All posts tagged: Christ

Hudson Taylor Part 2 (The matter of giving and receiving)

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I am not a pastor who encourages his congregation to give because of what they can get out of it. That does not mean they shouldn’t give. Having said that, the matter of giving is almost never just the matter of giving. According to Paul in Philippians 4:15, “Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only” – it is the matter of giving and receiving. You never ever hardly give and don’t receive – even though receiving is not the motivation here – there is always a receiving. And God determines that which is received. Here is a story in the life of Hudson Taylor that explains this: This is an excerpt from the biography of the life of Hudson Taylor In November, 1851, Hudson moved his lodging to a noisy suburb of Darinside, a neighborhood on the edge of town. Here he began a rigorous …

Hudson Taylor Part 1 (Compelled by the Spirit)

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  I don’t know about you… I love it when God put other people on my heart to pray for them. Sometimes it come to me through a dream, other times it comes it is like a heavy burden or an uneasiness that just drops you to your knees in prayer… especially when you want to sleep and can’t close your eyes because you have this person or thing on your mind. Or you find yourself just thinking about this person and situation incessantly with a strong desire to pray or at least reach out. I humbly report that I have seen vision and heard the audible voice of God concerning these things, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that deep. I am sure you have found yourself thinking about somebody during your day and you called them – so you called them and your call was right on. You found out that it was a marriage under pressure, a kid out of control, a medical report that is devastating, a robbery on the way. God …

You do not fall into sin you slide into it!

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But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. James 1:14 Have you ever walked upon the skin or outer covering of a banana? It is one of the scariest and most dangerous slip and fall you will ever have. You begin with a slide. It may be a short slide, but at the end of that slide there is a very had fall. I want to use this scenario to describe how one falls into sin. First of all, no one ever wakes up in the morning and tells himself, “you know, today I feel like sinning. I feel like buying myself some crack or cocaine and just getting wasted. Or, you know I’m going to get myself a hot babe tonight and commit adultery.” But I am not sure that is the way people fall into sin. It is a long, gradual, progressive slide. A journey of …

My Grace is sufficient for you…for my power is perfected in weakness

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Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I …

Raping the Innocence of Generation Z (revisited)

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Raping the Innocence of Generation Z (revisited). Vai – ChurchRelevance Generation Z is still undefined but could loosely be labeled those born from 1996 to today. In 2009, we highlighted University of Pittsburgh’s research discovering the connection between musical lyrics and sexual activity. Lyrics Influence Teens Exposure to lyrics describing degrading sex was one of the strongest associations with sexual activity. Compared to those with the least exposure to lyrics describing degrading sex, those with the most exposure were more than twice as likely to have had sexual intercourse. Similarly, among those who had not had sexual intercourse, those in the highest third of exposure to lyrics describing degrading sex were nearly twice as likely to have progressed along a noncoital sexual continuum compared to those in the lowest third. Movies Influence Teens Now 3 years later, there is new research linking movie consumption to sexual behavior. Psychological Science will soon be publishing a 6-year study by Ross O’Hara while at Dartmouth College that states: Much research has shown that adolescents’ sexual attitudes and behaviors are influenced by media, but the role …

Isolating the healing power of the blood

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I read an article the other day that spoke about a new medical practice that is gaining traction at least in the sports world. Doctors have now come up with a strategy to speed up the healing process to injuries by isolating the healing part of the blood to targeted areas in order to speed up the healing process. They are using nothing else but blood from the human body to bring healing. When we actually take a closer look at what God has set in place and is doing in our bodies through the blood that runs through our veins, we will be amazedby it. Check them out: The blood -transports oxygen and nutrients to all cells of the body-transports carbon dioxide and other waste products away from the cells-transports chemical messengers, called hormones, to the cells-maintains the pH of body fluids-Distributes heat and maintaing body temperature-maintains water content and ion concentration of the body fluidsprotects the body against disease-causing microorganisms All of these in and of themselves are incredible. God has designed things to …

Yes! He is God.

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I grew up going to the kingdom hall. My entire family used to be Jehovah’s Witnesses. So the very first question I asked the Jesus when I got saved was this – “Are You God?” His answer was a resounding “yes!” From the day he showed me John chapter 1, it has remained one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible. The bible talks about the beginning. The beginning of Genesis 1:1 – when God created the heaven and earth. It is not talking about the beginning of God – because God has no beginning. Therefore since God has no beginning but exist from eternity to eternity and the word was with Him in eternity the ‘Word’ (Jesus) could not have been created. In fact the bible says, the ‘Word’ was with and the ‘Word’ was God. This ‘Word’ stepped out of eternity into time in the person of Jesus – the Christ – the Son of the living God – which happens to be a technical term used for Jesus. He has always been …

Female Bloggers that Rock

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target=”_blank”>churchrevelance According to Kent Shafer at Church Relevance, “it may look like there are only 8/200 top church blogs written by 8 women. However, many of the blogs are written by multiple authors. So if you look closer and include the blogs listed as “Various” authors, you will actually discover that 41/200 blogs are written by 175+ women to some degree.” What that means is that 20% of the top blogs are written by women. Here is how he breaks it down: #3 – Faith & Reason: Cathy Lynn Grossman #7 – GetReligion: Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Mollie Ziegler #10 – The Resurgence: various women including Elyse Fitzpatrick, Kristen Gilles, Lindsey Holcomb, Rachel Jankovic, Julie Smith Lowe, Jen Schmidt, Hilary Tompkins, Trisha Wikerson #13 – Desiring God: Gloria Furman, Noel Piper #14 – Internet Monk: Martha from Ireland #16 – Christianity Today Live Blog: Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Adelle Banks, Morgan Feddes, Kelly Henderson, Annalisa Musarra #20 – Rachel Held Evans #21 – Compassion International: various women including Caroline Atuhwere, Katy Causey, Jill DeRaad, Vera Mensah-Bediako, Shaina Moats, Jacquie Parella, Nadia Soberanis, Amber …

Anger does not produce the righteousness that God Requires

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What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. you covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. James 4:1-2 What causes us to get angry? I believe we get angry because our desires are not fulfilled; our rights violated, our expectations are not met and because we have been hurt by someone. In any case, our unfulfilled desires result into anger. Everyone of us have areas in our lives where we are most susceptible to anger. I can almost hear my wife’s voice in the back of my mind – “stop pushing my button.” Let name a few I struggle with – I will surprised if you don’t: disobedient children a stubborn person yelling stress at work last-minute changes feeling neglected hurtful words unrealistic expectations disrespect unmet desires The list goes on! Our unfulfilled desires lead to fighting and quarreling. When any one of these occur in our lives, it causes us to react in anger. Anger in and of itself is …

What good is the local Church?

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The Church is universal, the Church is local. The Church is the joyful assembly of the redeemed of all ages. The Church is the body of Christ extended through time and space. The holy church has two lives: one in time and the other in eternity. – Gregory the Great The Church is the bride of Christ, even though it sometimes acts like a wayward bride The local church is where believers are discipled, commissioned to be light of the world. The local church is where the broken is mended, the sick healed, and where friends become friends forever. The local church cares for the poor and fights for justice in our world. The local church is the body of Christ, the hands and feet of the master. The local church is where spiritual gifts are used for the common good, where believers learn to use their talents to serve others. The local church is where the gospel is preached, sinners are saved, prayers are offered, ministers ordained, the sacraments celebrated, and a cup of …