I love the way Herbert plays the words in this video. Friends, until we can get heaven’s perspective on life and why we are here, our lives will resemble that of a person described in the first part of the video. You are not a lost cause and yes, you are different and can change the world!
How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing… It is irresistible. If even ten percent of the population had it, would not the world be converted and happy before a year’s end? C. S. Lewis Several years ago my spiritual father introduced something fresh, fun and honest among a group of guys he was mentoring. He would shake your hand, than look you straight in the eye and ask you this question “are you living a holy life?” Thinking about it now, I think I will call it, “The Accountability Hand-shake.” Within time everyone in the group was doing the same thing not only to members of the group, but to friends and love-ones. Eventually, everyone in our church community adopted the hand and look in the eye as a way to keep their friends accountable. Sometimes, our “how are you?” just don’t cut it. You usually get that – “I’m good and you?” response right back. In fact, most of our encounters as believers begin and stay …
The goal is Christ Philippians 3 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. There is a disease that is growing rapidly in pulpits all around the world, I mean in every country without exception. It’s what I call “I’m somebody too syndrome.” Many pastors have fallen into the trap of making it their goal to grow their churches to a certain size or build their ministry – whether from the pulpit, blogs, books, radio and television to a certain size in order to be counted as one of the elite, cutting edge, rock-star, celebrity pastors. We may not agree with the way I described it above, but, when we, as pastors make it our goal to build and pastor large congregations; build up our ministries to a certain fame, we may be pursuing the wrong goal. For most of the people I know with this kind of notoriety, they didn’t go looking for it. The glory of God and the salvation of souls has been and …
We are holding a three-day revival meeting at our church and it is incredible what the Lord is doing in the hearts and lives of people. But as we continue visiting homes in the community along with my guest speaker, we have been overwhelmed with how much people are hurting. They are all around us, and if we would just step outside of our comfort zones we will be able to not only see them, but also respond to them and their situation with a high level of compassion. And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity (compassion) he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” Mark 1:40-41 Oh Lord! How I long for Christ’s mighty compassion to be revealed through me; so that the hopeless, hurting, and alone can see Christ’s love shining in and through me. Amen!
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 60:1-3 Search me oh Lord… Let your light shine into every part of my life. Expose every hidden sin in my life and let the light of you beauty shine within me so that I can reflect you glory.
“This is an unusual bag- it’s different from all the rest… this is the baggage of my dreams. It’s not a sin, it’s not a weight, it’s not a curse after the normal order- this is the weight of being a dreamer. The baggage of my dreams – stops me from being satisfied- because I dream so much bigger than I live. The baggage of my dreams – to him who much is given- much is required. I could be happy here- but my dreams are so much bigger than my reality. It is the baggage of dreams. It is hard to make a dreamer happy, because dreamer’s dreams keep moving forward. If you give them a house- they’ll dream of a garage. If you give them a garage they’ll dream of a driveway. You give them a driveway they’ll dream of a boat”. The bible calls us to live a life of contentment: Philippians 4:11 …for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be …
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:45, 46 Ways that Christians are like jewels: (GUZ) · They are hard and durable · They are prized for their luster · They are prized for their rarity · They are made by God alone · They are of all different sizes, yet they are all jewels · They are found all over the world · They are associated with royalty · They are protected · Some are hidden and undiscovered · Some are not yet polished “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his …
Back in the day I remember the days when people used to say – Jesus or God is all I’ve got. Now I hear them say – He is all I got ‘left’. As if, I’ve tried everything else and came up short, so I’m turning to Him – He is my last resort. I know we don’t necessarily say it out loud, but we act as if we have this rich uncle who will bail us out when we are in a financial jam or so, and if he doesn’t, well, than we can turn to God for some help. So I guess the question here is who do you go to first when problems arise in your life? Do you turn to your well-connected friends in high places? Do you start looking for all the people to whom you’ve done a favor to get a pay-back, or do you turn to God? If God is not our only option than we are going to continually rely on Wall-street, on our medical insurance, on our …
Mark 5:25-33 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, …
God has given you a gift Every once in a while when I bump into a friend with whom I grew up or went to school with, they are surprised to find out that I’m a pastor. Well, not because I was a bad guy, even though I was, but because I was very shy. The first time I stood before a group of people to speak I shook like a leaf from start to finish. Before I entered full-time ministry, I painfully lead worship at my home church, and reluctantly preached or shared in different group settings until 2 Tim. 1:6 actually came alive in me. God had place a gift in me, but I was too shy to step out and use that gift for his glory. I was almost incapacitated by the power of fear. Timothy was a naturally shy guy as well, and was probably in his twenties when he was called into the ministry (1 Tim. 4:12). But thank God he had somebody like Paul who recognized that he had a gift – that God had deposited something …
Walter Bright 
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