Coming to you from CentriKid

I am writing this blog entry from Centri-Kid camp, at Skycroft Camp in Maryland. The theme verses for the week are two of my all time favorites:

Romans 12:1-2 "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."



The theme of the week that goes along with the verse is "Game On! Living a transformed life." The kids will be challenged to not just know about Jesus, but to know Him in a way that transforms their lives. It is real easy for kids that grow up in church to know all "about" Jesus without ever really knowing Him intimately and personally. It is the intimate, personal knowledge of Christ that is a transforming knowledge.


Can I challenge  you to do what the children are being challenged to do? Examine your life. Does it reflect the transforming power of Jesus? If not, what can you do to know the Savior better so that His power transforms you?


Remember, the bible was not written simply for your information.....it was written for your transformation.

VBS at Bethel

One thing that has always amazed me at Bethel is our VBS. It is top notch down to the last detail. I have marveled at how our people come together and work as one to get the job done with excellence. there is a culture that has developed with Bethel's VBS over the years that simply will not accept mediocrity. It is truly a team effort. Everyone is willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. In spite of the long hours, and the hard work, I never hear anyone complaining. There are smiles and laughter everywhere as God's servants do the work of the ministry. The joy of the Lord is apparent in the lives of the workers as they interact with the kids, and each other. Our VBS workers are a visible example of the people of God being the servants HE has called them to be.

Thanks Bethel VBS workers for your hard work and dedication. No matter what your role was this week, you were a partner in a venture that has sown seeds of the gospel into the lives of precious children. You will have to wait to get to heaven to understand the full impact for the Kingdom of God that your service to the Lord has produced this week. 

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

The enemy of your soul has so many weapons to throw at you child of God. He knows how your flesh operates and he knows how to appeal to it in the right way so as to entice you. He knows where your weaknesses are and therefore knows what to throw at you and precisely when to throw it at you. He waits just like the lion for the opportune moment to pounce on you. When he pounces he has one goal.....to devour you.

That's why you have to be sober. That's why you have to be alert. Do not be ignorant to the schemes of the devil. You do not have to fall prey to him. You are in Christ Jesus who has overcome the devil.

Might I encourage you today in with three keys to victorious living over your adversary the devil. First pray for wisdom. Ask God to give you wisdom in regards to the way that the devil operates. If you are wise to his devices it makes it more difficult for him to get a foothold in your life somewhere from which he is able to operate. The Lord will answer that prayer if you earnestly ask HIM to give you the wisdom to know how the devil works.

Second ask the Lord to give you strength. It is one thing to know how the devil operates. It is another thing entirely to be strong enough to resist his devices. You need the strength of the Lord to overcome.

Third talk to other Christians about your struggle with the devil. We need relationships in our lives that can help encourage us to be what God is calling us to be. If you have people in your life that you feel comfortable around, and that you trust enough to be transparent with it will help you. Share with them how the enemy has attacked you, and get them praying for you.

Do not let the enemy devour you. Jesus has won the victory over him and so can you. 

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob

Then Joseph said to his brothers, 'I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.'" - Genesis 50:24 

Why do you suppose God referred to Himself as the "God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob"? Why didn't He simply say, "the God of Jacob"? 

The Scriptures do not really tell us why this is so, but let us consider why today.

Could it be that the Lord has given us sort of a picture of the trinity in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? The nation of Israel looked to Abraham as a father. He took his only son Isaac up a mountain to sacrifice him. Jacob struggled to learn to deny his flesh and walk according to the Holy Spirit.

Also consider this: In Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob the Lord has given us three different men through whom He accomplished His divine purposes. Abraham  went out into unknown territory and was considered righteous for his unusually great faith. Isaac was a man who was simply faithful to follow in his inheritance. He had a consistent steady walk with God. He experienced the fewest difficulties among the three. His call was to simply to be faithful to be a good steward of what had been given. Jacob on the other hand had extreme conflict in his life. He suffered more trials than either of the other two. He had a lot of conflict in relationships. He had to learn to navigate life through much difficulty. We can all relate to these men on some level. But certainly one of these men will be more familiar to your own experience in life. 

God works in each person's life in a unique way. The bible has given us examples from the Scriptures. Who is it that you relate too the best as you evaluate your own Christian Journey? Let your heart be encouraged as you seek to learn from the stories of those who have gone before you.

21 years ago today

21 years ago today at Kempsville Baptist Church in Virginia Beach an event took place that has shaped my life more than any other single event outside of my salvation. I was married to the former Kay Davis Alexander. I can not even to begin to express how deeply my love for this amazing woman has grown over these years. We have shared many difficult days and many triumphs together in these 21 years. We had no idea when we stood at that altar together and exchanged vows the journey the God had planned for us to walk together. Life in the ministry has been both exciting and heart breaking, exhilarating and devastating. Through it all her steadfast faith has been a bedrock for me to lean upon. This woman trusts God and I am so grateful for that. Her love for her husband and her three children runs deep, and she shows it in so many ways.

Thanks Kay, for 21 years. I don't deserve you. I am so glad I have you. I love you with all my heart. 

Stand strong

1 Peter 4:4 In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you;

Living for Christ in an ungodly world brings with it certain challenges. Since coming to Christ most of the places I have worked had certain "extra curricular activity" associated with the culture of the organization that I had to distance myself from in order to walk with Christ in holiness. Such activities are not only associated with certain work places, but even with certain family gatherings, neighborhood gatherings......even when parents get together who's children play little league baseball together. When you voluntarily choose to absent yourself from some of these activities that do not glorify God, that carries with it a certain stigma that tends to brand you in the eyes of all the others. They don't understand why you do not wish to participate in all that they are doing. They look down on you, exclude you, they often talk about you behind your back.

The temptation to compromise can be intense. Stand strong believer and do not let them persuade you to compromise. It can be very tempting to just blend in. It is even easy to justify in your thinking. It starts with just one little compromise here, and another there.....then you look back and discover that you have gone down a path that you never wanted to be on. Remember that when you distance yourself from ungodly things your heavenly Father is pleased with you. Let that be a consolation to your heart when you know that people in the world do not think very highly of you. Live out the joy of your Savior before them. You may just discover that some of them find it interesting that you are full of contentment without some of those things in your life. Your abstention may even be something that they secretly wish they were able to do. And maybe, just maybe, some of them might be attracted to investigate a relationship with Jesus based on your witness.

Power of the tongue

James 3:5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!

The tongue is such a small part of our anatomy and yet in it is great power. James under inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote about the tongue in his epistle and used the metaphor of a forest fire to draw analogy to what a misdirected tongue can produce. Every forest fire begins with a spark in the wrong place. The spark turns into a blaze, which turns into a forest fire that does great damage.

Just a few weeks ago on March 26, a wildfire broke out just a few miles southwest of Denver, Colorado. Before the fire was contained over 4000 acres of land was destroyed, 25 homes burned to the ground and three people were killed because they did not get out of their homes in time.

Most people do not realize the power of their tongue. With it is the power to build up and the power to tear down. One little comment (the spark) is all it takes to ignite a fire storm (the forest fire) of gossip that destroys reputations, ministries, churches, and people's lives.

Let us be children of the light and use our tongues to build up, to edify, and to bless.

And if we don't have anything good to say, I suggest we just keep our mouths shut.

United we stand

Nehemiah 5:9 Again I said, "The thing which you are doing is not good; should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?" 

God put it in Nehemiah's heart to lead an effort to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem that had been decimated during the Bablylonian captivity of Judah. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were taken into captivity and Jerusalem lie in ruins. Years have gone by, the Babylonians have been overtaken by the Persians. The Persians allowed the Jews to start returning to Jerusalem. Nehmiah got special permission from the King to rebuild the Jerusalem wall. In Nehemiah's thinking, the honor and glory of the Lord are at stake. There is more to it than just rebuilding a wall.....a strong Jerusalem with a fortified wall occupied by the chosen people of God once again represented a strong testimony for the Lord. As long as the wall is in ruins, Jerusalem is a reproach to the name of the Lord. 

As they start to rebuild the wall, the morale of the workers is challenged by the actions of some of their own countrymen. Some of the Jews were charging very high interest to those who needed to borrow money in order to buy food or pay their taxes. Nehemiah condemns this practice and tells them to stop doing it. In Nehemiah 5:9 Nehemiah appeals to them based on their fear of the Lord, and their testimony to the world. What Nehemiah is saying to them is this: Your practices are jeopardizing this project, and if this project is jeopardized then this damaged wall will continue to be a poor witness among the nations. A completed wall shows the world that the good hand of God is with us. For the sake of the witness of Jerusalem to the nations, stop what you are doing so you no longer jeopardize the mission.

What do we learn from the story? Anything that threatens unity among the people of God threatens the mission. In the New Testament we are not trying to build a wall around Jerusalem. But God has us on another project called the Great Commission. We are building the Kingdom of God. That is what God has told us to do. And we can not do it without each other. If the devil can manage to divide us he can keep us from the mission.

What type of church member are you? Are you a peace maker? Easy to get along with? Or are you always keeping something stirred up? Are you quick to forgive and difficult to offend or do you get upset over everything that happens that doesn't go your way?

Be the type of church member that guards the unity of God's people. Be a peacemaker. By protecting the unity of the church, you are helping to build the Kingdom of God.

Confidence

Psalm 27:3 Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident.4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.

When trouble comes the natural reaction for us is often fear. Questions arise. We wonder about what is going to happen next. Uncertainty can be extremely intimidating. We begin turning over and over in our thinking all the possible scenarios dwelling upon all that could potentially go wrong if things get worse.

How are we to handle the uncertainties of life? This passage teaches us to handle them with confidence. Who can approach the uncertainties of life with confidence? The one who seeks to dwell in the house of the Lord.....the one who beholds His beauty and meditates in His temple.....that is, the one who pursues intimacy with the Savior.

When you have achieved that type of intimacy with Christ, in the day of trouble He becomes a refuge in which you can hide. You can therefore approach uncertainty with confidence! Confidence in yourself? Certainly not.....confidence in HIM!

Pursue intimacy with Christ. Seek Him. You will find Him if you do.....and through Him you will face uncertainty with confidence.

Tribute

Matthew 25:40 "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

For the last six years of my life I was privileged to know and work along side a man named Rev. Robert Earl Ange who served as Minister to Senior Saints at Bethel. He went home to be with Jesus Monday a week ago. I want to talk a little bit in this blog post about what I learned from Him.

The verse above catches the essence of Rev. Ange's life. He loved to minister to "the least of these". That is where his heart was. He spilled his life out ministering to people that would never be able to do anything for him. He was drawn to the helpless, the hopeless and wanted to be used of the Lord to bring a ray of sunshine into the life of people who would otherwise live a very gloomy existence on this earth. His heart broke for people who had become home bound, and for those whose health had deteriorated to the point that they were confined to nursing homes. I was half his age, I was his pastor, and yet he taught me. I am challenged by the life that Rev. Robert Earl Ange lived to never forget those who would fall into the category of "the least of these".

I have used what I like to call "my sanctified imagination" to imagine the interaction that Rev. Ange has had with Jesus since Monday a week ago. I wonder if Jesus has already said to Rev. Robert Earl Ange, "Thanks for what you did for me!" I suspect that Rev. Ange would respond with something like, "What did I do for you Jesus? I never felt like I did enough." And Jesus perhaps responded, "When you ministered to all those people who were the least of my brethren, you did it to me. Well done my good and faithful servant."

Thank you Rev. Robert Earl Ange for loving and living for Jesus. I am more like HIM because I knew you.

Die to self

John 12:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 "He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Galatians 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

As we have been through the Easter season, and as I have meditated upon the death and resurrection of our Lord, I have been contemplating all the implications for believers. They are many. Certainly we have the hope of eternal life in heaven to look forward to as a result of the death and resurrection of Christ. However, there are tremendous implications for this life as well.

Jesus died on the cross. He had to die in order to be raised from the dead. From His death came life!! And the bible says that Jesus was the "first fruits". Through this one who first conquered death, hell, and the grave many will conquer those things as well. Fruit comes from death.

The same is true of the believer. The believer produces fruit because he in a sense has died. He has been crucified with Christ in the sense that he is dead to self, and dead to this world. He is not interested any longer in selfish pursuits or ambitions. He has died to those things and crucified his own wants and desires. The chief aim of his life is now to please and glorify Christ. Christ is now on the throne of his life calling the shots.....The counsel of Christ is sought on all of life's decisions because the main interest is to be right in the center of God's will. The fruit of righteousness is the result. It only happens when there is a death. When a person dies to self, they are raised up by Christ to do HIS will.

That is what Jesus meant when He said that you love your life you will lose it. Jesus is painting a picture of the born again person. When a person is truly born again, they die to self. Sadly, some are too in love with themselves and their own agenda in life to ever be born again. Some of them even attend church. They attend church, but outside of church, life is pretty much about what they want, not what God wants. They may not born again. They may be lost church attenders.

But even for the truly saved crucifying the flesh continues to be a daily decision. That is why Jesus said you have to take up your cross "daily" and follow Him. It is a new decision every day for the believer to crucify the flesh or you will back slide on God.

Have you crucified your flesh today?

Do not fear

Isaiah 41:10 'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

Last night at our deacon's meeting Rob Cornet gave a devotional from this passage of scripture. It really spoke to my heart. I went to bed last night meditating on it and woke up this morning with it on my mind.

The Lord is speaking in this passage and saying, "Do not anxiously look about you..." What does that mean? It means do not be looking around worrying about what could potentially go wrong. I know at times I look at circumstances and get my eyes on them, and then I start to imagine all the things that could possibly happen if those circumstances get worse. I then am paralyzed by a sense of dread in regards to the future. The Lord says not to do that. On what basis does the Lord tell us not to let anxiety rule and reign in our hearts? On the basis of His ability to strengthen us! He says that He will strengthen us and uphold us with His right hand. So if that is true there is no reason to worry, fret, or fear. No matter what we face, God will help us.

Rest in Him today, and do not fear what the future holds. He will give you what you need to face whatever is ahead.

Walk in your calling

"If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow Me." - John 21:22 

Jesus has just revealed to Peter that Peter will one day die for his faith. Peter asked Jesus about John and whether he would die also. Jesus reacted sharply to Peter's comment. He basically told Peter to not worry about John. John's role or purpose in life was none of Peter's business. All Peter had to do was worry about doing what God had called him to do

.

In His discussion with Peter, Jesus was getting at the very heart of the matter of a person's calling. Peter was worried about whether his friend John was going to get the same lot in life as he was. Jesus told him it should not be his concern. He was to concern himself only with one thing: his own calling before God.

Are you tempted to compare yourself with others? Be careful. The end of that is predictable. It will make you make you dissatisfied with the path in life God has called you to walk. "Man, that guy has it so much easier than I do. If only God would do for me what He has done for him." 

Don't worry about what God is doing with others. That is not your concern. Concentrate on discerning His will for your life. You busy yourself with that and you won't have time to think about what God is doing with someone else. And by the way it will keep envy from taking roots in your soul as well.

The tree that Jesus killed

Mark 11:13 Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And His disciples were listening...........20 As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.

Pat Mcarty preached at Bethel last night. If you did not have the opportunity to make it you missed a real treat. For the full treatment I urge you to go to the website and listen to the sermon. But I will recap. He preached on the fig tree that Jesus cursed. Pat did a masterful job of showing how the fig tree in scripture is often used as a representation of the nation of Israel. Also he pointed out that the fig tree was often used as a covering in their culture serving as sheltered protection from the harsh elements. In the story of the cursed fig tree in Mark 11, the fig tree represents the nation of Israel. The covering of the fig tree represents Jesus who came to the nation of Israel as Messiah and yet was rejected by them. Oh how Jesus longed to put His people, the chosen people under His protective covering. However, He could not because they did not bear the fruit of faith and repentance. But instead they rejected the Messiah and clung to their own selfish desires as opposed to having eyes to see what God was doing in their midst, all the while being convinced in their own minds that they were actually doing the will of God when in reality they did not know Him. The fig tree with leaves but no fruit becomes a picture of the nation of Israel. They looked good from a distance.....lots of leaves. But upon closer inspection there is no fruit. So Jesus condemns the tree.

This story becomes a warning to all who live religious lives but do not bear fruit. It is particularly applicable to a lot of church goers. On the surface everything looks good. They attend church regularly and live decent, moral lives. From a distance they look good, just like the fig tree with a lot of leaves in the story looked good from a distance. But upon close inspection you begin to see the reality. There is no fruit. Many church people go to service regularly and yet never lead anyone else to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Many who have been supposedly been Christians for decades have never even led one other person on the planet to Jesus. Hundreds of sermons, bible studies, Sunday School lessons over the years, and they have not led one single person to Christ? Someone who has never led anyone else to Christ has failed to put into practice what they have learned in all those bible studies.

May I ask you today, are you bearing fruit? Who knows God because of your influence? Who have you shared the gospel with lately? Are you regularly looking for, and taking advantage of opportunities to share your faith in Christ Jesus? Remember that Jesus is looking for fruit in our lives in the form of others who know God through your witness. He is not looking for the leaves of religious activity, He is looking for fruit. As believers our faith and our relationship with God is not just something for us to enjoy privately. God lets us experience Him so we can in turn share Him with others. Are you sharing Him with others or are you keeping your faith to yourself?

In your life, do not just grow leaves of religious activity....bear some fruit. 

Out of the comfort zone

Nehemiah 2:11 So I came to Jerusalem....

Nehemiah has a vision to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem that lies in ruins in order to bring glory to the Lord. Nehemiah leaves his comfortable position as a cup bearer to the King in Persia, to go to Jerusalem for that reason. The journey there was dangerous, and the task was enormous with many obstacles. Nehemiah was willing to move out of his comfort zone to do what God wanted him to do.

It seems to be a pattern in scripture, that every time something great is done for God, somebody in the story is called to do something that takes great faith. Great stories in the bible are great because someone in the story exercised great faith in a GREAT GOD, and moved in the direction He was leading in spite of the discomfort it caused them. 

As the story of your life is being written, God will continually ask you to move out of your comfort zone if you are walking with Him. "Stepping out of your comfort zone" takes on different forms for different people based on how God is working in their lives. For some it may mean witnessing to that neighbor that they have never talked to about Christ. For others it may mean moving into some new area of service to the Lord. For others it may mean taking a current area of service and expanding it to new levels of fruitfulness.

If you are walking with God He will stretch you. What does "stepping out of your comfort zone" mean in your journey with God?

Abounding grace

Someone shared their devotion with me this morning via email, and it blessed me so much that I wanted to share it with all of you:

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)

When you relate to God you always deal with abundance, for God does nothing in half measures! This is true regarding His grace. The Lord is not miserly when it comes to providing grace to His servants. When you seek to perform a good work that God has asked you to do, you will always find an ample supply of God’s grace to sustain you. If you begin to lose heart in the work you are doing, God’s grace upholds you and gives you the love for God and His people you require in order to continue. When you face criticism and are misunderstood, God’s grace enables you to forgive your accusers and to sense God’s pleasure even when others do not understand what you are doing. When you make mistakes in the work God has appointed you to do, God’s grace forgives you, sets you back on your feet, and gives you strength to continue the work. When you complete the task God gave you and no one expresses thanks for what you have done, the Father’s grace surrounds you, and He reminds you that you have a heavenly reward where everything you have done in the Lord’s service will be remembered.
God does not promise to provide all you need for your dreams and projects. He does assure you that, for every good work you attempt, you will never face a shortfall of His grace in order to successfully complete the task God has given you.

Aim your conduct

1 Peter 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,

The bible teaches us to be intentional with our lives, not to walk through life aimlessly. We can simply let life come at us and deal with it as it comes. Or we can go on the offensive. The devil can come up with plenty of distractions to keep you from serving the Lord. What I have found is that serving the Lord faithfully requires a resolute spirit that says, "I am going to serve Him, no matter what!" Then when some distraction, difficulty, or drama comes along we are not swayed.

I know people who are always intending to get started serving God. But any little distraction that comes into their lives keeps them from serving. Then I know others who have decided that they are going to serve God no matter what. I knew of a man that used to attend our church (he is at home with the Lord now) who had major health issues. He had to get up at 4:30 am to start getting ready to come to church, and he came every Sunday on an electric wheel chair / scooter. He had every reason to stay in, but he had already decided nothing was going to stop him from worshiping. He had adopted a "whatever it takes" mentality. We need more people like that.....people that have said, "I am going to serve and worship God and I am willing to do whatever it takes."

That type of attitude produces conduct that is aimed at something. Aim at nothing and you will hit it. What is your conduct aimed at?

I am a proud Pastor

I am so proud of Bethel Baptist. I can't help it. Wow!!! 144 professions of faith at Judgment House...Stories abound of those who are Bethel members that invited family and friends who were saved. Glory to God.

One man stopped me who is a key lay leader in a sister church across town. He said to me something that really blessed my heart, "Please tell your people thank you. I cannot even begin to imagine the time, effort, and energy that it takes to pull something like this off. And you guys are making such a significant contribution to the body of Christ and the effort to bring in the harvest in this area through Judgment House. I am not aware of too many churches that are willing to pay the price that you have been willing to pay to do this. Thanks from the bottom of my heart."

Several others expressed similar sentiments. I just wanted those who participated to know that the entire community takes notice of the sacrifices you made to be part of Judgment House. Now I know that you did not do it for the approval of man.....I get that....but I hope it does encourage your heart to know that others in the community, particularly the other area churches were blessed by it. I talked to one staff member of a local church who brought about 30 people from his church who said, "Wow, we are going to have a lot of baptisms at our church. We brought 8 teens and 2 adults that got saved tonight!" That is the way it is when you serve God faithfully, even those around you get blessed.

The vast majority of the 144 people who were saved will never attend Bethel. A lot of them were brought by other church groups and will attend those churches. But that is okay. We are not here to build our kingdom......we are here to build His Kingdom!!! And as long as we make that our focus, God will send the people to us we need to get it done. He always has, and he always will as long as we make HIS goals our goals. Amen?!

Thank you Bethel for letting God use you to build the Kingdom. You are truly remarkable people.

Judgment House

1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are God's fellow workers

I want to say a word to all my fellow workers participating in Judgment House. AMAZING!!! Best word I can think of to describe Judgment House at Bethel Baptist. One of the things that excites me about it is how the church pulls together and works together to accomplish the goal of pointing people to Christ.

There are some characteristics of the Judgment House participants that stand out to me.

MUTUAL RESPECT - Everyone values every other member and honors all roles. There are no insignificant roles. We need every single person who serves in every single role. We need the registration people, the tour guides, the set builders, the scene directors, the technical folks, the actors and actresses, the counselors......there are no unimportant roles.

COOPERATION - There is a willingness to pitch in and help wherever there is a need. I rarely hear anyone during Judgment House say, "That is not my job, I'm not doing that." There seems to be such a keen awareness of the importance of the mission, that people adopt a "whatever it takes" attitude. The "me" mentality disappears, and it becomes a "we" mentality.

SACRIFICE - People are willing to sacrifice time and sleep. It is exhausting. The hours are long. I hear no complaining or whining during Judgment House. The participants seem so focused on the mission that their own personal needs seem unimportant to them.

LOVE - There is a genuine love for the people who come through Judgment House, and there is a special connectedness that all the participants share with one another that is hard to describe unless you have experienced it. No matter what your role you feel a special connection to everyone else who is participating.

SYNERGY - One of my favorite spiritual concepts is the concept of synergy. The law of synergy states that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. That means that instead of 1+1+1 equaling 3, it starts to equal 4 or 5. The idea is that the combined efforts of people working together produces a greater result than those same people working equally as hard but as individuals, not as a team.

To all of you who are serving in any capacity let me say to you.....WELL DONE!! And hang in there. The long hours and exhaustion are worth it. God is bringing in a harvest of souls and you are part of it. Remember that when you are so tired on Sunday night that you feel like you are about to drop.

Gird your loins

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, 

When Peter says to "gird up the loins" it is the picture of the Roman soldier preparing for combat. He is saying, get ready to fight. Where is the battle ground? It is in the mind. That is where the battle for living the Christian life is. It is in your thoughts. The bible says to "be sober". What does it mean to be sober? It means to be controlled. A drunk has no control of his thoughts. He therefore has no control of his actions. Out of control thoughts = out of control actions. It works that way every time. That is why the bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to "take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

When you know you are having thoughts that are not obedient thoughts, that is when the battle is really on. Now the fight is full blown. Who will win? Will God be victorious in our lives or will we give in to the world, the flesh, and the devil? It all depends on whether or not we are able to take the thoughts captive.

Child of God, you have a choice what you think about. You have a choice as to what kind of attitude you adopt. You have a choice as to whether or not you choose to frame everything in your thinking in a positive way or whether or you can choose to be negative. Make no mistake....it is your choice.

May God grant you the grace to take your thoughts captive today.