All Posts - Discipleship Network Forum

Can We Give Up on a Group Member?

Posted by Sam O'Neal on February 14, 2011 at 9:37

Last week my friend Rick Howerton opened up his new blogwith a post entitled: "When to Abandon a Small-Group Member." Here was the full text of his post:

Never! There is…

     No sin to too decadent
     No opinion too controversial
     No revelation too disturbing
     No sickness too time consuming
     No need too costly
     No conflict too intense
     No addiction too immoral.

Luke 15:11 - 24

I thought that was a pretty cool sentiment, and so I re-tweeted the link to the post. A few of you re-tweeted it as well.

But then I got the following email from another SmallGroups.com reader:

"Nice sentiment in Howerton’s blog post, but I have to disagree with him. I had to ask a group member to leave once because she would go into rages during the group. I tried meeting with her personally, but she would fly into rages against me. I finally blocked her phone calls because they were giving me panic attacks."

So, before I give my opinion on this matter, I thought I would open things up to all of you. Is there ever a time when a group leader should "abandon" a group member?

What to Do in the Dessert?

Posted by Melody Richeson on February 12, 2011 at 20:23

Sometimes I get discouraged. I make plans but they don’t turn out quite as I had hoped or expected. A friend disappoints me. My job feels mundane. In spite of praying and waiting (and occasional bouts of whining), I’m still single. My body reminds me every day that I am indeed growing older and slowing down. I long for more out of church. More out of life. Something richer. More meaningful. Less lonely. I wonder, “Am I wasting my life? Have I missed God’s purposes for me?” (I confess I am a high idealist with strong melancholy tendencies. Undoubtedly, this is a bad combination.) I pray. I do my duty. Yet, each day feels increasingly like a long walk in the desert with little evidence of progress.

Because I grew up in New Mexico, I appreciate the beauty of the desert. A desert sunset is unequaled in color and hue. The mountains on the horizon are both rugged and elegant. But, I have also felt the desert’s arid assault. A hot desert wind can gust for days filling the air with grit until it’s everywhere – in your ears, your eyes, your food. It makes you irritable. People snap at each other or else pass without a word, their heads tucked inside the edges of their jackets. I know the feel of grit in my teeth. When life is hard and discouragement blows in like a desert wind, I know the feel of grit in my soul.

I have recently been captured by one little sentence I read. Upon the recommendation of C.S. Lewis, I decided to read George MacDonald’s fantasy work, Phantastes. The young wanderer, Anodos, comes upon a little spring where he stops to refresh himself. After he drinks from the “cheerful little stream” he says:

“It was born in a desert; but it seemed to say to itself, ‘I will flow and sing, and lave my banks, till I make my desert a paradise.’”

Oh, how I long to live like that! You see, when life gets hard, my tendency is to withdraw. I prefer to shrink back as if to conserve mental and emotional energy. I tuck my head inside my jacket and head for home. I begin to feel dried up – as if I have nothing to offer. That’s not what Anodos’ little stream did. No! It was flowing freely and seeking to bless everything in its path. I wonder if it’s possible for me to live with such freedom and generosity and joy that I could actually alter the world that surrounds me? Could I love so well that what was once an arid desert could become a lush place?

I once heard a speaker at a conference talk about the difference between living with an “abundance mentality” and living with a “scarcity mentality.” I don’t remember much of what he said, but the concept stuck with me. When I’m discouraged I begin to live with a mentality of scarcity, as if to say: “I don’t have much. As a matter of fact, what little I have feels like it’s in jeopardy; so I must hoard it and hold onto it.”

I’ve been wondering what it might look like as a follower of Jesus to live with a mentality of abundance:

These are lean economic times. So, I will be even more generous than usual, because my Father is the one who provides for me.

Do I feel like people are not meeting my needs? Friends? My husband? I will work even more energetically and joyfully to meet their needs, because Jesus himself will be to me what I most need from others.

I’m lonely. I will pursue other people and love them lavishly because God has pursued me, never given up on me, and has loved me with an everlasting love.

That is how Betsie ten Boom chose to live. You may remember her story as told by her sister Corrie in the book The Hiding Place. They were arrested for hiding Jews in their home during the German occupation of Holland in 1944. Nine months later, Betsie died in Ravensbruck concentration camp. Corrie tells how, through Jesus, and with Betsie’s prayers and influence, the barracks were transformed into a place of kindness and joy in the midst of terrible deprivation and misery.

Jesus said in Matthew 10:8, “Freely you have received, freely give.” That is how Betsie ten Boom lived. It is the message of the little stream in MacDonald’s tale. And that is exactly how I want to live as well. I can afford to live with hope and with joy and with great generosity toward others – even when I’m in the desert. Who knows? God might use my little life to radically change the landscape!

“I will flow and sing, and lave my banks, till I make my desert a paradise.”

Losing Focus

Posted by Margie Williamson on February 12, 2011 at 19:50

I fell today on the stairs in my house. Unfortunately, that's not really an unusual occurrence. I have had several falls before and I guess they'll continue. Today's seemed different to me.

I was carry a load of sheets downstairs in one hand and a partially filled cup of coffee in the other. One of the sheets dropped out of my grasp and tangled around my foot. With the cup of coffee in one hand and the laundry in the other, I didn't have a chance . . . I missed a step, hit my back on the corner of the wall, and landed on the slate tile below. It hurt. My husband has become amazingly calm with my falls.

You're probably wondering why in the wold I'm sharing the details. It's not because I'm looking for sympathy, but rather because I couldn't help think today about how much my fall is like the Christian life. I was doing the things I needed to do today, but lost my focus. It was only for a second, but that's all it took. And the baggage I carried––in this case the laundry and the coffee––prevented me from stopping what was an inevitable fall.

It's so easy to look out for the big things that can take our eyes off God––those ethical and moral failures that are so big that it's easy to think, "But I'd never fail like that!" It's not as easy to look out for the little things that can creep into our lives––like pride or anger.

I'm battered and a little bruised tonight. I've spent much of the day in my bed taking pain killers to help ease the pain. All because I lost my focus for just a second. Tonight, I pray that God will help me keep my spiritual focus on Him. It only takes a second to lose focus on Him.

Margie Williamson

Community Manager

Peace with Authority In spite of Abuse

Posted by Jenni Biegler on February 11, 2011 at 23:16

Last week I was meeting with one of our pastors about my passion for Discipleship. In a prior meeting, I had shared some things with him that caused him to go away with a check in his spirit about whether I would be okay with the leadership structure at my church, so he brought that up and we discussed it. I was open and honest about some trust issues that I have because of abuse of authority in other churches and acknowledged that there was some healing that yet needed to be done. I thought the conversation went well. I didn't feel defensive and I really wasn't worried about the issue, until I was driving home that night. I wrestled with that and other issues for 3 or 4 days and was tempted to give up on any desires to be involved in Discipleship at my church. After some concentrated time in prayer last weekend, I believe that God helped me to address this issue and to come to a level of peace that I did not have before. I enjoy journaling prayer but I don't particularly enjoy poetry. Yet I recently realized that God seems to give me a poem when I'm struggling with something that I cannot quite resolve in traditional prayer. When I shared this with a friend, he told me that I should post the poem somewhere. So here it is, maybe you can relate...

Into Your Refining Fire

I choose to go

How I'll turn out

I do not know

Mold me and make me

Fit for your plan

Even if it means

I must submit to a man

Re-direct and protect me

From those who'd abuse

Help me see clearly

How to serve those you choose

Your purposes are so much greater

Than all my fear and pain

Help me serve you freely

And bring honor to Your name

You've given me a vision

And you've mapped out a plan

To go and make disciples

Who will do all that You command

Obedience, Surrender,

Your will is my desire

So consume me, then fill me

And release me with fire

---Jenni Biegler (February 9, 2011)

Commit Your Way

Posted by Federico Aguelo on February 11, 2011 at 11:00

Commit your way to ADONAI;

Trust in Him, and He will act.

He will make your vindication shine forth like light,

The justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

-Psalm 37:5,6

Have you been waiting for a long time for the answer to your prayer? Does it seem like GOD has not heard you or has forgotten about you?

Not all my prayers have been granted…yet. But I continue to pray and persevere in hope, mainly because I know Him who I have placed my faith on. Many times I don’t know the particular reason why I have to wait long, but do I really have to understand everything before I continue in faith?

David encouraged us to commit our way to ADONAI. To commit in Hebrew is ‘galal’ meaning to roll (figuratively or literally). We are to roll our daily practices & habits toward the way of ADONAI. From our thought patterns (perceptions), to our words and to the work of our hands, the godly are instructed to align all his ways to the way of YHWH. By trusting Him, we will see him act on our behalf. By trusting Him, we confess that we are weak , but in our weakness, ADONAI is strong and powerful. By trusting Him, we declare that our GOD is almighty and sovereign over all the affairs of men.

ADONAI will not allow His reputation and character in you to suffer suspicion, so He will make righteousness come to pass and people will see His greatness in you when they witness your vindication. To surrender future circumstances to ADONAI is therefore the best thing that could ever happen to any believer.

When we remember that ADONAI creates circumstances in our favor by His holy word, we become armed with His presence and surrounded with His light. We are assured that no matter what happens, all is well with our souls!

מלאך

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF SALVATION? (Part One)

Posted by Bobby Bruno on February 9, 2011 at 11:29

What's in it for me? Isn't that what we always ask ourselves when we are asked to do something for someone else? We seem to think that unless it benefits us in some way, it's not worth doing. Why should I help you get to work when your car is getting fixed if you are not going to help with gas; and it doesn't matter if we work at the same location either? Why should I lend you money when I know that there is no way you are ever going to pay me back? Why should I…why should I…why should I…. Those three words should be taken out of our vocabulary. Why should we: because we are all in this life together. There was this one woman I read about who helped a homeless person only to find out that the one she helped was really a millionaire looking to see if anyone truly cared, and she was rewarded for her actions toward someone who seemed less fortunate than she was. Though this is not the norm, we are rewarded every time we take the time to help someone in need.
Take Jesus for instance… What did it benefit Him to being whipped short of death and hung on a cross to save us from our sins? He was tortured, beaten, spit at, criticized, mocked, yet He said not a word as He was being interrogated by those who thought they were better than everyone else. Again, what did Jesus gain from all of this pain and suffering? He gained us back from Satan so He could give us back to God. God wants to reconcile us all back to Him, but He will not force us. Salvation is voluntary. Either you want it or you don't, but you can't have it both ways. You are either for God or you are against Him, which means, whether you want to believe it or not, you are for Satan, the Devil, Lucifer. As I will explain during these next few posts, you are either saved or you are wicked, as the Bible calls those who have not accepted the Salvation of Jesus Christ.
But if you do, and when you do, accept God's free gift of salvation, you will experience many benefits that you will wonder how you ever lived without them before. I'm excited! How about you?
Let's get started.

Eternal Life In Heaven

Without salvation, we can’t be sure where we will spend eternity – Heaven or Hell. By accepting God’s gift of salvation, Jesus Christ, our entry into Heaven is secure. Christians who are truly born again can say with confidence that we know where we are going when we die. Jesus was very clear about those who did not choose to follow Him when He said in Matthew 7:21-23, "21Not all those who say that I am their Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. The only people who will enter the kingdom of heaven are those who do what my Father in heaven wants. 22On the last day many people will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, we spoke for you, and through you we forced out demons and did many miracles.’ 23Then I will tell them clearly, ‘Get away from me, you who do evil. I never knew you.’ Jesus said that there are two kinds of people (in the same chapter), "24Everyone who hears my words and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and hit that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock. 26Everyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and hit that house, and it fell with a big crash.” (Both New Century Version) God wants us to obey Him in all things, but the one thing most of all that He wants us to obey Him in is accepting His Son Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Again, He wants all of us in Heaven with Him. But only those who hear the words of His Son and obey them will get into Heaven. No matter how many good deeds we've done on this earth, none of them will get us into Heaven. Only Jesus can get us there, but we have to know Him first.

I cannot lose my salvation

For those who believe, or have been told, that you can lose your salvation once you have gained it need to read what the Apostle Paul wrote to His student Timothy. In 2 Timothy 2:11-13, he wrote from the Spirit "This is a sure thing: If we die with him, we’ll live with him; (12)If we stick it out with him, we’ll rule with him; If we turn our backs on him, he’ll turn his back on us; (13)If we give up on him, he does not give up—for there’s no way he can be false to himself." (The Message)
This is the great news of the Gospel: You can never, never, never, never, never, lose your salvation. Once you are saved, you are saved forever!!! Let no one tell you different. Jesus said in John 10:28, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." (New International Version) Even if we turn our backs on Jesus, He will never turn His back on us. Because Jesus promised us that we could not be snatched away from Him, He would be lying if He gave up on us. Even if we turn away from Him, He will still do everything He can to get us to turn back to Him again. This is where the trials and tribulations in our lives come into play. Jesus would never willingly put us in harm's way, but He can and will allow them to persist until we once again see our need for Him and turn back to His loving ways.
So, rest assured: Jesus will never let you go no matter what you do. That doesn't give us a license to sin, but it does give us the freedom to do the good works that the Holy Spirit will give us to do without the fear of persecution or even death. Feel free to really live for Jesus. You will find that life is worth living and that following Jesus was the best decision you've ever made in your life.
I know that I have never regretted making that decision. Where once I was truly dead to the world, I am now truly alive in Christ, and I would never trade the two, even upon pain of death. But don't believe me; believe the Savior. Let Him show you a life that He knows you truly want. Don't deny yourself of life any longer. There is life in the Cross of Christ. Bow down to the One who created you. Give Him what is already His. You were meant for something greater, and in your heart you know you want to achieve that greatness. Until you accept and trust Jesus Christ with your life you will never even come close to the true life you want. Cry out to Jesus. He will respond and show you how life is to be truly lived.
May God bless you with His love.

Ready For the Road Ahead 2-13-2011

Posted by Ann H. LeFevre on February 8, 2011 at 17:40

Ready For the Road Ahead

One time while visiting Cape May, Jeff and I saw a print in a gallery that we just had to have. It was a photograph of a lighthouse off the coast of France, well known for the stormy waves that crash upon it each day. A photographer in a helicopter had captured one of those waves as it smashed around the base of the lighthouse while the lighthouse keeper blithely looked skyward to see what the noise was all about. One glance at this picture and you want to yell, "Watch out!! Get inside!!"

How many times over the years have you been gripped by headlines such as the ones concerning Egypt recently. As of February 7 the chaos in Cairo had continued for 14 days. Headlines on that day also proclaimed clashes in Cambodia, protesting in Turkey, and ships being raided by pirates in India. It seems that the world is a fearful place to live without a shelter to keep us safe in the storm. One glance at the headlines and your mind wants to yell, "Watch out!!! Stay inside!!"

No one understood better about how chaotic life could be than the ancient Israelite. Due to its key location on the path of several major trade routes linking 3 continents, Israel was constantly subjected to attacks and turnovers. Not only was their little sliver in the fertile crescent valuable for trade, other nations such as Assyria and Egypt, were on a mission to prove that their gods were far more powerful than Yahweh. They viewed their military victories as a reason to proclaim that Yahweh was weak and undependable. As threats for another invasion surfaced it was enough to cause any faithful Israelite to yell, "Watch out!! Don't go outside!!"

This month Jewish people will celebrate the festival of Purim whose story is found in the book of Esther. The Israelites had been conquered by Persia and some, like Esther, were now in exile. Times were unstable and uncertain. The strange thing about the book of Esther is that God's name is never mentioned. It appears that God is not involved in the story at all. Actually, God is very cleverly disguised within the story, and to the faithful there is no doubt that He is the source of Esther's courage and the reason the Jews prevail.

Sometimes the chaos of the world feels the same way. No matter what continent, no matter what nation or state, strife and turmoil seem to say that God is not involved in our world at all. Times are unstable and uncertain. However, the psalmist encourages us in Psalm 46 that even when mountains shake and the waters roar, God is in the midst of His people acting as an anchor and a source of hope which will see us through the storm safely (Heb. 6:13-20). We may not see it; we may not sense it, but we know God is at work in our story.

The Sea of Galilee is often depicted as an idyllic body of water surrounded by pleasant hills. However, it is not always that peaceful. Cutting into those rolling hills are gorges called "scarps" and when the wind blows down through the scarps on to the Sea of Galilee it stirs up the water and sailing becomes treacherous. Such a storm is recorded in Luke 8:22-25. This storm was so fierce that even the disciples who were seasoned fishermen feared they were about to die. Whether it is a massive wave off the coast of France, a disturbing headline about our chaotic world, or a storm upon the Sea of Galilee, there is only one thing to do when a storm of that intensity comes your way. Esther turned to God through fasting and prayer. The disciples turned to Jesus. Rather than succumbing to panic or hiding when life seems out of control, our best recourse is to follow in the footsteps of the psalmist and place our trust in the Lord (Ps. 121) for that is where our help comes from. Ann H. LeFevre 2/13/2011

WHAT WILL I DO WHEN MY FAITH IN JESUS BRINGS ME SALVATION?

Posted by Bobby Bruno on February 8, 2011 at 11:24

Gaining salvation in Jesus Christ is the ultimate experience any human could have. It is the only true freedom that we can obtain. It is not of this world and could never be. Some of the things we call freedom are nothing of the kind. How about the freedom to smoke? Are we really free when smoking can lead to the bondage of cancer, lung disease, and death? How about abortion? Does the freedom to murder babies in the womb really bring freedom for the woman who doesn't want the baby? Or does it bring to her the bondage of knowing that she did indeed murder a baby that, years later, she regrets getting rid of when she is not able to have children of her own due to a botched abortion? Whatever happened to the right to live? What about the bondage of homosexuality? God created marriage to be between one man and one woman. How else can children be brought into this world? A homosexual couple cannot do it together. Sure, they can raise a child, but God made it so that a child could only be brought up in a balanced way with a man and woman as parents. If one of those is missing in the relationship then the child will suffer greatly as he or she goes through life confused as how they are to be and act as a man or woman. If two men raise a child together, then the female aspect of the child's life will be missing. The same for women, the male aspect won't be there. Let's face it: a man cannot teach a girl how to be a woman, and a woman cannot teach a boy how to be a man.
Ah, but that is the wonderful thing about finding salvation in Jesus. I am a firm believer that homosexuality is a choice not inherited. For whatever reason, a boy or girl chooses to be homosexual whether they realize it or not. But when you give your live to Jesus, He can bring you into wholeness again and change you back into the person He created you to be. Now that's real freedom. We all want to be who we were made to be. We all long for a reason and a purpose for living. We all have this hope that, someday, we will find that certain something we are looking for to make our lives complete.
That completeness can only come by the salvation of Jesus Christ. There is no other way in this universe to find the real freedom we are all searching for. Once you allow Jesus into your life things will begin to change. You will surely become more peaceful, more hopeful of the future. The things from your past that haunt now you will slowly diminish to a memory. I had a very bad past due to being sexually abused. For 36 years I buried it down inside, not realizing that the way I was acting outwardly was a reflection of that abuse. When it surfaced again I tried to kill myself 5 times without success. When Jesus came along a called me to Him, things began to change quickly. I was able to look at the abuse from His eyes and see that, without it, I couldn't have become the man I am today. That's not to say that Jesus wanted it to happen. No. But He allowed it to happen because He knew my future. He knew that I would one day become the man He created me to be. I'm not all there yet, but I can see the changes being made to get me there, and the journey is fantastic. It's not always easy, but it is fantastic. Give Him your heart and you will see just how fantastic it is and feels.

I will praise Him for his grace of salvation

Isaiah 12:1-2 says that: In that day you will say: “I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. (2)Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” (New International Version)
When Jesus saves us, He begins the journey to completeness. Before we let Him into our lives, God was angry at us. Not angry as in violent: angry as in, "I love you so much that I wish you wouldn't do that thing that will ultimately bring you harm." But after we accept His Son, Jesus, God's anger falls away as easily as the rain falls from the sky. God loves us immensely because He created us. God has promised us that, if we believe in His Son, He would give us a life worth living with meaning and purpose. He promised us that we would, someday, be with Him in Heaven for all of eternity. He promised us through His Holy Spirit that He would guide us through our day to day lives. If you trust in what Jesus has said He will do for you (read your Bible) He will never let you fall or fail. Trust in His strength and not your own to get through each day as you give up bad habits and create new ones. We call salvation the "Grace" of God. Grace is an extended favor or kindness to one who doesn’t deserve it and can never earn it. We can't work hard enough or do enough good deeds to earn God's love, He gives it to us freely though Jesus.

I will take refuge in His love and faithfulness

Psalm 57:1-3 says: Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. (2)I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me. (3)He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; God sends his love and his faithfulness. (New International Version)
No matter who is pursuing you God has your back if you accept His Son, Jesus, as your Lord and Savior. When problems arise we can find refuge in God. That means that whenever we have a problem, no matter how great or small, God will take care of you until the trouble has passed. Remember, Jesus never said He would keep you free from trouble, but would help in your time of need. Without trouble or problems we wouldn't grow as people, we would stay stuck in "infancy" and not grow into adulthood. Unfortunately, there are a lot of adults walking around that are still children on the inside. That's how I was with the abuse in my life until I gave it to Jesus. And not until we do give it all to Jesus will we grow up to be the kind of adults we are supposed to be. Go to God if you have a problem. Fall upon His mercy to see you through the hard times, and He will faithfully help you as He said He would always do.

I will show others what He has done for me, and will tell them of His love for me

In Psalm 40:1-3, David said, "I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. (2)He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. (3)He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be astounded. They will put their trust in the LORD. (New Living Translation)
After Jesus takes over our lives and begins to bring us true freedom, others will see the changes in us and want to know how we did it. They will see that our attitudes have softened. They will see behaviors like smoking, drinking, premarital sex, cursing, the kind of movies we watch, and the way we conduct ourselves, among others, change. When we are so far down and mired in what seems like a hopeless situation, God will come through and help you get back up again. He will make your paths straight again and, if you let Him, will take your problem upon Himself, and give you the peace that you will need to see it through. God will not always take away the problem, but He will give you the wisdom, peace, and faith to help you overcome it.
As Christians, we are to be a light to the world. If we are truly walking with the Lord others will see it and want to know what's happened to us. Some will be amazed at the changes they see in you, and some will be angry at you for becoming a "Jesus Freak." Your old bar friends won't be happy when you tell them that you won't go out with them Fridays after work anymore to get drunk and watch baseball. They will think you are a pansy because you won't want to see any R rated movies anymore; and especially when you tell them that some of the PG-13 movies are questionable to you anymore. These friends may abandon you and that's okay because you will have gained a new family in your new church friends. But, still, there may be a couple of friends that may want to know about Jesus, and that's what it's all about.
It's all about freedom: Freedom to live right: freedom to live with a purpose; freedom to enjoy life…period.

What Will Jesus Do For Me If I Have Faith In Him? (Part Seven)

Posted by Bobby Bruno on February 8, 2011 at 11:23

In Jesus’ Love For Me:

To truly give the topic of Jesus' love for us the kind of consideration it truly deserves would take a book. Many have written about the love of Jesus: Pastors and theologians who have a much deeper understanding of Jesus through Scripture. What I write about here, today, is but a very small glimpse of His love for us. Giving His life up for us on the Cross was the greatest act of love anyone could have done for us. It is my prayer that when we get to the topic of Love in the future, after we talk about Hope, you will see Jesus in a new way, or perhaps in way that will open your eyes to the truth of your need for Him.
Today, I want to talk about how Jesus' love for us can help us through our day to day lives. At the end, it is my prayer that you will see Him as the only one who can truly keep you sane as you go through your day, battling whatever comes your way, good or bad.

His love for me allows me to give Him every anxiety I feel and He will take it from me

The Apostles did not only live with Jesus, they experienced Jesus. To experience Jesus is not only to know Him, but to live as He did, following God, the Father. God does not want us worrying about anything at anytime. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:34: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (New International Version) Jesus walked around this earth not caring what people thought of Him. If something started to bother Him, He would listen to what God had to say before He opened His mouth in response. The apostles did the same thing as they walked around spreading the Gospel to the masses. They first watched how Jesus conducted Himself and then, when it came their time to go out, they followed His example through prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Remember, when they were on their own, just as Jesus was when He walked this earth, they were able to put into practice what they had seen and were now able to experience for themselves the peace that Jesus had at all times.
But how do we experience the peace of Jesus? How do we not worry about yesterday, today, or tomorrow, when situations we would rather not deal with are thrown in front of us consistently? We do what the Apostles did when they ran into trouble: we run to Jesus. Peter 5:7 tells us to "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." (New International Version). Peter could not have written that statement if he didn't believe it or had not experienced it for himself. I'm sure, like all of us, it took Peter some time to give up everything to Jesus. I'm sure there were times that Peter felt he could handle whatever was thrown his way. But the more he gave up his troubles to Jesus, and the more he found peace in any given situation, the more he found that he could live a peaceful life by letting Jesus be in control of it.
Jesus wants us to give Him every situation we go through. Even little things like who to marry, what car to drive, what house to buy, what books you should read, what church to attend, where you should go to school, and that's just for starters. To you it may seem ridiculous or small, or not worth anyone's time, but to Jesus it is everything. He wants to be involved in every aspect of your life from the time you get up in the morning to the time you go to bed. He doesn't want you to worry about anything, nada, nothing at all. He wants you to lean on Him for direction every step of the way because He knows exactly where we should be and what we should be doing.
Remember, He created us and gave us the gifts we have so we could be used by Him to spread the Good News of His salvation to the world, such as I am doing through this blog. As of today, the blog has been read by people in 10 different countries and continues to average about 7 hits a day. All I did was take the gift of writing that God has given me to spread the news of salvation that is found only in Jesus. By giving Him my cares and worries each day, I keep my mind tuned into his Holy Spirit, whereby I am at peace and my mind is uncluttered. If you've read my post "My Life In Christ" you saw that this was not always so.
But why does Jesus want all our worries and troubles? Simple: because He loves us dearly and wants us to enjoy Him and our lives, which we can't do if we stay focused on our problems. It gives us a little taste of Heaven where there will be no troubles at all. Jesus already knows the outcome of all our problems and the outcome will be the best outcome for the situation at hand. Jesus has our backs, but we must give our troubles to Him.

In Righteousness:

Jesus will sustain me and never let me fall

Pursuing God is how we get the power of God into our lives. When we look to Him to figure out the solution to our problems, we are left to focus on Him even more. There is nothing in the world that Jesus can't handle. There is no power greater than the power of God. There is no situation that He can't handle. God never intended for us to handle our problems alone. He fully expects us to look to Him during all our trials in life. He wants to help us with as much intensity as He used in creating the universe and everything in it. You never have to suffer alone when you are a child of God. We suffer alone when we try to fix a bad situation without anyone's help. But when we ask for help, the problem gets solved faster, and in a way we may not have thought of ourselves. God has all the answers. All we have to do is what our next verse tells us to do.
Psalm 55:22 says: "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." (New International Version) This may not be easy since we humans think we know everything. But there comes a time in your life when you have to admit that you don't, that you need help from someone who knows what to do. Casting your cares on Jesus does not mean that you are weak; it means that you are strong in admitting you need help, because, as we all know, asking for help is the hardest thing for us to do. And, besides, who wants the problem to persist any longer than it has to? As a child of the living God, you will never fall or fail as long as Jesus has your back, front, every part of you.

Who are the righteousness ones?

Truly righteous people are those who are faithfully walking with Jesus Christ, and are living as He did when He was here on earth. We are called children of God because we have put our faith and trust in Jesus for our salvation and future. It was through Jesus death and resurrection that we who asked Jesus into our lives and to forgive us of our sins are declared righteous. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (New International Version). Righteousness is another way of saying that we as Christians are "right with God."

When I obey God I am showing Him that I love Him by following the example of Jesus

After being declared right with God, He expects us to obey Him in every way. Since we know that He has only our best at heart, we should want to obey Him. It's not always easy since we have free will, but it can be done. Each day we should strive to be more like Jesus which would make our lives much easier to live and survive. As 1 John 2:3-6 says: "When we obey God, we are sure that we know Him. (4)But if we claim to know Him and don’t obey, we are lying and the truth isn’t in our hearts. (5)We truly love God only when we obey Him as we should, and then we know that we belong to Him. (6)If we say we are His; we must follow the example of Christ. (CEV The Promise)"
The example Of Christ is the only true example of love for others. Faith in His power and not ours is the only way to a peaceful, enjoyable life.
See you next time.

What Will Jesus Do For Me If I Have Faith In Him? (Part Six)

Posted by Bobby Bruno on February 8, 2011 at 11:21

In My Love For Jesus Christ:

When I am faithful to Him, my love for Jesus protects me from harsh punishment

Where do you think you would be today without the discipline of your parents when you were young? Sure, being grounded or hit with a belt was not pleasant, but did these things make you rebellious or more disciplined in your own life. How many times have you heard some people say that if it hadn't been for the discipline of their parents they might have turned out either dead or in jail? You see, discipline is not a bad thing no matter what teenagers say because we all know that we really want discipline in our lives to give us structure.
That's why we have laws that keep us from harm. They are there to protect us from injury or wrongdoing. Have you ever asked yourself where our laws really come from? Do you think they originated from man? No way! We are a very much undisciplined people. If we really had our way we would allow ourselves to do anything we wanted without the guilt and condemnation of our actions. But is that a good thing? How many people would be left on the earth if we killed everyone we were mad at to get them out of our lives? None at all whatsoever. Again, without discipline, we would all be miserable. If we could fulfill all of our dreams all at once what would there be to live for? What kind of future would our kids have to look forward to if everything was handed to them instantaneously?
That's why we have laws and rules. Every good and moral law we have on the books comes from God. If you read the Bible you would be surprised just how many laws we get from its pages: Laws that God gave us to follow. If this world would turn back to God, and the laws He created to protect us, we would all be joyful, free from discipline and guilt. God gave us these laws to show us how much He loves us. Parents show their children how much they love them by disciplining them when needed.
Now, what if I am a believer in Christ? God says that we are to obey Him and the laws He has written on our hearts and in His Word, the Holy Bible. When we don't obey Him then we are to expect the consequences of our actions. Sometimes God disciplines us Himself, or He will let other people do it. If you talk meanly to your wife, you can expect to make your own dinner that night. All kidding aside, if I murder someone then I expect to get the death penalty. If I don't then something in the justice system has gone wrong.
How do you think God feels when His children disobey Him? It causes Him pain and heartbreak the same as it does to parents who are disobeyed by their children. God always, always, always has our good in His heart. He doesn't want anything evil to happen to us, but we live in an evil world where evil happens quite frequently. It would take me a lot of posts to explain to you why God just doesn't do away with evil right now. The really short version is that He would have to do away with just about everybody living on this earth right now, excluding those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ.

Which brings us to today's message:
Psalm 31:23-24 says, "Love the LORD, all you faithful ones! For the LORD protects those who are loyal to him, but he harshly punishes all who are arrogant (proud -- New International Version). (24)So be strong and take courage, all you who put your hope in the LORD! (New Living Translation)
We as believers have a lot to be thankful for. Not only did Jesus save us from our sins and give us eternal life, He also showed us how to love others. But loving others can only come from Jesus loving us first. As we say "Love conquers all", but may I add that it only happens with the love and power of Jesus Christ’s Spirit living within us.
Before we come to know Christ, we humans only think we know what love is. When we say we love someone, we sometimes say it no stronger than if we say we love our car, house, or TV show. We like to say "love means never having to say you're sorry." Try telling that to your spouse the next time you do something wrong toward her. Even God wants us to say we are sorry to Him when we sin, so He can forgive us. But as believers, we learn from Jesus how to love others, including Him.
As the above verse says, we are to love the Lord for all the things He has done for us. We are to be faithful to Him because He is faithful to us in giving us the kind of life He said He would give us when we accepted His death and resurrection.
Being loyal to Christ means to follow Him only and no one else. No one should we worship other than Jesus. He should be our all in all. His being faithful to us brings us protection from evil. Satan can tempt us, but as believers, he has a harder time getting us to give in to the temptation because we have the power of God within us through the Holy Spirit. Still, as believers, we can give in to the temptation only when we try to not give in on our own strength. One misconception the world has about Christians is that we should never sin and should always do the right thing in every situation. True, we as Christians should never sin since we have Jesus, but as I have said once before, God gave us free will to ultimately choose what we want to do. Our bodies and our minds are still in a fallen state. When Jesus saved us He saved us from God's wrath and from Hell, and brought about the forgiveness we needed from God. It won't be until He comes back that we, as believers, will be changed into an immortal state of being. That is why verse 24 tells us to be strong and to have the courage that the hope we have in Jesus will be fulfilled in due time.

I will conclude this section, "What will Jesus Do For Me If I Have Faith In Him" in the next post.
Give your life to Christ and let Him set you free.

Trust in ADONAI

Posted by Federico Aguelo on February 8, 2011 at 7:02

Trust in ADONAI, and do good;

Settle in the land and feed on faithfulness.

Then you will delight yourself in ADONAI,

And He will give you your heart’s desire.

-Psalm 36:3,4

At the time of David, when you trust someone, you put your life in his hands. It is a picture of a man lying prostrate before a king. His whole body is exposed and helpless in abject surrender. The king could do as he pleases inasmuch as the man has given his life over to him. Such is trusting in ADONAI.

We know that ADONAI is good all the time and His love never fails and His mercy endures forever. We know that whoever calls upon His Name, He will in no way cast out. We know that He is the defender of the weak, the widow and the fatherless. We know that He gave His only SON as the ultimate sacrifice to save those who believe in Him. We know that nothing can separate us from the love of ADONAI. In fact, we have not seen or heard what ADONAI has in store for those who love Him. Such knowledge is too wonderful for us to fathom! This is why all who believe ought to do good, imitating the FATHER of light.

When we ‘know’ the character of ADONAI, we are not afraid to settle in the land. To settle is to build a home, a family and expand the influence of ADONAI by building relationships. When others see the light of ADONAI in our lives, they can’t help but be attracted to the light. Light always attracts and light always dispels darkness. When there is light, it encourages commerce of the kind that prospers and builds up. When there is light, there is focus and penetrating wisdom. When there is light there is joy and a sense of comfort that all is well.

The word ‘feed’ in Hebrew is’ ra’ah’ meaning to tend or pasture a flock which in general also means to rule. ADONAI is telling us to inhabit the land and take care of it, cultivate it and rule it with stability and integrity. It is the same command He gave to Adam in Eden.

Then you will find yourself proving the will of ADONAI in every situation and your heart will be filled with joy at seeing His blessing on everything you put your hands to. Yes, the delight of ADONAI will become your delight as your will is aligned with His will!

מלאך

What Will Jesus Do For Me If I Have Faith In Him? (Part Five)

Posted by Bobby Bruno on February 7, 2011 at 15:01

In Trust In Him:

"Who do you trust, hubba hubba? Who do you trust?" Yes, this is a line from the first Michael Keaton Batman movie, asked by the Joker towards the end of the film. What was he really asking here? Joker was talking to the people of Gotham about whether they should trust him (the bad guy) or Batman (the good guy). It all comes down to who you trust.
Where am I going with all of this? Let me ask you some questions about putting your trust in others. Who would you trust more: Someone who said that they would help you pay your bills for the next month if you were having trouble, or someone who actually did help you pay them? Someone who told you they loved you or someone who actually showed you they loved you by their actions? Someone whose motives you know are selfish, or someone who has always shown you that his motives are pure, not only by what he said, but by what he did? Would you trust your spouse if they were coming home late from work every night for no good reason, or the friend who saw him leave a restaurant that night with another women on his arm? Would you trust your spouse if you found strange phone numbers in his possession, and when you called them a voice you don't recognize answers? Would you trust a parent who constantly beat you even if you did nothing wrong to warrant it? Would you trust…? I think you get the point.
Now what about when it comes to God. Do you trust Him? Do you know that you can trust God? Answering these questions may be hard, especially if you grew up in a home where trusting someone could mean being hurt. Could you trust your father? If you learned not to be able to trust your father, then you were set on the path of not being able to trust any man. In my case, being sexually abused by a man made it absolutely sure that I could not trust another man for the rest of my life. Somehow I knew that I needed God in my life, but I felt I couldn't trust Him either. As I say in my post "My Life In Christ", it wasn't until I broke down from all the weight of the abuse and of trying to live my life through it on my own strength that I knew I couldn't survive on my own. If God hadn't "found" me, I would have never have had Him. Suicide is not an option.
But how do we learn to trust God? By first accepting Jesus as the Lord of our lives; by giving Him all control of every aspect of our lives. Until we accept Jesus as our Savior we will not be able to see God as the Father of our lives, we will not be able to see God for who He really is. And who is God to us? He is the only One who will ever truly love you in this universe because His love knows no boundaries, no limits. His forgiveness is immediate and forever. His power in your life will never be exhausted and will never diminish; His power will always be on full throughout the rest of your days. Only God will ever tell you the complete truth about who you really are to Him.
Which brings us to our first Scripture?

I must lean on God’s understanding, not on my own, or man’s wisdom

Proverbs 3:5-6 says: Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, (6)in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.(New International Version)
It's not just about God changing your life it's also about accepting what God is telling you about your life for good or bad. God can tell us anything He wants, but if we don't accept what He says as truth then we won't believe it. If you've been told all of your life that you are nothing, after a while you begin to believe it. God has to break through that mistaken belief to show you what He believes you are. It may take a while, but that depends on whether you will believe the God of the universe, or some person on this earth who was once told they were nothing too.
It's not about how we or others see or think of us; it's how God sees us. Don't forget: humans have a sin nature which automatically makes everything we see or think distorted in some way or another. That includes how we see ourselves. Never trust another person when it comes to who you are and what you are. Trust God alone. He made you. Who would be the better choice to explain the meaning of a work of art – the artist who put everything he had into every brushstroke he used to create it, or an "expert" who is a hundred years removed from the time the painting was done and who learned about art from a book? My guess it you would want to talk to the creator. That's who God is: Our Creator. Who better than Him would know everything about us. Where do you think your dreams for the future, your talents, your gifts, (yes, even the kind of toothpaste you would use) come from? They come from the One who created you as an individual, and as an individual has a personality like no one else.
We must trust in Jesus by giving Him all control of every situation we become involved in, bad, or good. We do this by giving our problems to Him to handle for us, and by not worrying about the outcome, believing that Jesus will do what is best for us, according to His Purpose for our lives, since He has always known the outcome even before you were born.
Now let's turn to one of the biggest problems we face as human beings when it comes to anything that affects our lives, which is everything. Worrying is one of the biggest causes of illness in our world. We worry about everything from money, to jobs, to relationships, to clothing, to housing, the biggest needs we have or our lives. But we even worry about things life, how our hair looks, how heavy we are, will our team win the playoffs. But mostly, if you took a good look inside yourself, you would see that you worry about the smallest things like why can't I have a car like he does; why can't I have a husband like she does, why can't I seem to get along with my kids? I could go on forever.
But what does Jesus have to say about worrying? A lot. But I have chosen the two most direct Scriptures that Jesus Himself said during the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus was speaking to a multitude of people of His day, but the Sermon on the Mount still speaks to us loud and clear today.

Worrying cannot lengthen my life, but can shorten it by the stress worry brings

First, Jesus told them in Matthew 6:27: "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (New International Version)
I love how straightforward Jesus says things. How much more of a true statement could this be? Worrying can not give you more life, but it sure can take it away. If we were honest with ourselves, we would realize that we worry more than we think we do. But what is worry? Worry is anything you focus on that you have no control over. Worry is anything that we think about when we feel we can't do anything about the outcome. Worrying is when we think that other people are better than we are. Worrying about a situation doesn't solve the situation. It only perpetuates it for a longer period of time, and makes us more miserable.
So, since worrying isn't good for us, and can do nothing to make our lives better, then what do we do about it?

Worrying brings me more trouble than the situation itself

Matthew 6:34: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (New International Version)
First, we give the worry up to Jesus. 1 Peter 5:7 says: "7Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you. (New Living Translation) God loves you so much that he wants all of your problems and will happily take them upon Himself so you can live a joyful life. All we need to do is to take care of what we personally can take care of for this day and this day only. If there is something that we cannot do in our own power and strength then we give it to Jesus. Yes there are some things we can and have to take care of on our own during our day. We are still responsible for working, eating, and worshipping God. But God will take care of everything else. Even if it seems to be taking a long time don't give up waiting. God works on His own timetable, but will answer you when and only when you need the answer.
I'm sure that we all could do with a lot less stress on our lives. But let's not add stress where we don't need to. Please trust Jesus and you will find the joy in your life increase. May His peace be with you as you go through your day leaning on Him and not yourself.
Have a good one.

What Will Jesus Do For Me If I Have Faith In Him? (Part Four)

Posted by Bobby Bruno on February 7, 2011 at 14:59

Let's continue looking at forgiveness…

Seek the Lord and He will be merciful

Isaiah 55:6-7 says: "Turn to the Lord! He can still be found. Call out to God! He’s near. (7)Give up your crooked ways and your evil thoughts. Return to the Lord our God. He will be merciful and forgive your sins" (Contemporary English Version -- The Promise).

Always remember that God will forgive you of every sin you have ever committed, will ever commit, and haven't yet committed. God knows everything about your life past, present, and future. He is faithful to forgive you. There is nothing you can do to upset God's plans and purposes for your life. To God you are a "Somebody." There are no "nobodies" in God's Kingdom. You were created by God for a special purpose. Finding that purpose begins with confessing your sins to God through Jesus Christ.
As the verse says, the Lord can still be found. A lot of people think that God isn't concerned with us or the world we live in. They believe that once God wound up the universe, He left it to its own devices and ours as well. Many believe that God doesn't care about us anymore. "Why do you think the world is in such bad shape", they say. "If God really cared, He would do something about it." It's amazing: that's the same thing people said during Jesus' ministry on earth. They were looking for a military leader to overtake Rome, who was making life unbearable for the people of Jesus' day. They wanted Him to overthrow the rulers of Rome and to establish peace and right to the earth. They wanted a bold king to rule them without the constrictions that the Romans were putting upon them. What they got was a savior who was more concerned about their spiritual condition more than their physical condition. Sure, Jesus did many physical miracles to show the people just who God is: He fed many, He healed many, even raised a few from the dead. But Jesus cared more about their souls than He did their bodies. Yes, He cares about our physical being, but if our souls don't belong to Him, then our physical bodies won't matter if they will not be in Heaven with Him.
When you think about it, Jesus is in fact also a military leader who will lead an army of saints (those of us who put our faith in Jesus) to overthrow Satan at the appointed time (Revelation 20:10: "And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever" New International Version). But we must put our faith in Him before He cannot be found. There will come a time in the future when God will remove His Holy Spirit from this earth and salvation will no longer be possible for those who have waited too long to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Won't you call out to God right this very minute and secure your place in Heaven with Him for all of eternity, while He can still be found?

What is the first thing that Jesus will do for me after I accept Him into my life?

I will be cleansed and forgiven

In Jeremiah 33:8 we read: "I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. (New International Version)

Again, the Scripture is talking about the Israelites returning to God yet again. When you read the Old Testament, you will find that God called out to his people through the prophets many, many times to return to Him so He could heal them and forgive them. In all of these times God was showing them, and us, that He will not give up on us, that He will keep pursuing us until we have made a definite decision to either accept Jesus or reject Jesus. Until you make a definite decision, God will keep on calling to you because He does not want you to miss out on His love. Satan has no love for you. All he wants to do is destroy you (1 Peter 5:8B: "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (New International Version)) so that God can't get you into His kingdom. As I have said in an earlier post, Satan hates God and anyone who sides with him. For those who walk around this earth saying "God is dead" Satan has already destroyed them spiritually. If Satan can keep you from accepting God's Son as your Savior then he has won a great victory. Satan wants you to keep on sinning, because the more you sin, he believes, the more guilt and condemnation you will feel about them and would never go to God because God could never accept a sinner like you. Please do not believe that for a second. Go to God no matter how you feel. Don't trust your feelings because they will lie to you. God will forgive you.

Here is an example of how much God loves you and will forgive you:

God’s Abundant Forgiveness
Place some sand into a bucket to represent all of humanity since the beginning of time until now. Now think about all the sand left on every beach in the world. This represents God’s love for us. If you don’t think that God will forgive you, or that there is not enough forgiveness from God for everyone, just think about how many grains of sand there are in that bucket and compare it to the amount of sand left on God’s beaches. For every grain of sand in that bucket there are trillions of grains of forgiveness from God for each person who has or will ever live, past, present, and future. Seen in this light, we realize that God’s love for us will never diminish, never run low, and never run out. We as humans can never sin enough to take away every grain of sand on God’s beaches. There are enough grains of sand to cover the sins of all of God’s children forever.

Never say to yourself that God would never forgive someone as bad as you. There is nothing "bad" enough you go ever do to get God to stop loving you, no matter what Satan says. Satan is a liar. Please remember that. If you don't like yourself, if you don't care about your life, if you just want to give it all up and die because the world will get along just fine without you, if you believe that no one cares about you or loves you, or any one of a million thoughts like these, then you must realize that you are being lied to by the master deceiver himself, Satan.
If you read my post "My Life in Christ" you will see how I once believed all of these lies about myself. But if it wasn't for Jesus pursuing me until I realized that I needed Him, then you wouldn't be reading this post from someone who has been where you are at today. God loves you, and I love you, and there is nothing that will ever change that. Believe it with all your heart.
Please, today, answer the call. God is waiting to hear your voice saying His name. Tell Jesus that you want Him in your life and that you need Him. Surrender all that you are to Him and I guarantee that He will make good on His promise to forgive you, cleanse you, love you, and change you into someone who you can be proud of. His love is everlasting, it will never die. If your heart is being tugged and your mind has turned toward Jesus, please respond to His voice. You will know it is His voice because you will feel peaceful perhaps for the first time in your life. Jesus said in Revelation 3:20: “Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends." (New Living Translation) Jesus is knocking. Answer the call won't you?

What Will Jesus Do For Me If I Have Faith In Him? (Part Three)

Posted by Bobby Bruno on February 7, 2011 at 14:58

In Forgiveness:

Even the prophets knew that Jesus would forgive me if I believe in Him

Hundreds of years before Jesus was even born, prophets (through the Holy Spirit) foretold not only of Jesus’ birth, but also of His miracles, His death and resurrection, and even how He would conduct His Kingdom. Today, I want to focus on forgiveness.
In Acts 10:43 we read, “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. (New International Version)”
As Israel went through its times of rebellion against God, God would send a prophet to speak for Him, to tell the people that God would lovingly take them back if they would just give up their idols and sinful ways. Unfortunately, they didn’t always listen, so along with a message of hope, God would tell them what would happen if they didn’t listen to him and return to His ways. The prophets would speak of wars and captivity that the Israelites would have to face if they kept on doing things their way, and God was true to His word. You see, God’s word is always true, and whatever He says will come to pass. But you also need to see that God always has our good in mind, as we talked about last time, even if we don’t think so.
The Israelites, as we would say today, talked out of both sides of their mouths. On one hand, they would complain to God that He wasn’t doing enough to get them out of their situation, that He was being too tough on them. With the other hand, they would cry out to God for deliverance from their troubles. Through His prophets, God always told the people what they would have to do if they wanted Him to save them. His solution was always the same: 2 Chronicles 7:14, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Also in Ezekiel 36:25-32, God says, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. 30I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. 31Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. 32I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel!
Yes, no matter how deep their rebellion against God was He would always forgive them their sins and return them back to a state of righteousness and would heal their land. And God says the same thing to us today. If this country would stop doing the evil things it does, and if we will all cry out to God to save our country, our youth, our way of life, and truly mean it, then He will heal our land and make this country great once again.
Even then, God let His people know that one day, He was going to send a Savior to free us from our sins and from ourselves. About 500 years before the birth of Jesus, God told the prophet Isaiah to tell the people about this future Savior, in Isaiah 9:6-7, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this (New International Version).” We hear verse six every Christmas at church. But did you notice who it is who will accomplish this for us? The verse says the ZEAL of the Lord will accomplish this. His Zeal. That means with everything that is within Him, He will forgive and free us if we just believe that He can and will do so. Remember: Faith is believing. If you truly believe that God will do for you what He said He would do, then your faith will be strong and nothing in this world can shake you from that belief.
God has said that if you come to Him and ask Him to forgive you of all your sins, you just have to believe that it’s true. If you don’t believe it fully, then it will not happen. God does not like double-minded people, because they will never be able to make up their minds, and will always doubt whether what they see and hear is true or real. That’s why God doesn’t just save everybody. He wants you to want him. He will not force Himself on you. What kind of relationship does a marriage have in it when two people are forced to marry each other? It would be a marriage without love, just obligation. You see God doesn’t what you to feel obliged to come to Him because He knows that obligations don’t always sit well with us humans. Tell the truth now: How many soccer moms, after the first couple of weeks, really want to take their kids to the field for a game? Or at your job? Or even at church. Obligations are not always fun and do not give us the satisfaction that say a hobby does, since that is something you do because you want to. It is the same with God. If you come to Him freely, because you want to, I can tell you from my own experience, you will have a more satisfying relationship with Him because you are both mutually joined together forever.
Now, let’s take note of that one all-inclusive word that is found in the middle of the verse from Acts. The word is “everyone”. In the Greek, the word means everyone, every way, continually, forever, perfectly, all men, all people, just to name a few (from the New American Standard Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries © 1981, 1999 The Lockman Foundation). Pretty straightforward, isn’t it? God forgives everyone who asks Him to. God will forgive your every sin in every way, no matter what it is or will be. God will continually forgive you of any new sins when you ask Him to forgive you of it. God will forever forgive you, because, when you gave your life to Jesus, you are forgiven for all sins for all time. God forgives perfectly, all the way, not just a part of your sin, but all of your sins. God’s forgiveness is for all men, women, and children. God’s forgiveness is for every human being living on the face of this planet we call Earth.
I call that Good News. Please hear it. Please embrace it. Please make it your own. If God is tugging at your heart at this very minute, then He has just given you all the faith you will ever need to believe in his Son, Jesus. God is telling you that He wants you to join with Him for eternity. Remember: God always gets what He wants, and right now, you’re it. Embrace Jesus. Embrace God. You’re life will never be the same.

What Will Jesus Do For Me If I Have Faith In Him? (PartTwo)

Posted by Bobby Bruno on February 6, 2011 at 14:15

Hello Everybody!!! I pray everyone had a great Christmas and that you took the time to thank Jesus for leaving His throne in Heaven to come here as a human to do what no one else could ever do for us but Him. His birth and life led to the death of our sins and the salvation of our souls. Thank you Jesus for your great love that wouldn't let you have it any other way. You are the greatest!!!

     Let us continue to look at what Jesus will do for us if we have Faith in Him.

My Faith During Prayer Can Heal The Sick

     James 5:15 says: "And their prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make them well. And anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven."
     This Scripture pertains to the elders of the church praying over someone after anointing the sick person's head with oil. The Bible is clear that the elders of the church are the ones to be involved in all healings where needed. But that doesn't mean that we can't pray for the healing of the spiritual and physical problems that people we know are going through.
     Those who don't get healed point to this Scripture and say that Jesus must not be the Son of God since they weren't healed when prayed over. Some would attack the church and its leaders and say that they don't believe enough, or have enough faith to heal anybody. And some people may even believe that it is the elders themselves who affect the healing and that maybe his faith isn't deep enough since the healing didn't occur.
     Here is the biggest problem with the belief that some people have when it comes to this Scripture's message: They believe that everyone who is prayed over for healing should be healed. Yes, the Scripture does say that the prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make them well.  But it is that last phrase where people tend to forget who actually does the healing. What they don't like to hear is, if Jesus is in control of all healings in this world, and if He is in fact God, then why isn't everybody who asks for healing in fact healed? Why does God chose to heal some and not others?
     Before we were born, God chose a plan and a purpose for each one of our lives. That plan includes all the good things and all the bad things that would happen to us during our time here on earth. This does not mean that everything we do, say, or happens to us is by His design. Remember, God did give us the free will to affect our own lives with the decisions we make on our own. Yes, He knows every decision we are going to make long before we make them, but it doesn't mean that He will stop us from making them. That is why it is called free will: We have the freedom to do whatever we want with our lives, good or bad. But no matter what decisions we make, God will work them into the plan and purpose He has for our life. He wishes that we would make good decisions that would affect our lives in positive ways for Him, but He knew what He created in us when He made us in our mother's wombs. Look at Adam and Eve -- at the time of one of the most important decisions they had to make about eating the fruit, they made the wrong one, pushing man into the sinful state that we find ourselves now. But, we all know that this has not stopped God from executing his plans for mankind.
     This is where the second half of the Scripture comes into play. Some illnesses are caused by bad decisions: AIDS, alcohol-related illnesses, drug abuse, and smoking just to name a few. AIDS is caused by unprotected sex that, if sex was kept inside of marriage, where both partners were free of the HIV virus, no one would ever get the disease. If people could find other ways to fill their loneliness, like asking Jesus into their lives, other than excessive drinking and drug use, their bodies wouldn't break down to the point of a bad liver or death. And we all know the dangers of smoking, yet two-thirds of the population of this country smoke at least one to two packs of cigarettes a day, not caring what it is doing to their lungs. The Bible says that nothing should be done to excess. This is why: Too many people die each day because of the wrong decisions they have made about their health. These excesses are sin against our own bodies, and, sometimes, they are a sin against God also. But God, being who He is, will forgive you of those sins, and, if it is within His plan for your life at that moment, and will heal you of the sickness your sin has caused you.
     Some people, especially those who don't know or do not have a relationship with God, do not realize that God not only heals people spiritually, but that He heals them medically as well. There is a reason that we call Jesus the Great Physician. God invented medicine. It is God that gives scientists, researchers, and doctors the revelation of how to make new medicines and vaccines. For those who say that God doesn't do miraculous healings anymore need to talk to those healed of cancer (like me), who's Bipolar Syndrome is stabilized by medications like Lithium (like me), and whose hearing has been restored in a deaf ear (like my wife's). God is healing today in ways we cannot imagine.
     But why does God heal some and not others? Sometimes God uses an illness to bring us closer to Him. You see, sometimes the only way for God to remove pride from our lives is by an illness or medical condition. Even the Apostle Paul asked God to take away a medical condition that he had, but God would not so that Paul could stay humble as he went about the countryside bringing the Gospel to those who wanted to hear it. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10: "Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, "My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness." Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become." The Message) Now, if God chose to let the great Apostle Paul suffer to keep his pride out of the way so he could focus more on God, don't you think that He will do the same for us. Yes, I said "FOR US." Remember, everything God does for us and to us is for our own good and for the purpose of His plans for our life. Repeat that to yourself until the words penetrate your body, soul, heart, and mind. EVERYTHING GOD DOES TO US AND FOR US IS FOR OUR OWN GOOD! God doesn't need or want to hurt us -- we do that pretty well ourselves.
     Like Paul, God will use an illness to make us realize that we can't live independently without Him, using the illness to make us more dependent on Him, because God knows that we can't live our lives properly without Him. That is where faith comes into play. We just have to have the faith that God knows exactly what He is doing with our lives. Then we have to let Him do whatever He needs to do to execute the plan for our lives that He has to do. The decisions that we have to make in our lives should be His decisions. We find those decisions in the Bible and in the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Everything we need to live our lives is found in the pages of the Holy Bible--the living, breathing, Word of God. Just read the Book of Proverbs and you will be reading the greatest wisdom ever known to man (next to Jesus, that is) given to us by God Himself.
     God's plan was once told to me by this example: Have you ever looked at the backside of a piece of needlepoint? All you see are loose ends, some knots, and chaos. But, if you turn it over and look at the other side, you see a beautiful canvas of orderly colors and shapes. In this life, all we ever see are the loose ends, knots, and chaos. Everything we try to do to order our lives without Jesus turns out wrong. We do not have the wisdom of how to run our lives in such a way that we are a blessing to others. We're too busy taking care of ourselves to even think about taking care of others. But God, who loves us all, is working in all of our lives to order them in such a way that we do become a blessing to others. God sees the human race in an ordered way. He sees what we can become, the same as a piece of fabric blesses a seamstress as she turns it into something orderly, useful, and full of beauty. That is what God is doing with our lives. We see the world as through a glass darkly. He sees the whole picture even though He is not done painting it yet.
      Our faith in Him will indeed heal us, even if it takes until we get to Heaven. God will give you the faith to trust Him with your entire life, for good or bad, if you'll just let him.

What Will Jesus Do For Me If I Have Faith In Him? (Part One)

Posted by Bobby Bruno on February 6, 2011 at 14:13

For the next few posts, I will be talking about what having faith means for us in different areas of our lives. What will God do for me if I believe in His Son, Jesus?
   As we all know people are always looking for the benefits of following someone or something, be it celebrities or athletes. One of the most used lines we humans tend to think or say when entering a relationship is usually "What do I get out of this relationship?", "What do I get out of this job?", or even "What's in it for me?". We always want something back. Why is it that we always feel that, when we give, there must be some kind of return on our investment. How many people have done something for someone only to get mad or even if that same person doesn't return the favor at some point in time? How many promises have we broken because we refused to keep it when the person we promised refused us in our time of "need?" I could go on forever with these kinds of questions. I'm sure you have some of your own situations that were like these described above.
     But God is not like that. He will never take back His promise to you. It might seem that way to you when God doesn't answer your prayers the way you thought they should have been answered, but God doesn't work on our timetable. Again, faith is the assurance that things we do not yet see will come true. But in God's timing, not ours.
     Today I want to start at the beginning. What is the first thing that most people do, or should do, when a problem arises that they can't seem to get out of? Pray. God will only answer if you ask. Yes, God already knows what you will be praying for, but will wait until you ask for it. As Jesus said, "You have not, because you ask not."

If I Have Faith And Believe, Then My Prayers Will Be Answered By God

     Matthew 21:21a-22: "I assure you, if you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this (anything Jesus has done) and much more. (22)If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
     1 John 5:14-15: "And we can be confident that He will listen to us whenever we ask Him for anything in line with His will. (15)And if we know He is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that He will give us what we ask for. (Both scripture from the New Living Translation)
     Jesus told this to His disciples just before He sent them out on a trial mission of their own so they could put into practice everything He had taught them up to that point. They wanted to know how they could possibly do the things that He was doing since He was the Son of God, and everything He was doing was from God. By faith they had to trust Him that what He said would be done for them would be done for them. But they had to really believe in their hearts that they could do these things through the Holy Spirit whom God would give them.
Believing is the key to everything Christian. We must believe that God is who He says He is and that He will do everything He promised He would do concerning our salvation and our lives. If we have any doubt at all we short-circuit anything and everything that God has for us as His children, causing us to not grow and mature as believers. For instance, if you doubt that God has forgiven your sins, then you will continue to live your life as a slave to those sins and their consequences. You will remain miserable, fearful, and anxious. You will never get past your past and into the glorious future that God has planned and promised for you. But, if you believe in your heart that God has truly forgiven all of your sins forever, then you will live a joyful life knowing that your past is in the past, and that it can't hurt you anymore.
     In my life, I was sexually abused as a child. Before I asked Jesus to come into my life, I was an angry, miserable person, full of hatred for others and myself. I had a split personality and was always fearful of being abused again, even when I was in my forties. I looked like a grown man on the outside, but, on the inside, I was still a child who didn't know how to cope with life as an adult. My first marriage ended because I couldn't cope with dealing with the grown-up world while still having the mind of a scared child. But, after I gave my life to Jesus, things began to change, maybe not rapidly, but changes were occurring in many areas of my life that needed to be changes if I wanted to live a life free from the damage of the abuse. In my heart I had to believe that Jesus would change my life for the better. If I had doubted Jesus anywhere in the process of His healing me, I would not be here writing this sentence for you to read and to understand just how important faith in Jesus is to a life of freedom and courage.
     As far as believing that all of your prayers will be answered, let me say that God does indeed answer all of your prayers. But let me caution you that He does not always answer them the way you want them answered. God has three answers to your prayers: Yes, No, Maybe. God will answer your prayers if He knows that the answer would be in His best interest, and yours too. God has to know for sure that you are going to use the answer to further His Kingdom here on earth and to help others. For instance: a million dollars. If you pray for a million dollars, and God says "Yes", then He sees that your heart is in the right place spiritually, and that you would use the money to help others, and not to help make yourself richer. Or He may say "No" because He knows that your heart is selfish and that you would give a dime to no one and would squander it on possessions, trips, and other materialistic things, which is why a lot of millionaire lottery winners are broke in a few years after winning. But what if God said "Maybe?" Maybe He sees that your heart is leaning towards helping others, but it still has a little selfish spot that God knows would take control of the money if He gave it to you now. When your heart has truly opened towards others more, then He'll give it to you then.
     What it all comes down to is God wants to answer all of your prayers with a "Yes", but only if they are in line with His will for your life, and His will to grow the Kingdom of God in this universe. For example: Would you give a five-year-old a gun for Christmas if they asked for one. No you wouldn't because you know that they could injure or kill themselves or others with it, and because you know that they are not mature enough to handle the responsibility that comes with it. That is why God does not always say "Yes", because He knows that most of the things we ask Him for will harm us in some way. His "Yes" only comes when He knows that are hearts have changed and we are mature enough in Him to do the right thing with what He has given us. Again, you would not give your child a gun, but you might give a thirty-year-old a gun if you believed that he was nature enough to handle that much power.
     The problem with most peoples is that they get mad at God when He doesn't answer their prayers either the way they want them answered, or not at all. But we all must have faith that God knows what is best for us, and we must live our lives according to that belief. If we do, we will live joyously knowing that our God loves us and cares for our well-being more than we do ourselves.

     Next post we will talk about having faith when it comes to prayers of healing. See you then. Thanks for reading.

How Can I Be Saved By Jesus Christ's Death And Resurrection?

Posted by Bobby Bruno on February 6, 2011 at 14:11

By Confessing My Sins To God

By Accepting Jesus Christ As The Lord Of My Life And Giving Him Control Over It

     As I have said previously: this is the easy part. Remember, Jesus did the hard part by dying for us. The part He left us to do can be done right where you are now, physically, spiritually, mentally. How easy is our part in gaining salvation from Jesus? Read Romans 10:9-13: "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe it in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. (10)For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (1)As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.(Isaiah 28:16)" (12)For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile -- the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, (13)for 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"
     It's amazing how easily we can tell others about their mistakes, something we can do quite loudly at times. Like when we are driving in the morning. Someone cuts you off and you start shouting and screaming at them, as if the driver can hear you, when all he is concerned about is getting to work on time. Or when your spouse doesn't do something you asked them to. Do you gently remind him that you had asked him earlier that it be done? Or do you remind her of all of her faults you've noticed since the day you both met? Yes, it's pretty amazing how we can point out everybody else's faults. But how tight-lipped do we become about confessing our own faults? How defensive go we get when we don't want to hear how bad we are, or how many mistakes we've made in the past? How do you respond to your spouse when she tells you about something she's seen in you that needs to be changed? Do you take the request seriously, or do you lash out in anger and tell her that she's not perfect either?
     Now what if that person was Jesus Christ? What if He told you about all of the mistakes and failures He knows you've had in your life? Would you make the changes then, or would you tell Jesus to let you live your life they way you want to? What if Jesus told you that living your life your own way would bring you nothing but misery and heartache, pain and sorrow, and could mean the difference between life or death, both spiritually and physically? What if Jesus told you that He had a better way for you to live? Would you listen or still insist that your way is better? Well, for starters, Jesus isn't going to tell you to your face all the mistakes and failures you've had or made. But He will tell you that life without Him would be the biggest mistake you could ever make. As I've stated earlier, Jesus loves you very much, and died and was resurrected from the grave so you wouldn't have to live with the stain of all your failures and mistakes. Jesus is the only one who will not forsake you because of your past, or let you suffer any longer because of it. If you want to make the changes in your life that you, and others, see need to be made, then Jesus is the only one through the Holy Spirit who can do it perfectly. But first you have to humble yourself and tell Jesus that your life and future belong to Him, if you want to be free from the guilt and shame from your past. This is called confession.
     You've heard it said before that confession is good for the soul. A more truer statement could not be made than that, for confession is for the purpose of freeing your soul, to be what God intended it to be. Your soul is eternal, so it makes a big difference where it ends up at the end of your life. Everyone who's ever lived on this planet knows that there are only two destinations to choose from (yes it is a choice you will have to make) -- Heaven or Hell. Both are very real and so very different. In Heaven, there is peace and beauty that can never be imagined here on Earth. In Hell, there is pain and misery that will never stop for all of eternity. Let me repeat that again -- for all of eternity; never-ending, never-ceasing, forever. When you die you will experience one of these destinations. Let me convince you throughout the remainder of this blog that Hell is not where you want to choose to go. Getting into Heaven is as easy as opening your mouth and, from your heart, saying a few simple words. God has made it very, very easy for you to be with Him and Jesus in Heaven, where joy unspeakable resides.
     As the Scripture above says, all you have to do is believe in your heart and soul that Jesus is Lord of and over everything. You must believe that He was raised from the dead. That's it! Easy, isn't it! And that's the way God wants it to be. He doesn't want anyone to perish. He wants as many people in Heaven with Him as possible. But He won't force anyone. He leaves the decision entirely up to you. He loves you very much, which is why He won't force you to accept His Son. Would you do anything you were forced to do? Would you be loving your children if you forced them to do the things you yourself would never do? Would you force your children to be with someone you didn't trust? Neither will God. But He does want Heaven to be the most crowded place in the universe. He invites you to join Him. You have God's promise that anyone who calls on the name, Jesus, will saved, and will join Him in Heaven the very second that you leave this planet we call Earth.

Did Jesus Know Why He Was Sent Here?

He Came To Save Me From The Darkness Of Sin And Evil

     Jesus came into the world as a light to guide us to God the Father. From the beginning of time, God knew that He would need to send Jesus to us to save us from our sins and ourselves. (We all have sinful natures. That makes us all victims to its power and influence, which makes us all the same. When seen in this light, we realize that, though we may all look different, speak different languages, wear different clothes, live in different cultures, whether we are rich or poor, man or woman, black or white, our sinful natures make us all equal in the eyes of God. When we ask Him too, He easily forgives us all, because to Him, our sinful natures are all the same. By this, God's Grace is equally available to all who seek Him, no matter what we have said or done in the past and in the present. Glory to God for His great love towards us, His creations, His children.) God knew that Adam and Eve would fail to listen to His command about not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thereby issuing sin into the human race, corrupting the holiness that He had initially created in the garden of Eden.
     When the time was right, God sent Jesus to earth in an attempt to bring us back to Him, to be made holy and righteous once more. I say attempt because, no matter how hard He tries to woo us into His arms, we ultimately have to make the decision to accept His free offer of salvation. God will not force Himself on any one who does not want Him in their lives. Sin has plunged us into a darkness we cannot get out by ourselves. But, thanks to His love and mercy, God sent a beacon of light into our world. Jesus came to show us just who God is, and who He always was and always will be.
     Jesus' ministry was to tell people about the love of God, using words (truth) and miracles. In our world we have a phrase that says, "I have seen the light!" But, until you have seen and accepted Jesus into your heart and life, you have literally never seen the light, because the light of this world is truly darkness. If we look deep inside ourselves we would most likely see nothing but misery and pain and, yes, evil. Maybe you've tried everything from sex, drugs, or alcohol to escape the darkness you've seen inside your soul, but they never seem to really take the pain away. The world's answers are really no answers at all. If the world could solve all of its problems, don't you think we would all now be living happy, stress-free lives right this very minute? But, because of the darkness and rule of Satan in this world, it will never, ever, ever happen. Only Jesus can wipe out the darkness in your soul and give you the addiction-free, stress-free life that you've always wanted. Jesus will shine His light inside your soul faster than the light that fills a room just after you hit the light switch. Give Jesus a chance to prove Himself to you. He doesn't mind showing you. Ask Him to bring you into the light of His salvation. Let Him save you from the darkness within you, and then through you, to the world. What do you have to lose other than misery and pain?

Do Small Groups Divide the Church?

Posted by Michael Mack on February 5, 2011 at 21:42

Back in December I blogged that healthy small groups are friends. (See post here.) I'm not sure why, but this has recently become the most popular post on this blog. It was picked up recently by ChurchLeaders.com (here), and Debra commented,

Small groups often divide the church into cliques. The group forms, bonds, and no new people stand a chance of joining them. The more groups there are, the more segregated the church. New people see this right away, feel like an outsider, which they are, and don't go back.

Debra may be right IF a church's small groups have not been taught how to develop groups in healthy ways. I am working on Chapter 5 of my upcoming book 7 Vital Signs of a Healthy Small Group (available from TOUCH this Spring). This chapter is about healthy authentic community. A healthy community is never a closed clique. The marks of healthy community are that is open, inviting, welcoming, outward-focused, missional. Healthy community fulfills all of the Great Commandment by loving God, one another, and our neighbors as ourselves. See my blog, "Healthy Small Groups Are Friends with Non-Christ-followers."

The Best Small Group Leader Ever called his group "friends" (see John 15:12-17). Jesus led a small group and modeled for them how to live in healthy community. He said about himself, "I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders" (Matthew 9:13, The Message). That's what healthy small groups are here for, too!

A description of a healthy community is in Acts 2:42-47. The first five verses describe how these people were committed to Jesus and one another. The last verse shows the result. Their community life had the effect of "enjoying the favor of all the people," and because of this, "the Lord added to their number daily those those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47).

I love the way Richard Peace put this in his classic book, Small Group Evangelism:

In a successful [healthy] small group, love, acceptance and fellowship flow in unusual measure. This is the ideal situation in which to hear about the kingdom of God. In this context the "facts of the gospel" come through not as cold propositions but as living truths visible in the lives of others. In such an atmosphere a person is irresistibly drawn to Christ by his gracious presence.*

Debra described unhealthy small groups as what we might call "holy huddles." The problem is not in the huddle itself, however. Every successful team needs a safe place to huddle to put our arms around one another, catch a short breather, and encourage one another before running the next play to accomplish the team's mission. It breaks my heart to hear that these holy huddles are segregating Debra's church instead of enjoying the favor of all the people. I pray they will become healthy, Christ-centered communities that stop coddling insiders and truly invite outsiders.

Are your small groups closed cliques or healthy, Christ-centered missional communities?

What are you doing to break the holy huddles?

See original blog post at Small Group Leadership.

* Richard Peace, Small Group Evangelism: A Training Program for Reaching Out with the Gospel (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 67, 68.

What Does This Mean For Me As A Sinner?

Posted by Bobby Bruno on February 5, 2011 at 11:54

Jesus Died To Save Me From Eternal Death

     Here is a great scripture full of hope, truth, joy, peace, everything we all want out of life. This scripture contains the words that should make us want to shout in praise to the One who came to us to die. This scripture should awaken the hearts of every man, woman, and child who hears it. These words are the very words of freedom and glory. They are from the pen of Paul to Timothy, a young man who became to Paul as the son he would never have. Paul told Timothy, in 1 Timothy 1:15a: "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance -- Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (New International Version).
     Jesus came to the earth to save sinners. What more needs to be said? Jesus did not come to the earth to condemn it. He did not come to the earth to shake His finger at us and say "bad children". Not once while He was still in Heaven did Jesus ever say "Don't make me come down there". He didn't even come here to tell us that the "party is over, you're all going to Hell, and that is that". No! Jesus came to show us he way back to God. He came to live as one of us to see why we were having such a hard time with temptation. He came here to show us a better way to life. He didn't come to take all of our fun away, not at all. He came to show us a way to live right and have fun doing it. He came to save sinners -- you and me. Saying that Jesus came to save sinners is a promise you can trust with your whole heart and soul. You will never hear a promise like that from anyone here on this earth because we are all sinners. We always break our promises because we always make them with impure motives -- but not Jesus. The only motive He had was love, pure and simple. He loves us so much He died for us so that He could save us from eternal death.
     What is eternal death? It is being physically and spiritually separated from God for all of eternity after we die here on this earth. God's Holy Spirit is still here on the earth keeping mankind from destroying itself before God's plan for us is fulfilled. That is one of the big reasons that we haven't nuked ourselves out of existence yet, and why Israel hasn't been wiped off the face of this planet. Sure, things seem very bad with rapes, murders, wars, and so forth. But, if it weren't for the Holy Spirit's restraining force, we would have killed ourselves over anything that made us mad. Without the Spirit, we would kill our neighbor if his leaves blew over onto our lawn. It is a simple as that.
     So, if eternal death is being separated from God and His Spirit, what is spiritual death? Spiritual death is what people who have never acknowledged Jesus as Lord and Savior are living in right now. Because of their refusal to believe and to recognize that they are sinners in need of a Savior, these people are dead inside to the loving ways of God. A lot of these people think that God is an angry god who doesn't want anyone to be truly happy. They believe that He wants to tell them what to do, and how they should live their lives. They believe that they should be able to live however they want. But, ask yourself, how much are you really enjoying having sex outside of marriage, getting drunk every weekend, taking drugs, and so, so many other things we humans do to try and fill the holes in our souls? Are any of these activities making you truly happy? How many times have you told yourself that you need to stop doing these things before they kill you? Let me advise you that you are already dead if you think any of these things can be a replacement for the love of Jesus Christ.   These things can never be replaced without Jesus' love in your heart. True happiness cannot be found at the bottom of a bottle. It can only be found through the love and sacrifice that Jesus made for you and me when He gave His life up for us on that cross. Won't you tell Jesus that you are tired of living a lie and that you want to know the truth about how to be happy here on this earth? Tell Him that you are tired of going your own way, which has always led to more disappointment and sorrow, instead of happiness and joy. He will hear you and He will respond. Trust Him and not yourself. Become spiritually alive in Christ and I guarantee that He will show you just what true happiness is.

What Does It Mean To Be Saved Or Born Again

     I'm sure that, when you look at this question, you begin to ask yourself, "What do I need to be saved from?" To put it simply: you are being saved from God's wrath and Hell. (Born again means to be reborn spiritually into the family of God) You may now be asking yourself, "What is God mad at me for? Haven't I lived a good, clean life? I've never murdered anybody or robbed a bank. How can God be mad at me?"
     First, let me tell you what God is angry about. First, He is not angry at you personally. You are His creation and He loves you very much. What He is mad at is your sin. You may not have robbed a bank, but have you ever taken a pen from a co-worker's desk knowing that you weren't going to return it? You may never have stabbed or killed anybody, but have you said things to people to tear them down, while pumping yourself up for being so righteous? What God is really trying to save you from is yourself. If we had it our way, we would get rid of everyone else on this planet just so we could be the boss. How many times have you sat in traffic cursing the "idiot" in front of you for not pulling out fast enough when the light turned green? You see, it wasn't the car in front of you that made you mad, it was you who decided to get mad. Did the person in that cat deserve to be cursed out by you, or was it you own inability to control your tongue that caused him to get out of his car to come back and beat the daylights out of you?
     Do you see how much we need to be saved from ourselves and the sinful nature that we carry around from the disobedience of Adam and Eve, and ourselves as well? God knows that we ourselves cannot get ourselves back to the days when there was no sin on the earth. God knows that we are having a very hard time dealing with Satan and all of his lies and deceit. How many times has his voice whispered into your ear to do something you know is wrong, but gets you to do it anyway? You see, we need to be "saved" so that we can have the kind of life that God created us for. God created you for a specific purpose. There is somethings He wants you to do for Him on this earth. You are not here by your parent's choice.: you are here by God's choice. But there is only one way that you can fulfill that destiny, while at the same time, living the kind of life you yourself have always wanted to live -- the life you were created for. And that way is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Give your life to Him and then watch the transformation that He will begin as He takes you from death to life.

Why Did God Send His Son To Die For Me?

Posted by Bobby Bruno on February 5, 2011 at 11:53

     In His great omnipotence, God knew that we, His Creation, would be a humanity of sinners. He knew that we would eventually want to go our own way without Him. But in His great love for us, His Creation, God already had a plan for how we could be restored into a holy relationship with Him once again. There was only one way to accomplish this, and that way was through His Son, Jesus Christ. On earth, Jesus was God in the flesh who walked around this earth showing His love for His creation in so many ways, from healings to predictions of the future of mankind. Jesus showed us that God wanted to restore us back into a right relationship with Him. Jesus lived a totally sinless life, even though He was tempted in every way that we are every day, maybe more. But He never sinned by giving into those temptations. He loved God, His Father, so much that He obeyed God at every step of His life, especially when it came to hang on a cross for criminals. Only a sinless, blameless man could take upon Himself the sins of the world. When Jesus died and was buried, He took all of our sins with Him forever -- past, present, and future sins -- so that we could be reconciled to God and not have to suffer under sin's power, guilt, and condemnation.

If I Believe In Jesus I Will Have Eternal Life

     The most famous verse in all of the Bible is the most quoted and seen verse in all the world. Go to any sporting event and you can't miss it. At least one fan has it written on a sign. Even though he only writes down the Bible book, chapter, and verse on the sign, most people know what the verse says. It is the one verse that most Christians will point you to when you ask about eternal life and why we as Christians believe that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. Jesus is the only man to ever say anything like this. He was bold in His statement that He is the only way to God.
     John 3:16-17: "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son; that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (17)For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him" (New International Version).
     John 3:16-17 is the scripture that all the world needs to hear. To this day, people believe that there are many ways to God and Heaven. Many will argue that every "religion" is correct and that it is presumptuous for anyone to say that there is only one way to God. I won't go into any debate here about who is right or wrong, but for me and a 2 billion other people, the Bible is the Word of God and is therefore the only true source about anything God, Jesus, Heaven, or Hell.
     Also, many people believe that God is a tyrant who doesn't want anyone on earth to have anything good -- especially a good time. Some believe that God is mad at us and wants nothing more than to do away with us. If that were true, I wouldn't be here writing these words, and you wouldn't be reading them, for He would have smited us a long, long time ago.
     Some believe that God a grandfatherly figure who will forgive all of our sins and let us all -- the entirety of humanity -- into Heaven at the end of the world. They say that He knows that we are sinners and that it's not our fault that Adam and Eve messed up and brought all of this sin into the world. We're just trying to deal with the consequences of their sin. Why should I be held responsible for what they did thousands of years ago?
     That's just a couple of the ways that people see God. But, for our purposes here, we are going to look at God in the way that He really is, and how He wants to be seen -- and that is as a God of love who cares very much about His creation, and the people He has placed in it. "For God so loved the world" means the entire universe and everything in it. Every little atom is loved by God, the same as you would love your child, or even a painted that you had created by your own hand. God loves Jesus as much as He loves you and me, yet He let Jesus die on the cross so that He could restore our relationship with Him. A relationship that was damaged by the sin of Adam and Eve, and, yes, our own continuing sin, as well.
     Jesus did the hard part when He allowed Himself to be crucified and hung on a cross by nails in His hands and feet. God did all the work to restore us back to righteousness and left us the easy part. All we need to do is to believe that Jesus was sent by God, to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, to believe that Jesus is the only true Savior of the World, to believe that Jesus is the only way to Heaven, to believe that only Jesus can forgive us our sins, and to believe that we cannot do anything ourselves to gain any of this on our own.
     God sent Jesus here to save the world, not condemn it. God did that once with the flood in Noah's day, but is something He promised He would never do again (see below).
     God loves you so much that He will pursue you until He has you back in the family where you belong. Can you feel Him chasing you know?

God Sent Jesus To Be My Sacrifice So I Could Be Reconciled Back To Him

     Romans 3:25-26 tells us that "God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's blood, so that by faith in Him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past He was right to be patient and forgive sinners. (26)This also shows that God is right when He accepts people who have faith in Jesus" (Contemporary English Version -- The Promise).
     When the scripture says that God "sent" Jesus to be our sacrifice, He did not send Jesus against His will. Jesus came willingly, leaving His Heavenly throne and all the trappings of a King, and was willing to come and die for us long before we were even created. The word "sent" here means that God sent Jesus at the right and proper time for Him to come. God had already planned to send Jesus before we were created because God knew that He was going to give us free will, and that we would abuse that free will and would disobey Him in sin. But God had a time and place picked out for when Jesus would make the biggest impact on humanity. Sure, it seemed as if Jesus died alone and that His mission had failed, but because of the sacrifice of His life at the proper time in history, we today can see the impact He had on humanity. 2000 years later, we still celebrate and worship Jesus as the Son of God.
     When Jesus willingly shed His blood, He made a way for us to come to God, and through faith in His Son, Jesus, be forgiven of our sins. In the past, even today, people everywhere are crying out for justice from God. They wish that He would destroy anyone who does evil, but, since that is all of us, God would have to destroy us all. He did it once with a flood, but promised never to do it again. As it says in Genesis 9:11-16: "I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (12)And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: (13)I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. (14)Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, (15)I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. (16)Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth”(New International Version).
     Now imagine if God did that, how would you feel if you asked God for one more chance and He said "No?" What if God said that we were all going to Hell and there was no way to change His mind? We would think that He was unjust and cruel. But God is very just and loving. By sending Jesus to take on Himself all of our sins and then to die on a cross taking all of our sins with Him to the grave, God showed us that He has the right to wait as long as He wants to, to say enough is enough. His patience knows no boundaries. It is because of His great patience that we are all still alive, and the Earth is still floating in space. It is because of His great patience that we stiill have a chance to accept Jesus as His Son (but God will not wait forever). God wants to forgive everybody, but as we saw in John 3:16-17, we have to ask for His forgiveness and believe that Jesus in His Son and our Savior from death.

     Next time we will discuss what Jesus' death means for sinners.
     Please let me know how any of this is having an impact on your life. Comments are most welcome. Don't be shy. Tell me what you really think. Testimonies are especially welcomed. See Ya!

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