Topic: Tune In to the Spirit of Grace [Thursday October 12, 2017]
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. – Titus 2:11-12
Grace teaches us! The “Spirit of grace” instructs us from the inside. Let the Holy Spirit of God counsel you and teach you how to live in this present world. If you listen to the voice of the world, you will be worldly minded, or carnally minded, which is death. But, if you tune in to the voice of the Spirit of grace, you can become spiritually minded. And, according to the Word, that is life and peace. So, when the Spirit of God speaks to you through that still, small voice inside your heart, listen and obey Him. His way works! Trust Him and remember that He’s got your well-being in mind.
Maybe He’s asking you to eliminate some activity that’s consuming too much of your time and attention. Or maybe He’s prompting you to get up a little earlier and spend more time in the Word and in prayer. Whatever it is He is telling you to do, if you’ll do it, you’ll be stronger in the grace of God, and consequently, in the blessing of God.
Don’t hesitate another moment. Do it! If you want a change, make a change.
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:3-8
This message was written by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, the leader of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries (www.KCM.org) that specializes in teaching principles of bible faith – prayer, healing, salvation and other biblical topics.
The church member may have meant well, but her words stung the new pastor. After all, he had been at the church for only three months, and he had already heard that sentiment expressed more than a dozen times.
He knew he would be living in the shadow of a legend. He just had no idea how big that shadow would be.
There are several succession situations for pastors that are often more difficult than others, I know. I hear about them almost every day. Here are five of the most common:
The long-term pastor. If a previous pastor has been at the church ten or more years, you can be assured the current pastor will hear many comparisons. Every pastor brings a new culture to the church. It often takes church members a few years to adjust.
The church-splitting pastor. This pastor left mad. Perhaps the pastor was fired or left angry about something that happened in the church. Instead of finding another church in another community, the pastor decides to start a church in the same community. Church members follow the pastor. When the new pastor arrives, he often has to deal with hurting and angry members. Some of the members will actually have family splits over choosing churches. It’s not a fun situation to lead.
The moral failure pastor. When there is pastoral moral failure, church members are hurt. Some are angry. Many of the congregants don’t know if they can trust a pastor again. The new pastor walks into a very difficult situation. He now has to pay for the sins of his predecessor.
The omnipresent pastor. This pastor seemed like he visited every member every month. He was in homes. He attended all events. He visited the hospital fifteen times a day. He counseled people every day. He went to funerals and weddings he did not officiate. He was the superman pastor. Except that his family suffered greatly. Except that the church suffered because he would never let go. He just enjoyed the attention too much. And now the remaining members want to know why the new pastor is not visiting them in their homes nine days a week.
The oratorical pastor. The previous pastor could preach with seemingly unmatched excellence. His sermons were legendary. He had more downloads to his podcasts than the current pastor has hairs on his head. Comparisons are frequent and not flattering for the new guy. And downloads are lower by 97 percent.
Does this situation sound familiar to some of you pastors?
Remember, your identity is in Christ.
Be comfortable in how God made and wired you.
You have nothing to prove in the comparison game.
Persevere.
This season of dealing with the past will fade into new opportunities that will cause members to look to the future with excitement and anticipation.
Topic: Christianity Is Serious [Thursday October 12, 2017]
Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only . . . — James 1:22
Jesus indicated that there will be a permissive society just before He comes back. “As in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the coming of the Son of man.” The world today is on an immoral binge that has not been known since the days of Rome. We are in a hedonistic society, and what we are seeing is human nature expressing itself without God. Many have fallen into an antinomianism in which they believe intellectually and then go out and live like the devil, imagining that God will forgive them and take them to heaven. I believe there is an obedience to the Gospel, there is a self-denial and a bearing of the cross, if you are to be a follower of Christ. Being a Christian is serious business.
Prayer for the day: Teach me to deny my selfish desires and obey Your commandments, Lord Jesus. Cleanse me so that I might be used to penetrate society deeply for You.
Written by Billy Graham, Founder of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association(BGEA). BGEA exists to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by every effective means and to equip the church and others to do the same.
Topic: Communion Is Sacred – Thursday October 12, 2017.
Luke 22:19 “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.”
Text: Luke 22:19
The bread of communion symbolizes the body of Jesus which was broken for us through His sufferings. He not only died for us on the cross but also bore 39 stripes on His back by which we are healed. Partaking of communion should remind us of the emotional and physical salvation that Jesus provided for us. The Lord’s Supper comes from a part of the Passover meal that was celebrated only once a year. However, the early Christian church took Communion weekly and sometimes daily. There is no specific frequency of the Lord’s Supper prescribed in scripture.
As we take Communion, we are solemnly proclaiming the Lord’s death, and our union with Him and with others through that death. This is a profession of our faith and therefore, there are serious consequences for those who profess something they don’t possess.
It is most likely that what makes a person worthy or unworthy is whether or not he is born again. This is also totally consistent with the doctrine of grace that Paul constantly preached. There were unbelievers among the true Christians just as Jesus prophesied, and this still exists today. It is a dangerous offense for an unbeliever to take the Lord’s Supper. When taking Communion, each person should examine himself to see whether or not he is in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5).
This message was written by The Association of Related Ministries International (ARMI) is an extension of Andrew Wommack Ministries (AWM). ARMI is a unique partnership committed to providing resources to help like-minded ministers succeed in a spirit of excellence and to draw from the experience and expertise of both the AWM and Charis Bible College staff. (www.awmi.net).
Topic: The Good Shepherd — Thursday October 12, 2017.
Read: Isaiah 40:6–11, Bible in a Year: Isaiah 39–40; Colossians 4 He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart. Isaiah 40:11
I sat in the hospital room with my husband, waiting anxiously. Our young son was having corrective eye surgery and I felt the butterflies jostle in my stomach as I fretted and worried. I tried to pray, asking God to give me His peace. As I leafed through my Bible, I thought about Isaiah 40, so I turned to the familiar passage, wondering if anything fresh would strike me. As I read, I caught my breath, for the words from so many years ago reminded me that the Lord “tends his flock like a shepherd” as He “gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart” (v. 11). In that moment my anxiety left me as I realized the Lord was holding us, leading us, and caring for us. That was just what I needed, Lord, I breathed silently. I felt enveloped in God’s peace during and after the surgery (which thankfully went well).
The Lord promised His people through the prophet Isaiah that He would be their shepherd, guiding them in their daily lives and giving them comfort. We too can know His gentle tending as we tell Him our anxious thoughts and seek His love and peace. We know that He is our Good Shepherd, holding us close to His heart and carrying us in His everlasting arms.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. Thank You for the gift of Your sacrificial love and for the peace that passes all understanding.
The Good Shepherd cares for His sheep.
Insight:
Isaiah 40 starts a significant shift in the book of Isaiah, from grief and pronouncements of judgment for Israel’s sin, to a note of rock-solid comfort (v. 1), forgiveness, and healing—based entirely on God’s mercy and goodness. When the prophet wonders whether the people are too weak and fickle for this message, he is reminded that God’s restoration is not based on them, but only on God’s powerful word (v. 8).
In fact, Isaiah 40 is the first Old Testament text that explicitly articulates the theme of “good news” (v. 9) so important in the New Testament. This good news is that God’s powerful love in our lives does not depend on us. Despite our sin, we can always rely on our merciful God who will both tenderly care for us like a shepherd (v. 11) and, like a mighty warrior (v. 10), powerfully transform our lives.
In order to trust God with our deepest struggles, why do we need Him to be both tender like a shepherd and powerful like a warrior? Monica Brands
This message was written By Amy Boucher Pye [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]
“I was agnostic going into that concert and I’m a firm believer in God now,” Taylor Benge told CNN after surviving the Las Vegas shooting. He explained: “Because there’s no way that all of that happened and that I made it and I was blessed enough to still be here alive talking to you today.”
One man responded on social media by quoting atheist Sam Harris: “Either God can do nothing to stop catastrophes like this, or he doesn’t care to, or he doesn’t exist. God is either impotent, evil, or imaginary. Take your pick, and choose wisely.”
There’s another option.
God created us with free will so we could choose to love him and each other (Matthew 22:37, 39). But freedom without consequences is not free. If I choose not to go to work but God miraculously transports me to my office, I have no real choice in the matter.
Of course, we would like God to prevent horrific misuses of freedom such as the Las Vegas shooting. But logically, he could not honor our freedom while preventing its results, no matter how tragic they are.
Here’s the problem: sometimes in the Bible, that’s just what he did.
When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were condemned by King Nebuchadnezzar to the fiery furnace, God protected them from the fire (Daniel 3:27). When Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den, God sent an angel to shut the predators’ mouths (Daniel 6:22). When Herod imprisoned Peter, the Lord sent an angel to free him (Acts 12:6–11).
If God could protect these men from the consequences of misused freedom, why did he not protect those who were killed or injured in Las Vegas? Why did he not protect the victims of the Holocaust or 9/11?
It seems to me that we have three options.
One: God is capricious.
Grieving the death of his wife, C. S. Lewis noted, “The conclusion I dread is not ‘So there’s no God after all,’ but ‘So this is what God’s really like. Deceive yourself no longer.’” Perhaps God loves some people more than others. Perhaps some of us are more important to his purposes than others.
But “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Therefore, his character requires him to love us all unconditionally. He loved those who died in Las Vegas no less than those who survived.
Two: God has reasons he won’t explain to us.
Perhaps our Creator is unwilling to explain himself to his creation. But he invites us to “reason together” with him (Isaiah 1:18)—the Hebrew means to “argue it out.” He wants us to love him “with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
Three: God has reasons we cannot understand.
When God allows or prevents the consequences of misused human freedom, he must have reasons that are consistent with his loving heart. But if he is God and we are not, it is only logical that his thoughts would be higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9). A math teacher cannot teach calculus to a toddler. Even God cannot explain what we cannot comprehend.
Here’s the good news: in heaven “I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). So will you.
I do not know why God allowed the tragedy in Las Vegas. But I do know that he redeems all he allows and that he is love. The less we understand our Father’s ways, the more we need to trust his heart.
Trump’s executive order is expected this week and would allow businesses and other groups to buy health insurance together.
Critics are worried those health plans would not be regulated by the same rules as Obamacare plans, such as the law that people with pre-existing conditions are protected.
Trump’s order could make plans cheaper for healthier people, while the Obamacare marketplace would be used primarily for sicker people. Eventually, that could cause a hike in premium costs, according to TheHill.com.
“If this executive order is anything like the rumors then it could have a huge impact on stability of the individual insurance market,” said Larry Levitt, a health policy expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Supporters of Trump’s executive order say it would free up the healthcare marketplace and actually, lower prices for Americans.
Allowing people more affordable arrangements is not a bad thing,” said Kevin Kuhlman, director of government relations at the National Federation of Independent Businesses.
Association health plans, where people are able to band together to purchase a plan, already exist, but Trump’s change could allow them to get around Obamacare rules.
The changes “will lead to less [insurers] playing in this market and potentially a sicker risk pool which translates to higher premiums,” said Kevin Lucia, a professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Health Insurance Reforms.
(Photo: Facebook/Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego)The California headquarters for the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, California.
A Roman Catholic Church bishop recently oversaw a mass for the LGBT community and their family members, with an emphasis on both being welcoming and having respectful disagreement.
Auxiliary Bishop John Dolan of the Diocese of San Diego oversaw the mass on Saturday at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church.
The worship service was held in honor of the 20th anniversary of the release of the Catholic Church pastoral document “Always Our Children,” which focused on how to minister to parents with homosexual children.
The San Diego Diocese directed The Christian Post to a copy of Bishop Dolan’s homily, in which he noted that “Always Our Children” received criticism from both liberals and conservatives.
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REUTERS/NAVESH CHITRAKARA man is shown here holding on to a flag representing the LGBT community during the South Asia Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Sports Fest in Kathmandu, Nepal.
“It was too left-leaning for some; even though the bishops then made it clear that the letter was not breaking any new ground on sexual morality, chastity, and mature sexual development according to Sacred Scripture and Tradition,” said Dolan.
“The document was also too right-leaning for others; especially as the language used in the document regarding homosexuality seemed stilted and even offensive to many in the gay community.”
Dolan went on to note that since the release of the pastoral message, dialogue between the Church and the LGBT community has not always been “fruitful or civil.”
“Ad hominem attacks and lies about those with whom we disagree must always be avoided,” continued Dolan.
“Civil discourse and fruitful dialogue cannot be forfeited by those who uphold the teachings of the Church and/or by those who struggle to incorporate our teachings within their personal lives.”
The Saturday mass was not without its critics, as a small number of Catholics protested outside of the church, with one telling the San Diego Union Tribune that she considered the “Always Our Children” document “flawed.”
“The Church is bending with the cultural zeitgeist. The Church is bending with the times and with the pervasiveness of homosexual activism throughout the country and indeed the globe,” said the protester, as quoted by the Tribune.
“And we feel the Church should stand strong as a bulwark against cultural trends. … Our concern today is the Church is becoming too accommodating to homosexuality.”
(Photo: The Christian Post/Brandon Showalter)Christians sing and worship at the Arkansas tent, one of 58 tents set up at the National Mall during America’s Tent of Meeting sponsored by Awaken the Dawn, Washington, D.C. on October 7, 2017.(Photo: The Christian Post/Brandon Showalter)Christians sing and worship at the Texas tent, one of 58 tents set up at the National Mall during America’s Tent of Meeting sponsored by Awaken the Dawn, Washington, D.C. on October 8, 2017.(Photo: The Christian Post/Brandon Showalter)Christians sing and worship at the Delaware tent, one of 58 tent camps set up at the National Mall during the America’s Tent of Meeting sponsored by Awaken the Dawn, Washington, D.C. on October 7, 2017.(Photo: The Christian Post/Brandon Showalter)Fifty-eight tents representing all 50 states and eight regions line the National Mall where Christians from all walks of life are coming together to sing, worship, read scripture and pray together during America’s Tent of Meeting sponsored by Awaken the Dawn, Washington, D.C. on October 7, 2017.(Photo: The Christian Post/Brandon Showalter)Christians sing and worship inside the Virginia tent, one of 58 tents set up at the National Mall during the America’s Tent of Meeting sponsored by Awaken the Dawn, Washington, D.C. on October 7, 2017.
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WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of Christians from every state in the U.S. have assembled on the National Mall this weekend to sing and worship in dozens of tents and pray for a “spiritual shift” in America.
America’s Tent of Meeting, is sponsored by Awaken the Dawn and several other partner organizations for the express purpose of focusing on Jesus and to pray for a nation in crisis. ATM began Friday night with a call to repentance on the main stage where an estimated 30,000 people were in attendance park police said, according to an and event organizer.
“I see Awaken the Dawn as part of a bigger story that God is telling,” said Michael Beardslee of Phoenix, Arizona, in an interview with The Christian Post outside the New Mexico prayer tent. Beardslee works for a nonprofit volunteer engagement agency and has just begun doctoral studies at Grand Canyon University.
“There is a story that the enemy is telling in our nation, and he likes a lot of attention and he gets the attention a lot of the time,” he said. But it’s God’s story that will prevail, he added.
Beardslee has been praying and fasting for revival to sweep the nation for the past 20 years. He is a member of New Promise Christian Fellowship, a nondenominational church in Phoenix, which hosts the Phoenix House of Prayer, a weekly regional prayer meeting.
“I don’t know what God’s going to do and how He’s going to do it, but I know He works in mysterious ways.”
He was inspired by the vision of ATD, calling people from all 50 states to come and worship on America’s front yard in front of the Capitol, and he took time off work to make the journey with his parents.
Tens of thousands more are expected to attend over the course of the weekend, with various evangelistic equipping sessions planned and round-the-clock prayer in the tents until the event concludes Monday morning. Fifty-eight prayer tents, one for each state and eight regional tents are stationed all along the National Mall grounds. Speaker include Mike Bickle of the International House of Prayer, Francis Chan of We Are Church, Heidi Baker of Iris Global, Shawn Bolz of Expressions 58 and several others.
The vision for all 50 states to gather around the worth of Jesus and exalt Him, as articulated by The Prayer Furnace’s David Bradshaw in an interview with CP, was what inspired Christy Holt to make the trip to Washington from Pensacola, Florida, to participate.
“I came because there is unity when all gather together and when they said there were going to be 50 tents on the mall. I love D.C. and I love the fact that every state is represented in our union,” Holt told CP in an interview outside the Smithsonian.
“With our country and the mess that it’s in and the disunity, I thought ‘Lord Jesus, thank you that somebody got a vision of unity and of what that would look like.'”
She made a point to say that everything that happens in the nation’s capital trickles down into the rest of the country and she wanted to come to intercede for her home state and to pray against the bitter division operating in the country.
Marcie Lowe, a friend of Holt’s, who was born in Ohio but is now based in Florida and is currently working in North Dakota, told CP with a chuckle, “I’m tent-hopping, I really am.” She is taking the time to pray and worship in several states’ tents.
“My heart is for so many states in the union, but first and foremost for the United States of America. If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. And we’re taking a stand for Jesus,” Lowe said of their presence in Washington.
“The whole world sees that we need Jesus. The whole world sees that we need to make a move for faith, for justice, and for liberty for all. It’s time right now. It’s [2 Chronicles] 7:14 ‘if my people who are called according to my name.’ We need to humble ourselves and we need to seek His face, and pray. And we need to do it right now. We need to show God that we are on His side once and for all.”
Likewise, Angel Sweazy traveled to the District from Nevada. She is a member of Horizon Christian Church, a nondenominational evangelical congregation in Reno. With her husband she is pioneering a YWAM base there and believes the timing of America’s Tent of Meeting is significant given the recent horror in her home state.
Last Sunday, gunman Stephen Paddock murdered 58 people attending a country music festival in Las Vegas, using high-powered firearms from his 32nd floor Mandalay Bay hotel room.
“The enemy overplayed his cards this time, because what he planned for evil, the Lord has just come in and said, ‘But I can make good out of everything,” Sweazy said.
As CP reported earlier this week, a man who said he was an atheist told CNN that the only way he escaped was with God’s help, and he’s now a believer.
A “major spiritual shift” happened Friday night as thousands have begun praying, Sweazy continued, noting that she could sense the change in the air.
And God “is speaking through each one of these 50 tents,” she said, remarking on how God’s people are all uniquely praising Him.
Although the darkness is intensifying and Revelation 12-like events are happening, she said, “this is the time for us [as Christians] to stand up and say, ‘Yes. Yes and amen to what God has planned and we don’t need to be afraid at all because, as a city and as a nation, we can see this is really bad but He told us this was going to happen,” and that He has great plans in store for America.
“He is coming, and there is so much excitement in the air knowing that,” she emphasized.
Restored, an international Christian domestic abuse education charity, and Churches Together in Cumbria, which delivers domestic abuse training to churches across Cumbria, connected with the institutions to launch a survey on Wednesday.
The researchers want to hear from anyone who attends a church in Cumbria, to ask them their views about whether and how their church is responding to domestic abuse.
The Crime Survey in England and Wales found that approximately one in four women and one in seven men have experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16.
Researchers added that in Cumbria alone police are called to, on average, 17 incidents of domestic abuse each day.
They said it’s the first major survey research into churchgoers and domestic abuse in the UK, and hope it will lead to a major national study.
Dr Kristin Aune, Senior Research Fellow at Coventry University and the project’s lead researcher, told Premier: “Organisations like Restored are working to try and train churches about how to deal with domestic abuse and sometimes churches say ‘well it’s not an issue for us’, so this research is going to show if it is an issue, which we sadly think it will be.”
Experts at Coventry University are also investigating the prevalence of the issue within families who go to church. They’re concerned domestic abuse remains a hidden problem at church.
Paula, a survivor of abuse, told Restored: “Many Christian women who are victims of domestic abuse end up having to leave their church.
“This happened to me and I still grieve for the fellowship that I was part of for years.”
Dr Aune told Premier: “People put on their nice clothes for church, put a smile on their face and someone asks them ‘are you okay?’. They say ‘I’m fine’ and they [other people] have no idea what’s actually happening at home and the abuser could even be someone who goes to church too.
“Of course, it’s a sensitive thing to have to talk about but until we actually address as a church these really difficult problems that are in our midst, we can’t move forward and work for change.”
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