Road Trip to ENC

 

A modern miracle of God took place last week.  I shared at church on Sunday September 1st that we were on the verge of a miracle.  As the Labor Day activates came to a close the following day, I received the phone call  the God had opened the door for a young man in our church to go to college.  The testimony of this young man is moving and the Lord opened a door to impact his life forever. 

I became aware that our youth pastor - Pastor Jordan was going to take this young man to college.  The 12 hour trip from Raleigh to Quincy, Mass. is a large undertaking, especially the return trip home if you are alone.  Late Monday evening I sensed God speaking to my heart that I should go on the road trip.  We departed my home at 5:00am and arrived on campus at 5:15pm.  The welcome on campus was awesome and the people were so gracious and helpful.  It was a great trip.  Here are a few pictures of the campus and our time there:

 

 

 

By Wednesday afternoon the registration process had concluded, the placement test taken and finally the class schedule established and the dorm room assigned.  Time to move Esdras in:

As we prepared to depart for the journey home a few last pictures to mark the occasion:

 

 

This is his "sad" face.  As soon as the picture "snapped" he bent over in laughter.

When I asked Esdras if he was nervous - he said "Excited"! 

It's going to be an awesome semester for him....

 

Here is a brief campus tour:

 

 

Reflection from my message today at NRN

Here is a short reflection from my message today at NRN:

Faith is the Victory

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the  world.         John 4:4

CONFIDENT    LOVE

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.                                1 John 4:7-8

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.                                 1 John 4: 9-12
 

CONFIDENT    FAITH

This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.                                    1 John 5:2-5
 

CONFIDENT    PRAYER

A confident faith leads to confident prayer.

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

 

 

John 14:13-14 "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. “

 Eph. 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,

Phil. 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Mark 11:24 "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.

 John 16:23 Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.

And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.                                                   1 John 5:20b

 

 

 

 

Preparing for worship on September 8, 2013

As I prepare for worship on Sunday September 8th my heart is challenged as I am preaching over two chapters of Scripture from the book of 1 John.  The truths are so powerful and the message from God is so amazing, I can hardly contain it.  Here is a sampling of just the introduction of my message:

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.                                         1 John 4:4

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8

We love because he first loved us.  1 John 4:19

Here is the prepared song list:

 

 

We will begin with a video countdown and welcome clip then enter into a time of worship:

 

Now we quiet our heart before God to enter into a time of prayer:





We continue in our worship by bringing our financial gifts to God.  God is so faithful and is preforming miracles before our very eyes.  I will share of a miracle that took place this week and then we will thank God by presenting our gifts to him. 





We will sing to the Lord as we present our offerings to Him:




Prepare yourself for worship tomorrow at church.  Plan to come a little early to enjoy some refreshments and connect with others.   Who will you call to invite to join you tomorrow at church?  DO IT! 

Why doesn't God answer my prayers?

At 6:30 tonight we gather for prayer at NRN.  We pray with faith and conviction.  Here is a primer to consider before we gather tonight:





Join us this evening as I share a Biblical answer to this question and then we pray....

Pastor throws a "hissy fit"

On May 19th, 2013, Jim Standridge stood in the pulpit of Immanuel Baptist Church of Skiatook and did this.

Dr. Jim Standridge, senior pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Skiatook, Okla., preaches on May 19, 2013.

This is an excerpt of a sermon by Jim Standridge, senior pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Skiatook, Okla., has gone viral on the Internet, inspiring hundreds of comments about the Christian minister storming from the pulpit during his message to admonish a congregant for falling asleep and then calling out other worshippers, one of whom he decries as "the sorriest church member I have."

The five-minute excerpt was posted earlier this week YouTube with the title "Jim Standridge Throws a Hissy Fit." The video has about 83,000 views and well over 500 comments from offended, outraged and concerned viewers, some of whom have suggested that Standridge's words to congregants lacked love, failed to represent God's grace, and reflected arrogance.

However, Pastor Standridge, who has been serving Immanuel Baptist Church for the past 24 years, told The Christian post Thursday that he could not care less what a few strangers on the Internet think about his message. The minister insisted that he held no anger toward online commenters.

"It was a family meeting, not a national meeting," he told a local reporter, adding that his May 19, 2013, sermon was full of grace and love. "But you can't judge a man by one message."

"If you knew me, you'd know that I'm a loving, caring guy," he said, adding that he did not expect complete strangers on the internet to know that about him.

Happy Labor Day 2013

Monday - September 2, 2013   
Happy Labor Day!

 

 Today is known for time with family, cook-outs, T.V. show marathons on cable stations.  It is also a time not too forget our values of forgiveness and grace.

 

A reflection of my message today at NRN - Love in action...

Here is a reflection of my message today at NRN.  I tired to reduce the words of my message however the passage of 1 John chapter 3 is filed with such powerful truth that I had to declare it:




Here is a summary: