Deborah is a strange story.

The story of Deborah and the other Judges are often filled with bewildering detail, strange characters and even stranger events. We are often left wondering if the example set is one we should follow or one to avoid. Then again, we usually find it hard to identify with the situation they were in and couldn't duplicate it, even if we wanted to!
It says to me, that these were real people who, true to life, had flawed characters and who lived in messy times of often extreme and desperate circumstances. What are we to make of it all then? Through the judges we are primarily to see God persistently at work to bring about his purposes being described as it happened in all the cut and thrust, ups and downs, surprise and uncertainty of life as it often is. As someone said, "God's destination is the same and certain, the path God takes to get there, is always interesting and varied." The path ended with Jesus as the ultimate 'judge' and leader of his people who ensures God's plan is fulfilled.
That plan is the one in which he has included us.

AS Paul says, "... to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:14.)"

The work of all the judges was to bring this about and all their efforts and antics were aimed at this one goal.
In this way, I believe it continues to be our job too, in whatever way it falls to us to do it, in all the strange and difficult circumstances we may find ourselves, to make disciples who know and serve God.

So my challenge from Deborah is still the same,

Who are you leading, influencing, impacting for the kingdom?

How might you bring them closer to God
?
When will you do this?

How can you handle the challenges you are facing?
In humility?
With determination?

What prayer will you offer to God?

Don't grow 60/30 weary

How's the 60/30ing been going?  Are you getting a bit tired of it all? It's becoming a bit too much?
Finding your self back in bad habits - ignoring God - allowing the noise of the world to block out the voice of God??
Just remember this is not about 60/30 in its self - it's about maintaining a constant connection with our God.
Rom 12:11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Phillipians 3:14 Press on toward the goal....
How will you pick up the challenge today, tomorrow and the next day!!

Healing 2

Healing and the will of God.Healing depends on God's will. We cannot heal ourselves. The leper in Matt 8:2 understood it perfectly when he said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” However, when it comes to God's will to heal there are some who would say that the leper was wrong in the way he asked Jesus. Colin Urquhart said, "when you come tentatively with an 'if,' the first thing He [God] wants to do is to remove the 'if' from your thinking." The proper attitude for a Christian is not "if God wills to heal me" but "since God wants to heal me" In other words, some say God's will is always to heal. They point to Jesus readiness to heal all who came to him. Jesus we are assured, "is the same yesterday, today and forever" (Heb. 13:8.) Further, in Isaiah 53:5 we read, "by his wounds we are healed." We are told that the cross of Jesus unconditionally ensures healing for all who believe, in the same way it unconditionally secures forgiveness.
In response we need to say a number of things. The Bible give us many wonderful encouragements to seek healing from God. Nevertheless, as Colin Brown states,

"We need to recognise that there are distinctions between what God has covenanted to do and what he has not covenanted to do, between what God may do and what he has promised to do. God is the healer (Ex.15:26) and the one who is behind all healing. But in the Old Testament health and healing were not all automatically guaranteed by membership in the covenant. The new covenant does not promise healing for all now. It promises forgiveness of sins (Matt 26:28.) There is no specific unqualified promise of health and healing in the New Testament for those who have faith."

It seems to me that this is a very important point. God may grant healing at his discretion, according to his Sovereign will but it seems to me that he has no where unconditionally promised to do so, whereas the other blessings of the covenant are promised unconditionally as part of his covenant. For example, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Rom.10:13).

For this reason the lepers prayer was completely appropriate. Jesus did not consider his hesitation unbelief and he graciously answered him (a great encouragement to our prayers for healing!) On the other hand, prayers and requests for forgiveness ought to begin with the complete assurance in the unconditional covenant promises of God.
We'll look at other aspects of this later.

Who is Deborah?

Ever heard of Deborah?

You can read about her in Judges 4 and 5.
She was an amazing woman full of wisdom, authority and humility in very difficult times.
On Sunday we will examine her character and contribution as we reflect on Biblical Characters and what we learn from them.

Prepare yourself by asking these questions.

1. Do you have a strong, clear and settled conviction about God's grace to you and can you say with Paul, "by the grace of God, I am what I am?"
2. Given who God has made you, with your strengths and weaknesses, in what role would God have you serve him?
3. Am you determined, by God's grace, to do whatever it takes to do his will?

Thoughts on healing 1.

In the same way that suffering is a mystery, the why's and wherefore's of miraculous healing remain a puzzle. Some claim to know the 'secret' to healing. We are told that God wants everyone to be healed. Some even suggest that sickness is an illusion and that we simply need to 'claim our healing' in order to receive it. Yet the number of people who remain unhealed by even the most confident, inevitably leaves us scratching our heads. As a friend of mine commented when I asked if he wanted me to pray for his sick friend, "They have already had every possible prayer, anointing, exorcism and 'word' spoken over them." Yet they were not healed.

I don't presume to have the answers. Yet I offer the following 'random thoughts' about what I consider key issues. I hope they will send us back to the Bible, some earnest prayer and greater trust in the God, "who heals all my diseases" (Ps.103.3)

Firstly, it seems to me that sickness evokes such strong feelings in us that it can easily push bodily healing to become the single all consuming priority and sole thing we want from God. In that sense 'health' may assume a priority in our thinking greater than it warrants. Rather, we need to keep bodily health in perspective. Contrary to worldly thinking, it's not the most important thing. To say, "So long as you have your health," is not the Christian view of life. As someone once said even about death, "It's not the worst thing that can happen to a Christian." We do not pursue life at all costs. For example, we are prepared to suffer bodily for the sake of the gospel. Sickness is bodily dissolution of another sort and equally, is subsumed under our life in Christ.

We must discover ways to keep our life in Christ and our future in him front and centre whatever we believe about sickness and healing. As Paul says, "If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord (Rom. 14:8.) If in the end we say that Christians suffer sickness and for some reason God may not heal, and that we may die from a disease, it does not mean that everything is lost.

It's important that we clearly set our hearts on Christ in this life and so in this way we may, in some small way prepare ourselves for whatever may come our way. If we begin with a faulty view of this, we may make sickness even harder if we or a loved one become ill. Even the highest expectation of healing must be subsumed under the knowledge that whatever comes our way, we belong to Christ and we are safe in him.

Barnabas

Generous
An Encourager
A People Person
A Jesus Person

"he was a good man full of the Holy Spirit and faith"
"a brother who was praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel.

A generous freind who gave his all for the gospel and the church - Just like his Lord and Savior.

Why not ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to be generous, encouraging, a people person and a Jesus person this week. 
It wasn't anything that Barnabas did that made him a great man of God -  The Holy Spirit did it through him.  He was a man of faith - why not also ask God to increase your faith this week that you may act on the good works he has planned in advance for you to do.

Who will be saying of you this week  "I follow ................ because they follow Jesus" ???

First Fruits

The Idea of a First Fruits offering stems from early days of Israel's history.  Have a read of Deuteronomy 26 and see how it all worked back then.
As the Bible progresses the First Fruits idea remains quiet prevalent with 3 main ideas around it:
1. Thanks for God's provision, both physically and spiritually.
         Duet 26 - Is thanks for the promise land and what it produces food wise
                    but it is als thanks for our salvation from our suffering in Egypt
2. As an act of obedinace - this is the way the Levites and the needy were looked after
         The Isralites were required to bring this offering annualy as part of the way the community
                    kept running
3. As a deposit of a promise
         There is also a sense bringing the first fruit was an act of faith. It was brought at the
                    begining of the season - before the blessings had been fully recieved.
    The New Testement takes this idea even further:
"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" 1Cor15:20
"but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" Rom 8:23

And here is an interesting one:

"He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created" James1:18
Our whole lives become a firstfruits offering:    

ARE YOU:        Giving Thanks       Living Obediantly       Hope for Others

This Sunday come prepared to bring your first fruits offering :-  Praise, Financial, Faith

60/30ing Goes On.

Are you maintaining a continued contact with God hour by hour?
Are there beeps - or other reminders prompting to Remain In Him?
Are you connecting  - Talking?  Listening? Acting?

Here one of my 60/30 experiances from the weekend:
(this is a biggy - but I had lots of little ones as well - why not share your stories as well)

I was preaching at another church on the weekend - I had my sermon prepared and all ready to go. The services starts with the person leading reading John 15 - 'remain in me' -  then the childrens talk is done about the vine and the braches and reamining connected with Jesus!!  I'm thinking did I give them the wrong text and theme that I was going to preach on?? As this is was happening I start to get the promt - to get rid of the sermon I had prepared - "I want you to encourage them by preaching the "remain in me" sermon and share the 60/30 challenge with them."  I had no notes on that sermon!!  "this is a big time ask God!!"

In the end I go with it - it was amazing how it all came flooding back to me as I began preaching it. It really seemed to connect with the small little congregation. Many shared with me later that it really spoke to them.   And here is the icing on the cake - as we sing the last song  - my phone goes of in church - it shouldn;t have because I switched the alarms of before I went into church - must have done something wrong!!!  or right!!   I start tearing up as I madly reach to switch the phone of  and had this over whelming sense of  God saying:  "see - thats what I wanted them to hear!!!  thanks for being faithful!!"

        Remain in me & Fruit Happens!!!

What's God prompting you to do today??

Sunday Night: Who we are!

This Sunday evening we investigate the gifts of healing and miraculous signs and wonders.

Are these gifts still available today?
What are the signs and wonders?
How does the gift of healing work in the church today?
How do we know if we have the gift of healing?
Sunday evening at 6:00pm.

60/30 Challenge is under way!!

At Reverb on sunday we have issued the 60/30 challenge as away of getting us to Remain in Jesus. (John 15)
How does it work?
For the next month (30 days) we have issued WCCC and anyone else who wants to join in,  the challenge of connecting with God every 60 minutes.

We have asked people to set watches, phones, computers ect to beep every hour (except when you're asleep). Or write down 60/30 challenge reminders in your diary, stick them in your car, shower, workspace....

Then when the beep goes off or you see a riminder connect with God.

On sunday we said that the way we stay connected with somone is to Talk with them, to listen to them and you just keep doing that. So when the beeper goes of - Talk with God - Listen to God  -  and here is the big challenge - Do what he asks!!!

Things to do when the reminder is there:
     thank God for the last Hour,  Ask him to guide you in the next hour, 
     Ask Him what he want's you to do?
     ask your self - is this where I should be?  What do I need to stop?
     pray for somone, call somone, read the bible, send somone a verse,
     enjoy God in exactly what you are doing at that moment, take a time out and walk with God....
              why not share some other suggestions.......

In John 14 & 16 Jesus tells his disciples if they remain in him the Holy Spirit will come and tell them things, remind them of things, convict them of things & give them insight.
This next 30 days as you remain in him - listen for the spirits promptings - and act on them!!
    As we remain in Him  FRUIT HAPPENS!!!

Feel free to share your stories here - or if you are a facebooker become a fan of wccc60/30 challenge and share your stories.

3 Questions to keep you humble

1. Have you measured yourself by grace today?
"For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" 1Cor. 4:7

Thank God for his wonderful gift of grace, and explore it's full implications.

2. Are you thinking highly of others? What good do you see? How are you dealing with our natural tendency to criticise and pick out the worst?

3. What have you done to serve another person according to their needs? Pray for them? Send them an encouraging note? Help them financially. Call them to cheer them up? Make them a cuppa?

Recall God's wonderful promises to give grace, raise up and care for the humble. No one else may notice, but God always does.

Humble quotes

Humility does not cause us to think less of ourselves; it allows us to think of ourselves less. (Ward Williams)

Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame. (Alexander Pope)

“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.Matt. 18:3-4

I have often wished I had time to cultivate modesty... But I am too busy thinking about myself.
(Edith Sitwell)

If I only had a little humility, I'd be perfect.
(Ted Turner)

Blessed are the poor in spirit
For their's is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt.5:3

Humility: a strange thing. The minute you think you've got it,
you've lost it. (anonymous)

Do you have any quotes or thoughts about humility? Share them with everyone.

Humility, leadership and the real world

Humility is considered a Christian virtue, but is often considered irrelevant to the corporate world. "You can be humble in church, but the real world calls for a more aggressive attitude."

Yet the wisdom of humility in leadership has been highlighted and reinforced by some recent thinkers.

The following is from an article titled, "Humility: The Most Beautiful Word in the English Language." It's written by Bruna Martinuzzi

"These leaders (of top companies as described in Colin's bestseller"Good to Great") are a complex, paradoxical mix of intense professional will and extreme personal humility. They will create superb results but shun public adulation, and are never boastful. They are described as modest....

We often confuse humility with timidity. Humility is not clothing ourselves in an attitude of self-abasement or self-denigration. Humility is all about maintaining our pride about who we are, about our achievements, about our worth - but without arrogance - it is the antithesis of hubris, that excessive, arrogant pride which often leads to the derailment of some corporate heroes, as it does with the downfall of the tragic hero in Greek drama. It's about a quiet confidence without the need for a meretricious selling of our wares. It's about being content to let others discover the layers of our talents without having to boast about them. It's a lack of arrogance, not a lack of aggressiveness in the pursuit of achievement....

Humility is also a meta-virtue. It crosses into an array of principles. For example, we can safely declare that there cannot be authenticity without humility. Why? Because, there is always a time in a leader's journey when one will be in a situation of not having all the answers. Admitting this and seeking others' input requires some humility.

Another mark of a leader who practices humility is his or her treatment of others. Such leaders treat everyone with respect regardless of position. Years ago, I came across this reference: the sign of a gentleman is how he treats those who can be of absolutely no use to him.

Something interesting happens, too, when we approach situations from a perspective of humility: it opens us up to possibilities, as we choose open-mindedness and curiosity over protecting our point of view. We spend more time in that wonderful space of the beginner's mind, willing to learn from what others have to offer. We move away from pushing into allowing, from insecure to secure, from seeking approval to seeking enlightenment. We forget about being perfect and we enjoy being in the moment."

All this reminds me of Luke 1:52, "He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble."

For anyone living in the 'real world' it's a challenge to maintain humility. Especially when it seems as though the arrogant advance and get their own way. Yet God's wisdom stands firm and true humility is worth living out in spite of what others may do.  

Rescued to serve!!

It's a humbling thing to be rescued. Knowing we can't save ourselves!! 
The humbling truth of the gift of the gospel should keep us grounded.
Considering our own position we should be very wary then how we look at others.

Are you willing to do for others what Jesus did for you?    Die to self.
Deny self and pick up a cross daily??
How are you going to put God first, others next and your self last this week?

The daily dieing to self is an almost minute by minute discipline.
The 'killing off' of self is near impossible.
Then we recall the power that we have within us Ephs 1:19 'the power that raised christ from the dead" is in you.  This is the power we need to access when humble ourselvs before God and others.

Ask that the power of God would be evident in your life this week - as you humbly serve.