Promises Of God (by Kevin Devine)

Promises Of God (by Kevin Devine)

Heb 11:32 “And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets” Why in the world is Gideon listed in Hebrews Chapter 11, affectionately known as the Hall of Faith? That was my question as I approached the story of Gideon, told in Judges Chapters 6-8. He seemed like an average Joe whom God used to accomplish extraordinary events in history. God’s greatness was clearly demonstrated but I could not grasp what it was that made Gideon great. Then it was revealed to me. What made Gideon great is simple; he acted on the promises that God gave him. Six times God assures Gideon through promises (Judges 6:14, 16, 23; 7:7, 9, 14). Once Gideon understood what God was telling him, he never looked back. I love Gideon’s reaction the moment when it all made sense him. It was after the sixth and final promise- “It came about that when Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation that he bowed in worship” (Judges 7:15) Like Gideon, my family was tested in 2009 in the area of finances. I was a commission-only sales representative for an industry that was hit hard by the economy. Each month the paychecks got smaller and our savings evaporated. Then in August we ran out of money and all we had left was money from a 401K. Knowing that we needed a miracle to pay our mortgage, I went to my wife with the promise of God from Matthew 6:31-33: Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we...
Clean Up Your House (by Lee Gowen)

Clean Up Your House (by Lee Gowen)

I’ve been reading through 2Timothy and in 2Timothy 2, I read, then reread, then reread again the following verses… 20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.1 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.(a) 1 In the foot notes from the .net bible ignoble probably is referring to vessels used for refuse or excrement. Let’s take some time to think through what this should look like for you and me. The first thought that comes to my mind is every believer has both types of articles in their house. The second thought that comes to my mind is that I should do all I can to clean out, get rid off, scrub, and clean those that are “refuse”. Let me share my thoughts on these two with an eye toward changing my life and hopefully helping each of you who read this do the same. Before I go into these let me first share that house in this context is referring to my life, my heart, soul and mind, to me. To put it another way, it is everything that God will hold me eternally accountable for. Everyone has both noble and ignoble items in their house. As believers we’re far from perfect, but more importantly to me, these verses are saying that as good as I may see myself, I have areas of my life that are useful for...
Update India 2011 (by Andy Fetsis)

Update India 2011 (by Andy Fetsis)

On April 12th, I arrived in Hyderabad, India and joined up with my Brothers Hessel Baker and Brice Kopas, for what would be my third mission trip to India in as many years. I sensed God calling me to India for a specific purpose and in a very short time I was on the plane to India. Just three years ago, if you had asked me about India, I would have told you that it would be one of the last places on earth that I would ever want to see or visit. Oh, how God’s ways are higher than my ways; His thoughts higher than my thoughts! It was an extremely edifying, yet humbling, experience. Before I share the focus of my trip, let me share with you what I perceive to be the greatest need amongst these pastors. These faithful brothers have tremendous prayer lives and they are so faithful to their work. With that being true, the greatest need I see in the lives of these pastors and congregations is the need for sound biblical teaching and instruction. There is a great need to educate the pastors so that they in turn can educate and disciple faithful men and women in their congregations who “will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2) Please pray for God to give the Sharon India Foundation wisdom and discernment on how it can best serve these brothers and sisters in this area. Your prayers, thoughts, comments and ideas are coveted in this matter. This trip focused on two major areas in which I sensed God’s prompting me to encourage...
A Wrong Number (by Tom Rhue)

A Wrong Number (by Tom Rhue)

I am in the property tax appeal business in Colorado and Arizona. Nancy called from Newton, NJ, regarding the taxes on a property owned by her sister, Carol. She thought I was with the County Tax office. After a few minutes of business discussion Nancy related the following to me. She and her sister, Carol, have been estranged for more than twenty years. Both have been suffering with deep depression. Regrettably, Carol committed suicide last week. Nancy told me she attempted the same several months ago and again last week after hearing of Carol’s death. Nancy was found unconscious, taken to the hospital for a week while she recovered from her overdose of pills. She thanked me for my assistance and was about to hang up when I asked her where she thought Carol was spiritually. The reply was Carol did not like anyone including, God. I asked Nancy where she stood with God. A long and thoughtful silence ensued. She responded that her painter, Frank, had been asking her the same question and what a “coincidence” this seemed to be. I posed the scenario that if there is a God, heaven, hell and if she died tonight what she would tell God if He asked her why He should let her into his heaven. Again, a long silence and Nancy said she just did not have much of an answer to that question except for the fact that she always tried to be a good person etc. Nancy asked me what I would tell God. My response was that I had been asked the same question 34 years...
Fast Forward (by Bob Merwin)

Fast Forward (by Bob Merwin)

About five years ago, I had a guy call on me to represent his product in the market place (investments). As I befriended Doug, he accepted my invitation to a number of CBMC luncheons. A few months went by and I asked him to begin meeting with me in First Steps. I felt comfortable asking him “gently” for any kind of a testimony to see if and when he came to Christ. Well, Mr. Judgmental here thought it was quite weak! And after a year or so, it proved to be weak, because one day he came to my office, flopped down in the chair and said, “This Christian life isn’t working for me. I need to surrender my life to Christ”. Since that took place, now fast forward a couple of years. Doug has a substantial Jewish background and most everything growing up was Jewish. He divorced his wife a few years earlier and was seriously looking for other women. After somewhat of a slower growth in Christ, he joined a men’s Bible study in my office August 2010. He shared with the men that his 16 year old daughter (has boy/girl twins) was totally out of control. She even called her mother the “B” word. For financial reasons, he moved back into the house with his former wife and twins. I offered, and the family agreed to have me come over to their place and talk about “family relationships”. It was Saturday morning, July 2nd and I went to their place. After meeting for two hours with the family, I told them they had no foundation in which to “fix” their lives and a...