The Saunders Family

Visit their blog at:
http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/

Seven Texts on Evangelism

Tim Challies posted this helpful piece, Seven Texts on Evangelism. Following are the seven texts:

1. There is work to be done
Matthew 9:37-38
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

2. Jesus has commanded you to do it
Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

3. Success is guaranteed
John 10:16
And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

4. Jesus is the only salvation
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

5. You were given the Holy Spirit for this purpose
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

6. People won’t be saved without hearing
Romans 10:11-15
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

7. Evangelism is necessary for your own growth in Christ
Philemon 6
And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.

HT: Scott Brown in this post.

We Are the Church

But what I sometimes think we forget is WE ARE THE CHURCH.

And often times we use the church as our excuse to not have to do what we are called as individuals to do.

We hide behind the title 'the church' and forget the church is made up of individual Christ followers who are all to do their own part.

Because after all, He is a personal God.

Personal to me- and personal to you.

While the church as a whole is powerful enough to knock out the orphan crisis- it's going to take all of us to do our part to make it happen- or it never will.

And yet all too often we sit and we wait...

For someone else to take care of the problem...

For someone else to give...

For someone else to serve...

For someone else to do something about it...

And we excuse ourselves of our individual responsibility.

When perhaps He was talking to us all along...

From this post at Building the Blocks.

Katie Davis

And this is what I learned: the hard does not minimize His goodness but allows us to experience His goodness in a whole new way.

From this post on her blog.

International Voice of the Orphan

Linny from A Place Called Simplicity is starting a ministry that will pray for, feed and support orphans in Africa! There are HEAPS of ways of getting involved - youc an donate craft items to sell, praying for a child, donating, or going as part of a mission team.

http://www.internationalvoiceoftheorphan.com/

Do check it out!

Sam's Uganda Diary

For those that are interested, I made a diary of my trip in Uganda. It's pretty detailed, and I took a lot of photos. I am slowly uploading it over at my church's mission blog!

Hope Waverley Missions

At the SAICFF

Rescued: The Heart of Adoption and Caring for Orphans - Trailer from Rescued The Movie on Vimeo.

You can go to the film's website here.
More information on the different films can be found at Doug's Blog.

A Preacher’s Responsibility

A preacher has a number of responsibilities and hopes for the congregation. Here are a few of them:

1. Represent the words of God to them accurately, so that they can compare everything in their lives with the truth of Scripture

2. Give them a vision of the majesty of God

3. Help them find their greatest delight and happiness in God

4. Instruct them in the flow of history and their place in history

5. Show them the world as it really is

6. Equip them for the work of the ministry

7. Explain and dissect their problems in the light of Scripture so they can see who they really are

8. Bring the whole congregation to live no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit

9. Question the ungodly traditions of the congregation

10. Oppose the sins that have taken root

11. Confront their prejudices

12. Contradict their philosophy

13. Expose the nature of paganism and how it is affecting them

14. Stop them from drinking from the poison well

15. Terrify them with the law and the consequences of breaking it

16. Kill their self love

17. Destroy their comforts in their good works and moralistically high view of themselves

18. Expose their self-congratulatory spirit

19. Incite them to repent

20. Show them their inner pharisee

21. Confront their lack of love

22. Counsel them to grow in love through mercy and forgiveness

23. Stand in the way of their current desires

24. Lower their opinions of themselves

25. Raise their opinions of Christ

26. Cast them hopeless on the gospel of Christ

27. Convert the lost

28. Console them with the gospel

29. Comfort the broken hearted

30. Give hope to those who have lost it

31. Bind up the weak, through Him who is strong

Only God by the power of His Holy Spirit can fall on a congregation for these things.

From this post at Scott Brown's blog.

Why Missions, Even To "Reached" Countries, Are Vital

The other day I met with someone who will be working in a chaplain/ pastor role at theHopeSchoolnext year. We talked about supporting young people through challenges. I wanted to establish protocols for when child safety incidents arose and the referral process (to the social worker). I asked:’ What is a minor problem that could come up regularly here’. InBrisbanea minor problem would probably mean: ‘Having challenges with my friends at school’ or ‘My parents don’t understand me…’. When I asked this question here I got the response: ‘A student sharing that their parent is withholding food from them (e.g. refusing to feed them).’ I was a bit taken aback (that this was a ‘minor’ problem) and I asked what would be a major problem that you could come across here. I got this response: ‘A student told me that his parents wanted to sacrifice him to the demons of their village’. I am pretty sure I would leave these problems to the amazing local social worker. I am a little out of my depth…

From Britt & Andrew's blog, Into Lugala. Britt and Andrew are the two missionaries who were at COME Uganda with me, and who are still serving there.

Slave to Something

If God is not the center of your life, if he does not hold your ultimate allegiance, then you have been enslaved by something or someone less satisfying and loving than God. Every slave master except God will fail you. Slave masters never work to satisfy their slave. And when you fail, that master can offer no forgiveness, only misery and shame.

But not so with God! He alone can satisfy. He alone has paid the ultimate price in his Son in order to forgive you of all your failings. The dominion of God is the dominion of rest, grace, mercy, and joy. Jesus says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:28).

Paul uses the lowest of all people in the eyes of this world---the slave---to show that you are more free as a slave to Christ than when you are enslaved to the idea of human autonomy.

From the article Everyone Enslaved by John Starke

Memorial Box Monday

In June I went to Portarlington for the National Celtic festival. When I was there, my dad, who lives in the area, mentioned that there was a book “100 Ways of for Your Child to read” at the local op shop, which he had thought about getting me, but hadn’t because he wasn’t sure if I had it.

Now, I’m strictly a phonics girl. So a book about 100 ways to teach your child to read seems more to me like 100 ways to teach your child not to read.

“It’s by Unwin, or something,” my dad added helpfully.

Wheels turned in my brain. “Englemenn?” I said hopefully.

“No, I think it was Unwin.”

I prayed then that the book would be Englemann’s Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, which I’ve been wanting for years and have heard only good things about. As there are four op shops in Portarlington alone (let alone the surrounding area) I also prayed that the book would be in the op shop that supports Bushikori, which I support financially. (All of the money from my CD goes to Bushikori in Uganda!)

And…

Well, this IS a Memorial Box Monday! Of course God answered my prayers! I now have one of the most popular phonics reading books (for a very reasonable price), but the money is helping children (and adults too) in Uganda!

For more Memorial Box Monday posts, hop over to this post at Linny's blog, A Place Called Simplicity.

Katie Davis

Originally, my quitting was to be temporary, lasting just one year before I went to college and returned to normal, American teenager life. But after that year, which I spent in Uganda, returning to “normal” wasn’t possible. I had seen what life was about and I could not pretend I didn’t know. So I quit my life again, and for good this time. I quit college; I quit designer clothes and my little yellow convertible; I quit my boyfriend. I no longer have all the things the world says are important. I do not have a retirement fund; I do not even have electricity some days. But I have everything I know is important. I have a joy and a peace that are unimaginable and can come only from a place better than this earth. I cannot fathom being happier. Jesus wrecked my life, shattered it to pieces, and put it back together more beautifully.

From her book, Kisses From Katie (Review coming - but seriously, this is the best book I've read this year!)

GIVEAWAY!

There is a massive giveaway happening over at Generation Cedar! She is giving away $600 of Vision Forum gift certificates. In case you don't realise, Vision Forum sells some pretty cool Christian books, DVDs, and audio books.

Hop on over to this post at Generation Cedar and find out how to enter!

From Erik Weir

• Fight slothfulness. Work as unto the Lord.
• Set your own deadlines, many people do not appreciate the significance of timeliness.
• Allow your sons to fail. Failure is necessary to succeed. It’s hard to watch, but failure definitely shapes a person, as long as failure is viewed as a lesson and not a destination.
• Get up early. Leaders should be the first out of bed and spend time with God, reading the Bible and in prayer before anyone else in the house is up. Early AM hours set the tempo for the day.
• Create a mandate for the day. Start each day thoughtfully attacking your biggest problems after spending time in prayer.
• At the end of each day, evaluate the day. Make corrections, and move ahead boldly. Dominion is not gained from a recliner. It’s gained from a broken and contrite spirit crying out to God for help and direction.
• Fall on your face as a broken man, and cry out to God, “I need you.” Fulfilling Deuteronomy 6 as a dad (in the flesh) is impossible. With God, He can take our mistakes and make them blessings.
• If you take the easy way out or listen to the radio to check out, you can create a multi-generational mess. There are no idle thoughts, words, or deeds.
• There is no effort without error.
• Hunger and thirst for righteousness.
• Everything counts. Choose not to settle.
• Define reality by God’s Word.
From this post Scott Brown Online. So many of these are relevant for me (even as a single female!)

Giveaway!

Kim C from Life in a Shoe is having a giveaway of two DVDs. If you're like me, you would like to be able to watch more DVDs that... well... are actually faith building and not faith-destroying, like so much of modern "entertainment". These DVDs from Moore Family Films look interesting, and I'm hoping to win them. (PS, if you enter and win, can I borrow them? I promise I'll give them back)

The giveaway includes two DVDs, It Is Your Life: The Moss Family and Children are a Blessing.

Children are a Blessing Trailer from Moore Family Films on Vimeo.

So hop on over to this post at Life in a Shoe, and enter!

Scott Brown

Jesus did not come to put a patch on us or to give us an outward makeover like a new patch on an old cloth. He came to change us completely. He brings new wine, a new wineskin, and new garments. “Therefore, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” That is how good He is!

From this post at Scott Brown Online.

Building the Blocks

I read the other day that "more money is spent each year on chewing gum than on world missions."

Think about that for a minute..

We spend more on something we put in our mouths, chew for a while and spit out- than we do on bringing Jesus to those who need Him as much as we do.

"So because you are lukewarm- neither hot or cold- I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Revelations 3:16

Do you know what breaks my heart about this the most? How many of you have ever stepped into a wad of chewing gum that someone carelessly spit out- not once caring about the person who would come along and step it in? Isn't that in essence the same thing we do to kids like Norma...

From this post at Building the Blocks

At the Chicago Ladies Tea

Ladies Tea in Chicago from NCFIC on Vimeo.

From Scott Brown's blog.

Every ideology is about having dominion. The only question is…which ideology’s dominion places Christ where He belongs (He is, after all, the Author and Creator of the universe…does that count for anything?) and results in liberty and justice for the human race? Which ideology brings about the establishment of true order, civilization, and rational thinking? Which ideology can be proven by empirical evidence, logic, and rationality? Which ideology is TRUE?

And that is the crux of it all.

...

Dominion Theology was the widely held belief of the Church for 2,000 years. It was one of those “no-brainers” for the Reformers and the Puritans. I mention those two groups in particular because they are two of the most intelligent, studious, and influential groups that have risen in the history of the Church. They studied their Bibles, wrote prolifically, and lived out the Word of God in every facet of life. They are the founders of the most blessed and free nation in the world. Really…giants in history. Perfect? Of course not, but nevertheless, examples for us to consider as we compare our own modern version of the Christian life to their ardent pursuit of God in all things.

From this article at Visionary Womanhood.

Kisses From Katie

Very inspired!