Saturday, October 31, 2009

Check Yourself (from Judypie)

A guy rushed into a service station one day and asked the manager if he had a pay phone. The manager nodded, “Sure, over there.”

The guy inserted a couple of coins, dialed and waited for an answer. Finally someone came on the line.

“Uh, sir,” he said in a deep voice, “could you use an honest, hard-working young man?”

The station manager couldn’t help overhearing the question. After a moment or two the guy said, “Oh, you already have an honest, hard-working young man? Well, okay. Thanks all the same.”

A broad smile stretched across his face. He hung up the phone and started back to his car, obviously elated.

“Hey, just a minute,” the station manager said, “I couldn’t help but hear your conversation. Why are you so happy? I thought the man said he already had someone and didn’t need you?”

The guy smiled. “Well, you see, I am that honest, hard-working young man. I was just checking up on myself!”

If you’re serious about walking with God, examine yourself regularly. Are you praying, reading God’s Word and renewing your mind daily?

How about your attitudes?

Are they slipping?

Your attitudes send a signal before you’ve said a word.

They are like traffic signals. Sometimes they flash red, which means “stop, don’t get in my way, I’m too busy to love, help, or care.”

Sometimes they flash yellow, which means “I’m touchy and out-of-sorts, I could go either way.”

Sometimes they flash green, which means, “Let’s go, I’m with you, you can count on me.”

The Bible says, “Let us examine our ways...and...return to the Lord.”

What needs to be examined regularly?

Our ways!

Let us test and examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord!
Lamentations 3:40 [AMP]

Sunday, October 25, 2009

The Wooden Bowl

I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now.

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson.

The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered

The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.

When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.

“We must do something about father,” said the son. “I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.”

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.

There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.

Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.

When the family glanced in Grandfather’s direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.

Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.

He asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?” Just as sweetly, the boy responded, “Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.” The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather’s hand and gently led him back to the family table.

For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

On a positive note, I’ve learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things:
  1. A rainy day
  2. The elderly
  3. Lost luggage
  4. Tangled Christmas tree lights
I’ve learned that, regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.

I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.”

I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back sometimes.

I’ve learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you but if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.

I’ve learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone.

People love that human touch -- holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.

I’ve learned that you should pass this on to everyone you care about.

I just did.



Pastor Ng Francis
www.fnministries.com

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Please Don’t Feed the Atheists

We recently announced the release of our book, Please Don’t Feed the Atheists, available at the Powerhouse Store and at http://link2power.org. We are hoping that this book helps get the message across to the church that it is time to quit with some of the harmful shenanigans that have been taking place and focus on doing the work that Jesus did and is calling His body to do:
The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity],
Luke 4:18 [AMP]
Unfortunately, there is a continuation of a politically motivated mindset that is distracting Christians from this calling and setting their focus upon things that not only do not help those whom the Lord has called us to reach, but it makes the church into a laughingstock in the sight of the atheists and those who would criticize the truth of the gospel.

For example, there are those who are going back and rewriting history for questionable reasons.  For example, Snopes noted a revision of the writings of George Washington that inserted content to make the Founding Father’s message seem more of a religious statement than originally drafted.  Since when has twisting the truth been necessary to advance a Christian message?  This is something that the atheists, agnostics and others jumped on, a potentially embarrassing situation.

As we mentioned in the book, it is interesting how much bad press Moslems get when radicals commit atrocities in the name of Islam. But even worse publicity is rising when people calling themselves Christians commit such atrocities.

Think about the people who believe God would have them to shun those who look different than they.
A good friend told me that he, along with his wife and children, were told to leave a church they were visiting because of their skin color… despite the fact that they were ministers in that very same denomination.
People do crazy things like that all the time and slap the label of “Christianity” on top of it.  And when that happens, the atheists have a good time at the Lord’s expense.

The good news is that, if Saul could be turned around by an encounter with the risen Savior (he later became known as the Apostle Paul, writer of a large percentage of the New Testament), then imagine what wonderful things would happen in our society if those who populate churches each week would actually get past the empty practice of liturgy and, rather, get in touch with Jesus on a personal level.

Can you imagine it?

Christians practicing love instead of hatred?

Christians seeking manifestations of Christ’s righteousness and not self-righteousness?

Christians who judge the beam in their own eyes rather than judging the speck in someone else’s?

The sad reality is that people like Saul of Tarsus will walk into houses of worship, kill people, and assume that God were pleased. However, if God wanted someone dead, he could manage that without anyone’s help. But killing people is not what God is about.
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
2nd Peter 3:9 [NKJV]
Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the Goodness of God leads you to repentance?
Romans 2:4 [NKJV]
A Christian filmmaker recently produced a documentary entitled, “Lord Please Save Us from Your Followers.” That film explores the schism between the foundational beliefs of this country and the personal beliefs of its citizens.

In the film’s trailer, you can see clips of people with bullhorns protesting the “tyranny” of those insane Christian fanatics. But did Jesus suffer and die on the cross for people to practice tyranny or insane fanaticism? Unfortunately, there are way too many people who wear the Christian label and demonstrate behaviors that feed the atheists’ hatred for our God.

The Christian label?

You may faithfully go to church Sunday after Sunday. The reality, however, is that going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonalds makes you a cheeseburger. Jesus put it this way:
But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity
Luke 13:27 [NKJV]
Whoa! That’s a pretty deep scripture to be throwing around. But the bottom line is that if all we are accomplishing is making it easier for atheists and practitioners of other religions to blaspheme the Lord (2nd Samuel 12:14), then we need to seriously evaluate what it is we profess to believe in.

More importantly, we should evaluate whether our behavior lines up with what should be our belief system.

It has been said that without fuel, a fire cannot burn. You need oxygen or wood or flammable gas or some other combustible substance in order to create and/or maintain a fire. Well then, if we are feeding the atheists with the fuel to support their rejection of God, then what does that make us?

And, what would that inspire the Lord to say to us when we stand before Him?

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Meditations from Judypie: Healed Body / Renewed Mind

A Healing Prayer

Jesus was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. I receive divine healing for my spirit, soul and body in the name of Jesus. Amen.
He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him. Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy]. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.
Isaiah 53:3-5 [AMP]

Renewing Thought Patterns

It is written, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” I no longer desire to conform to the pattern of this world, but may I be transformed by the renewing of my mind. Then my thoughts and my ways will be changed to Your thoughts and your ways, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].
Romans 12:2 [AMP]

The Power of God’s Word

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, they do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is God’s word that goes out from His mouth. When He speaks and when I speak His word, it will not return empty, but will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which He sent it. Father, I thank You for creating in me Your desires. Amen.
For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:8-11 [AMP]

Meditation

The scriptures you have just studied contain the life shaping/ world changing power.  But that power needs to be activated by mixing it with faith.  Allow the Word of God to build faith within your heart (faith comes by hearing... hearing by the word of God).  As your faith rises, make a verbal declaration right where you are and receive your healing in Jesus’ name.  Receive a renewed mind by the power of God’s Holy Word.  And then, think of those other people in your life who need the power of God to be manifest in their lives.  Pray for our local and national leaders.  Pray without ceasing.  Pray with confidence in God’s faithfulness to deliver you. 
FIRST OF all, then, I admonish and urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all men, For kings and all who are in positions of authority or high responsibility, that [outwardly] we may pass a quiet and undisturbed life [and inwardly] a peaceable one in all godliness and reverence and seriousness in every way.
1st Timothy 2: 1-2 [AMP]

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Refined Like Gold Tried in the Fire

“He has made everything appropriate in its time.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11 [NAS]
The roller coaster of life runs both day and night. Some trips take place in the dark, where things are difficult to distinguish. 'Who is among you that fears the Lord, that obeys the voice of His servant, that walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God' (Isaiah 50:10 NAS).

Yes, even the godly who 'fear the Lord' and who 'obey the voice of His servant,' will at times walk where there seems to be no light to guide their footsteps and no warm glow to comfort their troubled senses. These are not times of punishment, retribution, or abandonment. No, they're times when God is working out the next important stages of your development, aligning you for greater advancement in His kingdom!

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, men who feared the Lord and obeyed His Word, were ordered to be burned alive for refusing to worship the king's golden image (See Daniel 3).

Listen to their faith confession:

1) 'Our God...is able to deliver us' (v 17).

They never doubted God's ability.

2) 'And he will deliver us.' They never doubted God's intention.

3) 'But if not...we will not...worship the golden image' (v 18). They never considered an alternative of faithfulness to God. They had to go through to get through, and they did! You will too. Stay on the roller coaster. 'Trust in the name of the Lord and rely on (your) God.' He has the last word, not the devil, circumstances or people. Like the three Hebrews, you will come out refined as gold tried in the fire.

Pastor Ng Francis
www.fnministries.com

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Classic Blog: The Law of the Spirit of Life

It really troubles me when religious people refer to Romans Chapter 7 to excuse their sins. And I deplore the line, "we are only human and we are going sin." And almost as revolting is the line, "we sin every day." Immoral sinful people, religious or otherwise, are always looking for crutches to hold them up in their unbelief. In Romans 7 the Apostle Paul was emphasizing the weakness of the flesh and the need of the power to overcome sin. If they would only read chapter eight they would find there, using a famous line, "the rest of the story."

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus

Romans 8:1 [NASU]


[for those who are in Christ Jesus] Now go back to Romans, chapter 6, beginning in verse 3----

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death

Romans 6:3 [NASU]


Again in the book of Galatians, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27 NAS).

[baptized into Christ Jesus] If a person is baptized into Christ Jesus, baptized into His death and then raised up in the newness of life then he is in Christ Jesus.

“Therefore there is now no condemnation.” Understand, the Apostle is not speaking of a water baptism here he is speaking of dieing to the sinful deeds of the flesh. Dead men do not sin, they are dead.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

Romans 6:1-2 [NASU]


Now if you have not been baptized into the death of Christ then the old sin nature of the flesh is still very much alive and you will sin.

Let's continue, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” (Romans 8:2 NASU)

There is no condemnation for who?? For those who have been baptized into Christ Jesus, those who have crucified the flesh and buried it with Christ; those who have followed their Lord into the “regeneration” (Matthew 19:28) into the new birth.

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”

Romans 8:3-4 [NASU]


[who do not walk according to the flesh] The requirement of the law of sin and death is fulfilled in those who have been baptized into Christ Jesus and have received the gift of the Holy Spirit and are walking according to His power and leading.

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, {set their minds on} the things of the Spirit.”

Romans 8:5 [NASU]


[set their minds] It is a matter of submission or "mind set." One who has submitted has set his mind on the things of God and is lead of the Spirit of God, thus he is empowered to overcome sin.

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Romans 8:6-8 [NASU]


[for the mind set on the flesh is death] A stern warning for those who say, “we are only human and we are going to sin, even the apostle Paul sinned.” (That gives me chills.) Where is your mind set? If it is set on the things of the flesh, it is set on death!!!

[but the mind set on the Spirit] The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace and the fruit he bears is the fruit of righteous.

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Romans 8:14 NAS


We must remember that our Lord came and died a horrible death to take away our sins, not to prepare a way we could wallow in them and still go to heaven. The biggest sin committed by church going people is that of drunkenness and immorality---this is what people are wanting to hold on to but still have a clean conscience---there is no way people!!! Either be converted or die in your sins.

Pastor Jake

Thursday, October 1, 2009

From the Presidential Prayer Team


Right-Minded Intercession
Caryl sadly read her newspaper and laid it down on the table. “What is happening to our country?” she groaned. Caryl wanted to blame the new administration, but she knew better; her devotional reading for
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
- James 5:16

that morning was based on Proverbs 21:1. She recalled its words: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.”
It reminded Caryl that leaders are appointed by God to accomplish His purposes. Bowing her head, she immediately asked God to guide her elected officials with wisdom and to turn their hearts to Him. Daryl also asked the Lord to direct her leaders in determining foreign affairs, the economy and unemployment, and prayed for the safety of the President and his family, thanking God for them.
James 5 reminds you that as you pray like Caryl – and do so with the right-minded attitude – your intercessions will have a mighty impact. Pray decisively and confidently for your president and leaders, regardless of your opinions of the day’s headlines…and God will move on behalf of our nation.
Recommended Reading: I Peter 4:1-2, 7-11
- Kathy Lumbert
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