LETTING THEM LEAD BY JILL BRISCOE

“Give us the tools, and we’ll finish the job”. Said Winston Churchill. He was referring to the weapons that England would need to win the war against Germany.

What was true for England is true for the church. The Father sent the Spirit to give us the gifts so we’ll finish the job. Spiritual gifts are the tools the church will use to win the war against evil. Spiritual gifts are very important. The church’s job is the evangelization of the world, and it is the exercise in futility to try and serve God’s cause without exercising spiritual gifts.

The giver of the gifts is God himself. He has demonstrated his generosity by the way he gave the world the greatest gifts of all – his only Son (John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”) He not only gave his only Son, but he also gave his Holy Spirit. He delights in giving good gifts to his children – all his children. Even small children can delight in the spiritual abilities God gives them to serve him. When they help Jesus, they experience a lot of joy and fulfilment, just like we do!

Not only did God give us himself, but he gave us other gifts as well. He gave the church gifts in the shape of leaders. These particulars people are called apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers. “Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his responsibility incudes training our children to lead as well.

According to 1 Corinthians 14:3 “ But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church.” A prophet’s job is “helping others grow in the Lord, encouraging and comforting them.”

Today, we call that Spirit-empowered preaching. Bothe men and women received and exercised these gifts, as indicated by Philip’s four daughters in Acts 21:9 “He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.” Evangelists, on the other hand, preached to unbelievers, gathered the converts together, and established churches. They would be similar to today’s evangelists and pioneer missionaries. Perhaps, like Philip, we have children who love Jesus and want to use their gifts to serve him. Philip’s girls understood that the Holy Spirit had given them gifts with which to serve Jesus. As we give our children chances to serve him, even at a young age, they will blossom in every dimension of their lives.

Blessings,

Sana Edoja

CONFIDENCE BUILDING inspired by Jill Briscoe and myself

How do we help our children to feel good about themselves! One way is to give them good information. Children who struggle with low self-worth feel unable to love themselves, or they feel they are not loved nearly enough by others. They wrestle with believing that God loves them. They often believe the world in general is against them. In fact, they are often their own worst enemies, accusing themselves of all sorts of inadequacies in the face of the challenges of life. They need biblical information in order to give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to convince them of their worth in God’s sight.

Paul gives some exciting promises: “If God is for us, who can ever be against us? ... Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own?” (Romans 8:31, 33). The Holy Spirit can take those promises – passed on by parents, teachers, preachers, or youth leaders – and convince your children that god loves them. This is the key to building your children that God loves them. This is the key to building your children’s self-worth. They need to know that however much they are down on themselves. God is up on them. They need to know that they are beloved of God. We should be sure our children are told that Jesus “died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of highest honour next to God, pleading for us” (Romans 8:34). And God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – will work in their lives to help them believe it.

Give your children the promises of God’s word. It is your job to give it, and the Holy Spirit’s job to use it to build your children’s self-confidence. Helping our children appropriate God’s truth into their lives is the best confidence builder I know. We must make sure that our children know the wonderful fact that our great God is “for us.” And “if God is for us, who can ever, be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

I struggled with self-esteem for years as a child until my adulthood. Having being raised in an environment where I got spoken negative comments at school and at home, each time I failed. Fortunately, when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, He revealed to me that He loved me and He had created perfectly. He told me that I was beautiful and intelligent. Philippians 4:13 “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” I could succeed in life by believing I could do everything through Christ that strengthens me. Psalm 139:14 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Blessings,

Sana Edoja

SAVED FROM WHAT ? (INSPIRED BY JILL BRISCOE AND MYSELF)

What does it mean to be saved ? And saved from what? We need to be saved from our sins. The sin problem began back in the Garden of Eden.

When the word began, everything was perfect. God planted an incredibly beautiful environment for his perfect man and woman to enjoy. Genesis 2:8 “Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of”. God, Adam, and Eve walked and talked together in perfect harmony and exquisite delight. One of the perfect things about God’s garden was the endowment to human beings of a free, willing spirit that says, “I’m free to live as I please,” but rather, a free, willing spirit that says, “I’m free to live as God pleases.” Pleasing God was the key to living a perfect life in a perfect environment. To please God, Adam and Eve only had to obey him, thereby proving their love and submission and acknowledging his supremacy in their lives. But despite God’s perfect blessings, Satan tempted Eve to disobey the only rule the Lord God had given (Genesis 2:16-17 “And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good.”

Genesis 3: 1-6 “1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it).

Eve listened to Satan, broke the rule, and persuaded Adam to do the same. The perfect God could no longer have fellowship with these rebellious, disobedient people.

Sin spoiled the relationship between God and humankind. The Bible teaches that Adam’s sin affected the entire human race – that’s you, me, and everybody else (Romans 5:12 “, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, ...”).

Every child born since Adam is born with a sinful bias, and it doesn’t take long to put that sinful bias into action! Because of our sin and rebellion against God, we are under his punishment. But Christ changed all that. Romans 5:15 – 17 says, this… man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many… All who receive God’s wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.” Because Jesus is the perfect Son of God, he has taken the penalty for that sinful bias upon himself. He took our punishment so that we would be able to have a relationship with God. Salvation bridges the gap between sinful humanity and a holy God? Christ died so that those dead in sin can be made alive. Would you accept the salvation God wants to give you? If so, you can do that with a simple prayer:

Lord, I’m coming, I’m coming to say I’m sorry that you had to die to pay the punishment for sins you didn’t commit – mine! Thank you, Lord Jesus. Lord, I’m coming. I’m coming to say I’m done with trying to “buy” influence with you. I’ve run out of currency – I’m bankrupt. “Nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to your cross I cling. “Jesus, I’ve come – here I am – forgive me, come into my heart, enter my life, and give me eternal life. Thank you Lord Jesus! Amen.

My version is:

If you don’t believe in God, I challenge you to ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Get prepared for an answer and a change in your life that you will never regret. When I accepted Christ as my Lord and Saviour, I felt so cleaned from my sins as I had found a Friend and Father in God.

Since that encounter, I can’t stop feeling for those that are lost and depressed, they need to know that there is a God that is waiting to love and help them. I was in tears this morning when I read the newspaper about the terrible things that are happening since the earthquake in Japan. I wish I could comfort those people, I wish I could tell them the good news of the Gospel of salvation of Jesus Christ.

God has given me a heart that feels for those who suffer in their lives. Each Thursday, we pray at church for those that need to know Christ, for those that are persecuted. It is a good feeling to do the will of God, to share our burdens with other Christians; we get encouraged also by other believers. Sometimes, it will be good to give up everything and just pray, worship and be listening the good word of God. It is a good time to forget our problems and focus on the plan of God of salvation for humanity. It is similar as being in Heaven

POSITIVE PEERS BY JILL BRISCOE AND MYSELF

Peers have so much power with our children. Young people who hang around together exert enormous influence on each other. It’s difficult not to go along with the group’s decisions. Peers so often take precedence over parents.

I asked a teenager in my Sunday class one day, “What have you been doing with yourself?”

“Oh, just hanging around”, was the reply.

“With whom?” I asked.

“Jamie and Karen and some other guys,” was the response.

“That’s not a good idea,” I said, knowing these particular young people were ungodly and always getting into trouble.

“But they like me, and they make me feel good,” objected my young friend.

“Only for a season-a little time,” I answered? “And they may get you into trouble.”

Romans 1:32 came to mind: “They are fully aware of God’s death penalty for those who do these things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway. And, worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.” My young friend needed to realize that he could well find himself encouraged to join his friends in sin. I also remembered Psalm 1:1 – and, knowing my teenager knew his friends well enough to understand, I shared it with him: “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners.”

“But why not? he replied stubbornly. “I don’t do the things they do. I usually know what’s right or wrong.”

“One reason you should hang around with more positive peers is the advice you’ll get when an occasion arises where you don’t know what to do,” I answered. “What sort of advice do you think you’ll get from ungodly folk? They’ll probably provoke you into stepping over the line along with them. It’s better to make godly people your closest friends and hang around them! That’s the road to real, lasting happiness.”

Whether we’re teaching the faith to our own children or to other people’s children, we must make every effort to create opportunities for positive peers to hang around together. This way they will avoid many pitfalls and be encouraged in their faith.

On a personal note, my son recently got beaten up repeatedly by one of his friends on his legs at school. He told his aunt and uncle but wouldn’t tell me because he didn’t want to see his friend punished by his teacher. He was afraid of losing his friend. If we love somebody, we have to correct them by telling them that they are doing something wrong and eventually consequences have to be applied for discipline.

I and my family told my son to report the incident about the bullying to his teacher on numerous occasions. He refused to do so and I learnt recently that this same friend was now beating him on his belly for fun. As a protective mother, I made a wise decision to report the bullying incident to the teacher. The teacher will apply discipline and explain to this little boy that his behaviour is not acceptable. Let’s take action against bullying by taking a positive action. Let’s report it before it goes any further. Lots of kids die as a result of bullying. Let’s also bring awareness to our children and teach them that it is not acceptable, there are a lot of videos on the internet that bring awareness about bullying at school. Children need to be respected and they deserve to know that their worth will never be taken away when somebody treat them badly. God still considers them worthy and has a plan for their lives. It is important to talk about bullying with our children and to take action with the school as a deterrent and prevention.

SPIRITUAL MOTHERHOOD BY JILL BRISCOE

I was teaching in a tough part of Liverpool and had just taken my life in my hands – it was my turn to do playground duty! As I watched those little rascals being themselves. I thought of the churches in the area, mine included. I thought of the churches in the area, mine included. They offered nothing that was remotely on those children’s wavelength. The situation seemed hopeless. Dead churches don’t reach lively kids.

Then I read about the God of life and fruitlessness, who caused a baby to be born to two old people. Couldn’t he also cause life to spring out of deadness for these children of the twentieth century? God had shown me demonstration of his person and power, but could I dare to believe he would do for me what he did for Sarah? Would he give me spiritual children in the barren womb of my own situation?

I timidly told him I believed that what he had promised he was able to perform. Then I went ahead in trust and started a club for the kids.

Confused and frightened, old before their time, these children did not understand the truth about the God who would satisfy them. But they came, they listened, and they believed. Though the off-spring of my efforts were not nearly as numerous as Abraham’s, life sprang out of darkness, and God was delighted! The kids and I were delighted, too. They had found the God in whom they could trust.

Those of us who know the Lord need to reach out beyond our own families and realize that some people have never been prayed for by name even once. They need to be reached for Christ and his Kingdom. Single people can become spiritual mothers, too! Look around you. Do the children in your neighbourhood look as though they wouldn’t be interested in Jesus? Don’t you believe it. God still brings life into the most impossible situations. Step out in faith – the children are waiting for you.

DOES GOD HEAR THE PRAYERS OF UNBELIEVERS? (Inspired by Jill Briscoe, Rick Warren and myself)

DOES GOD HEAR the prayers of people who aren’t Christians? Yes! Every one of us who came to faith in Christ was an unbeliever once, and God heard our prayer of repentance.

Captain Cornelius is a good example of a good man who was in the habit of praying. He was devout, he feared God, and he gave generously to charity (Acts 10:2 - A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway). His entire household followed suit.

The answer to the question, Does God listen to unbelievers? Is found in his life: “Your prayers have been heard” (Acts 10:31 - And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God). Cornelius was an uncircumcised Roman soldier, yet God sent a vision of an angel coming to him (Acts 10:3 - He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius) and made sure he heard about salvation – God gave him an opportunity to hear about and receive Jesus Christ as Saviour and to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Does God hear the prayers of westerners and easterners? Does he hear the prayers of black and white, man and woman, rich and poor, good and bad? Yes! When Peter went to Cornelius and his family, he told them, “I see very clearly that God doesn’t show partiality. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right” (Acts 10:34-35 - 34Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; 35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him). Then he explained the Good News to them and said, “There is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all…. Everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name” (Acts 10:36,43 - 36The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all; 43To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins).

If people like Cornelius pray the best way they know how and live as well as they can. God will send a “Peter” to show them the way of salvation. When Peter comes, he will find Cornelius and his family ready to listen and commit their lives to Christ.

Are you like Cornelius? A good person? Do you pray regularly, do what is right, and give to charity? God has noticed and appreciates your efforts. He wants to make sure you know that even a good person needs Jesus. Read this story again and then pray to receive Christ as your Saviour.

Perhaps you are like Peter. Do you know a Cornelius to whom you need to tell the Gospel? He or she is, in all probability, waiting to hear from you, just like Cornelius and his family were waiting to hear from Peter. Why not plan a journey, write a letter, or make a phone call soon? There are many good people waiting for the Good News of Christ.


Just wanted to add on a personal note: Last Sunday, I went to the park with my son for him to play while I was reading a book called: “The purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. A man sat next to me and started talking to me about the world economy and his marital life. He wanted to know more about me but I shut down and wouldn’t want to disclose any more information. Then, I left to go home and thought I could have taken this opportunity to tell Him about what Jesus was doing in my life. I missed an opportunity because of my selfishness.

In the past, I got a lot of opportunity to practise evangelism extensively. However, I fell backwards when I was overwhelmed by the difficulties of my life. I lost the most important focus of my life and I stopped evangelism for a long while. A few months ago, I was able to share about Jesus Christ to a Moslem and an atheist until the early hours of morning. I think God likes bringing people into our life to disturb us so we can share the good news of Christ.


In his book, Rick warren talks about his dad which was a minister for over fifty years, serving mostly in small, rural churches. He was a simple preacher, but he was a man with a mission. In 1999, his father died of cancer. As he dreamed, he’d talk out loud about what he was dreaming. Sitting by his bedside, his son learned a lot about his dad by just listening to his dreams. He relived one church building project after another.

One night near the end, while his wife, his niece and his son were by his side, Rick Warren’ father suddenly became very active and tried to get out of bed. Of course, he was too weak, and Rick ‘wife insisted he lay back down.

But he persisted in trying to get out of bed, so Rick ‘wife asked, “Jimmy, what are you trying to do?” He replied, “Got to save one more for Jesus! Got to save one more for Jesus!” He began to repeat that phrase over and over.

During the next hour, his father said the phrase probably a hundred times, “Got to save one more for Jesus!” As Rick sat by his bed with tears flowing down his cheeks, he bowed his head to thank God for his dad’s faith. At that moment his dad reached out and placed his frail hand on his head and said, as if commissioning his son, “Save one more for Jesus! Save one more for Jesus!”

Rick Warren intend for that to be the theme of the rest of his life. He invites us to consider it as a focus for our life, too, because nothing will make a greater difference for eternity. If we want to be used by God, we must care about what God cares about; what he cares about most is the redemption of the people he made. He wants his lost children found! Nothing matters more to God; the Cross proves that, Rick Warren prayer for us consists to be always on the lookout to reach “one more for Jesus” so that when we stand before God one day, we can say, “Mission accomplished”.

This does not mean you should quit your job to become a full-time evangelist. God wants you to share the Good News where you are. Your mission gives your life meaning, William James said, “The best use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.” The truth is, only the kingdom of God is going to last. Everything else will eventually vanish. That is why we must live purpose-driven lives – lives committed to worship, fellowship, spiritual growth, ministry, and fulfilling our mission on earth. The results of these activities will last – forever!

You may have been unaware that God holds you responsible for the unbelievers who live around you. The Bible says, “You must warn them so they may live. If you don’t speak out to warn the wicked to stop their evil ways, they will die in their sin, but I will hold you responsible for their death.” You are the only Christian some people will ever know, and your mission is to share Jesus with them.

One problem long-term Christians have is that they forget how hopeless it felt to be without Christ. We must remember that no matter how contented or successful people appear to be, without Christ they are hopelessly lost and headed for eternal separation from God. The Bible says, “Jesus is the only One who can save people.” Everybody needs Jesus.

If you fail to fulfil your God –given mission on earth, you will have wasted the life God gave you. Paul said, “My life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about God’s wonderful kindness and love.” There are people on this planet whom only you will be able to reach, because of where you live and what God has made you to be. If just one person will be in heaven because of you, your life will have made a difference for eternity. Start looking around at your personal mission field and pray, “God, who have you put in my life for me to tell about Jesus?”

Your Life Message has four parts to it:

- Your testimony: the story of how you began a relationship with Jesus.
- Your life lessons: the most important lessons God has taught you.
- Your godly passions: the issues God shaped you to care about most.
- The Good News: the message of salvation.

Hope you have enjoyed this blog.

You can found our more about my beliefs and faith in Christ on my BlogTalkRadioShow by clicking on this link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/donald-james-parker/2011/03/06/wielding-the-sword-of-the-spirit-with-guest-author-sana-edoja

Knowing God by Sana Edoja

Blessings you richly in Christ Jesus,

Sana Edoja

WHEN DARKNESS TRIES TO HIDE FROM STACY PADULA

Today marks the release of Stacy Padula’s latest novel, When Darkness Tries to Hide.

As a special promotion, today’s buyers will get free gifts & a chance to win Boston Red Sox tickets, gift certificates, & other prizes for each copy of When Darkness Tries to Hide that they purchase.



For details on the book, launch, and promotions please visit:
http://montgomerylake.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/mlh2-launch-info.pdf
An Interview with Stacy Padula:
Author of When Darkness Tries to Hide and The Right Person





Q: How did you become interested in writing?
A: I wrote my first book when I was in Kindergarten; it was a short story about a puppy. Then my writing just continued…I wrote books all through elementary school and continued beyond. I finished my first draft of When Darkness Tries to Hide when I was 15 years old. I had read a lot of different books while growing up that had been about high school. When I entered high school I was completely shocked by what was going on around me! It was nothing like Sweet Valley High or the Babysitters Club. There was an abundance of backbiting, backstabbing, substance abuse, and kids just being mean to each other. I felt that there needed to be a realistic book series out there for kids to read so that they could be prepared for the social battles of high school. So, I wrote The Right Person, which is the first book in the Montgomery Lake High series. I fell in love with my characters, and the subject matters, so I decided to write a sequel (which is now When Darkness Tries to Hide). I have recently finished the 5th book in the series, and I plan to keep writing as long as I am able to!

Q: What should people know about When Darkness Tries to Hide?
A: The book picks up two months after where The Right Person left off. There is a terrible storm that brings destruction to the town and into the lives of some of the characters. One of the characters, Andy, gets injured and another character, Jason, feels responsible. (Although no one knows at first exactly why Jason feels that way.) The story follows many characters reactions to the accident, and how everyone comes together to help Andy. Jason is the central focus of the story, and the transformation he goes through as a result of feeling responsible for what happened to Andy. The main point of the story is the battle between light and darkness, and how people often do not realize they are living a dark life because everyone around them is living the same way, until a ray of light shines in and breaks through the darkness.

Q: Have any experiences from your own life affected the storyline of the book?
A: I have not written about anything that has happened to me exactly, but everything in the books is based on things I have witnessed teenagers go through, or emotional/social/physical/spiritual battles that I have fought in my life. The books are filled with lessons I have learned from my own experiences, but I have woven those lessons into the completely fictitious world of Montgomery Lake High. It is my hope that teens and pre-teens can learn from these lessons and not go through as much pain as I had to in order to learn them!

Q: What is it like waiting for each book to be published?
A: It is exciting!! My next book, which will be published apart from the series as a novel, is called Montgomery's Masquerade: The Battle for Innocence. It is a prequel to the series that takes place when the main characters were in 7th grade. I just got it back from my editor, who is actually from Pearson Publishing, and I am excited to review her edits and send it along to my publisher, Strategic Book Group. They had read the rough copy earlier this month and accepted it. The whole process has many steps, and a lot of approvals that need to be signed off on. It is excited to see the internal layout of the book. I get to work with my publisher's book designers to bring the book up to the vision that I have for it. This, along with approving the front and back cover designs, is a very exciting part of the process. I always get butterflies in my stomach when I open up the first printed copy of each book. The process can take anywhere from six months to a year, depending on many different circumstances. I enjoy being a part of the process. It is always a learning experience, and I find that very rewarding!

Q: Do you have a "life verse" that you have claimed? If so what is it and why is that verse so meaningful to you?
A: Psalm 84:11 has significant meaning to me. It states that God withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly. This verse is a reminder to me that anything that I pray for and do not receive is not really good for me, and that I only desire it because I have limited understanding of what is best for me. God knows what is best, and as long as I am walking with Him, He will not withhold anything good from me. So whenever God closes a door in my life, I recall Psalm 84:11 and find great comfort and peace within its promise.

Q: Who (or what) is your greatest encourager when you write and why?
A: I have a wonderful support system of family and friends who encourage me in my writing. What encourages me the most, though, is the world of Montgomery Lake High that exists within my mind. It is like God has put this world in my head, and these characters that are so real to me, and I write to express what is within me: a message of faith to reach out to the youth.

Q: Is there anything else that you would like your readers to know about you that would give us even more of a glimpse into your personality and passions?
A: “Passionate” would be the best word to describe me. When I'm into something, I'm into it with my whole heart. I love my life and think God has blessed me with the best friends, best dog, best job, and the best mother in the entire world. Writing is my favorite pastime. I have learned a lot about conquering fear this past year. The ocean moves me. I love North Carolina and feel like a part of my heart is there. I love to learn and figure out how things are connected. I see deeper meaning in everything. I believe love is the answer to life's toughest questions. I have "songs" with the majority of my friends and hope the lyrics always mean something to me. My faith is in Jesus Christ, and I'm in love with Him. I have a strange fetish for football movies. I am an avid skier. I have a lot of hope and believe nothing is impossible with God.

Please visit: http://montgomerylake.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/mlh2-launch-info.pdf for more information on the Montgomery Lake High book series.