But God!

 

This is Multiply with Brad Snowden.  

Psalm 73:26 "My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the rock and strength of my heart and my portion forever."

When we were pastoring and probably it is the same with you as a church planter, or minister of the gospel, there were times we would get weary and tired, not of the sharing the truth. It would come from the challenging circumstances and simply living. I would try in my flesh to try to force something to happen. I would find myself there when my eyes got off the truth and on circumstances. My flesh would get weary to the point I would wonder; “Why was I doing this?” This was not a good place for me to be at, but it was a great place for God to speak into my life and say: “Why are you here?" 

It was then that the next part of Psalms 73:26 had to become real in my heart,  BUT GOD! Wow! What a truthful statement: BUT GOD. 

He alone is the Rock of our salvation, when the storms; come we have a place to stand that will not let us down.  He alone is our strength, the inner peace knowing that He will be strong on my behalf, working everything out for my good.

 Church planters, our strength doesn’t come from who we are or even what we know; but our strength to stand, comes from Who God is at the moment we need Him the most.   We all have times of being vulnerable and tired and the Psalmist doesn’t say that we will not have things come up to will challenge us. He does give us a good illustration, “Where are out feet planted?” 

God is our refuge and strength and in our weakness, He is made strong. It is this truth that will set us free, and it will be this truth that we can pass along to those we are to minister to. Church planters, you have a great privledge to help many people who are struggling today, and they need the truth. Life will not be free of circumstances that will be challenging. Yet, in the circumstance we can be free, we can have peace because of where our feet are planted.  It will not be by our own strength, nor anything that we can do on our own: “But God” if He is leading us, & if He is walking with us. Then He will strengthen us to stand upon the Rock, and this truth will bring about great victory in our lives and to all those that we teach. Our God is our portion forever and ever. 

This Multiply a word of encouragement for village church planters.  If you have found this to be an encouragement, please pass it on to others. Lord Bless you abundantly.

The Character of a Leader: Nehemiah 1

 

This is Chuck Rapp with Multiply, a podcast to provide a word of encouragement for village church planters.

As we continue to discuss the character traits of good, godly leaders, for the next several messages we will look at Nehemiah.  I find this Old Testament book (and the man for whom it is named) a fantastic study in leadership.  

Today’s leadership qualities are humility, trustworthiness, courage, and boldness.  

In chapter 1, verses 4-6 we read.  “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said: “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying... I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you.””

Nehemiah sets the example for us.  He mourned, fasted, and prayed to God.  He acknowledged God’s greatness and awesomeness.  His posture and petition before God is one of humility and dependence.  

 At the conclusion of chapter 1, Nehemiah shares his resume, his CV or his credentials.  “I was cupbearer to the king.”  While this may seem to be an insignificant role to us, this position required great trustworthiness.  One of the cupbearer’s duties was to choose and taste the king’s wine to make certain it was not poisoned.  Therefore, Nehemiah had the unreserved confidence of King Artaxerxes.  He was a trustworthy man; the king’s life was in the hands of Nehemiah.  

Next, we see that Nehemiah was a man of courage.  We read in 2:2b-3, “I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”” There are times when godly leaders must acknowledge their fears, give them to the Lord, and entrust themselves to God’s care and protection.  In spite of – or in the midst of – fear, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we must move forward. 

Lastly, Nehemiah did move forward with boldness.  We continue the story in 2:4b-5. “Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”  Notice that Nehemiah’s first response was to pray.  He then made a bold request of the king. 

Humility, trustworthiness, courage, and boldness are character traits of Nehemiah that are worthy of our replication.  

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

Repent and Believe Part 1

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “A Word of Encouragement for Village Church Planters.”  

The first of the 7 basic commands of Jesus is to repent and believe the Good News.  

The Gospel of Mark starts out by telling us that “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

As a follower of Jesus and as a Village Church Planter, you have the wonderful privilege and great responsibility to help people in villages today the way Jesus helped people in Galilea and Judea.  One way Jesus helped people was by telling them good news.  In fact his whole message was called “The Good News.”

So Jesus proclaimed the Good News of God.  And the first thing he said when he proclaimed that good news was “Repent!”  What a strange thing to say!  To repent means to change your way of thinking and change your behavior, to stop doing what is evil and start doing what is right. Telling other people to repent does not sound like good news!  Maybe if he had said “Peace be unto you,” or “Blessing is coming your way,” people would have recognized his message as good news.  But Jesus said, “Repent.” So, how is calling people to repent good news? 

It is good news because it means that because of God’s grace, people are free to change.  Its good news because God is present and He is willing and able to help people change.  To say “Repent,” is good news because it means that sinners do not have to keep sinning. Change is possible.  This is good news indeed.  Fighters can stop fighting.  Robbers can stop robbing.  Adulterers can break off adulterous relationships. Liars can stop lying and begin to tell the truth. Drunkards can stop destroying their bodies and their families with alcohol. Why? Because the Kingdom of God has come near.  The grace of God to transform human lives is available here and now.  We simply need to repent and believe the Good News. God will give us power to change.

So, as a Village Church Planter, you can invite people to repent and be free from the sinful ways of life which are destroying them.  What a privilege.  When you invite people to repent, be sure to do so with a heart full of love.  Do so with humility.  Let them know that you too have repented and continue to repent of sinful ways.  Tell them how God changes the life of those who repent and put their trust in Jesus. Do not be afraid to invite people to repent.  When you invite others to repent you are following Jesus’ example.  What a privilege is yours to do what Jesus did and say what Jesus said!

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.  

#EncouragementforVillageChurchPlanters #7BasicCommandsofJesus #RepentAndBelieve

 

The Character of a Leader - Accountable

 

This is Chuck Rapp with Multiply, a podcast to provide a word of encouragement for village church planters.

As we continue to discuss the character traits of good, Godly leaders, today we turn our attention to the importance of being accountable. Godly leaders take responsibility for their actions and decisions.

The Bible has many examples; today we look at one negative and one positive example from the Old Testament.

Exodus 32 records the story of Moses on Mount Sinai where he received the tablets with the 10 Commandments. Verses 1-4 tell us; “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” 

Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings … and bring them to me.”…  He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool…”

At the end of Moses’ time on the mountain, he returned to the camp. When he saw the golden calf “He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” 

“Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people  are to evil. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’  So, I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

These behaviors of Aaron are an example of an absence of accountability. Aaron failed to acknowledge his sin and bad leadership. He blamed others.

On the other hand, Psalm 51 records the account of King David when confronted by the prophet Nathan regarding David’s sin with Bathsheba. He “owned” it. David acknowledged his failure.

In verses 1-4, David is accountable before the prophet and to God. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight …” 

Godly leaders are accountable before the Lord and to others. They are not prone to blame others.

When they make mistakes, they are quick to acknowledge and repent of their errors.

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

One Body

 

Hello this is Brad Snowden with Multiply a word of encouragement for village church planters and in this episode I want to look at the importance of being part of the body of Christ.

Ephesians 4:16 "From Him the whole body the church, in all its various parts, joined and knitted firmly together by what every joint supplies, when each part is working properly, causes the body to grow and mature, building itself up in unselfish love."

In Christ Jesus we are the body as one and in I Corinthians 12 the Apostle Paul writes a clear explanation of the body or as we might say “The Church” 

I have learned valuable lessons over the years about how God planned out His Church to grow healthy and strong. I had my own construction business and I struggled with allowing others to help me. I really had a hard time asking for help even when things were too heavy for me to lift. I would say I will find a way to get it done. It was hard for me to admit that it would be better and faster if I simply asked for help. I now have physical challenges because I did not ask for help with carrying the weight. I thought it was weakness or simply would not get the work done like I thought it should.

This can happen even as Church Planters if we try to do many things on our own and that simply is not healthy for the body of Christ. Paul writes every joint supply and that has to be part of our hearts. God may open ways to partner with many different people and in that is what His body consists of. We must die to the fears of the flesh, maybe they will not do it like I would do, maybe they would get the credit and not me, and the list can go on and on. We must allow God to help us understand the big picture He wants to paint. We as believers in Jesus are all part of His body and God does use every part as He does yet we are not all the parts. Growing healthy bodies will take many different people, many different gifts, but that is good.

When I understood that I could not build houses by myself or lift heavy objects in my own strength that was a good day. I was able to do more, faster and better and that accomplished to goal more effectively. Church planters when we use all the tools God has given us we will see His body grow. God has an amazing plan and He desires to use each one of us. I would like to challenge you to pray about who can walk alongside you, so you aren’t working alone.  We are all part of the body of Christ and we will all accomplish great thing for the Lord working together. 

This is Multiply a word of encouragement for village church planters.