Common Saint

So we are on our way to the church this morning and Emily, my oldest, says, "Man, the year has flown by" which got us all talking about the fact that we are already in November and that Christmas is just around the corner. How did that happen? Christmas nearly here!!! Well, I told Emily that it seems every year that you grow, the years just seem to clip off that much quicker. I added in my statement that because Christ is the Lord and center of our lives that we will live even after are days are spent here on earth. So that got me to thinking about God's purpose for our existence here and I realized something that I never really thought about before. I know it is silly but the thought really impacted me....In heaven there will be no evangelism! When death comes or God rolls this world up like a scroll (whichever comes first), all opportunities are gone forever. So many times we focus on someone else slipping into eternity without hearing, but I realized this morning durin...

I was doing some pilfering through the net today and came across this quote by John Piper that blew me away. I am looking foward to your comments on this one! " Missions exists because worship doesn't." Evangelism and Missions by Ron Blue

A couple of Sundays ago our previous pastor and dear friend, Byron Jones, called us forward at the end of the Sunday morning worship service and prayed for us. Only one thing could take us out of the church body that we have been in since before our daughters were born; where we have forged deep roots and incredibly strong friendships; and where we have been so honored to be involved in active ministry. Only one thing - or should I say, "one person" - and He did. I had the firm resolve that after twelve years of being at FBC Gun Barrel City that God has called our family on to a new work. This has really stemmed from the outreach that we are doing in Cherokee Shores and our desire to see more of the unchurched in our area come into a relationship with Christ, and as importantly, into a community of believers. Our desire is to start a work to compliment that of the more "traditional" congregations in our area, so that together we can work to extend Christ's Kin...

I really believe that worship is more than surrendering to God, but more specifically surrending my time, talents, treasure, etc. to His service. I have been thinking about Jesus' words "when you have done it to the least of these my brothers, you've done it to me" Mathew 25 . In fact this has been on my mind a lot lately. As I pass through the center of Dallas on my daily commute and see the homeless and destitute every morning from behind the glass of my cozy air conditioned car I am gripped by conviction. Thinking about the work that will be starting to outreach the lost in the methamphetamine infested addition within a couple miles of my home, where advertismentns for prostitution are posted on the telephone polls for anyone to call, and adults, young people and children are being abused. The souls of men and women are slipping everyday closer to an eternal hell that is inescapable, and makes the horrible life of their addiction the only heaven they will ever kn...

Bringing someone to Christ is our greatest act of worship. As some of you may know, the Lord has been been working in my heart to begin outreaching the Cherokee Shores addition. It has been amazing how He is at work and laying this vision on the hearts of many others. I have created another blog dedicated specifically to this outreach. It would be my honor for you to stop by for a visit .

You know our desire should be to bring others to worship in more than a metaphorical sense. I’m talking literally . It is like pulling teeth to convince someone of their need to overcome their fear and begin witnessing...but how easy is it to just simply invite someone to church? I had a great idea this morning. How would it be if in our affluent nation, every Christian who drives, would with God’s help purchase a 15 passenger van and submit himself/herself in accountability to others (who also have their 15 passenger vans) to fill them up with people that they know who are unchurched, in order to bring them to worship. Let’s bring it down a notch, what if every person in your church with a drivers license, did this? Every chauffeur would be exposing people to the Gospel, building community, and using their time and resources every week in an active ministry. They would be making disciples of those who routinely ride with them by encouraging them to purchase their own van and to do the...

My desire on this site, and on the larger platform of my life, is to inspire others to come to a place of deeper worship. It could be said that worship is simply the act of proclaiming who God is. When I sing my songs in church and I raise my voice, this is not only vertical communication of me lifting my voice to God, but also a horizontal act of me making His revelation known to others around me; proclaiming to them His wonders, His goodness, His grace, His love and His incredible mercy. I just finished reading my friend, Kenya’s, blog and am deeply touched: http://kenyablack.wordpress.com/2007/02/09/anna-nicole-smith/ I am reminded that the greatest act of worship to our God, that we can involve ourselves in, takes place outside of the walls of our churches. The moon and every star that we see in the sky on a clear night, is a proclamation that God has made of Himself. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Pslam 19:1. God since creation ...

http://kennethblack.wordpress.com/2007/01/01/part-1-a-question/ How could the church ever expect that God would stir the world’s hearts outside of the church walls, when we don’t allow Him to stir our hearts while we’re within them?