A Quick Note

Just a few quick things:

1. I love doing this blog. When School is out and I am able to find more time with internet access, I plan to make it weekly for sure. Pray that it will become a sounding board for thinking in our church.

2. Pray for Bruce. The constant grind of being bi-vocational is wearing on a man. Many do not understand the amount of work that goes into even one of the greatest churches.

3. Pray for our church and missions. I have been burdened to see a few changes made, but changes are always slow going. It is not enough to change a process if minds aren't changed with it, so pray for our church.

Zerubbabel???

Zerubbabel is not the most famous of Israel's leaders. He led the forst group back from Babylon to begin rebuilding the temple. He did a great job at first, but then the opposition came. A certain group of men tricked the new king into issuing a decree halting building on the temple. A certain verse of Scripture spoke to my heart. "Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Sheltial and Jeshua the son of Jozedak and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them" Ezra 5:1-2
What would our world be like if we allowed ourselves to so clearly hear the Word of God. We hear it in every sermon, every time we read our Scriptures, and every time we stop and pray. What are we doing with it?
Two verses come to mind: "To him that knoweth what is right and doeth it not, to him it is sin" and "For if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was".
Let's be doers, no, extreme lovers of the Word of God. Let's allow our hearts and attitudes to be moved as quickly as Zerubbabel.

Just a Little Something to Argue About (He He)

The sermon last night on Revelation 5 led to some interseting conversation about the rapture of the saints. The idea that we will taken out before the tribulation is the most prevalent view. There are reasons for that that I will not discuss. I personally feel that scripture shows us that we will be here to see it. These are just things for you to consider, I'm am not bothered if you think differently. A healthy discussion is the best way to gain knowledge.
1. God, at every other point in history, saw fit to allow His people to go through great tibulation and persecution.
2. Revelation aside, II Thessalonians 2 is written by Paul because they had been told that the end had already come and they missed it. It teaches that it will not occur except a. a great falling away occurs b. The antichrist be revealed c. The antichrist is seen in the Temple setting himself up as God.
3. In Matthew 24, known as the Olivet Discourse, Jesus tells us that the generation that sees the beginning of the end will see it all.
I know that there are other verses that can be used for the other argument, but in the light of this passage, they may have to be rethought. Just something to think about.
What do you think?

Being Filled With the Holy Spirit 2

You guys seem to have a firm grasp on this concept. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is being Spirit led. This requires submission to His will, the desire to have knowledge of His will (i.e. the Bible), and the attempt not to quench the Spirit. But, you said that already. Let's be Spirit filled!!!

Being Filled With the Holy Spirit

Just a question: What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? I know I have the Holy Spirit because I am saved, and yet in New Testament we see people being filled with the Holy Spirit. Before I comment on this, I would like to know what you think.

I read a wonderful story today in the book of Revelation. It is usually shrouded in mystery, so I was surprised when I saw such a tender story. In the first chapter, John stands in the presence of Jesus Christ. His beauty is too much to tell and His voice was like a trumpet. Not in reverence, but in complete fear he fell before Jesus and would not lift his head. It says then that Jesus placed His right hand on John and said, "Fear not, for I am the first and the last, Amen, and have the keys of death and hell."
I can remember a few occasions that I fell before God. Sometimes it was physically on my knees and sometimes it was in my heart in a crowded room, but I was beneath Him all the same. Sometimes it was in worship at His greatness and sometimes it was in fear because of the wickedness in my life. No matter the reason, He has always kept His promise and has never left me comfortless. It amazes me that a Great and Almighty God, who is the First and the Last, who holds the keys of death and Hell, in whom all things are made and consist, who is the express image of the Father in heaven, in whom all the fullness of God saw fit to inhabit, who was in the beginning and who was the beginning would reach out His hand to someone the likes of me, a sinner by nature and by choice, and place it on my shoulder each and every time I need it as if to say , "I love you and will always sustain you, no matter the situation. Fear not MY CHILD."
Praise You God!!!

Frustrating the Farmer

I heard an intersting analogy today. "You can take a plant and give it water and light, and it will grow. What you can't do is smack the plant around and tell it to grow." It seems that my focus has become to see our church grow, and rightly so. There is nothing wrong with growing, in fact, we must grow to carry on the work of God. The problem arises when church growth is th goal. We, namely I, must worry less about trying to convince the plant to grow and worry more about feeding and watering the plant. If we focus on that, the plant will naturally grow. All that will come of a man telling a plant to grow is frustration. Pray for our church, that our goals will be God's goals, and our growth will be growth given by God. "One plants, one waters, but God give the increase!"