1. Look first to Jesus When you have to make important decisions, first review the commands of Jesus and His Apostles. The Holy Spirit will give you the power to obey them. Christ’s will for believers is, before all else, simply to do what He already plainly told them to do. In daily matters, if believers truly love God and others, they can do just about whatever they desire, because their desires will be pure. They will only want to do good, wise and just things, because their love comes … [Read more...]

 Job 1: 6 through 3: 4; 40: 1-8 & 42: 5-8 POY! SKIT GUIDELINES: In a small group, participants might simply read their lines, or glance at their lines to get the idea so they can speak in their own words. Most POY! skits require no practice in advance. Have any small children play a brief part. Most scripts have an optional part for children, listed last under Participants. Most scripts have a Narrator who should read the script beforehand to see how to keep moving the story … [Read more...]

  If you have a wayward child, others know your pain. A time comes when heartsick parents must releases their grasp and leave a beloved child to God. Listen to a mother's broken heart and sense just a bit of how God feels when those whom He has lovingly created turn from Him. She was such an odd child! True, she was child of my body and even more so, child of my heart, but I just didn’t know what to do with her. Every morning, I would sing her awake, looking at her face with joy and … [Read more...]

  POY! SKIT GUIDELINES: In a small group, participants might simply read their lines, or glance at their lines to get the idea so they can speak in their own words. Most POY! skits require no practice in advance. Have any small children play a brief part. Most scripts have an optional part for children, listed last under Participants. Most scripts have a Narrator who should read the script beforehand to see how to keep moving the story along. It is not necessary to employ costumes … [Read more...]

  POY! SKIT GUIDELINES: In a small group, participants might simply read their lines, or glance at their lines to get the idea so they can speak in their own words. Most POY! skits require no practice in advance. Have any small children play a brief part. Most scripts have an optional part for children, listed last under Participants. Most scripts have a Narrator who should read the script beforehand to see how to keep moving the story along. It is not necessary to employ costumes … [Read more...]

  Church planters and shepherds of new flocks can sustain church planting movements when freed from common limiting factors. Clear away this blindness to keep moving forwards. 1.  Limitation: Many church planters are young men without jobs who must be supported by a limited source of funds that comes from outside of the region they serve. Remedy: Enlist as church planters more persons who already have an income and who would qualify as a shepherding elder as defined by the New … [Read more...]

  Dr. Dale Walker was fixing folks’ teeth on a porch in North Congo when a man began drumming a log. Openings had been cut out of the log by machete, in the shape of an upside-down V that deepened as it ran along the log. Dr. Walker asked what it was called. “Talking Drum.” “Does it really talk?” “Of course.” Doubtful, Dr. Walker challenged, “Tell that worker, the one carrying a rock, to set it down, go to that orange tree over there and bring me an orange.” Boom … [Read more...]

  TRAITS HOME CHURCH LARGE CHURCH Assumed lifestyle Communal Individual Care for the hurting Peers give correction and support Professionals apply therapy Church finances Sharing, meeting immediate needs Tithes and offering Communion Fellowship with God and the body Visual symbol in a church ceremony Corporate worship Informal, in homes Formal, in religious … [Read more...]

  A snapshot of a truly relational community might show believers… sitting in a circle praying for one another teaching one another spontaneously comforting one another strengthening one another laughing confessing faults wiping tears discussing Bible passages (you would seldom hear a pulpit monologue) telling or acting out Bible stories with the help of children asking questions about what they have learned and how they will put it into practice leaders mentoring newer … [Read more...]