Returning to my first love..

The Lord has taken me on a great adventure.  I started out as a young child of seven.  I was convicted by the gospel message and what Christ had done for me.  As a child I hadn't done much, maybe stole some candy from the store and disobeyed my parents.  That was enough.

When the preacher told us the message that our sins even small things were against God.  These acts have separated us from a good relationship with him.  But God, he sent his son Jesus to make us fit and right to be in right relationship with his Father.  It clicked.  Something in my mind and heart made me realize the part that I played in putting Jesus on the cross.  I felt sorry for that and confessed my sin and asked forgiveness.

Now the preacher said that we needed to believe in Jesus that he truly did come alive from the grave after three days in the same body. If we did that spoke that to God, he would make us fit and right immediately.  We could live now and forever with assurance that we were good with God.

From that point on I tried to live up to his expectations.  Only, I was trying to do it in my own power.  By the time I was a teenager, it almost destroyed me.  God spared my life and revealed to me grace.  I didn't need to live by a set of dos and don'ts, but obey what he commanded and live by faith.

Unfortunately, when I left for college I wasn't prepared to really live in the midst of opposition.  For two years I lived like hell.  But God, he spared me.  One of my new friends was not so fortunate.  He got addicted to some bad things.

It wasn't for a few years later that I realized that God had protected me to some extent in order to truly own my faith and serve him.  My wife and I were invited to a local church and the Sunday we attended, God interfered in my life.  A evangelistic video was shown.  It struck me to the heart.  It brought me back to God.

That day I gave my life to God and trusted him with everything.  Since then, God has given me seven great kids.  He has given me peace.  I desire to do things for him and obey what he says in his word.  Before I was a shy kid. Now I talk to complete strangers and share my story.  I spoken in front of handfuls and hundreds.  We have started one inner-city ministry and one church.

With God's help we hope to start or help start as many as he will allow...

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Bible Web App

www.biblewebapp.com

If you want additional help while doing your studies in the Scriptures, this is a fine application.  Even if you don't have a background in the original languages that's ok.  This application gives you the morphology and descriptions of the word usage. Having a working knowledge of English grammar terminology is a must.  Our word structure is a bit different than Greek and Hebrew.

By the way, did you know that you can get seminary level education for free?! Check out Greek class online. http://www.biblicaltraining.org/biblical-greek/william-mounce

Bible Web App is extremely helpful to help you understand sentence flow and meaning in context.  Check it out.  It should be worth your time.

Rev. Capt. Richard Mayabi, General Secretary of Church Army-Africa on Vimeo

Rev. Capt. Richard Mayabi, General Secretary of Church Army-Africa from NAMS on Vimeo.

What Is Church? by Neil Cole | CMA Resources

What Is Church? by Neil Cole | CMA Resources

What Is Church? by Neil Cole

Posted on February 27th, 2012

In the Bible the church is not defined but instead is described with pictures: a flock, a field, a family, a body, a bride, a branch, a building made of living stones. Never is it described by the pictures we typically have today: a building, a business, a school or a hospital. We have replaced an organic and life producing view with an institutional one that does not produce life but at best simply tries to preserve it and contain it.

The predominate way of seeing the church today contains, conforms and controls the people. The biblical pictures of the NT are all about releasing and reproducing the life of the church, not managing and controlling financial interests.

Inorganic things can produce, but not reproduce. As Christian Schwartz points out so eloquently, "A coffee maker can make coffee (praise God), but it cannot make more coffee makers." Jesus intends for his bride and body to be fertile and for his branches to bear fruit. Jesus didn't use images of an institution, nor should we.

With much study, research, experience and time spent seeking wisdom from smarter men than us, we have come to understand church by this simple yet profound description: "The church is the presence of Jesus among His people, called out as a spiritual family, to pursue His mission on this planet."

While the Bible uses a number of metaphors to describe the nature of the church, these metaphors have one very striking thing in common. They all imply that the church is a living thing. What about the building you might ask? Remember, it's built with living stones and is a dwelling place for the Living God.The church is alive, and Jesus in her midst is her life. What is a body without a Head? A corpse. What is a bride without a groom? A widow. What is a branch without a vine? Firewood. What is a building without a foundation? Rubble. What is a flock without a shepherd? A wolf's all-you-can-eat buffet. Every New Testament picture of the church points to the living connection with Jesus as the most essential component of its being.

God's presence is not only a necessary part of the definition of church, it is the most essential one. It is the starting place and the one thing that separates the church from any other organization or institution on the planet. In Acts chapter one the believers were together, they had been instructed to pray, worship, practice the ordinances and they had appointed leadership, but they were instructed not to leave the upper room. Church was born in Acts chapter 2. What's the only ingredient added in chapter two to establish the church? It is the presence of the Spirit of Jesus in each follower that was the breath of life that animated the body of Christ in Acts 2. The threatened demise of the church in Revelation 2:1-7 is to be removed from the presence of Jesus.

If the church is a living thing, then it has to be treated differently than your run of the mill organization. Living things are organized differently than non-living things.