Commission

30 Sep 2015 Leave a comment

by Minstrels wife in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Luke 4:18-19

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has annointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lords favour.

Matthew 28:19-20

Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Soirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

This is very clear in the New Testament. This is our mission. Jesus came with this mission and fulfilled it, along with the wonderful work of reconcilliation He finished on the Cross. We exist yo worship God and to proclaim Him to the Earth with  a purpose.

Most churches have mission statements, and can be long and detailed with many words. Do they contain within them, no matter how ling or short, the mission they exist for? Does the church operate within the mission given by Christ?

The Church is a growing, living thing and changes all the time. Each church changes by generation to generation, Pastor to Pastor, Elder to Elder. As a church grows, it might need to look again at its mission statement, it might need changing or rewriting. Above all, I feel a church needs a mission statement, and it needs to be known by every member and followed from Leadership down. It has to be taken on by all as a personal mission within the community and local areas, and within its own walls. If we start with the words of Jesus and try to follow His ways, we wont be far short of the right paths at any time, but only if we stay as close to Him as we can.

Reliance

15 Sep 2015 2 Comments

by Minstrels wife in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

I don’t know about you, but there are those weeks I am tempted to wish would go quicker, that there could be nothing else that could possibly be thrown at me! Surely!! Those weeks that are super busy, with no time for relaxation or even I feel quality times with God. Those weeks that feel like you are squarely in the fire line of the devil and that he must have sent all available bad stuff to be aimed at me! Those weeks!

In those times, I know I am probably in the wrong frame of mind, and having a wrong attitude to the things that are going on around me and what I feel are happening to me. In those times, I can feel God’s presence and voice calling me to just take 5 minutes to be with Him, and it is then that I know He is always there with me, always my Rock. In those times, I know I can rely on my God. He shows me even in the quick verse I read on my way to the next meeting, the word that is given by a stranger, the prayers that are answered daily, that He never leaves us in those places where we might feel He is too far away.

My husband read recently,

“Don’t be scared when the devil attacks you,

Be scared when he doesn’t”

I know this is just a quick saying, but it says so much to me. I know more scary stuff, more bad things happen on weeks when our church is praying for revival, when there is an important service we are part of, a prayer for Israel meeting. I know those times are coming now, and so know thst my God is there, and helping me to be stronger in Him, and that He is always Reliable.

I hope you know how Reliable God is too in those times.

Captivated

12 Sep 2015 Leave a comment

by Minstrels wife in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 113:4-6 says,

“The Lord is high above all nations,

His glory above the heavens.

Who is like the Lord our God,

Who dwells on high

Who humbles Himself to behold

The things that are in heaven and the earth?”

LaMar Boschman says in his book A heart for worship, that he wanted to look for new words to describe the Lord. Words we don’t use normally, that we havn’t repeated so many times we forget how awesome our God is. He found these words, and I think they truly do describe God in new and exciting ways. LaMar uses them before services and shouts the to the Lord as part of his worship.

Lord, You are unrivalled, unparalleled, unequalled and unsurpassed.

You are peerless, matchless, faultless and flawless.

God, you are choice, fine, elite splendid,

marvellous, glorious, fabulous and wondrous.

Phenomenal, sensational, spectacular, majestic, fantastic and terrific is my King.

Your presence is amazing, awe-inspiring, astonishing, outstanding, stirring, stimulating and electrifying.

You are so large, grand, great, immense and massive.

You are magnificent, brilliant, radiant, resplendent and transcendent.

Your Person is superior, superb  and sublime.

I have discovered you to be excellent,  exquisite, exceptional, extraordinary, remarkable, incomparable,

impeccable, irreproachable and unimpeachable.

There is absolutely none like You.

You stand alone.

How good is it to be able to recognise the Living God in all of those words. He does indeed stand alone as the only One worthy of these descriptions. Thank you God.

Pray or not?

08 Sep 2015 1 Comment

by Minstrels wife in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , ,

Leonard Ravenhill in his book Why Revival Tarries says,

“The Cinderella of the church today is the prayer meeting. This handmaid of the Lord is unloved and unwooed because she is not dripping with the pearls of intellectualism, nor glamorous with the silks of philosophy; neither is she enchanting with the tiara of psychology. She wears the homespuns of sincerity and humility and so is not afraid to kneel!”

I find it incredible that across most of the Western world, prayer meetings are the least attended meeting in the whole church calendar. It is the forgotten hours during the week, not given much thought and quickly cancelled. I believe that you can gauge the spiritual life of a church by the prayer meeting numbers and quality of prayers given.

How can we expect to see revival in our community when we can’t be bothered to go to prayer meetings and not see that we are in a battle to see souls saved. If our prayers are dead, then what are we?

Ravenhill goes on to say, “Victory is not won in the pulpit by firing intellectual bullets or wisecracks, but in the prayer closet.”

D.M. McIntyre,D.D. has been quoted “Before the great revival in Gallneukirchen broke out, Martin Boos spent hours and days and often nights in lonely agonies of intercession. Afterwards, when he preached, his words were as flame, and the hearts of the people as grass.”

How much more could be done in the spiritual if we spent more time on our knees, pressing into God and His Word. How much would our lives be changed, to become more like Him.