Fisher's of Men

Matthew 4:19 says, "and He said to them, 'Follow me and I will make you fishers of men".

Allow me to apologize upfront for I fear this post will become long winded (as usual). I want to share my heart with you and tell you about a ministry that is brewing in my heart. Several years ago, a sister-in-Christ told me about a ministry through her church called, "Fishers of men". The best way to explain this ministry is to liken it to the process of passing out "Amish" bread. Anyone that is familiar with this process know that it works like this: The bread has a starter, the person with the starter makes the bread, passes it out and then passes out starter kits to those willing to carry on with the process. After awhile, you end up with a multitude of starter kits and bread. So, are you with me so far. My heart is to see a great multitude of disciples and a great multitude of those being discipled (or maybe evangelized).

If I've perked your interest so far, let me explain further how this ministry works:
1) Small group (6-8 people is optimal to facilitate sharing of the heart).
2) Mixture of seasoned believers, new believers, and quite possibly some unbelievers.
3) Not church or denomination specific group, but must all have same Christian belief (Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was crucified, rose from the dead on the third day...only one way to God.)
4) Study should not last more than 8 weeks
5) Intense prayer for at least one to emerge from the study willing to lead a small group approximately 4 weeks after the initial small group ends.
6) Facilitator from initial small group to lead another small group with new set of people.

For the past 4 weeks, a small group has met in my home and been a part of a study by author Kelly Minter, titled "No other gods". I won't go into great detail about the study (I'll save that for another post), but let me just suffice it to say, the study has been phenomenal and the way God has been working through the study has been profound.

A new study will start in approximately 8 weeks and last 4-8 weeks. If you think you may be interested in attending or if you have questions, please let me know.

Your love is relentless....and I'm glad for it!

"Your love is relentless and I'm glad for it,
your love is relentless and if not for it, I'd perish for sure, if not for it!"

I simply could not get this tune out of my head this morning from David Crowder's CD "Church Music". It is my mantra this week. Only a handful of people know what God did in our home this week....it was simple, yet profound. I would love to share what He did in it's entirety but that is Seann's testimony and I know that when the Lord leads him to, he'll share it. However, I can share the portion that belongs to me.....I had no choice but to put my faith in God and believe that He sees the much bigger picture. I had to trust the God that spoke the world into existence, that parted the Red Sea, brought the dead back to life, healed the sick, brought demons out of the afflicted, opened up the womb of the barren....the list is endless....why do we struggle to trust a God that is capable of so much! Let me suffice it to say that I am simply overwhelmed by the Healer's relentless love for me!

You can listen to David Crowder's song, "Birmingham" here

"Religiously Privileged"

I am studying the book of Romans in depth. It's odd, but usually when Mike and I counsel or direct someone to read the Bible, we direct them to the book of John. Recently, God laid it on my heart to tell someone to start in Romans Chapter 1. Anything I tell someone else to read, I study myself so that we can discuss it in it's entirety. I was blown away today as I read Romans Chapter 2. The first 16 verses discussed the impartiality of God....basically that sin is sin and all sin is level before an almighty God and all sin will be judged. Then I entered into the last batch of verses in this chapter (17-29). The Jewish community has always been of interest to me because we are told numerous times in God's Word that they are His chosen people. What I have struggled with over the years is how they can be chosen and not love Him with their heart, mind, and soul. This alone has been a unfair judgement on my part because as I read verse 17 and the explanation of this scripture in my Life Application Bible, it discusses that the Jews are considered a "religiously privileged" group of people. What hit me that was profound is that if you have been raised in a Christian home...I'm not talking about just going to church and going through the motions, I'm talking about a home where your parents love the Lord with their heart, mind, and soul....THEN, you are no different from the Jews in the fact that you are "religiously privileged". The same condemnation that applies to the Jewish population in verse 17, applies to me. I grew up "religiously privileged". I had a mother and grandmother that loved the Lord and prayed for their children/grandchildren on a daily basis. I rode the coat tails of their love and knowledge of God for many years. Now my responsibility before God is to live what I know.
If you have grown up "religiously privileged", take a moment today to thank God for what your parents taught you and to ask God to help you live by what you know!

An "On Time" God...

I don't know why I'm always amazed at what an "on time" God we serve! This past week, Mike and I traveled to Clayton, Georgia with our friends Bobby & Dana for an extended weekend of R & R! I had told the lady that owns the cabin where we would be staying that I was praying we would see snow. When we arrived at the cabin, the owner was there and told us that we would be wise to head to the grocery store as snow would arrive Friday afternoon (this was on Thursday). We heeded her advice. The next morning we decided that we should do any site seeing before the snow began, so we set out for the Highlands and traveled an hour up the mountain by vehicle. As we weaved around curves, Dana became car sick and we would stop every few miles to let her get fresh air. When we arrived in the small town of Cashier, we went into some of the local shops and everyone was buzzing about the expected snow. When we heard one woman mention that 8 inches of snow was expected and that we may be "snowed in" until Tuesday, we took this as our opportunity to descend back down the mountain towards our cozy little cabin. The other deciding factor to head home was that Dana was feeling worse by the mile. We had just arrived at our cabin, when Mike looked out the window and asked, "Is that fog", Bobby then added, "No, the clouds seem to be dropping". Almost before Bobby could complete his sentence, snow started falling....not the little flurries that are seen every decade or so in Florida but huge snow flakes. Had Dana not been car sick, we would have possibly had a dangerous trek home down the mountain. As always, we had prayed that morning for safety before heading up the mountain and as always, I believe God is an "on time" God!