(May 6, 2011)

Prayer House News!

Tonight is SWAT NIGHT LIVE! Meal starts at 5:30pm.
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Devotional!

Then I Remembered

I consider memorizing as the first step to meditation. How do you memorize? The most beneficial for me is simply by repetition ….I simply continue to go over the verse in my mind until I have it.

The repetition of God’s Word in your mind will cause you to go through a healing process. And it’s been the most revolutionary thing that has happened to me.

Paul writes in Phil 4:8 – Think on these things. It’s a command – saying you have the ability to think of the things you want – So think on these things – what things – whatsoever things are good, honest, pure, lovely. These are the things of God. Paul says think of the things of God – and the God of Peace will be with you.

I will simply take a verse and begin to repeat it over and over. Bill Gothard started his project memorizing one chapter a week. At first I thought that this was too much. It’s not. I memorized 5 verses in ½ hour. Average. 5 x 7 =35. The average chapter is 30 verses. So in a half hour a day you can easily finish a chapter a week. I did 20 chapters of Isaiah in 8 weeks. That’s a little over 2 chapters a week.

You can do it. But it takes discipline – It might mean you will have to give up some of that precious T.V. time. Because I had to continually review chapters, I have found that once I have committed a chapter to memory it takes about 20 minutes of review to be able to recall verbatim the whole chapter.

As you spend that much time in His word, meditation becomes an automatic thing. As you spend hours a day memorizing – repeating versus - God begins to open His word to you. Through meditation, God shows us the hidden meaning of His word.

Memorizing a chapter a week is not an easy task. And that is why 1 in 10,000 follow it – but my challenge to you today is that you be that 1 that will do it. I started with Isaiah because of a college class. However, I would recommend that a person start with some of the Psalms and then do Ephesians and Philippians.

Now I want to go back to the account we have been reading in Acts where they were so hungry for God that even while Peter was teaching the Holy Spirit came upon them and they began to speak in tongues and praise God.

Earlier I said, When you allow someone or something into your heart – that is an expression of love. Meditation is a “taking in.” It’s taking the word of God into your heart. But you will only do that out of a love for it. Those who hunger and thirst shall be filled. Whatever you hunger for – you take in – once you have taken in – you are filled.

Here is the question – what are you filled with? What occupies your mind? When you sit and think about what it is you sit and think about – what is it? You are only filled with the things you hunger for. What is your life filled with? What do you know the most about? What can you most easily quote?

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Medication: A Merry Heart

Counting Rabbits

Teacher: If I give you two rabbits and two rabbits and
another two rabbits, how many rabbits have you got?

Paddy: Seven!

Teacher: No, listen carefully again. If I give you two
rabbits and two rabbits and another two rabbits, how many
rabbits have you got?

Paddy: Seven!

Teacher: Let's try this another way. If I give you two
apples and two apples and another two apples, how many
apples have you got?

Paddy: Six.

Teacher: Good. Now if I give you two rabbits and two rabbits
and another two rabbits, how many rabbits have you got?

Paddy: Seven!

Teacher: How on earth do you work out that three lots of two
rabbits is seven?

Paddy: I've already got one rabbit at home now!

(May 5, 2011)

Prayer House News!

Mighty Men meet tonight at 6:30pm followed by RPM - in the prayer room.

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Tomorrow night is SWAT NIGHT LIVE! Meal starts at 5:30pm!

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Devotional!

Then I Remembered

The Bible does not promise success or prosperity through memorizing scripture. But it does promise those things through meditation of His Word. I want to show you 6 points and promises concerning mediation. The Hebrew word for meditation is “Hagala” which literally means, mutter, speak. When God says meditate day and night – He doesn’t mean go sit in a corner all day and cross your legs. Instead He’s saying – get my word in you to the point that all day long it’s passing through your lips – minute by minute you are speaking it and thinking it.

What a person is doing through memorizing and subsequently meditating: is that of developing a God consciousness. You will have good success!

Joshua 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

You will excel in wisdom and understanding:

Psalms 119:97-99 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. (98) Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. (99) I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.

You will have new power over sin!

Psalms 119:9,11 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.; (11) I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

God’s word will keep you from sin. Sin is simply the result of giving into temptation. And if in that hour of temptation you don’t have something to throw back at the devil like God’s word – you’re probably going to give into that temptation. But if, like Jesus, you quote scripture the devil has to honor that.

You will discover how to live:

Proverb 4:4 "Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live.

Not only will he give you power over sin – Then he will teach you how to maintain that sinless life.

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Medication: A Merry Heart

A man was dining in a fancy restaurant and there was a gorgeous redhead sitting at the next table. He had been checking her out since he sat down, but lacked the nerve to speak to her.

Suddenly she sneezed, and her glass eye came flying out of its socket toward the man. He reflexively reached out, grabbed it out of the air, and handed it back.

'Oh my, I am so sorry,' the woman said as she popped her eye back in place...

'Let me buy your dinner to make it up to you,' she said.

They enjoyed a wonderful dinner together, and afterward went to the theatre and later had drinks. They talked, they laughed, she shared her deepest dreams and he shared his. She listened.

The next day, she put together a gourmet picnic dinner with all the trimmings. After a pleasant day under the sun, the guy was amazed. Everything had been SO incredible! 'You know,' he said, 'you are the perfect woman. Do you treat every guy you meet this way?'

'No,' she replied...

'You just happened to catch my eye...'

(May 4, 2011)

Prayer House News!

This is Family Week which means we have no classes tonight. Don't be there by 6:30pm.

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Devotional!

Then I Remembered

Back in 1976 I attended one of Bill Gothard’s seminars and he talked about a formula he had discovered to success. He also made the statement that only 1 in 10,000 will follow this formula. I thought to myself; “If it’s truly successful or it will make me successful – why would so few follow it?” After trying it, I found out why. However, after following it I can testify to the truth of it, I truly experienced success.

Gothard took 9 years to complete 8 years of school then with very low grades. Prior to his entering high school he determined to make good grades – but with 4 to 6 ours of studying a night he only managed average grades. Then a Christian friend challenged him to begin a certain project, which at first seemed impossible. However, he diligently worked on this project for a semester. At the end of that semester the school grades rose to an A- average! The project was continued during the remaining years of high school, whereupon he graduated as a member of the National Honor Society. The project was maintained off and on during college and graduate school. To his amazement, in direct proportions to his faithfulness in this project, his grades went either up or down.

The project was this – memorizing scripture. Bill would memorize a chapter of the Bible each week.

The second to my last semester in Bible school – I enrolled in a class with Don Meyers studying the book of Isaiah. Bro. Meyers threw out a challenge the first day. As he was going through the syllabus and explaining all the tests and term papers that would be expected he ended it with this, “Anybody willing to memorize the book of Isaiah, can not only skip all the testes, but not do any term papers either. The only requirement would be that you come to class.” Being the type that always looked for the easy way out, I said, “I’m going to try it.”

Isaiah has 66 chapters, and 1292 verses. And in the beginning it looked enormous, but after getting in it I found out it was true – it is enormous. I wasn’t sure if my mind was good for anything so I determined a test for me – I said I would memorize the first 5 chapters – and after that if I could still remember the 1st chapter I would continue on. Well, after the first 5 I could still remember the 1st. I got started around the end of September. By the end of November (2 months) I had memorized 20 chapters. 1/3 of the way done.

To make a long story short – because of time – I was only able to finish about ½ of the book (30 chapters). But in January I sat down with the teacher for three days in a row, and quoted 10 chapters at each setting. Not the easy way. Didn’t just take a chapter and quote it – the teacher went through each chapter and would pick out a verse here and a verse there and ask me to quote them. Because I didn’t finish the entire book of Isaiah I had to take the last test. Aced the test. No sweat. Still got my “A” for the class.

That’s just half the story – during that semester I took one of my heaviest loads at school. Twelve credits is a full time student – I was taking 17. I had six other term papers as well as working full time at our church as the youth pastor. Lou and I had only been married one year. That particular semester – for the first time in my life – I made the honor-roll at college.

This thing works! I would challenge any one of you to try it. The continuous mental discipline of memorizing and mediating on Scripture rebuilt my thought structures and redirected my goals. It’s not something that is simply spiritual – there are some very logical by-products of memorizing such as, increased memory span. After spending so much time on such a large portion of scripture I found myself able to take 12 pages of notes from a different class and completely memorize them, an hour before the test, go in and ace a test.

A Greater ability to concentrate is another benefit. I cold sit in class and the things I didn’t have in my notes I was able to remember from lectures. My reading as well – I was never a good reader. I had a very limited concentration span. I would begin to read something and without even realizing it, I would find myself thinking about something else. What you are doing through memorizing is taxing your mind – you are forcing it to work. And in doing so you will find that you have a tremendous ability within yourself.

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Medication: A Merry Heart

How do you kill a circus?
Go straight for the juggler.

(May 3, 2011)

Prayer House News!

We are looking for helpers to spread the bark Today? We will start at 8 am and work until done. We are looking for people who can spread, haul or shovel. No experience is necessary and people who can't lift can still be of use spreading the bark in place with a rake. We also want to remind helpers to bring heavy duty gloves. We can also use wheelbarrows, flat bottomed shovels, hoes, and rakes (especially the flat ones with the wide teeth.
Thanks,
Geri Sorenson

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Devotional!

Then I Remembered

So Peter goes with the men to the house of Cornelius. When he gets there he makes an interesting statement.

Acts 10:28 He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.

That’s the old paradigm; a Jew cannot associate with a Gentile or visit him. And then the words “but God” signifies the new paradigm. But God has shown me that it’s OK.

Then Peter begins to speak to them about the things of God – explaining the whole mission of Jesus and how he was crucified.

Acts 10:44-46 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. (45) The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. (46) For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

While Peter was still speaking – God takes over. This would be another one of those “enlightening times” when God does something before we think he should. Just like Cornelius was obviously a Christian before any of the apostles could tell him how to be saved – the Holy Spirit gets poured out before Peter has the full chance to explain how it should happen. Suddenly everybody who had been listening starts speaking in tongues and praising God.

Just think of what it would take for that kind of thing to take place. As they are listening to the preacher their hunger level got to the point that they began to speak in tongues. – Last week Jeff Kruger emailed me something that someone he works with sent him about their church somewhere in Ohio.

It is a wonderful thing that is happening. Let's just say that the Lord is in the house. We are seeing miracles, healings, and many, many each night coming forward to accept Christ. It has been so packed out because people in the community are hungry. We don’t have enough room for everyone. There is such a desperation to touch the hem of his garment. The teens are just taking off. They are going back to their schools and praying for their classmates.

This was only to be a weekend revival and we are now going on the third week and have next week yet to go. It's like pastor said, “people are hungry and as long as they keep coming in these large numbers and as long as the Holy Spirit keeps showing up well, we will keep going.”

Now you need to remember that this is a Nazarene church and Pastor said that he is being stretched and he is out of his "comfort" zone but that the Lord is here and he is in control. You see we are having people falling out under the power, being baptized in the spirit, being slain in the spirit, all of which are just not used to.

Peter was out of his comfort zone also wasn’t he? Yet he knew the Lord had led him so he obeyed. Now I want to change my focus and then ultimately come back to this very thing of hungering for the Lord.

Peter eventually goes back to Jerusalem to tell his critics about what had happened. Some of them were quite upset over the fact that he had associated with a Gentile. Acts 11:4 Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened. He goes into all the detail of the events

Acts 11:15-17 "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. (16) Then I remembered what the Lord had said: `John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Peter not only witnessed the Holy Spirit upon them – it seems the clencher for him was that fact that he remembered what the Lord had said. Then I remembered. What Peter remembered was the spoken Word of God. Then I remembered what the Lord had said. I believe that is a lot more significant than what we might want to believe. There might be very few things more important than our ability to remember the Word of God.

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Medication: A Merry Heart

A young man had been working as a bag boy in a supermarket for several years.
One day the supermarket got new orange juice machines.
The bag boy was excited and asked the manager if he could work the juice machines.
The manager turned him down.
The bag boy said, "But I've been working here for five years. Why can't I run the juice machines?"
The manager said, "I'm sorry, but baggers can't be juicers."

(May 2, 2011)

Prayer House News!

Today is the 12th anniversary of Prayer House. On this day twelve years ago we held our first public service at Bose Elementary School. Today we have a beautiful new building with an even more beautiful congregation and nothing but good on the horizon.

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Pastor John Oscar kicked off our final core value focus yesterday on Souls with a powerful challenge! We are believing God for a harvest of souls. Pray with us to that end as we put a stronger than usual emphasis on our obligation to get out on the street and share our faith.

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Devotional!

Then I Remembered

For the last two weeks we have been looking at the 10th Chapter of Acts. It is a very important chapter for us as believers. As I said last week, Acts 10 is a paradigm shift. You might remember that a paradigm is the accepted way of doing something because it's what has worked. Prior to this time, the Apostles were focused primarily on taking the gospel to the Jews. With Peter’s vision of the sheet coming down from heaven, filled with what had been unclean food and God’s command to “kill and eat,” he began to realize that the gospel could now be presented to anyone who had a right heart. That was definitely a shift in his thinking.

Acts 10:34-35 Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism (35) but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.

That is great news for us non-Jews, especially for us Germans whom the Jews do not think a lot of. God does not show favoritism – but accepts men who fear him and do what is right. Not until he witnessed the Holy Spirit falling upon Cornelius and the others did he fully believe, nor did he fully understand the vision until then.

Acts 10:44-48 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. (45) The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. (46) For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, (47) "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."

Peter’s original vision of seeing the sheet come down from heaven was more than just a lesson on what kinds of foods he could eat.

Acts 10:19-20 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. (20) So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them."

Peter was still trying to figure out the vision when the Holy Spirit told him to go downstairs and to go with the men that had come for him. I don’t know if Peter quickly made the connection between his pondering about the vision and the three men who showed up – but eventually he did – once he saw the Holy Spirit come upon the Gentiles. In a lot of ways the Gentiles were in the same category as unclean food was. The Jews were to have nothing to do with them under the old system. That was the old paradigm but now they are under the new paradigm of accepting everything that God says is OK.

When Peter first heard the Holy Spirit say, “Kill and eat,” his first response was – “No way Lord, I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." V. 14. When you eat something you take it into your being. Isn’t that correct? You take it in. When it comes to food we take it into our stomachs, but when it comes to other things, like people, we take them into our hearts. Isn’t that how a person ultimately gets saved, by asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins and taking Him into their heart.

When you allow someone or something into your heart – that is an expression of love. Anything you open your heart to you are opening your emotions to. So not only was God asking Peter to take the gospel to the Gentiles – he was asking him to take them into his heart. The Jewish view of God had been limited by the Mosaic law. With this paradigm shift and the message of Jesus, God was trying to get Peter to see His love for all mankind. The point is this; you cannot have God in your heart without having allowed all mankind into your heart. Therefore, much of the vision Peter had, could come down to this; Peter not only are you allowed to take this formerly unclean food into your stomach but you are allowed to take in formerly unclean people too, in fact, you must take them in because I have. Proof of that will be my Holy Spirit filling them and causing them to praise and worship me in another tongue.

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Medication: A Merry Heart

- The longest sentence known to man: "I do."

- I only use deodorant under one arm, so I know what I would
have smelled like.

- Crime doesn't pay; does that mean my job is a crime?

- Do you ever notice that when you're driving, anyone going
slower than you is an idiot and everyone driving faster than
you is a maniac?

- I've used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead.

- What's the quietest place in the world? The complaint
department at the parachute packing plant.

- I'm not into working out. My philosophy: No pain. No pain.

- Never forget that you're unique, just like everyone else.

- I heard you took an IQ test and they said your results
were negative.

- I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception
problem.

- If practice makes perfect, and nobody's perfect, why
practice?

- Born free. Taxed to death.