ASSEMBLY

Take a walk through the New Testament and in truth you will not come across many scriptures which have to do with Christian ASSEMBLY (church). When you do come across them (1 Corr. 11-14; Heb. 10:23-25) you find that the focus of assembly time was primarily HORIZONTAL - that is person to person. The believers gathered and their time was spent trying to encourage and strengthen one another. WORSHIP in the NT is really about the life we live and so worshipers gathered together to encourage one another to "hang in there" the rest of the time. They studied and prayed and communed and all of it was done because they needed it. Paul in 1 Corinthians, told the Corinthians over and over again to do what they did in assembly for the benefit of others. He even told them to wait on each other before they communed. In 1 Cor. 14he tells them to take turns, listen when another is speaking and do everything in an orderly manner so that all who attend can understand and be edified. Christian assembly is really much more horizontally directed than vertically. It was meant to be the support group for believers to give them the courage to live for Jesus every day. Foree

Lead us not into temptation.

This is a troublesome request to me. I know the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. HE did not do the tempting but he took Jesus there. I assume Jesus needed that experience in his walk here. Maybe that had to take place so that he would be tempted like us yet without sin. It happened before his ministry began. He was in the wilderness to learn to trust God. It brought him closer to the Father as he began his journey to the cross.

The Father allows us to be tempted - look at Adam and Eve - but he never tempts James says. So we ask us not to take us there knowing, as Jesus did, it would come. Hence, "deliver us from the evil one." The Father who brings us will carry is through. The whole dance is about faith in Him.

I have no doubt temptation will come in many ways. I have no doubt it will be a struggle. AND I have no doubt the Father and the Spirit and the Word and Jesus himself will help me through....this is our faith. Also it is part of our journey.

Forgive and Being Forgiven

Some clsoing words frm Jesus which connect our forgiveness from Him with our ability to forgive. This is perhaps our greatest calling from the lord. It is like His demand that we love our enemies and poray for those who are against us. These are indeed hard sayings for those who follow.

It is rather easy to accept forgiveness from God. Who wants to hang on to sins committed, reliving them over and over again??? God says he forgives and it is done. It is true that we sometimes have a hard time forgicing ourselves but generally we get the job done.

Now, on to more difficult issues - forgiving others. It is so easy to hold a grudge or become bitter and hang on to offenses from others. IT is rather painless to withdraw from someone who has offended and just ignore their presence and act as if they do not exist.

Jesus disallows such behavior. Our forgiveness is tied to our abilty to forgive. If I cannot forgive what does that say about my relationship with God? Foree

Give Us Our Daily Bread - A Double Edged Sword

God is the one who sustains us. Regardless of our ability to earn, that ability comes from God. Help me Father to not become focused on human achievement. Thank you for giving humanity the abilities we have to work and accumulate things and enjoy this world you made. Help me to realize and embrace the truth that while human ability and achievement is a blessing from you it is a double edged sword. The gift to earn and acquire can become the idol of my life. The friends you bring to me can replace your presence if I am not careful. The human spirit with all of its advantages can become a spirit of pride and arrogance. My thinking capacity, a blessing from you, can be so complex that I decide faith is no longer needed. Thank you Father for giving me the necessities of life. Help those gifts not to become my god.

Read the story of Babel in Genesis 11. God endowed people with the creative ability to build and achieve. That same ability drove them to "make a name for themselves." Their God given talent crowded God out. They forgot their bread came from Him. Foree

YOUR WILL BE DONE

This is my request to God. My desires, goals, requests and pleas are all centered around my desire for God to do HIS WILL. Help me Father to be obedient to your agenda and not to mine. Correct me when I get on the wrong road. Convict me when I give into my own desire and think I know what is best for me. Help me avoid being fooled by the Tempters persuasions. Give me the grace I need to perform in life for you and you alone.

When Jesus was in the garden his humanity sought freedom from the suffering of the cross when he said "...let this cup pass from me..." But he preceded it with "If it be your will" by saying "not my will but yours be done." This was the faith of Jesus. "I am willing to do whatever your will is that I do."

We can always trust the faithful Father who knows more than we know. His will is always best for us. Our will is to do His will. foree

Have a read and see where you fit....

Latest reports are that five terorist cell groups have been operating in many of our churches. They have been identified as:

Bin Sleepin, Bin Arguin, Bin Fightin, Bin Complainin, and Bin Missin.

Their leader, Lucifer Bin Workin, trained these groups to hinder the Body of Christ. The plan is to come into the church disguised as Christians and to work within the church to discourage, disrupt, and destroy.

However, there have been reports of a sixth group. A tiny cell group known by the name Bin Prayin is actually the only effective counter terrorism force in the church. Unlike other terrorist cells, the Bin Prayin team does not blend in with whoever and whatever comes along.

Bin Prayin does whatever is needed to uplift and encourage the Body of Christ. we have noticed that the Prayin cell group has different characteristics than the others. They have Bin watchin, Bin waitin, Bin Fastin, and Bin longin for the Master Jesus to return to Rapture the Church.

No church is exempt; however, you can spot them if you bin lookin and bin goin.
Someone else wrote this but i found it intersting....foree

Your Kingdom Come

"Kingdom" means reign and infers a territory which is the heart. Christ comes to create the reign of God in the hearts and lives of those who will repent and believe. Luke 17:21 says "...the kingdom of God is within you..." And this is my prayer that God will widen the influence of His Spirit in my life. That I will become more like Jesus in the way I live with others. Help me Lord not to strike back with fists or words. Give me the patience I need with others as they like me struggle with the flesh. May your reign in me create a humble spirit open to the guidance of your word. I ask that my religious observance be focused on honoring and bringing glory to you and not myself.

Help me to be the husband who sacrifices himself for his wife. Give me the grace not to exasperate my children. May the words of my mouth bring glory to you. May your reign in me always remind me of the cross of self denial I am called to carry.

The "kingdom of God" is about Christ transforming me. My job is to allow it. Foree

Holy Is Your Name

The intimate relationship between child and parent calls for a familiar term, hence "father" or "abba." This is no meeting between strangers. This is family, a child speaking to his dad but remembering the holy Father. "Let you name be dedicated, separate and pure."

In the earliest of God's written communications He demanded His name not be spoken in plain, ordinary, vulgar and common terms. This is the Father who spoke the worlds into existence and will one day speak their destruction. He sits in the Heavenlies and those in His presence offer glory and honor to His name.

He us holy. There is none like Him. He cannot be tempted and tempts no one. He dwells in light unapproachable. He is the respondent to prayer and the deliverer of grace and mercy. He reaches down from his throne and saves us from our enemies because he delights in us.

There is no comparison to our Father in heaven. He is holy. He is unique. He is above us and in Him there is no disappointment. The Father is faithful and true. He is worthy of double honor.

And this Father of mine has forgiven me by sacrificing his own...HOLY IS YOUR NAME.

Psalm 18:1-19 - The Father who rescues...praise be to his NAME!

The Lord's Prayer- "My Father"

Now this note may take a couple of blogs to get it in but I am going to try. First a little personal history. I was raised to believe that Christians should not say the Lord's prayer since the kingdom has already come...one of many things I believed which later learned to be untrue. The kingdom of God is within us (Luke 17:21). "Kingdom" is about the REIGN of God in our hearts. People who are under the Lordship of Jesus who have God as their King are kingdom people, they are people who acknowledge God in their lives.

Second - I preached a sermon on the Lord's Prayer a few weeks ago and realized that Jesus is telling is how to pray, "This then is how you should pray" (Matthew 6:9). So I have begun to pray the Prayer and it has revived my prayer life. I follow the words of the Prayer but in a developed and expanded manner. Make it personal!

For example: I begin with "My Father who is in heaven..." focusing on "my." The God of this world is MY father. I then think about my relationship to him as an adopted son, elected by him in Jesus to whom I can cry "abba" (Aramaic for daddy). I think about him waiting for me like the "Prodigal's" father - how patient he is with me and how he disciplines me and waits on me to return when I wander. Speaking to him as MY father opens a door of intimacy for me as I approach his throne. "MY FATHER."

The key for me is to personalise the prayer as I say the words and take time to expand the concepts in my heart and mind. Rather than just saying the words of the prayer, to think of the words as I ponder my relationship with him. Sometimes my whole prayer for that moment is about Him being my father.

In this part I also think of the wonderful aspects of my relationship to my earthly Father and consider how God has been that same way with me. For example - my dad shared his work and relaxation with me. He took me fishing and hunting and camping and also taught me how to wood work and work in the yard and pour concrete. We laughed and cried together and shared life. When I consider all God has done for me he too has been sharing His life with me. "My Father," what an awesome way to open conversation with God. I will share more ...but first are you getting my drift? Foree

LLC

LLC anonymously wrote on my blog page and asked if I wanted to download, among other things pictures of "beautiful ladies." Makes you wonder what people are looking for in life. IS life about one sexual experience after another? I sure would like for LLC to write me back and let me know what he/she has in mind sharing things like that. I wonder of that is the sum total of their life and where they expect to go when they keep traveling down that road??? Foree

TIME

Whew - time flies right on by and I looked at my blog and it has been since December since I posted...I suppose that is not necessarily a bad thing since people are not beating down the door to read it...things are going really well here at A&M...the family is doing very well and Dana and I are still married - 37 years..

Time sure does roll by -- one of these days it is going to stop - what a day that will be...We have to be ready in our relationship with our Lord....what is going on there?

Next blog is going to be me sharing my experience with the Lord's Prayer...after some introductory comments I want to share a little journey I have been on with my prayer life...Foree