Minggu, 28 Desember 2008

SATAN'S MEETING


A close friend of mine shared this message which reminded me that the devil is doing everything to confuse God's people .Kindly read & pass it on to all the people you care for.

God bless u,

Kind regards
Linah

SATAN'S MEETING: (Read even if you're busy)


Satan called a worldwide convention of demons.

In his opening address he said,

"We can't keep Christians from going to church."

"We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth."

"We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their saviour."

"Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken."

"So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.."

"This is what I want you to do," said the devil:

"Distract them from gaining hold of their Saviour and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" his demons shouted.

"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered.

"Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow."

"Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles."

"Keep them from spending time with their children."

"As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!"

"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice."

"Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive." To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly."

"This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."

"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers."

"Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day."

"Invade their driving moments with billboards."

"Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes.."

"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. "

"Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night."

"Give them headaches too! "

"If they don't give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere."

"That will fragment their families quickly!"

"Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children the real meaning of Christmas."

"Give them an Easter bunny so they won't talk about his resurrection and power over sin and death."

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive."

"Have them return from their recreation exhausted."

"Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God's creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead."

"Keep them busy, busy, busy!"

"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences."

"Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus."

"Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause."

"It will work!"

"It will work!"

It was quite a plan!

The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there.

Having little time for their God or their families and friends.

Having no time to tell others about the power of Jesus to change lives.

I guess the question is, has the devil been successful in his schemes?

You be the judge!!!!!

Does "BUSY" mean: B-eing U-nder S-atan's Y-oke?

Please pass this on, if you aren't too BUSY!

Selasa, 23 Desember 2008

Merry Christmas and a happy new year 2009

Merry Christmas and a happy new Year 2009. Harapan kami di malam Natal kita sekali lagi berjumpa secara pribadi dengan KRISTUS. Doa kami sekeluarga ada penghiburan dan kekuatan yang baru di malam Natal ini.

We that love and care for you,

Dave and Novie

Selasa, 02 Desember 2008

The healthy Church


The Healthy Church



By Malcolm Webber Phd
What is the best and most biblical way to define a “healthy” church?
Should a church be considered “healthy” when it is doing well financially or when large crowds of people are coming to the meetings? Perhaps a church is “healthy” when the majority of its growth is from new converts, or when it has a strong foreign missions program? Is an effective children’s ministry or youth program the key element for “health”; or perhaps the fact that the church engages well with the culture? Clearly, there are many different things we could focus on.
Biblically, how should we define a healthy church?
In the New Testament, the church is compared to the human body (e.g., 1 Cor. 12). When a part of someone’s body is not functioning properly, that person is, by definition, sick or unhealthy. Thus, a simple definition of a “healthy” human body is one in which every member is functioning properly. In the same way, a healthy church is, quite simply, one in which every member is functioning properly.
There are many popular, and valuable, models of what constitutes a “healthy church.” For example, a healthy church will have inspiring worship, need-oriented evangelism, loving relationships, etc. If every member functions properly then the local church will have all these components.
But, what does it mean to “function properly”? In Ephesians, Paul shares a clear revelation of this:
From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Eph. 4:16)
There are three things that each member must do in order for him or her to be considered “functioning properly.”
First, each member must “grow.” Personally and directly connected to the life of the Head (“from Him the whole body…”) each member of the church must grow in spiritual maturity. In the church around the world, we’re not doing too badly in this regard. Many Christians do take personal responsibility for their own spiritual lives. They know that God has called them to grow, and not to remain spiritual babies.
Second, each member must serve, or “do its work.” Every member of the church is a “minister”; we all have a calling from God and the corresponding gifting. For the last couple of decades, there has been much teaching on “finding your gifting,” etc., and the church has improved considerably in this regard. Many believers now have a clear vision for their own personal involvement in the ministry of their local churches. Of course, “serving” does not only involve “official ministry activity” but, even more importantly, also serving one another in the broad, practical context of daily life and relationships.
Third, each member must “build” others: “the body builds itself up.” This has been the critical missing element in many churches. We have not taken deliberate, personal responsibility for building others. Usually we “delegate” that responsibility to others. So, for example, the children are taught spiritually at Sunday School, the new believers go to discipleship class on Tuesday night, the emerging leaders are sent off to Bible school, etc.
However, biblically, we all have responsibility to build others. Parents are responsible to build their children (Eph. 6:4; Deut. 6:4-9; 11:18-21). Existing believers are responsible to build the new disciples (Matt. 28:19-20). The older women are responsible to build the younger ones (Tit. 2:3-5). The mature men teach the younger men (2 Tim. 2:2).
A healthy church is one in which every member grows, serves and builds others. We must have all three. And all three must come from life – the indwelling life of Christ in each believer’s life (John 15:4-5; Eph. 4:16) as he or she grows, serves and builds.
This is a profound paradigm shift for many believers and churches. It is a shift away from a program mentality to a people mentality. However, if we can create a church culture in which every believer takes responsibility to grow, serve and build, our churches will transform their worlds!