April 19 to May 15 Trip: Cambodia and Thailand

                                                                   David Platt on PRAYER

"Why prayer is necessary"?

* you don't need prayer when you watching TV
* we don't need prayer when mindlessly surfing the internet


We don't need prayer then
* you don't need prayer when there is nothing at stake in your walk with Christ
* you don't need prayer when there's no risk in Christianity
*  you don't need prayer when Christianity consists of monotonous religious motion of routine


Week-in
Week-out


You don't need prayer for that 
You can do that on your own

but when you risk everything To Glorify JESUS CHRIST 

"You Need Prayer"

When you sacrifice your:
Possession
Dreams
Hopes
Career

And when you lay it all on the line 

and you stake your reputation

down

on your allegiance to Christ 

"You Need Prayer" 

When your longing

Day-in and Day-out 

is to lead people to faith in Christ

"YOU NEED PRAYER"

"YOU NEED TO RELY ON PRAYER"

"YOU ARE DESPERATE ON PRAYER" 

Because you are devoted to His MISSION

and when 

the aim of your life, 

is to affect as many people with the Gospel of CHRIST for the Glory of CHRIST 

you will find yourself given over to 

"PRAYER"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbDuoT4-HWc&feature=related

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

 ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Please  PRAY  for:

April 19 to May 15 Trip: Cambodia and Thailand

No Doubt

by: Petra

There are times when you fell like you can't go on
There are times when you fell like giving in
And there are times when you feel like you can't try anymore
There are times of trouble in believing
This test of your faith will last
As long as it takes to pass
Till you have no more doubt you'll endure
And you faith will emerge true and pure

(Chorus)
No doubt it'll be alright
With God it'll all work together for good
No doubt in the end it will be understood
No doubt it'll all work out
With faith He can move any mountain for us
No doubt in the power of Jesus
And after all is done we find out
All we really need to have is no doubt

(Verse 2)
There's a time to take a reckless leap of faith
There's a time to be cautious and wait
And there's a way of learning from the past
That this time of trouble won't last
And sometimes we want to think we know
The ways He will choose to make us grow
But it's never the way of our choosing
And we can't always see what He's using

(Repeat chorus)

There will be winters in the seasons of our soul
With a cold and bitter wind that chills our lives
But our faith can be building a fire
That will warm us till spring time arrives

What ever the circumstances that we are facing in this world,

faith  and trusting God without doubt  can do anything.

Self- Denial by John Calvin

Part 1: The Sum of the Christian Life- Self Denial

" We are Not our Own Master, but Belong to God"

         Is it true to every Christian, if we acknowledge ourselves as one of His children and He is our divine master. So we have to submit and surrender ourselves wholelly to Him. Once you accept Jesus in your life as your savior and God , you are not longer own yourself but belong to God.

The duty of believers:

      * to present their bodies a living sacrifice, 

holy and acceptable unto God, which is their reasonable service. (Romans 12: 1)

      * And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, 

that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)

We are not our own:

         * therefore, neither our own reason nor will is to rule our acts and counsels.

         * therefore, let us not make it our end to seek what may be agreeable to our carnal nature

         * therefore, as far as possible, let us forget ourselves and the things that ours.      

If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord

Romans 14:8

As children of God I belong to Him, and I will let His wisdom and will preside over my all actions.

"To abandon ourselves and devote the whole energy of our minds to the service of god" (RADICAL by: David Platt)

I learned not only that which consist in verbal obedience, but that by which the mind divested of its own canal feeling, implicit obeys the call of the spirit of God. Which Paul calls the renewing of the mind and to live like God.

Matthew 21:22  

And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.

This year North Korea has topped the list again.

“There is no other country in the world where Christians are being persecuted in such a horrible and systematic manner,” says Carl Moeller, President/CEO of Open Doors USA.

One expert on North Korea stated: “Christians are the target of fierce government action, and once caught, are not regarded as human. Last year we had evidence that some [of those captured] were used as guinea pigs to test chemical and biological weapons.”

 

Top Ten Persecuted Countries are:

 1. North Korea

 2. Iran 

 3. Afghanistan

 4. Saudi Arabia

 5. Sumalia

 6. Maldives

 7.Yemen

 8. Iraq

9. Uzbekistan

10. Laos

Mark 11:24   

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Matthew 7:7  

”Ask, and it will be given to you seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

 

Coffee with God

     

     A coffee lover that's how I describe myself when we talk about COFFEE.  My day is not complete without drinking coffee. I really love coffee :)

    

     This afternoon I stayed at the library and I saw a book entitled "The Gospel According to Starbucks by Leonard Sweet" that book caught my attention. Of course Starbucks is known as one of the best coffee shop. almost around the world. Starbucks  is a roaster, marketer and retailer of specialty coffee in the world, operating in more than 50 countries. So  I browse the book and read some  part of it:

    Jesus, while not a coffee drinker, modeled the life of faith as both a consuming philosophy and a daily practice- a full life engagement. He showed us that it's a life in which God is as immediate, available, and real as a steaming cup of coffee first thing in the morning life with GOD: it's "the best part of  waken' up! (Folgers).

    God has set up shop where you live. The doors are open and the coffee is brewing. God is serving the refreshing antidote to the conventional, unsatisfying, arm-length spiritual life and God invites you in. God won't make you stand in line.

Brewed for thought:

             If you could get together with just one person from history for coffee and conversation (other than Jesus) , whom would it be? Why that person?

Brewed coffee lines:

              A grande gospel, a frappuccino faith, a venti life of romance and passion. It's nothing less than the gospel according to starbucks.

                                  The Gospel According to Starbucks by: Leonard Sweet

 A driving hunger for God is passion at its best. Give yourself the freedom to enjoy the excitement and adventure of pursuing God with all your spiritual passion.

God turning things to treasure for His glory

       Short list of gospel heroes men and women on a human level, were the least and worst. But in God purposes these same people were transformed into heroes:

* Moses was a murderer, He recycled rage and became the great leader in Israel's history.

* Jacob was a schemer and a thief,  He recycled his cunning and became Israel, the father of a nation.

* David was an adulterer, He recycled his passion and became the great of the Hebrew kings.

* Peter was a boastful, profane fisherman. He recycled his pride and became the rock upon which Christ built his church

* Mary Magdalene recycled her undisciplined habits and became a passionate lover of God.

* Saul of Tarsus, a persecutor of Christians, recycled his hatred and became Paul, the greatest of the missionary theologians

* Esther a hereon girl, recycled her sex appeal and saved the Jewish People from history's first Holocaust.

* Ruth was an idol worshiper, but she recycled her paganism and became a progenitor of Jesus the Christ.

        If we learn the gospel, then we will find God turning our trash into treasure, making our hell (Sheols) into HEAVEN (Shelohs), and taking the worst out of our lives and turning into the best.
   

The Great Commission

Matthew 28:18-20

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Mark 16:15

   ¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.