Month: February 2013

Ignite

Published by

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. NIV Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord. KJV Romans 12:11 The word Slothful/Lazy means to hesitate, to be slow. Slow and “poky” as in Matthew 25:26… “you wicked lazy slave… A lazy Christian is a contradiction of terms. Having been saved from the guilt and ravages of sin, the Christian is man at the zenith of his best powers. Strength, zeal, enthusiasm, vigor, and the full thrust of his total energy should distinguish the Christian’s performance in business, trade, profession, study, artistic creation, or in anything else that he pursues as a vocation; and, above everything, such qualities should characterize his devotion and service in the church. The opposite of what Paul commanded here is lukewarmness, a negative condition represented as disgusting to God himself (Revelation 3:16). Coffman’s Commentary I believe what God desires and applauds  in a believer is his or her passion and zeal not only for the things of God but for God himself. Here are four …

The formula hasn’t changed: Your first step to next step ventures

Published by

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Acts 13:2 So, you are sitting there and asking yourself – What’s my next move? What does God have in store for me? Should I do this, should I do that? Let me share with you a very simple advice. Jesus’ disciples understood a very important principle in determining next step ventures. It wasn’t coming up with the best ideas about what they needed to do with their lives. It wasn’t seeking out counsel from mentors and spiritual giants. There is a time and place for those. It was about being with God, waiting on God and listening for the Spirit to Speak. Your first step to next step ventures is taking time – short or extended times of worship and fasting and waiting on the Holy Spirit to speak. I am afraid too many have missed this all important step and have ended up wasting their lives simply …

Are you willing to Risk being liked for being Extraordinary?

Published by

A few hours ago I wrote a post entitled 7 things self-absorbed super-spiritual pastors say in the pulpit. The post was about the Unfortunate behavior of some preachers who relentlessly use their teaching to cut and hurt people. My purpose was to argue that sometimes sensitivity,  tact and cleverness in the way we communicate pays off greatly as we seek to deliver a difficult to swallow kind of message, convey a rebuke, or bring correction to a person who really needs it. For me, sometime our so-called speaking truth to power can come across as vicious, rude and simply disrespectful. However, if not careful, balanced and in tune with the Holy Spirit, we can find ourselves slipping into that place where we are only concern about making people feel comfortable and doing everything not to get them offended. Unfortunately, some churches, preachers and writers have fallen into the trap of being politically correct because of fear that somebody is going to get offended. This is spiritually dangerous not only for the leader, the membership, but also the …

10 things self-absorbed, super-spiritual preachers say in the pulpit

Published by

My purpose here is to argue that sometimes sensitivity, tact and cleverness in the way we communicate pays off greatly as we seek to deliver a difficult to swallow kind of message, convey a rebuke, or bring correction to a person who really needs it. For me, sometime our so-called speaking truth to power or motivating others for a greater good can come across as vicious, rude and simply disrespectful. Here are some of those things I think could be better, if not, more effectively communicated: 1. We would like to welcome all of you C&E Folks to our Special Easter/Christmas Service. All our C&E folks? It means those who only show up in church for an Easter or Christmas service. In some circles they are called Christers or Onecers. 2. Back in the day we used to go for hours way past the time for us to dismiss service when the Holy Ghost began to move 3. God is not impress with the one hour you give to him at the Sunday morning service 4. …

Teamwork

Published by

“Coming together is a beginning, and staying together is progress, but only when teams sweat together do they find success.” – John Maxwell “It is the very essence of good leadership to give away all credit for positive achievement, to identify only team goals and always to refer to them as such.” — Joe Klock “Remember the difference between a boss and a leader; a boss says ‘Go!’ … a leader says ‘Let’s go!’ — E.M. Kelly “Teams make you better than you are, multiply your value, enable you to do what you do best, allow you to help others do their best, give you more time, provide you with companionship, help you fulfill the desires of your heart and compound your vision and effort.” – John Maxwell “The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say ‘I’. And that’s not because they have trained themselves not to say ‘I’. They don’t think ‘I’. They think ‘we’; they think ‘team’. They understand their job to be to make the team function. They …

Come On my soul

Published by

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God. Psalm 43:5 Do you ever struggle with Sullenness? “the sinking discouragement, moodiness, hopelessness, unresponsiveness, withdrawn deadness of emotion”(John Piper). If you do, trust me, it is a very funky place that is very hard to snap out of. As long as your head in sunk deep in that discouraging deadness your song will be – “nobody knows the trouble I see.” But try learning and singing this song; allow the Holy Spirit’s power and a desperate cry to the Lord help snap you out of that funky place. Prayer: Lord, as the deer pants for flowing streams, so my soul for you… my soul thirst for you. I pour out my soul as I lift my prayers and praise to you. At the roar of your waterfalls, let all your breakers and waves come over me. Check out the entire album… just came out: Here is …

Is Jesus God?

Published by

People have responded to Jesus Christ in many different ways, however one of the most prevalent perceptions of him is that he was a great moral teacher. I grew up in a Jehovah Witness home and attended the Kingdom Hall with my entire family. I was taught that Jesus is not God – that He is a created being – much like the angels. So my first question after my conversion was – Jesus, are you God? Are you God as my new found faith says? I got an immediate revelation that was consistent as what I learned in the scriptures. Let’s focus on what I learned from scriptures, because that matters most. Let’s examine the accounts of Christ’s life, paying special attention to his claims, his character, and his miracles. 1. His claims. There is one claim that is important for this discussion: Jesus lived and taught as if he was God. Explicitly, Jesus accepted the titles Son of God, Messiah, Lord, and Son of Man, all designations with divine implications. He also said …

You can still dunk in the dark…

Published by

At 8:48 p.m. the night of the Superbowl, Oreo tweeted this ad with the caption “Power out? No problem.” Since then, it’s been retweeted more than 14,000 times (and the same image on Facebook has gotten more than 20,000 likes) The agency behind the on-the-fly ad was 360i. And this is what they had to say about it: We had a mission control set up at our office with the brand and 360i, and when the blackout happened, the team looked at it as an opportunity An Opportunity! Boy, that should preach… According to Sarah Hofstetter, the president of 360i, “the big question is, what happens when everything changes, when you go off script?” And I will add – what do you do when life throws at you its greatest blow, it’s knock out punch – when all is dark around you? Some give up, throw in the towel, throw a pity party and sit around complaining when their darkest days hit. But I am confident that we can see our dark days as opportunities to reinvent ourselves, stay in the game, be creative and simply …

6 Questions that defy all Odds

Published by

The following questions from Romans chapter 8 are so compelling. They serve as a strong defense for the unbending and unchanging love of God for us. They are compelling questions that will help you to believe God and trust HIM no matter what. Here they are: If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen – since it is God who justifies? Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Logical Conclusion: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, …

Rejoice San Francisco

Published by

Rejoice San Francisco. Rejoice in what the Lord is doing now in your city! I know it does  not feel like much; and your streets may paint a different picture – but your time is coming and your time is now when salvation and rejoicing will fill your streets. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. Isaiah 61:11 Special Shout Out to Glad Tidings Church/gtsf.org God is doing great things here! Taken sometime in 2012 WalterBright