Breakthrough FAITH!

The gospel of Mark is one of the biographies of Jesus’ life.  Mark gets straight to the ministry of Jesus and here in chapter 2, we see that Jesus is preaching the words of life to a packed house as the place was filled to overflowing. Jesus was gaining a lot of attention as people were being healed everywhere he went.

They knew that Jesus was the only hope, He had a ministry of healing and they needed a miracle

 (The following is comprised with thoughts from Josh Monen)

What happens when you or someone very close to you has a need. A need that only Jesus can meet? A need that can only be met by a miracle? 

Without oversimplifying, I've discovered that there are two basically different mindsets on this as it relates to people who call themselves Christians.

The first teaches that you can, and should, press in for breakthroughs. And even if circumstances seem really dire and bleak, you still contend for it and believe in God’s power to overcome and see the breakthrough.

The second is more of a passive approach. This belief system teaches that God will move in His own time and there is nothing we can do to influence Him to move. And really, the breakthrough is not what’s important anyway, what’s more important is “accepting” that God has ordained these circumstances and that they are all part of a bigger plan...

Now, I have a real problem with the second mindset. I believe it’s this kind of thinking that has hurt a lot in Christian circles.  Why is this?  Well, when we are not allowed to press in for breakthrough we are sentenced to a life where circumstances become our lord instead of the Lord.

OK, let's look at this amazing story in Mark 2

2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

 Four friends bring their paralyzed friend to the meeting where Jesus was. They could not get in through the front door so they dug a hole in the roof and then let down their friend through the hole.

Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. Mark 2:3-4 

And what did Jesus say when He saw this?

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”  Mark 2:5

First of all, he admires the boldness of the friends and He rewards their faith.  It is amazing to see that our collective faith makes a huge difference.

So, here is what He didn't do... Jesus didn't rebuke them for their “works”. 

Did He remind them it is God alone who has the power to heal and in “His time” He would do it, “if He was willing”? Did He stop the meeting and point to the men and teach everyone that man can do nothing and these presumptuous  men should learn to “wait on God” instead of taking matters into their own hands?

No. He did none of that.

Instead the Bible says, “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

Why are we afraid of being bold?

 Wow! What these four friends did was considered an act of faith and Jesus honored them and healed the man. Where is this kind of teaching in the church today? Why are we so fearful of being accused of “taking matters into our own hands” and approaching God?

The Bible teaches us to approach His throne with confidence and boldness in Hebrews 4:19 This does not mean we are arrogant or full of pride. We desperately need to understand the difference between arrogance and boldness. 

We need to understand faith and works.

Of course we cannot perform miracles on our own. Nor can human will power take the place of God’s power. But we can exercise our will and our faith so that we can achieve breakthroughs with God.

Does that make sense?

Those men believed something and that belief led them to overcome any obstacles in their way. They did not look at the problem of a full meeting and say, “God must have other plans for our friend.” No, they said, “We will get our friend to Jesus and we’ll do whatever it takes.”

Whatever it takes

Jesus Christ is perfect theology. He is a perfect representation of Father God. If He commended these men for their faith this should encourage us not to back down when we are seeking breakthroughs of our own and for those we love.

Josh Monen

TAKEAWAY

Let’s  BE BOLD and really trust God for the miracles, believe that He still heals, He still speaks and wants to be involved in our lives, in the big things and little things.

It's Never Too Late To Get It Right!

Luke 23:33-43

Two thieves on the cross

32 Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. 33 When they came to a place called The Skull,[e] they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.35 The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. 37 They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” 40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

What is the difference in the attitude between these two thieves.

CRIMINAL 1 – The Scoffer	CRIMINAL 2 – The One Who Feared God
Self assured	Self aware
Smug	Repentant – knew he deserved what he received,
Proud	Humble
Indifferent to who Jesus was	Recognized who Jesus was
Indignant	Showed dignity

What do we learn about the criminal who mocked Jesus?

He took his sins with him to his grave

What do we learn from the criminal who feared God on the cross?

Jesus paid the price for his forgiveness right there on the cross

It’s never too late to put your faith and trust in Jesus.  He was right there dying beside Jesus as these events took place.

What do we learn about ourselves?

We simply can choose to accept or reject His free gift. 

What do we learn about Jesus?

Merciful, kind, not willing that anyone should not discover His saving grace

Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone.

Salvation = faith + nothing!

 We are all sinners in need of a Savior, and no matter the number of our sins and no matter if we, or the world, think our sins are minor or extreme, it is never too late to repent and accept the free gift of salvation

Luke 5:31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Are you ready to nail your sin to the cross today?  Are you ready as an act of faith to stop trying to pay for your own mistakes and accept His gift?

Communion is all about a heart of thankfulness, it is truly a celebration that my sins are forgiven and that I have freedom and it’s all because of Jesus. 

He took my shame and my sin and they are to be remembered no more

Psalm 103:12

as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Micah 7:19

He will again have compassion on us;  he will trample our iniquities. And you will hurl all their sins in the depths of the sea.

Ready, Get Set, GO!!

Sharon spoke at the Guelph Vineyard and I wanted to share her thoughts so this blog is all about the S in  jsninaber.blogspot.ca J 

Sharon refers to herself as a ‘recovering Baptist’ as she struggles with works, performance and striving as it relates to the Christian life and because anything has the potential to become legalistic in our lives.

She shared three simple but profound points.  Fill Us, Use Us, Show Us.  We get ready as we are filled, we get set to be used, and we go and He show us!!

1.   

FILL US!

Before we can reach out to our neighbours, let’s consider how vitally important it is for the Holy Spirit to be at the center. 

We had a neighbor back in the day named Selma* who Sharon tried to reach out to and share her faith with.  She didn’t know the Holy Spirit in an intimate way at that time and she relied on her own abilities and knowledge to witness to her.  When Selma eventually became a believer, she asked Sharon, “Why didn’t you tell me?”???

The lesson to be learned is this.

1.       The Holy Spirit convicts of sin John 16:8

2.       The Holy Spirit DRAWS people. John 15:26 The Greek word here for ‘draws’ means to ‘DRAG’. It is the same word that is used in John 21:6 when referring to a heavy net full of fish being dragged to shore!  So just ponder that for a moment. It is the Holy Spirit’s work and Holy Spirit literally drags us to Christ…awesome truth!  He does the work.

3.       Holy Spirit gives us authority and power and even the words we need when we need them.  Matthew 10:19

God’s timing is perfect.  It is amazing to know that He sets up the divine appointments and leads and directs when we listen for His voice and seek to obey Him!  Our motto at Church at the Manor is simple.  LOVE and SERVE.  We don’t debate and we trust in the Holy Spirit to work and He never fails us.

Pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

This past Sunday I (Jack) had the opportunity to just sit with one man who was completely distraught over the loss of a relationship for 5 years. He normally just comes down for lunch and then leaves.  A simple question just to ask how he was doing led into the complete undoing of his heart.  As I listened, Holy Spirit led the conversation to the place where I was able to place my hand on his shoulder and pray that the Father would heal his pain and wrap His loving arms around him.  There was incredible receptivity and I really sensed the Spirit leading during this time.

      USE US!

In the book the Art of Neighboring, the story is told of a group of 20 pastors in the Denver area who met with the mayor to ask the question, “How can we as churches best work together to serve our city?”  The mayor shared that the majority of the issues that our community  is facing would be eliminated or drastically reduced if we could just figure out a way to become a community of great neighbours!

One pastor in the meeting was rather embarrassed because what the mayor in reality was saying was that it would be great if their congregations could just live out the second part of the great commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves – it is actually a command from Jesus.  Matthew 22:37-40

“Solutions for our society are NOT found in government, police or schools or in getting more people to go to church.  The solution is within us”

After one year at the Manor we have seen this first hand.  We have seen doctors hand out prescription after prescription, judges whose hands are tied, people who KNOW the system and the loopholes, frustrated parole officers.

We have seen breakthrough because of caring relationships, people who are just willing to SHOW up and be there for those who attend our services.  We are so excited to see some of them getting real rehabilitation through the intensive ministry of Teen Challenge, we have seen a mother reunited with her children and a new home, a new family (believers in Jesus) who care to meet with her and encourage her in her new journey.

Don’t get hung up on getting people into your church.  Jesus didn’t say to build nice church buildings and have great programs and Bible studies and then they will come.  Jesus said GO!

Most people that we’ve met are open to talking about God and open to a relationship with Him.  They may not be ready to step foot into a traditional church.  An interesting point to note though is that when they do accept Jesus into their life they eventually want to experience deeper teaching, fellowship with believers and are hungry for more.  The Holy Spirit will take care of this process.

We are in way over our heads at the Manor.  It’s great to be in a situation where we desperately need God’s Spirit!!  We need to step out in His power and ask Him to use you.  It is SO GOOD!

3.        SHOW US!  

God, show us how valuable people are!  WE need to ignore what we see in the physical as we meet oru neighbours.  Don’t draw conclusions or make assumptions.  Reach out and ask God to see them through His eyes.

Why would Levi, the tax collector, leave everything behind when Jesus said, ‘follow me’?   Matthew 9:9-13 A few thoughts.

Jesus accepts him and loves him just as he is.

Levi feels wanted and needed.  Jesus has a plan for him despite his past.

Jesus engaged him in conversation even though he was  despised and hated.

“Let’s be honest.  The fact that the Pharisees question Jesus’s attendance indicates that this party was likely not a “Mountain Dew and pizza” kind of party.  This, for sure wasn’t a Sunday afternoon church potluck.  This was a party where people were having a lot of fun.”…When was the last time you were accused of doing something like this?  Has your character ever been questioned you ate or drank with sketchy people?”  from The Art of Neighboring by Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon

Here’s the amazing teacher, prophet, miracle worker inviting Levi into a relationship.  To ‘follow me’ means to ‘walk the same road’ It is to enter the teacher/ student relationship, master/pupil.

How bizarre for Levi, how exciting!

Jesus doesn’t care about how others look at or value a person.  He loves the outcasts and unloved.

One older man who comes every Sunday for lunch at the very least is very bitter towards God, He is angry and has been abused by a trusted religious leader.  He refers to God like Santa or the tooth fairy. He shares “I admire your faith, but I still don’t believe in God” and the response Sharon gave is that’s ok, but I know that God loves you and has a plan for your life.   As that was shared, his tears began to flow.

Another man with a tough exterior who now is a follower of Jesus shared how he used to hate Christians because all they did was quote Scripture at him.  He shared how we were different and just showed him love.  The first time Sharon saw him she told him that she saw a spirit of compassion in him and that he had the gift of mercy.  At that time, he said, “lady you don’t know me, I could throw you in a ditch” to which she replied that is not who you are though.  Over the course of the year we have known him he is living out who God called him to be, a man with a heart of compassion for others.  He also has been prophesied over as a “loose cannon in God’s gun”!

Here’s Jesus.  He didn’t come to polish the righteous, he came to rescue sinners.  See your neighbours through God’s eyes. They are loved, valuable and uniquely made.  They have purpose and destiny.

*names have been changed for privacy 

Jack of all trades...a typical week in the life of a church planter!

Sunday

8am   A crazy morning as I countdown the minutes to getting everyone in the van  "5 MINUTES" to getting to the first service for 9am.  We get energized in the Holy Spirit through powerful worship and then every service a team of people surround us as we are prayed over for our service at Church at the Manor.  We hit the church kitchen to pick up all the donations of salads, sandwiches, desserts and head home.  Time to load up the drum kit and keyboard and head to the Manor

11:30am Paul opens the doors for us and we go into the storage room and grab our speakers and sound equipment and begin the stage setup.  Bob, Laura and Jen oversee the set up of the food on the pool table.  Sharon leads the band in prayer and they begin worship practice.

1pm  The band starts to play and worship changes the atmosphere!  At roughly 1:30pm the speaker shares and a time of prayer follows.  We pack up and leave shortly after 3pm

Today we head out as a family to the local food event taking place at Ignatius Farm and see friends, listen to local music, sample food.  The evening finishes with a campfire in the backyard.


Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday are roofing days as I wake up at 7am and get roofing with my brother Ralph and the My Three Sons crew.  LOTS of sweat, sunscreen and laughs as we knock off the roofs together.

Monday night

7pm  Sharon and I head out to prayer ministry training at Freedom House Center here in Guelph.  It is a great time of insight and understanding with Dr. Wendy Thome.

Tuesday night

7pm  I meet Butch at the Royal to take him to prayer ministry but he has too much anxiety to go so I end up being blessed myself as the prayer ministry team at the Freedom House pray over me.

Wednesday night

Date night with Sharon!  We either go out for dinner, catch a movie, do some thrift shopping at Salvation Army or have some wine and cheese and watch a favorite TV episode

Thursday

7:50am get on my bike and head down to University of Guelph to participate in the pudding study. I get paid to eat pudding for a research study,  what I forget to see in the fine print is that they do finger pricks for blood at 0m, 15m, 30m 60m,90m 120m!  Eat a pizza lunch and head home at 11am

11:30am travel to Memory Gardens and meet with a family who lost their father, learn about him and the family, discover stories, prepare my notes and complete a memorial service at 1pm

2:30pm meet with Kellen, pastor of Crossings Community, downtown Guelph at Salsateria for nachos and talk life, ministry and family.

Relax

Friday

Ninabrook day!  Well that's the plan anyways.  I take time to help pull and pack orders and ship them to Canada Post on Woodlawn.  Sometimes I pull off a blog and there are always expenses and invoices to record in Simply Accounting.

Saturday

7am Wake up and hit the garage sales with Sharon and find amazing deals on things we really need!  Excellent bonding time.  In the afternoon, possibly do a community wedding with Geoff and Michelle recently or take part in a game of ball hockey in the neighbourhood or the annual street party with George doing a sweet job

**every morning I try to take time to get on my knees, pray, read the Word and spend time listening and journalling.  It doesn't happen everyday, but its my goal to start with Jesus.  Drive time can also turn in to listening to Steven Furtick on my Elevation app or praying on the way to the job site!

A lone ranger is a dead ranger!

I know for myself that I can easily become an island to myself and internalize a lot of the battles that I fight with on a day to day basis.  It is so easy to isolate and withdraw in our self- consuming world to our own detriment.  As I listened today for the Lord to speak to me I sensed Him telling me to stay far from the evil one’s traps, don’t listen to his voice, his lies, his justification.  Let truth be the belt that secures you.  So with that in mind I want to focus on developing a theology of community for our own health and the strength of those who call themselves Jesus followers.  We were never meant to do the Christian life ALONE!  This is absolutely key for us to continue in a life of transformation and breakthough.

Tim Keller in ‘Gospel In Life’ identifies three areas for what a Christian community is created to be and have shaped my understanding of community.

1.        The people of God – those who are created by faith through the Father

In Exodus 6:6,7  “Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. 7 I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God.

Check out the process for the children of Israel, it first begins with God rescuing them from slavery.  Even here in the OT, it is all about God and not their own merit.  He then redeems them, He purchased them outright for His very own self and places His mark on them.  He claims them and calls them His people!  What made them ‘a people’ was a complete act of God’s power and His grace.  This reality is the same for us today as 1 Peter 2:9,10 tells us that we “are a people belonging to God”.  This truth that Peter is sharing is the same concept, same metaphor of the children of the exodus.  Our faith was meant to be so much more than just a personal gospel, a personal salvation.  We were saved and brought into community and our common ground is through our repentance from sin, our slavery and believed the truth that Jesus has freed us and redeemed us to be His people!

We were always meant to identify ourselves as a “people belonging to God”.  We have been brought into a new relationship with other Jesus followers, brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Having just celebrated Father’s Day recently was a reminder of the role that we as Dad’s play in creating the environment for faith to grow in our children.  Jim Gordon, the pastor at Elora Road did an excellent job along with his son Jeremy on unpacking the 

power of permission -that a Father plays in admitting when he is wrong with his children

     power of presence- and the focus that a Father plays in being there for his children and being the CEO – chief encouragement officer!

·       power of pointing – the importance of pointing our children to Jesus.  I know I have often started but not followed through with my kids and confessed that to them.  We need to be consistent and that means strength from God as well as being intentional!  One of the best ways that we point our children to Jesus is by loving our wife well!

·       power of promise- this really helps me with the last point and that is that His strength is made perfect in my weakness.  2 Corinthians 12:9,10

In the same way the church needs spiritual fathers and mothers as Titus 2 lies out.

2.       The body of Christ – those who deliberately share and do life together.

As it relates to the body of Christ, we see in God’s Word the use of ‘family’ and ‘household’ to describe the importance of eating, living and working together.  We are not just a sum total or people who gather as is often the question when people ask about church….”how many people attend on a given Sunday?”.  Rather, we play the part that God has designed us for and are deeply connected to the rest.  A huge part that the body plays is calling out of people that which God has created them to be.  We can only do that up close as we affirm one another’s strengths and gifts as we see in the redemptive gifts of Romans 12:3-8 that tells us to confirm the gifts of one another and the ultimate goal is to ‘honor one another’.  Romans 12:10

My home church, Elora Road Christian Fellowship, for 48 years, has created such a strong sense of community by using their grounds for a week of camp meetings.  I am so looking forward to being on site this year and can truly say that it is such a bonding and strengthening time for those attending.   There is such a profound understanding and opportunity to experience being the ‘people of God’ .  The close proximity that we have also creates the intimacy for honest and real conversations and late night campfires to speak life and encourage one another!  It is awesome!!

We need to be about hospitality and inviting each other into our homes, our families, having others over for a meal.  A family shares all of life together, eating, living and working together.

3.       The fellowship of the Spirit – those who are a model of his preferred future.

We’ve talked about the role of the Father and Son in community and we definitely wouldn’t be complete about the role the Holy Spirit plays.  A Spirit-filled community is an alternative society that models distinct ways to do everything in life.  Only though the influence of the Spirit, do we have any hope to a city on a hill whose visible behavior shines and displays the glory of God.  Matthew 5:14

2 Corinthians 3:17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

A Spirit-filled community understands the power of breakthrough through praying in the Spirit.  Romans 8:26.  We often don’t know how to pray and the Spirit intercedes for us.

I have discovered that praying in the Spirit as Paul speaks of 1 Corinthians 14 is a powerful exercise that leads to breakthrough!

A picture of a recent time of pray at Church at the Manor demonstrates the beauty and power of community  as our speaker, a ministry team member and one of our attendees all laid hands together in prayer on a man who desperately was seeking freedom from addiction. We are a royal priesthood of people who advocate and stand in the gap on behalf of others.

Also, just recently we went to a wedding in London and we were so close to Teen Challenge to visit Dan.  However, it was late on the way back, my kids had exams and work.  One of them had to wake up at 5:30am the next morning.  We just knew we needed to stop and we did.  As it turned out Dan was ready to quit the program that day and the worker there told us we were a godsend.  It meant so much to Dan that we came and said hi and it really boosted his spirits.  He felt that our visit was God telling him how much He loved him.  A simple visit on our part but when Holy Spirit leads us, we can model His love!!

It has been said that “we will not know God, change deeply, nor win the world apart from community!”  I agree!

It’s All In The Approach!

Pictured on the right is Dan and Jack at Teen Challenge >>

Imagine early Christians talking to their neighbours in the Roman Empire.  “I can see that you are religious, you talk a lot about God and Jesus in your conversations.  I think religion is a good thing.  So, where is your temple or holy place?  The early Christian replies, “well, actually, we don’t have a temple… we usually meet in each other’s homes and we believe we are living temples that Jesus dwells in”  “So, where are your priests and what type of rituals do you perform?”  The believer responds, well, you see  we don’ t have a priest… well actually, we do have one, Jesus is our Great High Priest and He seeks God the Father on our behalf.  “What about sacrifices?”  There again the response comes, “Jesus sacrificed His life once and for all for us.  The confused neighbor states, well this doesn’t sound much like a religion at all, but it sure has a lot to do with that man, Jesus!”

Fast forward to 2014 and Sharon and I have just received a phone call from Roger, the owner of the Manor prior to starting Church at the Manor.  City Hall has turned Roger down from allowing us to rent the space for church.  The  city bylaws do not allow for a ‘religious institution’ on the premises of the strip club. However, when our plan to provide lunch and meet with residents along with a time for sharing stories of hope and transformation through God and prayer, we were granted favor.    

The city gave us an official letter stating that we will be zoned as a ‘social service’.  That was perfect as far as we were concerned.  We didn’t wanted to be known as a religious institution, but a rescue center!

It’s All About Relationship and Not Religion!

Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  There are really three different ways to respond to God, one is ambivalence, another, religion  and then the gospel.  Religion is very subtle and quite deceptive because it rests very much in some form of self-salvation. 

I love how Tim Keller breaks down the difference between religion and the gospel in his study on Gospel in Life and I have highlighted here with some of my own takeaways as well.

Religion	Gospel
I obey, therefore I’m accepted	I’m accepted, therefore I obey
Motivation is based on fear and insecurity	Motivation is based on grateful joy
I obey God in order to get things from God	I obey God to get God – to delight in and resemble him
When I am criticized, I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a good person	When I am criticized, I struggle, but it is not essential for me to think of myself as a good person.
My prayer life consists largely of petition and it only heats up in my time of need.  My main purpose in prayer is control of the environment	My prayer life consists of generous stretches of worship, praise and thankfulness.  My main purpose is to connect with God in a meaningful way
My identity and self -worth are mainly based on how hard I work or how moral I am.  This leads me to a more proud mindset and lack of patience for those who just can’t get there and judgmental attitude as well.	My identity and self-worth is not built on my record or my performance but on God’s love for me in Christ This leads me to deep humility and confidence at the same time

Tim goes on to share that the gospel if it really is to believed removes neediness – the need to be constantly respected, appreciated and well regarded; the need to have everything in your life to go well: the need to have power over others.

It’s All About Receiving and Not Achieving!

An insight of Martin Luther was that even after you have been changed by the gospel of grace and finished work of Jesus on the cross, your heart will easily shift to its default mode of operating on a religious or moral principle.  We have to deliberately and repeatedly set our heart back to the gospel mode.

John Calvin said this about the righteousness that we receive from Christ.

This we call the righteousness of faith, that is when a man, empty and drained of all confidence in works, feels that the only ground of his acceptance with God is a righteousness which is wanting in himself and is borrowed from Christ.

We must continue to have a gospel mindset in that the same way we received Christ, completely by faith and acceptance is the same way we go on in the Christian walk by faith and complete acceptance of what Jesus is doing in us and through us.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.  Colossians 2:6,7

We have to keep watering the roots with a heart filled with thankfulness so that the tree stays healthy and alive even in difficult situations where we think that maybe God is punishing us or maybe we are not doing enough to earn his favor.

Psalm 13 doesn’t start well for David when he shares,

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me?

But it finishes with But I trust in your unfailing love;  my heart rejoices in your salvation.
 I will sing the Lord’s praise   for he has been good to me.

Sometimes we may feel that we don’t know where God is, but we must never forget who God is and that is the turnaround for David.

It is all about justification and not justifying myself!

Let’s look at the perspective of a Pharisee vs a tax collector,  or the self- righteous vs the sinner

In Luke 18:9-14, (read it again) we read the story of two men seeking justification before God.

The Pharisee is trapped in his own sense of being good vs the tax collector who sees no good in himself.  I honestly don’t look at the Pharisee as a hypocrite.  He did have high moral virtues that he actually possessed from a human perspective.  He would probably win a humanitarian award as long as he didn’t make his disdain too obvious for others who couldn’t hold to his standard.  He was an upright, moral citizen, but his fatal flaw was that he was using that as his own justification before God.  The Pharisee understood righteousness by outward, tangible acts of goodness.

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

The tax collector see himself exactly as how we should all see ourselves when we do not put our faith or trust in Jesus no matter what the circumstance.  We ultimately fail miserably and don’t measure up and that is exactly what Romans 3:23 tells us.  We have all fallen so far short of the glory of God.

So in this story the tax collector goes home justified before God because his only words were,  ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

So what is justification?  It is a legal declaration of God that only He can make over us.  It has nothing to do with our actions, but our heart attitude and the recognition that I could never justify myself!  I Just need to thank Him and praise for what He has already done and allow my actions to stem from a heart filled with gratitude and grace for others.

Manor Church Update

Never the Same Old, Same Old Here!

11 and counting!  This is how many baptisms have occured in just a little over one year! Spenser, Amy, Michel and Bobby are the latest to take the plunge!

We have had great opportunities to minister to people one on one and one special occasion for me was the opportunity to have communion one on one with Greg.  He shared his life story with me and it was a reaffirmation of faith for him.   Greg has an alcohol addiction but it has been so encouraging to see him choose Canada Dry of late as our team members stock him up.  Greg just lost his neighbour and very good friend, Jack and we look forward to having an opportunity to do a memorial service for him. 

We have also helped moved out a current dancer from the Manor who is looking to get a fresh start.  Please pray for her as she also has a strong crystal meth addiction.

I was blessed by my coffee with Michel and hear his journey towards faith and fully trusting the power greater than Himself, Jesus.  He is on his freedom journey from alcohol that started March 1^st and it was awesome to have the opportunity to baptize him on April 26^th.  During our conversation, it was so good to hear his dreams of a hobby farm, to be reunited with his wife and children.  God is working in his life as he has experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in such a profound way that the peace he felt was supernatural.  He spoke of how it was better than any binge drink he ever had.  Michel is now working on installing cable lines in northern Alberta for a specific period of time and we just learned that the Holy Spirit has completely set him up as he is presently sharing a rental place with a man training for pastoral ministry.  God is good.

Dan is progressing well at Teen Challenge and we had a great visit at the beginning of the month.  He is growing deeper in His Christian walk and experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit.  Dan has also joined the men’s choir and has had opportunity to minister in a number of churches already.

We had a new man out, Juan, who just moved into the Manor Motel.  The first thing he shared with one of our team members was, ‘ I’m an addict, am I allowed to come here?’  By the end of the service Juan was receiving prayer for healing as this past week we had Andreas and Luisa Krause share about their miraculous healing journey.  The stories of healing continue this week with JoJo Smith speaking.

In my devotional reading from Bible Gateway I read, We may often pray for safety, but the first Church prayed for boldness. If you’re not living for Christ boldly enough to cost you some security, pray for boldness today. Pray for God to bring you opportunities to bring people to Christ and the boldness to do it!

So, we are looking forward to an opportunity to take the gospel to the streets  downtown with our church and give those who attend the opportunity to bless others with a gift and potentially pray with them as well.

The Radical Breakthrough of Faith

My reflections on the life of Saul who became Paul, the greatest missionary ever of the early Christian church rise once again to the surface as I reflect on the recent terrorist acts and martyrdom of my Egyptian Christian brothers now revealing their graphic and very brutal deaths.

http://shoebat.com/2015/04/19/watch-the-amazing-30-brave-christians-slaughtered-telling-the-muslims-to-go-to-hell-and-refusing-to-bow-to-the-false-god-allah/

The Message writes about Ananias who had a vision from the Master,  Acts 9:13-14 Ananias protested, “Master, you can’t be serious. Everybody’s talking about this man and the terrible things he’s been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he’s shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us.”

Saul was the most feared terrorist of Christians in those early days and Jesus Christ showed up and stopped him dead in his tracks.  He was blinded by the light of the glorious Gospel and it changed him forever.  He had a visitation in a moment that changed the course of his life forever.  Once a man so bent on eradicating the people of the Cross, he became the greatest proponent of the Way.  God saw his radical commitment to faith and turned what once hatred for everything Jesus and put a burning passion in Him for a new way of obtaining righteousness.  He went through a name change and Saul who now became Paul was ready to go to hell if it meant more people could experience life with Christ.  He was radical for what he believed to be the pure and holy way of truth through Judaism and it’s laws to being radical to justification by faith alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

I can’t help but echo the prayer that was recently portrayed by video from the “People of the Cross’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSv4vBcFyvo

and pray that God will reveal Himself in such powerful ways that they will not be able to deny the vision and the revelation that they will receive to turn the most radically opposed to Jesus into His greatest followers.

God can change people in a moment of breakthrough.  We must pray for radical revelation and it has been so awesome to see it happen with people who attend church at the Manor.  God has turned the life of people who many would think were the farthest from the gospel and they now are baptized and followers of Jesus.  They share with us of radical revelation and angelic visits, God revealing to them how He was with them through some of the most brutal times of their growing up years. 

They have amazing joy, they make us laugh and they are simply amazing.  It is a joy to journey with them. We just celebrated Bobby's baptism on Sunday April 19th at www.ercf.ca