Time With God

TWG - August 7, 2008

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:25:00 +0800

TWG - August 7, 2008 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com Leviticus 18; Psalm 71; Acts 23:1-11 Today is August 7, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. We are doing something of eternal significance. We are redeeming the time. That is one of the basic premises of TWG. We believe that what we do every day is so important that we must do the important things each day. That is why we read the word every Day Well, I was back at it with a vengeance yesterday. I did all kinds of VBS preparation. I printed T-Shirt Transfers, I studied the opening and closing sessions, I helped Dale get a piece of plywood so he could cut marketplace signs, I rounded up 5 gallon buckets to put our roads signs in… someone had removed 5 of the cartons that secured our signs, so I had to put them back up. Al & Carolyn stopped in to drop off some baskets. Carl & Sonja were working in the kitchen. I went out to look at the well Carl P had made for VBS. It is awesome! Then last night I went and talked to our Life Insurance Agent Carol Heard for a while. She evidently has a love and passion for Jesus. I put a picture of Al & Carolyn on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out. This week’s theme verse is Luke 6:27-31 27 "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, "bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. "To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. "Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. Blessing is a Hebrew tradition. The Priest blessed the nation with a special benediction, “The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face shine upon you and give you peace.” Fathers often gave an official blessing to their children as part of their birth right. They would say things like, “May you have many children, may you inherit the gates of your enemies, may your corn and wine increase!” But I can’t think of an example in the Old Testament of a Hebrew blessing their enemies! That makes no sense at all! How about if all of us repeat the following formula to Islamic terrorists, “May God bless you and may you prosper!” That’s like sick-um to a dog! “Way to go Osama! May God bless your next suicide bombing!” NOT! Wait a minute! Don’t write this off so quickly. There’s an awesome truth here. The subject of blessing was mistaken (suicide bombing), but the idea of blessing your enemy is sound. What could be a better blessing than that they would find peace in Jesus Christ! That would solve the problem of jihad! Listen, the best way to defeat our enemies is to turn them into our friends, and that is accomplished through prayer and blessing. Let’s begin with blessings. Let me suggest that we learn to say key words at key times that turn enemies into friends. And just what are these “magical words” we need to say? Let me give you a “blessing formula.” You should use this formula on your friends as well as your enemies. It goes something like this, “You are the best ___________ I have ever met!” For this formula to work, it has to be true and sincere. You must pick a character quality of the person you want to bless that they are good at. For example, perhaps your friend or enemy is a hard working guy, you would say, “John Doe, you are the hardest working guy I know of!” Or let’s say that he is a great family man. “John Doe, you are one of the best father’s I have ever met!” You have to keep it real and be honest. But regardless of their other flaws, pick the one that you can bless! And if you really want to bless them, don’t do it in a backhanded way, “Hey that’s great that remembered your appointment! How unusual! You have one of the worst memories around. You are blowing me away! You usually forget!” Using the back of your hand to bless someone is usually a great way to create enmity! Oh, and one other thing: pray for them. Prayer changes hearts. Send your blessing off with a wing and a prayer and it is much more likely to do its thing: bless you! Dear Lord, change my heart so that I want to bless my enemies. Holy Spirit, change their hearts with the blessing so that they want to know and live for you. Father, I want to be a channel of blessing. It completely goes against my nature, but I know that it is the godly thing to do. Help me to incorporate key words at key times to turn my enemies into friends for Christ. The Lord bless you; we bless you in the Lord’s name.”

TWG - August 6, 2008

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:01:00 +0800

TWG - August 6, 2008 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com Leviticus 17; Psalm 70; Acts 22 Today is August 6, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. You are part of a devotional community where we put Christ first and our commitment is to spend time with each other and Time with God every day. Yesterday was a bit of a slow day for me in the office. I watered the amphitheater… oops… I left the water on for several hours! I did some work on finances. I tied up a few loose ends on the “faster pastor” tickets. Phil from KGRV wrote to say that thanks to the sales from the churches the speedway had a record attendance this year. They were truly grateful for the exposure. I got a letter from Merwin Rhodes from truckers for Christ. He is in need of help ministering to truckers at the truck stops. After work I played a set of tennis with Phil in the 90+ degree weather. I won – yay! Then it was off to a great men’s meeting! We had such good fellowship, encouragement and prayer! What a group. I put a picture of my mom on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out. She visited me for a few days! This week’s theme verse is Luke 6:27-31 27 "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, "bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. "To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. "Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. The Old Testament laid down the law on justice. It demanded “an eye for an eye!” Jesus laid down the gauntlet for grace. He gently commanded “love your enemies…” do not repay evil for evil. Justice requires equity, but grace returns a blessing instead of demanding repayment for wrongs done. Jesus holds us Christians to a higher standard. As ministers of the Grace of God, we must exhibit a positive attitude of grace no matter the circumstances. That’s because Justice is about us being made whole, but Grace is about us making someone else whole! Our goal is to heal broken hearts and bring “wholeness” that comes with the saving message of the Gospel to everyone possible. Now that we are ministers of Grace, our whole focus in life is off us and the spotlight is on everyone else. We are to build up the brothers by demonstrating a kind and courteous spirit toward them at all times, and we are to win the unbelieving by treating them with honor and goodwill. The ultimate test of grace is to love those who attack and hate you by doing good to them. This will truly take a mammoth shift in our mentality! It is much easier to say it than to do it. It will require a complete recalibration of our instincts and responses. Have you ever been on the receiving end of a hateful attack? Perhaps it even came from your family or church people. False, cutting rumors may have been spread around about you! They hurt! I remember the time at one church where someone spread the rumor that I had said, “I’d rather be a Communist than a Catholic!” It wasn’t true. But that’s what gossip is all about. That was meant to get the Catholic’s angry at me! Shortly after that someone put up a large poster in front of the local store, “We need a new pastor!” Did I have a few enemies? Yes I did! Those words seemed filled with hatred to me! I remember driving across the bridge with my motor scooter and my eyes caught the words on that sign. Was I ever discouraged! But I couldn’t quit! In fact that was the perfect opportunity to “love my enemies, and to do good to those who hated me.” Love and good are verbs that require action. Love results in good works. So in return for hatred and personal attacks, we go out of our way to be kind and as Romans 12:20 says, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.” That is the greatest form of revenge ever! It is like pouring burning alcohol on his wounds. But alcohol is medicinal! It heals. And that is the way to make the world whole. Do unto others as you wish they would do to you. Lord teach me to love like you loved. Help me to repay evil words with kindness, and repay ugly attacks by generous acts of mercy. It is hard not to recoil when wounded. I want to strike back. Father I am learning to be like you. And I want to move beyond myself to see their wounds made whole in Jesus Christ! The Lord bless you; we bless you in the Lord’s name.”

TWG - August 5, 2008

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:01:00 +0800

TWG - August 5, 2008 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com Leviticus 16; Psalm 69; Acts 21:17-40 Today is August 5, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. This is your invitation to take one step forward every day in your relationship with Christ. We invite you to do something unbelievably radical. We invite you to deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow Jesus We had a great Lord’s Day! On Sunday David Harsh led worship at Pine Grove… what a blessing. Then we talked about the Lord’s Day and the importance of worship. We learned a lot about worship at David’s seminar and then he put on one of the best concerts I’d ever been to! It was awesome. God is awesome. Yesterday Susan and I did breakfast with John & Dana, then I did a few odds and ends around here while Susan went picking and canning beans. That’s about it! I put a picture of David Harsh on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out. This week’s theme verse is Luke 6:27-31 27 "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, "bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. "To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. "Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. How do you maintain a positive attitude in difficult circumstances? When you are surrounded by opposition, hatred, foul language, revenge, violence and greed how can you possibly come out smiling? It is tough! When surrounded by negativism I tend to react negatively. Here’s an example… (This is me yelling-) “I hate it when all you negative people are negative! I’m really negative about negative people!” All too often, in our shortsightedness, we contribute to the sad and sorry state of our societies corruption, our churches conflicts and our family’s crisis’s by cursing the darkness. It is human nature to react defensively when attacked. If I throw a punch at you, even without thinking, you will try to block it or dodge it and come back with a punch of your own. You are going to react by fight or flight. The same holds true with verbal sparing. If I yell at you, you are probably going to shout back. Most of us, sadly, are more like thermometers than thermostats… we only reflect what’s going on rather than regulate it. Imagine that verbal shots are like spears. You are up against a wall and your protagonist is heaving flaming arrows at your head! If I were you, I’d do my best to side-step the javelin and let it wing past me and stick into the wall. Once the spear is stuck behind you, your enemy is without a weapon! You have disarmed him! Let me explain. Most of the time I’m too slow to figure out what’s coming at me! The verbal jab hits the mark and I’m wounded. I react out of anger or some other primal instinct and throw a barb back at him. The fight is on! But if I am intentional about my relationships, with practice, I can see what is coming my way and I can duck! If I choose not to be hurt when a verbal spear comes my way I can respond positively. That changes the entire mood of the encounter! Now we can make some positive progress! Boy do I have a long way to go! In Luke 6 Jesus put it this way, (If I may paraphrase) “When faced with opposition, hatred, foul language, revenge, violence or greed, dodge those bullets and toss back some love, good sportsmanship, uplifting words, blessings, kindness and generosity.” If you do, you will totally disarm them and throw them for a loop! The way to solve your problems is not by adding more acid! But by calming the storm with fitting, kind and wise words. Dear Lord. Please keep my attitude in check. I must admit that I don’t react like I should. I am much too defensive. I want your mind. I Know that when you were attacked that you didn’t even open your mouth to defend yourself. Please help me to be constructive and positive in the way I talk to others. "Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." Prov. 3:5-6

TWG - August 2, 2008

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 09:52:00 +0800

TWG - August 2, 2008 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com Leviticus 15; Psalm 68; Acts 21:1-16 Today is August 2, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. TWG is a covenant to seek the LORD God with all our heart and with all our soul. If you seek Him, He will be found by you. Yesterday was crunch day for me. I’ve got to get everything done by Friday night… that’s the theory. So I got the bulletin ready in the morning and plunged in to work in earnest on Sunday’s message. Evie and the Grandkids stopped in. Susan and my mom came by to do secretarial and janitorial work. Ken and Evie gave mom a tour of the amphitheater. Carl and Sonja dropped by. So did Jayn. They are working on an Old School Reunion meal. After work, it was time for music practice. It went well. Back at home, I dazzled my mom with a service called Jott.com that turns voice into text. She was impressed. I put a picture of Dave on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out. He was giving us a tour of his fabulous light bulb collection. He has an amazing array of bulbs! All the way back to some of the first ones made! This week’s theme verse is Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. "I exhort thee!" What in the world does it mean to "exhort?" The dictionary says that it is to "spur on or encourage especially by cheers and shouts. To urge or advise earnestly in an indicated direction." The construction of this verse is pretty clear. we are to spur on, encourage by cheers and shouts, urge and advise each other earnestly to assemble together "even more and more" as we see the Day of His return approaching. Maybe that's because the nearer we get to his coming, the worse people are at commitment! More and more I hear people saying things like, "It's not really that important to be in church every Sunday!" Ridiculous! What's the biblical justification for that! I can tell you what it is! It's gratuitous unspirituality! It's people who are making the Lord's Day into "My Day," or to say it in user friendly terms, "Family Day." Yes, you and your family are exhorted to celebrate "The Lord's Day," but make no mistake about it, it is not YOUR day, it's HIS! And there's another pet peve of mine! Folks who think that if they come to one service on Sunday, they've done their duty! Preposterous! The DAY is the Lord's, not 1 hour! That's why we have opportunities for instruction and service several times this day. I hope you are convinced that ALL day Sunday is the Lord's Day, and that you ought to seek all day to engage in acts of encouragement and service. Let me add one more word about the word Exhort. It also means "to instruct or teach." That's why we have the idea that Sunday is a day of encouragement and service. One way to serve is to teach. Another way to serve is to evangelize. I have a whole list of services we ought to engage in Sunday morning, afternoon and evening: greeting, encouraging, visiting shut ins and the sick, helping the less fortunate, doing acts of mercy and so on and so forth. So, I'm going to do my duty this day by urging you earnestly to get with it and make the entire DAY the Lords! If necessary, I'll cheer, or shout or advise or whatever it takes to get the message across. Get with it! Dear Father: I wish to be an encouragement to others. May I set Your Day aside so that I can do works of mercy to stimulate others to love and good works. I know that your kingdom is what really matters in life. I pray that your kingdom would come. I want to be part of that. In Jesus Name. You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

TWG - August 1, 2008

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:02:00 +0800

TWG - August 1, 2008 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com Leviticus 14: 33-57; Psalm 67; Acts 20 Today is August 1, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. TWG is a complete turn of events; it is a 180 degree turn around. God is changing us and turning us around as a community. This is not business as usual, this is transforming, this is spiritual, this is essential. My mom is up from Redding to visit us. We had a great visit last night. She showed me a video called “Bethlehem Star,” you can find some of it on GodTube.com – you should check it out! It is phenomenal. Yesterday was a VBS workday and that is about all I did all day. The VBS crew had me hopping! I ran back and forth making sure all those great people had enough to do! Then I ran to a pastor’s meeting to promote the David Harsh Concert – good meeting! After that I hung several posters for VBS and put out the road signs as well. Then I let grandkids Esther and Isaiah drive my car around the parking lot! What a blast! I put a picture of Connie on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out. She is chilling at the Discovery Class BBQ. This week’s theme verse is Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Church should be introspective. At least that is one important element of the whole. We’ve lost some of that. Personal meditation and deep reflection are a major part of the stained glass cathedral movement. When you go to church there, you are in awe of the architecture, you sit silently while Gregorian choirs chant, kneel reverently in prayer while an aria is sung and repeat age old liturgy. We can learn something from that church culture: One of the purposes of church is to meet God face to face and to reflect honestly on our own lives. We need more time spent in prayer and reflection. Hebrews 10:22 tells us to draw near to God “having our hearts cleansed from an evil conscience.” An important part of your worship experience every Sunday should be to shine an intense spotlight on your heart. Listening to the Holy Spirit while we pray and while the Word is taught is a spiritual skill we must earnestly develop. But unless you quiet your mind before God you may never hear what the Holy Spirit is telling you. That’s what drawing near to God will do. It will pinpoint areas of sin and failure we need to correct. When God convicts us of sin, we should immediately confess it to Him. Right there in the middle of the service, just between you and God. Even though you are in a crowd, you should be so utterly in communion with your Savior that it seems like there is no one else there but you and God alone! Seek His cleansing. Praise Him for it! And determine to live a life of faithfulness. Hebrews 10:23 invites us to even greater commitment, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.” Faithfulness always follows cleansing. Once you determine to forsake the error of your ways, the next step is to be faithful… hold fast… unwavering. Before church ends, you must make an important decision. This decision is so essential that life should not go on without it! Every church worshiper must make it every week! That is the goal. What is this decision? It is the crucial choice to live for Christ faithfully throughout the week. Before you lift your eyes from prayer and get ready to leave the meeting, you must pray, “God! I give my life to you again! I choose to be faithful! I will do whatever you want me to do. Not my will, but your will be done. Wherever you lead me I’ll go. Whatever you want me to say, I’ll open my mouth and say it. I will become all you want for me. The world has yet to see what God can do with the man or woman wholly devoted to Him. By God’s grace, let me be that man!” God! I give my life to you again! I choose to be faithful! I will do whatever you want me to do. Not my will, but your will be done. Wherever you lead me I’ll go. Whatever you want me to say, I’ll open my mouth and say it. I will become all you want for me. The world has yet to see what God can do with the man or woman wholly devoted to Him. By God’s grace, let me be that man! For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

TWG - July 31, 2008

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:54:00 +0800

TWG - July 31, 2008 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com Leviticus 14:1-32; Psalm 66; Acts 19:23-41 Today is July 31, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. We are doing something of eternal significance. We are redeeming the time. That is one of the basic premises of TWG. We believe that what we do every day is so important that we must do the important things each day. That is why we read the word every Day I feel a jingle coming! What a busy day it was again! (you make up the tune). I worked most of the day preparing Vacation Bible School Stuff. I copied 265 mailers – they are ready to fold. I got most of the mailing list ready. I printed 11 13X19 posters for distribution and go the tear off’s ready to glue on. I even made my own “perforator!” So I can perforate paper. Is that cool or what? I printed out half of the attendance cards – they are ready to cut up. I printed out the Road Signs. They are ready for contact paper. I also published a new radio broadcast to the internet. Then I ran to NUBF to drop off Some David Harsh Concert Posters (Concert this Sunday 10 AM at Pine Grove – 6 PM at Melrose Church) I talked a while to Penney G. Turns out she grew up near me! Then I visited with Bill & Helen – they gave us some leaf lettuce. I put a picture of Joaie on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out. It was great to see her back at church Sunday! This week’s theme verse is Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:19 says, “Having boldness to enter the Holy of holies by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way.” This is the first goal of Sunday come to meetin’ Church: Enter God’s presence. True worship always begins when you direct your heart toward God. I think the best way to understand this is to draw a picture. The Temple in the OT was huge. When you entered the outer gates you where in “the court of the Gentiles.” Thousands upon thousands of people could congregate there. After crossing the yard you would encounter a balustrade, a low fence with a sign on it warning that Gentiles were to come no further or face certain death. We are going in anyway! We will enter the Temple through the Beautiful Gate. Now we are in the Court Of Women. But we are going further. The next room is the Court Of Men. Now we are as close as the average Jew ever got to God’s presence. But we are going deeper! Beyond the court of men is the Holy Place where the altar of incense, the shew bread and the Menorah are. This is as far as the average Priest ever made it. This is close to God! But we are going all the way! Once a year, one priest got to enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the nation! That’s where the precious Ark of the Covenant lay. We are now directly in the presence of God! Because of the blood of Jesus, we common Gentiles can now come right into His presence! A place only 1 out of a million Jews ever got to go in a lifetime in the OT! So I suggest this. When you sit down in church, imagine entering the Holiest place in heaven! Visualize it! Realize it! That’s where we get to go! Focus your mind on Jesus and His glory. Close out the trivial conversations that surround you and concentrate on God alone! Hebrews 10:22 adds, “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” Now that you are in God’s presence, draw near to Him. This can be done in prayer and in song, but mostly it’s done in the sincerity of your heart. You must choose to center your thoughts on the Almighty God and place him on the throne of your life. A prayer for the beginning of every Church service could be, “Father. I am your child. I want to draw nearer to you with all my heart. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Whatever you show me from your Word I will do. I am listening for your still small voice. Give me the faith to carry out all your instructions to me!” Now we can do church! Father. I am your child. I want to draw nearer to you with all my heart. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Whatever you show me from your Word I will do. I am listening for your still small voice. Give me the faith to carry out all your instructions to me!” Now we can do church! And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

TWG - July 30, 2008

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:34:00 +0800

TWG - July 30, 2008 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com Leviticus 13: 29-59; Psalm 65; Acts 19:1-22 Today is July 30, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. You are part of a devotional community where we put Christ first and our commitment is to spend time with each other and Time with God every day. Sometimes it just doesn’t seem like I make much progress. Lot’s of good intentions, but… when you have to go to the engineer’s house (Ed’s) and it seems like he takes two hours to do nothing… no fun. Then it was to church where I worked on the new church directory with Jeannie. Susan stopped in to work in the office. I spent some time talking about VBS with Marcia. Esther and Isaiah came over for some hugs and candy. After work I played Tennis with Phil. It was a tie 1 set to 1. Then it was off to men’s meeting. We had a good time. I meant to make it to the men’s softball game, but time ran out on me. I put a picture of Bob and Jackie on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out. I ran into them at the Sanctus Real concert. Bob had been moved by the lord to donate a kidney to a needy Christian! Wow! This week’s theme verse is Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. OK, just for sake of argument, let’s say we set aside one whole day of the week as the “Lord’s Day.” What in the world do we do all day long! Rest? (Not a bad idea when you are as old as I am). I want to suggest six activities that you should do every Lord’s day. You will find all six of these in Hebrews 10:19-25. #1 Enter God’s presence. #2 Endeavor to draw nearer to God. #3 Seek cleansing. #4 Resolve to be faithful. #5 Serve one other. #6 Encourage one another. These are essentials. The first two are mostly God focused. Three and four are more introspective and the last two are focused on others. That’s the sum of it. Our day should be focused on God, self and others. God should be first. True worship always begins with the Almighty. For you church really begins when you direct your heart toward God. That’s what Praise and Thanksgiving are all about. Praise is when you tell God just how great he is. Thanksgiving is when you give God credit for the many great things he has done for you. This can be done in prayer and in song, but mostly it’s done in the sincerity of your heart. You must choose to center your thoughts on the Almighty God and place him on the throne of your life just as he is on the throne of the universe. It means that you choose to leave the distractions of your neighbors and the petty conversations and whisperings out of your worship experience and concentrate on God alone. The second part of your worship experience should be to shine an intense spotlight on your own heart. Listening to the Holy Spirit while we pray and while the Word is taught is a skill we must earnestly develop. At times God will convict us of sin, and we should immediately confess it, resolve to forsake it and determine to live a life of faithfulness. Self evaluation and a willingness to let the Holy Spirit speak is crucial to the Lord’s Day. The third aspect of the Lord’s Day Worship is a focus on others. You have not really done church unless you have come full circle to the needs of the body of Christ. Sunday is a day of service. Every Christian should make it their goal to do works of mercy and encouragement on Sunday. Some will teach, others will sing, still others will “serve tables” in a ministry of helps. But the day of service does not end after the morning service. Every Christian ought to be engaged in works of love and mercy outside of the Worship Service. This is a great day for visiting the sick and shut in. It is also a day for intentional evangelism. Whatever works of service God has gifted you to do… make sure you practice your good works on this day to your family, your church and your community. All for the purpose of encouragement and evangelism. That will keep you so busy you won’t have time to wonder what in the world does a Christian do on Sunday! Dear Father: Help me to hold your day as holy. Help me to worship you in spirit and in truth. I want to really have this important three part focus that puts you first, prepares my heart for needed changes and then serves others. Please help me to keep Christ the center of my Sunday. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and warning one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

TWG - July 29, 2008

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:07:00 +0800

TWG - July 29, 2008 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com Leviticus 13:1-28; Psalm 64; Acts 18 Today is July 29, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. T This is your invitation to take one step forward every day in your relationship with Christ. We invite you to do something unbelievably radical. We invite you to deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow Jesus Another day off is past. Yesterday Susan and I spent most of the day moving our 10X14 shed. It was in the middle of our back yard, and we wanted it at the far end. I got fence posts for rollers and put down 2X4s to roll it on. It took us a while. We had to get blocks out from under and remove anchors. But… now it is next to the fence! Yahoo! Later in the day I worked out with Kyle & Marcia. We walked for 40 minutes. And then I went to watch a church softball massacre er game I mean. Don’t know what the score was, but we lost. I put a picture of Chris & Christiana & Greg at our Discovery Class BBQ on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out. This week’s theme verse is Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. What causes Christians to miss church? Why would the writer of Hebrews have to tell them to get back in there? I thought Christians and Church went together like peanut butter and chocolate? #1 Back then one reason could have been fear of persecution. If they went to church, they were marked! We American Christians don’t have much fear of that yet. But there may have been other reasons. #2 Lack of interest. Some people don’t see their need for church. “I can worship God in nature better than I can in church! When I look at the trees, mountains and rivers, I feel closer to God than I ever have in church.” Since when has a tree ever taught your children scriptural values? Or when was the last time you discipled or encouraged a river? Is nature God’s plan for evangelizing the world? No matter how nice, you won’t find God’s church in nature. But let’s try some other substitutions for church. “I feel closer to God when I’m on drugs!” You’ve got to be kidding! No! I am not! I’ve honestly, actually heard someone say this to me! And their lips were moving! My brain could not believe what my ears were hearing! Nature? Drugs? Why not prostitution or paint ball? Hey! If you are just looking for your “happy place” why not just have a lobotomy and get it over with! Then you can be happy forever! If you check your brains out at the door, you most certainly won’t need church. It doesn’t matter what the excuse, the church IS the body of Christ, and you can get it nowhere else but the church. #3 Another reason for neglect: Dissatisfaction with the preacher or the people or the programs. The church I go to isn’t perfect. But abandoning it won’t help. Why not be part of the solution? Why not restore relationships with the people there and jump in with both feet to make it work as it should! #4 One last reason: Doubts about the necessity of it. “Who needs it? Where does it say in the Bible that going to church makes me a Christian?” It doesn’t. But it does say that “Christ loves the church.” If you love Christ, you will love what he loves. And we know that if you love something you want to spend as much time as possible there. There are over 100 mentions of the word “church” in the New Testament. The book of Acts which is our History has twenty. Here are a few salient verses: “The Lord ADDED to the church daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:47. “The number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” Acts 6:2 “Then the churches… were multiplied.” Acts 9:31 In fact if you take the church out of the book of Acts you get nothing! No New Testament! No Apostle Paul! No Christianity! Christianity and the church are virtually synonymous. Try this: remove the church from the New Testament and see how much you have left? You might have a verse or two… like these, “Judas went out and hanged himself!” “Go thou and do likewise!” “And whatever you do, do it quickly!” Dear Jesus, you are the Lord of the Church. I am part of the Body. I wish to be the kind of member of your church that you want me to be. I want to avoid excuses and begin to make an impact in my world and in my community. I want to see people changed for the glory of God! Above all things put on love And let the peace of God rule in your hearts and be thankful.

TWG - July 28, 2008

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:54:00 +0800

TWG - July 28, 2008 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com Leviticus 12; Psalm 63; Acts 17:16-34 Today is July 28, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. Together we are strong. As we walk though the word together we help each other grow. It was a wonderful weekend. Saturday we had a joyous celebration of Don Zimmermann’s life. Thanks to all who helped put that on. It is a great thing to remember the life of those who love the Lord. Sunday we had a great time of worship – John’s brother Phil who is in an Army band was with us and played the clarinet. It was just a wonderful time of worship. We talked about “building up your Spiritual Quotient.” An essential of the Christian life – grow! After the service we went to Dave and Barb’s for our Discovery Class Potluck. What great hosts, and what a lot of fun. But the day wasn’t over yet. Susan and I headed to the Sanctus Real Concert where I handed out 300 flyers about our upcoming David Harsh concert! I put a picture of the youth at the concert posing with GI Johnny on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out. This week’s theme verse is Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together. The Old Testament Jews gathered together on the Sabbath - their day of rest and worship. Christians assemble together on Sunday, the Lord’s Day - our day. Do you have a “theology of worship?” Do you have a guiding principle for how you celebrate the Lord’s Day? You should. You should think your way through the “Lord’s Day” and you should be able to pin to your refrigerator some salient truths about how God wants you to worship. The first truth worth putting on your refrigerator magnet is this: God doesn’t want you to miss church (negative) or God wants you in church (positive). That much is obvious from this passage. While many in the early church preached, taught and evangelized on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and every day, Sunday is the “default” Day of Worship for the Christian. The Sabbath is observed by the Jew because it points back to the “Seventh Day” when God rested from his work of creating the universe. The first Christians were Jews and they kept meeting on the Sabbath with their fellow Jews in the synagogue, but they added a new day to their worship experience – The Lord’s Day! In Acts 20:7 we see that they had a regular habit of meeting on the first day of the week to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. That ought to become part of our “Lord’s Day Theology.” And don’t forget the preaching. In this passage Paul preached until the wee hours of the morning! In 1 Cor 16:2 Paul commanded them to take an offering on the Lord’s Day. The Lord’s Day is observed by Christians because it points back to the day of Resurrection when Jesus “rested” from his work of redeeming the universe. Ever since that earth shattering event, Christians have gathered on Sunday! The Lord’s Supper is meant to be taken “in remembrance of me!” That is what Sunday is all about… a day to stop and ponder the cross; A day to pause and focus on spiritual things; A day to celebrate the joy and wonder of the resurrected Christ. We ought to assemble together on the Lord’s Day because “we are the church!” And as the church we have a responsibility to set aside some time to magnify the resurrected Savior Jesus Christ. That’s what it’s all about. Dear Lord Jesus: I will worship you. I will honor you by honoring your day. I will set aside Your Day to worship, serve and honor you. Please forgive me for taking the day for granted to be used commonly as a day of recreation or a day of work. It is Your day, and I choose to keep it in remembrance of You! My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

TWG- July 25, 2008

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:21:00 +0800

TWG - July 25, 2008 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com Leviticus 11; Psalm 62; Acts 17:1-15 Today is July 25, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. TWG is a complete turn of events; it is a 180 degree turn around. God is changing us and turning us around as a community. This is not business as usual, this is transforming, this is spiritual, this is essential. It was a very sunny and productive day yesterday. Got the bulletin done, worked on Sunday’s message about building up your “SQ.” Made several phone calls – forgot to work on the David Harsh Concert. Jayn was there most of the day helping Craig the cleaning guy clean over 100 chairs! A lot of work! Carl and Sonja were there. Sonja was making nearly 200 rolls for Saturday’s memorial service. Doris stopped in with some ham for Saturday. After work I played Tennis with Shaphen and Phil. Phil won 5 to 3 to 2. Then John and I visited John and Casey for a follow up call after they had received Christ. You can check out that conversation at honest-answers.myblogspot.com I put a picture of Jayn and Craig cleaning chairs in the new building on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out. This week’s theme verse is 2 Peter 1:5-10 giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble Be diligent to make your election sure! If there ever appeared to be a contradiction in terms, this sentence is it! Work hard to be sure you are one of the elect! I know several people who believe that since God is sovereign - in complete control, they don’t have to do anything at all because whatever happens is destined to happen anyway. They don’t witness because God’s going to save who he’s going to save. They don’t vote because God’s got the vote rigged anyway. I suppose they don’t brush their teeth or eat either because if God wants their teeth clean he’ll do it himself. And if God doesn’t want them to starve He’ll feed the intravenously! (That one may actually happen if you DON’T eat! The paramedics will come and they will hook you to life support and they will feed you intravenously!) One of the biggest crocks of nonsense that was ever dreamed up by the Angel of Light himself (His Deviousness, the Devil) is the concept that Since God is in ultimate control, I have to do nothing, nada, zilch! In the words of that great meat ball packer Oscar Meyer, “Baloney!” I have no doubt that God get’s tired of being blamed for our excuses and laziness. Such lazy boy theology borders on the blasphemous and may be hazardous to your health. A sizzling bolt of lightning from the almighty may well be aimed your way! Look, all you have to do is read at the Great Commission and the other 6,468 commands in the Bible (5388 in the Old and 1080 in the New for those of you who didn’t know!) and you realize that God doesn’t want us to make any excuses for sitting around doing nothing! He wants us to witness and he wants us to be diligent to make our election sure! To make your election sure is somewhat like a skier checking off all his body parts to be sure they are still intact after he’s had a yard sale coming off Pike’s Peak! Hands? “here!” Feet? “Accounted for!” Stomach? Stomach! (muffled answer) “I’mmmm hrrrrr inn yrrrrrr throat!” To make our election sure, we check off our “Christian body parts;” Faith? “here.” Virtue? “Accounted for!” Knowledge? “Suspect but present!” Self control? Self Control! “Yeah, yeah, I’m working on it!” If you are a Christian, live like it! Don’t blame God or anyone else for your failure to live right! Take responsibility, gather your courage and determine to live for Jesus! Dear Father, I know that you are the blessed controller of all things. And because I know that I know that you want me to obey you and to become like you. I confess my excuses and reject them. I want to become just like you Lord! I want to make my election sure! Brethren, I do not think I have made it yet; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

TWG - July 24, 2008

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:14:00 +0800

TWG - July 24, 2008 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com Leviticus 10; Psalm 61; Acts 16:16-40 Today is July 24, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. We are doing something of eternal significance. We are redeeming the time. That is one of the basic premises of TWG. We believe that what we do every day is so important that we must do the important things each day. That is why we read the word every Day Yes I did make it to engineer Ed’s house yesterday. After a few hours I took our boundary line adjustment to the Surveyors’ office! Today I will call for a final inspection on our new building! Evie and Marcia were at Church when I got there working on VBS stuff. We tried to decide where to put our opening and closing ceremonies. Bill & Helen stopped in with Helen’s sister Peggy to show her the Amphitheater and new building. I did some more work on Don’s memorial service video. I also did some calling about our Discovery Class BBQ and I talked to several people about music practice. I put a picture of Allan & Alyssa on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. They are a couple I’m doing pre-marital counseling with. Check it out. This week’s theme verse is 2 Peter 1:5-10 giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble Let’s talk about the wayward Christian. In fact let’s say that “Wayward Wayne” exhibits the negative side of each of these eight godly characteristics in these verses. Instead of faith, Wayne doubts that God is really in control of all things. Instead of virtue, he has become immoral. He has stopped reading the word and shows little interest in Spiritual things. He flies off at the handle in anger and makes no attempt to control his emotions or passions. When difficulty comes he doubts that a Good God could allow them. He rarely prays and is distracted when he does come to church. He seemingly cares less about the needs of others and is always out for number one. I know a few “Wayward Waynes” and they are not happy people! They react bitterly to God and look miserable to me. I am amazed at the way God treats the wayward Christian. I know there are some who believe that if you don’t live right, God will “unchristianize” you. But that clearly contradicts this passage and a mountain of other texts. Rather than recharacterize Wayward Wayne as a wolf, the Bible pictures him as a straying sheep. Listen to what this says to the “lacking” Christian; he is “barren” and “unfruitful.” He is “shortsighted, even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” He isn’t “sure” about his “call and election.” He has “stumbled.” That can’t be good! Being a son who is being disciplined by the Father in the woodshed of life has got to be one of the most wretched places on the planet! Without the 8 virtues of 2 Peter 1 Wayward Wayne is “shortsighted.” This is a really interesting word in the Greek. It pictures a proud blind man who puts up the smokescreen that he can see! It has to do with spiritual blindness. The second word “blind” is one which means that Wayne is nearsighted and has cataracts! He can’t see anything far away and what he does see is very dim, murky and blurred. He is doubly blind. Since he can’t see any further than the nose on his own face, he can’t remember that he was cleansed from his old sins. It seems so long ago that he experienced the joy of cleansing and rebirth. It is such a faint memory and so otherworldly that it seems like it relates to someone else. This is a sad and sorry state! There is nothing more pitiful and pathetic than a Christian who has strayed into sin. Wayward Wayne is the must unhappy of men in the entire universe. The Holy Spirit who lives inside him has filled his entire body with the anti-toxins of conviction. His whole being is reacting to this powerful convicting ministry. Don’t let waywardness happen to you! Remember the heights from which you have fallen and do the 8 virtues from 2 Peter 1. Snap out of it buddy! Dear Spirit of God. I know that you are convicting me of my sin. I want to turn from my waywardness and walk with you in sweet fellowship once again! Please open my eyes so that I may see wonderful things from your word. I want to have the freshness of my conversion experience wash over me like forgiveness on a beautiful spring day. I want to get right and stay right with you! For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain

TWG - July 23, 2008

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:25:00 +0800

TWG - July 23, 2008 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com Leviticus 9; Psalm 60; Acts 16:1-15 Today is July 23, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. You are part of a devotional community where we put Christ first and our commitment is to spend time with each other and Time with God every day. Groan! I went to Ed the Engineer’s house yesterday morning. Absolutely nothing accomplished. I have to be back there this morning as well… Groan! I sure hope we get this boundary line adjustment finished soon. It’s really getting old! (like 3 years old). Then it was off to work. I worked on Don’s memorial service for quite a bit of the day. The Rescue Mission truck came and so did Carl & Sonja. We got rid of all the excess Garage Sale stuff. Cary dropped in for a long talk and prayer. We had a great time! Back at the house we had eleven kids for our 5 day club! Pray for them. After work I quickly dispatched Phil in two sets of tennis! Yahoo! Then it was off to men’s meeting with the guys. Had a great time! I put a picture of frowning David on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. I don’t think he wanted his pic taken. Check it out. This week’s theme verse is 2 Peter 1:5-10 giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble OK… how did you score yesterday? Do you have room for improvement? Me too, Lots of room! I have lots of work to do. It takes hard work to produce character, especially if you have years and years of bad habits to break. It’s not going to be easy. In order to develop character you have to develop good habits, or in the biblical way of saying it, you have to “bear good fruit.” But Dumping bad habits and developing good habits must take place at the same time. In order to put off the old man, we have to put on the new man. In order to stop eating poorly, I have to start eating right… etc. So how long does it take to ingrain a new habit? Some people say 30 days, some 100 days; but that’s the crazy thing about a habit… once you stop, it’s no longer a habit. So the answer is you have to keep doing it as long as you shall live. In the vernacular of 2 Peter 1:8 you need to make it “yours.” It needs to be in you and abound. For example, don’t just be satisfied with a little self-control, become a Vulcan! (Remember Spock? Star Trek for those of you who don’t know what a Vulcan is!) Determine to become a master at controlling your passions, not just an average “Trekee”… make it abound! The best way to make it abound is to make it worth your time. One reason we don’t develop good habits is because we can’t see much progress or we don’t experience the value of it. We must define what we want to become in terms of value: #1 “I don’t want to be barren” (negative). #2 I do want to “be fruitful” (positive). What benefit will dumping the old habit and getting the new habit have? I hate to say it, but one of the reasons we can’t dump bad habits is that they feel soooooo good when we do them (not so good later)! Instant gratification is a huge habit making machine! The high! The buzz! The adrenaline rush! Oh what a feeling! Recent research from MIT shows that the brain lights up like the Los Vegas strip when we get these rewards! But learning a good habit can be very slow. It takes many repetitions and must be reinforced with positive feedback. If you don’t get automatic immediate gratification for the good habit then you may need to find a way to reward yourself in it’s place. Throw a personal party! Take a cookie break! Slap yourself on the back! Call an accountability partner and scream, “wooo ha!” together – or something like that! Keep at it. Keep reminding yourself of who you want to become. Repeat it over and over! And you will be on the road to character. Oh, and one other thing… “Self-discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.” Nice. Dear Father. I want to be like you. I don’t want to be barren. I do want to be fruitful. I want to make these character qualities “mine” and I want them to abound. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I can exhibit the fruits of the Spirit. Make me just like Jesus. Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

TWG - July 22, 2008

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:23:00 +0800

TWG - July 22, 2008 To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com Leviticus 8; Psalm 59; Acts 15:22-42 Today is July 22, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. This is your invitation to take one step forward every day in your relationship with Christ. We invite you to do something unbelievably radical. We invite you to deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow Jesus Yesterday was a stay at home day. In the morning I mowed the lawn. Out back I hit a big rock and I think I ruined my lawnmower! It is spewing white smoke. Then I did a bit of tilling in preparation to move my shed. And boy do I feel scratchy again today. I don’t know what is in my backyard, but it always feels like poison oak after I mow it down! After that it was time for our first 5 day club. We had seven kids from the neighborhood! Great start! We hope more will come today. Pray for them. I put a picture of Rowdy Ruyle, the winner of the Faster Pastor on the Blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out. This week’s theme verse is 2 Peter 1:5-10 giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble Faith alone saves, but faith should never be alone. Faith is like Vanilla Ice Cream. I just happen to love plain Vanilla. But for most of you, Vanilla is not enough. You want chocolate chips, Carmel topping, strawberries, bananas, sprinkles and who knows what else! Vanilla tastes just fine by itself but if you add other ingredients, wow! It tastes great! Faith alone is good! But if you add a few sweet toppings like virtue, knowledge and brotherly kindness, wow! Faith is so much better! As Christians, we should exhibit godly behaviors… it’s all a part of the maturity process. You should be adding Christian Character to your life every day. Hey, how about rating your maturity? I’ll tell you what. I’ll give a single sentence of explanation of each of Peter’s eight character qualities and you rate yourself between 1 and 4 on how well you are doing at it. 1 = not doing well at all. 2 = developing. 3= proficient. And 4 = exceptional! That will give you some idea of how “mature” you are in Christ and what you need to do to grow: 1. Faith: Trust… complete confidence in God and his plan for you 2. Virtue: Purity… doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong (defeating temptation) 3. Knowledge: Learning… getting more and more grounded in the truths of the Word of God 4. Self-control: Mastery… to be able to control thoughts, desires and passions especially sexually 5. Perseverance: Endurance… never giving up on God even in the greatest trials and sufferings 6. Godliness: Reverence… demonstrating the proper worship and respect for God 7. Brotherly kindness: Neighborliness… recurrent acts of charity and kindness to your Christian family 8. Love: selflessness… unconditional acceptance mixed with self denial placing the interests of others first So, take your time and review these 8 qualities. Be honest with yourself and find out where you lack, where you are growing, and where you are strong. Let me suggest a rating scale. 1-8 Poor – you have some serious flaws that must be mended. 9-16 Not so good – You still have a lot of work to do. 17-24 – Fair. But come on, we are looking for maturity. If all you want to be is average, maturity is not for you! 25-32. In the Zone! This is the goal you want to reach and this is where you want to stay. With all honesty… I didn’t quite make it into the zone by my own calculations. Did you? If not, I guess the two of us had better begin praying and make the changes that will lead to maturity. Dear Holy Spirit! I need your transforming power to grow up in all these 8 magnificent qualities. I want your grace and forgiveness for failing you. Please help me to develop the disciplines needed for a godly life. Most of all I want to reach that one lofty goal: I want to have love! But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.