I encourage you to listen to this song.
Communion Hymn
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Ready....set.......GO!!
This Sunday, August 1st, is our official launch day of New Covenant Baptist Church! We have been training our Core Group since May 23rd and now we are going to start taking members. We are a Southern Baptist Church and we are looking forward to planting other churches in the future and actively being on mission for the Lord!
You can go to the churches website for more details.
www.ncbconeonta.org
You can go to the churches website for more details.
www.ncbconeonta.org
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Final Day of State Side Impact Missions
Today missionaries went out for the last day to the streets of New Orleans to share the Gospel. Pray that others will come and water the seeds we have planted and that God would bring the increase. I am very thankful for all the churches that came along side our ministry to share the Gospel. It was hard work!
We do not share some cheap message of easy believism, we urge people to repent. Our goal was to give a personal warning to each person we could. This warning is because we have all broken God's law and justly deserve His wrath. Then we urged them to repent of their sins and trust Christ.
Many rejected Christ. Pray God will be merciful and give them another opportunity. Some received the message. Pray that it was good soil!
Pray for souls! Only God can save!!
We do not share some cheap message of easy believism, we urge people to repent. Our goal was to give a personal warning to each person we could. This warning is because we have all broken God's law and justly deserve His wrath. Then we urged them to repent of their sins and trust Christ.
Many rejected Christ. Pray God will be merciful and give them another opportunity. Some received the message. Pray that it was good soil!
Pray for souls! Only God can save!!
How to Love One Another: Affirm, Share, and Serve
From Justin Taylor's Blog
Most of us are familiar with the “one another” commands of the New Testament. In the study guide for
Affirm
1. Affirm one another’s strengths, abilities, and gifts.
Romans 12:10: “Honor one another”
James 5:9: “Don’t grumble against each other”
Romans 12:3-8: Confirm the gifts of one another
2. Affirm one another’s equal importance in Christ.
Romans 15:7: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you”
1 Corinthians 12:25: “Have equal concern for each other”
1 Peter 5:5: “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another”
James 2:1: “Don’t show favoritism”
3. Affirm one another through visible affection.
Romans 16:16: “Greet one another with a holy kiss”
James 1:19: “Be quick to listen, slow to speak”
Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another”
1 Thessalonians 3:12: “[May] your love increase and overflow for each other”
Share
4. Share one another’s space, goods, and time.
Romans 12:10: “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love”
1 Peter 4:9: “Offer hospitality to one another”
Galatians 6:10: “As we have opportunity, let us do good”
5. Share one another’s needs and problems.
Galatians 6:2: “Carry each other’s burdens”
1 Thessalonians 5:11: “Encourage one another”
Hebrews 3:13: “Encourage one another daily”
6. Share one another’s beliefs, thinking, and spirituality.
Colossians 3:16: “Teach and admonish one another”
Ephesians 5:19: “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs”
Romans 12:16: “Live in harmony with one another”
1 Corinthians 1:10: “Agree with one another”
Serve
7. Serve one another through accountability.
James 5:16: “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other”
Romans 15:14: “Instruct one another”
Ephesians 4:25: “Speak truthfully”
8. Serve one another through forgiveness and reconciliation.
Ephesians 4:2: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love”
Colossians 3:13: “Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another”
Galatians 5:25: Don’t provoke or envy one another
James 4:11: “Do not slander one another”
Matthew 5:23-24; 18:15: Reestablish broken relationships with one another
9. Serve one another’s interests rather than our own.
Hebrews 10:24: “spur one another on toward love and good deeds”
Romans 15:1-2: Don’t please yourself but please others
Galatians 5:13: “Serve one another”
Most of us are familiar with the “one another” commands of the New Testament. In the study guide for
Gospel in Life: Grace Changes Everything, Tim Keller offers a helpful taxonomy under the categories of affirming one another, sharing with one another, and serving one another. These form, he says, “nine ‘community-building practices’—specific behaviors that build Christian community.” For a more detailed unpacking of each point, see pp. 58-71.
Affirm
1. Affirm one another’s strengths, abilities, and gifts.
Romans 12:10: “Honor one another”
James 5:9: “Don’t grumble against each other”
Romans 12:3-8: Confirm the gifts of one another
2. Affirm one another’s equal importance in Christ.
Romans 15:7: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you”
1 Corinthians 12:25: “Have equal concern for each other”
1 Peter 5:5: “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another”
James 2:1: “Don’t show favoritism”
3. Affirm one another through visible affection.
Romans 16:16: “Greet one another with a holy kiss”
James 1:19: “Be quick to listen, slow to speak”
Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another”
1 Thessalonians 3:12: “[May] your love increase and overflow for each other”
Share
4. Share one another’s space, goods, and time.
Romans 12:10: “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love”
1 Peter 4:9: “Offer hospitality to one another”
Galatians 6:10: “As we have opportunity, let us do good”
5. Share one another’s needs and problems.
Galatians 6:2: “Carry each other’s burdens”
1 Thessalonians 5:11: “Encourage one another”
Hebrews 3:13: “Encourage one another daily”
6. Share one another’s beliefs, thinking, and spirituality.
Colossians 3:16: “Teach and admonish one another”
Ephesians 5:19: “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs”
Romans 12:16: “Live in harmony with one another”
1 Corinthians 1:10: “Agree with one another”
Serve
7. Serve one another through accountability.
James 5:16: “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other”
Romans 15:14: “Instruct one another”
Ephesians 4:25: “Speak truthfully”
8. Serve one another through forgiveness and reconciliation.
Ephesians 4:2: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love”
Colossians 3:13: “Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another”
Galatians 5:25: Don’t provoke or envy one another
James 4:11: “Do not slander one another”
Matthew 5:23-24; 18:15: Reestablish broken relationships with one another
9. Serve one another’s interests rather than our own.
Hebrews 10:24: “spur one another on toward love and good deeds”
Romans 15:1-2: Don’t please yourself but please others
Galatians 5:13: “Serve one another”
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Day 3 Week 2 Impact New Orleans
Mission teams are like children, they all have different personalities. This team is doing great, they really are out of their comfort zone. God is stretching them beyond anyplace they've ever been. God is working and honoring His Word. We've been able to do some ministry with families that are struggling. Some are single parent homes, some are out of work and on the verge of loosing their homes. In both cases, they are holding on to the hope they have in Christ. Local churches are reaching out to help and encourage those that are faithful.
We have this one afternoon and one morning project left. I'll preach tonight to the mission team at 7:30 PM. Pray for them to be broken for the lost. I know that until you realize the awful wrath of God and the finality of the judgement, you'll never have a true zeal to share the Gospel.
God is working and we are honored to serve Him. Pray that this last full day will be glorious! Not by man's standard but by God's. That we would glorify Him.
We have this one afternoon and one morning project left. I'll preach tonight to the mission team at 7:30 PM. Pray for them to be broken for the lost. I know that until you realize the awful wrath of God and the finality of the judgement, you'll never have a true zeal to share the Gospel.
God is working and we are honored to serve Him. Pray that this last full day will be glorious! Not by man's standard but by God's. That we would glorify Him.
Do you want to get well? Part 2
OUR EXCUSES DO NOT STOP JESUS FROM WORKING IN OUR LIVES
Jesus asked this man, “Do you want to get well?” I’m thinking “YES!! Get me out of this nasty place, and I’ll move on!” But he made an excuse, “I can’t…people keep breaking line.” Breaking line!! That is a 3rd grade excuse, but here we see a grown man making the excuse. I think, after a little while, I could inch over, and when the water stirred, I’d finally get in and be healed,. . . if I really believed it would work.
Some people reading this may be making excuses as to why you do not get well spiritually. You are too busy, you are to tired, you’ve already done that, you are to young, you are to old, you just can’t. Whatever the excuse, God doesn’t back up and say, “Oh yeah. That’s right. I forgot about your situation. Just hang around and when you get a chance, come to me.” No friend God is passionate that His children get well. He is able to present you blameless before the Father and He is going to sanctify you.
Regardless of where you are in your Christian journey, you need to get well. We all have areas of our lives that need to be fined tuned and tweaked. Some of you may be spiritually stressed because you know you are being a fake. You know that you should be more faithful, but you can’t get over yourself and your fears. It is stressful being a fake. We’ve all done that, and you can admit it if you are honest. You may realize that you are more than sick; you may realize that you are dead. You are spiritually paralyzed. You may realize your sinfulness and that you have never been a child of God. If that is your case, you should repent and believe the Gospel. Trust Christ, my friend, and He will make you well. He is the only one Who can present you to God and you be able to stand and not melt like wax in a blazing furnace. You need saving…you need to get well.
So how can we apply what we have learned to our lives? Here are a couple of things.
EVERYONE NEEDS TO ANSWER THE PRIMARY QUESTION FOR THE DAY…”DO YOU WANT TO GET WELL?”
Jesus asked this question over 2000 years ago and He is asking it again to you today. “Do you want to get well?” You may like where you are and are not going to budge. You would rather worship in your tradition than to worship in Spirit and in truth. You would be happy to stay sick as long as you continue to get your way.
Regardless of where you are in your Christian life, you need to ask yourself this question. It doesn’t matter if you are closer to God than you have ever been, you still need to be healthier as a Christian. Build yourself up in the most Holy faith (Jude 20). I pray that you will ask the Lord to search your heart and see if there is any wicked way in you (Psalms 139:22). This will lead you to a deeper repentance and trust in the Lord to make you well by faith! I beg of you, please do not leave reading this article without honestly evaluating your spiritual condition. It may be your last opportunity to get well.
YOU MUST ALLOW JESUS TO BE A PART OF THE CHANGE PROCESS
If you keep going in the same direction, you will not get any better. We all need Divine intervention. Remember, nothing is too big or too small for God. The Lord desires to help His children be completely well. We must not rely on ourselves but upon Him to make us well. It is Christ who redeemed us and makes us well. He nurses us back to health with daily spiritual training. If we will submit our lives to the Lord we can become spiritually healthy. The biggest factor is allowing Christ to part of that process and not attempting this on our own. There is no need to put confidence in yourself; our confidence is in the Gospel and the power of Christ to transform us. It is a work of His grace!
Traveling as an itinerant preacher, I hear almost weekly from someone sharing with me about an area in their life where they desire prayer. Most of the time, it is a person trying to “do something” to make themselves better, and they haven’t fully submitted their lives unto the Lord. God seems to be allowing their spiritual sickness to occur so that they can learn that He is the only One on whom they can rely. He is the same Christ who made the lame man well at the pool of Bethesda who will make us well today. We need to cry out to the Lord and ask Him to heal us; He is the only One who can.
Jesus asked this man, “Do you want to get well?” I’m thinking “YES!! Get me out of this nasty place, and I’ll move on!” But he made an excuse, “I can’t…people keep breaking line.” Breaking line!! That is a 3rd grade excuse, but here we see a grown man making the excuse. I think, after a little while, I could inch over, and when the water stirred, I’d finally get in and be healed,. . . if I really believed it would work.
Some people reading this may be making excuses as to why you do not get well spiritually. You are too busy, you are to tired, you’ve already done that, you are to young, you are to old, you just can’t. Whatever the excuse, God doesn’t back up and say, “Oh yeah. That’s right. I forgot about your situation. Just hang around and when you get a chance, come to me.” No friend God is passionate that His children get well. He is able to present you blameless before the Father and He is going to sanctify you.
Regardless of where you are in your Christian journey, you need to get well. We all have areas of our lives that need to be fined tuned and tweaked. Some of you may be spiritually stressed because you know you are being a fake. You know that you should be more faithful, but you can’t get over yourself and your fears. It is stressful being a fake. We’ve all done that, and you can admit it if you are honest. You may realize that you are more than sick; you may realize that you are dead. You are spiritually paralyzed. You may realize your sinfulness and that you have never been a child of God. If that is your case, you should repent and believe the Gospel. Trust Christ, my friend, and He will make you well. He is the only one Who can present you to God and you be able to stand and not melt like wax in a blazing furnace. You need saving…you need to get well.
So how can we apply what we have learned to our lives? Here are a couple of things.
EVERYONE NEEDS TO ANSWER THE PRIMARY QUESTION FOR THE DAY…”DO YOU WANT TO GET WELL?”
Jesus asked this question over 2000 years ago and He is asking it again to you today. “Do you want to get well?” You may like where you are and are not going to budge. You would rather worship in your tradition than to worship in Spirit and in truth. You would be happy to stay sick as long as you continue to get your way.
Regardless of where you are in your Christian life, you need to ask yourself this question. It doesn’t matter if you are closer to God than you have ever been, you still need to be healthier as a Christian. Build yourself up in the most Holy faith (Jude 20). I pray that you will ask the Lord to search your heart and see if there is any wicked way in you (Psalms 139:22). This will lead you to a deeper repentance and trust in the Lord to make you well by faith! I beg of you, please do not leave reading this article without honestly evaluating your spiritual condition. It may be your last opportunity to get well.
YOU MUST ALLOW JESUS TO BE A PART OF THE CHANGE PROCESS
If you keep going in the same direction, you will not get any better. We all need Divine intervention. Remember, nothing is too big or too small for God. The Lord desires to help His children be completely well. We must not rely on ourselves but upon Him to make us well. It is Christ who redeemed us and makes us well. He nurses us back to health with daily spiritual training. If we will submit our lives to the Lord we can become spiritually healthy. The biggest factor is allowing Christ to part of that process and not attempting this on our own. There is no need to put confidence in yourself; our confidence is in the Gospel and the power of Christ to transform us. It is a work of His grace!
Traveling as an itinerant preacher, I hear almost weekly from someone sharing with me about an area in their life where they desire prayer. Most of the time, it is a person trying to “do something” to make themselves better, and they haven’t fully submitted their lives unto the Lord. God seems to be allowing their spiritual sickness to occur so that they can learn that He is the only One on whom they can rely. He is the same Christ who made the lame man well at the pool of Bethesda who will make us well today. We need to cry out to the Lord and ask Him to heal us; He is the only One who can.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Do you want to get well? Part 1
by: Eric Hixon
I do not know if you have ever looked at the account of the miracle at the Pool of Bethesda. However, if you haven’t, I encourage you to read it now.
"2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
7"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
8Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked."
John 5:2-9 (NKJV)
I have never been to the Holy Land but always wished I could. Maybe one day the Lord will allow that, but, until then, I can Google. When you see the pictures of this pool you can see its potential beauty with its 5 porches surrounding it. But then you realize this was a place of sickness. The unsanitary conditions alone make you cringe, and then you think of all the disease. It is enough to make you want to make me go bathe in hand sanitizer gel.
Why did the Lord give us this miracle? The Scriptures teach that if all the miracles that Jesus had done in His three years of public ministry were recorded that all the books in the world couldn’t contain them (John 21:25). I have thought about how this can apply to us today. Here are some things we can learn from this miracle.
OUR APPARENT COMFORT MAY KEEP US SICK
The Scriptures tell us this man had been in this condition a long time—38 years. More than likely, he had been at this pool for a long time as well. I think that this man had made himself as comfortable as possible. Even around all that sickness, he had himself a life and possibly even a daily routine. Perhaps he had made friends with others at the pool. The point is, he made himself comfortable around such a sick place.
Maybe you are pretty comfortable in your life. Perhaps where you are right now you are not exactly happy with the condition of the world, but you have found your place in it and are comfortable. Just like this man, unless some changes are made, you are headed toward a much greater sickness. We are not called to go with the flow and adjust to our cultural conditions. Maybe the guy at the pool was afraid of risking. If he became well, he would need to leave. Maybe all his friends were there. Maybe he did not have family to whom he could return, or perhaps he didn’t know where they were? I do not know what your fears are; however, you do, and God does. I do know this, you can get so comfortable that it keeps you sick.
Ask yourself some tough questions and evaluate whether you are spiritually comfortable? Are you satisfied with where you are in your spiritual growth? Do you know why you do what you do? Do you know for sure that you are doing God’s Work, God’s Way? How do you know? If it is not based on God’s Word, you may be a victim of a satanic delusion. Have you fallen into a trap of man’s tradition that has lead you to believe that what you are is doing is approved by God? Be very careful of getting comfortable. I do not know many soldiers that are in a battle that are comfortable.
I do not know if you have ever looked at the account of the miracle at the Pool of Bethesda. However, if you haven’t, I encourage you to read it now.
"2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
7"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
8Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked."
John 5:2-9 (NKJV)
I have never been to the Holy Land but always wished I could. Maybe one day the Lord will allow that, but, until then, I can Google. When you see the pictures of this pool you can see its potential beauty with its 5 porches surrounding it. But then you realize this was a place of sickness. The unsanitary conditions alone make you cringe, and then you think of all the disease. It is enough to make you want to make me go bathe in hand sanitizer gel.
Why did the Lord give us this miracle? The Scriptures teach that if all the miracles that Jesus had done in His three years of public ministry were recorded that all the books in the world couldn’t contain them (John 21:25). I have thought about how this can apply to us today. Here are some things we can learn from this miracle.
OUR APPARENT COMFORT MAY KEEP US SICK
The Scriptures tell us this man had been in this condition a long time—38 years. More than likely, he had been at this pool for a long time as well. I think that this man had made himself as comfortable as possible. Even around all that sickness, he had himself a life and possibly even a daily routine. Perhaps he had made friends with others at the pool. The point is, he made himself comfortable around such a sick place.
Maybe you are pretty comfortable in your life. Perhaps where you are right now you are not exactly happy with the condition of the world, but you have found your place in it and are comfortable. Just like this man, unless some changes are made, you are headed toward a much greater sickness. We are not called to go with the flow and adjust to our cultural conditions. Maybe the guy at the pool was afraid of risking. If he became well, he would need to leave. Maybe all his friends were there. Maybe he did not have family to whom he could return, or perhaps he didn’t know where they were? I do not know what your fears are; however, you do, and God does. I do know this, you can get so comfortable that it keeps you sick.
Ask yourself some tough questions and evaluate whether you are spiritually comfortable? Are you satisfied with where you are in your spiritual growth? Do you know why you do what you do? Do you know for sure that you are doing God’s Work, God’s Way? How do you know? If it is not based on God’s Word, you may be a victim of a satanic delusion. Have you fallen into a trap of man’s tradition that has lead you to believe that what you are is doing is approved by God? Be very careful of getting comfortable. I do not know many soldiers that are in a battle that are comfortable.
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