Live By Faith: God Seeks Friendship With Men | Week 1 (audio)
A Study of Abraham
Becoming God’s Friend: How God Shapes Those He Loves
Genesis 2:7-8
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The
Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man
whom He had formed.”
Formed in the untamed part of creation
-a heart driven to explore and seek adventure
Marco Polo… Hannibal over the Alps… Lewis and Clark… Peary and Cook… Randy and George and Steve…
Adventure [with danger and wildness] is an inborn longing in the soul of men!
Moses encounters the Living God at the Mall, while shopping? NO!
Jacob wrestles with God on the living room sofa? NO!
…in a wadi east of Jabbok, in Mesopotamia!
…Deserts of Sinai!
Elijah gained his strength in a sauna in Jerusalem? NO!
…in the wilderness!
Did Jesus find His strength and defeat the devil holding his mother’s hand in the kitchen? NO!
…the Spirit drove him into the wilderness!
Deep inside a man’s heart questions bubble up… Who am I? What am I made of? What am I destined for?
Unless you've had divine providence, most of us don't know exactly where we fit in Ministry. You may feel called to preach, but to whom and where? Do you feel called to work with children or the elderly? Do you feel called to work in a church or in a mission-type ministry? Maybe to be a Chaplain is your call? These are questions I have been asking myself for years, but am still struggling with. There's only one real way to find out, DO IT! Begin with working with children in different age groups, work with the elderly in your church, or volunteer in another area. That's the only way to see if you fit in somewhere. I volunteer in the media department of my church operating a camera to put our services on the internet. I enjoy it, but I feel I need to do more. I'm looking to start working with children in the different age groups to see if that may be where I can be useful and teach the Gospel. If that doesn't work, then I'll try something else. I'm also taking classes in Ministry from a Seminary and have a plan, (as of now), to find a Pastor position somewhere. I would love to be a Pastor at my church, but it doesn't look like any openings are going to be coming up soon. I would love to find an Associate Pastor position at a church so I could do the work and learn under the Senior Pastor at the same time. I don't know where all to look, but I'm looking everywhere.
Enough about me, just try different areas of Ministry to find your place, children, facility maintenance, visitation of nursing homes, driving people to church services, etc. There is a place for everyone. Don't be afraid to try or say, "That's not me". That is the Devil talking to you. He doesn't want to have you on the side of the Lord. He wants you to back away. You only fail if you don't try. If you don't fit, then you know its not your place and continue looking. Its that easy. I've been looking for a long time now and I think I know where I am supposed to be, so I'm going for it. You should too!!
The Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News scoured police blotters and local news stories trying to gauge the scope of sexual abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention. What they found is that over the last 20 years, roughly 380 Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers have faced allegations of sexual misconduct – leaving behind more than 700 victims.
The gravity of the findings doesn’t seem lost on Southern Baptist leaders who are responding to the report. SBC President J.D. Greear calls the report “a warning sent from God, calling the church to repent.” Russell Moore of the denomination’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission calls it “a scandal crying out to heaven.”
Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas, says the denomination must be held to account. “What is being described and what has been done to children is horrific and inexcusable,” he tells OneNewsNow. “There is no way to rationalize or minimize that. It is despicable what has been done – and there’s zero excuse for it at all.”
Making matters even worse, victims and advocates asked the SBC in the summer of 2008 – just as the Catholic priest abuse scandal was publicly metastasizing – to put together an offender database to at least keep those credibly accused from moving to other churches. The SBC’s Executive Committee rejected those proposals, drafting a report that “accepted the existence of the problem rather than attempting to define its magnitude,” said a member of the committee.
“At the core of Southern Baptist doctrine is local church autonomy, the idea that each church is independent and self-governing. It’s one of the main reasons that [August] Boto said most of the proposals a decade ago were viewed as flawed by the executive committee because the committee doesn’t have the authority to force churches to report sexual abuse to a central registry.”“Abuse of Faith”
Houston Chronicle (Feb. 10, 2019)
As Jeffress points out, there is no church hierarchy to oversee and implement such a project.
“In many ways [the autonomy of our churches makes it] a greater challenge for Southern Baptists,” he explains. “We have 36,000 churches. For there to be a zero level of child abuse means that every church must have its own standards for how to ensure this doesn’t happen.”
Jeffress is calling on all Southern Baptist churches and institutions to confront the problem openly and immediately. Source
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HNewsWire-Here is the order of things to come according to the Bible: It will be just like the days of Noah and Lot: people will be eating; drinking; marrying; giving in marriage; buying; selling; planting; building and SAYING: “Peace & Safety” and then like the flood and the destruction of Sodom so shall sudden destruction come on those who do not enter into the rapture like Noah entered into the ark.
1 Thessalonians 5:3 (KJV): For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
Matthew 24:37-39 (KJV): But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Luke 17:26-30 (KJV): And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
~Susan Davis~
HNewsWire- “All political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.” Just look at some of our modern day examples: torture is “enhanced interrogation techniques”; murder is “collateral damage”; the aggression initiation of war is a “pre-emptive strike”; the theft of taxpayers’ money is a “bailout”; and the theft of depositors’ money in a bank is a “haircut” or “bail-in”.In a blatant example of Newspeak, the New World Order controllers (through the psychiatric DSM V) have tried to rename pedophiles as “minor-attracted persons” and redefine pedophilia as a “sexual orientation”. This makes no sense, since sexual orientation has to do with gender not age, with whether you are attracted to males or females, not how old they are. There are even organizations (like B4UAct.org) which are claiming that pedophiles are being unfairly stigmatized for their feelings! Psychiatry, it should also be noted, has a history of inventing fictitious diseases such as ADHD (as admitted by its inventor on his deathbed by Leon Eisenberg).
It is impossible to find anyone in the Bible who was a power for God who did not have enemies and was not hated.
Please help me help these kids(orphans) that are in trouble, PLEASE 80% of the book sales goes directly to: https://www.the127.org
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Matt: 11:28 .. Come unto me all you that are heavy laden ...
Ever have that home sick feeling , and you are already home? You are probably being paged by your heavenly Father. More than likely that's his Spirit wooing you to come into his presence. When I accepted Christ as a young boy, I remember having that feeling, even when I was home or had no reason to have it. As a child it can make one uncomfortable, and even sick , if one has it bad enough. It can effect your eating and other activities as well. If your home life was good or not so good, I believe it effects all of us at one stage or another to be home sick. I finally perceived it was my Lord calling me to pray. Many times out of ignorance, we will try and fill that feeling with things, activities, and even company, passing it off as loneliness. In the day we live in, we simply feel we do not have time to "go pray". Next time you get that homesick feeling and do not see a reason for it, go talk to your heavenly Father. He really wants to hear from you. The answers we seek are a prayer away
God bless you on your journey !
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If you don’t understand spiritual warfare and their is a variety of Christians who get attacked by the enemy because of either being in Ministry doing the Will of God or have a calling and took the call, you won’t understand what I’m about to write down, you probably even got lost in the first sentence. This is a warning to people if you don’t like the message you don’t have to bother reading it.
For those who are ready for this story I’m about to write please stay tuned.
The Shark that wanted a human snack.
I was on my boogie board late in the summer back in close to the late 1980s where school was out and it was beach time. I was not too far out in the ocean I had my older brother with me as I also had my snorkelling gear with me, not the profession kind for gear. As I went over a wave I put my head under looking at the beautiful ocean floor. To my surprise when I went to lift my head up their were swarms of fish about three feet from me. Out of no where the swarm looked to be fading out as a big huge fish came out of the swarm of fish looking directly towards me. I could not believe what I was seeing then it opened its huge mouth and I lifted up my head and said shark out loud to my brother. My brother said be quiet , don’t make a scene just calmly swim back to the shore. Not listening to my brother I panicked and heard him say, stop Scott, don’t splash so much. If the shark wanted to get me it could of right their at that moment, but to my surprise it did not nor did I want it too. After reaching the shore I told a lifeguard what had happen and he rang the bell to get people out of the water. The Shark was no where to be found. My testimony I believe God was with me that kept tha shark from getting to me. Not to go too religious on you but I did start praying while I was swimming to shore with my boogie board.
If you liked that story feel free to sub to me , I have lots more to tell where that came from.
And I say this with all love hope and cheer those who want to be blessed be blessed have great day .
July 5
Sin’s Relationship to Sickness
And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. (John 5:13-14).
For years I have known of so many who have blamed God for sickness. This has made some very bitter towards God and others simply accept it as God’s will for their lives without any attempt to seek His relief. I have often been saddened by God getting blamed for the results of sin, be it our personal sin or someone else’s.
Before going any further, we are quick to point out that not all people are sick due to personal sin. A baby born with AIDS due to promiscuous parents is not at fault nor is any person who has been crippled due to the negligent behavior of another. Nonetheless, we cannot dismiss the truth that there is a clear relationship between sickness and sin. For the most part, we are reluctant to admit that much of the sickness suffered by so many may have its roots in sin and this is why they remain sick.
Jesus is very clear in his statement to this man that his sickness was the result of sin. He warned him that if he used his new found health to engage in sin again that the consequences will be worse than before. Jesus, in His warning, made a very solid connection between sin and its harmful results.
When we sin we risk opening the door to so much pain and hurt in our lives. God’s prohibition against sin is not so much an attempt to set up boundaries as it is to set up safeguards that will protect us from sin’s unmerciful judgments upon us. Sin entices us to selfishly pleasure ourselves and then repays us with sickness and other tragedies.
Jesus’ healing ministry both then and now is given to undo the results of sin upon our lives. Here we have rebelled against God’s righteous laws, disrespected Him, separated ourselves from Him, placed ourselves in Satan’s territory and reaped the results. Yet God still reaches out and completely heals the sick one despite what brought sickness in the first place. Truly there is no love that compares to this and there is no god of any religion who loves so unconditionally as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He did not tell this man, “You made your own bed, now lie in it.” Instead, He displays divine love through healing and warning to stay away from the cause of worse sickness.
For more details, go to: http://this-productrocks.com/KingdomDrivenLife
God is a grand designer. He is an expert in masterpieces. God is an impeccable architect. He is a perfect renovator.
Even when things are seemingly out of hand, this grandmaster called God almighty, will find a way out of the most complex situations or circumstances.
This God who is also the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, surely knew what to do when the Adamic project failed. His answer? THE KINGDOM.
The kingdom is God’s total answer to man’s total need. The kingdom is the absolute satisfaction for the absolute desperation of man. The kingdom is the integral solution to the totality of man’s need. The kingdom is God’s comprehensive response to man’s utter desperation.
That is why in Matthew 3:1-2 “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
When John the Baptist started his ministry, he started it by proclaiming the kingdom. The reason is
Though a forerunner, John the Baptist might not have known all the intricacies of the gospel of the kingdom. Yet, he knew that it’s going to be the focus of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. To God, this was a major event. Not just in that Jesus Christ was born, nor in that he was about to start his ministry. What is of equally important significance is the message that the Messenger would carry. To
John could not have started his ministry with any other message apart from the message of the kingdom, for it was to become the central message of the New Testament. God had to see to it that the opening message to this new
For more details, go to: http://this-productrocks.com/KingdomDrivenLife
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July 12
Did God Create the Earth Chaotic and Ruined?
Created by the Elohim were the heavens and the earth. Yet the earth became a chaos and vacant, and darkness was on the surface of the submerged chaos. Yet the spirit of the Elohim is vibrating over the surface of the water. (Concordant Literal Translation - Emphasis are mine)
The phrase “without form, and void” in the traditional King James Version comes from a Hebrew phrase, “tohu va bohu”. The phrase actually indicates a ruin and an empty wilderness. Another English translation reads, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now, the earth, had become waste and wild, and darkness, was on the face of the roaring deep,—but, the Spirit of God, was brooding on the face of the waters” (Rotherham Emphasized Bible - Emphasis are mine)
The late German theologian, Johann August Dathe, believed the passage should read, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, but afterwards the earth became waste and desolate. Another late Bible scholar named Arthur Custance translates Genesis 1:1-2 as following: “IN A FORMER STATE GOD PERFECTED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. BUT THE EARTH HAD BECOME A RUIN AND A DESOLATION, AND THE DARKNESS OF JUDGMENT WAS UPON THE FACE OF IT.”
Did God, who made everything beautiful and whose work is perfect (Deut. 32:4) create the earth into a chaotic mess? According to Isaiah the answer is an emphatic “NO!”
For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else (Isaiah 45:18)
The same Hebrew phrase, "tohu va bohu" used in Genesis 1:2 is found in the above passage. Why would God say that He did not create the earth as a “tohu wa Bohu” here in Isaiah but many claim that in Genesis 1:2 that is exactly what He did? God does not create anything chaotic or ruined. To do such is simply not consistent with His character. The earth was not created in the way that it is described in verse Genesis 1:2 but it became that way due to the fall of Lucifer (now known as “Satan”).
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