My Inheritance

Most of our REVIVE team along with several other women from our church headed down to San Antonio, Tx and joined 10,000 other ladies for a Beth Moore (Living Proof Live) conference. WOW! It was an amazing weekend! We gathered in the Alamodome for worship and the Word! It was Incredible!

Beth's prayer for us was that God would do everything but kill us with His Glory. By His mercy He relented but oh, the Glory that He revealed was so magnificent! The presence of God was so heavy that I could barely stand on my feet. My body trembled nearly the entire time from the power of the Holy Spirit doing a work in me and in that place. Oh, how I praise Him for His love and Grace.

Here is a bit of a recap from the teaching we had from Beth.

It was based on Psalm Sixteen which says:

“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you. As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.

I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
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Our The Theme for the weekend was Inheritance. Beth showed that the Inheritance principal was interwoven through out His Word from Genesis to Revelation.

She proved that Inheritance from God always involves 3 elements:

1. Presence - "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

2. People - "But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day." Deut. 4:20

3. Property - "The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Among these the land shall be divided for inheritance according to the number of names. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; every tribe shall be given its inheritance in proportion to its list. But the land shall be divided by lot. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. Their inheritance shall be divided according to lot between the larger and the smaller." Numbers 26:52-56

8 points were made under the emphasis of
"I AM AN HEIR(ess) OF GOD"...

1. My life is NOT left to chance. (oh thank you LORD that even all the things that don't make sense to me make perfect sense to you)

2. I am inheriting a Kingdom. – Matthew 25:34-Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 1 Peter 1:4 says to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. Daniel 7:18- The Saints will possess the Kingdom forever and ever!

3. He is my portion, and I am His. Psalm 16:5, Deut. 10:8-9,Ephesians 1:18 These were incredible words. Not only is Jesus our portion and Inheritance, but we are HIS! Mind blowing... But, since we are God's inheritance we are to be a pure spotless Bride.

4. The down payment has been made.- Eph. 1:14

5. My boundary lines form a pleasing place. – Psalm 16:6
God has given us boundary lines that involve our Past, Faith, Gifting, Life Experiences and Intimacy with God. These boundary lines are for my good and God's glory. It's a gift from God.

6. The will has been activated. – Heb. 9:15-17

7. I can be secure. – Col. 3:23-24

8. I have a beautiful inheritance. – 2 Timothy 4:6-8, Eph. 3:6
We not only have a beautiful inheritance but we will receive a double portion!

I couldn't get over how much of God's word from Beth was so much the same of what God had me share with the girls at REVIVE 8.21.08 just the night before. He is preparing His people. Oh LORD, plunge your people deeper. Purify Your Bride! May she be the most gorgeous thing that you have ever seen when we step into the fullness of your Kingdom and may we bask in the splendor of our most beautiful, glorious Inheritance. You!
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In addition to a powerful Word the LORD also provided the sweetest fellowship among us sisters. We got to enjoy each other, some incredible Mexican food and some site seeing on the River Walk and Alamo! We had a BLAST!! Praise you LORD, you are so good.

Here are some photos of our time

I LOVE my church

I LOVE my church! Our pastor started a new series called Devoted:Being a Genuine Church. This past Sunday was on worship. Here are some things he shared with us on how to be ready to worship each Sunday morning. (see below) There are some wonderful things happening in the life of our church and I am so pumped! I believe our church is about to have a head on collision with Yahweh! Bring it on!

Week 2: The Devoted Dozen

At the end of last week’s sermon Buddy shared some practical ways to make the most of worship each Sunday.

1. Devote yourself to worshiping God every day. Your worship on Sunday grows out of your personal worship each day. So, seek to do all to the glory of God as you engage in your spiritual worship by daily offering yourself as a living sacrifice.

2. Get a good night’s sleep on Saturday night. Make a conscious effort of going to bed early on Saturday night so you can be alert and attentive to the majesty and presence of God on Sunday morning. Remind yourself that you are not “going to church” but you are going to worship the Lord God with your brothers and sisters in Christ. You may even want to spend time with the Lord before you head to bed. This will certainly help put you in the right attitude to worship.

3. Plan to be at least five minutes early to the worship service. If you see that you are always late to the service, then set out your clothes on Saturday night and/or wake you and your family up 15 minutes earlier on Sunday. There really is no good reason to be late on a regular basis. It robs you of a blessing and God of his deserved worship.

4. Try to spend some time alone with the Lord before coming to church. It may be hard to do, but you will arrive eager to worship God.

5. When you enter, warmly greet those you see. (The early Christians greeted one another with a holy kiss! In our culture, a smile and a gentle hug will do!) There is a healthy balance between greeting friends and being quiet as the service begins. When seated, pray or read a psalm, or read the scriptures on the sermon notes from your own Bible.

6. Be conscious that God is present. God is indeed with us when we gather for worship. We are also joining in worship with all believers in heaven as well as the angels in the worship of God. (Hebrews 12:22-23)

7. Think as you worship. Concentrate on each phrase spoken, sung, or prayed.

8. Sing to the Lord. Sing with great joy. Sing with great volume and with great thought. Think about the words of the song and make them your own. Think about what they mean. Let your mind focus on the theology behind them. Remind yourself that you are singing to the creator of the universe, your Savior and Lord.

9. Listen carefully to the Word as it is read and preached. The Word is God’s living voice speaking to you. Give the sermon your full attention; pray to learn from it. Take notes. And, please pray for your pastor!

10. Respond. At the end of the service there is a time of commitment and reflection. Remember, this is not the time to think about where you are going to eat after church. This time is personal between you and God. Reflect back on what you just heard in the sermon and turn it into a prayer to God.

11. Stay until the service is completely over. Leaving early or running out of the door to beat the other cars out of the parking lot betrays a consumer mentality. Take the time to actually speak to five people on your way out. Be especially aware of visitors at this time and take some time to get to know them.

12. After the worship service, ask, “Was God pleased with my worship?”

13. Before the day is over, ask God to show you what things you need to learn, change, make right, repent of, or begin as a result of what you heard on this Lord’s day. If possible, discuss the sermon with family members or friends. Begin now to anticipate gathering again for worship with your church family.

REVIVE 8.21.08

Ladies,
It's that time again!
Revive starts back up this week, Thursday August 21st. We will meet again at Hunter Street in the High School worship room at 7:00pm. We are very excited about what God has in store for us through REVIVE! Hope to see you there.

For more information you may check here and here

God's love for orphans

God's love for orphans.....I don't know about you, but this has been on my heart day and night. I have been praying and asking God what He would have me do over this issue. Could not help but post the following article by Steven Curtis Chapman.....and following the article is some videos from his ministry called Shaohannah's Hope. Pray with me over this issue and see what God would have us do!



Our tragedy and God's love for orphans
By Steven Curtis Chapman

Special to CNN

FRANKLIN, Tennessee (CNN) -- According to UNICEF, there are 143 million children in the world who have lost one or both parents.

In America alone, there are half a million children in foster care, and approximately 120,000 of these children are waiting to be adopted. In many countries, children are too often orphaned or abandoned because of poverty, disabilities and disease; every 15 seconds, a child loses a parent because of AIDS. These are staggering facts that can seem overwhelming and discouraging, but I believe that God has a loving plan for each child, and that plan is you and me.

Caring for these children is not the job of governments or institutions; instead, it is the job of families, people and communities. As Christians, our compassion is simply a response to the love that God has already shown us. Mother Teresa would constantly remind those who worked with her that the Bible clearly teaches that whatever we do for the least of these, we do for Jesus. So in a very real sense, caring for orphans is a chance to meet the person of Jesus in "the guise of human suffering." This is an invitation from the heart of God to know him and to experience his love.

Nine years ago, my wife and my eldest daughter, Emily, traveled to Haiti on a mission trip. Having been exposed to extreme poverty for the first time, Emily returned home with a determined passion to make a difference in the lives of at-risk children.

Only 12 years old, Emily went on an all-out campaign to persuade us to adopt. She bought a book on international adoption with her Christmas money and would read it to us regularly. She began fervently praying and writing letters to Mary Beth and me, encouraging us to consider giving a waiting child a home. Emily knew God was leading us in the direction of adoption; however, Mary Beth and I were not yet convinced.

My wife and I had always supported the idea of adoption, and as Christians, we understood the importance of loving and caring for others. But what I had not yet grasped was that adoption is a physical picture of what Jesus has done for me. I did nothing to deserve God's love; in fact, I was living as an orphan, without hope. Yet God chose to pursue a relationship with me, and through the death of his son Jesus, I was adopted into God's family.

My wife and I began moving toward adoption with fear and trembling and asking all the questions people ask. I remember Mary Beth crying herself to sleep at night saying, "What are we doing? I can't do this." However, God kept reassuring us that this was the direction he was leading us. It was a huge journey of faith for us.

In May of 2000, we found ourselves in a hotel room in China's Hunan province, welcoming the newest member of our family, Shaohannah Hope. From that moment, we began our journey into the world of adoption, orphan care and Shaohannah's Hope.

We went on to adopt Stevey Joy and Maria. Recently, our youngest daughter, Maria, passed from life on this earth and is now safely in the arms of Jesus. We have been completely overwhelmed by the love and support of so many during this time of deep, deep sadness. Through all that we've experienced, one thing we still know is true: God's heart is for the orphan.

In our travels to Latin America, Africa and Asia, we have visited many different orphanages. If you look past the surroundings and into the eyes of the children, they all have the same look. They seem to convey, "I don't think this is what I was made for. Where do I belong?"

These children are crying out for the hope of a family, for the hope of community, for the hope of a permanent love. Our mission, and the mission of our adoption charity, Shaohannah's Hope, is to show hope to these children and to mobilize people, families and communities to be living examples of God's love for them.

We started Shaohannah's Hope in order to connect willing families with waiting children, but the reality is that there are many orphans who cannot be adopted. Even though we may not be able to bring them into our homes, we still have the opportunity to show them the hope we have.

If only 7 percent of the 2 billion Christians in the world would care for a single orphan in distress, there would effectively be no more orphans. If everybody would be willing to simply do something to care for one of these precious treasures, I think we would be amazed by just how much we could change the world.

We can each do something, whether it is donating, adopting, fostering, mentoring, visiting orphans or supporting families that have taken in orphans. You can change the world for an orphan.

REVIVE Website Goes Live!

Ladies,
We have more exciting news about REVIVE. Our Website went live today! It's not 100% complete but we are officially up and running....(thanks to 2 pretty special people)! Take a look. www.reviveministry.org

Revive Promo Video and Retreat Sign Up

Ladies, spread the word....REVIVE returns August 21st.
Use this promo video to share with others a glimpse of what REVIVE is about.
Also, see the Revive info link below to sign up for our REVIVE retreat coming in Sept! REVIVE Info and Retreat Sign up

Casual Christianity

"When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away." Matthew 13:21


Casual Christianity is an oxymoron. There is no such thing as a low-commitment version of our faith. It is impossible to say, "I'm a follower of Jesus, but I'm not prepared to lay down my life for the Gospel." Both of those assertions cannot be true. "When Jesus calls a man," to quote Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "He bids him come and die." Ours is a faith that demands our entire allegiance; it can be no half-hearted thing.

Church history is filled with martyrs. Missionary kids have seen their parents executed. Many Christians have lost a spouse or child to persecution. Whole communities have been tortured or imprisoned. And many have given their own lives. Whether this is a tragedy or the glory of the Church-and it is, in fact, both-is not the point. It is a given. It is assumed of Jesus' followers that they will follow Him where ever he goes. And He goes to places like the Cross.

Martyrdom is not something that confronts most of us. Few of us are persecuted. Yet all of us can say with assurance that sometimes following our Savior is difficult. He asks us to make sacrifices. He asks us to be obedient, even when obedience is painful. And though He doesn't ask all of us to die for Him, He does ask all of us to live for Him. When we were bought by His blood, we became His possession. Gloriously, joyfully His possession, but His nonetheless.

One of the great weaknesses of today's American church is our unwillingness to humble ourselves as our Savior did. We are often consumer Christians, shopping around for a faith that suits us well. But when we really encounter Christ, we face a choice: Stand firm in our faith, despite our many tests and troubles, or settle for a lukewarmness that can barely, if at all, be called "Christian." We must be prepared for the trials. They will come. And how we respond will tell us-and others-whether we are His disciples.

Chris Tiegreen

Fireproof

I wanted to make these resources available for anyone who has not seen the advertisements of this new movie called Fireproof. It's created by the same people (Sherwood Bapt) who made the movie "Facing the Giants". Fireproof is a movie about marriage....and it is definitely needed today as we watch the enemy go after our marriages and families. I hope that you'll be able to see this movie when it comes out. Our marriages are worth fighting for!

Worship God with my mind

Here are some thoughts I jotted down back from April that I meant to blog and never got to it.


I went for a run yesterday. It was a beautiful afternoon and I was enjoying the sun on my face and the cool wind that helped to soften the blow of the growing April heat. Lately I’ve been running with a group of girls to help motivate me and push me in getting the exercise I need. But this time I was prompted to run all by myself. I was proud in that fact that I stepped out (in what I thought) was my own determination of some much needed cardio. But I quickly understood that cardio wasn’t the only thing needed. I needed some time to free my thoughts…..to worship God with my mind.

In our running group the one thing that is always running (beside my legs) is my mouth. This time I was able to also run my mind. Rarely is my mind on anything but the LORD Jesus and so it was this day as well. However, this time the LORD led me to pack a little punch into this thinking. After some appropriate praise to the only One worthy of my thoughts, my mind was flooded with the WORD of God. Oh how God’s word satisfies my soul. But even more it pushes me to be who God has called me to be. There is no way I can read it/meditate on it and be left unchanged.

The Lord immediately shifted my focus to the word “holiness”. It’s no wonder. I jut got through teaching on this topic the week before in my monthly women’s bible study. Don’t think for a moment that I teach on things that God does not want to do a number on me in the process. So, here I am at holiness. As a disciple of Jesus I am called to be holy. To be set apart for Him. So because this is what is required of me, this is what I desire. Heavy thinking went on in my brain as I further meditated on its meaning in my life.

“Oh God”, I cried out, “I desire to be holy as you are holy. And as this prayer filled my mind, even the song on my iPod sang to the heart of the thought process. “Holiness is what I long for. Holiness is what I need; holiness is what you want from me. Take my heart and form it, take my mind transform it, take my will conform it, to Yours” This desire was so intense it had me bent over at the waist (still running of course) all the while lifting my hands to the God who was calling me to ponder and act upon such an awesome calling.

Again, “Oh God, make me more like You”. I want to go where you tell me to go, say what you want me to say, be who you want me to be and do what you want me to do. I want to follow You at all costs. I am so sick of allowing my life to be entertained by vain things. Empty things. I want you and only you. Satisfy me with your unfailing love. As my run came to an end, I was thrilled that I was prompted to go. I was given a special opportunity to worship God with my mind. I was pushed in my discipleship to the LORD by the LORD Himself! I resolved once again, I will live for God and God alone. I will be holy, I will be set apart. I am not trying to proclaim that I am the example for anyone. I am just saying, “here I am LORD, send me, use me. Anyone care to join me?

Bean Dip and Jesus

Yes, I realize this is a strange title, but tonight while cooking supper, I opened up a can of refried beans to go with our Mexican meal and the minute I opened the can, the smell captured me and transported me back about 28 years or so to elementary school. It reminded me of all the days that I would sit in the cafeteria at lunch or just after a gymnastic meet and crack open my bag of Frito's and my little individual size can of Frito-Lay Bean dip. Anyone remember those?

I don't know if they still sell them at the stores, but that used to be one of my favorite snacks of all! Oh, it was so good and the memory of it took me back to the sweet days of childhood. The care free days of play and innocence (or in my case, probably not so innocent) But either way, sweet, sweet memories!

So, why on earth am I telling you about Bean Dip? Well, because it is such a great reminder of life that we live as believers. (Bear with me here) There are many people who are going through a tough time in life right now. Your relationship with the LORD may feel distant or dry. When we encounter those times, we can sometimes doubt or wonder if God really loves us or if He even cares. We may struggle and start to give up or throw in the towel. But, we have a precious gift from God. Our memory.

Our memory can serve us in many different ways. Sometimes it can cause pain and hurt as we reflect on a very difficult time. Or, it can remind us of times when we made serious mistakes and the consequences were high. We may never make that mistake again because of our memory. But, our memory serves us best when we go back to a sweet time and remember how things once were. This is so important.

While we go through dark or dry times in our walk with the LORD, we must remember the sweet times with Him in the past in order to persevere. It is our nature to forget get and begin to doubt. That's why I think it is so important to keep a journal or some sort of a record of your times with the LORD. Make notes when He speaks to you through His Word or when His presence was so heavy that you could barely breathe. We must remember the good times with the LORD in order to make it through some of the harder times.

God is good all the time and He never does us any wrong even when we may be going through the roughest time. It is always for His glory and our good that we journey on such a path, but why is it that we can so easily forget God’s goodness and His love for us and quickly find ourselves discouraged. So, today…if you find yourself in a dry place with God, go straight to your source of memories with Him and bask in the gift of remembering how good Jesus is and with a fresh wind of faith, press on.

What's the difference between living for the Kingdom and living for the American dream?

What's the difference between living for the Kingdom and living for the American dream?

by John Piper

The essential difference is, What are you trying to make much of? Do you want to make much of Christ in the world, or do you want to make much of yourself, your business, or your family? What are you passionate about seeing exalted, praised and enjoyed?

I want to put that central because if we don't ask the question day by day–What am I going to make much of today?–then we will gravitate towards making much of the same things that everybody around us is making much of, like sports teams, food, or a new computer program. None of these things are sin unless they become the thing that we're driven by.

The difference between a Kingdom mindset and a worldly mindset is the King. What place does the King have? Is he central in our affections, our vocabulary, and in what we want to see happen at work, church, and in our leisure?

Does the "wartime lifestyle" come easily to you?

No, and I don't think it comes easy for anybody. If it starts coming easily then it may result in pride. That may not always be the case, because the things we work hard at are sometimes the things we boast in the most. Pride is a very insidious and subtle thing.

When I say "wartime lifestyle" I mean something very complex. That's why I say "wartime" and not "simple" lifestyle because of this complexity. In wartime you may need to build a B-52 bomber, which costs millions and millions of dollars, in order to win the war. In a simple lifestyle, however, you wouldn't fiddle around with bombers. Instead you would just move out to Idaho, plant potatoes, and be irrelevant.

In a wartime lifestyle you always ask yourself, How can my life count to advance the cause of Christ? And if it means buying a computer to keep in touch with your missionaries through email, then you're going to invest several thousand dollars into a computer and software. That's a wartime lifestyle. But you might not eat out as often, or you might buy a used car so that you can buy that computer. That's what I mean by wartime lifestyle. The alternative is to just go with the flow. Everybody gets his toys: bigger house and car, more clothing, more fine food, etc., without even thinking about how the war effort is advancing.

Personally, I must battle everyday against drifting. It isn't about making choices so much. The battle is primarily against becoming comfortable with things that aren't essential to the war effort. So you have to check yourself. Sit down with your wife and ask, How are we doing with our spending? How are we doing with the use of our discretionary money for leisure?, etc.

I admit that this is difficult. I don't have any laws to lay down about what specific things you should be doing either once a week or never or whatever. It's just tough, which is why it is tough for me.

How does what you're saying accord with the prosperity gospel–the belief that external signs of wealth are a key testimony to the world of God's blessing?

It doesn't accord. We must reject the prosperity gospel. It's just dead wrong. The world is not impressed by the prosperity of Christians. What the prosperity of Christians says to the world is nothing redemptive.

I'm not saying that all prosperity is necessarily wrong. I'm just making the point that the prosperity of a Christian says absolutely zero about Christ to the world. Christians who simply follow the American trend of "moving up" financially and materially causes the world to simply say, "They're just like us! They love the same things we love and do the same things we do." This has zero witness to the world.

The person who follows the prosperity track must find other ways to testify to the world about Jesus, because their wealth, health, and prosperity are not saying anything redemptive.

My way of remedying this lack of witness is to identify that the prosperity gospel is wrong. Don't go that direction! Don't believe that prosperity is our evidence to the world that we belong to the King. It doesn't work that way. In fact, if you look in the New Testament you'll see that the things that bear the clearest witness to our faith are the occasions when we're willing to suffer for him.

A little child can understand that. Something is valuable to you to the degree that you're willing to suffer in order to have it, not to the degree that it gives you other things that you really like. God is not shown to be valuable because he gives us other things that we like more than God. God is shown to be valuable when we're willing, for God's sake, to let certain things go which we wouldn't let go if he wasn't so precious to us.

Our testimony to the world works precisely opposite to what the prosperity gospel says. When Christians are willing to suffer for the cause of the unborn, for racial justice, and for spreading the gospel, then the world is going to say–just like it does in 1 Peter 3:15–"Where is your hope?"

Our answer will not be, "In houses, cars, and lands." Rather, we will say, "My hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is going to take me to himself. To live is Christ and to die is gain. I'm here on earth to spread the gospel. I'm going to keep my life as wartime as I can in order to maximize my effect for showing Jesus as valuable, not things as valuable."

Idols of Wealth

"How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" Mark 10:24

Jesus has harsh things to say about wealth. "Woe to you who are rich," He says in Luke 6:24. "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions," He says in Luke 12:15. He tells parables that cast a bad light on the wealthy (the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, for example). And here in Mark 10, He tells His disciples that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (vs. 25).

Many of us who read these verses are incredibly wealthy, by worldwide standards, and so we spiritualize them. Jesus is really talking about those who place their hope in riches, we determine. And because we know that salvation is a matter of the heart and not of the bank account, we are right to do so. But we miss an important lesson if we dismiss these warnings too quickly.

The lesson is this: There is false worship in every human heart, and Jesus knows that all of it has some component of wealth. We either seek wealth and materialism as an idol in itself, or we have other idols that we cannot support without more money (approval of others, achievement, education, lifestyles, hobbies, food, fashion etc.). Almost any idol we can conceive of revolves around money as its object or for its sustenance. And when we harbor such idols, the kingdom of God is like the eye of a needle to us. We just can't fit.

What idols grip your heart? Whatever they are, cut off their supply. They are fed by wealth, and they consume the kingdom's resources, giving nothing of substance in return. If we are to live as kingdom citizens, we must turn our hearts toward kingdom purposes. Our wealth, our time, our abilities-all resources God has given us-must be invested in lasting goals. Our treasure will be where our heart is. And our hearts are in the Kingdom.
by Chris Tiegreen.

I couldn't help but post this devotional today. I don't think that we can hear this message too much in our culture. It is very evident that the church is living for the same things the world lives for. If we are going to enter the Kingdom of God and advance it....we are going to have to let the things of the world go. We are to treasure Christ above all the accumulation of stuff and lay up treasure in heaven not on earth.

As John Piper says....The world will not glorify Christ because they see that Christians are wealthy, healthy and prosperous because that is what they live for. They are not impressed with us- prosperous, safe, middle class, do what every body else does kind of church. Our great reward is in heaven with Christ! We are to be so profoundly heavenly minded that we are free from this world. Free from stuff. Stuff....Stuff! Stuff is killing us. Houses, cars, books, computers, electronic gadgets are killing us.

What is it going to take to see that Christ is our treasure and not our stuff? Until we get this and let it go....we will have little or no impact in the Kingdom. That should break our hearts!

REVIVE Spring Events

Ladies, we had an excellent time worshiping with you this Spring.  We can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for the Fall.  Join us again in August (21st) as we kick off REVIVE again!

Until then, enjoy these pictures from our Spring events.....

Revival

True Revivals have happened only when people have gained a right idea of God and his majesty and his holiness. Revivals have happened when people grew in there understanding of Christ work on the Cross. In their understanding of the call to trust Christ alone. These are the times when God visits his church with revival by pouring out his spirit on the land.

Question for thought:
If revivals depend on a renewed understanding of God’s majesty and a deepened conviction of own sin, what is the best way to promote revival in the land?

Quote by Mark Dever from his book "The Message of the Old Testament"

When We Know God....

When We Know God.....

• Routine religion is no longer tolerable.
  

How can we have routine religion when we have a God that calls the stars by name?
Isaiah 40:26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

• Casual worship is no longer possible.

When we truly know God, there is no way we can remain unmoved when we worship Him. Sitting rigid in pews with casual reverence is (in my opinion) offensive to God

• Total Surrender is no longer optional.
  

When we read passages like.......
Luke 9:60-62 And Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Or

Matthew 10:36-38 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

.........there is no way we can sit on the fence. Total surrender is the only option for one who claims to follow Christ.

• Global missions is no longer negotiable.

This is something that God began to open my eyes to a few years ago through scripture. When we begin to "know" God through His word He begins to share his heart with you. AND His heart is for the lost. We should squirm knowing that millions are perishing while we enjoy comfortable America. When we hear God's heart, western Contemporary Christianity must go because global missions is no longer negotiable. God says....go and make disciples of ALL nations!

Top of My Lungs

I spend most of my days studying the WORD preparing for Sunday School and REVIVE. And it is the hardest thing not to break out into worship all throughout the day as I learn more about the GREATNESS of God. Seriously, I find myself on the floor in humbled reverence or jumping around singing to the ONE who is so worthy of all my praise! Good heavens, I can't get enough of HIM!

Anyway, here are some words that I have been worshiping with today as I study.

Words of worship rise like a river within me. Thoughts to express are so many. I want to bless you God. Can’t be silent. I think of the mercies you show me. My lips begin overflowing. Great is your love. Such gratitude for all that you do Jesus to you.

At the top of my lungs I will sing hallelujah, you’re the one who saved me, the one who gave me this life I live forevermore, forevermore. At the top of my lungs I will sing hallelujah. I’m not ashamed; I’ll praise your name. Let the whole world know that I love you LORD.

You are worthy, I join the song of creation, it rings out across every nation. Let my heart be heard. I need you so, I don’t care who knows from the depth of my soul.

At the top of my lungs I will sing hallelujah, you’re the one who saved me, the one who gave me this life I live forevermore, forevermore. At the top of my lungs I will sing hallelujah I’m not ashamed; I’ll praise your name. Let the whole world know that I love you LORD.

Let my love be like a sweet joyful noise. Only for you…I lift up my voice.

At the top of my lungs I will sing hallelujah, you’re the one who saved me, the one who gave me this life I live forevermore, forevermore. At the top of my lungs I will sing hallelujah I’m not ashamed; I’ll praise your name. Let the whole world know that I love you LORD.

Words by Phillips, Craig and Dean

How We Know God

I Corinthians 2:10-16

But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:
16"For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?"But we have the mind of Christ.

Isaiah 64:4
Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

• Only the Spirit of God knows the fullness of the glory of God.
  
• If we want to know God, then we need the Spirit to reveal Him to us.
  
• Therefore, a people who are desperate to know God will be desperate for His Spirit.

~If we are not desperate for His Spirit, it is a sure indicator that we have grown content with knowing little about God.

• Do we want to know the glory of God?
  

~Then let us be a people desperate for the Spirit of God
~And when we're desperate for the Spirit, our hearts will begin to understand God with the very perspective of Christ.

"We have but to want Him badly enough, and he will come and manifest Himself to us."
~A.W. Tozer

I don't know about you, but I want Him so badly that I can't stand it. I am desperate for the Spirit of God. Let's not be content with knowing little about God. Let's be a people desperate to know God.

Why Are We Here?

Saturday night, I attended an incredible teaching by Dr. David Platt called "Who is God?" This was 6 intense hours of studying God's word together from 6pm-midnight. It was WOW! The first thing they said to us when we got there was this:"Do not come to Secret Church if all you want to do is learn for yourself--the objective is for you to pass along what you learn to others, so that you can be a disciple-maker for Christ, both locally and globally."

So, with that said, I will most likely be blogging on much of what was taught that night so I can share all that I have learned about God.

Here is what I thought that I would share first.


"This is what the Lord says:"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this:that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, "declares the Lord. " Jeremiah 9:23-24


"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."


"Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, 'What comes into your mind when you think about God?' we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man. Were we able to know exactly what our most influential religious leaders think of God today, we might be able with some precision to foretell where the Church will stand tomorrow."


It is not a cheerful though that millions of us who live in a land of Bibles, who belong to churches and labor to promote the Christian religion, may yet pass our whole life on this earth without once having thought or tried to think seriously about the being God. Few of us have let our hearts gaze in wonder at the I AM, the self-existent self back of which no creature can think. Such thoughts are too painful for us. We prefer to think where it will do more good-about how to build a better mousetrap, for instance, or how to make two blades of grass grow where one grew before. For this we are now paying a too heavy price in the secularization of our religion and the decay of our inner lives."


"The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God until is it once more worthy of Him-and of her."

-A.W. Tozer

The first teaching that we had was Why are we here?

• To know God's Glory

• To learn God's Word

• To advance God's Kingdom

• The Reality.....

~God is incomprehensible
~We can never fully understand any single thing about God.
~We can know something about God's love, power, wisdom and other attributes.
~But we can never know His live, power wisdom or other attributes exhaustively.

• The Reason....

~We can't know God fully because of both our sinfulness and His greatness.
~Because of our sin, we are hindered from glimpsing the fullness of God.
~ But even when all sin will be removed from us, we will still be finite and God will still be infinite
~For all of eternity we will increase in our knowledge of Him.
*If in pride we want to be equal to God in knowledge, this will depress us.
*If in humility we want to live to adore and worship God, this will delight us.

• The Resolution....

~Though we cannot understand God fully, we can understand God truly.
~So based on scripture, even though we don't have exhaustive knowledge of God, we have true knowledge of God.
~Though God is incomprehensible, he is knowable.


These thoughts in themselves are mind blowing. God is more than our finite minds can comprehend, but He is knowable. Knowable! Does this not make your head spin? This is the most thrilling thing EVER! How awesome that we can spend all eternity getting to know more of this God.

REVIVE April 24, 2008

Here are some snippets of our last REVIVE on April 24th.
A big Thank you to Lynsey (aka, "my handler") for putting all these recaps together!!

The Setting of the Sun

As always, I anxiously left the office headed for home to see my boys. As I shifted from work mode back to mother/wife mode, my mind was on a hundred things, which I knew needed to be done. At the beginning and end of each day on my way to and from work I turn up my worship music and spend time singing to the Lord, offering my praise to Him through song. Well, little did I know, on this particular evening that I would be praising Him in a different way. I got into my car turned on my music and pulled out of the parking lot. As I turned onto the exiting road, which leads out of the campus where I work, I noticed a beautiful sunset out of the corner of my eye. The entire sky was a full array of color! It was quite exquisite. I took a moment and thanked the Lord for sharing His beauty. I then shifted my focus back to the music, which was playing.

As I exited the campus, heading towards the freeway, I took a different route than usual. You see, on this particular day I did not have to pick my youngest son up from school, which enabled me to head straight home. Therefore, when I made a right turn onto the road which would lead me home, I was facing the westward direction, into the sunset. Had I gone the route of my son’s school, I would have completely missed God’s wonderful display.

While traveling westward, down the road towards home, I continued to admire the beauty of the sky.As I traveled, I felt as if I were getting closer and closer to the sunset. Rarely, had I seen the sky look so marvelous. I marveled at God’s work as I felt that this splendor was designed personal, just for me.

Suddenly, I began traveling up an over-pass, which sent me up into the sky. As I reached the top of the over-pass I was completely overwhelmed. I had driven directly into the sunset! I was surrounded by the most beautiful orange and red colors that I had ever seen in my entire life. The colors had surrounded my total realm of vision; they were all I could see. My breath was taken away and I felt as though I had been suspended in time and wrapped up in the most amazing beauty. As I was enthralled with all this amazement, I heard a whisper in my spirit. “Who else can do this for you?” My eyes must have been as big as saucers. I believe that my heart may have even stopped for a tiny moment. I whispered back, “No one Lord”.

At this point my heart burst in awe and a joy swept over me! “No one Lord”, I said again, this time in an audible voice! You are mine and I am yours and no one can love me and satisfy me like you do. NO one! On this particular day, I came to know the Lord in a different way. He was like a tender husband who was trying to impress the love of his life to gain her affection. No doubt, I felt the love that He was showing me. He definitely made His point and my day, convincing me of His perfect love for me.

I then thought about all the earthly blessings that God has given me in my life. He has always revealed His love for me through His never ending gifts. But this time, it was different. He showed me that out of all the wonderful things that He has given me in life, nothing could satisfy me and thrill me like only He could. He is my heart’s affection, the love of my life. Oh how I loved and adored Him for what He showed me that day. Earlier, I mentioned that it was not a song from my lips that praised His name this day on my way home, as He requested a different type of praise; praise from my heart. It was my heart that offered Him praise as He had captured it so lovingly on this glorious evening. This heart of mine will never be the same.

From the rising to the setting of the Sun, the name of the Lord is to be praised. Psalm113:3

Brittnie April 2, 2005