Who Changed?

This time last week I was in another Country. A few of us were walking around one day and came upon a young man who was crippled. He sat on the sidewalk begging for money. I looked on him and my heart went out to him. At that moment there was an instant burden on my heart to go and pray over him and to pray for his healing. I was at once shocked and disgraced. I didn't have the faith to follow through.

Over the next few days I have thought about that moment a lot. Then last night I was talking to a friend of mine and he had been reading in the book of Acts. He was questioning me as to why God did not move in mirculous ways anymore. I responded that God does still move in miraculous ways. I have heard stories and had friends tell me of specific instances where they saw God move in amazing ways.

I have even heard Adrian Rogers tell of a time when he was preaching in India and at the invitation a man came down who was obviously possessed. He said the man was writhing on the ground uncontrollably. Dr. Rogers said he stepped of the platform and laid his hand on the man and rebuked the enemy asking God to free this man. At once the man went limp and rested on the ground. They raised him up and shared the Gospel with the man. The once possessed man was saved that day.

Do not tell me that God does not move in the miraculous anymore. He may not move that way in America but others around the world see Him move in the miraculous. So what is the deal????

Could it be that in our pursuit of the knowledge of God that we forgot to pursue Him. Could it be that we have a cold, dead orthodoxy devoid of the Power of the Spirit of God. Correct knowledge is fundamental, but if it is void of the power of God then what do we really have that will change lives and the world.

Only the Lord knows what would have happened if I had acted in obedience and prayed over that young man. The sad thing is that he could have been changed and I could have been used for the glory of God. Instead, there was an unchanged man and a disobedient servant in me. God forgive me. God forgive us for our lack of faith.

So who has changed? Do we serve a different God than that of Scriptures. I think not. God has not changed His people have...

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

2 Corinthians 3:5

Good Gift

Just got back from traveling. I worked this last week in a place that has by percentage has one of the least number of believers in Jesus Christ in the world. The statistics are that .006 % of people are followers of Christ. I spent much time in prayer in this place and God is moving in this there.

I have been profoundly effected by the lostness of this place. This morning I found myself weeping over it's lostness and how of the millions, so few have ever even had a chance to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. I also found myself weeping for the lostness of my own nation. I pray that God will open our eyes to our own need and how we must continue to take the Gospel to America.

The Lord has blessed me with the privelege of taking His message to many parts of the World. I have often wondered if He will give me a heart for a specific people. I know many friends who have been given such a heart for a particual people and it is incredible to see them give everything and go to take the Gospel. Yet, God also gives some the gift of a burden for the world. The weight of such a burden is more than any man can bare yet HE, The Giver of Every Good and Perfect Gift bows the knee and bends the back of some with a gift of sorrow for the nations and with heavy hearts we weep for the salvation of the nations and enter into the fellowship of His sufferings willingly.

To God be all honor, glory, and majesty. Let the Nations praise You and may Your followers be true to your heart, denying themselves and taking up our Cross to follow You and take the Message of Salvation to the Nations.

P.S. This Lost nation I was in last week was at one time saturated with the Gospel and now it is all but completely lost. May We Who are true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ take note and sense the urgency of this place and what it can shortly become if we fail to proclaim the Gospel clearly.

What if...

What if we, followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, went out from this day until the end of this year and focused on two things.
The first, one is being obedient to The Spirit of the Lord in our lives. When we are convicted we agree with the Lord and obey. When we are prompted to do something, we say "yes Lord". When the Lord says "keep your mouth shut" we obey. When the Lord says "speak" we open our mouths. As we yield to the work and word of the Lord, the Spirit of God will use us to literally change our world.
The second thing is that we return to the Lord and renew our commitment to obedience in the sharing of the Gospel. I talked with a friend this week and she was in tears because the lost friends that she had invited did not show up at our weekly bible study. Friends, that is a heart after God's own heart. I can guarantee you this...that lady who is broken for the lost is praying for those friends and continually looking for a way to reach out to them. I'll bet she is also careful to present a witness for Jesus Christ. She has "others" on her mind.

Be a faithful witness this week and seek to reach someone with the Gospel in the coming days.

Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy.

He who continually goes forth weeping,

Bearing seed for sowing,

Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,

Bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalm 126:5

To say the least, these past few weeks have been interesting. It's been one of those times where I have been awakened to the brevity of life. During these days I have spent some time contemplating life and what is really important. I have learned and been reminded of many things. One reality that I came to Tozier spoke of in The Pursuit of God. It has to do with allegiance of the heart.

In the Christian life one will often hear of accountability groups. Especially, between young men. It is good to have accountability in our lives but, what happens often is those groups become tools to keep us from doing certain things. Setting up rules in our lives are not a bad thing. I mean God gave the children of Israel the Law and in it contained the do's and dont's for the Israelites. So rules can't be all bad, right? Guess what...the Law didn't work to make the Children of Israel any holier. Instead, it showed them that they needed something far greater, more profound, and much more powerful than the Law. They needed to be changed from the inside out. Man's wicked heart cannot be changed by the bonds of religion of which the Pharisees of the New Testament are a good example. So young men coming together to have accountability to stay pure with their girlfriends, or to stay free from pornography is simply not enough.

So what is the answer? The answer is a passionate, hot hearted love for God. Sounds simple enough right? Follow me for a moment...

I love my wife Heather. What will keep me from having an affair with another woman? God's word forbids it right? Sure, but if that were enough then why would over 50% of "God's People" end up divorced with many due to extramarital affairs? The Command is not enough. So what will keep me from falling into the same mistakes that so many do. The answer is love.

If I love Heather more than anyone else then I will take precautions and set up boundaries to keep us both safe. Love for her motivates me to seek her out, to take care of her, and to protect her.
In the Christian life, Love is to motivate us in our relationship with God. If we love God at all it is because He first loved us and He demonstrated that love in that while we were still in our rebellious, broken and sinful state He sent His Son the Lord Jesus Christ to die for our sins. If we love God then we will seek Him, desire to know Him, and in the end we will obey Him.
If I love God more than__________(you fill in the blank) then it will cause me to both stay away from the sinful and pursue the Holy.

In your accountability group and in your life make the point and focus of your pursuit to grow in your love for God above all things whether it be the applause of men or the desires of the flesh and you will find yourself in obedience to the Greatest Command...."You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind"

My prayer: Lord, thank you for your love for us. I am continually amazed to experience your grace and mercy toward me. You know better than anyone the rebellious, sinful, selfish, and ugly state in which you found me. Yet, you loved me and set your affection upon me and saved me. I know that in me dwells no good thing. Unless you had given me Your Spirit and changed this heart, there would be no hope of me ever loving You.
Yet, You did change me and gave me the ability to love. I have known you over these years and still so many times I find myself loving this world and this life far too much. Father, forgive me and may I this day grow in my love for you as we spend time together. The more I know you, the more I love you. Lord, help this day to not be swayed by the things of this world that might cause me to forget so easily Your great love. In Jesus, I pray. Amen

He who has My commandments and keeps them,

it is he who loves Me.

And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father,

and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

John 14:21

Changes in Our Small Groups (wePods)

We are going to make some changes this fall in the way we handle our small groups. After much prayer, research, and deliberation we really believe it is in the best interest of our small group ministry to "close" the groups. This means that people will commit for the whole semester and to being a regular part and contributor to a small group as well as being faithful in attendance the the church with a desire to grow in your understanding of the Lord. The "closed" aspect means that people will not be allowed to join during the semester. This will encourage deeper relationships and trust within the groups as well as foster an atmosphere of mutual accountability in growing deeper in our love for God and for others. The Point of the small groups is to Grow Together in Christ and in their obedience to him. i.e, living a life on mission for God, obedience in your personal life, and using your God given gifts for the builiding up of the body of Christ

About midway through the semester we will have a betaPod for visitors and new members who wish to get plugged into a small group. These betaPods will last four weeks and train the new people about small groups and what is expected of them in a wePod. Then the next semester they can join a wePod with the full understanding of the commitment to God and to others in the body.

Billy Just sent out an event sign up for "The Leaf" group on facebook. if you wish to be a part of wePods this fall you MUST sign up.

God bless you all, Chad, Billy, and the Leadership Team

Freedom

Happy 4th of July! This is an incredible holiday in which we celebrate the beginning of our country's struggle for freedom. We know how the story turns out but, I wonder what those early signers to the Declaration thought? Undoubtedly they considered the thoughts of dying in a fight for freedom better than living under tyranny for the rest of their lives.

Living in America today, it is hard to understand the importance of freedom because it is all we have ever experience. But, all you needs to do is travel to a foreign country where there is no real freedom and you can begin to get a taste. My travels abroad have only deepened my respect for our country and the blessing it is to live in a place where i can live, raise a family, and express my thoughts and actions without fear. I am not saying America is perfect, but i can tell you for sure there is a reason that people swim across rivers to get here, work for years to get visas to enter the States, and leave all that they know for a chance to come here. It is because America is a land of hope...

Yes, in America you have the chance to live in freedom and build a life. The reason people come here is Freedom and where there is freedom mankind understands intuitively there is hope.

With all that being said freedom outwardly is secondary to freedom of the soul. Jesus said Then " to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, ...Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." -John 8:31-35

You see it is possible to live in free America and be bound by sin. It is possible to live in a nation where there is hope yet in your soul find none. I have found the following to be true in life... no matter where one lives or what circumstances we find ourselves, if Jesus has set you free then you are free indeed. This freedom is not bound by outward circumstances but the inward reality of being free from sin. Where there is freedom from sin, there is hope that transcends. It transcends circumstances and ultimately transcends even death itself. This freedom in Christ leads to hope eternal and that is real freedom.

This July 4 I am thankful for the freedom that The Son offers and I am thankful that I can enjoy it in the freedom of America.

Busy!

The last few weeks have been amazing! We kicked off our summer with all the students coming back home, working on some new outreach stuff, and in the middle of it all Heather and I had our 4th boy! James Daniel. (JD) He is sweet and seems to be pretty laid back. The other boys really like him and want to hold him occasionally. Winston (Golden Retriever) had the most questions. Everytime JD would cry in those first two weeks, Winston would walk up all worried and put His big old cold wet nose on him. It was really funny to watch.

Then last week Troy and Alyssa were married out on the outer banks. Alyssa was beautiful and we did the best we could with Troy:). It was such a beautiful wedding. It could have had to do with the beach, sunset, gentle breeze and such. :)

With all that said, I am hopefully back on my feet somewhat??? And will be back in the habit of writing. There are a lot of things on my my mind that I would love to write on. Especially things that we have talked about this summer in Rev714. ch