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Praying for Power

April 23, 2012 By 6 Comments
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Praying for Power - Colossians 1:11  Power. Wars have been fought for it, lies have been told to gain it, many have desired it. Is it ever okay for a Christian to hope for power? Well, yes. The apostle Paul even prayed that the Colossian church would be strengthened with "all power". So, is there more to it? Of course. We're not just talking about any power here, or the power to do anything you please like reaching your dreams, this is ultimate and divine power for a glorious ambition. Before we get into it, here is a portion of Paul's prayer for the believers at Colossae.   Colossians 1:11 ESV ... May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy... Now it's true that these words were intended by Paul for the Colossians, but they were also intended by God for all of us who hope in the gospel and so this prayer can be applied to everyone who trusts in Christ. So the power we should be praying for is the power to … [Read more...]

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Knowing God’s Will

April 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Knowing the Will Of God copy

How Can You Know God's Will for your Life? The topic of God's will for your life is a popular one among Christians. I know that I myself, many times in the past, have wondered about it and even once considered taking a class on it. I used to think, "If only I knew what God's will was for my life then I would really be focused on him." I know this is a common train of thought because I've often heard people talk about God's will for who they will marry, what job they should take, where they should live, even whether or not they should tell someone about the gospel. So, how can you know the will of God for your life? I think the most obvious, but most overlooked place to start is in the Bible. If God has a will for your life and mine, isn't it important? And if it's important, wouldn't he want us to know what it is? And if he wanted us to know what it is don't you think he'd tell us? He did, and it's written right where the rest of the important stuff he wanted us to know is … [Read more...]

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The FOOL and the Prosperity Gospel

April 10, 2012 By 1 Comment
Prosperity Gospel

Opening Thoughts: What this post is not: it is not a post for calling out the men who I know preach this well known "Prosperity Gospel", neither is it an effort to convince you to desire God over earthly things; that would be futile on my part. My hope and prayer for this commentary is that as you read the scriptures along with me that God would open your eyes to the reason you desire to be near Him. What I mean is, for what purpose do you associate yourself with Him? The Bible makes it very clear that trusting in Jesus for the wrong set of reasons is the same as not knowing Him at all. In fact, in Matthew 7 Jesus actually uses as strong of language as "Get away from Me", in reference to people who presumed upon salvation simply for earthly blessing and supposed gifts. I'm praying that God will grant many of you eyes that are opened to see His glorious worth, so that everything on this fleeting earth will look no more appetizing than a pile of waste in light of who He is and what He … [Read more...]

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Jesus Says Preach the Gospel, We Say, Send Someone Else

April 4, 2012 By 3 Comments
Sharing the Gospel

Opening Thoughts: What a joy it is to be in Christ! Considering what we all actually deserve (hell) and yet God through His infinite mercy and grace rescued us, adopted us and placed His Spirit in us. We should be the most joyful people on the planet. We should be the most content people in this material world and the most joyfully motivated in declaring His fame.  Colossians 1:27 "To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." I love that passage for a couple reasons, it talks about how we are to make known to the Gentiles (the world) the riches "this glorious mystery". What glorious mystery? That the God of the universe, who is entirely Holy, would choose to reconcile a criminal like me, not just saving me from hell but saving me from sin itself. He does this by literally living inside of me in the form of His Spirit. Are you kidding me!?! I think we need to re-read this … [Read more...]

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Unforgivable Sin is Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

March 14, 2012 By 5 Comments
blasphemy of the holy spirit

Blasphemy of The Holy Spirit - Luke 12:10 Opening Thoughts: Have you ever been called into to jury duty? I am glad that I haven't had that experience. I hear the pay is low and it can be grueling hours. They have to examine the evidence, call witnesses, and depending on how serious the crime is they may do a DNA test. There are so many items that have to be checked off the list before arriving at a final verdict whether it be a guilty or innocent one. In the end, even if someone maintains their own innocence but the jury still finds them guilty, they will be convicted of those crimes and sentenced accordingly. There are times during a court case that the accused will be offered a deal, a bargain, if you will. If they plead guilty and admit to their crimes rather then remaining in their denial, they may be given a lesser sentence, or even escape the death penalty. Romans 6:23a ESV .. "For the wages of sin is death...." Our Death Penalty: God's word is clear in that there is … [Read more...]

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The Nature of the Gospel

March 10, 2012 By 1 Comment
The Nature of the Gospel

Colossians 1:1-8 Commentary - The Gospel That Produces Epaphras: Fruit of the Gospel Colossae was a small city and the hometown of Epaphras who became an evangelist-pastor after he heard the proclamation of the gospel from Paul in Ephesus. Most commentators agree that Epaphras had likely traveled there, heard Paul preach, and responded to his message. As a new believer he returned home and planted a church. Paul, himself, never visited the Colossians because of his imprisonment in Rome. Colossians 1:3-8 ESV .. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, … [Read more...]

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The Secret to the Great Commission

March 5, 2012 By 7 Comments
The Secret to the Great Commission

Overcoming Fear of the Great Commission There are as many methods as there are fears for Christians when they read and consider the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20. Many of us would agree that it is not easy to share our faith with friends, family, and especially....gasp....strangers. We fear rejection, we fear stumbling over our words, etc.  But maybe something is there in the words Jesus spoke to his eleven faithfuls that we've missed, and maybe it's the secret to vanquishing our fears of evangelism. Let's read the Commission together, Jesus and his disciples have just met on the mountain in Galilee where they have worshiped Him for the first time as their resurrected Lord.       And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am … [Read more...]

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How To Preach it || Gospel Open Air Preaching

March 5, 2012 By 6 Comments
Street Preacher - Open Air Preacher - Gospel Preaching

The Value of Street Preaching: A.W. Tozer ... Hailing from a tiny farming community in western La Jose, Pennsylvania, his conversion was as a teenager in Akron, Ohio. While on his way home from work at a tire company, he overheard a street preacher say: "If you don't know how to be saved... just call on God." Upon returning home, he climbed into the attic and heeded the preacher’s advice. It's amazing that He Overheard a street preacher.... you have no idea how many people hear you when you are preaching and will be the fruit of your voice. My Son Max Understands His Call: For those of you who don't know us, Danae and I make a practice of handing out Gospel tracts wherever we go. Max has watched us evangelize ever since he was 3 years old and now he has felt the burden for souls that we have modelled for him, his understanding of the gospel is taking root in his 5 year old frame through the amazing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Generally speaking Danae and I will give … [Read more...]

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IF You Deny Me Before Men

March 5, 2012 By 2 Comments
If You Deny Me Before Men

Three Ways Christ is Denied Opening Thoughts: As I read this text tonight I was deeply convicted. I want to talk about three very specific ways a person can confess Christ, and furthermore three ways one can deny Him. For many of you the first two points may be a glaring and obvious, "I would never do that", but most of us will feel the pain of the third denial. I'm not drawing any parallels here, but my hope is that as we read through to the third denial we will be like Peter and experience grief over our actions, then with a new hope rush toward to the risen Savoir, be filled with His Spirit and boldly proclaim the Good News. Main Text: Luke 12:8-9 ESV .. “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. Matthew 10:32-33 ESV .. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is … [Read more...]

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Guilty of Good Works

February 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Guilty of good works

Matthew 28:11-15 Every Verse Counts I'm finally coming up on the final few verses in the gospel of Matthew after spending the past year reading/studying in this book. There are a couple of reasons why it's taken so long to plow through only twenty eight chapters, the first being the undeniable truth that ALL Scripture is God breathed, and therefore NONE of it should be dismissed, skimmed over, thought irrelevant, or taken lightly. I mean, if God is responsible for every last word/story in the Bible (which 2 Tim.3:16 gives him credit) then everything is in there for a TIMELESS purpose, right? 1 Peter 1:25 says "the word of the Lord remains forever", so that tells us that it was written for all the ages, and nothing in it is out of date. I personally don't want to miss the message God is speaking through each and every verse because I'm on a strict "read through the Bible in a year" program. My second reason for my lengthy stay in Matthew is, admittedly, my own human shortcomings. … [Read more...]

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