Easy

I was watching a segment on TV this morning about sports/athletic shoes and all the claims that are made. Depending on the particular shoe they will: help you loose weight, tighten and shape your buns, strengthen and tone your legs, look like one of the models (implied) and a host of other benefits. All you have to do is buy their shoe, at a premium price of coarse, and your life is instantly better.
That's the heart of the matter. We want it quick, now, instantly and it has to be easy. No effort on our part, no strain or willingness to work at what really works. We want a pill or shoe, a band or bracelet and let the magic begin.
It started me thinking about our relationship with God. As we look back through the history of the bible, it's very clear that God wants a relationship with us, an exclusive one where He is the object of our affection (Mt. 12:30) and when we consider what God has done for us (Rm. 5:8) we should strive to please Him in every way. But for some reason:__________________, fill in the blank with your own reason, our affection seems to find another object or we think that God is available to do whatever we want Him to do and we are likely to get upset when He doesn't come through.
Our goal should be to worship God and live righteously, knowing that there is a cost associated with living a life that is pleasing to God, (2Tim. 3:12) there are no short cuts, no easy button, no yellow brick road. This is the way in which the bible describes the road on which we travel:
(Matthew 7:13-14) "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. 
We don't like narrow and difficult, but would rather have wide and easy.

Below is part of daily devotion I get from David Jeremiah entitled: The Nourished Soul.

The Nourished Soul

...nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.
1 Timothy 4:6b

Recommended Reading 1 Timothy 4:6-11

In his 1729 Christian classic, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, William Law gave us the secret to a spiritual and productive life. "Nourish (your soul) with good works," he wrote, "make it wise with reading, enlighten it by meditation, make it tender with love, sweeten it with humility, humble it with penance, enliven it with Psalms and Hymns, and comfort it with frequent reflections on future glory."¹

The normal Christian life is one of constant and continual revival. While longing for a global revival to sweep the earth or a local revival to touch our church, we can personally nourish our soul every day. We can grow wise by the reading of God's Word, become enlightened by meditating on memorized Scripture, learn to treat others with the tenderness of agape love, and display the sweet traits of humility and confession. We can bolster our spirits with hymns and songs, and we can comfort and strengthen our hearts by reflecting on heaven and on things above.

For renewal to take place, we have only to study God's blessed Word and let it do its work in our lives.

Hope Faith

Hope-Faith is a an organization that feeds hundreds of people every day. They provide a place where the homeless or those out of work can come and get a meal, clothes, toiletries and a safe place to relax.
On any given day you'll see clients getting hair cuts, taking advantage of the game room, watching TV, playing ping-pong or reading a good book. Hope-Faith provides this at no cost, everything is free to any and all. The organization relies heavenly on donor contributions, from money to mowers. They will even send a truck to your home if you have large items to donate.
There are numerous volunteer opportunities. Just show up and they will whisk you back to the kitchen, warehouse, or a large room where clothes are sorted and sized.
Serving at Hope-Faith is a great opportunity to get out of your comfort zone for a few hours on a Saturday and help those that are a lot less fortunate.

HOPE: Hope unbelieved is always considered nonsense. But hope believed is history in the process of being changed.  ___JW
FAITH: Real works are the natural products of faith taking it's next step. __PG

There are many opportunities waiting.........for you. 

A New Man

An Amazing story of how Jesus Christ changed the life of one man.



Tass Saada will be one of the speakers and will facillitate several workshops at the Fruit of Forgiveness Conference October 7&8, 2011 at Grace Church 8500 W. 159th in Overland Park, KS 66221.
Register Today: www.fruitofforgiveness.org

Before and After

Something to consider:
The folly which we might have ourselves committed is the one which we are least ready to pardon in another.
____J.R.

 October 7-8, 2011
Friday 5:30pm to 10:00pm & Saturday 7:00 am To 2:00 pm
Grace Church  8500 W. 159th St. Overland Park, KS 66223

Break Free Today...
Register Today: www.fruitofforgiveness.org

The Beauty of Jesus

If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
___Mt. 6:14-15

Peter Loth will be one of the Keynote speakers at the Fruit of Forgiveness Conference, October 7 & 8 at Grace Church in Overland Park, KS 66223. Register online: wwwfruitofforgiveness.org

An Arafat Man

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.           __Ephesians 1:13

On October 7 & 8th, Grace Church in Overland Park will host the Fruit of Forgive Conference. We are very pleased to  have Tass Saada join us in this life changing event. Below is a short bio and class description. I encourage you register early as class space is limited.
www.fruitofforgiveness.org

Class Title: From an Arafat Man to Forgiven Man    Taysir (Tass) Saada

Bio

To glorify God by reconciling Arabs and Jews to the Father, then to one another through the love of Jesus Christ

From Anger to Love

Taysir Abu Saada (Tass) knows first-hand what it means to be gripped by hopelessness. Born into a Muslim family in the Gaza Strip in 1951, his parents immigrated to Saudi Arabia shortly after his birth. After the humiliating Arab defeat in the 1967 war with Israel, Tass joined the “Fatah Forces” (PLO under Arafat). In Fatah, Tass was trained as a sniper to kill Jews. He also trained children to fight and kill Jews. 

After several years with Fatah, family circumstances drew him back home. Then, desperate for a change, Tass moved to the United States in 1974, married an American girl (Karen), and became successful in business. He gained American citizenship in 1979, and in 1993 he had an amazing conversion from anger to love, which is covered in his book, Once an Arafat Man.  Although he enjoyed his life in the US, Tass realized the people of his homeland were still trapped in a cycle of violence, poverty and despair. In response, he and his wife founded Hope for Ishmael, a 501(c)(3) religious organization intent on making a difference, one life at a time, in Israel and the West Bank.

“We recognize that the way to provide a better future for the people of Israel and the West Bank is to physically instill hope into their communities,” explains Tass. “By providing basic needs such as nutritious food, education and jobs, we can show them a more profitable way of living. By coming alongside them, we can establish working, peaceful communities that give hope where once there was none.”

Class description:

  Tass will share his background as a Palestinian who was displaced and thereby encountered bitterness and anger so much so that he became a terrorist. Come prepared to be challenged to set free from the bondage of unforgiveness. Dr Jeff Adams pastor of Graceway put it this way. “Like Saul of Tarsus, he sincerely thought he was doing God and his people a favor by killing the enemy.Tass’s account will take us into his journey to faith in Christ. “Learn to achieve the level of forgiveness he acquired that transcends to all of us regardless of the magnitude of the atrocities we have committed against others or ourselves.