Happy Birthday Sharron!

Happy Birthday to Sharron

The first time I saw you I was drawn to your beautiful eyes and big smile. It did not take long to fall in love. I love you with all my heart and cannot imagine my life without you. You bring joy to my soul.




Our marriage has weathered the storms of life as we stand together, hand in hand, trusting in the Lord. I hope today is filled with joy and happiness!

I love you,,,,,,Happy Birthday!

Grand children are a blessing!

Yesterday, following an awesome day at church, Sharron and I made our way south to connect with Danielle and her family.  We especially enjoyed celebrating a meal to honor our grandson - Jordan Richard Bolder - for his 5th birthday.  He choose the restaurant - Cracker Barrel - and I chose the Chocolate Coke Cake.  We enjoy laughter and a fun time....



 Sharron and I made the difficult decision to depart a loved ministry position in Kansas to relocate to my childhood home of North Carolina in 2007 to be close to family.  Today we celebrate our growing family and our 5 grandchildren!

 

AD - The Bible Continues - Don't miss it!

AD - The Bible Continues.   This is the foundation of the current teaching series I am preaching this Spring.  If you have not jumped into watching the series - it's not too late.  Over 7 million people viewed last Sunday's episode.

Here is a primer for you to consider:







Join us today at NRN as I preach from the book of Acts this Sunday - about the Power of the Holy Spirit!  Invite your friends to join you.

Preparing for worship on April 19 2015 Pt 2 in the AD teaching series

As we prepare for worship tomorrow at North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene      I am very excited about the message God has placed within my heart. Last Sunday as I viewed the 2nd episode of AD I was moved by the closing scene as Jesus ascended into Heaven. 

His last words to the Disciples challenged me for this past week. "All authority has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age."  

The book of Luke records what happened next: The disciples worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.  

I look forward to coming to church tomorrow to worship Him and then depart in great joy to live my life to the praise of His glory!  

Church is so important to my Christian walk!

We begin with a welcome and Scriptural Call to Worship in the form of a responsive reading.  Then we stand to sing our praises to the Lord!

We go before the Lord in prayer. 


Then we hear the announcements about opportunities for us to serve and also gather for community.  

Part 3 in the teaching series:

The Work of the Holy Spirit








As we bring our financial offerings to the Lord we sing one final song before we depart to serve the Lord. 



We need to welcome the Holy Spirit to do his work in our midst. 
All other desires must take second place. 
We must yield to his purposes in order to please him
 and accomplish his mission in our world.

They'll Know we are Christians by Our Love

Do you believe?

Over the past 2 Sundays I have asked the same question:  Do You Believe?


God is moving in our midst -  Do you see Him?



Check out this movie:

Be a Prayer Warrior

 

Edward Payson said, “Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to a minister. Pray, then, my dear brother: pray, pray, pray.”

 Isaiah 55:6, Matthew 7:7-12 and Philippians 4:6 we read that men are to pray – to pray for the advancement of God's kingdom, their lives and their family.

People often ask, “Is prayer really necessary? Will my prayer really make a difference? Does the sovereign, all powerful, all knowing, all present God really need me to pray?”

E. M. Bounds said, “Prayer is the keynote of the most sanctified life, of the holiest ministry.  He does the most for God who is the highest skilled in prayer.  Jesus Christ exercised His ministry after this order”.

 The Word of God instructs us to pray, however, many Christians do not see the importance of prayer simply because they lack sufficient knowledge on the subject of prayer. Prayer puts God in full force in the earth it releases Him to move in the earth on our behalf. To a prayerful man God is always present in realized force; to a prayerful church God is truly present in glorious power throughout the earth.

 E. M. Bounds said “…It is only when the whole heart is gripped with the passion of prayer that the life-giving fire descends, for none but the earnest man gets access to the ear of God.” 

 Hebrews 11:33-40 “…Men of old who were strong in faith and in prayer, subdued kingdoms, produced righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”

 Why can’t we be those men today? All we need is to be strong in faith and strong in prayer.

  What is Prayer

We see from Psalm 5:1-3; 19:14; Matthew 6:6 and Acts 10:1-2 that when we are praying we are communicating with God.

 Robert Hall said, “…The prayer of faith is the only power in the universe to which the great Jehovah yields. Prayer is the sovereign remedy.”

 There are two things that must be attended to in prayer (i) That it be in every time, season, or opportunity; (ii) That it should be in or through the Spirit – that the heart should be engaged in it, and that its infirmities should be helped by the Holy Spirit.

      

Prayer must always be two ways

 In Psalm 10:17 and 65:2 we read that God the Father hears us when we speak. We read in Psalm 99:6-9 that Our Father not only hears our prayers he actually answers those prayers. In Isaiah 58:9 we read that when we call God will answer.

Prayer should be daily

Psalm 5:3 the psalmist says that he will lift up his voice in the morning and God will hear him. Psalm 143:8 the psalmist encourages us to not only speak to God in the morning but also to listen to him. Prayer should flow from a desire within us to attain a new level of spiritual aptitude or fellowship. Prayer should be daily fellowship with our heavenly Father springing out of our love for him.

Prayer is a lifestyle

ifestyle consists of a choice we make to live a certain way. We choose to love our wife, husband, and family etc. we need to choose to pray daily.

Prayer should be without ceasing

Colossians 4:2 tells us to continue (the Greek means to continue perseveringly) in prayer.