Articles and Blogs

Seven Ways Church Members Should Prepare for a Sermon – Thom Rainer

The Meaning of Manhood – Phillip Holmes

The Pastor’s Personal Holiness – Kevin DeYoung

Beyond the Quiet Time – Jared C. Wilson

“Who’s Watching You?” Asks Braves Legend, Sid Bream – Scott Barkley

Worth Repeating

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. – Thomas Edison

Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. – Mark Twain

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of determination. – Vince Lombardi

It always seems impossible until it’s done. – Nelson Mandela

Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength. – Theodore Roosevelt

Another Look

How we think, in large part, determines how we get along in life.  Are you intentional with your thoughts?  Today’s vlog challenges us to be intentional with our thoughts.  Watch below.

I am 51 years old. Occasionally I forget that and think I am 25. Age-amnesia can get me in trouble sometimes. I have to learn that at 51, I can still do everything I did at 25, only now I have to do it only in my head.

I have to face the facts, I am not as strong as I used to be, but hopefully I am smarter. Where once I could tackle many issues with vigor now I must use prudence. For all of us, YOUNG or OLD, that truth applies to temptation. We allow make ourselves way too vulnerable to temptation – more vulnerable than we are actually able to stand. We are not nearly as strong as we think we are, and the secret to withstanding temptation lies in being wise and prudent.

Let me encourage you to consider your proximity to sin and take the most prudent of three options.

• AVOID temptation when you can. The old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is so true when dealing with sin. Know where you are vulnerable and simply do not put yourself in a place where you will be tempted. Watch where you surf on the internet, view on the television, listen to on the radio and at work. Just don’t go there. (Proverbs 5:1-8, Ephesians 4:27)
• When you can’t avoid temptation, RUN from it. Often temptation sneaks up on us when we aren’t expecting it. When you find yourself suddenly being tempted, remove yourself from the temptation. Turn the channel, shut down the computer, walk away, excuse yourself from the conversation. Paul encouraged Timothy to “flee” from lust and temptation, and that is great advice to us. (2 Timothy 2:22)
• Then finally if you are in an unavoidable temptation from which you cannot get away, RESIST – not in your strength, but in the name of Jesus. We do not humanly have the ability to resist the devil, but through the name of Jesus and by the power of His Word, we are undefeatable. (1 Peter 5:8-9)

Let me remind you also that the battle against temptation is more easily fought before ever facing the temptation. Be prepared. Have you heart clean and your mind clear. Meditate and memorize God’s Word so you will have a weapon to wield against temptation. Set your heart on heavenly things, nurture your spirit through daily Bible reading and prayer, and you will be more prepared to avoid, run, or resist.

Articles and Blogs

11 Traits of Churches that Will Impact the Future – Carey Nieuwhof

Setting the Moral Parameter – Bill Eliff

10 Ways to Start the Day Well for God – Chuck Lawless

Worth Repeating

“The day your memories are greater than your dreams you are dead in the water.” – Ike Reighard

“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” – Stephen Covey

“Our working is not added to God’s working. Our working is God’s working” – John Piper

Another Look

Have you ever noticed that when things seem to be going well that the prospect of something bad happening still looms over you? The old saying is that “every rose has its thorns.”

That experience seems to be present in our spiritual walk as well. Whether in a personal Bible study, moving worship service, or through some daily encounter, God intervenes in your life and you experience something of a spiritual breakthrough. You are prepared to serve God more diligently and walk with Him more intimately. Then… the devil gets wind of it and shows up throwing every possible obstacle in your path.

You are not alone. Even one as godly as the Apostle Paul experienced a similar experience during his time in the city of Ephesus. God used him there in a tremendous way to turn the hearts of many to Jesus. Opportunities for the Kingdom abounded. So did the obstacles. He spoke of the situation when writing to the church in Corinth.

“…for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”
                                                                                                                                              – 1 Corinthians 16:9

Granted, when we are not obedient to God, we will experience His corrective hand often through our circumstances, but we MUST NOT consider every difficulty a sign that we are NOT “doing right.” Many times those difficulties of the opposite truth that we ARE INDEED “doing right.”

When we engage God’s mission for any season of our life, the devil is not happy and will do all he can to thwart God’s work through us. So, what can we do when “doing right” seems to be “going wrong”? Let me suggest three reminders.

1. Examine yourself to make certain that disobedience is in fact not causing your difficulty. In Hebrews 12:1, the writer encourages to “lay aside every weight, and the sin that clings so closely…” Self examination is always a healthy first step, but once we determine that we are not the problem, we can turn to other practices.

2. Remember that in spite of your circumstances, God is at work in and through you. Romans 8:28 stands as a reminder that God works through ALL THINGS – good, bad, indifferent – to accomplish His purpose. Do not let the devil’s opposition lead you to believe God is not at work. Remember, he is a liar and the father of lies.

3. Cling to the Biblical principle of sewing and reaping. In Galatians 6:9, Paul reminds us that we WILL reap what we sew if we remain faithful and not give up. The Biblical principle of sewing and reaping tells us that we reap WHAT we sew (keep doing good), we reap AFTER we sew (so don’t give up), and we reap MORE than we sew.

So, don’t let the opposition you may experience when you serve God distract, disturb, or derail you. As God opens the doors, walk through them, ignoring the sounds of the devil’s naysayers.

My Atlanta Braves aren’t playing very well at all these days, and some fans are leaping off the bandwagon in Titanic proportions.

What if God treated us like we treat or sports teams?

Psalm 130:3-4 – “If you, O Lord, should mark our iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared.”

Psalm 103:12 – “…as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.”

1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We experience the real life God intends for us to have when Jesus is the center of every facet of our lives.

Life Begins in the Center
Colossians 1:13-23

Jesus is PRE-EMINENT in our:

1. View of God

“Image” = revelation, likeness, authority

2. Reason for Being

“Firstborn” = prototype, primary one, first in order of preference

by….through….for….before….hold together

3. Order of the Church

As head, Jesus is the . . . of the Church

source
                  leader
                  ruler

4. Gift of Redemption

That IN all things He might have PREEMINENCE