Serving God's Purposes in Our Generation (Acts 13:36b)

Another Seed Being Planted

In Uncategorized on April 17, 2009 at 2:00 pm Really jacked about a gathering we are having tonight. See, one of our commitments at Seven Mile Road is to keep it simple. Center on Jesus and His Gospel, give our best effort at gathered, Biblical Trinitarian worship, make disciples through our soulcare communities, and pretty much let people live life missionally from there. This means no covered dish dinners, rummage sales, velcro-Sumo-wrestler youth group events, group visits to see Fireproof (nothing against the movie’s basic permise, love anything that shouts a high view of marriage in this jacked culture), or…

God Does Save Thessalonians

In Uncategorized on April 17, 2009 at 2:07 pm The A29 network has a sick networking site where lead planters from across the country/planet can dialog with each other as they take their local hills for Jesus. I recently posted this confession/joy on the prayer requests thread and wanted to post it here as well. Guys, a confession… I have definitely been recently doubting that God can, and intends to, redeem many in my just-north-of-Boston culture. The huge majority of our growth/fruit in recent months has been folks who were predisposed to finding a church and pressing into the Gospel…

The Lord Delivered Me From All My Fears

Psalm 34 1 [a] I will extol the LORD at all times;        his praise will always be on my lips. 2 My soul will boast in the LORD;        let the afflicted hear and rejoice.  3 Glorify the LORD with me;        let us exalt his name together.  4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;        he delivered me from all my fears.  5 Those who look to him are radiant;        their faces are never covered with shame.  6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;        he saved him out of all his troubles.…

Biblical Principles for Healthy Communication

Who doesn’t agree that one of the greatest problems we are facing today in interpersonal relationships is unhealthy communication? Who doesn’t confront difficulties in family, in workplace and in neighborhood because of lack of good communication? Who isn't aware of the fact that conflicts in relationships are usually flared up due to ill-mannered communication? In spite of so much of advancement in technical communication isn't man still lacking the discernment to speak well? There are surplus books on communication in our day but nothing like the wisdom we find in that Old Book which is as old as sun and…

What's Wrong With Me?

Discussion on Three Days Grace song "The Animal I Have Become"LyricsI can’t escape this hellSo many times i’ve triedBut i’m still caged insideSomebody get me through this nightmareI can’t control myselfSo what if you can see the dark inside of meNo one will ever change this animal I have becomeHelp me believe it’s not the real meSomebody help me tame this animalI can’t escape myselfSo many times i’ve liedBut there’s still rage insideSomebody get me through this nightmareI can’t control myselfSome what if you can see the dark inside of meNo one will ever change this animal I have becomeHelp…

The Blind Love . . . .

There once was a girl who was born blind... .. She was very lonely... and was sad because she wasnt able to see.... No one payed any attention to her because she couldnt do things like everyone else... ofcourse this was because of her blindness... She continued her life lonely and depressed.....waiting for a day.. when someone would donate their eyes.....Her life was miserable.... until one day... a guy came into her life.... That guy accepted her even though she was blind... He made her feel important and happy... He showed her the world through his eyes.. they were falling…

Learning To Pray

We’ve been on the ground in Philadelphia for almost eight months now. During these eight months, anytime I feel like we’re hitting a stride and I’m about to kick my feet up, God smacks me with something. Something in my heart is thrown into a small panic and I’m desperate again for Him to lead us cause otherwise this whole church planting thing is going to fall apart. So, the last week or so has been another one of these. We’re ending a study on the book of 1 Timothy. We’ve had a preview service. And now, I’m getting ready…

Dreams And Thoughts

A manifesto of hope, freedom, salvation;1 a place where the kingdom of God is made real and alive;2 a deliverance from bondage and oppression;3 the invocation of a life better than the one that is lived;4 the glorious advent of missional Christ-followers making a difference.5 What would the world look like if we brought Christ, the pure and undefiled Savior and Lord, to infect and transform our realities;6 where our thoughts, words, actions, and lifestyle presented Christ? I dream of a better day when God will deliver us from our consumerism, our love for self, and our drive to distance…

Artificial Life As A Mark Of The Bankruptcy Of Our Civilisation's Moral Values

I see a report that researchers from the USA have claimed that artificial life could be "created within five to ten years". With two billion people (a third of humanity) living on less than $2.50 a day - and a half of that on less than $1.25 a day! - it is clear that our political, economic and social systems refuse to deal with the most basic problems of the real lives that we already have. And we want to create artificial life? Why? To ensure that we condemn these artificial lives to even worse conditions? Or to condemn existing…

Above All – You Thought Of Me

Above All Powers, Above All Kings - Above All Nature And All Created Things - Above All Wisdom And All The Ways Of Man - You Were Here Before The World Began - Above All Kingdoms, Above All Thrones - Above All Wonders The World Has Ever Known - Above All Wealth And Treasures Of The Earth - There's No Way To Measure What You're Worth

 

Women – Earliest Witnesses of Jesus' Resurrection

Even today, women through their deep devotion encounter the living Jesus in our midst (while we are busy with committee meetings, church politics and church administration). The role of women in the different ministries of the church is crucial - they teach our children at the Sunday school, they are involved in outreach ministries, they raise funds for Church projects, they enhance the aesthetics of our worship halls, they sing in the choir, and they participate in cottage prayer meetings, bible studies, mid-week meetings etc - yet they go ‘unnoticed' and ‘unrecognized'. In fact, there's a whole list of things that women do in our churches that is taken for granted. Ironically, it is through their seemingly ‘lowly' ministries and yet faithful service in our churches that they encounter the living Jesus present in our midst. The risen Jesus continues to honor their faith and women encounter him. Women continue to follow Jesus and remain faithful to him, despite their ‘invisibility' within church structures. Not surprisingly, women are greatly used by God to undergird the church's life and mission.

I am 25!

1. tuesday was my not very anticipated birthday. woke up to breakfast in bed courtesy of niki and mom, and went out to dinner with mom, niki, anisha and nitisha. after dinner, the girls slept over and we stayed up talking until 6am. had a heart to heart with niki which was good. in addition, it was probably the first time nitisha and i sat down and had a conversation. anisha and i had fun like always. i woke up with her sleeping next to me on my single bed. 2. i don't feel 25, i don't act 25, and…

Sexting – Teen Fad Creating Legal Risks

A new fad now among teens is taking naked pictures of themselves on cell phones and sending it to their friends. Now popularly called “sexting”, is getting very popular with teens everywhere. Texting which was generally popular among young people, now seems to have evolved into its next phase. See reports on sexting in NYT, AP, USTODAY and KXLY.According to a recent study, 20% of teens aged 13 to 19 have taken nude or semi-nude pictures or videos of themselves and sent them to someone or posted them online. Most send these gifts to their boyfriend or girlfriend (69%) or…

What is Easter Sunday?

THERE is a lot of confusion regarding what Easter Sunday is all about. For some, Easter Sunday is about the Easter Bunny, colorfully decorated Easter eggs, and Easter egg hunts. Most people understand that Easter Sundayhas something to do with the resurrection of Jesus, but are confused as to how the resurrection is related to the Easter eggs and the Easter bunny.   Biblically speaking, there is absolutely no connection between the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the common modern traditions related to Easter Sunday. Essentially, what occurred is that in order to make Christianity more attractive to non-Christians, the…

What Is Good About ‘Good Friday’?

GOOD Friday is the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday. It is celebrated traditionally as the day on which Jesus was crucified. Assuming that Jesus was crucified and died on a Friday, should Christians remember Jesus’ death by celebrating Good Friday?   The Bible does not instruct Christians to remember Christ’s death by honoring a certain day. The Bible does give us freedom in these matters, however. Romans 14:5 tells us, “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”   Rather than remembering Christ's…

Good Friday

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) A story is told about Sin and Death. On the Friday night after Jesus was crucified, Sin came running into the garden where the body of Jesus had been laid in the tomb. Sin cried out, "Death, do you really have Him?" Death called back from within the tomb, "Yes, Sin, I really have Him. I've got my hand on Him. My shroud is around His body." Sin left. On Saturday night,…

Do We Have A Global Failure of Leadership? No . . .

Discussing this matter with a friend earlier today, we concluded that what we are confronted with is not a failure of leadership, rather the exploitation of leadership for personal gain. A phenomenon that has always been well known in so-called "developing countries" (which I like to call "ever-developing countries" or "non-developing countries"). This phenomenon has now moved to the West because of the decline of the influence of Jesus the Lord in the West. As a consequence, we are now confronted not merely with many "non-developing countries" but even with a whole "regressing world."Prabhu Guptara

Slumdog Pissed

so I'm having this battle...on one hand, with society, and on the other,with myself. i just finished watching slumdog millionaire for the second time with my mom. each time i watch that movie, i get emotional, and if you know me, this doesn't generally happen. but it's not because the movie is great that i get emotional. the tears come when i think of those kids and the time i spent in mumbai and coming to terms with the reality that is their lives and how hopeless it is (from a natural point of view...of course i honestly believe that…

Heart Prison

To those who are brokenhearted, forlorn, lonely, and forsaken, God gives love, forgiveness and hope. He loves you as though there was no one else in the whole world. If you were the only one who ever lived, he would have loved you the same way, he loves you now.To those who are hardhearted and hard headed, God says he is gentle and humble in heart. He can soften your heart and free you from the constraints of your own prison. You can't forgive your brother, well God gives you the resources to forgive your brother from your heart To…

The Suffering and Glory of the Servant – Jesus Christ

Isaiah 52:13 See, my servant will act wisely [b] ;        he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.  14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him [c]—       his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man        and his form marred beyond human likeness—  15 so will he sprinkle many nations, [d]        and kings will shut their mouths because of him.        For what they were not told, they will see,        and what they have not heard, they will understand. Isaiah 53 1 Who has believed our message        and to whom…