Celebrate good times . . . come on!!

This title doesn't really have anything to do with the post :)

We had Celebration in the quad last night. Celebration is a worship gathering of all Malone students who want to come. It was a great time. Great worship! Awesome songs, and a wonderful sermon. One thing bothered me all night long and it wasn't the lack of sincerety in everybody's hearts; I believe they were sincere. It was said that satan was working, trying to distract. It was mentioned that people were struggling last night because of it. It bothered me that the devil's attempt to distract us actually distracted us!

How faithless we are, if when we are gathered together with the multitude to sing praises to God we become distracted by the weakest link.

My question was: "what should we expect the devil to try tomorrow?" If he can distract us when we are together as one, what is he capable of when we part to our seperate lives the next morning? Excuse me, let us not emphasize the meaesure of satan's ability, rather, let us emphasize the lack on our part.

"Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken, but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people. Both now and forevermore." Psalm 125:1-2

Where is our faith? Where is our trust?

This was not addressed last night. This idea was not mentioned. People walked away seeking the light of Christ; however, they remain BLIND to the darkness that surrounds them. Surely, they are satisfied too easily . . . so as to be happy in seeing a mere flicker of the light.

Pray with me for the generations. People as such are seeking revival, proclaiming that the revolution has begun. Truly, if there should ever be revival, it must first occur in the hearts of these people.

And it will show through the bruises on their knees.

Backward Thinking - Bible Logic

• Society says to desire praise and honor
• We naturally desire praise and honor
• The Bible says to desire praising and honoring God - and not ourselves. Paul actually says in 1st Corinthians 12:
  

7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Thank You, Jesus, for putting a thorn, also, in my side. Thank you for crushing me! Forbit it from me to ever become prideful in Your strength, as if it were my own. Now, I know what boasting in the LORD is. Now, I will brag about You!

Psalm 51:
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Passion

Never before in history has today, Monday, June 16th 2007, ever come to be; nor will it come again. The thing's you do today cannot be changed tomorrow. The thing's you say today cannot be taken back, or reversed. With every decision you make, you are making history... that is, everyday.

How does your history look from where you are now? How do you want it to look when you are older? Christ said that whoever accepts His offer of life is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come. Have you accepted His generous offer? If you have, then where has the 'old' gone? What's new about your life?

If your desire is to be a faithful, bold witness for Christ Jesus, you must work toward that today. If you fail to work toward that today, then you will not have progressed tomorrow.

"If we keep doing what we've always done, we will only get what we've always gotten." (James MacDonald)

If you want something different in the future, you must do something different today.

Far Away?

For all of those who feel really far from God. Know now, that you aren't alone. Not only God is there with you, but I'm here praying for you.

Right now, I feel like I am miles away from God. It's hard to understand!! I've been in prayer, studied the WORD, spent time with the LORD - why am I so far away from God?

That's where the problem comes, when we allow human feelings and earthly emotion to fool us. Most time when you get very close to God, and feel very close to God, God is going to want to see whether your love for Him is genuine, and real.

Knowing that our true heart is seen when we are facing trials of faith, God will allow testing in you, so that it's out in the open whether you are for real or not. And if you are, then you will grow tremendously in faith! You'll feel alone and deserted by God, as if He never loved you. You see, human feelings and human emotions are not stable or trustworthy. That’s confusing…

Just as the strength of a human boy is not trustworthy or stable enough to defeat a giant, so human feeling and emotion are also not trustworthy or stable. We must trust that God's strength and God's power are within us.

Even when all we see is a boy standing next to a giant (an armed giant), and even when our minds cannot fathom the thought of that boy containing enough strength to defeat the giant, we must trust in God's strength, instead of trusting in the boy's, even when the boy is all that we see.

When you look in the mirror, you may see a mere man or woman who feels very far away from God, facing all kinds of trials (armed giants). Even when all we see is small faith in a weak body, we must believe in the power of God, rather our feelings or our emotions; For you know, mere human strength is not trustworthy enough to face the giant, well, mere human feelings and emotions are not trustworthy enough to face any trials of faith.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds"
James 1:2

Now, when I feel far away from God, I rejoice; I trample over satan with laughter! My God reigns, now and forever! I can laugh because whether I feel God by my side, or whether feel like I'm alone in this cold world – I will always know that He is there, and I will always know that He is always within me, to the very end of my very last breath.

And so I make this promise for you to hold me accountable to; I will do my very best to not allow my human feelings or emotions to control any area of my life. Whether I feel joyous or depressed, I will stand none-the-less. Whether I feel close to God, or far away, I will fight.

To the Glory of God,
Chris Hinzman

Elimiate the Drain of God's Strength (2)

The principles were taken from a message by James MacDonald, a pastor in Rolling Hills, Illinois.

1. Teacher Principle (2 Timothy 2:1-2)
"TRANSFER WHAT YOU LEARN"

2. Soldier Principle (2 Timothy 2:3-4)
"FOCUS ON THE MISSION"

________
3. The Athletes Principle (2 Timothy 2:5)
"FOLLOW THE RULES"

We need to live according to God's rules. Athletes who don't follow the rules are disqualified for the prize. Even if an athlete sets the FASTEST and LONGEST and FARTHEST and GREATEST record, if he was pumped with steroids, everything he did is now worthless.

We know the Ten Commandments, we know the rules. We need to follow them with all of our hearts. Because if we don't give effort, if we don't put our heart into God's WORD, then we will be disqualified for the prize on judgment day, and everything we have done to further the kingdom would then be to no benefit of ours in eternity.

4. Farmer Principle (2 Timothy 2:6)
"FEED YOURSELF FIRST"

If you don't feed yourself first, you'll have nothing to give to people! Be faithful to lifting others up in prayer. Be faithful in hearing God's WORD for you at every given day, every given moment even.

The dead sea has INput, but no OUTput. How terrible it would be if a Sea had no INput, but seven OUTputs. The sea would quickly dry up, because of the water flowing into the seven branches. Not only that, but because the sea would be dry, the seven branches off of it would also dry up, because the sea had no water to provide the seven branches with.

If we as Christians have others coming to us for answers, and for the WORD of God, how could we ever keep giving them what they need to hear, if we have no IN-Flow of God's WORD into our own lives? When we fail to give time for God's teaching into our own lives, we will have no WORD from the LORD to provide anybody else with.

Transfer what you learn. Focus on the mission. Follow God's rules. Feed yourself first.

May you all recieve strength from God this day.

Eliminate the Drain of God's Strength (1)

This is for those who seem to have struggle with containing God's strength in the hard times. The problem isn't that God doesn't provide the strength you need in those situations, because He is the GREAT provider. However, we tend to drain God's strength in our everyday lives, and therefore - can't stand up to the trials we face when they come.

ELIMINATE THE DRAIN!

Here are some principles taken from a sermon by James MacDonald.

1. Teacher Principle (2 Timothy 2:1-2)
"TRANSFER WHAT YOU LEARN"

The thing's you know, teach others. Don't hold back the wisdom that you are given for yourself, that's a good way to drain the strength of God in your life. The way to get is to give.

For instance, many Christians are like the dead sea - 6 1/2 million tons of water flow in daily. However, there is no outlet or out-flow, so no fish or even plant can live in it. Which is why it's the 'Dead Sea' - I suppose! Don't be like the Dead Sea. Allow wisdom to flow in, and then share that with others. Sooo... Don't drain God's strength; "TRANFER WHAT YOU LEARN."

2. Soldier Principle (2 Timothy 2:3)
"FOCUS ON THE MISSION"

From the beginning of mankind, the beginning of time up until the year 1999, all of the information (EVERYTHING ever recorded... names, dates, events... all information) amounted to 12 exabytes. One exabyte alone amounts to 50,000 times the information in the Library of Congress.

Get this... in the past three years alone, that amount has doubled because of the use of computer and other technology.

The world is full of all of this information, everywhere! Ads, television, internet, newspapers... don't get distracted with all of this stuff and drain God's strength; "FOCUS ON THE MISSION."

God's Abundance VS. Our Iniquities

How much do you want to bet; that many people go to church, but do not make an eternal decision just yet because they don't feel that they're good enough of a person to ask for such abundance in God, for themselves?

I can see this in teens, for real... but God's grace is for the sinners, just as the healthy man isn't in need of a doctor, the sick man is. The only direction one recieves when not involved in a heartfelt relationship with God is direction intentionally directed away from the path that God's made for us to follow. Who intended it..? The only one who intends to rip us off of the fullness Christ offer's through His sacrifice for us... satan.

Ever thought about it? Such people who think this way strongly need to find God in their life, and that isn't going to happen unless they realize that God is willing to, and God wants to accept them as they are.

How foolish for a dying man to insist that he must wait until his health is stable to see a specialist. Honestly, he won't get any better without the doctor's help. For his life will fade quickly, and he will surely die.

Truly, God's grace overpowers our failures... easily.
Now, to share this with them...