All posts tagged: Christianity

Beyond Information to Transformation

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Let me begin with a status update from my spiritual father’s Facebook page. He wrote: Reading through Jeremiah and Lamentations in the One Year Bible [really gasping for air].  GOD’s tolerance for dirty living was at “0.”  And my “take away?” 1.  Clean living is valuable. 2.  Clean living’s got to be “on our radar.” 3.  Clean living has to be a from the “inside–out” deal. GOD — please — take GT beyond information to transformation. In this Facebook status update I would like for you to notice just one phrase. Forrest says, “Take GT beyond information to transformation.” For those of you who do not know Pastor Beiser, he is my spiritual father. And he leads a thriving church in San Francisco. This phrase, “beyond information to transformation,” has been one of the driving forces of his life and ministry, at least since I’ve known him. Making disciples  is what he lives for. So, how do you lead people beyond information to transformation? Here are a few suggestions: 1. Pioneer a yearning lifestyle Let your people see your devotion. Don’t …

Broken Cisterns, Fountain of Life

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Why do most people fail to look to God solely for their every need? Why do we, knowing the all-sufficiency, providence and faithfulness of God, act like we really don’t believe he is the source of our every need? I mean, words like: come unto me all who are weary and I will give you rest I will supply all your needs according to my riches in glory I daily carry your burdens I am watching over my word to do it for you I am the Lord who heals you all the promises of God are yes, and to his glory the Amen is said I will never leave you nor forsake you all good a perfect gift comes from above, from the father of lights must mean something, right? With Him “is the fountain of life; and in his light we see light. Yet in the face of all these incredible promises, we “commit two evils: we forsake Him, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for ourselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” …

7 Habits of Highly Effective Leaders

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Charles Nobles once said, “first we make our habits, then our habits make us.” We are what we repeatedly do. And if we ever want excellence in our lives, we need to remember that it “is not an act, but a habit.” Some habits are good, others very bad and still some are of no value or eternal significance. However, to effectively impact the people around us and leave a lasting impression, we must develop good habits and do everything in our power to unlearn bad ones. The following are habits of highly effective leaders: Where the Lord leads, they follow It is laughable to think that one can lead effectively without he being led. You may be the head of your home, the head of your church or the head of your company, but God is the head of you. A highly effective leader is humble enough to recognize and submit to the leading of the Lord. A leader who follows God where ever He leads, is bound to succeed. It was Benjamin Franklin …

How to resist and defeat Cultural Pressures

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We are exposed on every side to cultural pressures. Between the two temptations of escapism and conformism, the latter is more common—that is, accommodation to the prevailing culture. We are exposed to cultural pressures incompatible with the Lordship of Jesus Christ, which, nevertheless, are demanding from us a capitulation that we are not prepared to give. And if we do capitulate to the pressures of society around us, then we compromise our integrity, we blunt our testimony, and we suffocate our spiritual life. What are the pressures of our culture to which we are forbidden to conform? What are the contemporary trends which threaten to envelop and engulf the church and against which we need to be on guard? I have selected three. I’m sure there are many more we could discuss, but these three are very important. First there is the challenge of pluralism: the church is called to be a community of truth. Second there is the challenge of materialism: the church is called to be a community of pilgrimage. Third there is the challenge of moral relativism: the …

Prayer Knows No Bounds

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Faith, and hope, and patience and all the strong, beautiful, vital forces of piety are withered and dead in a prayerless life. The life of the individual believer, his personal salvation, and personal Christian graces have their being, bloom, and fruitage in prayer. God shapes the world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. They outlive the lives of those who uttered them. Prayer is of transcendent importance. Prayer is the mightiest agent to advance God’s work. Praying hearts and hands only can do God’s work. Prayer succeeds when all else fails. Prayer honors God, acknowledges His being, exalts His power, adores His providence, secures His aid. Prayer puts God’s work in His hands-and keeps it there. Prayer is our most formidable weapon, the thing which makes all else we do efficient. It is hard to wait and press and pray, and hear no voice, but stay till God answers. The possibilities of prayer are found in its allying itself with the purposes of God, for God’s purposes and man’s praying are the combination of all potent and omnipotent …

The Day God Ran

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… But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him… There are four things about God you can rest assure about: you are never beyond God’s reach… you can not out run God… God will never stop pursuing you… His love for you is vast beyond all measure… Meditation: Luke 15:1-3. 13-32 Prayer: Lord help me to see you just as you are – full of love and compassion. Help me to respond with absolute trust that you will receive me just as I am. Amen!

The “Coca-Cola-nization” of the world

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And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthian 3:18 There is a quest for transcendence, a recognition that the human spirit will never be satisfied by the material order. It’s the main reason for the collapse of Euro-Marxism. Marxism was offered as an ideological substitute for religion, and Marx confidently predicted that religion would wither away and die. But the human spirit cannot be satisfied with the material. As Jesus said, quoting Deuteronomy, “The human being doesn’t live by bread only but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Theodore Roszak, although he lived and wrote before the New Age began, wrote about this. He couldn’t bear what he called the “Coca-Cola-nization” of the world. He hated the pseudoscience that claims to explain everything, and he couldn’t bear the undoing of the mysteries. When science gets its hand on something, there are …

Last Words of Famous Rock Stars

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This post is not intended to endorse in any way, form or fashion, the lifestyles of the artists mentioned in this post while they lived on this earth. The post does seek to make any judgment or any determination about the eternal fate of these artists. We can only hope that each one of these had at least one moment to connect with their creator before their passing. In his book, The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars, rock historian Jeremy Simmonds writes, “When the last moment [of life] does arrive, even the most articulate [musicians] can struggle to find the right words.” Simmonds lists the following last words of famous contemporary musicians: Amy Winehouse, the British singer who died in 2011, tweeted her last words: “Oinka Oinka Oinka why you awake.” Terry Kath, the Chicago guitarist who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, said: “Don’t worry—it’s not loaded, see?” Michael Jackson: “I’d like to have some milk. Please, please give me some more.” Kurt Cobain: “I don’t have the passion any more, and so remember, it’s better to burn out than to …