All posts tagged: God

7 Habits of Highly Effective Leaders


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 …

Prayer Knows No Bounds


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


… 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!

God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called!


Isaac was a day dreamer, Jacob was a cheater, Peter had a temper and denied Christ, David had an affair and tried to cover it up with murder, Noah got drunk. Elisha was suicidal, Jonah ran from God, Paul was a murderer and he was way too religious. Timothy had too many ulcers, Gideon was insecure, Miriam was a gossiper, Martha was a worrier, Thomas was a doubter, Sara was impatient, Elijah was moody, Rehab was a prostitute, Samson – he liked prostitute. Isaiah preached naked for three years, John the Baptist ate bugs and had second thoughts about the very Messiah he baptized. Jeremiah was way too emotional, Moses stuttered, Zacchaeus was too short, Abraham was old and Lazarus was dead. God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called! I picked this up from a friend’s Facebook status. I don’t know if it is his original stuff, but it sure got my attention. Never say to yourself, “God can never use me.” God is not looking for the qualified, he’s looking for people who would …

15 Tips for blogging from John Newton/ Part 3


11. Learn to blog your observations more freely, especially if you are bent towards a stilted formalism. “I wish you not only to write a good hand, but a good letter; and the whole art is to write with freedom and ease. When you take your pen in hand, pop things down just as they come to your mind; just as you would speak of them without study” (6:304). 12. Blog humbly and in faith, knowing the Lord will lead you to offer a “word in season” for your readers in their time of need. “I love to give up my heart and pen, without study, when I am writing. The Lord knows the state of my friends, their present temptations, etc and I look to him to give me a word in season” (6:42). 13. Pray that God would fill your soul with divine joy as you write, that this joy would be communicated on the screen, resulting in a shared joy with your reader. “Oh! that the power of God would set my …

7 Habits of Highly Effective Christians


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. I would like to leave you with 7 Habits of highly effective christians. By their constant practice of 7 biblical principles they do not only excel in their knowledge of God, devotion to the Lord, ministry and calling, they also effectively inspire and challenge others to personal development and growth. They give cheerfully Their primary motivation is not what they will get out of their giving. They are more interested in being a blessing than receiving a blessing. They are kingdom driven and what ever promotes the work of …

15 Tips on Blogging from John Newton/ Part 2


6. Blog to offer both converting and comforting grace to your reader. “Oh, that my heart may take fire as I write! Surely I am in my better judgment persuaded, that life is not worth a desire, but as affording opportunity to spread the savor of his name, to set him forth in my ministry, for the comfort of his people and the salvation of poor sinners” (6:153–154). 7. Make it your constant aim to blog with the intent of prospering your reader in God. “The hour is approaching, and, at my time of life, cannot be very distant, when my heart, my pen, and my tongue, will no longer be able to move in their service. But I trust, while my heart continues to beat, it will feel a warm desire for the prosperity of souls; and while my hand can write, and my tongue speak, it will be the business and the pleasure of my life, to aim at promoting their growth and establishment in the grace of our God and Savior” (3:304–305). 8. …

15 Tips on blogging from John Newton


Maybe some of you have lost your way and need to reevaluate your purpose and motives for blogging, or maybe some of you have thought about blogging but you don’t know how or what to blog about especially as a believer – I have just the right post for you. Something that will inspire you to greatness.  If you’ve followed me for a while, you should know that I’m new to blogging in so many ways and I am still learning new things. For many months, I felt the loneliness in the blogger-sphere and wanted to give up. But I found inspiration, encouragement, friendship and got some gentle corrections and very good tips from many of you. I’m still not really good at writing, my funny accent causes me to spell thing the way I pronounce them, but I’m making progress. I actually wanted  to say that I make my living from talking (after all, 12 years as a radio host and 21 years as a pastor is a good excuse), but I realized that it was …

Biblical Descriptions of the Atonement


Sometimes we read the bible and it all seems like gibberish, nothing makes sense and nothing connects. But with a closer look, everything falls in place. When it comes to getting a message across, the Lord has done a great job making himself amply clear. Nothing is vague, hidden or obscure, if, through the eye of the Holy Spirit, we could just stay patient and dig a little deeper – That’s when all these gems, treasures begin to unfold. Type of Language Biblical Words Human Need The Result Language of OT sacrifices Blood, lamb, sacrifice We are guilty We are forgiven Language of personal relationships Reconciliation We are alienated from God We are brought back into intimate fellowship with God Language of righteous anger at wrongdoing Propitiation We are under God’s holy wrath God’s wrath is satisfied/quenched Language of the marketplace Redemption, ransom We are enslaved We are set free Language of the law court Justification We are condemned We are pardoned and counted as righteous Language of the battlefield Victory, deliverance, rescue We are …