Adversity

Have you come to realize that adversity is part of life. In his book entitled Trusting God Jerry Bridges writes about adversity.

Bridges reminds us that adversity comes in three different ways…

1. Some adversity is sudden, traumatic and devasting

2. Some adversity is chronic and persistent

3. Some adversity comes in small doses throughout our daily lives that tends to rob us of our peace.

No matter where you find yourself today I want to remind you of three things that you must believe as you face adversity…

1. God is completely sovereign

2. God is infinite in wisdom

3. God is perfect in love.

Jesus say’s…
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:27 NKJV

Integrity

We are in the process of starting a new church in Bemidji and in the meantime we are privileged to attend Country Faith. Country Faith is actually our sending church and we are excited to have a church home while we start Destiny Fellowship.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to share the Word on a Sunday morning. Here is an overview of my message….

The word integrity means to be whole or complete. The Latin root word in math for a whole number is integer. Just as we would talk about a whole number, so also we can talk about a whole person, one who is undivided. A person of integrity is living rightly, not divided, nor being a different person in different circumstances.

Proverbs 10:9 NKJV He who walks with integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will become known.
Proverbs 11:3 NKJV The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.
Proverbs 28:18 NKJV Whoever walks blamelessly will be saved, but he who is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.

Synopsis…
A life lived without integrity is like living on a slippery slope.
A life lived with integrity is like traveling on a well-lit road at night.

Being a man or woman of integrity means that we are the same person wherever we go and whatever we do.

There are 4 places or environments that make up our lives… there is our private life (my thoughts and actions), the personal (family), the professional (work place), the public (community at large).

Here are 4 things we can do in order to stay off the slippery slope and to stay on the well -lit path that integrity provides.

Develop and maintain a close relationship with God.

If you talk to people who have had major breach of integrity in their lives they will tell you that their devotion life was non-existent or severely depleted.

Learn to say “NO”!

Titus 2:11-13
11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ

Be willing to stand alone!

Know that compromise leads to heartache, not joy; regret, not fulfillment; loss, not gain; calamity and destruction, not life.

The Gospel and the Poor

I always find it interesting when a subject is on my heart and then within a few days I come across someone who is thinking and saying the same thing. That is the case again this week. During our Sunday evening Bible Study, this past week, our main subject was about the gospel and I mentioned that in the next month or so that we would do a study regarding what the Bible has to say about the poor. Then today I see that Dave Ferguson sums up these two topics over on his blog today. Read what he has to say…

If the world were a village of 100 people, 67 of those people would. not know the good news and grace of Jesus Christ. If the world were a village of 100 people, 20 of those people would live on less than a dollar a day. The mission of Jesus is to change all that!

In a previous generation we had the fight over whether the good news of Jesus was to “seek and save the lost” or to “to bring good news to the poor”. The answer is both. Those of us that want to see people become Christ Followers and go to Heaven forever do not have to be afraid of a “social gospel”. And those of us who want to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the least of these do not have to be afraid of only “saving souls.” Jesus had one mission and he came to do both!

The mission of Jesus is to reach the 67 and the 20. Two stats, one mission!

Thanks Dave for a timely post today!

What is missing?

Do you find yourself knowing what God wants you to be doing in life yet there is no action taking place? Maybe its a life calling or it could just be a specific one-time God assignment but nevertheless you are stuck in neutral. What’s missing?

I believe it takes two things to become active in our God assignments.

The first is discipline. Do we have what it takes to get the job done. For me I often know what needs to be done but will I be consistent day in and day out in seeing the the task completed?

Secondly, we need courage. Courage is having the strength to step out, in spite of fear, into unchartered territory. As a Christ-follower we take this step by faith knowing that God will be there. Many times throughout the Bible God only appears after someone takes the initial leap. Are you waiting on God or is He waiting on you?

So what about you, what is needed today? Courage or discipline? Do you need to make that initial leap of faith or do you need the discipline to continue on the road to fulfilling your God sized assignment?

Answer to Prayer

Today is the day! We finally sold our travel trailer. Actually someone bought it last week but today is when we collect the money and transfer the title. It took 9 months but a buyer has come forth. I never imagined it would take this long to sell but I know that God is in control and His ways and timing are perfect.

The trailer served its purpose housing us during the summer of 2005 and 2006. Thankfully this past summer we were in our house. Now someone else can benefit from this unit. It served us well!

Now its time for our 97 Ford F-250 to go because it is no longer needed. We are heating the house with wood and have a big driveway so its time to look for an older 4×4 pick-up with a plow. One that will push some snow and give me something to load firewood into. Isn’t it interesting, we are not even finished with this winter and I’m already planning for the next.

Lord, thank-you for sending a buyer for the travel trailer and now we pray that you send a buyer for the pick-up, Amen!

Destiny Fellowship

I would like to give you an update on the progress of Destiny Fellowship. DF is a new church that we are starting in Bemidji. Yes, I moved from Phoenix to Bemidji to start a new church. 

You might be asking, ”where do you begin”? After all there are many things that are needed to begin a new church. I believe the most important item needed is not money or a building but rather it is people. Yes, money and a place to meet is needed but a building is not a church, a church is… people. 

Therefore, our first goal and priority is to invite people to join us on this journey to see a new church established in Bemidji. The good news is that we are seeing people come together and relationships are being formed. In fact this week I have a family to contact who are interested in DF. I love telling people about the vision that God has given me regarding this new church and how they can play a part in seeing this vision come to pass.

If you live in the Bemidji area and would like more information regarding DF please feel free contact me at keith@destinyfellowshipbemidji.com. We would love for you to join us on Sunday evenings from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm as we connect with God and with one another.

Blogging Break Over

I have had much going on over the last few weeks and my blogging took a nose dive. Writing is a discipline and its easy for other things things to crowd in and take over if we don’t guard our time. I could make excuses but I don’t like to use the word “busy”. I know for myself that I can identify many things that I waste my time on and could be a better steward in that area. Here are two things that has demanded my time…

1. Christmas tree season at work has demanded extra hours

2. Newly installed wood furnace that has caused me to spend much time in research and in trial and error in getting the thing to operate efficiently

I think both of them are under control again so I shouldn’t have any excuses for another break for some time

Questions People Ask About God

Tough Questions

 

Question #5

Why doesn’t some of the Bible hold up to tests? i.e. “These signs will follow those that believe, they shall cast out demons, the lame will walk the blind will see, the deaf will hear the dead will rise…” etc.  “If you have the faith of a mustard seed you will move mountains.”

 

Part 2

 

Today is the final day in the series of post on Tough Questions. I want to conclude today by talking about faith. Yesterday we ended by stating that unbelief on the part of the recipient and on the part of the person praying is more than likely the source of why we don’t see more people healed than we currently do today. Additionally, it’s unbelief that causes us to not see more power in our lives and keeps us from receiving all that God has for you and I.

 

What kind of faith are we to have? Jesus referred to this kind of faith as “great faith”! In Matthew 8:10 and Matthew 15:28 Jesus commends the Centurion and the Canaanite woman for have “great faith”. What is “great faith”? In order for us to have this kind of faith requires us to trust God in ALL circumstances and remain true to Him. We must remain faithful even when it appears that God is unaware of our situation. I can identify with the man in Mark 9:24(b) who say’s, “(Jesus)…help me overcome my unbelief”.

 May we be encouraged by Jesus’ words found in Mark 9:23 “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

Questions People Ask About God

Tough Questions 

Question#5

 Part #1

 Why doesn’t some of the Bible hold up to tests? i.e. “These signs will follow those that believe, they shall cast out demons, the lame will walk the blind will see, the deaf will hear the dead will rise…” etc.  “If you have the faith of a mustard seed you will move mountains.” 

I believe that the reason we don’t see these things occurring today has all to do with us. God hasn’t changed, He won’t change! That good news for us. If God said these things could happen then why don’t they?  

The disciples of Jesus failed these “tests” too. I’m not sure we should find comfort in that but Jesus was constantly trying to teach them to get their eyes of this world and to focus on His Kingdom.  My personal belief is that we are not seeing these things happen for the following reasons… 

1. unbelief of the recepient Mark 6:1-6
2. unbelief of the person praying Matthew 17:14-21

 Tomorrow we will look at how we can obtain the faith that God requires of us.

Questions People Ask About God

Question #4 

If we are born into sin, and we’re in a world of sin, that means there is a consequence for everything.  When someone gets hurt, is it always the will of God that they be healed?  

I believe God’s healing is available to everyone, even to those who may have contributed to their own injuries. However, as you can already figure out on your own that not everyone gets healed. I wish I knew why, it would seem to be that the problem lies on our end and not God’s  For instance I believe that there are two main hindrances that keep people from receiving healing. Things like…

1. unconfessed sin (James 5:16)
2. unbelief (Mark 6:3-6)

Here are some action steps to take in order to receive healing…

1. Be in a right relationship with God
2. Read the Bible and claim God’s promises of healing found there
3. Ask the Elder’s of the church to pray for you
4. Ask for family and friends to pray for you
5. Expect a miracle
6. Ask God what He would have you to learn while you wait on Him for your healing
7. Rejoice in God whether you receive healing or you don’t

Remember, don’t get bent out of shape if you don’t receive your healing, rest in the fact that God is sovereign and trust Him explicitly. I know it sounds like a cliché but its been said that God responds to us in three ways in response to our prayers.

1. yes
2. no
3. not yet

Remember that God’s grace is sufficient for you!