G- “And so, under the supervision of the priests, the Levites watched over the Tabernacle and the Temple and faithfully carried out thier duties of service at the house of the LORD.” 1 Chronicles 23:32

R- God is good. He always gives me what I need when I need it. I have been looking for confimation on weather to seek a staff position at a church and I would say that this just about sealed it. I want to serve the priests He has placed in my life as they carry out His vision and plan.

O- Lord, help me to find the place where you want me to serve. Help me to serve in that position in manner that is pleasing to you. And help me to serve the priests you place in my life in order to help them carry out your vision.

W- I am going to be applying for some jobs that God has placed in front of me, and be fully confidant that it is His calling on my life.

Th- Think about it!

So I forgot to add this book to my recap of reading the other day. here are a few quick hits that I took form this book:

• Everything a church does creates an Impression, good and bad. What Impression are you making?
• If you don’t have a plan for guests they will notice and they will have a plan, to not come back.
• Marketing materials are a first impression. From the Web site on down to every printed piece in your building
• The building itself can leave an impression. Is it clean? Dirty? Cluttered? Full? Empty?
• Plan. Plan some more. Then Plan again. Make sure you are thinking of all the ways guests are going to come and plan for them.
• Put yourself in their shoes.

If you want to see why I was reading this book, check out this First Impressions Manual I put together for my church.
All in all if you are trying to do a better job with your guests this is a great read and will get your brain thinking.

G-“One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! For I am with you, and no one will harm you because many people here in this city belong to me.” Acts 18:9

­R-What is it that God is saying to me?  I feel like to some extent it echo’s the word he spoke to Paul. Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! In my life I feel that God has been calling me to speak out at a lot of things. This blog is just one of the ways I feel he has called me to speak out. What is God saying to you?

O-Lord, help to me to hear what you are saying. Help me to listen and obey the words you are speaking to me. I want to follow where you are leading and hear what you have to say.

W-I need to be more attentive in listening to what the Lord is speaking to me, but I also need to be more obedient in following it.

Think about it!

G-“So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, for we could only conclude that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.” Acts 16:10

R- I find it incredibly interesting that up until this point Luke (the author of Acts) was writing everything as simply an observer to the events he had seen or had been told of. But this is the point for him where the rubber met the road. This is the first time we get an indication that he is not just observing the events but participating in them. How many times do we sit on the sideline watching what God is doing and say “Wow, God is doing so many amazing things. I wish I was a part of it.” Well what’s stopping us? Not God. He wants us to be out there participating and not just observing. So get in the game.

O-Lord give me the strength and courage to get in the game. Even though doing so may be dangerous. I want to serve you with all that I am. I want to stop observing all the amazing things you are doing and start participating in them.

W-I can find various ways to walk out my faith, by serving within my church, and my community. But I also need to be constantly looking for opportunities to reach out to people outside of church based ministries. I need to see people who need Jesus and get myself in the game.

Think about it!

G- “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you then these requirements: You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or eating the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this you will do well.” Acts 15:28,29

R- I think that as Christians we can often times put too much on the plate of new believers. we expect them to cut off every tie with their old sinful life and become everything God wants for them overnight. Well thats just not practical. The apostles faced this same dilemma in the new church. they had a bunch of new gentile converts and some of the Jews wanted then to adhere to Jewish law. I think that the church sometimes expects that of new believers and we end up pushing them away. We need to understand that they are new persons in Christ but that turning away from their old lifestyles takes time. The Apostles gave four things that I think we need to encourage in new believers

1. Do not  eat meat sacrificed to Idols(Maintaining Spiritual Purity)-obviously this keeps with the first commandment
2. Abstain from sexual immorality(Maintain Physical Purity)- keep your body pure
3. Do no consume blood(Maintain Emotional Purity)- blood was/is the thing that holds life. the heart was the center for the blood and our emotions
4. Do not eat meat from strangled Animals(Maintain Cultural Purity)- this was a big deal to the Jewish culture in the day and in following this new Christians were able to keep peace with the Jews and not create a barrier for more people to come to Christ.

These are the 4 things that we need  to be encouraging new Christians in, without expecting them to just up and change everything in their lives overnight.

O-Lord help me not only to encourage new believers to follow these four things, but also to follow them myself. Help me to give grace to those who accept you and to help them in becoming more mature in You, even as I strive daily in this myself.

W- One way I can put this into practice is to start a study for new believer in my church, helping them along, in their new faith.

THink about it!

G-“When the listening crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect - ‘These men are gods in human bodies!’ … But when Barnabas and paul heard what was happening, they tore their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people, shouting, ‘Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings like yourselves! We have come to bring you the Good News’” Acts 14: 11-15

R- I find this passage very interesting considering it follows very closely after one in chapter 13 where King Herod is presented with the same dilemma as a Paul and Barnabas. the main difference being that Herod accepted the praise and God immediately struck him with a deadly sickness. Paul and Barnabas upon hearing that they were being acclaimed god’s were so distraught by this that they tore their clothes off and pleaded with the crowd to stop. The Difference between the two reaction? Pride. Pastor Craig at LifeChurch.tv has an interesting post on Pride in the ministry today (Click here) I think I need to be more watchful of my attitude of pride. Maybe i am not being worshiped as a god, but I can stiull try to take credit for what He is doing sometimes, which is just as prideful.

O-Lord help me to stay humble in all things and to put the glory back on to you when it is shown on me. Give me a humble spirit that desires to do your work and bring you praise, not myself.

W- I need to be more consistent in giving God the glory for the things in my life that I receive praise for. For it is through Him and Him alone that I can accomplish anything good.

THink about it!