Constantly challenged and encouraged by the men in my weekly discipleship group. Our efforts to discuss the Scriptures, memorize/meditate on the Scriptures, and provide Biblical accountability cultivates maturity. I am grateful to the Father for these men being willing to strive together as we share our weaknesses, failures, and victories. 

As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. (Proverbs 27:17 NKJV)

Be ware church planters! When Joel asks you to come teach a Missions Conference he will put you to work on his farm. Thanks Lyandon for your diligent teaching, passionate instruction, and "handy farm work." Love ya man! 

Puritan Prayer of the week

Confession and Petition 

Holy Lord, I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find Your mind in Your Word, of neglect to seek You in my daily life. My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless You that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ. Go on to subdue my corruptions, and grant me grace to live above them. Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring my spirit into subjection, but rule over me in liberty and power.

I thank You that many of my prayers have been refused. I have asked amiss and do not have, I have prayed from lusts and been rejected, I have longed for Egypt and been given a wilderness. Go on with Your patient work, answering 'no' to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it. Purge me from every false desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to Your rule. I thank You for Your wisdom and Your love, for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject, for sometimes putting me into the furnace to refine my gold and remove my dross.

No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin. If You should give me choice to live in pleasure and keep my sins, or to have them burnt away with trial, give me sanctified affliction. Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of Your grace in me, everything that prevents me taking delight in You. Then I shall bless You, God of jeshurun, for helping me to be upright.

Always challenged in my prayer life, particularly concerning confession, when reading the prayers of the Puritans. These past brothers had a passion for the Glory of God, which enabled a soul-searching that led to a very real sense of their fallenness. The church needs to recover this sense of self-awareness, I need to recover this sense of self-awareness and my deep, eternal need for Christ. O God grant to me/us a Vision for transformation. Awaken your church to your Holy character that we may live for your glory!  

Times like these remind me that our God is a consuming fire. This I pray, "Father, consume me with your greatness, majesty, marvelous beauty, holiness, and all that you are. I that I would be captivated and mesmerized by your goodness. To the praise, honor, & glory of your name I choose to live."

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:25-32 ESV)

Great reminder of the New Life we are to live empowered by Christ. Great text for meditation in the night hours as I sleep. 

BBA Spring 2015 Meeting

"Where is God working and how will you join him?" Asked Layndon Warrren, church strategist for NAMB, to the 120 representatives of the Beulah Baptist Association at our Spring 2015 meeting. Warren exhorted the church representatives to follow the "call of God" by living a life of abandonment. Warren explained that we as followers of Jesus must continually abandon our way in order to live His way. Led by Warren, the Associational representatives investigated the message and call of Jesus recorded in Mark 1:14-20 being challenged by Jesus to "come follow" Him and He will make us fishers of men. We were reminded from the text that following Jesus in total abandonment is a a life of adventure and inconvenience. Warren stated, ""We are going to have to be inconvenienced in order to fulfill the Great Commission." The sons of Zebedee left "family, friends, familiarity, and financial stability" in order to follow the call of Jesus. Warren argued that Jesus is WORTH the abandonment and inconvenience for the furtherance of His kingdom. Thanks Layndon for your faithfulness to the text as well as a strong word of exhortation for the BBA to work side-by-side in the effort to reach our nation and the nations with the gospel. Layndon will be speaking at Clement Baptist Church for their Engaged 2015 Missions Conference through the weekend. 

Look to the North

The love of God compels us, followers of Jesus, to abandon all in order to make disciples of all nations, including our own. Growing up in the south, I envisioned the US as a place where gospel-preaching churches were plentiful. Due to my limited experience in traveling abroad, I was under the wrongful impression that everyone, especially in the US, knew who Jesus was and is. My perspective came crashing down about 10 yrs. ago upon discovering the many people groups around the world, summing millions of people, who had never heard the gospel nor the name of Jesus. My "eye opening" experience did not stop there as I discovered the vast lostness in the US alone. I was a victim of the "Bible-belt" mentality, as some of you reading the blog were or still are. Needless to say I was shocked when learning the lack of gospel witness in the Northern Territories of the US. Over the past 3 yrs. I have had the opportunity to travel to Vermont 3 times and Lord willing will take a 4th trip this July. I am amazed by two things: 1) The low percentage of Evangelical Christians in Vermont; 2) The amazing manner in which the Father is working to bring light into the region. God is calling many to the region to either plant churches or join with church planters to spread the Good News of Redemption through Jesus Christ in that region. Are you praying about where God is calling you to make disciples? Are you seeking to discover where God is at work so you can join Him (Henry Blackaby)? I exhort you to Look to the North. Follow the below link to discover more of how God is working in Vermont and how you can join in reaching this state with the gospel.


http://www.vermontchurchplanting.com