Blog Archives - River of Life Church

Sneeze and Confess

1/30/2013

There is a strange experience that each of you can identify with because you have experienced it in your life. It is this strange feeling of a sneeze coming and then the feeling starts to go away. You go into emergency mode and try to make yourself sneeze. You scrunch your nose, you hold your breath, or you breath lightly through your nose. Why? You do whatever you can to try to make yourself sneeze because a good sneeze feels good!

The bible talks about something we are to do that will feel good when it is done, just like a sneeze.

James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

I consider this one of the most underused practices of the Christian life because we none of us wish to admit our failings to those around us. We believe in confessing to Jesus.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

So it seems like that should settle it. Why confess to others?
According to James 5:16:
1.       So that we can receive prayer.
2.       So that we may be healed.
3.       So that an effective, powerful change can come over our lives.

So, find a trusted friend and begin with James 5:16 as a context. If they share the same desire to mature spiritually set a weekly meeting. I have benefited from this practice for more than 15 years with a friend of mine and recently another friend has joined us. We share the same calling as pastors and have no secrets between us. I believe that my confessions have brought greater victory, physical health, and have protected me from sliding deeper into ugly sin pits.

The next time you fight to enjoy a good sneeze, think about the good feeling that comes from confessing your sins to a good friend who will pray for you.

Sheep Shuffling

1/29/2013

Whenever I see an article or book by Thom Ranier, I am interested. Ranier is president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources and has dedicated his life to helping churches share the message of Jesus Christ more effectively. I read a recent article of his titled, “The Greatest Tragedy in the Church Today”.

His research shows that today in America it takes 40-60 church members to reach one person with the Gospel. Most churches that are growing numerically are gaining through the transfer of Christians from one church to another. He calls this sheep shuffling. Ranier believes the greatest tragedy in the church today is NOT sharing the gospel. No evangelism.

Our church is committed to reaching those in our community that do not have a church home and preferably are not followers of Jesus Christ; at least, not yet. A team of leaders from our church are meeting this week to pray and plan effective ways to share the gospel in our culture today.

Nobody wants someone knocking at their door asking where they would spend eternity if they died today. Nobody wants to be that person knocking at the door of a stranger asking that question. We believe that serving our community and developing meaningful relationships are the platforms that give us the right to be heard.

We also believe that the best way to share is to listen first. We begin asking people questions about their spiritual background. Did they grow up in a family that believed in God? Did your family pray, go to church or read the Bible? Was Jesus and God a swear word or respected. We use that as a starting point to directing them to Jesus.

Giving to our community shows that we are not just out to fill our church, but honestly want to see our community become a better place to go to school, work, and raise families. Another way of serving others is by The Bible shows that people believed when there was a demonstration of the power of God in their lives of restoration and healing.

Luke 9:6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.

I am looking forward to the Holy Spirit directing our efforts and the creative ideas that will be the result.

We will leave sheep shuffling to others.

Praying for Others Face to Face

1/28/2013

Followers of Jesus are to pray with others and for others. It is different praying for Uncle Fred when he is in another state than when you are praying for him face to face. Often this is called Prayer Ministry.

There are four key ingredients to praying for others when they are with you:

1.       Pray in the Name of Jesus

Peter and John met a man who was lame and they prayed for him in the power and authority of Jesus’ name.

Acts 3:6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

2.       Pray, inviting person to participate.

When praying for someone, invite them to do something they could not do before you prayed.

Acts 9:32-34
As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up.

3.       Pray when no one else will.
There may be times when you are the only one who has faith to pray for God do do something remarkable.

Acts 9:36-37,40-42
In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.

40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

4.       Pray, hands on.

Ask permission to place you hand or hands on them and pray. Physical touch and nearness show mercy far more than distance and separation.
Acts 28:8 His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.

Christians are called to pray for others. When you are face to face with the person you are praying for:

1.       Pray in Jesus Name

2.       Pray inviting person to participate.

3.       Pray when no one else will.

4.       Pray hands on.

Pray for somebody this week and let me know what the Lord did in their lives.

Women in Combat

1/25/2013

Women are now awarded full combat rolls. At a joint news conference, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey signed a memorandum rolling back a 1994 directive prohibiting women from doing so. This move allows women to have greater military career advancement not previously available because of the absence of combat experience.

In reality, the years of warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan have blurred, if not erased, the traditional notions of combat versus noncombat positions. Battle fronts are fluid, and the concept of a defined front line is virtually meaningless. Some 280,000 women have been deployed to those two countries since 2001, the military says.

Female helicopter pilots fly in and out of combat zones. Female medics treat the wounded wherever they fall. In Afghanistan, the Marines have set up all-female teams, known as "lionesses," who are deployed to speak to Afghan women who would never speak to male U.S. troops. The Marines have found them extremely valuable in gathering intelligence.

More than 150 women have been killed and more than 800 wounded in the Iraq and Afghan wars, according to the military. (source: npr.org/womenincombat:5keyquestions)

The Minnesota National Guard on Thursday said it would be part of a pilot program to integrate female soldiers into previously all-male combat infantry units. The Guard's First Brigade, 34th Infantry Division Red Bulls will be one of nine Guard brigades nationwide to immediately assign women to positions at headquarters combat units, where jobs previously were restricted to men.

I favor giving women the same opportunity as men to advance in their military careers. The women who have served and are currently serving have my highest respect for their commitment to our great nation. Questions are raised about physical strength, gender neutral standards, and the treatment of women risks to those captured during combat. The recent hearings and trials of military generals regarding sexual misconduct among women soldiers are larger issues of how to control sexual harassment within the military that currently exits and in the future.

I question a nation that is willing to send its mothers and daughters into military combat. I believe a very traditional role of men is to protect the women and children of our homes, communities, state and nation. A counter argument may be that having our mothers and daughters officially active in combat may reduce needless bloodshed and collateral damage to the civilian innocents.

Deborah was a judge, who led military campaigns for the nation of Israel.

Judges 4: 4-7
4 Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. 5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. 6 She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”

What are your thoughts on this topic?
Comment here:

When Are You Too Old to Serve God?

1/24/2013

One of the most disappointing aspects of growing old is the feeling that you no longer have any real purpose. Seniors have shared that they feel they have no place or role and are just spending time. They consider their useful contribution to society and to the kingdom of God is over. Nowhere in scripture is there an example of the elderly just sent off to pasture until their life is through.

Simeon was told by the Holy Spirit that he would see the Lord’s Messiah before he died. Simeon was moved by the Spirit to go to the temple courts at the very time Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to be consecrated. Simeon praised God that he had lived out his purpose and prophesied to them.

Anna was an 84 years old prophet. She was worshiping, praying, and fasting everyday in the temple when she encountered Jesus as Simeon did, being consecrated in the temple by Joseph and Mary. She spent the rest of her life telling others who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. She had purpose and lived it out.

Jacob knew his days were coming to a close. He called his sons to his side and spoke blessings over each one. He gave instructions regarding his funeral and with his purpose fulfilled, he breathed his last breath.

Genesis 49:1,28,29,33
Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.
29 Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

The Holy Spirit has spoken to many of you and you know that there is purpose God still has for your life. Pray and bless your children. Tell others about Jesus, the Redeemer. Use your time to praise God and finish strong, God is not through with you yet!

40 Years and Counting

1/23/2013

January 22, 2013 marked the 40th anniversary of Roe vs Wade in which the US Supreme Court ruled that a person has the right to abortion until viability – when the baby potentially could live outside the womb, usually placed at seven months but may occur earlier. This decision separated our country into pro-life, those who value the life of the unborn baby and pro-choice, those who value the woman’s right to choose.

Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the abortion rate fell to an all time low of 5%. Factors for this drop include a significant 8% decline in birth rates and ultra-sound images clearly showing life inside the womb causing people to decide not to abort their baby.

Forty years have worn people, politicians and protests out to the point that the young generation is indifferent to the debate. The anniversary of Roe v Wade brings pro-life marches and rallies across the country often at each state’s capital. Typically, I join these marches in support of protecting life.

Our nation is inconsistent with its law regarding life in the womb. A woman can choose to terminate her pregnancy which ends the life of the baby and it is her legal freedom to do so. If a woman is harmed in a way that directly ends her life and the life of the baby in her womb it is a double homicide charged to the offender.

One life is ended legally and the other life is ended illegally.

May God grant us the wisdom to realize the schizophrenic position we have taken as a nation.

A pro-choice king in the Bible wanted baby boys killed and girls saved to secure his throne. God honored the midwives who protected life. May their tribe increase.

Exodus 1:15-21
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

Gaining and Losing

1/22/2013

Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated April 4, 1968 on the second floor of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. King had stayed at the more secure Holiday Inn on a previous visit, but criticism that the accommodations were lavish, he checked into the motel in a black neighborhood closer to the march. James Earl Ray was arrested two months later in London, England, confessed to the killing and was found guilty.

What is often lacking in most news about King is that his death left his wife of 15 years Coretta, a widow with four children; Yolanda age 13, Martin III age 10, Dexter age 7, and Bernice age 5. Death threats had surrounded King during marches, speeches and his non-violent efforts to change a nation, yet he pressed on.

I am aware that King’s life included allegations of affairs and wrong affiliations. I am still struck with his passion and commitment that reminds me of the type of commitment Jesus calls every follower of His.

Luke 9:24-25
24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?

Press on.

The Dream

1/21/2013

Today, we honor Martin Luther King Jr and his dream. He was born January 15, 1929 in Atlanta and died April 4, 1968 in St. Joseph’s Hospital from an assassin’s bullet. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience.

His best known “I Have A Dream” speech was a defining moment for the American Civil Rights Movement. The 17-minute speech was delivered on the front steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Over 200,000 civil rights supporters were gathered and heard his impassioned voice calling for an end to racism in the United States.

I believe racism is still one of the biggest problems in the United States today. We have made many steps since King’s speech, but there are many more to be taken. The level of influence and power from my position as a white, male, middle class person in our country is so ingrained that I mostly do not realize it. I become aware of it when I am with friends, co-workers and citizens of another race or nationality.

May all of us pursue King’s dream with his same fiery passion.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Martin Luther King Jr.

Prayer for Dummies

1/18/2013

This blog is not addressing how to pray for people that are lacking in intelligence. Just like there are manuals for beginners in computing, carpentry and carpeting, I feel I need a manual on the basics of prayer.

I know the Bible says:
Matthew 21:22
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

1 John 5:14-15
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.

Matthew 7:7-8
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

I know from experience that I do not always get what I ask for, even when I have prayed in faith and what I understood to be God’s will. Ever feel like a schizophrenic pray-er?

Fortunately, the disciples must have had similar thoughts. They asked Jesus how they should pray and Jesus’ reply gave a manual for prayer dummies like me.

Matthew 6:9-13
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name,
10 Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one,
for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the    glory forever, Amen.

Hell is Full of Good Intentions

1/17/2013

My wife and I were on a retreat with a number of other pastor and wives. The theme was “Soul Care – Staying Healthy and Finishing Strong.” It emphasized the importance of taking care of our souls so that we can effectively help and serve those in our ministry settings.

Like many conferences and retreats, I left refreshed and filled with intentions of implementing specific things in my life. I knew there was a saying about good intentions that do not get put into practice and through the wonderful world of Google, I found that Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153) is attributed with the phrase, "Hell is full of good intentions”.

Nobody knows the occasion that brought about his statement. Some suggest the saying means that good intentions are worthless unless there are actions. Others suggest that it means well-intended acts can lead to disaster such as lying to keep a friend out of trouble. Let’s try to avoid either outcome.

If you were to write a list of good things that that you intend to do someday when the time is right or you have time, how long would your list be?

I have a very long list in my mind of good things to do that I have no deadline or plan to get them done. Some of the things are relatively minor such as listing the deck of our dead lawn mower for sale. (It ain’t moving no where!) There are some things that may have disastrous results if I do not get them done, such as putting up a railing on the stairs in our garage.

Good intentions will not take away the effect of a bad fall off the stairs. It is important to make a plan, set a deadline and get it done!

One of the most important intentions that is filling hell up is to say, “One day I will submit my life to Jesus Christ.” The apostle Paul quotes Isaiah 49:8 and urges people not adding one more intention to hell.

2 Corinthians 6:2
For He says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.