Prayer Dynamics

July 23, 2010 at 7:33 am (Prayer Dynamics)

                            

                         Rev. Rick Warren

HOW TO PRAY EFECTIVELY 

“Please remember what you told your servant Moses: “If you sin, I will scatter you among the nations” – Nehemiah 1:8 (NLT)

If you want specific answers to prayer, then make specific requests. If your prayers consist of general requests, how will you know if they’re answered?

Here are four secrets to answered prayer from the life of Nehemiah:

1. Base your request on God’s character. Pray like you know God will answer you: “I’m expecting you to answer this prayer because of who you are. You are a faithful God. You are a great God. You are a loving God. You are a wonderful God. You can handle this problem, God!”

2. Confess the sins of which you’re aware. After Nehemiah bases his prayer on who God is, he confesses his sins. He says, “We’ve sinned.” He says “I confess . . . myself . . . my father’s house . . . we have acted wickedly . . . we have not obeyed.” It wasn’t Nehemiah’s fault that Israel went into captivity. He wasn’t even born when it happened and he was most likely born in captivity. Yet, he’s including himself in the national sins. He says, “I’ve been a part of the problem.”

3. Claim the promises of God. Nehemiah prays to the Lord, saying, “I want you to remember what you told your servant Moses.” Can you imagine saying “remember” to God? Nehemiah reminds God of a promise he made to the nation of Israel. In effect, he prays, “God, you warned through Moses that if we were unfaithful, we would lose the land of Israel. But you also promised that if we repent, you’d give it back to us.”

Does God have to be reminded? No. Does he forget what he’s promised? No. Then why do we do this? Because it helps us remember what God has promised.

4. Be very specific in what you ask for. If you want specific answers to prayer, then make specific requests. If your prayers consist of general requests, how will you know if they’re answered?

                                

 

Leave a Comment

Wisdom’s Ways

July 23, 2010 at 7:29 am (Wisdom's Ways)

                                     

                                Rev. A. Linford

Rev. A. Linford, before his decease, was recognized as a good, great and interesting Bible teacher in the Assemblies of God Fellowship for many years. He was a well-loved Bible College lecturer and writer that bequeathed a tremendous amount of Biblical material in his generation. What a legacy he has left to be researched and brought forth to refresh our day! We shall be using such on this site: His writings from the book of Proverbs and also his Editorials that he wrote for the Redemption Tidings when he was its editor. I trust you will enjoy and appreciate.

THE VIRTUE OF SILENCE

”Even a fool, when he holders his peace, is counted wise” – Proverbs 17:27,28

James stresses the fact that to control the tongue is to control temperature in debate and to reveal the temperament – James 3:6.

Spare your words: A man of knowledge spares his words. He has much to say, but he knows when to say it; he has a lot to impart, but he knows how to impart it. He does not beat a drum whose empty monotony strikes one loud persistent note; he blows a trumpet whose controlled breath makes music. He uses choice words, correct words, colourful words. His vocabulary is rich because his understanding is rich, his grammar is correct because his knowledge is wide; his logic is precise because his thought processes are active. He articulates good sense, he expresses great sentiments, and he has gracious things to say. And this is because he has ”an excellent spirit” which shines through his words. Yet all is under control, his reason holds the reins of utterance. He curbs any incipient passionate display; he never allows his tongue to run away with him. He discerns the ”time to speak, he knows the ”time to keep silence” – Ecc1essiates 3:7, his judgment directs his conversation.

Hold your tongue: The wisest thing a fool can do is to keep his mouth shut. He may know nothing about the topic under debate, but if he keeps quiet no one will know that he knows nothing. Nay, more, as the Proverb has it, he may be counted wise. An occasional nod, a cryptic smile – and he may be taken for a philosopher. But can a fool hold his peace? His very folly is that he has little control over his spirit; the emptiness of his head is no impediment to his entering into violent argument. The vehemence of his utterances increase with the vanity of his self-opinion. His ignorance is echoed in the emphatic assertion that he knows. Wisdom and folly are wrapped up in our use of words: the fool says much and thinks little, the wise man thinks much, but spares his words. But what gems he can utter! A fool talks dust, a man of understanding disseminates gold.

PRAYER:

May my speech today be edifying and helpful, O Lord 

                           

Leave a Comment

Sermons of Note

July 23, 2010 at 7:25 am (Sermons)

                                     

                                 Rev. E. Anderson

A SPIRITUAL NECESSITY – A DIVINE BROKENNESS

READING    2 Peter 1

TEXT            Matthew 5: 3

INTRODUCTION

CONNECTION: In His teaching and instruction in relation to the Beatitudes they are simply joined one to the other. They are sweetly and soundly united and they are to be seen to relate in creating and cultivating a genuine subject of Christ’s kingdom. The one moves on easily and readily to the next and all are seen to be essential if there is to be both birth and growth in the kingdom of God. The humility evident and established will be noted in this next quality – spiritual sorrow.

CONTRAST: Basic English – “Happy are those who are sad.” The statement appears to be utterly contradictory because gladness and sadness do look to be opposites. How can they be united together?

“What a paradox: happy are the sad! Can sorrow be a blessing? No worldly teacher would talk so. Such a beatitude is not only a contradiction of terms, it is a denial of all we associate with that spirit of well being we call happiness” – A. Linford

What may be termed happiness may be far removed from such when fully examined and investigated because it has within it malignant and destructive factors. But there is a divine benediction to be found in a godly sorrow that leads on to greater things in and through God in a meaningful way and experience. It is to be seen not as a sorrow that brings about the tearing and wearing down of a person, rather the basis on which leads to salvation and the construction of a very blessed life. God is the cause and source of the mourning and therefore the sequence and ultimate consequence will be most rewarding.

CONTEXT: In what context is the word mourning and sadness to be understood? In the world of sin and evil in which we live, and as a consequence of sin working within us, the result is the production of hardened and insensitive state. The broken condition over such is what is required but because of the hardness without it is not an easy spirit to produce. It takes a work of God by His love and grace.

“To retain a sensitive spirit is a boon. So much of this world tends to dull our sympathies and harden our tender feelings.  The virulent pressures of circumstances can make us callous. Hopeful youth gives way to cynical middle-life; the optimism of early days descends into pessimism of later years. Idealism is displaced by realism-and all to the detriment of our dreams and the deadening of our finer selves. In a cold unfeeling world it is indeed a blessing to retain a tender care that feels for all” – Aaron Linford

Once this Beatitude is understood and is in evidence the end result will be truly profitable. The spiritual mourning which is indicates a dark and sad day will issue in a spiritual morning (minus the u) which will issue into a glorious new day of light and joy.

The verse divides into two: the Sadness and Gladness of the Mourner.

1/. THE SADNESS OF THE MOURNER

The mourning is inspired and influenced by God and so has within it the basic ingredient of bliss because of its origin. Blessed by the knowledge as to who is actually behind the brokenness that has come to the spirit and sensitive to what it is all about. Unless this is grasped and understood then the mourning will not make sense or reason and produce nothing of worth. It is more than turning on a weeping session.  Behind and beneath it all God is at work seeking to incite the sorrow that will generate better things.

Illustration:  Play actors have the power to turn on the water-works

  • Understand the real reason for it. The mourning in not due to personal bereavement over the loss of some one or thing grievous as such is. Much more is meant that natural and material loss. Even that can be of a painful and distressing order – e.g. Jacob – Genesis 42: 38. It is mourning that relates to the spiritual condition, of a person’s real state and standing before God. When a person allows his/herself to come under the close scrutiny of God, in His presence they perceive His nature and holiness and their nature and sinfulness. It is more than a surface encounter – Isaiah 6. God’s loveliness shows up an individual’s ugliness created by sin and there is holy mourning of lost likeness to God. It is a heart-broken experience, sensing He has all that is beautiful etc., and we have and nothing.
  • Take note of the full range of it – what it actually covers.  Whilst profoundly moved over the lost likeness to God because of sin, the grief goes even further and touches other aspects of a sad and serious nature. Barclay – “O the bliss of the man whose heart is broken for the world’s suffering and for his own sin.” The revelation of the situation around in society deeply affects a true subject of Christ’s kingdom as he beholds its corruption and degeneration. Having been brought into Christ’s pure and true kingdom he knows the difference and is broken and burdened over those who are under the heel of Satan and sin. The bondage and misery of those outside Christ’s kingdom profoundly disturbs and causes a sorrowful spirit and concern.
  • Discern the true reality of the grief expressed. The word for mourn is the strongest used in the Greek language. It is the passionate word employed for the mourning of the dead, the passionate lament for one who was loved. The word in the Greek Septuagint – Genesis 37: 34. It is not a professional mourning but that which is heartfelt and free from hypocrisy – John 11: 35.

Illustration: It is told that once Elgar, the great musician was listening to a young girl singing. She had a beautiful voice and a well-nigh faultless technique, but she just missed greatness. “She will be great” said Elgar, “when something happens to break her heart.

2/. THE GLADNESS OF THE MOURNER

This emphasizes the truth and fact that the mourning is worthwhile and profitable. The word – parakalein is the rarest of meanings. Comfort is part of it but more is implied and embodied.  The idea is that it is a ministry that affords every divine encouragement and such inspires and instils with strength and enabling of a vital quality.

  • It a comfort that affords true and full forgiveness.  There is known and sensed a deeper and greater work of grace in terms and tokens of forgiveness which is reflected in transformed state in a person’s spirit and attitude. It is more than a surface washing. It is like a spiritual sauna that opens up all the pores for spiritual cleansing which is intended to lead on to a greater kingdom life and living.

“When a man goes to God with  the godly sorrow of repentance he is not only comforted with the joy of past sins forgiven and forgotten; his heart is filled with courage; his mind is stimulated to new thoughts and new understandings and new adventure; the flickering flame of his life is fanned to a flame. His whole life is caught up into the strength and beauty of God.”                                W. Barclay

  • It is a comfort that offers the knowledge that there is a perfect and absolute standing in God’s favour, grace, power and fullness.  Grace not only forgives, it admits into a favoured position with God – Romans 5: 2. From a bereaved to a blessed state that holds so much. It is into a unique relationship with Himself so that He can confer much more upon than ever before.

Parakalein – used to summon to one’s side as an ally, a helper, a counsellor, a witness. Used  to invite to a banquet. In this experience the Lord invites the mourner as an honoured guest and not as a criminal. He is there to gladden and not sadden etc.”

  • It is a comfort that reveals the final goal that  is to be achieved.The old self image is removed and a divine image comes to the fore of a God-like nature – Psalm 17: 5. The brokenness will accomplish the blessedness of being and becoming like God. This is the ultimate that Christ has in mind – Romans 8: 29. There can be no better or greater thing for every subject to become like God through Christ and it commences when a person becomes mouldable and manageable in an through a genuine spirit of brokenness.

This has to become manifest both in sinner and saint and leads on to real growth!

                            

Leave a Comment

Pastor’s Weekly Thought

July 23, 2010 at 7:17 am (Pastor's Weekly Thought)

                                

                               Rev. Ian Williams

THE WAY OF THE RIGHTEOUS

Proverbs 4:18

“The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.”

We were born to shine brighter. As one who has been made righteous in Christ, you are a bright light. As the sun comes up in the morning, shining brighter and brighter until the full light of day, your light too grows brighter.

Did you know that if you are growing closer to God, your light is shining brighter today than it did yesterday? Do you believe that you have a brighter tomorrow? Do you realise that today should be your brightest day so far?

Our circumstances may not appear to be the brightest but you can’t always see the sun on a cloudy day.  We are not commanded to live by reason or experience, but by revelation and faith. When your circumstances don’t seem bright to you, remember God is refining you and although you may not see it, your light will be shining brighter because of the things you experience.

Does church seem brighter to you each week? Each time you meet with God, each time you gain a new revelation about His love for you, your walk with Him will be brighter. On Sunday, be prepared to learn and grow; be prepared to move a little further along on your journey with Him; be prepared to change for Him as you are challenged by His word.

Be bright, be beautiful

                                

Leave a Comment

Messages of Note

July 23, 2010 at 6:46 am (Messages of Note)

                                      

                                 Dr. John Andrews

LESSONS FROM A DJ

Earlier this year, Chris Evans took over the prime time Radio 2 breakfast time slot from Sir Terry Wogan.  After a billion years Sir Terry, (much to the heartache of his army of Togs), retired, leaving a gap that few thought could be filled.  Enter 43-year-old Chris Evans, anointed to replace the Togmeister… what a challenge!  I watched with interest how such a public change would be negotiated… here are my observations.

HE HONOURED THE PAST WHILE CHANGING THE PRESENT

 

Though he came into the hot seat with his own clear ideas, Evans was shrewd enough to understand Wogan’s achievements and the fan base he’d built up over the years.  At no point did he attempt to imitate Sir Terry, but neither did he shy away from honouring what his predecessor had achieved, something he was now benefiting from.  Chris Evans demonstrated that honouring the past and plotting our own path is not necessarily an either/or, but it can reflect the genius of the and.  As leaders, in changing today, we don’t always have to trash the past.  It’s possible to honour what has been while changing it! 

HE LISTENED TO CRITICISM WHILE STAYING CHEERFUL

‘Let us know’ was his mantra for the first few months.  ‘If you like it, or don’t like it, let us know,’ he’d ask the audience.  In one respect he had no need to expose himself to the risk of such vulnerability; after all, he’s the one with the contract and the fame.  He seemed genuinely interested in hearing from those who claimed to be ‘fans’ of the show.  How many leaders are secure enough to do this?  How many of us would truly have the courage to ask the people we lead, ‘let us know what you think.’  Now I know we don’t want to empower followers to speak into leadership issues, but some leaders are so afraid what they might hear, they dare not ask.

HE CELEBRATED OTHERS WITHOUT DIMINISHING HIMSELF

One of the things I like about Chris Evans is his positive attitude towards the success of other people.  He seems to genuinely celebrate others, even his ‘competitors’.  Time and time again in the first few months I heard him celebrate Sir Terry and Simon Mayo, the presenter who took over his ‘tea-time’ slot.  When he celebrates others, rather than diminishing himself, he grows in my eyes.  As leaders, can we genuinely celebrate others?  When was the last time you celebrated somebody else… no strings attached… just for the fun of it?  It doesn’t happen very often, but surely in the Church of Jesus Christ, it should happen a lot more.

HE TOOK ON THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE IN THE MIDST OF SUCCESS

Before Evans took on the breakfast slot, he was already very successful in his own tea-time slot.  Millions tuned in to hear him every day, delighting in his craft and skill to entertain… I was one of them.  Yet, when presented with the challenge to change, to leave the security of a successful slot, he went for it.  He was prepared to take the risk.

All leaders face the danger of resting or settling in their success at whatever level or place they’ve achieved it.  Whether it is in financial security, numerical satisfaction or leadership influence we don’t want to leave such a place.  But what if God, in the midst of our success asked us to risk it all and go for something new, different or outside our comfort zone.  Would we be up for it

Chris Evans is ‘only’ a DJ, yet, in the context of his world he’s taken on a great challenge.  He negotiated that change in the public eye and seems to have done it pretty well.  Maybe he has something to teach us all.

                                

 

 

Leave a Comment

Just a Thought

July 23, 2010 at 6:41 am (Just a Thought)

                                        

                                     Rev. A. Linford

THE WILL OF GOD

“Thy will be done” – Matthew 6: 1 0

The will of God is a didactic entity, it must be known before it can be done’, a dynamic energy’; it can be known and done; a deliberative economy, it links earth with heaven. Angels do it, so should we.

But this term “will of God” may be understood in five different ways.

First, it is God’s sovereign plan in creation. His will is absolute; as Augustine wrote: “Nothing, therefore, happens, unless the Omnipotent wilts it to happen”.

Secondly, God’s supreme piloting of His creation. His providential care foresees and orders the course of all things in the Universe. He not only made the world, He pilots it to its ultimate destiny.

Thirdly, God’s saving purpose in Christ. He predestined the salvation of saints: “according to the good pleasure of His will” – Ephesians 1:5) He arranged for its proclamation to all men, for He would have all men to be saved – 1Timothy 2:4.

Fourthly, God’s sanctifying principles in the Bible – 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 5:18. Both the negative prohibitions and the positive enjoyments of holiness are laid down in the Book of God. And as Isaac Walton declared: “Every time I read you kills a sin or lets a virtue in to fight against it”.

Fifthly, God’s superb pattern for the individual, that is, for me. God’s part is to reveal His plan for my life. “Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk”. My part is to respond to Him. “Teach me to do Thy will” – Psalm 143:10. “The foundation of Christian ethics is complete surrender to God”, says Peak’s Commentary. And so say I: and so may I do.

                                     

Leave a Comment

Great Stories

July 23, 2010 at 6:36 am (Great Stories)

                                      

                              Rev. E. Anderson

CALLED TO BE EAGLES

 

A certain man went through forest seeking any a bird of interest he might find. He caught a young eagle, brought it home, and put it among turkeys, and gave it chicken food to eat even though it was the king of birds 

Five years later, a naturalist came to see him and, after passing through his garden, said: “That bird is an eagle, not a chicken”.

“Yes,” said the owner, “but I have trained it to be a chicken. It is no longer an eagle, it is a chicken, even though it measures fifteen feet from to tip of its wings”.

“No,” said the naturalist, “it is an eagle still; it has the heart of an eagle and I will make it soar high up to the heavens”.

“No,” said the owner, “it is a chicken and it will never fly.’

They agreed to test it. The naturalist picked up the eagle, held it up and said with great intensity: “Eagle, thou art an eagle; thou dost belong to the sky and not to this earth; stretch forth thy wings and fly”.

The eagle turned this way and that, and then looking don, saw the chickens eating their food, and down he jumped.

The owner said: “I told you it was a chicken”.

“No,” said the naturalist, “it is an eagle. Give it another chance of tomorrow”.

So the next day he took it to the top of the house and said: “Eagle, thou art an eagle; stretch forth thy wings and f1y”. But again the eagle, seeing the chickens feeding, jumped down and fed with them.

Then the owner said: “I told you it was a chicken”.

“No ,” asserted the naturalist “it is an eagle, and it has the heart of an eagle; only give it one more chance, and I will make it fly tomorrow’s The next morning he rose early and took the eagle outside the city and away from the houses, to the foot of a high mountain. The sun was just rising, gilding the top to the mountain with gold, and every crag was glistening in the joy of the beautiful morning.

He picked up the eagle and said to it: “Eagle, thou art an eagle’, thou dost belong to the sky and not to the earth; stretch forth thy wings and f1y”.

The eagle looked around and trembled as if new life were coming to it. Yet it it not fly. The naturalist then made it look straight at the sun. Suddenly it stretched out its wings and, with the screech of an eagle, it mounted higher and higher and never returned. It was an eagle, though it had been kept and tamed as a chicken.

We have been created in the image of God, but men have made us think that we are chickens, and so we think we are; but we are eagles. Stretch forth your wings and fly! Don’t be content with the food of chickens! 

JAMES AGGREY 

                           

Leave a Comment

Dave’s Snippets

July 23, 2010 at 6:31 am (Dave's Snippets)

                                         

                                 Dr. David Allen

CAMEO OF CAEDMON

Around   the year 680, during what is often called the Dark Ages, an amazing miracle took place; and it is recorded by the Venerable Bede in his chronicle or history of the English people.

He tells us of a lowly cowherd named Caedmon. He could not read nor write. On one   evening, during a feast, he was called upon to sing and to play on the harp as this was the custom on such occasions.  Blushing and totally humiliated, he ran out into the cowshed and fell down in shame. And then he fell into a deep sleep. As he slept he had a wonderful dream in which a man spoke to him and told him to sing. Caedmon pleaded with his visitor: “I cannot sing as I am a poor man with no talent in poetry or song.”  But the visitor would not be denied: “Begin to sing of the wondrous Creation and of all the words and works of the Almighty.”  Then, but still in the dream, Caedmon began to sing with beauty and fluency.  And when he awoke the illiterate cowherd had been transformed into a poet and  verses and songs   bubbled forth from his lips.

When this miracle came to the notice of Hild (or Hilda) who was the abbess of a double monastery in Whitby, she put several  of the monks aside to serve as Caedmon’s  secretaries:  everything Caedmon composed was noted down; and his verses included  basic doctrine and many Bible stories. At a period when very few could read or write, Caedmon’s poetry effectively communicated the Christian faith to thousands of ordinary folk. Others followed Caedmon and he has thus become known as the father of English (Anglo-Saxon) poetry. Surely it was a work of the Holy Spirit!

As Pentecostals we do have some experience of how the Baptism in the Holy Spirit can transform very  ordinary  men and women  into poets  and preachers  for the  service of God.  What the Lord did for Caedmon, the lowly cowherd of Whitby, He can do the same for countless others! That is surely  the  foundation  of Pentecostalism.

                                

 

Leave a Comment