Are you fat?

Since the New Year's Resolutions, many have been trying to drop a few pounds, and now that Spring Break season is here, and people are thinking about their swim suit body.... The last thing they want to do is be fat.

But you're suppose to be a FAT Christian!

(F)aithful - Believing God, His Son, and His WORD, and exercising your faith to do more...

(A)vailable - Are you available to God, or too busy on your own agenda?

(T)eachable - A most valuable trait in both the secular and spiritual world. Can the Holy Spirit move you up an onward.

Or are you stuck in old fleshy habits. Are you a good follower, are you open to being a Discipler? Your ID?

Are you FAT?

Ever been held captive?

Here’s an article from God’s Daily Promise I thought was interesting. The Bible tells us that Jesus came to save that which was lost (us), but that He would also lead the captives free from that which imprisons them.

Have you ever struggled with a sin that ensnared and held you captive?

Have you ever been imprisoned?

Don't forget about those in prison. Suffer with them as though you were there yourself. Share the sorrow of those being mistreated, as though you feel their pain in your own bodies.

Hebrews 13:3 NLT

Tell me how much you know of the suffering of your fellow men, and I will tell you how much you have loved them.

Helmut Thielicke

Solidarity in Suffering

At any given time, many of God's saints are in prison. The prison may be literal, or it may be a product of circumstances. It can be financial debt, a broken relationship, a physical ailment, or any other consuming situation.

A huge problem in the church is when Christians look at their imprisoned brothers and sisters and assume that God has not favored them. Paul probably experienced such a phenomenon. We read his prison epistles and marvel at his suffering for the cause. But many of his contemporaries may not have marveled. They may have seen his trouble as a sign of God's disfavor and wondered why someone with so much potential had fallen to such depths.

God's prisons are full of His loved ones. He uses those experiences mightily, as He did with Paul, Joseph, John the Baptist, John the disciple, and numerous other biblical examples. In fact, many of those whom He used in powerful ways have experienced an imprisonment, captivity, or loneliness ordained directly by Him.

Are you in prison? You are probably not literally behind bars, but your circumstances may make you feel as if you are. Don't despair; it will not last. It is ordained by God and is designed either for your current witness or future usefulness. He is refining you and molding you into His image, the exact likeness of His crucified Son.

Adapted from The One Year® Walk with God Devotionalby Chris Tiegreen, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for April 22.

Dead or Alive?

We know that when people told Jesus that He was too late, and that a girl was already dead, He told them that she was only asleep. Then they laughed at Him.

Then He raised her from the dead. And they stopped laughing, and started praising God.

God considers people who don't belong to Him through faith in Jesus as being already spiritually dead. But considers saints who have physically died to be alive to Him.

Here's some verses on the death of a believer.

Your ID and His Plan

Tony Twist, the president of TCM International , a teaching and discipling ministry to Eastern Europe wrote a neat article I wanted to share with you.

What to do? Powerless to change anything. Going in wrong directions. Corrupt government on the brink of destruction. Feeling abandoned.

People all over the world are feeling this way. And we always have. Just like the disciples hearing the Great Commission in the first century. This was exactly their circumstance! Betrayed by authorities, unable to change things, and not knowing what to do that would make a difference. In fact, just a few years later, their entire country was destroyed by Caesar.

But in His final words to us, Jesus gives the answer. It may seem counter-intuitive. But actually it’s brilliant. We simply forget that His command in the commission was given to keep us focused on what makes the difference. What has the power to turn our world right-side up.

Make Disciples of all the nations.

Why? Because International Disciplers are His PLAN. That’s it. And it’s brilliant! Because it is the only way to be part of real, lasting change. God knows that circumstances will not change if people don’t. But when people commit to His family PLAN, deep lasting change can result. ID’s Pray like Him, Live like Him, Allocate resources as He taught, and Network as He did.

When we reclaim our true ID (international disciplers), we “re-member” whose we are. In His power and presence, we are emboldened to join with brothers and sisters everywhere to honor our family name and promote our family values. Shuch a family brings order out of chaos by radically lighting up our world together with Him. When a family is so grounded, death can’t even stop it. In 2009, TCM committed to a vision for the future that focuses on develoing disciple makers to make a global impact by more effectively influencing churches, cultures, and countries for Christ. Now, in 2010, we want to be part of a global movement to call all of us back to this simple, powerful imperative. It’s time to reclaim our true ID. This is what we must do.

Guys, What do you think about that? Is your true identity ID an International Discipler, or at least an Indiana Discipler? What do you think of this description of the PLAN: Pray like Him, Live like Him, Allocate resources as He taught, and Network as He did.? Have you seen Networking for Christ as your duty?

You need a heart transplant!

“You got a bad ticker, and if you don’t get a new one, you’re gonna be a dead man. In fact for all practical purposes, you’re a walking dead man right now.”

How would you like to hear that rather frank diagnosis the next time you go into your doctor for a routine physical?

The Bible says that if we have not accepted Jesus Christ as our personal savior and lord, that we are spiritually DEAD! It also says that from a Hebrew concept, we have a bad heart, the heart being our real selves, our center, our soul, not the muscle that pumps blood around. Here is some interesting information and bible verses on “The Heart:”

Ancient Hebrew Word Meanings Heart ~ lev By Jeff A. Benner

Here is an example of our modern western culture still using a concrete object to express an abstract idea. We often associate the heart with emotions such as love and kindness as in "He has a good heart". This is also true with the Hebrews who saw the heart as the seat of emotion. But unlike us they also saw the heart as the seat of thought whereas we see the brain as the seat of thought. To the ancient Hebrews the heart was the mind including all thoughts including emotions. When we are told to love God with all our heart (Deut 6:5) it is not speaking of an emotional love but to keep our emotions and all our thoughts working for him. The first picture in this Hebrew word is a shepherd staff and represents authority as the shepherd has authority over his flock. The second letter is the picture of the floor plan of the nomadic tent and represents the idea of being inside as the family resides within the tent. When combined they mean "the authority within".

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Psalm 44:21 Would not God find this out: For He knows the secrets of the heart.

Luke 16:15 And He (Jesus) said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”

Ezekiel 36:26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Heart (Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary)

According to the Bible, the heart is the centre not only of spiritual activity, but of all the operations of human life. "Heart" and "soul" are often used interchangeably (Deut. 6:5; 26:16; comp. Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30, 33), but this is not generally the case. (The real you, your personhood)sb

The heart is the "home of the personal life," and hence a man is designated, according to his heart, wise (1 Kings 3:12, etc.), pure (Ps. 24:4; Matt. 5:8, etc.), upright and righteous (Gen. 20:5, 6; Ps. 11:2; 78:72), pious and good (Luke 8:15), etc. In these and such passages the word "soul" could not be substituted for "heart."

The heart is also the seat of the conscience (Rom. 2:15). It is naturally wicked (Gen. 8:21), and hence it contaminates the whole life and character (Matt. 12:34; 15:18; comp. Eccl. 8:11; Ps. 73:7). Hence the heart must be changed, regenerated (Ezek. 36:26; 11:19; Ps. 51:10-14), before a man can willingly obey God.

The process of salvation begins in the heart by the believing reception of the testimony of God, while the rejection of that testimony hardens the heart (Ps. 95:8; Prov. 28:14; 2 Chr. 36:13). "Hardness of heart evidences itself by light views of sin; partial acknowledgment and confession of it; pride and conceit; ingratitude; unconcern about the word and ordinances of God; inattention to divine providences; stifling convictions of conscience; shunning reproof; presumption, and general ignorance of divine things."

Serving: A servant's heart

The last letter in our acronym APES is S for SERVING. Our culture is all about leading, being large and in charge, being the boss, being at the top of the heap. Jesus said the world system and culture was the same in biblical times, but emphasized that SERVING others was the key to understanding His way, His ministry, and what he expected of His followers...

Matthew 20:25 You know that the rulers in the world lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. "It should not be this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you should be your servant, and whoever wishes to become first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Paul pulls back the veil of eternity to magnify this amazing story of how the King of the Universe, willingly and purposefully took on a humble life of service...

Philippians 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves that was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

We, in our freedom in Christ are exhorted to use that freedom for service...

Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom; only do not freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

But, what should we do, how do we serve. This starts with the main directive, the primary, making disciples...

Matthew 28:19-20 All authority has been given Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Beyond mentoring though, we are encouraged to meet social and physical needs in Jesus’ name...

Matthew 25:35-40 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Simple “random acts of kindness” are significant as well...

Matthew 10:42 “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

I’m excited about the opportunity to take our Fishersmen group to a new level, by adding the service component. Please pray that God’s Spirit will lead us in unity to know what He has for us in kingdom work in the community to make a difference.

AMAZING PSALM 22

It’s the 22^nd so I get treated again to the 22^nd Psalm which is amazing!

When Jesus hung on the cross and uttered “My God, my God, why has’t Thou forsaken me?” The crowd around was wondering if Elijah would come in his chariot, or if something spectacular would occur.

But the scribes in the crowd, who memorized scripture, and recited Psalms based on being given the first phrase or two, would have immediately thought through Psalm 22, and perhaps for some the scales of disbelief fell from their eyes.

Psalm 22 is a vivid prophecy over 400 years earlier of what the Messiah would go through if put to death on the cross. Let’s look at the words: (I’ve put the crucifixion account references as links)

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 8 “He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. 15 My strength is dried like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 Dogs have surrounded me; a bend of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my garments among them and cost lots for my clothing.

Such amazing prophecy! Such amazing composure, to in death not only say “Father forgive them for the know not what they do, “ but also to try to witness to the scribes one last time.

I have to conclude as the centurion at the cross did, when Jesus breathed His last, “Truly, this must be the Son of God!”

Blessings