Update on Emma's School

Dear Prayer Partners and supporters of the ministry of the Lord in India,

Greetings to you all again in Jesus Name..

www.tgcministries.in

As you are all aware of the fact that the Ministry of our Emma's Tuition Home for Poor children has been a blessing to the kids there in KVP Colony which is a slum colony..

Brothers and sisters, due to the heavy rains, the walls are collapsed where we used to gather to help the children..After that, no one was willing to give us the room because they are all non and antichristians..But thank the Lord that we are praying and planning to make this ministry more effective and strong ..So, we are praying and seeking for a piece of land where we can build a small Room and continue our activities , helping the children spiritually and physically..

By the grace of God, a man by name Sreenivas reddy is willing to sale 60 yards place to us on instalment basis..

The initial amount would be 1100 USD ..

and monthly would be 75 USD..I guess so...

Once we finish the deal by paying 1100, then, he will give us the clarity of monthly amount..Buut it wont be more than 75 USD..( i guess)..

This is the big opportunity we are offered..Because we cant pay the full amount( approximately 4000 USD) at onetime and get a land for our children ministry..

Please Pray about it.. Before this man changes his heart, we need to do somethings to happen.. I believe God is in it and He will make it possible..

I hope , you all will join as I also trying to raise some money here in India..

Please reply me and you are appreciated for all your efforts,

Hoping your reply,

yours Brother in the Lord,

Pastor Kota Samuel

Marriages

I have had enough friends go through the pain of divorce that I just want to share some observations. I'm not Mr. Marriage Expert so don't give me the "Who do you think you are?" bit. I admit to you now... I am no one. I am no expert on marriage. I only share observations that we might learn and grow. Please comment below where you disagree.

America's divorce rate is over 50%. Hey, it happens to the best of us.

It usually seems to go like this:

Two people find each other and get together. Often the relationship is not godly. In fact its sinful. So two sinners come together and end up getting married.

That's how it was for Victoria and I.

We lived together a few years. Had a baby. Bought a house. Raised him for a few years. Then finally got married.

Now when two sinful people form a relationship built on premarital sex and the LAST conversation is about how to pass the other off to their church so the priest or pastor will marry you, you should know that increases your odds for trouble right?

They say if you live together before you are married, that hurts your chance by another 10%.

I don't remember all the stats but by time Victoria and I were standing at the altar, the statistics gave us a less than 10% chance of making it!

WOW! That scared us! But we also didn't care because we were determined to make it.

I said on facebook I have noticed some common denominators to a relationship crashing and burning.

It seems to go like this...

Young couple falls in love and gets married. At this point the two who were once single and pretty self-absorbed are now in love with another and have decided to take care of that person for life. They are now self-absorbed together as one.

They are enjoying the love and bliss of their young love.

Then one day you realize you are going to be a FAMILY! Enter babies!!!!!

This is a dramatic event in a marriage. Now you go from a married couple to a family! The birth of a child is supposed to be the transformation of the parents. The parents realize life is no longer about me. I am now RESPONSIBLE for this little life! Wow!

(Caution... you may be offended soon.... I calls'em like I sees'em though)

So Mom is nurturing this young baby and so in love with it! It's also a very tiring job! So Mom grabs sleep when she can!

Now Dad's enjoy this time but their real job is later with kids. Moms nurture and Dads discipline. So he is just helping when and where he can and loving on this baby right now.

After a bit though... things change. Tired parents may sometimes snap at each other. They may disagree a bit on how to care for the baby. Who's going to do the dishes? Did you get this or that? Why not? You know... that kind of stuff.

Now slowly the bedroom slows down if you catch my drift.

After all it's not single 20 somethings anymore.

Well ladies. I'm going to keep it real. That's a problem for most men. Our brains are wired differently. A man would tend to be more "With out no us first, there is no family." I think a Mom would tend to be "Our job is to care for these children. We must put ourselves in second place now."

Mom's are so incredibly self-sacrificing! They give so much of themselves to everyone else! They are worn down to a nub!

So men shouldn't be surprised to hear a "Not tonight honey... I'm beat!"

So we have a man who is still in I love myself mode and a woman who is in full-blown Mommy mode.

Now what's coming next may sound childish, but it is what it is.....

You see that man loves YOU ladies! He wants his special time with YOU back!

Men in America today are just big toddlers with 70 ounce sippy cups and their team jersey is their onesie. Momma momma.... I want my momma! (Ladies, you ever feel like your husbands Mother?)

He begins to get fussy and throw temper tantrums.

Sex is his pacifier. He gets resentful when you wont give him his pacifier.

Ladies... This often goes unnoticed as a little thing because your are not paying attention to those things. It's not YOUR focus anymore.

But here dangerous seeds are planted in your garden. Here the seed of anger, resentment and frustration begin to germinate.

If left alone they will soon be a wild tangle of sin and will destroy your home.

You see as this sin and lust builds in a man, he becomes like a lion. As the hunger grows the lion begins to look at prey. Soon he follows prey. Before long... the hungry lion will go catch and lie with his prey!

To make matters worse.... There are women out there stalking HIM!

I call them sharks.

They have babies of their own. They are looking for a man to help provide for their needs. From money to love to help around the house. A man is a valuable thing. (Not that you would ever let us know that! LOL)

Sharks stalking your man. Your man a hungry lion stalking easy prey.

And you are changing a poopy diaper while all of this happens.

Skip the ugly details of how it all goes down hill and....

Next thing you know.... it's over.

Now whose fault is it?

She says "His! The idiot couldn't be a real man and keep it at home!"

He says "Hers.. If she never neglected our relationship we would still be perfectly happy."

I think the real problem is this: All sin is selfishness.

I think the COUPLE does come before the kids. The relationship has to be kept strong before the parents can raise the kids.

CONCLUSION #1: Always put your relationship first. That means serving each other out of LOVE and self-sacrifice on both sides. Committing to set aside alone time just for the two of you. Like date nights.

CONCLUSION #2: If you want to understand what real love is, you have to understand and know God and what Christ Jesus did for you. This is the greatest act of love. The giving of His life for you His enemy. If He would give His life for you His enemy, what act of loving sacrifice can you deny your spouse?

If you marry an unbeliever, don't be surprised if he or she is not capable of living a godly life. DUH! Right? I mean CHRISTIANS can't even do it right... why would people who never have their heart and mind renewed be able to do it as God intended?

Like I said, I'm sure Victoria and I are FAR from perfect spouses.

You have to chase after Christ! You have to pray for your marriage. You have to BOTH be on board and committed to always making it work and doing your very best to do the right thing for each other and the family as a whole.

Finally I think you have to be reading your Bible daily. Yep... daily! The human heart is desperately sinful. It fills the mind with wrong motives. You must overwhelm these seeds of sin with the heart and mind of God as expressed in the Bible.

God's word is weed and feed for your garden. It will help kill the bad seeds and fertilize the good seeds.

Like the old billboard says "Know God, Know Peace.... No God, No Peace"

LORD HELP US! I pray for our marriages. I pray for broken marriages. I pray for the MEN of America! LORD please help us to be men and not overgrown toddlers!!!!!

(Please comment below.... I want us to share a conversation on how we can make our marriages stronger. When they do fail, it's sad, but it's going to be OK... You do your best to forgive and seek the Lord and pray for the other person and figure out what you can do better next time)

Update from Samuel 9/17/10

Precious Bro Jason in the Lord,

Its been a long gap since the day Emma's home room is collapsed..

Though I was upset in my heart, but I got to take it. Unless God's
dealings, nothing can happen here.. We dont know the mysterious plans
of God.. And its been a hard time here to find a room tentatively to
keep running the Tuition home.. Though I was there on sunday evening,
but its been a hard. Parents are hesitatting now to send them..

Enemy seeks an opportunity to destroy the work God there.. but we are
prayerfully challenged to work for the glory of God more effectively..
And pray that the Lord would continue to help the children not to be
deviated from the Truth that is inserted in their minds.. As they
grow, may the Word works in their hearts and lives..

And there are places available for us to buy.. But where is the money..?
A Huge amount of money....? (This is our struggle)


Bro Jason,we are all small people and infact, we are
insignificant. And we trust God for His works.. Pray for it more..
And I believe on Friday morning , I will be surely available to you on online..

Pray for my journey tonight to Hyderabad..
Regards to all who are with you and give me the update of your ministry..
We love you and we pray for you and we miss you..

Hoping your reply,
yours Brother in Him,
Pastor Kota Samuel

Phone update from Samuel

I spoke with Samuel by phone today. Yahoo Messenger has had many problems in India and it's not a reliable way for us to chat right now. Plus his internet cafe has some virus issues, so that seems to hamper our efforts too.

We chat via google talk and email though and are still working on a solution for the kids of Emma's school since it collapsed. People in the village are watching to see what happens. They wonder if we will just go away, or if we will find a solution.

They have stopped sending their children though until we have a place.

SO, that having been said, I'm looking for some support and donations to help acquire new land where we can build our own small school.

$4,000 is the short term goal to get the land with a long term goal of about $10,000 to establish the new school.

This would be an amazing blessing to the village!!!

So, in my promise to always be completely transparent with all funds for Emma's school, here's where the money is going right now.

I have established and account at the First National Bank of Hutchinson. I will place all donations there until we have the $4,000 to acquire land. (This according to Samuel's request.) Since there is no school, there is nothing to support. These kids are waiting on God to bring education and Bible studies back to their village.

If you would like to help, you can either mail a check to me or donate securely online.

Thank you for all of your love and care for these little ones in India!

Emma's School Has Collapsed

Here's the news from Samuel I received over the weekend.

"Dear Bro Jason, on saturday morning, the supporting wall of our
Emma's home where we gather was collapsed with a loud voice. It was
arround 5 am in the morning.
A girl by name Mahabubi called to us and informed to us. Ohhhhh,it
was collapsed.. . but thank God, we were not there when this damage is caused..
So, me and vinod went to the place and removed fans, Tube lights.
Power was cut ..

We have brought mats , and other things from there... The pictures are taken..
Wait for another 6 hours to see these photos..
Ohhh, it has been heavily raining since a week...and the walls wet
with and become soft..

So Bro, yesterday ( sunday), we were there, but parents did not
send the children to us..It was watery and wet.. I am just praying
and thinking what to be done..
we thought it does not happen now, but happened.. Right now, no
houses are available even for rent in that locality..Pray for God's
direction.

Please tell our Family members about this Sad News..
Hoping GOd will revive this work for His glory..amen.
I will be here tonight to chat with you if you are available.( if rain stops).
in Hyderabad, yesterday, 2 houses were collapsed, and parents died,
but children survived.. so sad tragedy.. This is what we have in our
state.,.

Covetting your Prayers,
yours Brother in Praying for direction,
Pastor Kota Samuel

Just another drifter?

I sit in church and wonder "How do I allow myself to drift from Christ during the week?!"

He is SO good and it feels SO good when we come together to worship him.

On the other hand it feels kind of empty. We are just people and this is just a building. What I TRULY desire is not the church but Christ Himself!  I get frustrated with myself because I allow life to become SO important. I work so much that I worry about finding play time. When I play I work at playing hard. When I rest I work hard at resting as much as I can.

From time to time I throw in some lawn mowing, car repairs, home repairs... Not to mention trying to be a husband and father.
"You are either making much of Christ or making much of the world" Pastor Rick says. Well my life is filled with the world all day every day.

I hate that!

I find my life absorbed by something that will all quickly fade away. Other than my family I leave no legacy. I will die and none of the business of the day that absorbs my life will matter.

You see, that is where I was in the beginning when I came to Christ.
I knew my life didn't offer any lasting fruit. I knew I often had wrong motives. I knew I was living for a world that passes away rather than for a Kingdom that is eternal.

Why work and live for what is passing away when you can live your life for Jesus Christ through whom all things were created and FOR whom all things were created. (Colossians 1:16)

Oh I feel like such a fool when I live for the world!

Sometimes I dream of being in the ministry. I figure if Christ was my job each day, I would obviously be living for Him.

Ah, not so!

There are many pastors and people in ministry who's hearts are just as far from Christ as mine.

What is the problem and what is the solution?

The problem is the sin in our hearts that rejects Christ on a daily basis and follows after this world and the things of this world.
1 John 2:15-17 says "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  (Verse 16) For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is NOT of the Father but is of the world. (Verse 17) And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

So again as Pastor Rick says "You are either making much of Christ or making much of the world"

If He is the Father than by faith you are His child. What kind a child are you?  You disobey, run away and don't come home to Him. You cause yourself all kinds of trouble and THEN you want Him to fix the trouble YOUR sin has caused only so you can run right back into the arms of sin and the world.

You think you can spend your life chasing the world?  When you die what will you say?  Let me come live in Your heaven even though I lived as your enemy?

OK what we will really say is "I tried to be a good person. My heart was always near you."

Yet our actions each day betray Him.

God is no fool and you can not fool Him.
We only fool ourselves.
Let's face the fact that we are just foolish children who think we have it all figured out.

OK the solution:
I know it begins in my heart.
I must pray that my heart would even be turned to pursue Him
Next, I must keep Gods word flowing through my mind. Scripture is an amazing thing.

It does amazing things to your heart and mind. In it you not only get to know God, but also the folly of mankind.

If you take in more scripture than you world, it will begin to make you think more like Christ and in turn make you act more like Christ.
I love my sin and so like a sick man who can not eat I push away the plate when Gods word is there to nourish me.

I must turn my heart to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I call Him my Lord, its time for me to act like He is my Lord!  (My master, my king, my LORD!)

Update from Pastor Samuel 8/17/10

Pastor Samuel has been preaching FAR away from home. On the other side of India. He is back and sends this update and greeting.

"Precious Brother Jason in the Lord,
Thank God for His enablement to do the ministry in Bhadravathi.. On
sunday, I gave baptisms for 6 people.. They used to believe in
Sprinkling.. but , they were immersed ..Praise God that this Lutheran
church took a stand for Immersion mode of Baptism.
And I have preached 3 sermons and I was reported that the church
was blessed by the sermons.. Praise God.. If God willing, I may
visit them again..
Brother, you are there in my mind always and I prayed for you..
And we thank you and Bro Adam and Bro Jeannie and MOm Louise for
sending Support. Each penny is used in the ministry and I will come up
with the update on Emma's ministry here..
We thank God for you all and keep praying for us.. And we wish you
to come soon to India and preach to us..
Bro Jason, I will try to be here on online tonight,
Regards to you and all,
yours Brother in the Lord,
Pastor Kota Samuel
B.Th.,M.Th.
# 7-6-1149/1, Sanjeevaiah Nagar Extension
Guntur-522002
Andhra Pradesh state
India

Latest Pics from India

I can't remember if I posted this video on this blog or not. I know I put it on facebook.

Anyway, here's some fairly recent pictures of India

Hold On Christian...

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; (1 John 2:3-4)

So we read verses like that and are very convicted by it. "I can't even name the Commandments, let alone KEEP them!" I used to think.

I have been Catholic I have been Protestant. I have seen many sides of many different "flavors" of Christianity.

When I became a follower of Christ 8 years ago I wasn't looking for help or for a crutch. In fact I wasn't even seeking anything. I felt I was a pretty good guy living a pretty good life with my good little family.

It just happened that God drew me toward the scriptures. It seemed right that I should read this Bible if I wanted to be in Heaven one day. After all, if I was going to call myself a Christian I figured I should at least read it ONCE right?

Well, what I read and what happened was life changing.

It was God whose Holy Spirit taught me from the scriptures about who He is, what He is like and what He wants from us. What His holiness DEMANDS from us! Oh how I realized I had created a false god in my mind! I was living according to the god of my own imagination that I had created based on what I heard from others, was taught growing up and what SEEMED right.

But you know what the Bible says about that?

Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death."

My religious activities from my youth had some heart behind it, but was pretty robotic. It FELT good and it FELT right. When I was taken captive by the Gospel of Christ in the Bible in 2002, I realized that true faith has more to do with God and HIS work than me and MY work.

What JOY that filled my heart with!

Today I heard a woman tell a story of why her son was in heaven. Her little boy died and she said she is confident he is in heaven because of a prayer they prayed together. He had "asked Jesus into his heart".

Our family has also experienced that extreme pain of losing a child.

Our losing baby Emma impacted me pretty deeply in two ways. First, it reminded me of my faith in the work of Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. It reminded me that because Heaven is a free gift, there is nothing we can do to "earn" that gift. If you have "earned" it, then it is not a gift, but what is owed to you. That is SO opposite of the whole teaching of the Bible. God out of His love for us sent His Son to bear our punishment for us and offers eternal life as a FREE gift to us. A gift we receive by faith in Christ's work, not ours.

The second way it impacted me was kind of freeing. Our family endured what I imagine as the worst pain a family can experience. The death of a child. God has lovingly and graciously to this day sustained us. His grace has been more than sufficient.

OK, now let me set this next part up by revealing some of my baggage:

I FLEE from labels.

Other than "Christian" I don't like to be called anything. We have these labels that we use to try to figure out where people stand. Danger in that is we are taking on the properties and beliefs of MEN rather than Christ.

We are called to know and imitate Christ. Not Piper, MacArthur, Spurgeon, Pink, Calvin, Luther or your priest or pastor. I don't want to be an evangelical, reformed, protestant, Calvanist, dispensationalist. I want to be a Christian who follows Christ and reads the Bible.

Today though I see all "flavors" of faith working, trying to do what feels right, leaning on their experience and emotion rather than God.

This really has nothing to do with your "flavor" of faith. This has to do with you before God. This is about me and God. You and I and our personal relationship with an amazingly holy, loving, merciful, gracious, patient and longsuffering God.

If we would spend more time in God's word, our minds would spend more time dwelling on knowing God.

Our thoughts of who God is would be more accurate and pure. Our knowledge of the true state of our own hearts would be more accurate. Our outward actions and living out of our faith would be more faithful to Christ.

I guess my point is this. We not only don't know God very well, we don't know ourselves very well. Since we don't we fake it. We act "Christian" whatever we think that is supposed to look like. We give and serve out of obligation rather than love. We don't give and don't serve out of self love rather than godly care for others.

We either carry out a robotic system of religion hoping the actions will cover the lack of "heart" or we coin phrases like "I let Jesus into my heart" and create a whole culture of sayings and living that is really no different than any other religion on earth. We dress a certain way, talk a certain lingo, go here, don't go there. If you love Jesus you will do this. If you do this, you don't love Jesus. We are so busy measuring the faith of others that we slowly let them become our measure. You are now an "ordinary Christian".

We were called to be disciples of Christ! When people see you do they see a DISCIPLE of Christ? I'll admit it. NO they don't. I am "worldly" and act like I am living for myself and this world MUCH more than I appear to be living for Christ.

I have become the "ordinary Christian" Which is not even Christian.

That does NOT mean that I am NOT a Christian. It means I am a sinner and a hypocrite.

What is a Chrsitian?

Remember, it ONLY means you have put all your trust in Christ's work NOT yours.

It means you acknowledge your sin and realize you NEED His righteousness because you and I have none.

Our struggle in life is our sin. Our hearts, once we realize our need for Christ, will desire to turn from sin. We will desire to follow Him and make Him the Lord of our life.

Our sin on the other hand is SO powerful and strong. Our sin wants us to run FROM God. So a war breaks out between the desires of our body and the desires of our heart. (spirit vs flesh)

My only advice is this. Read God's word daily. Pray daily. Admit your faults to God. Admit your sins to God. Share your desires with Him and pray pray pray to be made more like Christ who lives a life or worship and gratitude as a living sacrifice to the One who paid your sin debt. The One who stood and took the full brunt of Gods wrath that was to be poured out on you.

Let your faith be vertical (between you and God) rather than horizontal (you looking to others in the Church).

Love and encourage one another to do the same. LOVE each other. Seek to know God.

No matter the "flavor" of Christianity

Pastor Samuel Kota teaching again

Well it’s a new semester at the Bible College and Samuel has been asked to come teach again.  This is good because it helps provide some income for his family.  It is a 4 or 5 hour trip each way so it makes for a long day. (He only teaches on Thursdays I think)

Here’s the college website: http://bharatbible.org/faculty.html

There is a “K. Samuel” that’s not him… He is a couple rows down listed as Mr Kota Samuel.

Just thought I would share the website with you. 

Samuel’s specialty is the OT and church history…He always has some good little bit of info to share with me.

Such a good friend.  In fact he’s probably my best friend and I have never even met him face to face…. Yet.

Our Cave Trip & Science

Today we went in a cave on our family vacation. I was curious how different the cave was from the day it was discovered in the late 1800's. So I asked "How fast do mineral deposits form?" You know how the minerals drip and form amazing structures. So the guide tells me "Most geologists say about the thickness of a sheet of paper every 100 years. So the cave hasn't changed much."

(In the 1920's, they poured cement stairs and hand rails all the way down and back up in the cave)

On the way back up my 8 year old son noticed mineral formations taking over the cement stairs. So he asked "What's that?" Our guide explains "Now this is an interesting formation called (I forget the name). You will see how it has grown almost two inches tall on top of the stairs and is taking over the whole step."

So much for that sheet of paper every year... An inch every hundred years? So those would be 200 year years of growth on stairs with daily foot traffic from 1924?

There are so many variables involved in erosion. Grand Canyon or an underground cave, be skeptical and cautious of scientific estimations of these kinds. Compound their erroneous estimations over thousands of years and you get wild swings.

Here's a great article to consider:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/wog/cave-formations

If you are wanting even more here's a Grand Canyon page

http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/cfol/ch3-grand-canyon.asp

I'm just saying, as one who believes the Bible and the timeline of the Bible, I don't believe the earth is millions of years old. Therefore, when I hear "Millions of years ago the earth was..." My red flag goes up. None of us were there, so don't tell me "The Earth Was..." You don't know, you are only guessing. Yet they talk to us about it like they know. They come up with formulas and educated guesses starting with this old age and work backwards to reach their conclusion.

Enjoy the information, but I recommend holding all old earth science and dates and times with an open hand.

Update from Samuel in India 6/3/10

Dear Bro Jason, we thank the Lord for you and for your Family. YOu
have been behind me to do many things for the Lord here in India..
Emma's home in KVP Colony will be continued and these children will
not be left though the Room is damaged. This owner is not willing to
repair it. Our plan is to start Church service in this Locality ..if
we vacate it, we will loose the chance .. Besides, these children are
so sweet and spiritual too.. Whatever your plan is for the Emma's
home here will workout infavor of these children. Who do need our
care.
Emma's home future is in the hands of you and also Bro Jeff ( if he
is willing for some efforts). YOU are all thanked and appreciated.
Bro Jason, some of them will be going to the school. We got to pray
that the Lord would help them with books and cloths..SO also, my sons
will be going. We started to worry about the school
fees..hahahhahaha.. (June Tensions...)
Bro Jason, my mom's memorial day is on June 30th..its nearing.
As we did last 2 years..... distributing cloths to the Widows and
Pastors, even this time, we will be doing that. And this time, I am
just praying for More Bibles to be given out to the needy .. I want
you to join with me praying for June 30th Prayer meeting and the
Social Help we will do to the Poor... Its in my mom's memory who led
me and dedicated me to the Lord and to His service.
HOw are the family doing? and may the Lord be with you all..
Regards to you and all and hoping your reply,
yours Brother in the Lord,
Pastor Kota Samuel
B.Th.,M.Th.
# 7-6-1149/1, Sanjeevaiah Nagar Extension
Guntur-522002
Andhra Pradesh state
India
Cell Ph: +91 9866277183

The Gravity of (blank) in Your Life

(Dr Rick inspired from 5/30/10 1Peter sermon)

Whatever is "large" in your life, it's gravity will control the path of your life.

When the world is large your life will revolve around the cares and concerns of the world.

If you are the one who is "large" (powerful, influential or celebrity) life will revolve around you.

If your kids are your whole world, life revolves around them.

If money is "large" activities will revolve around obtaining and enjoying money.

If life is about fun, you will pursue fun.

If love or affection is most important, you will pursue that.

Some spend life trying to avoid pain or unhappiness.

BUT, when you feel the immense love of God towards you, a love that sacrificed His Son to pay the debt of your rebellion, its gravity is SO great that your life can't possibly escape it.

Dr Rick said "Sin should hurt in such a way that it changes the way you live."

Do you care about how you live life? "How you live your days is how you live your life."

The sermon can be found at http://gbc-hutchinson.com under the downloads section.

The Prodigal Pig

We’ve heard of the Prodigal Son.  Today I heard James Vernon McGhee tell the story of the “Prodigal Pig”  Some real gems in this one!

 

Click this link to listen: http://www.oneplace.com/player/thru-the-bible-with-j-vernon-mcgee/2-peter-221-22-101986.html

The Lords Prayer

The question of what prayers to pray often comes up. In the Lords prayer Jesus shows us how to pray. So should we repeat this and other prayers? Is there benefit in the repetition of prayers? The Monday May 10th post from John MacArthur answers that question:

Click HERE It's the May 10th post

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/macarthurcommentaries/~5/hy2Nwyfbnpc/20100510.mp3

Letters In Grace Webcast

“Just Keep Swimming” Dori from Finding Nemo

In finding Nemo Dori (although about as bright as a black hole) had some good advice.

Do you ever find it hard to “just keep swimming” in life?

Feels like you have hit a wall and you just want to quit?

Can I share some good news with you?  1. You’re not alone.  I’ve been there more than I want to admit and 2. You’re not alone because God is in the plan and purpose behind this wall.

Maybe you have hit a wall as a result of sin.  Sometimes God allows us to feel the result of our own ways.  I am hard headed and have to learn some hard lessons sometimes.

Maybe this difficult path has been set before you for your GROWTH.

God uses trials to make His children more like Christ. 

Jam 1:2-4
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

We must learn to depend less on ourselves and more on God.

I once heard “God doesn’t take you into deep water to cleanse you, but to drown you.”

We need to crucify our “old self”

Read the words of Paul to the Romans:

For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!

 

Just keep swimming!  God is with you if you have placed all your faith and trust in Jesus Christ who has died for your sins and reunited you to God through the gift of faith.

Passion Week

Here is the link for Passion Week study leading up to Easter.

http://www.blueletterbible.org/he_is_risen/index.cfm

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My Sin (talking myself through it)

Beatitude #4 Matthew 5:6

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness?  This is a pretty simple litmus test for whether you are saved from your sins or not.

If you thirst for righteousness you are like a sponge that just can’t soak up enough scripture.  The more you read the more excited you get about the truth of the Trinity and rejoice over the salvation for those who would trust in Christ.

Do you trust in being good enough to go to heaven?  Here Jesus speaks of those who HUNGER for righteousness.  Remember again to go back and read Beatitude #1  as He continues to build an image of the person who will be saved from their sins.  Romans 3 says there is NONE righteous.  Only Christ can be our righteousness.  So we must HUNGER and THIRST for Christ and we will be satisfied.

CHRIST Crucified for sinners, buried for believers, who rose for the repentant and applies righteousness to them who hunger and thirst for Him who ascended to the Father.

Pray to Him if you feel lacking.  It is the Holy Spirit who takes us the unworthy and unfaithful and causes us to hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Ephesians 2:8-10

An Amazing Crescendo! (From Romans 8)

Beatitudes-Matthew Chapter 5

Beatitude #3 Matthew 5:5

"Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Your version may say blessed are the meek.  The more I go through this chapter the more these all run together.  I used to see them as Christ talking about several “groups” of people.  Really these seem to be characteristics of a believer. 

Here we see “gentle” or “meek”.  The idea here is the opposite of out of control.  Meek doesn’t mean weak or a pushover.  It means self-disciplined relying on God.

So the one who is spiritually bankrupt, sorrowful over their sin and under control trusting in God will inherit the earth.

“inherit the earth” Jesus takes from Psalm 37:11 where the calamity of the wicked and the heritage of the righteous are contrasted

By the way if you are working on self-control.  I would recommend lots of prayer.  It’s the Holy Spirit who works these changes in us.

The Beatitudes-Matthew 5

Beatitude #2 Matthew 5:4

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

This sounds odd doesn’t it?  Happy are those who mourn?

I think as we break down these “Beatitudes” it’s important we don’t separate them.  Remember in the first "Beatitude” Jesus spoke of being utterly, spiritually bankrupt with no self-sufficiency.  That leaves us in a broken state.  A broken state that would cause us to mourn.

This mourning is a mourning over our sin.  A mourning and brokenness that leads to a turning away from sin and a turning towards Christ without any regret.

The comfort is the comfort of forgiveness in Christ whose death we rest in.  We have to rest in that death alone because we have nothing else to lean on.  We are broken sinners in need of forgiveness.

In case you don’t think you are in need of forgiveness let me give you a little exercise:

100-1= ????

You see God’s requirement is PERFECTION.  That is why the ONE sin of Adam and Eve was such a HUGE deal.  How many sins have you sinned?  If you only sin 3 sins a day, that’s over 1,000 sins per year!  Multiply your age by 1,000 and now imagine the day you will stand before a HOLY Judge.

THAT is why CHRIST is everything!  God doesn’t overlook sin.  The Bible says He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.

Christ took all that punishment and paid your sin debt in full.

He was 100% perfect and without sin.

We are….well NOT.

We have nothing to add to a perfect death that was a complete payment for utterly sinful mankind.

Rest in Christ alone and remember not to separate these “Beatitudes”, but let them flow together.

The Beatitudes -Matthew 5

Beatitude #1 Matthew 5:3

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Blessed just means happy.  Happy are the poor in spirit.

“Poor in Spirit” is the first beatitude we must examine. 

Poor here means “reduced to begging, destitute of wealth, position or honor.  Lowly, helpless, poor and needy”

(http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4434&t=NASB)

Are you a spiritual beggar at Christ’s feet with no position or honor to cling to?  No merit of your own to lean on? No amount of religious works to lean on… are you DESTITUTE?  Then be happy!  Only the broken man or woman with NOTHING left to lean on can inherit the kingdom of heaven.  Why?  Because having any merit of your own is to say Christ’s work on the Cross was not full and complete payment for your sins.  You must trust in Christ’s death alone.

Tidbits from Tozer

I’m reading one of my favorite books again A.W. Tozer’s Knowledge of the Holy

Here’s a few tidbits I like:

“Natural man is a sinner because and only because he challenges God’s selfhood in relation to his own.”

Here’s one SO applicable today:

“The Christian has to do with God and man, but it’s focal point is God, not man.”

“May you be ground up between the millstones of hope and fear!”

"Until we have seen ourselves as God see us, we are not likely to be much disturbed over conditions around us as long as they do not get so far out of hand as to threaten our comfortable way of life. We have learned to live with unholiness and have come to look upon it as the natural and expected thing"

Is the path to Heaven Wide or Narrow?

My sister Beth and I were recently talking and I was telling her if I was still Catholic I would definitely be a Vatican I guy. Vatican II contradicts the teachings of Vatican I. Vatican II and MANY Protestant churches alike teach a "Wider Mercy" theology.

So is the path to Heaven wide or narrow according to scripture?

Well let's let the scriptures speak on it. Here's a video from Dr John MacArthur on the topic.

Motives and Intentions

Driving to work this morning I was thinking there are two pretty important elements to life to consider.

Motives and Intent

First motives. What are your motives behind the things you do? Are your motives good or bad? Like G.I. Joe used to tell me on Saturday mornings "Now you know and knowing is half the battle." What's G.I. Joe have to do with this? I simply mean, examine your motives. How often do we even think about WHY we do what we do? Once you see if the pattern of your motives are good or bad, you begin to develop a new insight to the condition of your heart. Are you good or bad? (Roman's 3:10) Do your best to operate with good motives.

Second intent. This is more for the people around you. Do you work to show your intentions to the people your are working or living with? Showing your intent is a revealing of your personal motive in the matter. When we don't do that we end up with "miscommunication". People may assume you have wrong motives and make a leap to also assume your intent.

If you operate from pure motives you can be fully transparent to others and gladly reveal your intentions in matters. This will help smooth out some of the bumps in life.

(By the way my motive is simply to share what I am learning in life with the intent of tossing something out there that may be useful to others)

:-) Have a great day!

The Christian Tom Cruise's of the World

Yesterday I was talking about how manic and crazy Cruise is. If you missed his strange ramblings, (Click HERE) for the YouTube video.

OK, you know the saying "When you point a finger, three are pointing back."

As I considered that, I knew right away that some Christians in the circles I run in are very similar to Tom Cruise... I have sounded Tom Cruise crazy before. (Let me explain)

In the video above, Tom is very passionate. His ferver is almost disturbing. Kind of scary!

Christian's can sometimes be so passionate about their message their behavior is somewhat disturbing to the innocent bystander who is suddenly "Bible Blasted"

Another thing Tom does is use special Scientology lingo. Jargon like "SP's" and "KSW" I have NO CLUE what he is talking about without the information in the side bar of the video.

Christians do the same thing! We use big words that people have no clue what we are talking about. Special terms are fine if you are in a setting where people understand and commonly use the terms. If you are sharing with an average person, use words and terms anyone can understand.

Finally, I noticed Tom talking about how he has the answers and the world needs to hear the message he has to share. Oh, please Tom! Share your almighty secrets with us!!!!

Wait! Christians talk the same way! I considered how arrogant he sounded and I understand why people think WE sound arrogant. We claim to see while we call the listener blind. We claim to have understanding while saying people are blind, dead, deaf and dumb.

OH, how much we think of ourselves! I understand why people see us that way!

If you talked to me 9 years ago I would have said "When sharing your faith, please... I don't really want to hear about your personal faith and what God has done in your life or a church's teachings or the doctrines of men or councils."

Filled with love, be a friend and share "The Bible says..."

What the BIBLE says has changed my life!

Don't worry, the BIBLE is authoritative and doesn't need you. Sorry to say it that way.

God is sovereign and doesn't need YOU and ME!

So why do we share? Because we are commanded to. Because we can't help ourselves!

My concern is are you sharing Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins through the sharing of Scripture? Or are you sharing the Gospel according to you?

Know your Bible, cling to your Bible and share the Bible.

Who are we that God should save us from our sins?! Be humble and thankful and share with love and gratitude not pride and arrogance. Talk up to people as if they are above you not talk down to people as if they are below you.

The Holy Spirit will do His work. You just be humble and faithful to Christ and His Word.

(I say these things to myself. If they are any benefit to you I am glad.)

Leave any thoughts or comments. I want to work through this for myself and not miss anything. Feel free to question me or challenge me. I have no high horse to come down from.

State of the Nation 2

Dr Ken Ham from the Creation Museum
(http://answersingenesis.org )

Who is a Christian?

Q:  I would like a way to tell if someone is a Christian, but at the same time I don’t want to “judge” them.  Is there a way I can tell?

A:  Well I would just point you to the answer that Christ gave in Matthew chapter 7.

Mat 7:16
"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn {bushes} nor figs from thistles, are they?

Mat 7:17
"So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

Mat 7:18
"A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

Mat 7:19
"Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Mat 7:20
"So then, you will know them by their fruits.

Mat 7:21
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven {will enter.}

Mat 7:22
"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'

Mat 7:23
"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

Mat 7:24
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Mat 7:25
"And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and {yet} it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

Mat 7:26
"Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

Mat 7:27
"The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall."

Mat 7:28
When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching;

 

Obviously we all fail at times, but look at the pattern of their life and speech.  What a man lives is what he really believes in his heart.

More importantly I use this verse to examine myself.  Look at Matthew 7:23  is that you?  Do you practice sin as a pattern of life?  OR do you need to turn from sin and submit to Jesus as the LORD of your life?  That’s right!  He is to be the MASTER of your life! 

Time to crawl off that throne in your heart and seat Christ on it where He belongs.

The GOODNESS of God!

A Few Sick Kids to Pray For

Purnima, Nasar, Mohidden, Sravan, Naik and Chinni are all part of Emma’s School in India and are sick.  Please pray for them just as we pray for our own kids.

It is hard to support a school by ourselves, but it is SO important because Muslim children are coming to Christ there.  They are getting a free education and love and care and they pray for us all EVERY DAY!  Under the banner that bears Emma’s name.  We really need to help them more.

If you can offer any small help to them, please let me know.  Even $10 a month for a year is a HUGE help to them.

They don’t ask me for money but I know the need and see the need.

Just prayerfully consider it and please pray for these kids over the next week or so.

Thank you!

The True Secret Behind Your Professional Success… God!

Now if you hate all things Biblical, I'm sure this will probably be the last time you read the blog, but I hope not.  If you believe in God, then I will show you how He is the key to all your personal and professional fulfillment.  He is not a genie in a bottle, He is the Holy and Sovereign ruler of the universe.  A proper understanding of God will give you a proper understanding of the world, of yourself and Bilical standards of doing business will make you successful.
I want to use the word "success" cautiously.  Many confuse "success" with "wealth".  Let's use the word "fulfilled" or "happy".  There are many people who are not in the Millionaire's Club who are perfectly happy where they are.  You have to define success for yourself.
Next, your personal life and professional life is between you and God.  How many people tell you that you can't do it.  There are doubters, and nay-sayers...negative people who hate your hopeful and positive outlook on life.  Maybe you are your own worst enemy, undermining your own success.  Well here's the key to fixing all of that.
It's the Lord Jesus Christ.  Once you see yourself for who you really are, a sinner and you are brutally honest with yourself and God about your short comings, then you can begin moving towards success...make that "fulfillment".
It starts with forgiveness.  Knowing Christ died to pay your sin debt (death and hell) you can now know that GOD has forgiven you and you stand clean and forgiven.  Next you can learn to forgive yourself for where you fall short.  Understand your strengths and weaknesses.  Play to your strengths and build a team of people around you whose strengths make up for your weaknesses.
I think this simple foundation of Christ and living a forgiven and upright life before the Lord is everything.  First all peace and joy is found in this.  Next the motivation behind why you go to work and do what you do changes.  How you measure "success" changes.  The principles that a Christian lives by is simply not only living right, but also doing business right.  So naturally when you are honest and transparent with people, you gain their trust.  Give them a generous deal and they will come back....not only that they will tell their friends.  When you  make a mistake, you will make it right with your customers.  When they get in your face, you are calm and kind and treat them right.  When they cool down, they will remember how you treated them well.
Unbelievers often mistake Christians as pushovers.  We are not.  Don't mistake kindness for weakness.  In fact I think a true Believer works harder, longer with better results.  Their motives are right.
I'm not saying we don't blow it sometimes and lose focus.  What I'm saying is you must first trust God for everything.  Thank God for everything He gives you.  Look to Him and His Word for help.  More trust in Him and less trust in yourself.
Simple fact, if you are unhappy and life is a mess, odds are you have created it whether you realize it or not.
The heart leads the mind and the mind leads the body.... your body leads your business.  If the heart is not right you are doomed from the start.
I'm not saying the most evil person can't get ahead in life.  He or she can.  For what though?  What does it profit you if you gain the whole world and lose your soul.  They will never find "fulfillment"  There will always be the same hole in their life as there was before wealth.  Their problems and who they are as a person will only be amplified with wealth.  Just look at the stories of lottery winners.  They just became an amplified version of themselves.
So if God is over all and creator of all, shouldn't we seek Him first?  If you are looking for wisdom, shouldn't you seek Godly wisdom first?  I can only speak for myself, but it was a huge turning point in my life and career.
Put down the marketing book, pick up the Bible and start there.  I'll walk you through the other stuff along the way.  Life's a journey, let's live it the best we can.

Power, Structure, World History and the Church

Since I have been spending quite a bit of time the last several weeks studying the history of the problems in the Middle East I have noticed some very interesting patterns.

First imagine a land that has suddenly lost it’s government, structure, laws, police, military… etc.  In your mind you can imagine that land in any part of the world you like, doesn’t matter.

In this void where people are free to do anything, live anyway they like.. what happens?  The people cry out for structure and laws and there is always at least one greedy group hungry for power.

I find it interesting where people of religion jump in ready to impose their religion in this void of structure and laws. (It’s not always people of religion grabbing for power obviously…)

This is what happened when Rome fell.  Who had the birth records, marriage records, who had rules of right and wrong and “enforced” them?  The “Roman” church became very powerful and actually filled the role of government.

How many things do you see in the heart of man revealed in the desire for rules and structure and the people who are more than willing to grab for that power.  Just something to noodle on.

Prayer Request from Samuel in India 1/4/10

Precious  Brother Jason  in the Lord,
HOw are you and the Family..? I missed you this morning and if God
willing, we will chat tomorrow.. Brother Jason, how  is sofar the New
Year to you..? May the Lord God bless this 2010 for His Name sake and
for His ministry sake..
            Brother Jason,  Here is a Prayer request that there has
been some political and regional clashes going on in our AP State..
Some part of AP state telugu people are fighting for the separate
state.. where by every where, strikes , unrest situation and killings
are going on. Even today, all the schools, shops are closed..
Transportation is also stopped.. No buses and no trains.. Even
tomorrow Railrocco( Trains will be stopped, where by  all the trains
are cancelled)  in our region..
Indeed, this is effecting my Teaching Job in Hyderabad. Since Iam
doing part time, Iam not sure of  continue  it. I may loose it....
And Hyderabad is the centre place for all this political and Regional
conflicts.. SO, Iam in dilemma to go to Hyderabad on every Thursday..
I supposed  to go this  wednesday evening  ( 6th)..
Tomorrow, central Govt of INdia called all the Leaders of our state
for a Dialogue. May the Lord give them wisdom  to make right
resolutions..
Brother ,  May the Lord be kind to me since its a  big problem
here.. Hoping will be fine..
You are all always in our thoughts and  Prayers.. Keep praying for
us. We  love you and I will send you soon the pics and thank you for
all  your love and care for us...
With much Prayers and anticipation ,
Yours Brother in Him,
Pastor Kota Samuel
                             B.Th.,M.Th.