Mar 10
It doesn’t matter what you have; it matters how you got it. If you received an offering for an orphanage & then went out and bought a Ferrai then you are a rascal! But if you give 20% or 50% of your income away then your harvest is going to look different from someone who is judging you that may not even tithe!
Again, have some abused this scriptural truth? Yerp. But that does not change the fact that sowing & reaping is a spiritual law.
“Seed-time” is an opportunity to step thru the doorway to breakthrough and increase. It is not a holy moment that comes “as the Spirit wills” and “you must act now before this moment passes.” That’s manipulation. But when you’ve activated an eternal law established by God Himself – that is a holy moment! Genesis 8:22 This is an immutable law that God Himself has established.
Giving is like sowing a seed. You can give your time, talent or treasure.
One of the giant redwood cedars of California is 270 feet high, and weighs 6,300 tons. It came from a seed weighing three thousandths of an ounce! That illustrates the power of a seed!
Once people start giving they are ennobled and empowered. It’s Godly.
The people who give money they don’t have to, create a culture of celebration.
The leader that gives attention they’re not paid for will exceed expectations.
Let’s be the generous generation!
Mar 09
Is it okay to “give to get?” If it wasn’t then why is there so much in scripture about it?
Galatians 6:7 “God is not mocked: whatever a man sows THAT shall he also reap.”
Genesis 26:12-14 There was a famine in the land so Isaac SOWED in THAT land & reaped 100 fold THAT YEAR!
Genesis 8:20-22 God was so pleased with Noah’s great offering, that He put a system in place to ensure we are supplied to fulfill His will. “As long as the Earth remains so also seed-time, & harvest.”
Matt. 6:33 “But seek first the Kingdom of God & His righteousness, & all these THINGS will be added to you.”
The Kingdom of God is defined in Rom. 14:17 as being “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” If you are seeking first these then you won’t have to worry about “getting off” in the area of money.
The Purpose of the Seed is Harvest!
The Law of the Seed
Mar 08
There is a renewed attack on the hyper-prosperity message. Though there are apparent abuses in this area among some “name-brand” ministers, the danger is missing the truth on the matter. If there were no truth regarding wealth or prosperity then there would be no debate, abuse or attack. Jesus said that knowing the truth makes us free! Beware of throwing the proverbial baby out with the bathwater.
So allow me to highlight one simple idea: God’s original plan for man was abundance. We see this in the Garden of Eden. It was a wealthy place! In other words, there was no lack there. Needs & desires for Adam & Eve had more than what they needed at the moment and enough for future expansion of Heaven’s Culture and atmosphere! What is that? Love.
Biblical “Prosperity” is simply having more than enough to fulfill the assignment God has given you. The great dividing line of scripture, as one person called it, is John 10:10, “The thief comes to steel, kill & destroy. But I Am come that you may have life & have it more abundantly.”
Don’t allow the abuses of others to deprive you of the blessings of God. You cannot be a blessing in an area if you are not blessed in that area. You can only give what you have.
“God is not opposed to His people being prosperous; He is opposed to them being covetous.” Dad Hagin
Mar 04
Welcome to the Post-Modern world where missionaries aren’t just for Africa & India anymore. God is calling us, His Body in the earth, to be evangelists & missional to the world around us. Acts 1:8
Nowhere in the Scripture does Jesus ask us to worship Him, but He does ask us to become like Him – worship Him by obeying Him. (This is discipleship.) Matt. 28
I believe God is taking us from institution to revolution!
Our problem is we have God all figured out – His ways are NOT our ways! There is still a mystery! It takes more faith to NOT have ALL the answers sometimes…
But here’s what I do know: Jesus said, “I will build MY church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Gates are defensive things. So the church Jesus is building is the one that is plunging head-long into darkness & danger to get it’s hands dirty & rescue people from hell!
The Holy Spirit is calling His Bride to Action: “Who will go?” (Isaiah 6)
pkc
Mar 04
Going to hang with one of my mentors & the man that led me to Jesus 33 year ago: Brother Jim Wideman!
Be back Saturday.
See ya Sunday.
pkc
Mar 02
The church always expresses itself in different ways depending upon the culture that it’s in. It’s very fluid so it can “reform” itself all the time depending upon the culture or environment that it’s in. The purpose for this of course is so it can be a relevant witness in that particular culture. The problem is, we are in a “post-modern” or “post-Christian” generation. In other words, people in the Western World ARE searching for God but just not in the church anymore. So what can we do to increase our influence in this culture?
(NOTE: by “the church” I mean Christ-followers. Not any particular denomination.)
We only legitimize ourselves are Christians by going back to Jesus. Are we reflecting Jesus? If we are not then we are ultimately “unChristian-Christians.” I know this is an oxy-moron. The greatest insult you can hurl at a Christian is “you don’t look like Jesus.” Ghandi said, (paraphrase) “I’d be a Christian if I hadn’t met so many of them.” What an indictment that still holds true in many instances today. Does it in your? In mine?
We are not to reflect the culture we are in but yet relate to it so we can express this other-worldly culture of the Kingdom that we are from. The standard has always been, is and always will be – JESUS. To be “culturally relevant” we have to accurately express JESUS to our neighbors, co-workers, friends, etc.
WE ARE MISSIONARIES!
Acts 1:8 The power of the Holy Spirit’s baptism will enable us to be a a meaningful witness.
pkc
Feb 25
God is calling us to transition from a church-based Christianity to a culture-based Christianity: God wants to use us to influence art, business, government, family, education, media, & technology! This is having a meaningful witness. (One folks will listen to)
Not relying on our old methodology is a fantastic opportunity but it’s also a bit frightening, but the early church thrived in risk & danger! The Bible term for this is “faith…” and “apostolic!”
This is what we all keep claiming we want: to be like the first century church. And I believe the human experience craves adventure, challenge, & danger! We need something to overcome – Jesus made us overcomers after all
Our concept of the church & the role it inherited has to adjust again in the Western World to become a MISSIONS church again like we were in the 1st century. Why? Because people in the Western World are looking for God but for the 1st time NOT in the church. We must be a people of the Gospel AND engage culture.
God has called us to be a missionary church & a missionary people. We have to stop the old way of think that the missionaries are those beleivers over in Africa and embrace the New Wine-Skin mentality: WE ARE THE MISSIONARIES!
more soon…
pkc
Feb 23
Harvest 10.2 New Wine Skins
Luke 5:36-38 (New Living Translation)
36 Then Jesus gave them this illustration: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old garment. For then the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t even match the old garment.
37 “And no one puts new wine into old wine-skins. For the new wine would burst the wine-skins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. 38 New wine must be stored in new wine-skins. 39 But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. ‘The old is just fine,’ they say.”
Remember: Jesus is TIMELESS! But the Pharisees were stuck in their old system. He spoke of LOVE, they spoke of the he Law. Jesus spoke of Grace they only know Performance. He spoke of His Kingdom & they of their tired system of works. He told stories – they had their lists…*God sent Jesus to upgrade the system! To fashion the “new wineskin.” That new wine-skin is His Church.
Three Principles of Wine-skins:
1. Wine is TIMELESS… Transcendent. In other words, people are always going to drink wine. People are ALWAYS going to need Jesus! Only HE can satisfy their spiritual thirst.
2. Wine-skins don’t last forever. The culture around us changes so our methods much also change.
3. New wine requires new skins. If we are going to be a relevant witness to this generation then we will have to understand the culture & reflect Jesus to it.
This is part of the ongoing process of God’s Spirit is consistently drawing us out of our comfort zones to live a life of faith & total dependence on HIM.
We have to put the venture back into the adventure of the church. We must stop being so risk-adverse. Do we love God & people enough to let go of the way we’ve always done things & trust Him to lead us into His ways?
kc
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