Good afternoon on this March 22, 2012.
I was thinking this morning in my prayer and devotion time how much I love to pray and read the word of God. As I mentioned in last week’s blast that I have had to make a concerted effort to get to this point. The 3 “D’s”, desire, discipline & delight are words I use often. Today I want to focus on another “D” word. The word is Discipleship which means in the raw form disciplined or learned one. As a young Christian I had a zeal for the Lord but my knowledge lagged behind. My zeal for the Lord often got me in trouble; I would be over anxious to share my faith and drive people away rather than draw them closer. My first evangelism explosion class was a failure in most eyes. Let me explain. Evangelism Explosion is a class taught in the 1980s-1990’s that taught the student the fine art of leading a person to the decision of accepting Christ as Savior. My terminology is a bit different. I had just accepted Jesus; my excitement was such that I wanted everyone to know the same freedom, acceptance and forgiveness that I had received. On a balmy summer evening after the farm chores were completed the only thing to do was to go to the local pub (bar) for some entertainment. Well on this Friday night I decided to let all my former colleagues know this new found faith. I walked into the establishment, assessed who was there and then formed a plan to tell them all at the same time. I jumped on to a table in the middle of the room and “evangelism explosion” was about to hit. I stopped the band from playing the latest version of “Your Cheating Heart” and with all the vocal strength I could muster I said, if you don’t repent tonight you all are going to go to Hell. Well the explosion hit alright. The next 120 seconds were the most explosive I had ever seen or experienced. I was grabbed, dragged and spat on as I found my way to the sidewalk outside of the establishment. As I sat there with hands cupped over my eyes wondering what had just happened, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up to find a young man starring down at me with tears in his eyes as he said, Sir tell me more about this Jesus. I spent what seemed like hours telling him all I knew, when in reality it was only minutes because my zeal outweighed my knowledge 10 to 1. I never entered the establishment again but it did begin a life of leading people to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Over the years my knowledge grew, my compassion increased, and desire for the word of God Grew as I entered to a realignment stage. The realignment came as I began a systematic study of the word of God. Let me jump ahead several years. I just graduated from Bible College and on staff at a church as the Youth Pastor. My zeal has never wavered, so as a youth pastor I had hundreds of young people accept Jesus. In the process of “getting them saved” I was contacted by a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. We were living in Dallas, Texas at the time. He said he had been watching me from afar and had witnessed the number of kids we were winning to the Lord. He said he was starting a new discipleship class at the seminary and I was on his radar to solicit. I ask him about his program and who he was on a personal basis. He was a kind man a man of eloquent speech and mannerisms. He told me that he was Billy Graham’s International director of Evangelism and discipleship and was asked by Dr. Howard Hendricks the then president of Dallas Theological Seminary to teach a class on discipleship. After I picked myself up off the ground, not really, I said I would pray about it. That was the fastest and shortest prayer I had ever prayed. I said Yes, I would love to attend. I spent the next 2.5 years 3 times a week meeting with Dave Dawson and the class he had handpicked to pour his life into. At the end of the class we had gone through the bible, memorized hundreds of scriptures and had a great understanding of the Word of God. My zeal and my Knowledge had just come into alignment. I have taught this same class to hundreds of people over the years and now here at Mountain View Christian Center. I am teaching a portion of the class on Wednesday Nights. I would invite you to come be a part of the first 16 weeks. I have a great love to disciple people. To teach the word of God, to have the assurance of Salvation, Answered Prayer, Victory, Forgiveness of Sins and other assurance topics. Come be a part of what God is doing.
This week I am preaching on the final chapters of the Book of Exodus 31-40. Go ahead and read these chapters in preparation for Sunday. You won’t want to miss this weekend. It may be the best sermon I have ever preached. While you are coming be sure to invite a friend to come along with you.
· March 25th-All MVCC church potluck after 11 a.m. service. Everyone is invited! Don’t forget to bring your appointed dish to the Pot-Luck.
· March 26th-30th-WOO HOO!! Spring Break for public Schools!
· March 31st @ 6:00 p.m. Carman is in the House. Tickets on Sale Today….$10.00 each. (No child care will be provided) Every person is subject to be charged admission.
· April 7-8 Weekend of Hope. Community Breakfast April 7th 7:00 am– 10:00 a.m.
April 8th Community Easter Service at the King Fine Arts Center 10:00-11:30 a.m.
· April 10th Call in for Idaho Food Bank Box
· April 12th Mvcc Board Meeting
· April 15th Sunday Ladies Pie Auction Fund Raiser
· April 17th Food Box Give Away
· April 21st Men’s Breakfast 7:00 a.m.
· April 22 Pizza with the Pastor
· April 23-25th District Council in Nampa
· Fish coming Soon…..
· LOVE & RESPECT classes have started. Every Friday for 13 weeks @ 7p.m. FREE Dinner is served @ 6p.m. (donations are appreciated). Sign up at the information center today.
· Wednesday morning Men's Prayer @7 a.m. “Could you not Tarry One hour.”
· Sponsor MVCC Bookstore online! Check out the website or the information center and order your merchandise today!
· The Book of the Month Club is starting soon… The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
· Do you know of anyone who is hearing impaired who would come to church service if they know we offered signing of the preaching? Yes it is official. We have a team who signs during the first service.
· Order your FOOD PANTRY fundraiser pies at the Information Center today. Please pre-pay $8 each. Chocolate, Strawberry, Coconut Cream, and Lemon Meringue.
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