As we conclude the series on spiritual warfare, I find the comment so true that someone said...when you preach on spiritual warfare all hell can break loose. One of the questions I'm left with afterwards is, do we really get it? Do we understand how Satan works and how he uses us so often to accomplish his tasks? Do we get how we can be the ones used to bring about distractions and diversions to get us off the main road which should be to get the gospel out there, to encourage our family in Christ, to win the lost?
To say much of anything about this sermon I would just have to write every note I took and every thought that went through my mind as I've pondered it. I can only say that the whole thing was my favorite and I'm praying God will use it to grow us up into mature believers who refuse to allow Satan to use them, develop a powerful prayer life that is more about getting to know the heart of God rather than focusing on our own selfish desires. May we be a people who refuse to bow to idols and instead stand firm not willing to retreat.
We dive into the book of James next week. I CAN'T WAIT!! I have a feeling James is going to tell us which way is up and he's not going to pull any punches with us. What comes to mind as I think about James' teaching...
Christians make great claims but don't always back them up with their actions.
God's people cling tightly at times to this world and its values.
We so often contradict the gospel with our lives.
James tells us to live the Christian faith, not just talk it.
Proof of faith is a changed life.
And on, and on, and on...
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Monday Morning Perspective
I cannot imagine how anyone left the service yesterday without having been overwhelmed by the presence of the Lord all over themselves. Incredible is not a good enough word to describe the music. Soloists were fabulous and the choir was unbelieveable. So great seeing so many packed into the choir loft. Thank you to all of you for your commitment and faithfulness. Awesome hearing you all sing, but also being able to watch you worship!! It was one of those goosebump, hair standing on my arms, want to jump up and shout before my insides burst asunder kind of services. I'm determined no rock is going to cry out on my behalf, I hope you are too.
I meant it when I told Eddie he ought to nail the message after the worship time but I had no worries. He nails it every time! As we continued looking at spiritual warfare, we were reminded that our enemies are not our brothers and sisters in Christ. The battle is in the spiritual realm and Satan is working every angle to destroy lives, homes, and relationships. We don't have to be unbelievers for Satan to use us as people often think. Satan can use believers to wreck havoc and cause confusion and problems. We need to constantly keep that in mind and make sure we are not allowing him to do that in our own life.
I love how Eddie took the armour piece by piece describing how a real soldier used it and then what it means in our Christian walk. I love how the belt of truth is first. How necessary the truth is in life...knowing it, believing it, speaking it and living it. Then I love how it all ends with the Sword of the Spirit. It's so much more than a book. It is God's living, active Word to us. It's interesting that it's the only offensive weapon in this list. Maybe because it's the only thing that really can defeat the Enemy. We can't do it on our own or in our own strength. We need the power of Christ in us to defeat him and there is power in His Word.
How interesting that we ended with the challenge that there is nothing in this list that covers our back. We are not called to run or retreat. We are called to be on the move, moving ahead in His might to further His kingdom. Not cowering to criticism, fear, hateful and selfish people, not trivial matters or those who are not kingdom-minded. We keep pushing ahead. Sharing the gospel with the lost, encouraging the weak, growing and maturing in our faith. This is a great reminder for me on days when I'd rather pull the covers over my head or stay in the bubble of my home and hide from the world. God never calls us to do that!!
I meant it when I told Eddie he ought to nail the message after the worship time but I had no worries. He nails it every time! As we continued looking at spiritual warfare, we were reminded that our enemies are not our brothers and sisters in Christ. The battle is in the spiritual realm and Satan is working every angle to destroy lives, homes, and relationships. We don't have to be unbelievers for Satan to use us as people often think. Satan can use believers to wreck havoc and cause confusion and problems. We need to constantly keep that in mind and make sure we are not allowing him to do that in our own life.
I love how Eddie took the armour piece by piece describing how a real soldier used it and then what it means in our Christian walk. I love how the belt of truth is first. How necessary the truth is in life...knowing it, believing it, speaking it and living it. Then I love how it all ends with the Sword of the Spirit. It's so much more than a book. It is God's living, active Word to us. It's interesting that it's the only offensive weapon in this list. Maybe because it's the only thing that really can defeat the Enemy. We can't do it on our own or in our own strength. We need the power of Christ in us to defeat him and there is power in His Word.
How interesting that we ended with the challenge that there is nothing in this list that covers our back. We are not called to run or retreat. We are called to be on the move, moving ahead in His might to further His kingdom. Not cowering to criticism, fear, hateful and selfish people, not trivial matters or those who are not kingdom-minded. We keep pushing ahead. Sharing the gospel with the lost, encouraging the weak, growing and maturing in our faith. This is a great reminder for me on days when I'd rather pull the covers over my head or stay in the bubble of my home and hide from the world. God never calls us to do that!!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Monday Morning Perspective
On this Monday morning I am still so pumped about yesterday. What an incredible crowd we had in worship! The choir had a great crowd and led powerfully in worship. I must say I was a bit shocked because of the time change. Losing that hour is always tough but so glad to see that our Millbrook family didn't let a little thing like lack of sleep stand in their way of getting to worship.
We started a 3 part series on spiritual warfare...God's timing is perfect ALWAYS! If ever we need this message, it is now. Like Eddie said, way too many Christian soldiers are asleep in the barracks and many are getting beaten up. Jesus has won the war but most of us have battles we have to fight every day so let's take on the challenge and make Satan fearful as soon as our eyes open and our feet hit the floor every morning. We are caught up in this war whether we like it or not and we need to be prepared and ready for the fight. Knowing our enemy and how he works and realizing how he attacks and his strategy is powerful.
Be strong in the Lord. Don't try to fight the Enemy alone, he is way too powerful for us. And may we all realize who the Enemy is and it is NOT one another!
Are you a soldier in God's army? Have you enlisted? That's the first step. Can't wait for next week.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Monday Morning Perspective
What an incredible day yesterday in the life of Millbrook. The high winds and pelting rain couldn't keep Millbrookers away from coming together to celebrate through worship and bible study...what a tremendous crowd as we came back together as one family in one service. You could sense the excitement and energy from God's people uniting together. Our students filled The Rock as our missionary shared during our small group time together. The kids were zoned in on all that he was sharing with them, awesome to experience that. And what can be said about our worship service...God showed up and showed off in a big way. It was incredible to see individuals and families flood the front to make their commitments to give and go and pray and then to be able to pray over our students going to mini World Changers. Goosebumps!!
Huge shout-out to Bill Howard and our music ministry!!! Our choir was rocking yesterday. I love seeing their energy, I think some of you were on the verge of dancing and it made me grin ear to ear!! You showed forth the freedom we have in worship and you are leading our congregation in a fabulous way. Thank you for your commitment and filling so many of those chairs!! Huge thank you to Bill!! I love your heart not only for music but ministry and the passion you have for the Lord, it is so evident as it pours forth from you and God is blessing because of it. Nice to see that you are not performing for us but you are worshipping, what a refreshment!! So thankful to be able to serve with you and your wife and to be able to witness your hearts firsthand.
I am so thankful for all of the staff God has brought here and each of their wives who are so invested in the ministry. So thankful for their hard work and loyalty, for their working together as a team and not against one another. So thankful that we receive so much encouragement when we are all together and there's lots of fun and laughter and sweet fellowship. Grateful to be able to call each of them friends and Millbrook our family!
Huge shout-out to Bill Howard and our music ministry!!! Our choir was rocking yesterday. I love seeing their energy, I think some of you were on the verge of dancing and it made me grin ear to ear!! You showed forth the freedom we have in worship and you are leading our congregation in a fabulous way. Thank you for your commitment and filling so many of those chairs!! Huge thank you to Bill!! I love your heart not only for music but ministry and the passion you have for the Lord, it is so evident as it pours forth from you and God is blessing because of it. Nice to see that you are not performing for us but you are worshipping, what a refreshment!! So thankful to be able to serve with you and your wife and to be able to witness your hearts firsthand.
I am so thankful for all of the staff God has brought here and each of their wives who are so invested in the ministry. So thankful for their hard work and loyalty, for their working together as a team and not against one another. So thankful that we receive so much encouragement when we are all together and there's lots of fun and laughter and sweet fellowship. Grateful to be able to call each of them friends and Millbrook our family!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
And Another Thing...(then I'm roadtripping for a few)
Well 4am came dark and early this morning. I woke up with my heart pounding, feeling like it was on fire. Don't know if it was all the happenings of the past few days or maybe I ate too late after the ballgame. Either way, God brings good from all and it got me out of the bed. I do usually know when I wake up at whatever time and my heart is already pounding and my mind is full that early in the day, the two usually are going together.
I woke up with the younger ones on my mind this morning, some I know, some I don't. They are the ones we now have labeled as the Millenials, that's the age group of 11-30. I was thinking of them in light of what I blogged yesterday and the past weeks Eddie and I have spent talking about them and researching them. I thought about the 14 11th and 12th grade girls Julie Revelle and I had piled up in my den floor Sunday evening for ingroup bible study, for those who came a few hours earlier just to hang out. I thought about my high school boy who is living out his faith in the darkness of a public high school and my two living on a college campus which is private but definitely not always a Christian atmosphere. I thought about my married girl and her husband who are burning it at both ends trying to reach the next generation and disciple them and grow them up in the faith, pouring everything they know into them. I started thinking of other young couples in this age range I know who are striving to live a life for Christ and for those whom Christ isn't really on their radar that we need to reach. The research tells us that this generation isn't going to put up with a lot of things the way they are especially in the church. They won't tolerate the beaurocracy of the way many of us do church. They'll go somewhere else or they won't go at all. They don't have the stomach for all the whining about personal preferences in the church, whether it's how you dress there or the color scheme of the building. They are much more into getting the job done and get on with it. Their attitude is let's just get out there and make a difference rather than sit in meetings and squabble over how we're going to go about things. If they're Christian Millenials, they want to see discipleship happen and then lived out and then go out. In light of that...
I am so super blessed to have received so much encouragement and love and through the phone hugs and kisses yesterday. I didn't blog to get those but they sure felt good. My inbox was overflowing and the numerous texts drained my phone battery dry. I am so crazy about each of you. I told Eddie that if crappy emails are what it takes to stir our people up to go out and love and encourage and look for the positive and then speak the positive and shut up the naysayers, I will take an email like that once a week. I responded to one message yesterday by saying that I am one of the chief complainers about the negative people being so loud and obnoxious and the whiners whining to get their way and how much I want the positive people to stand up and cheer loudly the things of God and all that He's doing in them and in their church that I just thought well it's time then for me to shoot down one of the negatives and shout some positive myself LOUDLY. When others speak a word of negative, can we counter it with a positive word? When someone speaks against another, can we just speak some truth over that? Because if we don't start, I'm scared of what those younger ones are going to be left to think. We all know those who turn the younger ones away by their attitudes or actions. Those who are a stumbling block or offense to them. Someone may have done that to you when you were younger, I know someone did that to me and some have done it to my own kids. Are they going to think that this Christian life is real and it makes a difference or are they going to think we are a bunch of complainers who want our way about everything? Are we going to have anyone behind us to hand the baton to and say run with it and are they going to take it or say no thank you? I know it's easy to think well what can I do or there's fewer of us or whatever but the early church started with a few and the more persecution there was the faster the gospel spread. So, that's why the "persecution" of a coward sending an email doesn't bother me so much, it's not even worthy of calling it persecution it's just annoying BUT we can use it to fire us up and energize us to stand firm together and be determined to MAKE a difference and BE different. It can be a catalyst to push us forward and I don't want to go backwards and I don't want to stand still. We can't afford to do that. There's too much at risk if we do...there's an entire generation at risk. So my challenge to anyone who wants to take it...
Look for the positive and then proclaim it. Speak the truth in love even if there's a cost. Look for an opportunity to encourage the younger ones. Share what Christ is doing in your life NOW, not 10 years ago, but what He is doing in your life NOW with someone who needs to hear.
I love you and am blessed to know so many who encourage me in the faith. Encourage someone else today. I'm taking the next few days and getting away, gonna be computer free, but surrounded by some of my favorite people. Have a Terrific Tuesday!!
I woke up with the younger ones on my mind this morning, some I know, some I don't. They are the ones we now have labeled as the Millenials, that's the age group of 11-30. I was thinking of them in light of what I blogged yesterday and the past weeks Eddie and I have spent talking about them and researching them. I thought about the 14 11th and 12th grade girls Julie Revelle and I had piled up in my den floor Sunday evening for ingroup bible study, for those who came a few hours earlier just to hang out. I thought about my high school boy who is living out his faith in the darkness of a public high school and my two living on a college campus which is private but definitely not always a Christian atmosphere. I thought about my married girl and her husband who are burning it at both ends trying to reach the next generation and disciple them and grow them up in the faith, pouring everything they know into them. I started thinking of other young couples in this age range I know who are striving to live a life for Christ and for those whom Christ isn't really on their radar that we need to reach. The research tells us that this generation isn't going to put up with a lot of things the way they are especially in the church. They won't tolerate the beaurocracy of the way many of us do church. They'll go somewhere else or they won't go at all. They don't have the stomach for all the whining about personal preferences in the church, whether it's how you dress there or the color scheme of the building. They are much more into getting the job done and get on with it. Their attitude is let's just get out there and make a difference rather than sit in meetings and squabble over how we're going to go about things. If they're Christian Millenials, they want to see discipleship happen and then lived out and then go out. In light of that...
I am so super blessed to have received so much encouragement and love and through the phone hugs and kisses yesterday. I didn't blog to get those but they sure felt good. My inbox was overflowing and the numerous texts drained my phone battery dry. I am so crazy about each of you. I told Eddie that if crappy emails are what it takes to stir our people up to go out and love and encourage and look for the positive and then speak the positive and shut up the naysayers, I will take an email like that once a week. I responded to one message yesterday by saying that I am one of the chief complainers about the negative people being so loud and obnoxious and the whiners whining to get their way and how much I want the positive people to stand up and cheer loudly the things of God and all that He's doing in them and in their church that I just thought well it's time then for me to shoot down one of the negatives and shout some positive myself LOUDLY. When others speak a word of negative, can we counter it with a positive word? When someone speaks against another, can we just speak some truth over that? Because if we don't start, I'm scared of what those younger ones are going to be left to think. We all know those who turn the younger ones away by their attitudes or actions. Those who are a stumbling block or offense to them. Someone may have done that to you when you were younger, I know someone did that to me and some have done it to my own kids. Are they going to think that this Christian life is real and it makes a difference or are they going to think we are a bunch of complainers who want our way about everything? Are we going to have anyone behind us to hand the baton to and say run with it and are they going to take it or say no thank you? I know it's easy to think well what can I do or there's fewer of us or whatever but the early church started with a few and the more persecution there was the faster the gospel spread. So, that's why the "persecution" of a coward sending an email doesn't bother me so much, it's not even worthy of calling it persecution it's just annoying BUT we can use it to fire us up and energize us to stand firm together and be determined to MAKE a difference and BE different. It can be a catalyst to push us forward and I don't want to go backwards and I don't want to stand still. We can't afford to do that. There's too much at risk if we do...there's an entire generation at risk. So my challenge to anyone who wants to take it...
Look for the positive and then proclaim it. Speak the truth in love even if there's a cost. Look for an opportunity to encourage the younger ones. Share what Christ is doing in your life NOW, not 10 years ago, but what He is doing in your life NOW with someone who needs to hear.
I love you and am blessed to know so many who encourage me in the faith. Encourage someone else today. I'm taking the next few days and getting away, gonna be computer free, but surrounded by some of my favorite people. Have a Terrific Tuesday!!
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