Sacrificial Giving

My wife and I were having a debate today before church about whether or not God would bless automatic electronic transfers from my bank account to the church's bank account for tithe, offerings, etc. The issue in question was whether God wants you to think about it when you give, or if the fact that money is going to the church out of my account is good enough (I think it would be awesome to automate it and never have to write a check again, but she disagrees). The debate continued until, as I hastily wrote out my tithe check and calculated how much easier it would be to simply type the amount into a paypal site, God weighed in on the matter. As I licked my tithe envelope the paper slashed my face open causing massive hemoraging and serious blood loss (not really, but it did hurt). Having never before received a paper cut from a tithing envelope, I simply said "yes Lord, I'll continue to write checks." It's tough when your wife is right and you're wrong, but it's tougher when God backs her up.

Sean Payne - Canadian Street Preacher

I recently discovered Sean Payne's street preaching site and really enjoyed it. Being the fiery young fundamentalist that I am, and since the nature of this blog is to encourage young people to get excited about taking a stand for God, I have to give a shout-out to Sean. Check out his site. Good stuff!

7-13-07 Video of the Day - Crazy Monkey

Thank God For Trouble Makers

Pastor and Evangelist Greg Locke preached a sermon called "Thank God For Trouble Makers" in which he used for his text Acts 16:16-20 "[16] And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:[17] The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.[18] And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.[19] And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,[20] And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,".

Last night I had the opportunity to go street preaching with our church, much like Paul and Silas used to do, and we had a time. I'm always a little nervous and, yes I'll admit it, embarrassed when I first start out. Yesterday, though, I began thinking about this passage and Greg Locke's sermon and it gave me boldness knowing that I was simply doing that which the Bible gave us as an example of public evangelism. We met some mild opposition such as teenagers ripping tracts up in front of us and people jeering or laughing, but we also had some gather to listen to what we were saying. I had four teenagers stand in front of me the whole time I was preaching to hear the message, and when I finished I jumped down off the wall on which I was standing and went through God's plan of salvation with them. One was already saved, but the other three were catholics. Unfortunately peer pressure got hold of them and they were too embarrassed to pray publicly. I can only hope they got right with God when they went home. The others that were with us got to give the gospel to many people standing around, hundreds of tracts were passed out, and one of the ladies led two teenage boys to the Lord! It was a real blessing, as always, to leave knowing that not only did we make a public profession of our belief and faith in Jesus, but God used it to change the lives of some individuals whom we will now see in Heaven. If nothing else, two people got saved and the rest of them know that there are still Christians who aren't ashamed of Jesus, and who care enough about them to bring the Gospel to a lost and dying world. Thank God for Trouble Makers!

7-9-07 Video of the Day - Star Wars Fever

Is Abiding With Christ REALLY Your Top Priority?

When you go to bed at night and the things you must do the following day begin to play through your head, many times important meetings, events and appointments are the things that standout the most. We tend to categorize and prioritize without even intending to. Often there are one or two things that we absolutely must do, a few things that we would really like to get done, and many things we will do if we have the time. Where does spending time with the Lord fall in your thought process? Here is where the problem lies: we say that God is our number one priority and if you look at our schedule chronologically, He is. Spending time with God is the first thing on our list time-wise, but not priority-wise. If we don't hear the alarm clock and accidentally sleep in, He is the first item crossed off the list. If you think of something you need to get done right away or an unexpected event happens, God is immediately on the back burner. God doesn't want to just be your EARLIEST priority, He wants to be your TOP priority. He wants you to lay your head on your pillow at night and think, "If I don't eat a single meal tomorrow, I'll spend time with God". We need to make sure that He is the main event and everything else are simply side shows. He needs to be our main course and all the other priorities are simply appetizers. Don't skip a day with the Lord, because He doesn't skip a day wishing you would pay attention to Him.

Jeff Wade On Leadership

Our church has had the incredible experience of having Dr. Jeff Wade, Associate Pastor at Lighthouse Baptist Church in San Diego and his wife Mary Wade as our guest speakers all week. Brother Wade preached a series of awesome messages to us on surrendering to God and leadership in the church. I was truly inspired and it gave me a renewed motivation to do something big for the Lord. One of the points he made really caught my attention. He talked about how Church is unlike any other place because if you want to do something for the Lord, as long as the Pastor is behind it you are free to make it happen! Where else do you have the freedom to come up with a creative idea, implement it and oversee the growth and expansion of that idea? Few of us have jobs where this is a possibility and most would agree that unless you are in charge, most organizations and businesses maintain a tight control of what is allowed and what is not. The work of God, however, is not limited by any one person's creativity, but is an open platform for anyone who is willing to step up to the plate to build a ministry for the Lord! What a thought! If you get a chance, check out this brother's website. You will find many helps and resources as well as a very valuable newsletter to which you can subscribe. He has been a blessing to me and I'm sure he will be to you.