Year: 2013

Benefits of Genuine Worship/ Part 4

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Worship increases spiritual strength and endurance in the life of the worshiper Isaiah 40:28-31 says, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” I don’t know about you, but from time to time I find myself in that place of exhaustion. Sometimes I lack the courage and strength to make progress.  But through worship life begins to make sense again. Speaking to a group of weary and fainting believers, the Hebrews writer encouraged them to “lift your drooping hands and strengthen weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so …

Benefits of Genuine Worship/ Part 3

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Freedom Reigns I want to thank the Lord because every opportunity we get to meet with him and worship him is an opportunity for him to release into our lives all of His goodness. I pray that on this independence day, we can all tap into the freedom that comes from pure and genuine worship. Worship brings freedom to the life of the worshiper John 4:23 says, “The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” For genuine worship to happen it must be done in Spirit and Truth. In fact, it is safe to say that the only kind of worship that pleases God is one done in Spirit and Truth. God is actively seeking a certain kind of worshipper. Only those who worship in Spirit and Truth qualify. Everything else is worthless. There must be a reason God chose worship in Spirit and Truth as the keys to having a genuine worship …

Benefits fo Genuine Worship/ Part 2

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Every opportunity we have to meet with and worship God is an opportunity for God to release into our lives all of His goodness. When He shows up, he comes with healing, deliverance, and power. Worship releases God’s promise I remember hearing an old preacher many years ago saying the following… “praise is the plow that prepares the heart for the planting of the promises of God.” – Psalm 103:1-5 says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Sometimes, before there is a healing, a deliverance, a releasing of love and mercy or the comforting presence of God, there must be worship. This is one of the easiest ways to walk in God’s blessings. Heartfelt, genuine worship of the King. Worship has …

Benefits of Genuine Worship/ Part 1

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I remember walking into service that Wednesday night just when the amen to the opening prayer was said. I sat down in the very back of the church, but that didn’t stop the Holy Spirit from reaching me that day. The worship leader had his eyes closed, head tilted back as he pounded on that Kurzweil Sp2x from the beginning to the end of the worship experience. The music was loud and the atmosphere charged with something that words can not explain. Before long I was lost in worship of Almighty God and it was beautiful. All of a sudden, tears started flowing down my cheek. It escalated bit by bit until I could not control myself. For the next 30 -45 minutes, with hands lifted, I wept like a baby. By the time worship was over – Almighty God had broken me and soften my heart for something I still can’t get enough of – “genuine worship.” Every opportunity we have to meet with and worship God is an opportunity for God to release into our lives all of His goodness. When …

ReThinking the way you grieve

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There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should not even attempt to do so. One must simply hold out and endure it. At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort. For to the extent the emptiness truly remains unfilled one remains connected to the other person through it. It is wrong to say that God fills the emptiness. God in no way fills it but much more leaves it precisely unfilled and thus helps us preserve — even in pain — the authentic relationship. Furthermore, the more beautiful and full the remembrances, the more difficult the separation. But gratitude transforms the torment of memory into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as a thorn but as a precious gift deep within, a hidden treasure of which one can always be certain. — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

How Should a Reformed Pastor Be Charismatic?

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The message by U.K. Pastor Tope Koleoso is entitled “Sovereign Grace, Spiritual Gifts and the Pastor: How Should a Reformed Pastor be Charismatic?” He encouraged church leaders not to sidestep the supernatural in the Christian faith and ministry, but to rightly understand and exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit while shunning fanaticism. The freedom in Spirit must not surrender to fanaticism, our openness to the Spirit must never violate the Word of God, and our expression of joy must never degenerate into mere excitability.     Video via Joshua Harris

7 Signs of Authentic ongoing transformation

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1. Getting Better When a man is getting better, he understands more and more clearly the evil that’s left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less. C. S. Lewis 2. Obedience not Sacrifice When a man makes obedience, not the lifting up of sacrifices, the thing to pursue – he is on the path to transformation. “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. John 14:23 3. Uses Grace as Empowerment When a man no longer sees grace as a big cover up, he is on the path to transformation. ”Grace  is not to cover up our weaknesses but to empower us to lead a life pleasing to God.” John Bevere 4. Feeds the Spirit and not the Flesh When a man spends all his energies not on activities to feed the flesh, but on spiritual disciplines that edify, built up, encourage and sanctify, he is on the path to transformation. ”For if you live according …

Yes, I know Jesus Blood can make the vilest sinner clean

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Come, ye sinners, lost and hopeless, Jesus’ blood can make you free; For He  saved the worst among you, When He saved a wretch like me. Refrain And I know, yes, I know, Jesus’ blood can make the vilest sinner clean, And I know, yes, I know, Jesus’ blood can make the vilest sinner clean. To  the faint He giveth power, Through  the mountains makes a way; Findeth water in the desert, Turns the night to  golden day. In temptation He is near thee, Holds the pow’rs of hell at  bay; Guides you to the path of safety, Gives you grace for ev’ry  day. He will keep thee while the ages Roll throughout eternity; Though earth hinders and hell rages, All must work for good to  thee.

7 Things It’s impossible for God to do

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We so often hear and talk about the power and sovereignty of God, and about the things He is able or capable to do, but do you know that there are some things God cannot do? Before you think I am about to write something heretical, these things as you imagined are things that are inconsistent with his character and incompatible with his nature. For example: It is impossible for God to lie I am sure you have met, either in your family or among your friends, people who are not trustworthy when it comes to what they say. They promise you that they will do something, but never deliver on their promises. God is not like that – He means what he says and says what he means. The scripture says it is impossible for him to lie. What that means is that you can depend on his every word and trust in his promises. It is impossible for God to be unfaithful It is his nature to be faithful. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, …

What is the gopspel? N. T. Wright explains

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Thirteen Minutes is precious time, but it will be well invested listening to what N. T. Wright has to say about the gospel. I encourage you to take a listen, you will not regret it. Who is N. T. Wright? N. T. Wright is an Anglican bishop and a leading New Testament scholar. Wright was the Bishop of Durham in the Church of England from 2003 until his retirement in 2010. He is currently Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at St Mary’s College, University of St Andrews in Scotland. Among modern New Testament scholars, Wright is an important proponent of traditional views on theological matters including Christ’s bodily resurrection and second coming. Further he has expressed strenuous opposition both to the ordination of openly gay Christians and the blessing of same sex partnerships and marriages as occurs in the Episcopal Church (United States). I really like him. Video Via Pangea Blog