We've put some of our favorite songs on CD!
These are all original tunes written by Clay
and Marie - listen to a sample of 2 of them
on our website: www.turnthetideministries.com
ENJOY!
EVERY DAY - MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE UNTO THE LORD
FOR HE IS GOOD AND HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER!
encouraging music ~ encouraging message ~ WeRKlay@gmail.com
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
HOPE
HOPE
Last Sunday I delivered a sermon on HOPE. Just for fun and because I was inspired to do so, I came up with 21 different acronyms for H-O-P-E. I'll share a few of my favorites at the end. (What can you come up with that describes what HOPE is?)
Hope can be a very hard subject to describe and share with others. We all think we know what it means, but have you ever tried to define it? Words to truly describe what it is to "hope" are difficult to find. We come close, we're even satisfied with our definition, but did we REALLY convey what is meant by HOPE? We have a tendency to view hope with a slightly negative connotation. As in, we HOPE something or such and such will occur. We're not 100% CERTAIN.
Faith, likewise is something we in our hearts may truly understand yet find very hard to fully, substantially define for another to grasp. Faith and Hope are not simple subjects. They are "intangible”. You cannot point to them, like a car for instance, and say, there!, that is Hope or that is Faith.
In the book of Hebrews in the New Testament of the Bible, chapter 11 and verse 1 reads: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith is the way to get to Hope - and neither of these can be reached except through Jesus Christ! That indefinable intangible can only be understood, ascertained and received via the Holy Spirit. We, in our flesh without the Spirit, can not fully comprehend. We can get very close, but not get all the way there without a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
We can "HOPE" that we're going to heaven, or that God loves us, or that something in our lives will happen or change or whatever it is we’re “hoping” for - but there's always that negative aspect to deal with - our HOPE at that point has an element of doubt to it. We aren't utterly certain. The only way to a completely certain, absolute positive HOPE is the Hope found ONLY in salvation through Jesus Christ.
This isn't the most popular option, I know. This is also one of the most offensive statements to a good number of people. I know. This can even be a dangerous point of view to express in our current culture. I know. None of that changes the truth. You can twist words, call it "my truth" and dismiss it. It still won't change THE TRUTH. The dismissal by the Romans and the Jewish leaders 2000 years or so ago did not change THE TRUTH of who Jesus was then, and dismissal by us today cannot change THE TRUTH of who Jesus is now.
Want HOPE for the future? HOPE for your children? HOPE for our country or culture or even just HOPE for our own lives right now? HOPE IN JESUS!
HOPE is:
Holding Onto Positive Expectations (which will cause you to)
Have Outrageous Profuse Enthusiasm (which you will then be)
Healed Of Perpetual Error (which leads to)
Having Only Peace Everlasting!
May this Christmas Season and all of the New Year be a fantastic time of HOPE in your life!
Peace, Love and Joy in the Holy Spirit!
Turn the Tide Ministries
Last Sunday I delivered a sermon on HOPE. Just for fun and because I was inspired to do so, I came up with 21 different acronyms for H-O-P-E. I'll share a few of my favorites at the end. (What can you come up with that describes what HOPE is?)
Hope can be a very hard subject to describe and share with others. We all think we know what it means, but have you ever tried to define it? Words to truly describe what it is to "hope" are difficult to find. We come close, we're even satisfied with our definition, but did we REALLY convey what is meant by HOPE? We have a tendency to view hope with a slightly negative connotation. As in, we HOPE something or such and such will occur. We're not 100% CERTAIN.
Faith, likewise is something we in our hearts may truly understand yet find very hard to fully, substantially define for another to grasp. Faith and Hope are not simple subjects. They are "intangible”. You cannot point to them, like a car for instance, and say, there!, that is Hope or that is Faith.
In the book of Hebrews in the New Testament of the Bible, chapter 11 and verse 1 reads: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith is the way to get to Hope - and neither of these can be reached except through Jesus Christ! That indefinable intangible can only be understood, ascertained and received via the Holy Spirit. We, in our flesh without the Spirit, can not fully comprehend. We can get very close, but not get all the way there without a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
We can "HOPE" that we're going to heaven, or that God loves us, or that something in our lives will happen or change or whatever it is we’re “hoping” for - but there's always that negative aspect to deal with - our HOPE at that point has an element of doubt to it. We aren't utterly certain. The only way to a completely certain, absolute positive HOPE is the Hope found ONLY in salvation through Jesus Christ.
This isn't the most popular option, I know. This is also one of the most offensive statements to a good number of people. I know. This can even be a dangerous point of view to express in our current culture. I know. None of that changes the truth. You can twist words, call it "my truth" and dismiss it. It still won't change THE TRUTH. The dismissal by the Romans and the Jewish leaders 2000 years or so ago did not change THE TRUTH of who Jesus was then, and dismissal by us today cannot change THE TRUTH of who Jesus is now.
Want HOPE for the future? HOPE for your children? HOPE for our country or culture or even just HOPE for our own lives right now? HOPE IN JESUS!
HOPE is:
Holding Onto Positive Expectations (which will cause you to)
Have Outrageous Profuse Enthusiasm (which you will then be)
Healed Of Perpetual Error (which leads to)
Having Only Peace Everlasting!
May this Christmas Season and all of the New Year be a fantastic time of HOPE in your life!
Peace, Love and Joy in the Holy Spirit!
Turn the Tide Ministries
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Just exactly WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?!?!?
WWJD? Or WWGHMD?
WWGHMD? Not as catchy as WWJD? But perhaps a bit more accurate. I remember when the popular What Would Jesus Do? first became known. Like most people, I thought “How clever. What a great standard to set for living life!” I also noticed that although it sounded very good and noble, when faced with actual tough decisions about our own behavior, the application of that standard wasn’t occurring as much as we’d like it to and was in fact, a bit hard to accomplish! It seemed almost like many folks felt like we had a “get out of jail free” card, in that the standard was so impossibly beyond our reach it wasn’t even worth trying for. After all, Jesus was perfect and sinless – two things none of us are! So even though we might ask the question What Would Jesus Do? our actual behavior was more in line with What is most comfortable for US to do?
It’s human nature to hang out in the comfort zone of our lives, to do what’s easiest for us, what’s most convenient. Since we cannot meet the standard of Jesus’ behavior, there’s no point trying and the whole thing becomes an exercise in futility. What if we asked a wholly different question? What if we asked What Would God Have Me Do? in any given situation and weighed our actions based on scriptural responses we are capable of by applying self-discipline to our actions? Now we’ve got a life changing standard we CAN live up to if we choose to!
Although I can’t manage to put aside all my emotions and thoughts and wants and desires as a flesh and blood person and always come up with the perfect behavior for every situation I face, I can set a standard to apply the wisdom of Biblical principles and some old fashioned self-discipline and behave in the best possible manner I can manage in any given circumstance. Romans 8:29 tells me clearly that God predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son. So this character shaping is a work of the Holy Spirit working in me to mold and make me as God desires me and you to be. This isn’t a work of the flesh, by the flesh and for the flesh. This is a spiritual work only He can accomplish. II Corinthians 3:18 shows that we are a work in progress by the statement of the Apostle Paul “But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image….” Which would lead us into a discussion of sanctification, a topic for another day.
I’m also aware of, teach and believe Ezekiel 36: 25-27 GOD puts His Holy Spirit in us, God writes His statutes on our hearts and moves us to obey, so there certainly is that element of Jesus living through us, Jesus working through us. However, that must also come into agreement with other verses of Scripture such as Proverbs 16:9 and 20:24, both of which indicate a unity in the two actions – we planning our actions, taking our actions while those plans and actions are directed by an Almighty God.
When you are faced with a choice, a difficult decision that hinges on how you react or behave in a certain set of circumstances, definitely consider what Jesus would have done and weighing in what you CAN DO to best represent your Lord in the situation to the best of your ability, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you by faith into the right behavior. Allow Gods grace to cover you but don’t use grace as an excuse for poor behavior! After all Jesus did tell us that the works that He did, we would do also and GREATER WORKS!! We have no excuse and with the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us, we need no excuse!
This is certainly a simplified way to look at what is actually a very complicated situation-mans behaviors- and yet, I continue to preach and adhere to the principle that God intended to simplify all this as much as possible so we could “get it”! He loves us that much. He wants us to GET IT!
WWGHMD? Not as catchy as WWJD? But perhaps a bit more accurate. I remember when the popular What Would Jesus Do? first became known. Like most people, I thought “How clever. What a great standard to set for living life!” I also noticed that although it sounded very good and noble, when faced with actual tough decisions about our own behavior, the application of that standard wasn’t occurring as much as we’d like it to and was in fact, a bit hard to accomplish! It seemed almost like many folks felt like we had a “get out of jail free” card, in that the standard was so impossibly beyond our reach it wasn’t even worth trying for. After all, Jesus was perfect and sinless – two things none of us are! So even though we might ask the question What Would Jesus Do? our actual behavior was more in line with What is most comfortable for US to do?
It’s human nature to hang out in the comfort zone of our lives, to do what’s easiest for us, what’s most convenient. Since we cannot meet the standard of Jesus’ behavior, there’s no point trying and the whole thing becomes an exercise in futility. What if we asked a wholly different question? What if we asked What Would God Have Me Do? in any given situation and weighed our actions based on scriptural responses we are capable of by applying self-discipline to our actions? Now we’ve got a life changing standard we CAN live up to if we choose to!
Although I can’t manage to put aside all my emotions and thoughts and wants and desires as a flesh and blood person and always come up with the perfect behavior for every situation I face, I can set a standard to apply the wisdom of Biblical principles and some old fashioned self-discipline and behave in the best possible manner I can manage in any given circumstance. Romans 8:29 tells me clearly that God predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son. So this character shaping is a work of the Holy Spirit working in me to mold and make me as God desires me and you to be. This isn’t a work of the flesh, by the flesh and for the flesh. This is a spiritual work only He can accomplish. II Corinthians 3:18 shows that we are a work in progress by the statement of the Apostle Paul “But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image….” Which would lead us into a discussion of sanctification, a topic for another day.
I’m also aware of, teach and believe Ezekiel 36: 25-27 GOD puts His Holy Spirit in us, God writes His statutes on our hearts and moves us to obey, so there certainly is that element of Jesus living through us, Jesus working through us. However, that must also come into agreement with other verses of Scripture such as Proverbs 16:9 and 20:24, both of which indicate a unity in the two actions – we planning our actions, taking our actions while those plans and actions are directed by an Almighty God.
When you are faced with a choice, a difficult decision that hinges on how you react or behave in a certain set of circumstances, definitely consider what Jesus would have done and weighing in what you CAN DO to best represent your Lord in the situation to the best of your ability, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you by faith into the right behavior. Allow Gods grace to cover you but don’t use grace as an excuse for poor behavior! After all Jesus did tell us that the works that He did, we would do also and GREATER WORKS!! We have no excuse and with the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us, we need no excuse!
This is certainly a simplified way to look at what is actually a very complicated situation-mans behaviors- and yet, I continue to preach and adhere to the principle that God intended to simplify all this as much as possible so we could “get it”! He loves us that much. He wants us to GET IT!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Thank God for the Struggles!
I thank God for all the struggles in my life both past and present. Those struggles are what kept me seeking, kept me pressing in to Him, kept me humble, kept me from thinking I could live “my life” without God, without obeying him without submitting to Him. I think about the times I “did it my way” and what mess ensued! Even with my best heart intentions I fell so far short it’s a joke to claim I “did my best”! At my absolute BEST I did the absolute WORST! Poor judgment, bad decision and outright SIN has been the result each and every time I failed to ask Gods guidance and then obey His commands! I’m still struggling with things! Still struggling with each day, each activity, each decision. Don’t we all struggle to “do whats right’? Only now, I know to take these struggles to my Heavenly Father and ASK HIM what to do! Then OBEY what He commands rather than doing what seems right to me at the time. The contrast in the outcome is startling!
Doing what seems right in my sight usually means what seems easiest, most convenient and will have the most advantageous outcome for MYSELF. Since I am not omniscient and don’t know the end from the beginning, the unfortunate results are that I hurt others by my choices whether I mean to or not, and in the end it turns out not to be the best thing for me, either!
Being so fully aware that I am not able on my own not only keeps me pressing in to Him, it keeps my ears sensitive to hear His commands which leads me into His will for me instead of my will - and that's always better! Trusting that there are no "coincidental" occurances when I walk by faith and being obedient to His command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel have led to the best days of my life!
Today, I met several new people as I boldly reached out with the Gospel and offered to pray for each of them. Two of them I am certain will become lifelong friends and ministry partners. Never would have happened if I hadn't kept my ears AND my heart open to GOD! And the new soul that just received Christ? All heavens is dancing on that one! What joy obedience brings! I highly recommend it.
The struggle we resent? It leads us to bigger better things, makes us stronger and brings the greater glory to God the Father. Struggles, I think I'm starting to appreciate them! Hope you will too. Be encouraged - Christ is coming soon!
We've added 2 of our songs to the website for you to sample, and if you'd like to help support this ministry work, we have CD;s you can purchase! The songs take a moment to download, so be patient! www.turnthetideministries.com
Doing what seems right in my sight usually means what seems easiest, most convenient and will have the most advantageous outcome for MYSELF. Since I am not omniscient and don’t know the end from the beginning, the unfortunate results are that I hurt others by my choices whether I mean to or not, and in the end it turns out not to be the best thing for me, either!
Being so fully aware that I am not able on my own not only keeps me pressing in to Him, it keeps my ears sensitive to hear His commands which leads me into His will for me instead of my will - and that's always better! Trusting that there are no "coincidental" occurances when I walk by faith and being obedient to His command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel have led to the best days of my life!
Today, I met several new people as I boldly reached out with the Gospel and offered to pray for each of them. Two of them I am certain will become lifelong friends and ministry partners. Never would have happened if I hadn't kept my ears AND my heart open to GOD! And the new soul that just received Christ? All heavens is dancing on that one! What joy obedience brings! I highly recommend it.
The struggle we resent? It leads us to bigger better things, makes us stronger and brings the greater glory to God the Father. Struggles, I think I'm starting to appreciate them! Hope you will too. Be encouraged - Christ is coming soon!
We've added 2 of our songs to the website for you to sample, and if you'd like to help support this ministry work, we have CD;s you can purchase! The songs take a moment to download, so be patient! www.turnthetideministries.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)