VICTIM OF GRACE

                                                                    
                                               

"You are not  a  victim of circumstances. You are a Victim of   Grace."   Robin Jones Gunn

Why does this keep happening to me? It's not fair. I never asked to be treated this way. I did nothing to deserve this. And yet Every moment of every day, Completely unprovoked, God pours out His love on me. He blesses me in unexpected ways. His mercies are new every morning. No matter what I do I cannot stop Him. Even in the worst situations His goodness prevails. He is relentless. I am a victim of grace.        - From "Victim of Grace" by Robin Jones Gunn Why is it so easy to see the bad things in life but so hard to see the graces? Grace, for me, is nothing more than undeserved kindness. In spite of our daily trials and struggles--no, in the midst of them--we look for eyes to see. May you behold God's undeserved kindness in your life this week. Greg P.S. No Monday night this coming week. We will see you on Monday, March 4th for a pot luck Meal and Message based on Eph. 6:10-18, "Wake Up! Armor Up!"

At Home in His Love

                                                       

I have    LOVED  YOU    the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. John 15:9-10 The Message

How very odd that this Valentines Day, which is all about Love, directly follows the first day of Lent (Ash Wednesday), which is all about Love. I think there is nothing quite so mind-boggling about our Christian faith as trying to grasp the way the Father loves us. Rick Warren once said, "You were made by God and for God and until you understand that, life will never make sense." To know you have been made by God and for God means that you are created out of Love, for Love. More mind-boggling still is that Jesus invites us to "make ourselves at home" in that love. (see John 15:9-10 on the left) Our lives make sense and find peace only when we know his love, only when we can grasp it and embrace it and live in it. Everything that we know about the Father--his grace, his faithfulness to us, his forgiveness--all flows out of the center of His Love for us. And there we make our home. And it is safe. Happy Valentines Day from your Father who loves you with an everlasting love! Greg    What is Lent? In the traditional church calendar, Lent is the 40 days leading up to Easter. It began with Ash Wednesday yesterday. Lent is the time that we prepare our hearts for Easter. Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days that he might overcome the temptations of Satan. We take these 40 days before Christ's walk to the cross so we, too, might face our enemies. You might do this through a special daily devotional reading or podcast....or by giving up some activity you are very attached to in order to use that time with the Lord instead....or by prayer and fasting. The important thing isn't what we do or how we do it, but that we take this time in our distracted lives to turn our faces toward the Savior. Ann Voskamp calls it a season of preparing our hearts "....for a deeper appreciation of Mercy, the need of the cross, the miracle of Easter, the sacrifice on the Grace-tree that made us worthy..." Here are some resources: www.24-7prayer.com/podcast is a great 5-minute daily video clip for Lent taken from the Gospel of John (if it doesn't come up, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Podcasts) Catch up on the one you missed yesterday--it's at the bottom of the page! Reliving the Passion by Walter Wangerin Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter (devotional readings from various authors) Seeing and Savoring Christ by John Piper www.daniel-fast.com is helpful info for those of you who are considering a fast during this time. Susan Gregory also has a free Kindle download on Amazon (just for the next couple of days) called The Daniel Fast Daily Devotional for Lent

The Fellowship of Followers

"Jesus wasn't looking for leaders at all. Jesus was looking for followers.     Leadership is a function. Followership is an identity."        Leonard Sweet

A year ago this month I started the Fellowship of Followers, a focused, purposeful group that gathers together one Sunday night a month to learn more about how to go from believer to follower--how to take on the followership of Christ as an identity. Something was stirring inside me as I started this group. Over the previous couple years we had studied Spiritual Warfare, Law and Gospel, A Life Beyond Belief, The Power of a Whisper, and Spiritual Formation. Now we needed to grasp more fully just what it meant to be a follower of Jesus and boldly step out in our gifts, putting some practical skin on what we had been learning. Our emphasis was on prayer. I had been feeling for some time that in addition to our ministries of DivorceCare and Grief Recovery we were supposed to start a ministry of prayer; but I had no idea what shape that would take. Now, a year later, we have stepped into two nights per month of prayer opportunities: Pat has opened her home one Thursday night a month for Intercessory Prayer, and on the third Monday we are offering a Soaking Prayer and Healing service. Our next Fellowship of Followers meeting will be this coming Sunday evening. (See the info below.) If you would like to take your faith-walk deeper, please join us. You will be challenged to do some reading and homework from time to time. There's usually a lot to discuss. Bring your Bibles! I quote Leonard Sweet: "Jesus wasn't looking for leaders at all. Jesus was looking for followers." May it be so, Lord, for all of us, Greg

Breaking Up the Fallow Ground

                                                                                                                       

"Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord..."     Hosea 10:12

Hi Everybody, First I must apologize for the lateness of this week's e-news. One thing after another kept us from getting it out on time. But I hope you get this before Monday night and you can come to our Monday Night Meal & Message! Four weeks ago I talked about Fallow Ground--letting our hearts rest and rejuvenate for a season. Even God rested on the seventh day when he made the world. One of the great things about Scripture is how often the common, everyday things are used as examples to make a point. Israel was a nation of farmers and shepherds, so when the prophet Jeremiah told the people to "Break up the fallow ground; do not sow among the thorns," they knew exactly what he meant. Fallow ground is untilled and uncultivated ground--it is land that is resting. So before the land can be seeded and crops can grow, the hard, crusty soil must first be broken up. Our hearts are often compared to the ground in the Bible. There's hard ground, rocky ground, ground overgrown with weeds. All needing to be turned over. We have all felt the sharp edge of the plow when it breaks open the hard ground of our hearts. The Father, always turning over the soil to expose it to light, always wanting to open up and lay bare the areas of fear or anxiety or anger to remove and rejuvenate. It is a tilling of love. This Monday night, February 4, at Peace Lutheran Church, we'll talk about what that means. Bring your favorite dish for pot luck starting at 6:30 PM. The Message begins at 7:15. See you there, friends. Greg

WORD for the Moment

                                                      

"Place these words   on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are..."   Deuteronomy 11:18-19 The Message

I gave the Fellowship of Followers a challenge last week: I asked them to memorize Psalm 46--the whole thing. I think I could have fewer participants in that class next month! Why memorize Scripture? Well here are a few reasons: It strengthen our faith, because "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." Romans 10:17 It's our weapon when we need to go to battle. The "sword of the spirit" referenced in Ephesians 6 is the Word.    It lets us meditate when we don't have a Bible handy. It is at our fingertips when life hits us hard in the gut and we need something to help us stand.   It is there for us when we need to minister to someone else--anytime, anywhere. I know in my health struggles this past year the red thread that has bound everything together for me were the whispers (The Words!) of God to me. If I did not know Scripture I would not be able to access those precious words of life.  How can we recall these life-giving words in a time of need when we don't know them? You wouldn't go out in the desert without water; nor do you want to go out in the world, friends, without the living water of the word in your heart.   "What a heart knows by heart is what a heart really knows," says Dennis Lennon.    So I ask you to give it a try and memorize Psalm 46; it's only eleven verses. I have some handouts to help you get started.    Or maybe you want to begin a little smaller with Psalm 91:4. Christina sent me the amazing photo below. A photographer was able to capture this moment, bringing to life for all of us the words of Psalm 91 in a way we won't forget. Blessings as you "lay up these words in your heart and in your soul." Deut. 11:18 Greg P.S. No Monday night this coming week. We will see you on Monday, Feb. 4 for a pot luck Meal and Message.  Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with his feathers; he will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your shield and protection.  Read on...

The Effective Prayer

                                                                    
                                                        January 17, 2013

"Living   on this side of the cross,   we sometimes forget   we are living in the continuum of God's  workings."   Jack Hayford   Life Discovery Ministries P.O. Box 11347 Glendale, Arizona 85318 lifediscovery@cox.net

We've all read the verse. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16) Well I don't know about you, but I think we all want our prayers to "availeth much," to hit the mark, to be effective. But that one verse often causes people to pause and ask the questions: Am I effective? Am I fervent? Am I righteous? Uh oh. Now before you think this criteria automatically excludes you, let's back up and run over that again. Here's how The Message interprets that verse: "The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with." We often look to others (those "prayer warriors") as the people who are particularly called or anointed to minister in this way. But God has called all of us--all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ--to pray this effectual fervent prayer. And what of our righteousness? Well the Bible says our own righteousness is nothing more than filthy rags anyway. We are clothed in righteousness ONLY when we trade our own garments for the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Remember the old song: I am covered over with a robe of righteousness that Jesus gives to me.....and when He looks at me He sees not what I used to be, but He sees Jesus? So, good people, you're as ready as you'll ever be! Our call as believers is to pray. Dr. Francis MacNutt, after an exhaustive study of the early church in Acts, writes, "The clear implication is that healing and liberation are the mission of the church. We still have the sick with us, and we are still standing in the need of being made whole." Come pray with us, and together may we be a force on this earth that is "something powerful to be reckoned with!" Greg

First We Pray

"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint."    Isaiah 40:30-31

Sometimes it seems like prayer is the last resort, doesn't it? Well, I guess we should pray.... This month I am calling all of us, as a community and individually, to create some fallow ground in our lives and in our hearts and in our minds, letting us quiet ourselves long enough to receive the refreshing rain of the Holy Spirit that will replenish us and give us new ears to hear. This prayer and listening thing: it cannot be hurried, it cannot be forced. While we wait we spend time in communion with God and in meditation on the Word. Why now, you ask? This month? It is my observation that many of us are on personal journeys where we desperately need guidance and direction for the new year. Some of us simply need to feel the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit on our faces. Life Discovery is going through some changes with new schedules and opportunities and we need to hear what the Lord has to say to us collectively as a faith community. We have so much to do--so much we could do. Why not just get busy? Make some decisions and forge ahead. Onward Christian Soldiers! But unlike Nike, we don't "Just Do It!" We pray first. Prayer isn't the lazy cousin of "do something now!" Prayer is the essential starting point before "doing anything now." "Prayer," says Ann Voskamp, "isn't a substitute for action. Prayer is the source of action." Remember Bill Hybels' The Power of a Whisper? Remember his porch rocking chair--the spot where he would always go when he needed to talk to, and hear from, God? Set time aside. Find that special place of rest and comfort in your own home; open your Bible on your lap (and maybe a new journal or notebook); open your hands and ears to your Heavenly Father. Talk to Him....and save lots of time to listen. You might even consider fasting during this time, maybe for one meal a day or for one day a week. We're offering some additional opportunities for prayer together this month. On January 17th Pat is opening her home in the evening for intercessory prayer. On January 21st we are having a soaking prayer service that includes personal prayers for healing. (Check your E-news next week for more info on these.) I look forward to hearing what He has to say to you. First we pray. Greg

Fallow Ground

                                       

"For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." Exodus 20:11   Life Discovery Ministries P.O. Box 11347 Glendale, Arizona 85318 lifediscovery@cox.net

I wasn't raised on a farm, but for many of my growing up years I spent time in the summer at my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Alvin's farm in the middle of North Dakota. In those days farming was much different than it is today. It was there that I learned about the concept of fallow ground, rotating your crops and even letting a portion of your land lie dormant for a season so it could regenerate itself. It was rural America in the 1960's and the US government called it the "Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service." Among other things this government agency worked for conservation of land and water resources in rural areas. Some farmers were not happy about the idea that the government was trying to tell them what they could plant, and where; and they didn't always like the idea of letting a portion of their land lie fallow and non-productive either. But, interestingly, the idea of fallow ground wasn't invented by the US Department of Agriculture. Way back in Exodus Moses delivered a similar instruction to the Hebrew people: "For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused."  Exodus 23:10-11 In other words, let the land lie fallow. Farmers have been doing it for centuries. And there's good reason for letting farm land rest. It is to replenish and rejuvenate the depleted soil so crops will grow back stronger and healthier. It serves to accumulate moisture in dry regions and rid a field of plant diseases and certain weeds and pests. We see this idea of resting repeatedly in Scripture. In Genesis Chapter 2 we find that God created the world and all that was within it. Then, what did he do on the seventh day? He rested. The fourth commandment reads, "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy." Exodus 20:8 (That is to say we are to rest on the seventh day.) Hmmm. What does this have to do with us--now, in 2013? Could it be, friends, that our hearts need a time of fallow ground too? Come this Monday night to hear all about it. I have a lot to say. See you there, Greg