Hello Everybody!
Wow, what a service we had on Sunday! For anyone who wants to see it, I'm working on getting a taped version. I believe seven people came to the Lord, which was a humbling response to how much time and energy we put in. A very enormous thank you goes out to everyone who put in time and effort to help make this one of the most unique and touching Easter services I've ever been involved with. The response, particularly from the visitors, was overwhelmingly positive, and everyone I spoke to was blessed by it, so thank you all!
I want to encourage everyone who's involved with our ministry in any way to spend some time praying for the direction of the Holy Spirit. God is about to blow this area wide open! Pray for the leadership of the church to get divine direction and pray for our services, that they be in tune with God's plan. I'm so incredibly blessed and excited to be a part of what God is doing! So please join us in praying in a revolution the likes of which only God can manufacture! I believe this congregation in this city is crucial in God's plan for SoCal, and it starts in prayer! Help us pray the door open!
Thank you all and have a blessed week!
Ken and Mel
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Thrive Friday Night!!
Friday, March 21, 2008
The Passion: Looking Forward
The Passion Week.
Everyone knows the story. Mel Gibson had a multi-million dollar film about it. So what's left to say? Nothing, except that Jesus ROSE AGAIN!!! So often we focus on the severity of His torture and the way He was pushed by angry politicians and religious leaders unjustly onto the cross, but we miss the fact that He did it for us. He didn't want to. All that time praying in the garden, sweating blood and begging God for mercy. That tells us that He was scared, and rightly so! He was human, after all, but He was also God and knew the course that He must take. His sacrifice was guaranteed from the moment Adam sinned. That's why He's called the second Adam. The first condemned us all to death, the second reversed that mistake and gave us an avenue straight to the heart of God, but He also gave us something else: The Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself said that the Holy Spirit was greater than He. Jesus also said that we will do greater things than even He did, because of the Holy Spirit and our faith. So, this week, don't just focus on Jesus' death, and don't just focus on His resurrection, instead, remember that He died for our sins so that we don't have to be slaves to our impulses anymore. We aren't bound by our fleshly desires. We have one who lives in us that is holy and mighty and available to us all the time.
So I encourage you this week to respect the sacrifice Jesus made and use the spiritual freedom that we all now enjoy through the Holy Spirit!
God bless you all,
Ken and Melanie
Everyone knows the story. Mel Gibson had a multi-million dollar film about it. So what's left to say? Nothing, except that Jesus ROSE AGAIN!!! So often we focus on the severity of His torture and the way He was pushed by angry politicians and religious leaders unjustly onto the cross, but we miss the fact that He did it for us. He didn't want to. All that time praying in the garden, sweating blood and begging God for mercy. That tells us that He was scared, and rightly so! He was human, after all, but He was also God and knew the course that He must take. His sacrifice was guaranteed from the moment Adam sinned. That's why He's called the second Adam. The first condemned us all to death, the second reversed that mistake and gave us an avenue straight to the heart of God, but He also gave us something else: The Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself said that the Holy Spirit was greater than He. Jesus also said that we will do greater things than even He did, because of the Holy Spirit and our faith. So, this week, don't just focus on Jesus' death, and don't just focus on His resurrection, instead, remember that He died for our sins so that we don't have to be slaves to our impulses anymore. We aren't bound by our fleshly desires. We have one who lives in us that is holy and mighty and available to us all the time.
So I encourage you this week to respect the sacrifice Jesus made and use the spiritual freedom that we all now enjoy through the Holy Spirit!
God bless you all,
Ken and Melanie
Friday, March 14, 2008
Understanding Your Place
What if I handed you an all-access pass to do or be anything you wanted? Where would you use it? What's the first thing you would do? This is a picture of the gift God has trusted us with. We have an opportunity to really bless some people. To just hear that is one thing, but consider this; God doesn't want anyone in hell. He doesn't. The Bible says that He delays Jesus' return because He desires that none perish. That is the exact definition of mercy. Here's the catch: God has put the salvation of others in our hands. Sure He could just show up, say something cryptic like "Through Me, all your dreams come true!", and then everyone comes to Him, but He doesn't. Why? Because He depends on us. that's right, God actually DEPENDS on US to get people to Him. That's why the church is here on earth. Don't get me wrong, God COULD do it Himself, but He chose us to carry out His will on this earth. The Bible says that He called us by name from the womb. That's an incredibly humble thought. Guess what? You weren't a mistake! God intended you to be here on this planet for this time, and He did it for a reason. You have skills, gifts and talents that no one else in history has had. You can touch people and do things that no one else can do. God designed you this way to carry out His will. There are people in your life: friends, family, teachers, total strangers; who will benefit greatly from what God has put in you. Your parents might not convert if God Himself stood before them, but in your voice it might make perfect sense to them. That's how God designed people, and He did it on purpose. We are made to respond to other humans, especially ones who hold places of influence or love in our lives.
Do yourself and the loved ones in your life a favor and show them Jesus. You may be the only person they ever take seriously on the subject, and that may be their ticket to freedom in Christ and everlasting life.
Peace and Love,
Ken and Melanie
Do yourself and the loved ones in your life a favor and show them Jesus. You may be the only person they ever take seriously on the subject, and that may be their ticket to freedom in Christ and everlasting life.
Peace and Love,
Ken and Melanie
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Being Moved
Break it open! Losing is not an option! Winners never quit! Push it to the max!
A) Hilarious slogans?
B) Awful motivators?
C) Something you'd hear in an exercise class given by a muscle head at the gym?
D) All of the above
I know my choice. When confronted with decisions and problems, we can get so caught up in following the advice of others. These slogans may not pop into mind when you're sitting in class taking a final, but your friend sitting behind you, desperate for a passing grade and needing help may be a different kind of motivator. So how do you decide the right thing to do? Do you have time to pray and seek God, right there in the classroom? Probably not. You have to decide with what you have available to you right there at your desk. So how? Well, lucky for you that the Sprit of the living God is alive inside of you. He will guide you in ways that you can't even imagine. The Spirit is like a stylus that draws our path before us, sending us in the right direction. You may not have time to consult your pastor in times like that, but trust in the Spirit that resides inside you and do what you know is right!
I encourage you this week to realize that you're never alone, even in the toughest circumstances. God is bigger, stronger and more available to you than anything or anyone else you can encounter. Tough decision? God is stronger. Problems with family? God is stronger. This is the inherited right of every born-again Christian. The Bible says that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. So allow yourself to be moved by the Spirit of the living God. He will not lead you astray!
A) Hilarious slogans?
B) Awful motivators?
C) Something you'd hear in an exercise class given by a muscle head at the gym?
D) All of the above
I know my choice. When confronted with decisions and problems, we can get so caught up in following the advice of others. These slogans may not pop into mind when you're sitting in class taking a final, but your friend sitting behind you, desperate for a passing grade and needing help may be a different kind of motivator. So how do you decide the right thing to do? Do you have time to pray and seek God, right there in the classroom? Probably not. You have to decide with what you have available to you right there at your desk. So how? Well, lucky for you that the Sprit of the living God is alive inside of you. He will guide you in ways that you can't even imagine. The Spirit is like a stylus that draws our path before us, sending us in the right direction. You may not have time to consult your pastor in times like that, but trust in the Spirit that resides inside you and do what you know is right!
I encourage you this week to realize that you're never alone, even in the toughest circumstances. God is bigger, stronger and more available to you than anything or anyone else you can encounter. Tough decision? God is stronger. Problems with family? God is stronger. This is the inherited right of every born-again Christian. The Bible says that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. So allow yourself to be moved by the Spirit of the living God. He will not lead you astray!
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