Pray for Pastors
January 22, 2010 at 11:04 am | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 CommentTags: Bounds quote, pray for local churches, prayer, prayer for pastors, Spurgeon quote
I wanted to remind my readers to pray for their pastors and their ministries for this Sunday. Pray that:
1. He will be diligent in his studies.
2. He will preach God’s Word in the power of the Holy Spirit.
3. He will lead the local church to worship God in the beauty of holiness.
4. The people will experience the presence of God at the church.
5. The pastor will grow in the skills needed to be an effective pastor/shepherd, preacher and leader.
6. His family will be protected spiritually, physically and emotionally.
7. His wife to have the joy of the Lord in her heart and mind.
8. The local church will make a Kingdom impact on their community, region and world.
I want to thank you for praying for your pastor. Even if he never knows, God does and your prayers will make a difference. Pray on!
“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen”
(1 Timothy 1:17)
“Prayer, and more prayer adds to the fighting qualities and the more certain victories of God’s soldiers…”
— E. M. Bounds
____________________
“He who lives without prayer, he who lives with little prayer, he who seldom reads the Word, and he who seldom looks up to heaven for a fresh influence from on high — he will be a man whose heart will become dry and barren.”
— Charles H. Spurgeon
Thank you,
Bill (Rom. 15:13)
Lead On!
January 20, 2010 at 2:56 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: encourage, lead, Lead On O King Eternal, leadership, Moses
In Your unfailing love You will lead the people You have redeemed. In Your strength You will guide them to Your dwelling. (Ex. 15:13)
This verse is a great reminder of God’s leadership in His people’s lives. The context is within a song of joy and celebration after God had displayed His great power against His people’s enemies (Ex. 14:31). Moses who was called by God to lead the Israelites through the Red Sea and beyond, led the people in a song of celebration to the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY (Ex. 15:1-18). Can you imagine the heart and emotion that filled that song? I think about that sometimes when I am between a rock and a hard place. I will break out in song and at times get others to sing with me. It’s not some lovey-dovey, touchy-feely moment; it is a moment of confident assurance in my Father God and His great power and promises.
What difficulty are you facing today my brothers? Can I encourage you to turn to the Word of God and search it for His promises, read them out loud and sing a song of faith to the Most High God? Lead on! Press on! Stretch and reach out to Jesus (Phil. 3:12-16). People around us need us to lead on!
They need us to lead them to Jesus. They need us to lead them to know God and His Word better. They need us to lead them to a better understanding of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. They need us to lead them to church. They need us to lead our families. They need us to lead in serving others. They need us to lead them to surrender all to Jesus. They need us to live like godly leaders would live. They need us to lead in praying. People need our leadership. They need us to live what we say we believe.
I don’t know who first said this, “leaders lead”, and I have read it and heard it many different times. It is true. There are both good leaders and bad leaders (Num. 13-14). I hope that you and I want to be godly leaders. We can’t really lead people to where we have not been. We may be able to point the way, but we can’t lead. We can’t lead them to stay and develop where we have not dwelt and developed. I hope that we have surrendered all to God and walk under the authority of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. If we haven’t we need to get right with God. If we have we need to lead on! There is a battle for the souls of men, women and children that is staggering. Think of God, think of others and lead on.
“Lead On, O King Eternal”
By Ernest W. Shurtleff
1. Lead on, O King eternal, The day of march has come;
Henceforth in fields of conquest Thy tents shall be our home.
Through days of preparation Thy grace has made us strong,
And now, O King eternal, We lift our battle song.
2. Lead on, O King eternal, To lands of deepest night;
We follow where Thou leadest As heralds of the light.
May we to souls immortal Thy Word of life convey
And open heaven’s portal Through Christ, the truth, the way.
3. Lead on, O King eternal; We follow not with fears,
For gladness breaks like morning Where’er Thy face appears.
Thy cross is lifted o’er us; We journey in its light;
The crown awaits the conquest; Lead on, O God of might.
Be encouraged,
Bill (Rom. 15:13; 2 Pet. 3:18)
It’s Time
January 11, 2010 at 11:24 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: encourage, ministry, pastors, time
It is time for me to enter the blogosphere. I have put it off for quite some time. I think that my age and experiences give me something to say. More importantly I think my personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has helped me through and taught me give me something to say. My hope and plan are to encourage my brothers in the ministry to stay strong, to be faithful, and to fight the good fight. Then I hope to encourage other male leaders within the body of Christ in a similar fashion. I also hope to encourage some men to quit making excuses and surrender completely to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and begin to serve in their local church. Finally, it would be a great joy if some men reading this blog came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
This blog will develop as I grow in both my ability to write (communicate) clearly what I want to say and my understanding of technology. My goal is to start writing weekly. I have been a collector of quotes for some time and will try to add to that page frequently. Since I read a lot I will post book reviews and encourage you to read and apply what you learn. There will also be a few links that I think are important. I’m thinking I may add a few other pages also.
I take full responsibility for what I put in this blog. To the best of my ability I will give proper credit and citation when I use someones work. Should you use something from this blog I ask that you cite me and give a link. As far as comments go, I will allow them, but reserve the right to delete any comments for any reason when I want to. I also reserve the right to block or not allow comments at any time for any reason. My personal material will be copyrighted.
I truly hope that this blog will encourage you to press on with faith, hope and love; to faithfully do the work of the ministry to which you were called; and to be glad with the joy of God’s presence. Ministry is not easy and it is not for the faint-hearted. I hope this blog is a ministry to my fellow laborers. Take courage (heart)! God is with you and He will help you through each and every storm.
I truly hope that Almighty God gets glory from this blog and my life. I am still so grateful for my salvation. I am glad to live in such a time as this when opportunities for ministry abound. Redeem the time brothers, for the Lord’s return is closer than when we first believed. Let’s encourage one another to be found faithful.
(LORD, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our works in us. – Is. 26:12 NKJV)
Be encouraged,
Bill (Rom. 15:13)
Courage
January 2, 2010 at 8:50 pm | Posted in Quotes | Leave a comment“It is not because life is difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that life is difficult.”
– Seneca
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