A Weekly World Wide Word of Encouragement to those in the Ministry
PRAISE GOD IT’S MONDAY!
A WEEKLY ‘WWW (world-wide word) OF ENCOURAGEMENT’
TO THOSE IN MINISTRY
A FREE service, currently connecting with Christian leaders from 3,000 denominations and ministries, in 70 countries.
Issue No: 429 Published: 11 Jan 2010
MUSINGS ON THE KINGDOM - PAST, FUTURE AND PRESENT
KINGDOM PRESENT - THE KINGDOM PARABLESAN INTRODUCTION
Why are the parables so important to our understanding of how to live in the kingdom today?
The disciples wondered this and Jesus gave them the answer.
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?â€
11 He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. (Matthew 13:10-13)
Kingdom living is not understood, indeed ridiculed by, non-believers and sadly, many Christians too. So Jesus took the step of explaining the Christian lifestyle in a way that could only be truly understood through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. In this way, no-one is offended! But all believers with a longing to discover the heart of God, are truly challenged!
The parables then, contain His secret messages to us, His followers.
Several years ago I went through these, and made a summary list of the topics referred to in them. This summary shows the emphasis that Jesus placed on the positive attributes we are to develop, but at the same time deals in detail with the areas in which we are most likely to be tempted to go astray. For He knows us better than we know ourselves! I am glad about that, for often it seems, I don't know much about myself! God is so practical!
The summary is contained in the pie chart.
What then, is the most important attribute required to live the kingdom lifestyle?
Reading the Word? Experiencing Holy Spirit anointing? Deep theology? No, no and no!
The single most important factor in kingdom living is in the production of fruit in our lives. No, it is not apples, which is a pity really, for we live in Hawkes Bay, one of the foremost apple growing areas of the world! But rather, spiritual fruit, which Paul summarised as being;
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-5)
May the Holy Spirit reveal this basic spiritual truth to us this week.
(Continued next week)
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FROM THE WORD
"The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?†He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: â€â€˜You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." (Matthew 13:10-16)Life by the Spirit
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other." (Galatians 5:16-25)
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DAVID'S DOODLINGS
FAITH AND WORKS691. Man is made to work – but not all the time!
692. Show me faith. Show me works. And I will show you a faith that works.
693. Building faith takes time but good works are always ready and waiting.
694. How much faith does it take to do good works?
695. People come, people go, but needs go on forever.
696. Works reflect the light of Christ in us to a dark world.
697. Faith reflects our place in God, works reflect God’s place in us.
698. Faith is internal, works external.
699. Works are the reflection of our faith to a disbelieving world.
700. Works are the single most convincing expression of our faith.
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CRANWELL'S CARTOON
10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were
the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried
out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were
no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What
have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say
to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It
would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in
the desert!†13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand
firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today.
The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD
will fight for you; you need only to be still.†15 Then the LORD
said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites
to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the
sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the
sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so
that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through
Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.
18 The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory
through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.†19 Then the angel
of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew
and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front
and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and
Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one
side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all
night long. 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and
all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind
and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the
Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water
on their right and on their left. (Exodus 14:10-22)
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TUESDAY TEACHINGS
THIS WEEK: SERMON ON THE MOUNT - THE KINGDOM WAY continues.......... as we look at the righteous and the merciful. Seen more as signs of weakness in today's ruthless world!
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LAUGHING AT OURSELVES
***Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused****** "Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others." ***
140. THE CHURCH STAFF
PASTOR...
Is able to leap tall buildings in a single bound;
Is more powerful than a locomotive;
Is faster than a speeding bullet;
Walks on water;
Gives policies to God.
ASSOCIATE PASTOR...
Is able to leap short buildings in a single bound;
Is as powerful as a switch engine;
Is just as fast as a speeding bullet;
Walks on water if the sea is calm;
Talks with God.
EDUCATIONAL DIRECTOR...
Leaps short buildings with a running start;
Is almost as powerful as a switch engine;
Is faster than a speeding BB;
Walks on water if he knows where the stumps are;
Talks with God if special request is approved.
MUSIC DIRECTOR...
Clears a Quonset hut;
Loses race with a locomotive;
Can fire a speeding bullet;
Swims well;
Is occasionally addressed by God.
YOUTH DIRECTOR...
Runs into small buildings;
Recognizes locomotives two out of three times;
Used a squirt gun in college;
Knows how to use the water fountain;
Mumbles to himself.
CHURCH SECRETARY...
Lifts buildings to walk under them;
Kicks locomotives off the track;
Catches speeding bullets in her teeth;
Freezes water with a single glance;
When God speaks, she says, "May I ask who's calling?".
FREE DOWNLOAD: You can now download the book 'Laughing At Ourselves' in PDF format at LAUGHING AT OURSELVES
One of the most comprehensive sources of Christian Humour on the Net with 769 sermon fillers for your entertainment and use at ...
FACTS FOR FUN
LAST WEEKS QUESTION: Who invented Khaki military uniforms?ANSWER: The light-yellowish brown cloth, used generally for military
uniforms, gets its name from the Persian word ‘khak’, meaning ‘dust’ or
‘ashes’. The word ‘khaki’ can be used to refer to the colour, the cloth, or
the garment made from the cloth. Lt. Harry Burnett of the Queen's Own
Corp of Guides developed the cloth in 1846. The goal was to produce a
mud-coloured uniform that would camouflage English soldiers attempting
to hide in dusty areas. (To help stop soldiers prematurely returning to
‘ashes to ashes and dust to dust’.)
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Why do we call twins who are attached to each
other physically, ‘Siamese twins’?
Answer Next Week.
SOME FUN FACTS280. FAST FINGERED
In music, a ‘hemidemisemiquaver’ is a sixty-fourth note. (Can you really play a note that fast? Must be to a very slow beat!)
281. WEIGHING IN AT.....
Akebono, the Japanese sumo wrestler superstar from Hawaii, weighs 516 pounds. (Not so solid grunt!)
282. A GOOD DROP?
One bushel in every 14, that is 7 percent of the entire Irish barley crop, goes to the production of Guinness Beer. (To help them cope with the miserable Irish climate or encourage the telling of their ever taller Irish yarns? The balance to make Irish whisky?)
A WORD PUZZLE FOR YOU
Make another word from this word using all the letters.
POINTERS
Answer at the end of A David Musing
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BIBLE QUESTION - PROVERBS
17) According to proverbs, what separates close friends?A - wealth
B - a gossip
C - laziness
D - evil deeds
Source: www.biblequizzes.com
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IF ONLY I'D THOUGHT OF IT!
"""OTHER'S SAYINGS TO ENLIGHTEN, AMUSE, OR BEMUSE"""!!!!!!! "People are like tea bags -you have to put them in hot water before you know how strong they are."
!!!!!! "Fight truth decay -- study the Bible daily."
!!!!! "How will you spend eternity - Smoking or Nonsmoking?"
!!!! "Dusty Bibles lead to Dirty Lives"
!!! "Come work for the Lord. The work is hard, the hours are long and the pay is low. But the retirement benefits are out of this world."
!! "It is unlikely there'll be a reduction in the wages of sin."
! "If you don't like the way you were born, try being born again."
100'S MORE TO BE FOUND AT...
LIFE'S A LAUGH
171. BREAKDOWNIt seemed that all our appliances had broken in the same week, and repairs were straining our budget. So when I picked up the kids from school, and our Jeep started making rattling sounds, I decided that rather than burden my husband, I'd deal with it.
I hadn't reckoned on my little tattletales, however, They rushed into the house with the news: "Daddy, the Jeep was breaking down, but Mom made the noise stop!"
Impressed, my husband asked, "How did you fix it?"
"I turned up the volume on the radio." I confessed.
172. PUSH START
About five years ago the battery in my beat-up VW beetle had died because I left the lights on overnight. I was in a hurry to get to work on time so I ran into the house to get my wife to give me a hand to start the car.
I told her to get into our second car, a prehistoric oversized gas guzzler, and use it to push my car fast enough to start it. I pointed out to her that because the VW had an automatic transmission, it needed to be pushed at least 30 MPH for it to start. She said fine, hoped into her car and drove off.
I sat there fuming wondering what can she be doing. A minute passed by and when I saw her in the rearview mirror coming at me at about 40 MPH, I realized that I should have been A LOT clearer with my directions.
173. THE REPLY WAS...
It was my first year of teaching tenth-graders geometry, and I was frustrated with the lack of effort in the class. Trying to make the group more interactive, I asked,
"Who can define a polygon?"
The reply was, "A dead parrot."
Laugh at life again here.......
BIBLE TRIVIA (Old Testament Family Life)
THE WIFE OF PROVERBS 31 ..........was of great influence. "11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.....26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.....28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:"
Adapted from: '1001 Surprising Things You Should Know About The Bible' MacGregor & Prys
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Newsweek: Seven Percent of Americans Attend Religious Services in a Home
Lisa MillerPublished Dec 31, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Jan 11, 2010
Seven percent of Americans say they "attend religious services in someone's home." This surprising little fact was buried in a recent survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which showed that Americans are as loosey-goosey in their religious practices as many have long suspected. About a quarter of Americans, according to Pew, believe in astrology. And liberals are more than twice as likely as conservatives to believe in fortune tellers, but just as likely to believe in the evil eye. Go figure.
That 7 percent, though, is a pretty big number, especially for a practice that defies all mainstream conceptions of churchgoing. The number of atheists in America hovers around 6 percent. Jews account for less than 2 percent of the population. For so many Americans to be praying at home is more evidence not just of greater religious pluralism but of what so many Christians have been saying recently: the established ways of worship aren't working anymore. "What's going on is a kind of deinstitutionalization of religious life," says Gary Laderman, professor of American religious history at Emory University and author of Sacred Matters.
The first Christian church services were held in people's homes, of course, and living-room prayer meetings have long been staples of Western history and literature. More recently, though, American worship has become industrialized. In the 1980s, the mega-church—with its Wal-Mart approach to spirituality—became a fixture of the suburban landscape, and the megapastor a Christian CEO. Now, says David Kinnaman, president of the Barna research group, many Christians are expressing "disappointment that the congregational models have become so consumeristic." "House church"—also called home church, simple church, or organic church—is "the new expression of hippie Christianity," says Kinnaman. If the megachurch is Budweiser, the house church is a microbrew.
But as with microbrewers, church-goers endlessly dispute the ingredients that make up an authentic house church. Do friends who pray together at a breakfast meeting qualify? Does a house church have to have a liturgy, elders, protocols, a bulletin? Is attendance in addition to, or instead of, "regular" church? Steve Atkerson, formerly a Southern Baptist pastor who has helped found dozens of house churches in Tennessee and Georgia, believes that even microchurches need authority (elders) and discipline. What sets them apart is the family atmosphere: the potluck supper at which the bread and wine are served—and, above all, the expectation that every member contribute prayers, teachings, and songs. (Based in the heart of the Bible Belt, however, Atkerson's church disallows teaching by women.) People drawn to house churches, he says, are similar to those drawn to home schooling: they mistrust authority and institutional hierarchy.
A world away, in the cities of the intellectual elites, progressive Roman Catholics devoted to social justice work are also starting home churches (for a full list, go to intentionaleucharisticcommunities.org). Still bruised by sex scandals and disenchanted with their bishops, these Catholics gather to celebrate the eucharist with the help of a priest. The dress is casual and participation is intense, says Catholic University professor William D'Antonio, who belongs to such a congregation in suburban Washington, D.C. "Everybody knows the mass. And while we're small, the singing is hearty. The thing you would notice most of all is the fact that it takes so long to complete the kiss of peace." In these communities, women are given crucial and visible roles.
I reached Robert Putnam, the Harvard Kennedy School professor, as he was busy finishing his new book, American Grace. Due out this fall, it explores the phenomenon of "the nones": the growing numbers of Americans—16 percent, by Pew's last count—who call themselves "unaffiliated." Putnam sees microchurches as smart marketing by people who want to pull the disillusioned back into the fold. "There's going to be a new set of religious entrepreneurs, leaders," he says. "I'll bet you my firstborn that [megapastor] Rick Warren is looking at the same numbers I am and trying to pull his church in this direction." What's happening to church has already happened not just to beer, but to food, magazines, and music. As people reject a one-size-fits-all approach, they're yearning for a church that's more homemade.
Via Openheaven.com
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DAVID'S DOWNLOAD
LAUGHING AT OURSELVESCompiled with a Grin by: David Tait
500 “Christian!?!†Jokes and Stories to Make You Laugh, Cry and – wait for it…. maybe even Think a Little!
PLUS A FREE BONUS!
200 + “QWIK QWIPSâ€â€¦â€¦ to help impress your friends with your quick wit and deep spiritual insight. (Perhaps!)
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WAXING LYRICAL
It is so easy to blame the Lord, or others, when things go wrong in our life. Yet the answer is found not in struggle, but in submission. Putting our life in His hands.LORD - HELP ME!
Now's the time when you are feeling low,
All your effort, with so little to show.
When life is getting on top of you,
God's Word doesn't seem true.
You're looking for a boost,
Chickens home to roost!
Nothing's working,
Life so hurting!
Indescribable!
Unbearable!
"Hey!
Pray!"
"Do I hear,
Voice in ear?"
"Now, listen to me,
One plus two, can be three!
If today, you will let me help you,
Your dreams, they can still come true.
When you rest your all in my gentle hand,
Your horizons, I will again, begin to expand."
Why do we ignore His advice?
Unwilling to pay the price,
Of giving all our being over to Him,
Rather let life's light, grow so dim.
Yes I'm still learning to understand,
Life, when it's placed in His hand,
Will simply, so much better be,
Than if it's only guided by me!
More of David's offerings at...
A DAVID MUSING
CAN YOU WAIT?Nothing now to write,
With brain do fight.
How sad,
Too bad,
Next week I might!
Patience is a virtue,
Both for me and you.
We don't know?
Let's let go.
For it's so true.
Can you wait?
Am so late!
Will do.
You too?
You're a mate!
Until next week.......
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD.
His servant and yours
David Tait
Today's 'Word Puzzle' Answer: PROTEINS
TODAY'S 'BIBLE QUESTION' ANSWER: 17) B - a gossip (Proverbs 16:28)
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ABOUT US
WALKING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES is a non-profit, non-denominational, Bible based ministry located in Hastings, New Zealand. A ministry dedicated to developing discipleship, fostering unity amongst God’s people to achieve the Great Commission, and in doing so, preparing for Christ’s return. It is securely based upon the foundational principles of the Apostles Creed while recognising the wide and rich diversity of beliefs amongst Christians in other areas. In accordance with the Lord’s direction, materials produced by the ministry are available, free of charge, to genuine enquirers upon request. The ministry is solely funded by donations, as the Lord provides. A list of materials available (plus some fun!) is obtainable and freely downloadable from our websitewwj.org.nz or by contacting us as follows.
Walking With Jesus Ministries
7 Bull Street
Ahuriri
Napier
New Zealand
Phone: (06) 835 0567 International (+64) 6 835 0567
Email: enquiries@wwj.org.nz
Web: wwj.org.nz
Our role is to bless and encourage those in ministry while promoting co-operation and unity of direction amongst the body of Christ, as emphasised 3 times by Jesus in His longest prayer, immediately prior to His arrest and crucifixion. "… so that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:12, 21, 23-4) Our website is currently being developed to encourage your participation one with another, to share resources, and to enable you to promote events and items of interest to the body as a whole – and have a smile while doing it!
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