Preaching the Gospel. 1 Thess 1:5

For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
(1 Thessalonians 1:5)

The preaching of the Gospel of Christ requires 3 things according to the Word of God in 1 Thess 1.

It requires the POWER of God!
It requires the PRESENCE of God!
It requires the PRESUMPTION of God!
It requires PRAYER to God!

The POWER of God!
In order to have the POWER of God you need to be saved by HIM!
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life.(John 3:16)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the
power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to
the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)

The POWER of God will only appear to someone who is obedient to God
just as Christ was obedient!

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a
servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in
fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:7-8)

The PRESENCE of God
Be controlled of the Holy Spirit!
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled
with the Spirit; (Ephesians 5:18)

The PRESUMPTION of God!
Believe the bible in its entirety!
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any
private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:20)

The PRAYER to God!
You cannot share the Gospel in the flesh. Flood it with prayer!
Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Men's Retreat.

I got back from the men's retreat today and there was so much Word of God preached I could be full for a century. There was so much discussed and preached on this weekend that I could not take it all in! God spoke to me about my future mission to preach the Gospel to the people of Guatemala.

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (Matthew 10:16)

The phrase "wise as serpents" captured my thoughts last night. Most of the time the word serpent is correlated to satan. In this context however it is used in a positive context in this verse. Wen I go out to share the Gospel with the world I am going to be as a sheep amongst the wolves. But be wise as serpents. I thought about it for some time and asked several people about it. Then was told that a serpent would wait before it strikes its prey. It waits for that right moment. As Christians we are to wait for that moment that God opens that door for the opportunity to share the Gospel.

Till next time!

Evangelism Mode!

I have had a lot of time during my run to think about things as the days grow closer to November 7th and my trip to Guatemala. My heart grows soft and the desire to kick back in to Evangelism mode grows more and more. I will be truthful I have not shared the Gospel with anyone in a long time and that is starting to pearce my heart. The last meeting we attended this past Sunday God layed upon my heart Santa Caligon days in Independence. I pray that there will be a good turn out from the team to go out and practice and get a feel for what it will be like in the field. I know it will be completely different compared to here. But it needs to be done. I alone need to rebreak the barrier down to go out and boldly share the Gospel. After being out of it for some time (a long time) you have the tendency to build back up you comfort zone an end up getting back in the boat and float around aimlessly ignoring you surroundings and ignoring the still small voice that tells you go and talk to that person about me. Tell them Michael. Tell them that they will go to hell if they doing repent and ask forgiveness.

My prayer now more that ever is that God will dangle me over the very depths of Hell and motivate me to GO! Go and preach the Gospel and share Jesus with every person on the face of this earth.

Will you pray that for me? I know what I am asking. I need to be dangled over hell to be reminded of where I could have been. We need to be reminded of it every day!

We should question where our heart is if we have no compassion for the lost! We should get excited and concerned about it. Just as if their house was on fire and they were sound asleep inside. You wouldnt walk by somes house that is on fire and completely ignore it. We need to pound on the door and let them know in a loving way that they need Jesus Christ! You have no clue their day of death! It could be 5 minutes from now or 10 years from now! I myself am just as guilty as every one else I am ashamed of myself for not staying consistant and staying focused on the Lord Jesus Christ 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

The adventure continues

Meeting today at 1pm. We get to do our 10 minute presentation for our category. Mine is on Economics of Guatemala. Which was quite intresting. I misunderstood the person that requested the information so Instead of getting 50 various items of intrest in general I spent a lot of time getting items just related to economics, which goes to show you to listen. This brings me to a verse in the book of psalms.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
(Psa 46:10)

Being still is hard for some of us. We are too busy in our lives or our minds are so used to doing different things it forgets to slow down and relax. I have tried different ways to slow down and just listen. it is amazing what that does. Quiet time with the Lord in the morning for me is absolutely wonderful! If you have not tried it you should. Even if it means you need to get up a little early or go to bed a little later. Sit down and give God the worship he deserves. After all He gave you life so you could have it more abundantly!

A true friend...

In John Chapter 11 Lazurus a good friend of Jesus gets sick and dies. Jesus had such a strong relationship with him that He risked getting stoned again in Judaea. I dont think there is any other chapter in the bible where Jesus actually cried. His compassion for Lazurus and his family was very, very strong! Is that not true friendship or not!

God should me 4 things in this chapter on what a true friend is.

1. A true friend will put his or herself second and all others first!

2. A true friend will risk his or her self for the life of the other!

3. A true friend will have compassion for others!

4. A true friend will have a servants heart!

Think about how to be a true friend to others.

A new beginning....

I attened for the very first time children's church. And might I say that was most exciting time of my life. The whole time I could not stop smiling. These children were so inocent and not worried about who was around them praising the Lord a certain way. Dancing around with arms raised and yelling at the top of their lungs how much they loved the Lord. It is very sad to say that we as older Christians don't show that entheusiasm as the children do! Shame on US!


On another note. In John Chapter 10 God showed me something that I believe we all need to adhere to. Jesus was speaking a parable about the door of the sheep and one verse stuck out.

To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
(Joh 10:3)

"he calleth his own sheep by name"

Jesus is saying that the relationship that we should have with believers is to know their names. How many times have you met new Christians and minutes later forget their name. I have had multitudes. The most recent one was yesterday morning. I was thinking about how I could remember their names better and I could look like a moron and write their names down in front of them. Or I could just sit down with them for 30 minutes or and hour to get to know them better! In a way just going up and introducing myself and sitting down reminds me of the Walmart greeter. We as Christians need to do better than Walmart and get to know these people and hopefully draw them back to a real church with real Jesus and the real Word of God!

What is the big picture?

John Chapter 9 talks about the blind man being healed. Everyone but Jesus accused this person of some sin that caused this person to be blind. God does judge us and allow things in our lives not to punish us but to teach us something that we fail to even see because we are so focused on the issue. God showed me that we as Christians need to step back and not react to the first thing that comes to our mind but to look at the big picture and ask ourselves this question.

What is God trying to teach me in this situation?

We need to react with a wise and biblical reaction in everything we do say or think. We need to stop and think!

Jesus said that a disability is not caused by sin but is created to be used of God for his honor and glory. Instead of focusing on the issue ask yourself how can I use this disability to bring Glory to God! So there is your answer for the question common question: "If God is so good and loves us then why did God make people in the world with blindness, deafness and other disabilities?

And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
(John 9:1-3)


Bill Irwin and together with his Seeing-Eye Dog, Orient, hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in 1990. He is the only blind person who has ever hiked the entire 2,168 miles from Georgia to Maine. The significance of this feat is that without God's help it would have been impossible.