July 26, 2010
By: Ryan
Category: Leadership
Just read this from Tony Morgan at www.tonymorganlive.com. Very challenging and fitting. Good read for all leaders.
Several weeks ago I was thinking about how little we talk about the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christ-followers. I began to consider how I live out my life, and, I was convicted…which, by the way, is one indication that the Holy Spirit is active in our lives. I thought it might be good to consider the conversation here especially as it relates to leaders in the Church. Based on that, here are…
10 Signs that We Don’t Believe in the Power of the Holy Spirit
- We are experiencing anxiety and bitterness in our lives rather than joy and kindness. (Galatians 5:22-23)
- We can’t remember the last time we prayed for the people we lead. (Romans 8:26)
- The churches we lead aren’t growing and reaching more people. (Acts 9:31)
- The churches we lead aren’t outreach focused. (Acts 1:8)
- We think it’s our responsibility to convict people of sin. (John 16:8)
- We are stuck in sinful patterns rather than pursuing the things of God. (Galations 5:16:17)
- We think we have the power to change people. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
- We are more concerned about the rules than we are our freedom in Christ. (Galations 3:2-3)
- We think we can explain the mysteries of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10-12)
- We are creating division and aren’t promoting unity within the Church. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)
It might be good to begin the week and this next season of ministry by studying and praying through this list. My prayer is that your life and your ministry would continue to experience its fullest potential in the power of the Holy Spirit.
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July 19, 2010
By: Ryan
Category: Culture
Picked up this post here and thought it intriguing. What do you think?
What would the make up of this world be like if reduced to just 100 people? Share these thought-provoking numbers with your youth and see what they think. More information can be found
here.
50 would be female
50 would be male
20 would be children
There would be 80 adults,
14 of whom would be 65 and older
There would be:
61 Asians
12 Europeans
13 Africans
14 people from the Western Hemisphere
There would be:
31 Christians
21 Muslims
14 Hindus
6 Buddhists
12 people who practice other religions
16 people who would not be aligned with a religion
17 would speak a Chinese dialect
8 would speak Hindustani
8 would speak English
7 would speak Spanish
4 would speak Arabic
4 would speak Russian
52 would speak other languages
82 would be able to read and write; 18 would not
1 would have a college education
1 would own a computer
75 people would have some supply of food and a place to
shelter them from the wind and the rain, but 25 would not
1 would be dying of starvation
17 would be undernourished
15 would be overweight
83 would have access to safe drinking water
17 people would have no clean, safe water to drink.
Ask: What surprises you about this list? What saddens you? If the world were more like the Kingdom of God, how would these numbers be different? What response to you feel compelled to make? Is there any way we might respond as a group?
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June 17, 2010
By: Ryan
Category: Personal
I feel like I need a personal download and here is why:
- Anna has been gone for 5 days and I am going CRAZY!! Don’t know if I can make it another 9 days. I have only heard from her twice and need to hear her voice again soon.
- Excited to get Isaac back from camp tomorrow. Heard he had a great time but want to hear it from him.
- Noah and Emma have been awesome. It has been great to have Eva Hyder’s help watching them. She took them to the Clipper’s game on Tuesday and to the pool today.
- Have been patching and painting alot!!!!!!
- Hopefully getting cabinets in the kitchen on Saturday.
- Need to get tile down as soon as possible so we can get back to living normally.
- Would love to have everything done by next Friday so we can surprise Anna on Saturday.
- Got the air-conditioning fixed in her van. She will be excited.
- Man, I miss her!!!!!!!!
- Have two and half weeks until we leave for our Mission Trip to Cleveland.
- Have way too much to do and not enough time to get it all done for the trip. Just found out we are doing a week’s worth of VBS!
- I am excited about Father’s Day but bummed that Anna won’t be here!
- I love her and miss her A LOT!!!
Well that is all for now. Thanks for letting me vent!
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