Here is another example. You probably have lots of babies and most of those babies probably get their diaper changed. Have you ever thought of putting some kind of sticker on the diaper. Maybe even this verse “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.  I Cor 15:51″. It’s a simple, yet unpredictable way of communicating that the baby’s diaper was changed.

How about your order of service? If you are speaking about worship, why not preach at the front of the service and have people practice what you are preaching at the back end of the service?

The point is, when you are unpredictable, it will more than likely be a bit more memorable. You are delivering the  most amazing and important message on the planet. Being unpredictable gives you a better shot at making that message stick.

Photo By: DrGBB

Pastor David Wright, the CEO and President of DoersTV shared his excitement with faithHighway and wants other pastors to understand the opportunity available to them.  Wright realizes that not every pastor has the means to go speak to a persecuted country, but knows that everyone is responsible to fulfill the Great Commission and this is one way he believes pastors can help spread the Gospel all over the world.

“The problem in Pakistan is that a lot of Christians are being converted to Muslim because they don’t have the Gospel being taught to them on a regular basis,” Pastor Wright said. “We’re providing a platform, via television, for pastors to reach Muslims and encourage Christians living in Pakistan.”

Prices range from $500 to $2500 for airing a 30 or 60 minute message. The production fee includes translation to the language of Pakistan.   There are several options for airing sermons. A 30 minute sermon can air for $500 in Pakistan, or a church can choose to not only air the sermon in Pakistan but also on DoersTV’s website for an extra fee.

“Spreading the word and getting pastors and churches involved in this project is our biggest challenge,” Pastor Wright said.

Pastor Wright said the content of the sermons has to be pure Gospel teachings or teaching that perfect the saints.

“It’s not about money or prosperity,” he said. “It’s about winning souls.”

Pakistanians are very receptive to the Gospel and Faith Television Network currently has over 3 million viewers and is continuing to grow.

Pastor Wright needs pastors and churches to get involved and share their sermons with people in Pakistan. If you are interested or know someone that is, please pass the word along!

For more information on getting involved in this project contact Pastor David Wright at: (301) 452-9007 or pastordavid@doerstv.com.

Photo By: skippyjon

I love to listen to people share their experiences, differences, cultures and even their varying spiritual convictions.  While I stand on my own convictions, I find the similarities between others and myself astoundingly similar.

One truth I would like to expound on is the fact that He CREATED us.  One definition for the word created is, to produce through artistic or imaginative effort.  That is insane!  That is absolutely awesome!  To think that our different customs, traditions and expressions are all part of God’s great plan can be extremely liberating.  When I embraced this truth, I had new found freedom to be me, just as God created me.

I once had a very angry man approach me and ramble on about why I would allow people with different colored hair and body piercings, people who dressed differently than everybody else in my church.  He continued by claiming that God didn’t like certain types of music and demanded that I stop shaming the name of Jesus by allowing the choir to wear Chicago Cubs apparel when singing on stage.  Shocked by his limited understanding of God’s creative nature, I explained to him that those young people he described were sold out for Christ.  I told him they were people who loved God genuinely and had found freedom to express their love for Him.  They were people who won souls, prayed and fasted and worshipped like nobody’s business!  Then I asked him, “How many young people do you have in your church, sir?”  His response was one I should have expected.  He said, “None.”

I can’t tell you how liberating it is to be me.  I encounter people almost on a daily basis who fake their speech, interests and even spirituality just to impress others.  God made you special and unique…enjoy your individuality!!!

By: Pastor Angel Aloyo
Church of Acts; Indianapolis, IN

Posted by Ajawin

REASONS FOR THE SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE (EPH 5:16)

Obedience

“Be filled with the Holy Spirit.” If you are not filled with the Holy Spirit, you are disobeying God. This verse is in the imperative mood. This is more than a blessing to enjoy; it is a command to obey. This verse is in the present tense. God is not interested in whether you were filled with the Holy Spirit. He wants to know are you now filled with the Holy Spirit. This verse literally says “being you, being filled.” It is plural in number, not singular. It is passive in voice. This means it is not something you do but something you attain. God wants to fill you with the Holy Spirit. You do not have to persuade God to fill you; you need to permit God to fill you.

Obligations (Eph 5:19, 22, 25; 6:12, 19)

1. Worship Life (5:19). The worst thing that can be said of a song is not that it is in the wrong key but that it is addressed to the wrong person. Our singing is to be to the Lord. There is nothing worse than a full church with half-empty people and half-empty people trying to overflow.
2. Wedded Life (5:22, 25). In this age of militant feminism, how is the wife going to submit to her husband? By being filled with the Holy Spirit. You may think I am speaking about the inferiority of women. A woman is superior to a man in being a woman, and a man is superior to a woman in being a man. God made the man and woman different in order to make them one; yet, God put headship in the home. Anything with two heads is a freak, and anything with no head is dead. The Word of God is stricter for the husband. In verse 25, the husband to love his wife as Christ loved the Church. Jesus loved the Church sacrificially, steadfastly, and santifyingly and so is the man to do unto his wife. The man can only do this through the power of the Holy Spirit.
3. Work Life (6:5). When you go to work, you are to work for your boss as if he or she is Jesus Christ. You say, “That two-legged devil?” If the people who hear the Word of God on Sunday lived for Christ on Monday, then the people in the workplace would believe what we preach on Sunday. We live in a day when everyone wants their rights. If you teach a generation to be selfish regarding their rights, then you will have a revolution. If you teach people about responsibilities, then you will have a revival.
4. War Life (6:12). We are in a battle for the souls of men and women. Satan laughs at our plans and sneers at our intentions.
5. Witness Life (6:19). I would rather die than be sentenced to preach the gospel without the anointing and infilling of the Holy Spirit. I would rather die than try to be a Christian without the Holy Spirit.

Opportunity (Eph 5:16)

We need to be redeeming the time. Any day that is not a Spirit-filled day is a day lost forever. When I stand before Christ, I will give account for this day. Unless my day was a Spirit-filled day, then it is wood, hay, and stubble. It is later in this age than you think.
This life is too short, eternity too long, lives too precious, and the gospel too wonderful for us to be living in carnality.

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE (EPH 5:16)

Complete Surrender

“Be filled with the Spirit”; not “be filled by the Spirit” (emphasis added). It is not that the Holy Spirit is putting wisdom, power, and discernment into you. Your body is a temple. The Holy Spirit wants to dwell in your mortal body.

Continual Surrender

There must be a continual yielding to the Spirit. Why did Paul say, “Do not drunk with wine in excess, but be filled with the Spirit”? Why did he not say, “Do not steal, but be filled with the Spirit”?

Our text is speaking in contrast. The devil’s intoxication is a substitute for the Holy Spirit intoxication. It is a greater sin not to be filled with the Holy Spirit than it would be to get drunk. The sins of omission are greater than the sins of commission. I am not being soft on alcohol. It is brewed with tears, thickened with blood, and flavored with death. No Spirit-filled person would want to be drunk anyway.

Paul is also talking in comparison. A person gets drunk by drinking. How does a person stay drunk? He keeps on drinking. How does a person be filled with the Holy Spirit? He or she drinks. How does a person continue to be filled? He or she keeps on drinking or being filled with the Holy Spirit. The problem is we have sobered up.

Conscious Surrender—Anointing

The anointing is the special touch for the specific task. Every time before preaching, we should humbly request the Lord to freshly anoint us with special touch for a specific task. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that illuminates the mind, heart and soul to the eternal gospel. As we prepare and preach, we execute with excellence the verbalized, vocalized and visualized elements of our messages, but at the same we offer our sermon as a sacrifice to be consumed by Holy Spirit fire. Our role is to fulfill God’s goal and our part is to help fulfill what is in God’s heart.

pic by hickory hardscrabble

Imagine a man who has his first automobile.  The car is brand new.  He shows it to his friends.  He shows off the color, the interior, the radio—all of the car.  However, the man does not realize there is an engine in the car, so everywhere he goes, he pushes the car.  He enjoys going down the hill, but he knows he has to push it back up.  The blessing of the car has become a burden to him.  This man is stupid.

You say no one would be that stupid.  There are a lot of Christians who are trying to push themselves in their service rather than being empowered by the Holy Spirit.  They are just like the man trying to push the car everywhere he goes.  Christianity is not to be a burden but a blessing.  Your Christian life is not to be monotonous but momentous.

Jesus said the purpose of the anointing of the Spirit is for the message (to preach the gospel–Lk. 3:18, 22) and for the ministry (to the poor…to the captives…to the blind…and to those who are downtrodden–Lk. 3:18).  God desires for your message and ministry to be anointed by the Holy Spirit.  There should be results from the preaching of the gospel.  While the minister preaches the gospel, some will be glad and others will be mad from what they hear during the sermon.  At the conclusion of Jesus’ first sermon, there were some who marveled at the message and others who were mad at the messenger.  In fact, Jesus’ very life was threatened as a result of the sermon.  The anointing of the Holy Spirit makes the difference in every sermon and in every worship service.

During the baptism of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him.  The “Dove” is a symbol of:

• Peace (Ge 8:11):  Noah, the dove, and olive branch
• Purity (Mt 10:16):  Jesus instructed His disciples to be as
• harmless as doves.
• Passion (Eze 7:16):  The cooing of the dove is used in the
• Scripture to signify suffering, mourning, and passion.
• Power (Ac 1:8; Lk 24:49):  The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was
• accompanied with power (Olford, 220-22).

After fasting and praying for forty days, Jesus announced, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel” (Lk. 4:18; Isa 61:1-2). Do you desire to be anointed by the Holy Spirit prior to and during your preaching ministry? When the preacher follows in the footsteps of Christ, he or she will experience the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

THE PREREQUISITES TO THE ANOINTING (LK 3:21-22)

Scripture states:  “Now it came about when all the people were baptized, that Jesus also was baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and voice came out of heaven, ‘Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased” (Mt 3:17). In order for the preacher to be anointed by the Holy Spirit, there must be:

• Sanctification: “I am well-pleased.” We are to be more concerned about what the Heavenly Father says about us than anyone else in this life. If we succeed in pleasing others and fail to please God, our life is meaningless.
• Submission: “Jesus was baptized.” Jesus did not place Himself above the common people. There is to be no place for arrogance in the ministry or the messenger.
• Supplication: “He was praying.” Prayer is what keeps the heavens open. When the preacher closes his or her heart in prayer, the heavens will eventually be closed as well.

Join us over the next few days, as we continue this article by looking at the picture, purpose, and priorities of the Anointing.

I met Pastor Les a few years ago when his church was looking to step out of a template site that wasn’t meeting their needs. He decided to allow faithHighway to create a custom website that would help him reach his online goals.

Over the course of the years we have spent several hours, tweets and emails getting to know each other better. Les loves Jesus and love the Church, I can honestly say that Les is the real deal. He also loves to use technology to reach his city for Jesus.

Les can you give me some background about the church and how long have you been there ?

We are a non-denominational church in the heart of downtown Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, and our lead pastors are Frank and Chris Seixas. We began as a church plant in 1991 with 17 people, and have since grown to a weekly attendance of 400, with two Sunday services. Our mission is “to love God, love people, make disciples, and make a difference.” We have a one year internship program, and we actively support missions in Cambodia, Zimbabwe, Brazil and Canada. We have about 40 small groups for every age, including children, and we just had Wacky World Studios redesign an exciting space for our children’s ministry. For the last couple of years, we have been working hard at excellence and community outreach. Our goal for this year is to add either another service or campus in a nearby community.

How are you using your website to increase member involvement ?

Well, the flash gallery and calendar do a good job of communicating upcoming events, and we have created a guide of ministry opportunities for download, etc. But the bulk of this happens beyond our website, where we build community through blogs (www.frankseixas.com , www.leslamb.ca , www.philjean.ca ) that promote discussion (sometimes quite lively discussion!), an online newsletter and surveys, social media sites like facebook, etc. Each of these things are helpful tools that add another facet to our online ministry.

How has the use of technology changed the way you do church ?

Frankly, it’s added a lot more work. It takes a lot more time and effort, for example, to create a quality video to do your announcements than it does to just get the microphone on Sunday morning and do it verbally. But it’s worth it, because it extends your reach and impact. We’re easier to find, and more people are contacting us online before they visit the church than ever. This week, I got contacted by an agnostic who was raised by atheists. He’s looking for God, and doesn’t know where to start. So he googled “Oshawa Churches,” and ours was the first one he saw. He watched one of our messages, and emailed me. Soon, we’re going for coffee to talk about Christ, and he’s rearranging his work schedule to come on Sunday mornings.

How are you using media to communicate your message ?

We publish a weekly news video that is displayed in our services and posted online. Video and audio recordings are uploaded weekly, and we have two podcasts, one for youth/young adults, one for Sunday services. When something fun happens, we try to record and upload it to our youtube channel. I’ve created flickr and facebook pages for our members to upload photos of events and keep in touch. And of course, we blog, which I consider another form of media.

In January, I created on anonymous online survey and sent it out to 1, 280 people through our email system. Many of them no longer attend the church, or had only visited a few times. Realizing most people never tell you the real reason they didn’t stay, we wanted to really listen to what they had to tell us. We got 114 responses, and 520 individual comments, from both current and ex-members, in 7 days. I compiled a report and took it to our staff for discussion. Now I’m blogging about the results in a series. Further discussion is now happening as I post the anonymous comments and respond to them. It’s given us an opportunity to help people understand where we’re coming from, to let them know we care about what they have to say, and to tell them what we’re doing about it, where applicable. On non-negotiables, it also gives us a chance to explain what we’re not going to change, and to provide a reason why.

This has been invaluable in helping our church community process all the changes we’ve made in a short space of time, and it’s given us a transparent way to reach out to those who may be struggling with that. Here’s a link to one such post, so you can see what I mean.

Blogs do something that no other medium can do. If I can recommend a good resource, “The Blogging Church”, by Brian Bailey and Terry Storch is what turned me on to this, and I think every church leader should read it. Before I read that, I thought blogging was just a time waster. Now I’d never go back.

How has the use of technology helped your ministry change lives ?

Of course, it is Christ who changes lives, but I see technology as a tremendous tool to communicate Him. Recently, I began setting up our discipleship courses online. People who can’t take them in-house can now login, download the handouts & watch all 10 classes for each course. Last month, a friend connected me with another friend on Facebook, and I had the privilege of introducing him to Jesus on the phone. Because he lives far away and is only now looking for a church, I gave him a login to do our courses online, so he’s getting some good teaching. Our Sunday messages are listened to around the world, and I’ve worked hard to improve our SEO to get us to number one on google, so people can find us easily.

If you were the Chief Technology Czar for churches, what would be your recommendations ?

In 2009, going to where people are means going online. Having an effective online ministry means diversifying. Different tools do different things. Websites are passive things people have to go to; newsletters, broadcast emails, etc. are active things that take your message to them. So do both. Blog, and never underestimate the growing power of social media. Things like social media and blogs are really just conversations. And the conversation is going on whether you join it or not. I’m planning on doing a blog post soon on how social media is changing the church, because the longer I use that medium, the more I realize it is changing the way things work. And I don’t want us to be left behind.

I would also encourage church leaders to invest in technology and in the staff to use it effectively. It is not frivolous to spend money on tech, provided it’s done well. One church that really inspires me this way is Granger Community Church in Granger, Indiana. If you have time, check out their website at www.gccwired.com. They are years ahead of us, and I would say they’re one church that really “gets it.”

Les thank you for sharing what is working for you !

You can find Les at his blog
www.leslamb.ca
Or his twitter
Leslamb

pic by Kiddi Kristjans

The unseen spiritual world is just as resourceful, if not more so, than the seen world of exegetical exactitude in the evangelist’s or pastor’s office. The same Holy Spirit who moved on the apostles and prophets of old desires to illuminate our minds today. John MacArthur writes:

“No clear understanding of Scripture leading to powerful preaching is possible without the Spirit’s work of illumination. … Powerful preaching occurs only when a Spirit-illumined man of God expounds clearly and compelling God’s Spirit-inspired revelation in Scripture to a Spirit-illumined congregation. (102-103)”

When we preach the Gospel, the message is not only verbalized, vocalized and visualized, but it is vitalized. The Holy Spirit turns a manuscript into a message and sermon into a sword. We often underestimate the role and goals of the Holy Spirit and overestimate our skills and gifts in ministry. I have presentations that were exegetically sound but as dead as old, King Tut!

There is a difference between inspiration and illumination. Inspiration is the process by which men “inscripturated” the revelation of God. The Apostle Paul needed inspiration in order to write the revelation of God (things previously unknown). While inspiration was the needed vehicle to reveal eternal truth from God to us in the Bible, illumination is needed today to fully ascertain the correct interpretation and application of a particular periscope. The anointing or illumination of the Holy Spirit teaches the meaning of the Word of God (1 Jn. 2:20, 27). The Word of God comes alive for the minister when illumination becomes a part of the preparation of effective evangelistic sermons.

Lloyd Perry warns the preacher with the following:

“A sermon may be constructed after the best models; it may conform to all the rules of      homiletics; the text may be suitable and fruitful; the plan may be faultless; the execution may discover genius and judgment; there may be accurate analysis and strong reasoning, proof and motive, solidarity and beauty, logic and persuasion, argument direct and indirect, perspicuity, purity, correctness, propriety, precision, description, antithesis, metaphor, allegory, comparison; motives from goodness, motives from happiness, motives from self-love, appeals to the sense of the beautiful, the sense of right, to the affections, the passions, the emotions; a sermon may be all this, and yet that very sermon, even though it fell from the lips of a prince of pulpit oratory, were as powerless in the renewal of a soul as in raising the dead, if unaccompanied by the omnipotent energy of the Holy Spirit.”

It is both important and imperative that the preacher not underestimate the role of the Holy Spirit during the preparation and the proclamation of the message. It is interesting to note the main sin in the Old Testament was the rejection of God the Father while the main sin in the New Testament was the rejection of Christ the Son. Is it possible that the main sin of the contemporary Church is the rejection of the Third Person, the Holy Spirit?

In the ministry in general and preaching in particular, the pendulum usually sways from one extreme to the other. On the one side is “escapism, and on the other side is “extremism.” In other words, preachers tend to ignore the role of the Holy Spirit in ministry or tend to go overboard to the point of the manipulation of people. The Holy Spirit is a gift, not a toy! There needs to be biblical balance both in the private area of preparation and the public area of proclamation.

Only the Holy Spirit can transform a manuscript into a message. Only the Holy Spirit can bring together our text, topic, theme, thoughts, and thrust to eternally change lives. There is a difference between the “filling” of the Spirit and the “anointing” of the Spirit. For example, Jesus was filled with the Spirit from conception, but He was anointed by the Spirit before He began His public ministry (Lk. 1:35, 2:52; Ac 10:38). There is a great difference between having the Holy Spirit as a resident and having the Holy Spirit as president!

Join us next month as we further explore what this anointing of the Holy Spirit looks like. What are your experiences with this? What would you say to other pastors on this issue?