Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Statement for Christ

The following statement was in a note found in the office of a young pastor in Zimbabwe following his martyrdom for his faith in Jesus Christ. It was published in the book The Signature of Jesus by Brennan Manning. I have worked to live this way and pray that each Christian would strive for the same.


Fellowship of the Unashamed:

I’m part of the following of the unashamed.

I have the Holy Spirit power

The die has been cast.

I have stepped over the line.

The decision has been made-I’m a disciple of His.

I will not look back, let up, slow down or be still.

My past is redeemed; my present makes sense; my future is secure.

I’m vanished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits or popularity.

I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded.

I now live by faith, lean in His presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and I labor with power.

My face is set; my gait is fast, my goal is heaven; my road is narrow; my way rough, my companions are few; my Guide reliable; my mission clear.

I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus.

I must go ‘till He comes; give ‘till I drop, speak ‘till all know and work ‘till He stops me.

And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me…my banner will be clear.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Bible Study

Next week I have the opportunity to once again minister for a community of believers. This group meets every Wednesday morning from all over their community. People of different ages and denominations coming from different churches and backgrounds all to study God’s Word, the Bible.

I have played the piano many times for this group and each time I arrive I am welcomed with excitement in their voices that I have returned to play some songs for them again. I don’t play for long but long enough to be a blessing for them and for me.

What I find just as exciting is that after I finish my set and they pray for the time together, people immediately split into groups and start studying the Bible. You can see the joy they have in coming together not to be in a social club or to be entertained but to really dive into God’s Word and to find out more about Jesus and His will for their lives.

I know that there are communities around the United States that participate in this program. They get together once a week to study, meditate, and feed off each other for meanings and instructions from above.

How I wish all Christians would pick up their Bible each day and read through it. A great place to start is the book of John in the New Testament. There are even Bibles online that you can read for free anywhere there is an internet connection.

If you’ve been out of the habit of reading and studying the Bible, try it today. Go to Bible Gateway and give it a try. You’ll soon find that joy in studying God’s Word just like those in the community Bible study.

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
2 Timothy 4:2-5

Monday, March 13, 2006

Two Churches

Church One:
This church wants more people to attend. To do so, the pastor says to the congregation that he wants to see souls saved. But what he tells insiders is that he wants more money in the offering plate. He works with one person to purchase brand-new equipment for the church that no one even knows how to use. He has blueprints made to build a steeple on a building built decades ago because that is what a church is. No one at the church is to know about it until the plan is already in motion. A video is made showing how much they need to spend money with little attention to actual ministries or changed lives. All brings attention to the church and to the pastor himself.

Church Two:
This church has put something interesting in their constitution. It says that no matter what the income is in the offering plates, the budget for the missionaries that the church supports will never go down and will actually increase. If ever the church gets less income, it is the staff members that will get a pay cut, not the ministries and not the missionaries. They work to not bring attention to themselves but to God and servants around the world.

Both are actual churches I came across while doing an online search and real scenarios that were posted on their sites. Which church is more in tune with God and His will?
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But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
1 Corinthians 5:11