Prayer Update

There are only three more practices for Little Women, the Broadway Musical. If you can make it, the shows are 8:00pm October 26 and 27, 2:00 and 8:00 on Saturday the 28th. If you need tickets, just let me know! My body is feeling the weariness of preparing for a production like this. Yesterday I woke up with absolutely no ability to speak (or sing). By the grace of God, in a little over 24 hours, my voice is back and I feel more energetic than I have been all week! I do miss being at Lowe's, but I am making some close friends amongst the musical cast. Life is very good- God is continually blessing me with undeserved friendships and abundantly and exceedingly satisfied needs! My school bill is paid for the semester, my classes are going well, and I can't wait to meet with my church again on Sunday! Truthfully, this week has been spiritually refreshing. I encourage you to read what I've been reading this week- Romans 8. This week has also been a reaffirmation of what God has for my future- If you'd like more details, I'd love to share those things in person. One thing I've been reassured of this week is that God ALWAYS ANSWERS PRAYERS, and that when I find it hard to compose my thoughts (maybe don't even know what to ask for?) Jesus my Christ brings my needs before our Father. (Romans 8!) That being said, would you please pray confidently with me for a few things?

• Wisdom in scheduling and time management (James 1:5!)
  Please continue to pray for my co-workers (salvation and physical/emotional needs)
  The preservation of my voice (to sing)
  Counseling and mentoring the younger men in the dorm – Some major issues this week
  Pray that my time with God will be personal and passionate, not academic or habitual
  Pray for the salvation of the city of Scranton (74,000 people!)
  My personal holiness- that I will be HUMBLE!
  Gabe has been having difficulty paying for school/ securing a job

Please, praise God with me!

• For my health!
  For my encouraging friends!
  For God creating us with the
  ability to create- and reflect His Creativity!
  

Thank you so much for your support, especially through prayer! Praise God for His work in our lives and His mercy in our failures!

Anti-Depressant of the Day > Romans 8

1THEREFORE, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not in the manner of flesh, but in spirit.
2For the law of spirit of life-in-Christ-Jesus [the law of our regenerated being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.
3For God has done what the Law could not do, its power being weakened by the flesh. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, God deprived sin of its power in the flesh,
4So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of flesh [unsaved] but in the ways of spirit [our lives reflecting our regeneration].
5For those who are according to flesh [unsaved] and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify flesh, but those who are according to spirit and are controlled by the desires of spirit [live as saved beings!] set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the Holy Spirit.
6Now the mind of flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [separation from God's indwelling presence, His joy, His security]. But the mind of the Holy Spirit is life and peace [with our conscience, with God].
7Because the mind of flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God's Law; indeed it cannot.
8So then those who are living the life of flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him.
9But you are not living the life of flesh, [you can be sure that...] you are living the life of spirit, if the Holy Spirit of God dwells within you. But if anyone does not possess the Holy Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
10But if Christ lives in you, [then although] you are dead by reason of sin and guilt, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. [You are made alive- regenerated!]
11And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.
12So then, brethren, we are debtors, but not to flesh [as if we should live like flesh.]
13For if you live according to flesh, you will surely die. But [since] through the power of the Holy Spirit you are putting to death the deeds prompted by [unregenerate nature], you shall live forever.
14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15For what you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to again make you subject to fear- instead you have received the Spirit of adoption who allows us to say, Abba! Father!
16So the Spirit Himself testifies together with our own spirit, proving to us that we are children of God.
17And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.
18[But what of that?] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us!
19For [even the whole] creation waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known [waits for the unveiling of our sonship!].
20For the creation [cosmos] was subjected to frailty, not because of some fault in its design or construction, but by the will of Him Who so subjected it-
21in the hope [confidence] that creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption [and be transplanted] into the glorious freedom of God's children.
22We know that all creation has been moaning together in the pains of labor until now.
23And not only the creation, but we ourselves too [regenerated ones], who have and enjoy the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit [a foretaste of the blissful things to come] we also groan inwardly as we wait for the redemption of our bodies [from the curse of sin and the grave], which will declare our adoption (as God's sons).
24For in hope we were saved. But hope [the object of] which is seen is not hope. For how can one hope for what he already sees?
25But if we hope for what is still unseen by us, we wait for it with patience and composure.
26So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance!
27And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the Holy Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will.
28We are assured and know that all things work together and are for benefit to those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.
29For those whom He [intimately loved and had a relationship with before even creating them], He also destined from the beginning to be molded into the image of His Son, that He might become the primary among many brethren.
30And those whom He thus foreordained, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified (declared and made righteous, putting them into right standing with Himself). And those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity and condition or state of being].
31What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who [can be] against us?
32He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also in addition to Christ freely and graciously give us all other things?
33Who shall bring any charge against God's elect [when it is] God Who justifies? Will God? The Person Who acquits us?
34Who is there to condemn [us]? Will Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who died, or rather Who was raised from the dead, Who is at the right hand of God actually pleading as He intercedes for us?
35Who shall ever separate us from Christ's love? Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation? Or calamity and distress? Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword?
36Even as it is written, For Thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we are regarded and counted as sheep for the slaughter.
37Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.
38For I am persuaded beyond doubt that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers,
39Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Isaiah 51 > God Is Permanent

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall be dissolved and vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner [like gnats]. But My salvation shall be forever, and My rightness and justice [and faithfully fulfilled promise] shall not be abolished.

Sitting @ My Desk > Taking Pictures

Soundtrack For Your Life

The single most important advancement in music of this decade: Pandora. It is in essence a non-stop greatest hits CD compiled automatically by your subconscious musical desires. As you listen, you respond. As you respond, Pandora learns. As Pandora learns what your musical pallate desires, you learn of new songs and artists: BEAUTIFUL.

Prayer Update

God is constantly displaying the majesty of His creation just outside my window~ the leaves are falling, the grass is a deep green, and the sun is blazing into my room!

He is an amazing God!

The attention He gives His natural creation reaffirms my trust in Him. If He can nurture these plants, and control the sun and clouds, surely He can provide for all my needs~ physically, financially, and emotionally. I have one day of work remaining at Lowe's before my two week leave for the school's production of Little Women, the Broadway Musical. You are all invited! There will be shows 8:00pm October 26 and 27, 2:00 and 8:00 on Saturday the 28th. I've come through some tough physical trials this week- God used my weakness in each of them to spur humility and dependence on Him. When you just can't move, it becomes much easier to pray! Would you please pray with me for a few things?

• Wisdom in scheduling and time management (James 1:5!)
  
• Please continue to pray for my co-workers. Pray God will open hearts and minds and draw them to Himself. Pray that they will be able to see the musical!
  
• One of my co-workers has been recovering from surgery since summer. He may not be returning to work, so please pray I won't lose contact with him.
  
• The preservation of my voice (to sing)
  
• Counseling and mentoring the younger men in the dorm
  
• Pray that my time with God will be personal and passionate, not academic or habitual
  
• Pray for the salvation of the city of Scranton (74,000 people!)
  
• My personal holiness- that I will rely on Christ in all circumstances!
  

Please, praise God with me!

• Chaos Theory, our young adult ministry, started this past Sunday, and went very well!
  
• I was able to purchase new brakes and rotors for my car through a friend, and I'll be doing the labor myself, so PRAISE GOD for financial provision!
  
• There were some complications with school that were going to prevent my graduation this year- I received an email yesterday saying they were all worked out!
  
• Gabe's interview at Charlie Brown's Steakhouse went well!
  

Thank you so much for your support, especially through prayer! Praise God for His work in our lives and His mercy in our failures!

The Weight of Character

Response to "Shepherding the Church" by Joseph M. Stowell.

In business, a corporation is limited in growth by the level of its leader. The leader establishes short term aspirations, defines what is desired of the organization's members, and implies what level of effort is minimally acceptable. As a business leader matures, his organization is given headroom to grow.

Thus the capacities of a CEO must continually increase, as the development of
his organization depends upon his personal development.

The local church reflects this dependent relationship in the role of its shepherd. As Stowell points out, the outward successes of the positional leader are either short-lived and undeserved blessings or the product of hard-earned well-developed character. In Stowell's words, “character counts”. A God-pursuant pastor will purposefully identify character weaknesses and conscientiously work towards Christ-dependency and refinement in those areas. One flaw in the character of a church's shepherd can and will be made evident in a congregation that shortly develops similar weaknesses. When the undesirable is portrayed as acceptable in the person of a congregation's shepherd, the sheep are likely to follow suit.
Stowell is correct in identifying several of the most deadly blemishes in the character of men. 1 Timothy addresses some of these- the most prevalent being a hurtful tongue.

Speech can be the rudder for the ship of personal character.

The content and tone of one's speech can shape one's internal attitude, as well as determine the image presented to others. If a congregation witnesses unwholesome or hurtful talk from its shepherd, his image is tarnished semi-permanently with this outward blemish. In addition to this negative impression in the minds of a congregation, a shepherd's weakness in the area of speech is a warrant of permission for his congregation to adopt similar communication. Gossip, slander, lying, exaggeration, deceit, beguilement, murmuring, complaining, criticizing, belittling, proud/arrogant speech, and short-tempered or thoughtless responses are all deadly pitfalls- each one just a moment of weakness from tarnishing one's character. The obvious prescription for sidestepping these pitfalls is dependence- whole and continuous reliance- on the Spirit of God, in addition to understanding God's empowerment to walk righteously, and repetitious concentration on God's biblical exhortations to speak in love with sage concern for the betterment of one's character.
Another area Stowell addresses is personal and interpersonal conduct. This second external/observable aspect of persona can be more permanently damaging than unwholesome speech.

Unholy conduct can forever disqualify a shepherd from ministry leadership.

When a leader falls prey to offensive relationships or relational misconduct, the imperfection in their character becomes public scandal. These situations often leave congregations bitter, hardened, and scarred, unwilling to ever trust another shepherd. Thus it is expected and desirable that a shepherd's personal and public life be exceptionally pure- without no foggy areas, no grounds for speculation or accusation. The primary means of achieving this end is open communication and open living. Relating to women as sisters in Christ, remaining accountable to one's family and congregation by counseling in public/accessible situations, and committing to honesty, integrity, and trust in a marriage relationship. Financial dealings should be equally exposed- with genuine integrity, and ethically above reproach. If a shepherd expects his congregation to be fiscally responsible for the church, he should become so himself. If a shepherd expects strong marriages, he should model his own for the congregation. If a shepherd desires purity in the hearts and lives of his parishioners, he should be a level above in displaying no opportunity to challenge the purity of his character (no closed-doors, no room for doubt).
When a congregation determines the character of its shepherd, it is only allowed the ingredients of its shepherd's external traits. Is he kind, edifying, caring, trustworthy, pure, properly motivated, does he appear to love the Lord his God? The greatest block a shepherd can contribute to the congregation's construction of his own image is love. Does he love me? Thus it is of utmost importance that a shepherd's love for God and others is clearly and boldly displayed. A parishioner will observe love in several areas, and will be watching specifically for evident specific concern- does my shepherd really care for me, or is his love a facade? To defeat this standard skepticism, a shepherd must concentrate on developing love for others through developing love for his God. Prayer, meditation, and scripture reading will bring a shepherd closer to God, and make his character more like his heavenly Father's. As a shepherd becomes more like the Great Shepherd, he will tilt towards genuine God-spawned love for others (one's congregation). The direction of this love must be focused on individuals- the core element of one's flock. Only relational development can lead to educated love, so true love demands time investment. As time is spent together, genuine sensitivity can be acquired- concerns and trials are shared. Sensitivity is never ignored- a shepherd's congregation will feel loved, and their admiration for the person of their shepherd will grow. Likewise, a shepherd's credibility will grow, and so the impact of his words become greater as messages are received from a knowledgeable, caring, and concerned source. One may also find composing sermons much easier when one's audience is more clearly defined and intimately understood.
When I consider my own character, and contemplate my future entrance into congregational shepherding ministry, I am terrified and challenged by what I see. I am most susceptible to character flaws in my speech. I hold a negative tendency to speak hastily, often hurtfully, and in my own defense. I intend to correct these failures through desperate pursuit of God's character. Through prayer and reliance on the Holy Spirit whom indwells me, I can and will quest for humility. A humble spirit makes no effort to defend himself. If I am challenged, and I am in the right, God will vindicate me. If I am incorrect, the challenge may be warranted. In my verbal responses, I must be more loving- also a product of humility. I must be more thoughtful, caring, and wise- all products of prayer and dependency.

Chaos Theory

A new event for college (age) students

@ New Life Baptist Church, Scranton.

Starts Sunday @ 8:30pm