2008-07-19 - Purpose Driven Life - Balancing Your Life (part 2) Write down your progress in a journal We remember what we record Writing helps clarify what God is doing in your life Moses kept a written record of their progress - Numbers 33:2 (NLT) Moses recorded the stages in their journey - Numbers 33:2 (NIV) Don't just record the good things David recorded his fears, doubts, and struggles with God Write down for the coming generations what the Lord has done - Psalms 56:8 Pass on what you know to others He who blesses others is abundantly blessed - Proverbs 11:25 Paul told us spiritual things so we tell others - 2 Timothy 2:2 Knowledge increases responsibility - James 4:17 Teaching other followers = a good servant of Christ - 1 Timothy 4:6 We learn for God's glory and the growth of the kingdom |
2008-07-25 - 30 Days at the Cross - Always Remembering Passover - it meant freedom for the Jews (from Egypt) It was a new relationship with God and man Jesus: with my life and death, you have a new relationship, now remember this In the midst of our activities and pressure of life, we forget:
He took bread and gave thanks for this very reason - Luke 22:19 Give thanks and examine yourself - 1 Corinthians 11:28 |
2008-07-26 - 30 Days at the Cross - Wisdom and Power of God Will the cross ever make sense to the world? Will all the wisdom of the world, no one has found God Jews sought a miracle worker general ignoring scriptures like Isaiah 53 God's plan was never to impress prideful scholars or to find acceptance among the rulers of the ages Some things never change:
Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing God didn't come to impress the world. Are you? |
2008-07-28 - 30 Days at the Cross - Life through Death Voluntary surrender is not easy; never comfortable nor enjoyable Rebellion comes from man's desire to be God Only when we are sick of our old nature will we be convinced to totally sell out to God Most of our cires are designed to produce our surrender So how do we go about taking up our cross?
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2008-08-06 - Questions and Answers - Part 7 Answered the following questions in the Q & A section:
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2008-09-10 - Teach Us To Pray - Alone and in Private Mark 1:35, Matthew 14:13, and Luke 4:42 - shows us that Jesus often went to solitary places to pray Solitude is essential in developing a deep relation ship with God Psalms 5, 38, and 42 are examples of how open and expressive David was with God We get fired up by sermons, fellowship, and music - Jesus went to be alone Prayer times make special memories Ideas for times with God:
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2008-09-14 - Teach Us To Pray - Our Daily Bread Many of us have little concern about having food Other things can distract us like: finding a job, paying off debt, development of our children Satan schemes to blind us God Worry definition:
If the enemy can get us to be preoccupied, it destroys our effectiveness as disciples He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom - Isaiah 40:28-31 Our Father is the God of the universe; nothing is too great for him |
2008-09-15 - Teach Us To Pray - Changes in Character Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place - Psalms 51:6 Character can grow if we take a sober gut-level check look at who we are Too often we pray:
When we aim at nothing, that is what we hit The word of God discerns the thoughts and intentions of our heart - Hebrews 4:12-13 Like a mirror reflecting how we look spiritually - James 1:23-25 We also learn the truth about ourselves from other people in our lives - Proverbs 20:5 Ask God to help you see what you need to change Ask others what things they see in your sinful nature How badly do you want to change? It will show by the way you pray My power is made perfect in weakness - 2 Corinthians 12:9 |
2008-09-24 - Teach Us To Pray - Plans to Prosper Us God has plans to prosper you - Jeremiah 29:10-13 Quiet time about things that happened in Flavio and Renee Uribe's life as they trusted in God. The found out that their plans and prayers didn't come about on their timing. |
2008-09-25 - Teach Us To Pray - Warriors Who Change the World The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge and and ordinary man takes everything either as a blessing or a curse! Prayer is the difference between being spiritually dynamic and spiritually dead; between being victorious over Satan and being victimized by him Three wasy to pray that makes a powerful difference: Pray according to God's purpose Pray in Praise of God Pray for the Passion to Produce We must understand how important prayer is in the eyes of God |
2008-10-19 - Man of Prayer - Praying for our family There is no greater privilege and responsibility than to pray for our spouse and children Powerful spiritual forces of evil try to undermine God's foundational institutions like the family Bible clearly teaches that our struggle come from the spiritual forces outside conscious perception - Ephesians 6:12 Each of us need to realize that how we pray for our spouse is limited only by our creativity When we have been faithful in praying for my children, we have a great sense of peace about their lives |
2008-10-23 - Man of Prayer - Praying for the world The is an infinite number of needs in the world we can pray for Decide on a series of issues and people you will pray for Three things to pray for:
Jesus told the disciples that the would be preachedd in all the world and then the end would come - Matthew 24:14
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2008-11-15 - Man of Prayer - Miracle List It is helpful to keep a separate list of needs for times of pure intercession:
Also good to have a "miracle list" God can do anything - nothing is impossible - Luke 1:37 During difficult times, God extended a seeming impossible invitation: Call to me and I will answer with great and unsearchable things - Jeremiah 33:3 He can do immeasurably more than what we can ask - Ephesians 3:20 We know God can do anything; we just don't know if he will do them
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2008-11-23 - Raising Awesome Kids - Provision and Protection If anyone does not provide for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever - 1 Timothy 5:8 Our families should never have to worry about where the next meal is coming from Our Heavenly Father provides for all our physical needs - Matthew 6:25-34 We should not imitate him in caring for my children? He works his land , will have abundant food - Proverbs 28:19 Get adequate medical insurance - so you do not burden your family will major costs Takes care of things around the house Do the repair jobs and maintenance work Husbands who are lazy - kids will see this and either disrespect us or gladly imitate us in it Fathers are protectors If any family member is in a situation where they are being beaten down, overwhelmed - this is the time to act Should not shield them from the realities of life, but from the forces from which they become helpless |
2008-11-30 - Raising Awesome Kids - Have Fun, Be Hip What is wrong with having fun? Nothing! Jesus was a fun person:
If we are fun people, our kids will have fun If we let them have fun they will love our leadership You need to be hip to what is happening We show love when we are interested in someone else's world Be coming all things to all men - 1 Corinthians 9:22 Take a look at the current youth scene and not ridicule it Confront the sin but accept the style |
2008-12-01 - Raising Awesome Kids - Love Love is of first importance. All else is secondary. Above all we should have love - 1 Peter 4:8 Lack of love, we are nothing - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 We may lavish upon our children the finest things but if we do not make them feel loved, it is all to no avail If there is closeness and love between us and our kids, we have a place to stand and start for the battle of their hearts Build our families on love and our kids will be strong Kids are born with the capacity to love, but not all learn how |
2008-12-21 - Raising Awesome Kids - Power of Discipline (part 3) What does the Bible say about spanking? He who spares the rod hates his son - Proverbs 13:24 Message is clear - Spanking is vaild, employed with wisdom and love
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2008-12-25 - Raising Awesome Kids - Gods Training Plan (part 3) These commandments... are to be upon your hearts (v. 6) Should train from the heart level Impress them on your children (v. 7) Training with the Scriptures must be done with great conviction, sincerity and earnestness Talk about them always (v. 7) Train consistantly - everywhere, anytime, anyplace About teaching our children how to live life - not nagging about their misdeeds Make it fun, doable, effective Most training should be spontaneous Never underestimate how many times we will have to say the same things over and over again |
2008-12-28 - Raising Awesome Kids - Nurturing Confidence (part 1) Early life is a long struggle for self-esteem Kids can be viciously cruel to one another If not watchful, we will be completely oblivious to difficulties our children are facing Wrong Foundations of Confidence Physical Appearance If we make it a big deal, we are setting u our children for problems They will gauge their self-worth on appearance and judge others that same way
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2008-12-30 - Raising Awesome Kids - Mistakes Parents Make 1. Being basically critical If you mostly see the negative things about your kids - what they will see about themselves 2. Failing to teach Teach the basics - throw a ball 3. Failing to express praise and admiration Say what we love, like, respect, and appreciation 4. Spending little or no exclusive time Always too busy - then you are too busy They will conclude that they are unimportant and worthless 5. Showing favoritism Comparing to each other - will breed frustration, jealousy, and bitterness 6. Pushing too hard, too soon Let them be kids 7. Parental self-degradation Downgrade yourself in front of your children Will hurt their view of life and of themselves 8. Living our lives through our children End up pushing your kids into things they don't really care about |
2008-12-31 - Raising Awesome Kids - How to Nuture Confidence (part 1) Only proper foundation is their relationship with God Develops confidence without cockiness Stress a relationship with God Focus on character - Tell your children over and over again that heart and attitude matter to God Applaud effort than ability Two of three men were successful because of their efforts not their ability - Matthew 25 Enough openness
Search out your kids strengths - everyone has at least some It is your job to help children discover and succeed in those things |
2009-01-03 - Raising Awesome Kids - Foundations of a Spiritual Family Spiritual = to be on the inside what we trying to do one the outside: to be genuine, not to live a pretense of religious performance but to function out of a sincere relationship with God A spiritual family is where:
We can not take our families where we have not gone Children can spot a fake We must be:
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2009-01-07 - Raising Awesome Kids - Devotion to Church Love the brotherhood - 1 Peter 2:17 If you have a positive, loving attitudes about the church, your kids will too If you notice that things were not done excellently - pitch in and help make it better Teach your kids to respect their Bible class teachers If you have problem with someone - don't speak inappropriately in front of your kids
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2009-01-12 - Raising Awesome Kids - Genuine Appreciation Appreciation for one another does not come about by accident Must teach it, talk about it, show it and confront the ways the kids are not expressing it - only way Cultivate appreciation by creating as many situations as possible where it expressed in words Encourage your family to begin expressing respect, appreciation, and encouragement - whole atmosphere will change Pleasant words are sweet to the soul - Proverbs 16:24 Teach your older children how to lead and teach your younger ones how to follow
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2009-01-14 - Raising Awesome Kids - Fabric Refers to the building a structure and rhythm into our famiy schedule Mealtimes Stop letting people read the paper, watch TV or do homework during dinner Create family traditions - do things that uniquel to our family |
2009-01-28 - Jesus with People - Full of Grace and Truth John 8:10-11 - When they were going to throw stones - Jesus just didn't say no
Was she being used by the Pharisees? Yes Sin enslaved us - John 8:31-34 Sometimes we think repentance is more difficult than it is - Jesus called for immediately Is it hard for me to confront others in their sin? |
2009-02-11 - Jesus with People - Heart Determined to Love Jesus' strongest and clearest denunciation of the Pharisees came in Matthew 23
His last and strongest words were spoken to wake them up He was trying to open their hearts and win them over to God |
2009-02-14 - Jesus with People - Jesus Won When Jesus first heard the news about Lazarus, Jesus declared that his illness was not going to be fatal - John 11:4 When Lazarus died, the disciples probably thought that he really blew it this time Good thing Jesus called lazarus by nameotherwise every corpse in cemetery may have come out The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead foreshadows Jesus' own resurrection after three days in the tomb Jesus is a victor over death While some could not pay taxes for a while; no one but Jesus can conquer death Do you fear death? How does your relationship with Jesus change the way you once thought? |
2009-03-12 - Promises of God - Carry and Rescue Paul: My God will meet all your needs - Philiippians 4:19 God most certianly allows us to have needs He allows situations where we are left to wonder how things will turn out He has not promised to keep us free from need As we grow older, all kinds of needs are created I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you - Isaiah 46:3:-4 Old age and gray hairs = symbols of all the things we can not control and tend to worry us I will rescue you: deliver us from danger - did not promis we wll never be in danger From every evil attack and bring me to safety - 2 Timothy 4:18 |
2009-03-19 - Promises of God - For your Good In all things God works for the good of those who love him - Romans 8:28 Regardless of what happened, we must be convicted - God is intimately aware and involved in all of it We have two choices: To trust - brings peace To doubt - brings anxious, temptation to take matters in our hands, sin God is conforming us to the image of his Son - Romans 8:29-30 Examples of those in "bad" circumstances:
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2009-04-03 - Promises of God - Prayers Real Purpose (part 1) We must understand our God if we are going to truly understand the promise offered to us in prayer His thoughts are not small nor his purposes shallow He is in the control of all things and these is nothing he can't do He is the God who take out a heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh - Ezekiel 36:26 He can forgive our sins and forget them - Hebrews 8:12 |
2009-04-05 - Promises of God - Noahs Faith Confidence in God's promise must be so great that we obey "even though" we don't understand and it does not make sense By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen - Hebrews 11:7
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2009-04-14 - Promises of God - Come to Repentance The current "promise/prosperity theology" lacks three things:
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2009-05-08 - No one like him - His servant heart (part 3) To serve means
No one can save himself and still fulfill the mission of God Luke 17:7-10 – we have only done our duty Thinking not in terms of rights but of responsibility Slave to all – Mark 10:44 We need to empty ourselves with being a doormat |
2009-06-08 - One Another - They Will Know You John 13:24-25
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2009-06-17 - A Life of Impact - Gentleness and Fueling Gentleness Mark 1:29-34
Fueling Mark 1:35-39
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2009-07-04 - A Life of Impact - Amazing Speech Amazing Speech Mark 6:1-6 Suspicions and fear can evaporate because of love and openness 1. Deep Conviction
2. Passion - If the speaker isn’t moved by the message, how can he expect it to move anyone else? 3. Integrity - Speaker must take plank out of their own eye before one can challenge other on the same topic 4. Person to person
5. Inspirational
6. Practical
7. Meet the Need - Out of touch with the needs on the audience can actually make things worst then they are. |
2009-07-10 - A Life of Impact - Sounding the Alarm Sounding the Alarm Mark 7:1-13
Protectiveness
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2009-07-18 - A Life of Impact - Time Management Time Management Mark 8:27-30
Reputation
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2009-07-19 - A Life of Impact - Timing Timing Mark 8:31-33
Approachability
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2009-08-01 - A Life of Impact - Anger Anger Mark 11:11-19
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2009-08-02 - A Life of Impact - An Emphasis of Fundamentals An Emphasis of Fundamentals Mark 11:20-25
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2009-08-24 - Wild at Heart - A battle to fight Christ draws the enemy out, exposes him for what he is, shames him in front of everyone Nice guy? Egyptians – plagues … Samson – killed a lion with bear hands, stripped thirty Philistines, killed 1,000 men Every man is from a victorious stock He is an original Who are you? Are you bored by him? What impact does he have on others? Are you too nice? Jesus was one with out fear – Did not shrink back but faced things head on - John 18:4-8 Jesus was no paled faced alter boy He commanded the loyalty of dockworkers Will return on a white horse There is something fierce in the heart of God |
2009-08-31 - Wild at Heart - Question that haunts every man (part 5) We pick battles that are easily won, rescue only the beauties we are sure to rescue Strength gone bad Violent men and passive men - Cain kills Abel Men say the most awful things to their wives or they kill them with their silence Type-A personalities – casualties tend to be the family Abraham - Always hiding behind his wife’s skirt - tells Pharaoh that Sarah is his sister Isaac does Rebecca the same way - he is a coward What if I offer her all I have as a man it’s not enough? |
2009-10-19 - Wild at Heart - An adventure to live (part 2) Most spend the energy of their lives trying to eliminate risk Their children hear “no” far more than they hear “yes” If a man succeeds in securing his life against all risk, he will wind up in a cocoon of self-protection and wonder why he is suffocating Seizing upon some sort of competence and rejecting anything that cannot be controlled This a refusal to trust God and reach out for control – runs deep in every man False self’s desire is to have power over experience – to control events and consequences - Mark 8:36 Too may men forsake their dreams because they aren’t willing to risk or fear they aren’t up to the challenge or are never told that those desire of the heart are good Soul of a man isn’t made for controlling things His job is charter to explore, build, conquer, and care for all creation If you had permission to do what you really wanted to do, what would you do? "How" is a faithless question – How is God’s department… Ask "what" What is written on your heart? What make you come alive? Don’t ask yourself what does the world need. Ask yourself what make you come alive and go do that because what the world needs is people who have come alive I’ve met men who’ve used advice like it was permission They are deceived about what they really want Goal of Christian discipleship is the transformed heart We move from boy who needs the Law to the man who is able to live by the Spirit of the Law Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit then you won’t feed on compulsion or selfishness |
2009-10-24 - Repentance - What It Is (part 1) What is repentance? Repentance is the first word of the gospel Na,,ham = most often used of God’s repentance Shu, b = a physical turning or returning of an object epostrepho = a Greek work similar to Shu, b metanoia = used as the first word in the gospel (change in mind and attitude)
“he came to his senses” – Luke 15:17 “he opened their minds” – Luke 24:45 “open their eyes” – Acts 26:18 “set their minds on things above” – Romans 8:5 |
2009-11-02 - Repentance - The Prophets (part 4) Prophets Transcend Public Opinion
Prophets Get to the Root to Produce Real Fruit
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2009-11-09 - Repentance - Transfigure Our Minds (part 2) Laziness is the greatest enemy to a girded mind. Need to wrestle in prayer – only after I’m certain that I’ve prepared my mind for action, do I conclude my time with God God only delays the coming Day of the Lord in order for more people to come to repentance Mind of Flesh Old self with a mind of flesh requires more and more sensation, wanting to “feel” alive, to overcome its callousness
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2009-11-22 - Master Plan - Selection (part 1) Men were his method
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2009-12-12 - Master Plan - Supervision (part 1) He kept check on them
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