RESULTS OF HIS PRESENCE

In John 15 - God's Word simply tells us - "That without Him we can do absolutey nothing of eternal value." We all can do alot of things in our own strength, giftings, abilities, but they will not impact for eternal things!

The reality in each of our lives is that we need the presence of the Holy Spirit continually in our lives. We need the anointing of His Spirit in our every day living, not just on a Sunday morning. Without His presence we will never see His results in our lives, homes, ministries or community! Let us pray for His anointing in our lives!

R.T. Kendall wrote - "If I do not experience a fresh anointing every day, It is only a matter of time before I will become yesterday's man." We need His presence today and tomorrow! I want to encourage you to hunger and thirst for His presence in your life!

THE POWER OF NEVER GIVING UP!

I was reading in 2 Corinthians 4: 8-9 these great words: "We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again, and keep going."

How many times in life we say enough is enough and we just want to give up and quit! I know at times I feel that way, but I am reminded that we may have troubles, problems, confusion, we may get knocked down, but we are not crushed, we are not going to quit, because God never quits on us. We are going to get knocked down, but we are going to get up again and keep going! (I am reminded about the Rocky movies, and he took a beating, but he would never quit). We need that kind of determination in our spiritual lives!

Let me encourage you to never give up! "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

DREAMING AGAIN!

Yesterday, I spoke on the Impossible Dream and I was not talking about the 67 Red Sox. I was sharing from Daniel 4 - and that God gave an impossible dream to the King, and Daniel came and spoke the truth to the King. The King would not respond to the dream and paid a heavy price, but God restored him when He cried out to God. I am thankful for the mercy of God! Let us respond to God's mercy in our personal lives.

I was thinking about dreaming, and my dreams for our church and ministry here at South Attleboro. I want to dream bigger dreams for what God wants to do in and through our lives. God wants us to impact this entire area, and I am praying for God to give us the answer of how to do this! What is your dream for our church? What is your dream for your ministry?

It is time to dream an Impossible dream! God is not interested in the little dreams that we come up with and can handle all by ourselves. God wants us to dream big dreams that only God can bring to pass!

I am dreaming again!

Summertime

What a beautiful day to be outside and enjoy the warm weather. I heard that if we reach 80 degrees today, that will be the first time in 220 days! I love the warmer weather and it just brings everything to life! If you have the opportunity to get outside today, enjoy it!
Remember - "This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it." It is a lot easier to rejoice when it is like today, instead of when it was cold, snowy. But we are to rejoice every day because the God is still God on good days and bad day!
I look forward to our services tomorrow, so that we can gather together and praise our Wonderful Lord!

LEAVES VS. FRUIT

Last night at our Bible Study we started a new series on "The Results of the Holy Spirit." We were talking last night about the health of the tree and Jesus tells us in John 15: "Remain in me and I will remain in you." How Jesus will prune the tree so that it will be much more fruitful." God is looking for fruit in our lives, not just the leaves!
Leaves have some benefit but the real benefit or use of the tree is the fruit that it produces. I am asking myself, am I as fruitful as God wants me to be? My responsibility is to stay close to the Lord, abide in Him, stay connected to Him and then I will bear much fruit!

DO WE HAVE MORE FRUIT OR LEAVES??????

HOW IS YOUR SMELL?

That is a very personal question to ask someone? How do you smell? When I think of the word smell, I think of the many great smells that there are in this world. Homemade break cooking, turkey cooking in the oven, almost anything cooking smells so great. When you go outdoors and you cut the lawn there is a nice smell, flowers, etc. On the other hand there are some smells that are not so great and I really do not need to mention them. Okay maybe just one - when you driving down the road and you come across a dead skunk. That is quite the smell!

I was reading in 2 Corinthians this morning and it talks about our lives being a fragrance or a smell. In chapter 2: 15-16 - "Our lives are a fragrance presented by Christ to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those being saved and by those perishing. To those who are perishing we are a fearful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved we are a life-giving perfume.

That tells me that our lives should be a fragrance of what the Lord is doing in our lives. That the overflow of my relationship with him will be like a perfume that brings glory to God. To some people they will not like the smell, because they will realize that they are not right with God, and the Lord will use our lives, words, testimony to convict them. To others, they will smell the fragrance of Jesus on our lives and they will want what we have in the Lord!

So think about it today - How's your smell?

LOVING ONE ANOTHER

The Word of God tells us - "They will know that we are Christians by our love." Last night in our special service that focused on people that were out of work and needing a job. Ron Eaton did a great job speaking about the disciples in the boat and how they were fearful and how Jesus ministered to them. (It was quite amazing to see a sail boat in the middle of the sanctuary.)

There were 14 people that were out of work and we were able to show them in a very tangible way of what a church family is to be like. It was a great service and people were encouraged!

Please pray that God will open doors for employment for our people! God is still the provider!

LOOKING FORWARD TOMORROW

I took a little RR the last couple of days, to recharge my battery and to get ready for tomorrow! I look forward to what the Lord is going to do in our services. Please keep our services in prayer! God's Word tells us - "It is not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit saith the Lord." Let us come to God's House tomorrow expecting His presence to be with us!

I pray that people will connect with God tomorrow, connect with one another, so that we can connect with our world!

BEING VS. DOING

This morning in my devotions I was journaling from 1 Corinthians 16. I came to verses 13-14 and read these words:
"Be on guard. Stand true to what you believe. Be courageous. Be strong. And eveything you do must be done with love."

The thought that came to me was the difference between BEING vs. DOING. That God's primary desire for our lives is being. Being is an outflow of our relationship with him. If I am being what God wants me to be then I will experience His presence and blessing in my life.

Look at how many times he mentiones being:

1. Be on guard. We must be on guard 24/7 because the enemy is lurking to destroy us. We must not fall asleep but continually be on guard.
2. Stand true to what you believe. Being in the Word and knowing what God wants from our lives. Not living a life of compromise.
3. Be courageous. We must be courageous today, not fearful or intimidated by the situations going on around us, by people, or events. Be courageous.
4. Be strong. Be strong in the Lord and in His Spirit. That is different then being weak spiritually!
5. Doing - Then everything we do, must be done with love. This is the motivations of why we live and do what we do!

The reality is if I am being what God wants me to be, then the doing will be a natural outflow of my relationship with Him!

So I ask you BEING VS. DOING!

HOW IS YOUR STRESS LEVEL?

How many are feeling stressed today? It seems that everyone is battling stress in thier lives right now!

According to the National Association for Mental Health, here are eight ways to tell if the gauge is moving up inside of you!
1. Do minor problems and disappointments get under your skin and irritate you more than they should?
2. Are you finding it hard to get along with people? Are people having trouble getting along with you?
3. Have you found that you are not getting much of a thrill anymore from the things you used to enjoy - hobbies, sports etc.?
4. Do your anxieties haunt you: that is, are you unable to shut them out of your mind?
5. Are you now scared of people and situations that never used to bother you?
6. Have you noticed that you're becoming suspicious of people around you, even of your friends?
7. Does the feeling that your being trapped come over you?
8. Do you feel inadequate, just not good enough anymore?

How can we beat stress before stress beats us??

Please read Philippians 4: 1-11

Principles of beating Stress:

1. Know that you are loved - v. 1
2. Help others, minister to others - v. 2-3
3. Have a postive attitude - v. 4
4. Pray, talk to the Lord - v. 6-7
5. Think correctly - v. 8
6. Connect with mature Christians - v. 9
7. We need to learn to be flexible - v. 11-12
8. Receive daily strength from the Lord - v. 13

Let's ask the Lord to help us beat stress today!

THE CROSS - THE COLLISION OF GOD AND MAN

Good Friday - is the day we remember the great price that Jesus paid for our sins when He died on the Cross. Do we really stop to think about the price that was paid for our salvation!

1 Peter 2:24 - "...who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree..."

What Jesus did for us back on Calvary makes it possible for every single person to be brought back into a personal relationship with God. The Cross was no something that happened to Jesus, but was His Divine Purpose for coming to earth. God came in the flesh to take away my sin. The reason salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so very much. It was the collision course between man and God, and God was the one who paid the price.

We just need to open our hearts and ask the Lord to come in and to forgive us of our sins. That is what the Cross is all about!

I look forward to this Resurrection Sunday when we will gather and celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Please pray for this service, and pray for your Save5. Let us believe God for a Resurrection in the lives of people!

WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT EASTER?

This coming Sunday, as we celebrate the Resurrection that many people will visit our church. Many people are struggling today, with a fundamental question of "What am I doing here?" "What is my purpose?". People are struggling with money, fear, difficulties and need hope!

This Sunday let us believe that God is going to give people Hope! Proverbs 19:21 tells us - "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

We are here for a few of these following reasons:
1. We are planned for God's pleasure - (not our own) Revelation 4:11
2. We were formed for God's family - community Ephesians 1:5
3. We were created to become like Jesus - discipleship Romans 8:29
4. We were saved to serve God. - ministry Ephesians 2:10
5. We were saved to be on mission - missions John 17:18

When we understand our purpose in living - life will take on meaning. Will you join me in praying that people will come to realize their Divine Purpose!

EASTER IS COMING!

What a great opportunity to invite people to come to this coming Celebration Service. Who are you praying and going to bring with you this Sunday! We do not just want to come to church and go through a religious exercise on Sunday. We need the presence of the Lord to reach people this coming Sunday.

There is going to be a great sense of excitement as we gather together in the DVJ center in one large service. I am excited and praying for the Lord to have His way!
Please keep this in your prayers! God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to everlasting life.

Keep praying and inviting your Save5!

PRODIGALS WELCOME THIS EASTER! (and every day)

Yesterday I blogged about the need of being more like the Father and not like the older brother when it comes to reaching people in our church and community. That we need to embrace and not reject people for any number of reasons.

How can we be more embracing of prodigals in our lives and church?

A couple of thoughts:

- First of all we need to be open, loving and receptive of diversity. We need to embrace differences in worship styles, clothing, hair styles, and many other things. We need to realize that Christianity is not about making people into a cookie-cutter style. I am thankful for the great diversity that is in our church body.

- We need to understand that people are in different places in their spiritual journey with the Lord. We are all not at the same place spiritually and we need to realize that some are not serving the Lord, others are new in the Lord and others have been growing in the Lord for years. Let us appreciate the questions, doubts, the feelings of all people.

- We need to trust the Holy Spirit to lead people into the changes that He wants them to make in their lives. We are not the ones who can change people, that is the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

- Pray for our services this weekend that there will be a genuine move of God in people in our service. If the Holy Spirit does not draw, convict and move then we will not see anything spiritual happen anyway!

Let us allow every prodigal to come and find the love, acceptance and embrace of people who love the Lord!

EASTER'S COMING!

Next Sunday we will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the grave! What a great time to invite someone to our special service. We will be combining the two morning services into one service in the gym. You will not want to miss this special service, and we want to encourage you to bring at your SAVE5 people with you! Do not let this opportunity pass you by and them by. Let's invite people to come to God's house on Easter Sunday!

On Easter (and every Sunday) let us be a PRODIGAL FRIENDLY CHURCH! We know the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. Jesus was talking to the religious people of that day, who were acting like the elder brother. They were pushing people away. I am glad that the prodigal son ran into the father first, and not the elder brother.

I pray that on Easter Sunday (and every Sunday) that we will embrace rather than reject the prodigals that come into our church home. Many prodigals still smell like the pig pen. They are marked and scarred by sin. They may look and act differently then church people. Their tattoos and piercings, dress, speech may be a little hard for some religious folks, but Jesus is not willing that any should perish. Let us be like the Father and embrace people and welcome them home.

I will continue these thoughts in my next blog.

WHAT IS YOUR GOAL?

This morning I had the privilege of speaking at an Men's Convention in this area, and it was good to see men from different churches gathering together to lift up the name of Jesus Christ.

I was speaking on what is our motivation as men in our homes, church and community. I spoke from 2 Corinthinas 5: 9-21. In verse 9 - we see these words that have been burning in my spirit - "So we make it our goal to please Him."

That is the goal that God has for every person, if we simplify our lives we will realize that it all boils down to this. We need to make it our goal to please God. If we are pleasing Him, our lives, our marriages and families, our church, our purpose for living will take on a whole new dimension.

Read verses 9 - 21 and see what we can do to please the Lord!

I look forward to the services tomorrow and to see what the Lord is going to do when we gather together in His name!