Taken from The Modern Day Disciple Bible Study on 1, 2, & 3 John

In an effort to combat the cultic notions of the day, which denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and touted a secret knowledge as the mark of enlightenment, John lays it all out for his readers. He boldly proclaims that belief in Jesus Christ, as He was revealed to the apostles, is the mark of true enlightenment. Anything that disagrees with this is a distortion of the truth, or as John puts it, a lie. John had a very down-to-earth understanding of who Jesus was. John was essentially one of Jesus’ roommates for the better part of Jesus’ three-year ministry. John ate with Jesus, laughed and cried with Jesus, walked for miles with Jesus, and saw Jesus perform many miracles and wonderful signs that all pointed to Jesus being the Christ. John was there when Jesus was betrayed, and John followed Jesus as He was taken captive. John saw Jesus, bloody and suffocating on the cross. However, John also witnessed the resurrection. He talked with and ate with the risen Christ. He watched as Thomas put his fingers in the very real wounds of Jesus’ resurrected body. Yes, John knew all about Jesus, and now there were people saying that Jesus was nothing more than a ghost and were destroying the faith of those who were young and impression- able in their faith. So, John vehemently contends that the people who are espousing those myths are liars – antichrists, actually. The Son is risen, indeed. Be on guard against lies. They’ll slither into your life carrying a deadly poison. But take heart. The Son of Man came to crush the serpent and all the lies of the enemy.

Romans 7:14–25 MESSAGE  14 I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. 15 What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. 16 So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary. 17 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! 18 I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. 19 I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. 20 My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. 21 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. 22 I truly delight in God’s commands, 23 but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. 24 I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? 25 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

“The Future is a Phantom, Seeking to Spook You”

Do you ever think too much or worry about the future?  I know I have.  It’s a daily battle to not go there.  As I read a devotional this morning, I was reminded of how I should laugh at the future instead of worry about it.

Several years ago, Larry and I were accepted to HCJB Global.  We were scared to start the process or rather, to start raising support.  We tried for a year and a half doing it our way wondering if we would ever get there.  Our fear of asking people to support us was greater at that time than our faith in the God that gives all things.  It wasn’t until we stepped out of the boat, putting ALL of our trust in Him, that we began to see Him work it all out.  It’s funny because I remember thinking, “Wow!  We were scared for nothing!  God is doing it all, it was actually easy doing it His way.”

You see, when we decided to NOT be afraid and TRUST in the Lord, we actually had people asking how they could support us.  When we spoke with friends about what we were doing, they asked us how they could be apart of it!  I just had to laugh!  All that time spent being afraid of the rejection, of what others ‘may think’, and it was all for nothing.

The Lord says, “No weapon formed against me will prosper.”  At first those waves of fear seemed treacherous.  Yet when we learn to fix our eyes on Him, the One who never changes, by the time those waves reach us they will have shrunk.

So today, I make a conscious decision to laugh about the unknown.  I pray that you will do the same and not remain stuck in the “phantom” of what truly does not exist.

I recently read this article, because I know many pastors read this blog I thought I would pass it on, its something everyone who preaches or teaches should read and consider.

You do it every week. Maybe you do it several times a week. Preaching. You are, by trade, someone who speaks to others. After a while, it can become easy to slip into preaching mode, without doing some self-assessment and taking stock of how you’re doing. For that reason, here are five questions to ask about your preaching.

1. Is it from the Bible? Most importantly, preaching must be from the Bible. Without the Bible, there is no such thing as meaningful preaching. What are you left with? Your opinions? A self-help seminar? Financial advice? A science lesson? Maybe there is a place for financial advice, scientific facts and some self-help tips, but ultimately, everything must come to rest upon the Bible. This is God’s Word. This is what we have to rely on, believe in, and proclaim. As you analyze your preaching, ask, “Am I telling people what the Bible says?”
2. Is it clear? You may have a crystal-clear outline. You may have a beautiful idea of what your sermon is going to sound like. Is it coming out okay? Clarity of communication is more important than the elegance of communication. There is a place for adding finesse, but it is more essential to effective communication that you are being clear in what you say. Ask yourself, “Is what I’m saying making sense? Is it logical? Is it forthright? Is it plain?”
3. Is there an obvious theme? When someone actively listens to a good sermon, they should be able to walk away with a clear idea of what that sermon was about. They may not be able to recall the exact outline, or specific wording, but they should be able to remember the theme. For this reason, it’s important that your sermon be designed to communicate just one theme. One. Not three. When someone asks a listener what the sermon was about, the wrong answer would be, “Uh. Well he talked about Christian liberty, and then about love. And then there was a bunch about evangelism, or missions or something.” One theme. Make it obvious.
4. Is the length appropriate? There is no law about the length of sermons. Some people will tolerate one-hour sermons. Others will tune you out after twenty minutes. Don’t attempt to impose your own idea about how long your people should endure your preaching. You should be able to sense this. If you’re dissatisfied with their sermon-endurance level, perhaps you can build up their stamina over time. But you’ve got to have something meaningful to say. Make sure that you’re identifying the right length, and sticking with it. You may have a lot of material prepared, but people are only going to listen to so much.
5. Does it connect with people where they are? Preachers are legendary for their ability to talk right over people’s heads. Whether they’re using lofty vocabulary, reading from dry commentaries, or discussing esoteric themes, some preaching styles are notoriously detached. How about yours? Does your congregation of, say, working-class attendees care about what you’re discussing? Is there a connection with their daily lives? Does your vocabulary match their own? Do you identify with their needs and struggles? If preaching is to be effective, it must connect with people. Don’t preach to a congregation you wish you had. Instead, talk to the people that you do have.

The good news about preaching is that it’s a work in progress. Whether you’re a golden-mouth orator, or are hardly able to hobble two sentences together, you can always improve. Your public speaking ability is important, but not nearly as important about the content of what you’re speaking. The most important thing is that you are faithfully teaching and living God’s Word.

Taken from The Modern Day Disciple Bible Study on 1, 2, & 3 John

Several times in this epistle John makes his intentions for writing this letter crystal clear. This section of chapter two, however, is different from the other passages that contain some declaration of purpose. In each of the other instances (1 John 1:4; 2:1, 21; 5:13) John points to either the present or to the future. Here, he points to the past. Here, he calls upon the reader to consider his or her past and to be reminded of past spiritual victories. Recalling our pasts can be a powerful and moving experience. The modern day disciple should regularly stop and consider the richness of the past. Like John’s original audience, believers today have many things to be thankful for. Taking time to consider them makes our hearts more sensitive and appreciative toward our Savior. It is dangerous to become so consumed with the present and the future that we forget about our pasts. Recalling the personal things God has accomplished in our pasts makes it much easier to spot, expect, and wait for God’s present and future activity in our lives.

Taken from The Modern Day Disciple Bible Study on 1, 2, & 3 John

Have you ever wished that you were a part of another family? If you were looking for a family to spend time with, one of the first things you would look at before joining them is how they treated one another. By observing their interactions, you would be able to tell whether their family was something you wanted to enter into. So it is with the family of God. When outsiders look at churches, one of the chief qualities they observe is how people within a local congregation treat each other. This is not an accident. Jesus planned for our unconditional love for one an- other to be the number one sign of our authenticity of God’s life truly living inside of us. God, throughout the Old and New Testaments affirmed the importance of loving your neighbor as yourself. However, it was a new command from Jesus for believers to love one another with the same intensity of self-sacrificing love that He displayed for us. I have found that people are oftentimes more harsh with their own family members than with outsiders or strangers. For example, an older brother might treat his younger brother maliciously, yet treat the kid next-door with respect and kindness. This should not be so in the family of God, and this is precisely John’s point. If you say you love God and other people, but you hate your brother or sister in Christ, then you are confused and living in darkness. Professing Christians often fall into the trap of gossiping about other believers, but this just goes to show that they actually hate those people that they are slandering. You do not run down people if you love them. Period. So, if you find yourself in this predicament or something equivalent, you should then realize that you are no longer walking in the light of the love of Jesus. If this is the case, you have become nearsighted and blind. You are walking in darkness, and you must repent and seek to love fellow Christians as Christ loved you. To continue in error would be a signature of heart that was never truly touched by the gospel.

Don’t forget to pray each day for our brothers and sisters around the world who are persecuted and killed for the sake of the gospel!  Click here to read the article…

Fate of Christians Arrested During Christmas in Iran Still Unknown

One month after security forces raided their Assemblies of God Church (AOG) in Ahwaz in western Iran two days before Christmas – which resulted in the arrest of the entire congregation, including children – there is still no word regarding the whereabouts of the church’s pastor and three of its congregants. Everyone, but these four, were released from jail not long after the raid.

The church was raided on Dec. 23, in a “pre-organized manner,” according to Mohabat News – a Christian news agency in Iran and one of the very few sources reporting on the persecution that the state exercises on its Christian minority.

All attendees at the weekly service were arrested and transferred by bus to an unknown location, the agency reported at the time. The security officials reportedly had their faces covered during the raid and treated the children “badly” during the arrest. All detainees except for the four were freed a few hours later, once their personal details such as home addresses were recorded. However, Pastor Farhad Sabokroh, his wife Shahnaz and Naser Zamen-Dezfuli and Davoud Alijaniare, were reportedly still being held in custody by the Ministry of Intelligence. No reliable information has been made available regarding their health and the condition of the places where they are being held, Mohabat News reports.

In its last report, the agency said that Sabokroh and his wife suffer from varicose veins and their general health condition is not good. The four were held in joint custody until Dec. 28 and were then reportedly separated and transferred to unknown locations.

The pastor’s case has raised concerns as to whether he could face a fate similar to that of Youcef Nadarkhani, who is being held in an Iranian prison on charges of apostasy, an offense punishable by death.

Nadarkhani’s case has evoked a storm of protests across the world since the pastor’s Oct. 2009 arrest was publicized. The United States as well as the European Union have condemned his imprisonment and called upon Iran to release the minister.

Like us on Facebook

Iran is one of the few countries where the government openly persecutes the Christian community. Christians are mostly not allowed to raise churches in Iran, and house churches are subject often to raids by authorities, sources have told The Christian Post. Iran is a theocratic republic with a 98 percent Muslim (Shia and Sunni) population and only 2 percent representing other faiths, including Christianity.

There are roughly 70 registered churches in Iran apart from house churches, according to reports. In 2011, more than 130 Iranian Christians were arrested and interrogated, according to International Christian Concern (ICC), a Christian advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. In some cases, Christians are even tortured by authorities.

In Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, Iranians – like many Egyptians, Libyans, and Syrians today – believed that an Islamic-based government would offer the reforms and freedoms they had long sought under the Shah, Aidan Clay, ICC’s regional manager for the Middle East told The Christian Post. Thirty-two years later, however, Iranians have grown disillusioned as their government has plunged them into economic stagnation and isolated them from the international community. Although full-scale protests have thus far failed to grant them the freedom they desire, utter desperation has led Iranians to seek answers outside of Islam, Clay said. Thousands are now finding the hope and joy they had long been searching for in Christ.

“Presently, Christianity in Iran is spreading like never before,” Clay told CP via an email statement. “Suppressed and disheartened by a tyrannical, incompetent and corrupt Islamic regime, many Muslims are encountering Jesus Christ.”

Many Christian conversions are a result of satellite television and radio Christian broadcasts, the expert added, which reportedly resulted in the Iranian government attempting to obstruct television signals by erecting jamming towers in major cities, controlling phone lines to Christian television programs, and arresting house church leaders. The increasing growth of Christianity in Iran is viewed as a threat to Iran’s regime, whose strategy is to eliminate any potential challenge to its sovereignty, Clay said.

According to a recent report by Mohabat News, the Iranian judicial system sentenced 597 Iranian citizens to a total of 302 years of deprivation of their social rights. In addition, Iranian religious minorities were sentenced to a total of 3776 months in prison.

According to the summary report, a total of 2,751 case reports were gathered in 2011 and reflected 1,120,077 violations of the articles of Human Rights Conventions which Iran has previously vowed to honor. The report also determined that 498 execution verdicts were issued and 529 people were officially executed in 2011 in various provinces across the nation. The Iranian judiciary also sentenced 597 accused people to more than 302 total years of deprivation of their social rights.