(September 6, 2011)

Prayer House News!

This week is not only Family Week for us – it’s also our All-Church Clean. If you have signed up to help us – don’t forget!! Saturday will be the big day as we put the sanctuary back together and clean up the east edge of our property. Dave Dennee is bringing his trailer and we are going to load it with all the brush and weeds we take down. See you around 9:00am.

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Devotional

I think the phraseology of the Bible is quite interesting from time to time. The word, “win,” indicates a contest or a competition. Proverbs 11:30 says, The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. In a certain sense we are in a contest over the souls of men. When it comes to a man’s life these is a definite beginning and a definite ending. That which is in-between is called the race of life. In this race, “to win” means eternal life – “to lose” means eternal death. So it is the most important race a person will ever face.

Acts 20:24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-- the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

So the apostle comes along and says, “Don’t forget what the calling on all of our lives are. It’s to win people to Christ. It’s to win their souls from destruction.” Paul says, “My life means nothing except to complete the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace – so that I may win souls to Christ.”

Look at this verse again Proverbs 11:30 says, The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. There are two parts to this verse. 1. Living a life of righteousness. 2. Winning souls. These two things are always connected. If we don’t live the way we should we will greatly hinder our ability to win people to Christ.

We must always keep in mind that we are seeking to win people to Christ. When we share our faith, it is often interpreted that we are simply trying to get people to join the church. Joining the church is the “after” issue. Joining the church is not the critical issue. Winning their souls is the critical issue. After that has been accomplished then I believe they need to get involved in a church for the sake of growing in the things of God. But first and foremost is their souls.

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Medication: A Merry Heart

Smart Phone Terminology

A mother was determined to break through the generation gap

and have a meaningful conversation with her pre-teen about

her first day back at school.

The mother asked, "Did you have a good day?"

The daughter responded with, "Yeah."

Trying to prod a more detailed response, the mother

inquired, "Do you like school this year?"

The daughter said, "Well, sort of."

Again pressing the point, the determined mom asked, "Well,

how much did you like it?"

As a sign of the way smart phones have changed the way young

people think, the daughter replied, "I like it. But, I only

like it about two bars."