipping believers? Evangelizing the lost? It seems we can't even keep our own kids.

Really, should it surprise us that we are losing our teens when we've spent so many hours away from them through the week? Has church robbed us, many times, from family meal-times, family devotion-times, family game nights, or family camping trips? Is this what the church should be doing?

How does Scripture address this issue?

We have a clear model for "doing church," and it may be aided by various programs—but it definitely is NOT program-driven. Study this model in Titus 2:1–8, combine that with the parental instructions given in Deuteronomy 6:1–7.

How does your church stand up to scrutiny under this model? How does your life?

¹ http://www.christianpost.com/article/20060112/u-s-church-leaders-youth-ministers-address-christian-youth-fallout/pageall.html

Comments

1. I read the newsarticle you mentioned. Who gave this example to my kids? Who didn't teach my kids these things? Who allowed it to leave the Godly set standard? Who became more and more of the world? Isn't it me? Who is satisfied with salvation? Isn't it us? Lets all of us press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14) Lets be True Women!!

posted by Mathil Sanders
on Monday, June 22, 2009 at 7:22 am

May God be gracious to us and bless us,

      and make his face to shine upon us,     Selah

That your way may be known on earth,

      your saving power among the nations.  

                                              Psalm 67:1-2

 

If you are reading the Psalms through in a month, the morning reading for the 13th day is Psalm 67.

 

It is fuel to keep the passion hot in the soul of a church planter. The psalmist prays that God's blessing and grace would be so evident in his life, that God's brightness would be so intimate and personal in experience that others who do not believe would be forced to acknowledge the ways of God and the knowledge of salvation would be known among the nations.  It is great passage for the church planter to hold on to.

 

Lord, would you do this in the life and ministry of all my former students? Would you bless them with such a sense of your presence that your grace is unmistakeable to all who know them.  Would you bless them in your lovingkindness so that all who come in contact with them know that you, the sovereign Lord, is among them?  Would you do all this, for your glory, Lord, that your saving power would be extended to the nations. Amen.

Psalm 46:1-3 (ESV)
1 To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah.  According to Alamoth.  A Song.

 

God is our refuge and strength,

      a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear

      though the earth gives way,

      though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3    though its waters roar and foam,

      though the mountains tremble at its swelling.       Selah^[1]

 

 

In light of who God is and who he is to us who believe, "Therefore we will not fear." He is our refuge and strength.  He is a "very present" help in troubled, disturbing times. That is, he is a real help, tangible help, not far and distant but near, close, powerful and personal.

 

This is the reality that galvanizes the soul of the faithful. This is how they (we) sail through seasons of storm, tsunami's that rock our souls. 

 

We will not fear,

    though the earth gives way (sounds like earthquakes and mudslides)

    though the mountains be moved into the heart fo the sea (ditto)

    though the waters roar and foam (sounds like storms and tidal waves and floods)

    though the mountains tremble at its swelling (ditto)

 

Yet, because of who he is, becasue of who he is to us, because of how we hold on to him who is our refuge and strength, we are not capsized but like Jesus asleep in the front of the boat, we have a peace that surpsses all human understanding (Phil 4:7).

 

Pray for your brothers and sisters in the Philippines. Pray for the flood ravaged, mountain-melted, storm tossed bays, and storm-surge devastated areas of Manila and the north. Pray that believers there would be beacons of hope. Pray that they would hold on to Jesus. Pray that God would protect and provide new resources and help.

 

And if you can be a part of your prayer's answer, don't hesitate.   Pray, go, give.   But keep clinging to Jesus yourself.  He is our only sure refuge in every storm no matter what direction it comes from.

Great meeting today with the Hands of Love America Board. Pray for tomorrow's meeting as we try to discern the will of God for the projects that we will work with in the next year. Specifically,

Here it is:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the grace of God and the incredible generosity of a friend, I got to go to U2 concert at Soldier Field last night. Will blog about the experience after I get some sleep.

 

Chek out Chosenrebel.blogspot.com

for a great article from Al Mohler.