Over the course of the past two years, I have discovered the world of podcasts and sermons online. It first started with Focus on the family daily broadcast. I grew up with my mom listening to Dr. James Dobson for many years. So I started to see if there was a way to listen to them online. We then discovered that Itunes allows you to subscribe to different podcasts. It was good for us. It started the process for us to be fed spiritually during the week. I then found another podcast from the Village church in Texas with the main teaching pastor Matt Chandler. I have been very blessed to be able to listen to his sermons. It has been a way God has given us spiritual food for the the soul. As a missionary, it is often that you are giving and giving and hardly ever receiving. Not that this is a bad thing but finding ways be fed at the same time as feeding others has been something we have had to learn. So last week, I again made another discovery. I started to look for sermons by David Platt who wrote the book "Radical". If you haven't read it, I would highly recommend it. So with that, I came across podcast by the name of sermon index. Their slogan is Sermons from the past century. I will be stuck on these podcasts for a while. There are many sermons available from men of God such as Lenard Ravinhill, David Wilkerson, Paul Washer, even Keith Green and many others. This past Saturday, I started listening to several different sermons while I was running errands throughout the afternoon as well as cleaning and setting up for church on Sunday morning at La Roca. I felt spiritually bloated. Let me try to explain what I mean by this. It was like being at a conference you hear from several powerful speakers all in a row. How do you process it all? Even now after hearing in the last few days a few different other sermons, they start to blend together and you can't remember which person said what. After less than a week of listening to these men of God, just hearing how seasoned they are with years of studying scriptures and how God has worked in their lives, I see where I want to go or to be. We can't fake knowing God. We may know the words to say and how to act like a follower of Jesus, but as we speak, what is in our hearts will come out. If we focus on the worries of the world, we will talk about the worries of the world. If we focus our minds on things of the Spirit, it begins to follow thing of the Spirit. (my own words on Romans 8). My hope is that I would be a true follower of Jesus. Someone who is willing to obey Jesus no matter what the cost.
This past Sunday morning at church, we did something a little different for church. As I was praying about what I should share about for our time of the word, I had originally had thought out watching the Jesus movie as is it the book of Luke but then felt it lead to do something completely different. The Jesus makes reference to the Holy Spirit as a teacher so that was what I wanted to have happen. I listed about 10 different passages of scriptures and told the church we are going to spend 30 minutes in silent reading and prayer. It is much more powerful when the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts than any man can. So after 30 minutes, we spent in the word and listening to the Holy Spirit, I asked the congregation, what they thought. From what I heard it was needed time for everyone. A few people said it went really fast. I am going to ask again this Sunday what people thought. One thing, that really made me believe that God is moving was on Tuesday evening just before my English class, I was in the kitchen at La Roca where Herman and Jonathan were just chatting. That's when I heard Herman start talking to Jonathan about John 15 "the vine and the branches." I didn't get to hear what he told Jonathan, but to see that he was making reference to one of the passages of scripture that was in the list I had given was a joy to my heart. It is one of those moments, you realize just how much God works in our lives, even when it doesn't seem like anything is happening on the surface. I made reference to our last newsletter (if you aren't on our email newsletter list you can email me.) about how much of the grow of a seed grows below the surface. The seed is planted in the ground and then the roots grow. You don't see how deep they go but without them the plant will not survive. We need Jesus to grow the roots of His word sustain us in all circumstances. May you be blessed today!
This past Sunday morning at church, we did something a little different for church. As I was praying about what I should share about for our time of the word, I had originally had thought out watching the Jesus movie as is it the book of Luke but then felt it lead to do something completely different. The Jesus makes reference to the Holy Spirit as a teacher so that was what I wanted to have happen. I listed about 10 different passages of scriptures and told the church we are going to spend 30 minutes in silent reading and prayer. It is much more powerful when the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts than any man can. So after 30 minutes, we spent in the word and listening to the Holy Spirit, I asked the congregation, what they thought. From what I heard it was needed time for everyone. A few people said it went really fast. I am going to ask again this Sunday what people thought. One thing, that really made me believe that God is moving was on Tuesday evening just before my English class, I was in the kitchen at La Roca where Herman and Jonathan were just chatting. That's when I heard Herman start talking to Jonathan about John 15 "the vine and the branches." I didn't get to hear what he told Jonathan, but to see that he was making reference to one of the passages of scripture that was in the list I had given was a joy to my heart. It is one of those moments, you realize just how much God works in our lives, even when it doesn't seem like anything is happening on the surface. I made reference to our last newsletter (if you aren't on our email newsletter list you can email me.) about how much of the grow of a seed grows below the surface. The seed is planted in the ground and then the roots grow. You don't see how deep they go but without them the plant will not survive. We need Jesus to grow the roots of His word sustain us in all circumstances. May you be blessed today!
