Tag: Church

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Feeling So Alone

As I sit here this early October morning there is a certain numbness to my spirit. The love of my life is still in the hospital for the 2 time in 3 weeks. This time this feels different somehow. In a text I received in church yesterday morning from her she stated that she felt Saturday night the same way she did on December 30th the morning of her second open heart surgery which turned out to be the night that I thought I had lost her. To see that was devastating, and frankly, I didn’t think I had the strength to walk down the aisle to take communion. God gave me that strength and I was holding back tears once I knelt down I started to cry but I knew I had to hold that in and I could have never gotten up and walked away. That would have been wrong on many levels.

So I sit here alone wondering…………

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Recognizing When Satan Attacks

So often we go through life and we know that as believers Satan attacks regularly. He does it because he is the ultimate loser in world history. I think we have to be able to recognize the difference between Satan’s everyday attacks and those attacks when we seek to get closer to God. This begs the question how do you tell the difference?

Well, it’s pretty simple. Here is an example of what I am talking about and how experience has taught me to see the difference. Throughout my week, Satan attacks me on a regular basis with the everyday ups and downs of life. Then when I start to do something that is related to God the attacks get more intense. Things like sending out daily e-mails to some of the women at my church. Then comes the Saturday war with Satan. It’s coming and we both know it and frankly, I let my guard down this past weekend. It happens but that doesn’t mean that Satan wins the battle. Is the battle still going on this morning? Sure. Will it lessen sometime today I suspect it will and that’s ok too. Will it crank back up on Saturday? Of course it will and I can’t lose focus on that fact.

I think it’s important to understand that one of Satan’s favorite attack times is when you are physically and emotionally exhausted. That is when it becomes real easy to let your guard down.

Like most things in life be aware of what is going on in your life and you can pretty quickly figure out what is happening.

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Apostle That’s You!

When believers think of the word apostle they often harken back to what it says in Mark 6:30 The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told them all they had done and taught. (NLT) When we look at the word apostle we often think of those men many centuries ago but I contend that all believers are apostles of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are all taught to go spend the gospel throughout the lands. Period!

However, that is just the opposite of what Satan wants us to do. He puts all these negative thoughts about our inability to do it in the correct form or fashion. This gets me into one of my favorite ideas and serves as a reminder to all of us. As believers, we are in the seed-planting business and God is in the construction business.

So even though you may not see yourself as an apostle you really are and then it’s just a matter of how many seeds to decide to plant.

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Church Growth Your Roll

For many of the traditional mainline churches growth is some sort of dream. Well, the church I attend faces just the opposite situation: continued growth. Which is a great thing but comes with challenges.

However, it is important to understand that as the church grows and your faith life changes so does your responsibility to make the new folks feel welcomed because contrary to popular opinion pastors can’t do it all!

So we all need to remember that when we all started to attend our church there were others already there that made you feel welcomed.

However, one of the biggest obstacles we face is that we simply don’t know who these folks are and how can we help? As I have said about the church the more you put into the more you get out of it.

The question becomes how can all of us do more to make the new folks feel welcome? Because as the church continues to grow the needs will also continue to grow likewise. It’s also important for those of us who have more days behind us in our lives than in front of us that we also have a special responsibility to pass along the knowledge we have gained in our faith walks to others. I know all have used the excuse that we don’t have the time.

Here is my response to that excuse. The Lord Jesus Christ found the time to die on the cross for all of our sins and yet we can’t find the time to help further his kingdom?

I guess it all a matter of perspective.