STOP AND THINK

"To move man through God by prayer alone" Hudson Taylor, Missionary to China. As stated before I am reading his biography and this statement is in it many times as it is one of the foundational spiritual concepts of this life of faith. It has really made me think. How do we move people today?

MEDIA (print, voice, visual), COERCION, GUILT, SHAME, FEAR . . . we probably could go on and on here.

As a communicator I run the risk every time I stand up to speak that I am crossing that invisible line of manipulation that nobody can see with their naked eye and sometimes cannot even feel it in their heart.

I know that I have to speak and preach that is my calling. Lord, let my words and motives be yours. ALL OF YOU AND NONE OF ME.

I would enjoy some feed back if you feel like you would not be trying to twist my arm. LOL

Ed

Biography Kick

All of the I have had the urge to read biographies. I can remember as an elementary school kid I loved to read true stories about others. Back then I mostly read stories about athletes because I dreamed of being a professional athlete. Those stories were fun and inspiring.

Now I love reading the stories of heroes who are living their dream or have lived their dream. Like right now I am reading "The Spiritual Secret of Hudson Taylor" which is a biography about this great missionary to China. It is really building my faith.

I have also started two other biographies. One is called "Always By My Side" by Jim Nantz the sportscaster and "Red and Me" by Bill Russell. These last two are not very spiritual but they are still inspiring me to go for my dreams.

How about you are you going for your dream? If you are not going for it . . . why not? God has a destiny and purpose for you and it is a good one. Jeremiah 29:11 It is NEVER TOO LATE!! j

1. DO NOT DECIDE EVERYTHING IS OVER. GET SOME HOPE! Hebrews 11:1

2. WALK IN THE PEACE OF GOD.

3. LET GO OF ANY NEED TO GOOD.

4. THANK GOD FOR IT

An Inspired Christ Follower,
Ed

Making a meal out of FAITHFULNESS

Ps 37:3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.NKJV

I found this little nugget at early morning prayer today. I decided to feast on God's faithfulness. There is so much to say here . . . He does not lie (Num. 23:19), He is faithful when we are faithless (2 Tim. 2:11). This meal left me satisfied to know that the one I put my trust and confidence in is totally trustworthy.

God just totally showed off last Wed. night at CFC/NXL SOUTH. 600 in attendance and 27 salvations. A total revolution is taking place where students are moving from belief (head stuff) into conviction (refusal to negotiate). Parental support was amazing.

Thanks to Pastor Zac, Anna, and all the interns for making it so easy to minister. If you want to check this link cuz "Sex Ain't Free" http://tinyurl.com/d2s2sm

New Converts

Out of the service that you see in this picture there where 11 first time conversions and 2 or 3 prodigals who came home. It was amazing to me how great our God is since I preached about moving beyond belief to conviction in the area of sexual purity. Then gave them hope of God's call and will for their lives and the Holy Spirit did the rest. God continually amazes me. This all happened at NXL the youth Ministry of Christian Faith Center North where Jeremy Carpenter is the youth pastor and Casey Treat is the Senior leader.

Believe with as tonight Pastor Zac Gandara is believing for 50 first time salvations and 450 in attendance at the south CFC / NXL campus. I am call it done!

My faith is at such a high level right now. When you hang around people that are doing it right before your very eyes, which has been the case for me the last 3 weeks (LWFC / 24-7 in Raleigh and CFC / NXL in Seattle) it helps to believe and know that it can happen for you. No single answer as to how to do it but just be faithful and grow everyday and the Lord gives the increase.

I am excited because I have a great wife to work with me. I have a great team around me that will only get better with time. I live in a place where there are still a lot of people going to hell and I want to rescue them.

Loving God and Loving People,

Ed

The MESSAGE . . . is where?

I saw this sign and it made me really think . . . maybe it will do the same for you.
Matt 5:13-16
13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. NKJV
I am pretty sure that our message is supposed to be outside the building. Maybe this is what is wrong with the "church" as we know it. We have thought that the only place to find the message is inside a church building. I seem to recall that someone pretty central to our faith told us to "Go into all the world . . ." Oh that was Jesus that said that,(sorry for the sarcasm) but I just do not get it. Yes, I am a preacher but would it not just be the most awesome thing in the world to know that the people you were preaching to got it. Got what? The message that we are to be a living epistle (message) read by all men (2 Corinthians 3:2).
In defense of the church sign above let me say that I know we must preach and teach the message inside the church. Come on church let's all get fired up about taking the Gospel to the world.
1. How much money do we spend on the 99 that we have instead of going after the one that is lost?
2. How much time, energy, and effort do spend to go after the lost?
3. What about all the prodigals that will not come to a church?
The answer to all these questions can be found in Luke 15.
The message is take the MESSAGE outside the four walls and then we will not be able to contain the harvest.
So much more could be said about the message of this sign, but I will allow you to fill that part in yourself.
I hope I stirred up your pure mind.

A Stirred up BELIEVER

Loving the MINISTRY

A shout out to Pastor Steve and Connie Caronna!! Thirteen yrs. at Living Word Family Church and they have seen it grow from 116 at his first service to the place where they average over 1000 every weekend. Lives are being changed. I love hanging out with these people. They challenge me, charge me and in general just make me want to be better in the ministry. Amazingly enough I am allowed the privilege of ministering to their flock and their leaders. This is humbling and I am grateful. I pray that I encouraged them as much as they encourage me. www.lwfc.org

More in Love with Jesus today?
Ed

Renewing my MIND

I know this is an old subject but always a worth while one to deal with. Why? We are ALL bombarded daily with images, messages, and agendas that are not good for us. Come on now admit it you struggle with your thought life just like I do . . . I know that I am not the only one that deals with this. I am not just talking about all the "evil" stuff (porn, drugs, etc.) but this includes stuff like "nobody likes me," "I am no good and the world would be a better place with out me," "I can't do this." You get the idea. So here goes, I have been meditating on these keys to thinking correctly.

1. Entertain It - hang out with it.

2. Examine It - This is always done underneath the bright lights of the Word of God.

3. Embrace or Embarrass It - which ever category it fits in depends on what you do with it. Embrace it so you can keep it. Embarrass it so it will run away.

4. Incorporate It - If your thought has survived this far then it must be a worthy thought so we must get it working and moving in our own life.

5. Express It - There is major power in your words to bring that thought to life.

Taken from my journal notes over the last two weeks. I am pretty sure that most of you can flesh out the Bible verses that go with these ideas. I have been writing them down but I felt for the purposes of this blog that you could have a little homework if you thought it was a worthy task.

But then again maybe this was just good spiritual therapy for me. I would be interested in your feedback.

Moving with Him,

Ed