In reading the book of Acts of late I have been spending time looking at the not so obvious information that is written. In particular I read where as Paul began traveling back to Jerusalem on what is known as his third missionary journey, there were several extra travelers. This is found in Acts 19 and 20 if you want to look it up.
Anyway with Paul seems to have picked up people that wanted to see the world and have an adventure. Well maybe that wasn't the reason the went along. But for certain they traveled with Paul because they had a desire to serve the Lord in some capacity like Paul. And it is very much as likely that Paul recognized their passion and call to ministry and as a result asked them to join him.

We know they traveled all the way from Asia to Jerusalem because we find them being mentioned in Jerusalem. And we also know that these men were not all Jews. At least one was a Greek. So all of this is very interesting.

The reason it is interesting is because I can see how Paul trained people utilizing everything available. Hands on ministry rather than seminary or bible institute. They were able to ask questions since they had a lot of time while traveling. Not like a 2 hour plane ride today. We don't have the story of what these men went on to do after this time. We only have the mention of them joining Paul on this journey.

So here is where we add conclusions based on other biblical passages that Paul wrote. In particular we can look at both epistles of Timothy. Surely Paul treated these men like a Timothy. he spoke into their lives, nurtured the call of God on their lives, and more. So even though Acts is silent about what they did we can assume a lot of things from these other scriptures to give us a better picture.

What speaks to me on this point even more than all of that is the fact that these guys chose to travel with him. They must have sensed the hand of God on their lives and needed to do something about it. They wanted to learn more and be better prepared. Their love for God must have been the number one motivator in the decision to travel all the way to Jerusalem. And there is no telling what each of them went on to do. One thing is for sure. They made a decision to leave whatever they were doing to follow Jesus. Not Paul, but Jesus.

Here is one more thing that I gleaned as I read this. Paul wasn't the only one called to do it all as the great apostle. There were other people that were preparing to carry on. Another generation was being prepared.

Anyway a lot more could be said about this but I will stop for now. It has caused me to do some thinking and I hope it feeds your curiosity as well.

I was meditating on one of the most vital things we do as Christians That is the Lord's supper or communion by some. Do this in remembrance of me Jesus stated. Bread and wine(or grape juice by most). Simple elements that hold tremendous spiritual meaning. As a matter of fact these two items represent the blood and body of our Lord Jesus. It speaks of His redemptive nature and salvation. The very core values we believe in.

It is a very important time and one that we should not participate in lightly. We do need to remember His death and resurrection. We need to remember His life as well. Also the body and all Jesus suffered for us and His body whose members are all that believe in Him. There are so many aspects and facets of truth held in what can be described as the 'gospel'. Every time we do it we are remembering what Jesus did for us. But as we remember we are also peeling away layer after layer of truth that is contained in that one act. We are forever learning about the eternal value and completeness of what He has provided for us.

Here is one thought I had in examining the Lord's supper. Actually it has to do with the 'time' in which Jesus instituted this christian tradition. Specifically His first time of teaching was at His last supper but equally important is the fact that He did it before His death. Not after the resurrection when He still walked on the earth for 40 days appearing to the apostles and others. But before He went to the cross. Hmm... This do in remembrance of me.....

Listen to this thought. We always remember His death and yes we are proclaiming His crucifixion or death every time we do it. But He hadn't died yet! Is it possible that we are also to remember His LIFE? Remember how He lived, how He loved?

Didn't He come to show us the Father? He is the manifest glory of God on the earth. He showed us how to live didn't He? And because of the resurrection His LIFE is available for us. I have a renewed desire to SEE how Jesus lived. I believe that I will discover more of how I am to live with His power working in and through me. You see the apostles couldn't remember His death at that moment since He had not yet died. But they could remember His LIFE!

So I am reading in Hebrews and meditating on the idea of God's rest. Something that we all need to keep in mind as we go through life. Especially as christians because all of us know that you can get too tired and not get the rest you need to function properly.

Anyway I am reading the verses in Hebrews about entering into God's rest and remembering a lot of what I have already learned about it. And I see something that really ministered to me like never before. I will get to that in a minute.

First let me state the obvious. The people of God, Israelites never entered into God's rest because of unbelief or a lack of faith. The Word of God must be mixed with faith in order to work. They were always complaining and never entered rest. So this rest is still available and waiting on those that will learn and endeavor to believe. You see the work we do to enter into rest (by the way you don't need to rest if you haven't worked right?) is all about believing or having faith in God. We learn to trust Him at His Word. We learn to be secure in who He is. Then we will not miss out on His rest. It even says in these two chapters that God worked creating for 6 days and the seventh day He rested from His work. That is where the principle of sabbath comes from. Resting after working 6 days. Boy do we need to learn that right?

So it wasn't sin as we think of sin. But it was still sin which is simply not believing the Lord. We don't think of that as sin but it is because it keeps us out of all that God has for us. It prevents His provision from coming into our lives.

It is as I was looking at this statement that we are to enter into God's rest that He has prepared for us that I began to see it in a new light. Here is what I see: enter into the REST of God! Now you may have missed that so let me say it another way. Enter into more of Him, into the part we haven't experienced yet! You see the more of God we come to know the more we actually can REST. We can rely on, trust in, believe in. We can have peace knowing what God will do and more than that knowing who He is. So the rest of God is not simply stopping and taking a breather but it is knowing HIM better as we believe and trust more in all that He has for us.

Heart Failure

Hard Hearts Lead To Heart Disease!
I began researching the idea of a hard heart and discovered quite an amount of material. In examining the scripture of course the first person that comes to mind with a hard heart was the Pharaoh in the times of Moses. Actually the word says that God hardened his heart so that he would not let the people of God go and this ultimately ended up in his demise. But it is easy to define from this story what a hard heart is.
Basically we find a hard heart is an unwilling heart. It describes a person that will not listen to reason and mostly basis decisions on what is good for them. They do not consider others but only what is best for them.
Jesus even spoke of people with a hard heart frequently. He made mention of the fact that those that let their heart get hard or callous will not be able to hear or see clearly. That is definitely not the way I want to live. As a matter of fact I believe we can find that many relationships in life are destroyed because of hardness or unwillingness to forgive and love the way Christ loved us. Our stubbornness can actually separate us from the LIFE of God! Wow now that is reason enough to take a closer look at our lives and make sure our heart is pliable, teachable and reachable.
You see our hearts hardened through the course of life over little things that build inside us. We let things get to us and we finally get to a point that we become callous in that situation.
You can lose compassion over time and all desire to forgive or be merciful due to a constant bombarding of similar circumstances. Have you ever said in a situation " i don't care anymore what happens". Your heart has closed in that area. We lose our direction and sight. We lose understanding.
We have to allow the Lord to help us keep an open sensitive heart. Let's not lose hope or faith by letting our hearts stop caring. Let's keep some simple basic truths alive in our life like; repentance, forgiveness, mercy, and love. Don't be robbed of true life by allowing your heart to get hard or stay calloused. Let's fall on our knees before our Father and let Him take from us the heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh!
Scripture References you can study:

• Mark 8:17-18
• Acts 28:26-27
• Ephesians 4:17-18
  
• Matthew 13:15
• Matthew 19:8
• Hebrews 3:7-15

Darlene, my wife, and I just returned from a ministry trip back into Mexico. What a refreshing time as we revisited with people and ministered that we have known for many years. It brought deep satisfaction to see many lives touched by the power of the Lord. He is such an awesome, real God.

I was reminded of the power of salvation once again during this time. As I witnessed dozens of people give their lives in complete surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ I realized how amazing it can be to come into a personal relationship with the Lord for the first time.

As I watched people receive the Lord into their hearts for the first time I could actually identify the power of God that was flowing into their lives at that moment. You could see it on their faces. The peace and joy that swept over them for the first time. It was real. It is one thing to talk about the bible or Jesus but still a totally different thing to experience it. I could literally see burdens falling off their lives and their countenance change in an instant.

Let's not forget how awesome salvation is. How awesome it is to walk with the Lord Jesus. He really does lift our burdens and bring peace and joy to our lives. it doesn't matter what is going on in our lives, He meets us at that moment and brings eternal life into our being.

I was so refreshed while witnessing the power of salvation once again. It filled my life. And even more so it reaffirmed purpose in life. Too many times we get caught up in things we have to do and forget the eternal purpose for which we were created. Remember He created us and wants to spend eternity with us. Don't you want to spend it with Him for all He has done? And more than that, don' t you want to share such a great salvation?

Wake up! Hey don't look at me. I didn't invent that statement. God did. He said it numerous times throughout the letter He wrote to us being the bible. In particular He says it in Isaiah 52. He is speaking to His followers, disciples. He is telling us to wake up and be aware. Be prepared.
Here is another way to think about it. God has provided through His Son, Jesus Christ, everything we need to LIVE. We must be aware of not only everything He has provided, but also how to appropriate for our own lives what He has given.
I am reminded of a very strong eternal statement made by our saviour on the cross. Just before he gave his last breath he said "it is finished". Now when he said it is finished I believe he meant exactly that. He had completed the work. He had conquered the last enemy, death. Now everything God wanted to give to us could be ours and nothing can keep us from it. Wake up and begin to see not only all that God made possible but begin believing it for yourself. Begin to know once again the splendor and strength that is yours. Clothe yourself with these tremendous truths. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Remember God chose us to be His own.
Wake up and see His great provision for life. Wake up and hear His Words of hope and faith.

Most likely all of us know that our minds are where we fight the major battles in life. It is not so much in other things. We have to deal with our thoughts constantly. It is of no surprise then that the Word of God tells us so much about thoughts. One important conclusion that we can come to as we read God's Word is the truth that our minds need renewing. We are in great need of seeing (and thinking) like God does. It takes us out of being defeated or depressed and many other things that effect us daily in life. We can change the way we think to be in agreement with the victorious mindset of the Lord. It is a process and will take time. But we can do it one day at a time.
There is one story where Jesus is traveling and comes into a new area where there is a man that is demon possessed who terrorized the region he lived in. This man is pretty much crazy and violent. His mind is way off. Much further than most if not all of us. As Jesus comes into this picture he confronts the legion of demons in this man and casts them out. The result is that this man is sitting at the feet of Jesus in his RIGHT mind! And all the people that came near were afraid! It is amazing to me that the same people that were terrorized by this man are now afraid because he is in his right mind! Maybe getting in our right mind, God's mind, thoughts, ways, will also cause the enemy of our minds to be afraid. Very afraid!!
Let God's Word wash your mind, thoughts, and all that you are.

Little by little. That is such a strong principle in life. Things change for the good or the bad little by little. When a crisis or problem arises so many times we wonder how we got to that point. The answer is little by little. It happens in relationships, personal growth, personal destruction, well you get the idea.
you see there is strong principle that the Lord has established for our lives. We are to live by this principle if we want to see true lasting growth. As a matter of fact He teaches us through the Israelites that even when He promised them all the riches and blessings of the promised land that the Lord put a major condition on it. You guessed it! Little by little they would possess the land. Not all at once but bit by bit, battle by battle. They were overwhelmed as they saw the strong fortified cities and strong peoples that they would have to confront. But God didn't ask them to take it all at once. That was too much.
Even though we want all that God has for us it is important that we don't try to get it all in a day. That is how we burn out spiritually so many times. We want to rest in the blessings without breaking a sweat. It doesn't work. We are going to have to fight for all He has prepared.
Lay your hands on eternal life! Go after it. Make an effort to receive by entering into the battles of life.
Our souls are in need of all God has for us. He wants us to have it. But we need to work in conjunction with His power little by little taking possession of it all. So start today. Add something to your life that little by little will be seen one day.

I saw a couple of skits that I thought were worth watching so here are the links. Yes I cried and laughed. They were that good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXut0HxncvY God's Chisel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5Pju_bjlWo Coffee for Dad

We Are Able

We are able. That is what Caleb said to the nation of Israel upon returning from an exploratory trip to see first hand what God wanted Israel to have. With the exception of Joshua, the other 10 princes had a different opinion. You see they were only able to see who they were and what they were capable of doing. They left God out of the equation.
Don't we do that often in our lives. Leave God out of the equation. We work and do in our own ability. It is only when we see an impossible task that we consider the Lord in the situation or we attempt to include Him. But in general we base our future on our ability.
If we could only understand a simple truth. Well actually several simple truths. But here is the first one. God doesn't show us what He doesn't want us to have! And along with that if He wants us to have it then the ability to have it does not lie in our strength.
That is what Caleb understood. He knew that whatever battles or difficulties they would encounter would be met because God was giving them all they saw. The Lord didn't tell them in Numbers 13 to go check out the promised future(land, benefits, goodness, etc.) that He had provided to see if they could take it. He already gave it to them! He just wanted them to taste and see!
We are able. Listen to that phrase with the understanding that it is we with God! Not just in our power but in His. We are able to conquer. We are able to be set free. We are able to succeed. Be set free, change, have victory over sin, live in peace and joy, etc.............
Stop counting on yourself and thinking it is up to you. Start trusting in what God has provided and enter the battlefield to take possession of all He has prepared for you. It is time to acknowledge that we are able!

Here is a thought: Why did Jesus walk on the water? He could have gone in the boat with the disciples. There doesn’t seem to be any great spiritual meaning to Him walking on water except to catch up with the disciples and go across. Why didn’t He just get translated? The result of Him walking on water was Peter walking on water! Such a frivolous adventure. But what an awesome and unforgettable experience Peter had!! Matthew 14:22-31

Not everything Jesus did can fit into our box of religion. He showed us the Father and His glory. Maybe with all of this He showed us that God cares about more than our basic existence. He cares about our enjoying life further than obligation will allow us to live. It is alright to enjoy life beyond the just getting by mode. Pleasure is part of life! Walk on water! Lighten up a little!

We need fresh faith. We need to unclutter our Christian past and awaken a new and fresh faith in our hearts. In the story about the Centurion that comes to Jesus for his servant to be healed the Lord proclaims that this man had great faith. This man was not familiar with the Jewish religion. He was a Roman soldier. But he grasped the idea that Jesus was a man under authority from Heaven. Whatever Jesus said would be dispatched and fully backed by the Father in Heaven. He actually said to Jesus something that was amazing. He said, 'just say the word and my servant will be healed'.

He came with a simple faith that believed Jesus' word. This is the faith we need to have. Uncluttered by all the reasons that it won't work, or by circumstances that negate the remote possibility of God moving on our behalf. A faith that trusts what the word of God says.
Now there is an important note that I see in this story. The Centurion was asking for Jesus to say a word for it to happen. He wanted to hear Jesus say it right then. Something that was spoken for that moment and not the past or future. We know the word of God is alive and powerful. But don't we need the Lord to speak to us today for our situation. Not something from the past. But a now word.

We can have that present word in our lives today. All we need to do is ask Him for it and listen. I believe the bible has a word for every situation. We simply need to open our spiritual ears and listen. Spend time with the Lord by reading His word or praying. The Holy Spirit will speak to us. He will quicken a word and make it alive for our present need. He will bring life where there is death. Let Him speak to you. Then believe what He says. Use fresh faith. Don't let anything in your past interfere with trusting Him NOW!

Set a date with the Lord. Yes that is right. Everything we do in life happens at determined times. Yes there are some surprises but basically we set our alarm clocks in order to keep appointments. We even do that for church. So we decide we are going to meet with the Lord at certain preplanned times such as Sunday morning church service. We fully expect(hopefully this is your expectation) to meet with the Lord on Sunday morning and have some kind of spiritual encounter. And we are not disappointed.
So why not set times to meet with the Lord without the guilt of thinking we should not and cannot do that. Do we think we will offend the Lord if we desire to meet with Him at certain times? When you sit down to read or pray at specific preset times in your life do you expect God to accompany you? Of course we do. Well then maybe we need to raise our level of expectation in life. Maybe we need to bring future hope of God meeting our needs or showing himself to us into the present.
I think too many times we are looking into the future and expecting some day for things to happen. We should begin to believe in a God that is NOW present. Not future tense. A God that says things to us like He did to Zachaeus in the gospels, "today I will eat at your house". We need to know that faith is NOW.
Sure we can't demand of God to do things. We ask. But we need to ask believing He will, He wants to, and He can. Expecting the Lord to do something in the future is fine. But we can also begin to expect an outpouring of His grace today. Didn't He say today is the day of salvation?? Does that mean when we come to the Lord to receive salvation that He will save us someday? No it means He will save us NOW. How cool is that?
We do not get saved at some future time but in the same moment we ask. Yes I know that many times we need to pray and believe patiently until the answer comes. But even then we are to believe it happens before we ever see it. Right? Check out Mark 11:23-25. That is what we are told to do. So don't believe everything is for tomorrow. Begin to open your ears to hear Him say "today I will come to you", "today is the day".

We have had a name change at our church! We are now called lifepoint church. It was so hard to explain our other name to people that we decided it was time for change. We are also in a new time for our church. An exciting time. We are very much looking forward to what the future holds. And as we move forward we want to be sure that our community knows who we are.

Three words that describe our vision are the words reaching, touching, and changing. In a nutshell we are passionately going after God and at the same time we want to touch people's lives with the power of God. We are also very much about relationships. Our vision can be found in the book of Isaiah chapter 61. The first four verses speak to us about three different areas.

The first area speaks of the call of God on those of us that love God. As Christians we are called to reach out people with God's grace and love. To bring healing to the broken, declare liberty to the captives, and generally help people to know the grace of God.

The second area speaks of bringing healing and wholeness to Christians. So many believers are hurting or broken in some way that they are not able to help others. God wants to make us whole so that we can in turn help others become whole. The Lord has provided for believers grace to be made whole.

The third area speaks of rebuilding the ruined places. I believe God is calling church to once again bring healing to our society. The family needs to once again be restored. The only way this'll come about is if the church is made whole and therefore able to be a testimony of God's goodness so that others would desire to follow.

All of us I think understand that life is filled with battles. There are all kinds of battles. Personal battles, relational battles, life battles, etc. There are also spiritual battles that all of us face throughout life. Many times we try to fight the spiritual battles on our own and then pat ourselves on the back when we seemingly win a victory.
But there is a phrase in the Word of God that makes me rethink how I fight the battles I face. That phrase is "the battle is the Lord's".
Actually God asks us to not fight but to stand firm and take our rightful place or position in Him. Let's face it, all of us at one point or another realize that we can't win the wars that rage in our lives alone. And our attempts at doing so are at best temporary if not totally failures. We need the Lord on our side. Well better said, we need Him to fight for us. We are not able to stand up against spiritual powers by just wishing it away or by doing works in life. We need spiritual POWER to fight spiritual battles.
He, Jesus, has won all the battles we will face in life. So why not let Him fight for us. Remember a scripture that says, "greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world"? He is greater! So let's get our strategies from HIM!! Let's wait and see His salvation. Let's learn to turn over more of our life to the one who has already won the victory. Let us enjoy the victory He purchased for us.

The power and presence of God definitely changes lives! On my journey through life I have felt very priviledged to KNOW the Lord. I mean not just read about Him and live a religious life but actually walk with and in Him. Ministry is not just a job for me. It is part of who I am. Nothing thrills me more than to see lives changed by the power of God.
I received a phone call from a pastor where I spoke a few months ago in a small town in central Mexico. We helped start the church there many years ago but that is another story. On my recent trip in December I remember distictly a couple that came to listen. They have never been to church of any kind before. As a matter of fact he was a 18th degree mason and had everything that goes along with that. At the time I remember that during the whole service they never took their eyes off of me and I was sure at one point that they were going to leave and never come back to a church.
But something amazing happened! God used me to speak a direct word into their lives! Then I gave a call to salvation and they along with 6 others ran to the front for salvation! It wasnt' until yesterday, (2 months later) that I learned how radically God had changed their lives. He has denounced everything else he was ever involved with along with his wife and they have totally dedicated their lives to the Lord. He actually destroyed all the books and things related to his past without anyone asking him to.
Isn't it refreshing to see how God's power impacts and changes lives so drastically?? They were confronted with a REAL GOD who stills visits and transforms lives!!! Isn't that why we love God? I can't wait to see what He will do next!

Every day we are facing challenges in life. Especially in our individual walks. We also face many battles. It seems that the battles are increasingly difficult as time goes on. But there is help for all of us. I know for myself that I try to do a lot of things like win battles on my own. It is so easy to forget the Lord in the middle of stuff that happens in our lives. But it is vitally important that we constantly call upon Him to help us. Even carry us through what we are walking through.

Here is a simple truth that I return to over and over in my life: Ask! When I have lack or can't find the strength to get through I only need to ask! That is just too simple. There must be more to it. It has to cost me something. After all I have to try to make it on my own first right?

You see that is the problem a lot of us have. We can ask God and He will answer. Not only will He answer but He will provide for us. I think we need to make it more of a priority to ask God in every area of our lives. We may find the help that we need. We may discover the POWER of God working on our behalf. Simply because we asked!!