Revival Conference Meetings

Brother Greg Gordon has put together another set of Revival Conferences with one here in the US in Indianapolis Indiana, one in Ireland and the final one in Wales. Check out the web page - http://revival.sermonindex.net/

I sincerely appreciate the vision that is had for revival and these meetings and I do encourage all to pray for these gatherings and consider whether the Lord would have them to be there. I am including the vision that Brother Greg has on the website below;

"There are over 10,000 conferences that happen every year. The 'Revival Conference' is not to be just another conference but a honest, sincere, earnest plea for the desperate need of revival. There is no cost to attend the event. No materials will be sold. There will be no big bands. The conference will have the chief object to be God-glorifying. The speakers will come on their own accord trusting God for provision. There will be no emphasis on money during the event. The event will be a simple, apostolic, yearning for a genuine biblical revival in our day. The conference is hosted by the ministry ofSermonIndex.net and is a inter-denominational event."

Those that know me know that I am not necessarily a big proponent of meetings, especially when it is something that we just "do" and then walk away unchanged. I do know that the people that attend these meetings are sincere in their desire to see God stir the hearts of all believers in this land that He might be glorified in His church. May it be so!

Thought provoking quote

A quote for all to consider. I would love to hear any thoughts that people have on this.

"There seems to be a voice out there that raises the question, " but isn't there a place in heaven for the less than full hearted?" It seems that some have forgotten the "evil" of willful neglect, and humanized the love of God down to the degraded level of a loving grandpa who although might be disappointed with our lack of progress, never really had any intention of rejecting any of those who made some kind of attempt to do what is right. It frightens me when I consider the stark reality that awaits countless multitudes who will awake to an eternal separation from God and see their self deluded dream of heaven vanish into the flaming judgment of Hell. They will be shocked that their self created fantasy of what an acceptable walk with God so utterly deceived themselves." - Unknown Author

Oswald Chambers Devotional Thought

From "My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers;

LIBERTY ON THE ABYSS OF THE GOSPEL

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free." Galatians 5:1

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

A spiritually minded man will never come to you with the demand - "Believe this and that;" but with the demand that you square your life with the standards of Jesus. We are not asked to believe the Bible, but to believe the One Whom the Bible reveals (cf. John 5:39-40). We are called to present liberty of conscience, not liberty of view. If we are free with the liberty of Christ, others will be brought into that same liberty - the liberty of realizing the dominance of Jesus Christ.

Always keep your life measured by the standards of Jesus. Bow your neck to His yoke alone, and to no other yoke whatever; and be careful to see that you never bind a yoke on others that is not placed by Jesus Christ. It takes God a long time to get us out of the way of thinking that unless everyone sees as we do, they must be wrong. That is never God's view. There is only one liberty, the liberty of Jesus at work in our conscience enabling us to do what is right.

Don't get impatient, remember how God dealt with you - with patience and with gentleness; but never water down the truth of God. Let it have its way and never apologize for it. Jesus said, "Go and make disciples," not "make converts to your opinions."

Personal addition:

As I was discussing this with my family I had to strongly state that if there is ever a message we need to let get embedded in our hearts it is this one. That Jesus Christ is life and life can only be found in Him. I do pray that we all seek to let this become so clear, so real, so vibrant in our lives that a filter by the Spirit of God would be in place to provide discernment when ANYTHING outside of that enters in and someone tries to bring us into bondage, no matter how well intended they may be. In thinking about this, it does lead me back to a consideration that I had on edification that I will post up soon. Also makes me think of a message called "The Real Jesus" by Zac Poonen which I listened to just the other day. A critical message for us all to hear in this day. 

Be blessed in the Lord Jesus Christ,

David

Zac Poonen Meetings Summer 2009

I am copying out the LINK as well as the content below from Sermonindex for the upcoming Zac Poonen meetings. I am not typically one to promote meetings but I also know that this dear brother will point people to Christ. Schedule as follows; 

Zac Poonen will be speaking at the following places in USA in July/August 2009:

July 17 - 19 - Austin, TX - Contact: Benoy James: 512-694-6089;ravensministry@gmail.com
July 25 - 5.30 pm - Abundant Life Christian Fellowship, Mountain View, CA - 650-625-1500; www.alcf.net
July 26 - 8.30 am and 11 am - Abundant Life Christian Fellowship, Mountain View, CA - - 650-625-1500; www.alcf.net
August 14 to 16 - Loveland, CO - Contact: Phil Lapp: 970-567-3032;phil@rlcfchurch.org
or Santosh Poonen: 970-744-8653; santosh@rlcfchurch.org
August 21 to 23 - Beaver Springs, PA - Contact: Dan Shetler: 717-320-3000;dshetler60@gmail.com

The request on the sermonindex site is that if you are planning on attending the meetings to contact those listed if you are planning on attending. 

Overcoming Sin

I am posting this quote from Zac Poonen from a message that he preached a while back titled “Faith When We Have Failed” (Look under Sermons, Zac Poonen). I appreciate the quote and want to make sure that the context is clear. He is not, in any way, allowing for sin in the statement but rather showing that God is doing a work of bringing people to the end of themselves, where they will learn to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and not be proud walking in their own strength. It is when we are in total humility that we can then receive the true power of the Holy Spirit and it is there that grace can be received.

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Quote as follows;

“I don’t think that Peter ever forgot that he denied the Lord three times. And when God breaks a man that’s what He does. And that’s when such a person gets victory over sin, he can never be proud of it, number one, and he can never despise another person who doesn’t have victory. I know in my own pursuit of victory the Lord had to take me through failure, failure, failure; bring me to rock bottom. And I never knew the reason for that. I thought all hope was gone at one point in my life. But now I see that God had to take me there, so that, when he did give me victory, when he did keep me from falling, I could never be proud of it. I could never think that I did this. I could never think that it was through some effort of mine that I could overcome depression and “rejoice in the Lord always”. That it was in some spirituality of my own that I overcame bad moods, or anger… No. He keeps me from falling. I could never think that it was me. Even the ministry of the word; I know that if the grace of God departs from me, my tongue will be dumb, I will fall into the most horrible sins the next moment, no matter how many years I have overcome. See that recognition comes because God has allowed me to fail so many times in the years that I was seeking for victory. So, dear brothers and sisters, if you’re failing, don’t get discouraged. Let God do a thorough work. He’s trying to bring you down to 0. It took 20 years with Jacob. It took 40 years with Moses. It doesn’t have to take so long. It can be a very quick work as it was with Peter and Paul. But we can’t dictate that period because it is different with different people. “

Hope you find this to be an encouragement.

David

Beholding Him

Heard this hymn and thought I would share it. Not a too popular one but this was written by John Newton and is called "How tedious and tasteless the hours". Hope you are blessed by this. Consider as you read this whether these things are true in your life. If not, consider that faith needs to be perfected. 

John Newton, 1779, from Olney Hymns, vol. 1, hymn 46

How tedious and tasteless the hours,
When Jesus no longer I see;
Sweet prospects, sweet birds, and sweet flow'rs,
Have lost all their sweetness with me:
The mid-summer sun shines but dim,
The fields strive in vain to look gay;
But when I am happy in Him,
December's as pleasant as May.

2. His name yields the richest perfume,
And sweeter than music his voice;
His presence disperses my gloom,
And makes all within me rejoice:
I should, were he always thus nigh,
Have nothing to wish or to fear;
No mortal so happy as I,
My summer would last all the year.

3. Content with beholding his face,
My all to his pleasure resigned;
No changes of season or place,
Would make any change in my mind:
While blessed with a sense of his love,
A palace a toy would appear;
And prisons would palaces prove,
If Jesus would dwell with me there.

4. Dear Lord, if indeed I am thine,
If thou art my sun and my song;
Say, why do I languish and pine,
And why are my winters so long?
O drive these dark clouds from my sky,
Thy soul-cheering presence restore;
Or take me unto thee on high,
Where winter and clouds are no more.

I believe?

Ok, a bit of a picky blog but something that has always bothered me is the use of "I believe" and "I think" in preaching and teaching today. 

First of all, lets look at a couple of verses surrounding the use of these two phrases to see if the use so often heard today fits with Scripture; 

Mark 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

John 9:38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

John 11:27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

Acts 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Acts 27:25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.

Just to be sure I did a search on "I think" and found that there was nothing implying anyone writing Scriputre based on knowledge. The closest thing you could find in that regard is that of Paul speaking in 1 Corinthians 7:40 where he states "and I think also that I have the Spirit of God" which by no means implies that Paul is basing his understanding of whether he is filled with the Spirit on his own human reasoning but is rather stating that the things which he spoke can be safely taken due to the fact that he is filled with the Spirit.  Verses are (Job 31:1; Jer 29:11; Ac 26:2; 1Co 4:9; 7:40; 2Co 10:2; 2Pe 1:13)

Ok, me being picky. How often do we hear someone expounding on some Scripture followed by "I believe" which really tells me that I am getting something that has been derived from their mind rather than having revelation from the Lord on this verse or section of Scripture. If this is based on reasoning, why then is it being stated? 

Oh dear brothers and sisters please let us be careful that we don't try to present things outside of what the Lord has made clear to us. AND for those of you who are listening to these things being spoken, please be careful that these things that are spoken from the intellect of man are not held as authority from God. 

It would be good for us to consider a writing by Watchman Nee called "The Latent Power of the Soul". 

Open to correction on this as well as any other thing that is posted here.