Coming to the Still Waters

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR CHARACTER? I want to share 3 practices (other than classical spiritual disciplines) that challenge and encourage my character development. Practice the Presence of People: Treat every person you come in contact with as though Jesus died for them. Treat every person as if Jesus left heaven to rescue them. Treat every person as if they are made in the image of God and really matter to Him. This will keep you from treating people as though they are less than made in the image of God. Practice Being a Servant: People do not exist to serve you, you exist to serve them. Look for ways to serve people besides preaching a sermon. Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. Whose feet are we washing? This will keep you humble and accessible. Practice the Presence of Christ: Abide in Christ. Revel in Christ. Enjoy Christ. Make much of Christ. Live in constant dependency on Christ. This will keep you relying on Jesus as your source of power. You build you

11 Differences between a College Football Fan and a Church Member - Thom S. Rainer Warning: The article below is a bit of sarcastic humor. I am speaking in hyperbole to make a point. The football fan noted represents a very rabid football fan. The church member represents some, but certainly not all, church members. Disclosure: I tend to be a rabid college football fan. I see my allegiance as an area of devotion that needs significant adjustments downwardly. So I don’t necessarily practice what I preach. For example, even as I type these words, I am reminded that the kickoff for my team’s first game of the season is exactly five weeks from today. Caution: While I do write these comparisons with some humor and a lot of hyperbole, you might get just a bit uncomfortable reading them. That may indicate there is some truth in each of them. A college football fan loves to win. The typical church member never wins someone to Christ. A college football fan gets excited i

From their live sessions - State I'm In      1 Peter is coming along and this Sunday is one of those messages that I am looking forward to giving because I have learned so much from it.  Watching Peter string together a truth and then apply it to all situations with a motivation that spans everything that we do is so "neat" when it finally pops out at me.  We, as Christians, are to submit to God and then to others in regards to the general public (especially non-Christians) and to the governing authorities and to our bosses and then to our mate.  Why submit?  First because Jesus did and then because it is through our obedience to Him that people start to see Jesus and some will come to Him with the aid of Jesus working through our obedience.  They are not won by our words but aided by observing our obedience to His words even in the most difficult situations.  In respect to the section to the husbands, that obedience is crucial for our prayers not to be hindered. 

     "The church is too inward in its focus and it needs to be more outward."   I have read that and also felt that need in churches that I have been apart of.  How does that happen?  How do we go from being inward to outward if we sense a stagnation in the life of the church?  What are the steps?  I think the process involves other directions that need to be taken into consideration.  Here are a couple other directions that I have gleaned off of Bruce Ashford with my thoughts.      1.  The church needs to have an upward focus.    This is a focus of worship of our God.  A major emphasis throughout the Bible from the beginning to the end is the aspect of taking time to worship the God who created the heavens and the earth.  Our focus needs to be clearly on God.      2.  The church needs to have an inward focus.    This is a focus on our personal holiness that is dictated by the instruction of the Scriptures.  In our study of 1st Peter we see how much this effects the o

     The search started in October of last year.  Resumes were sent to many places after careful search of websites and "what we believe" statements and listening to hundreds of online sermons from potential churches.  We first saw a lot of doors closed.  We had some glimmers of light but that is all that they were glimmers.  Stephanie and I realized that what we thought might be something that would happen quickly turned into us learning that if a church did reach out toward us, it was a big deal.  It put me in the practice of putting on YouTube sermons on a weekly basis and continually searching pastoral employment sites in the region that we were wanting to be for the sake of our children and parents.  We have had some high days and some really low days.  All the time continuing the rewarding work of the Lord at Gaylord Family Fellowship and directing toward the future and the development of ministries.      The church in Illinois was found by finding out that certain se

     One of my favorite places and favorite times of the day is sitting at the dining room table when the morning sun filters in through the trees and heats up the room.  No lights are needed and I get to feel the warmth of the sun even if it is still cool outside.  Maybe a cup of pour over coffee with almond milk and I am all set to study for the next sermon or resource materials on the internet for my next project or event at the church.  Mornings are my most productive time when thinking and creating and dreaming up ideas that just might work.  Wherever I am at, I am going to be looking for that space in the morning that I can work but also soak in the morning rays of the sun.        This Sunday is a passage that might be easy to preach in the sense of content and context but hard to preach in the terms of applications.  The applications are not hard to come by but maybe to communicate the need for revisions in our present lives in light of the Scripture will be.  So many factors

David Platt - One Way To Heaven Also, how to speak to those who come to your door. Adam

Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies , blogger, author, and book reviewer. The Danger of Coasting July 02, 2014 I don’t know how much I’ve driven in the twenty years since I got my license, but I do know it’s a lot, what with all those drives down to the South to visit my family. Here is one thing that has never varied across the hundreds of thousands of miles: When I take my foot off the pedal, the car does not speed up. It doesn’t even maintain the same speed. Instead, from the very moment I take my foot off the accelerator, the car begins to slow. Allowing the car to coast is inviting the car to stop. It may take some time, but left on its own, it will stop eventually. It is inevitable. I’ve been thinking about this lately because I see in my own life a tendency to coast—to coast in my relationships, to coast in my pursuit of godliness, to coast in my pursuit of God himself. And here are some things I’ve observed: I do