A New Year… A New Attitude

For many of us 2012 was not the best of years. For me it was neutral, it had its downs for sure but they were countered by quite a few ups. I saw a lot of friends and family in pain from losing loved ones, and saw others able to rejoice from victories in their lives. 2012 for me will go down as a year I hope to use to build on. Spiritually I was on cruise control and as we all know that is not a good place to be, it is better than losing ground but our spiritual journey should always be on the increase. I have decided to make a conscious effort to not let this happen this year. For the first time in several years I have made a list of New Year’s Resolutions along with a plan to meet each one. The top of the list should be a desire for every Christ follower and that is to draw closer to God. I will make this my number one priority and hope that people will see an obvious difference in me by the end of the year as I have met this goal. To help achieve this goal I will start off this year as I have for past 4 years with a 21 day fast (awakening). However, this year will be different. Instead of doing the Daniel Fast as I have in the past, I will undertake a fruits and water only fast that I pray will open me up to hear the voice of God and the direction He would lead me. This decision does not come easy because I love food and Arnold Palmer’s. But, with determination and the aid of the Father I can and will do it.

Please consider joining me and the church as we step out on the venture of the awakening together. The dates are January 13 – February 2, with plans on attending The Awakening Revival in Jacksonville, FL January 29 – February 2. For more info on The Awakening 21 Day Fast just ask or do a Google search for it. We will have the books at the church to follow along and you can also check out Celebration Church on Facebook.

Thanks for reading and have a great 2013 filled with the grace, mercy, and presence of God!

–gary

Convictions….

Spiritual Gifts

here are the links for the two spiritual gifts test I have been discussing for the last few weeks

http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/ – discusses all Spiritual gifts

http://elmertowns.com/spiritual_gifts_test/index.cfm?action=SPQ_questionsStart – this one concentrates on the Spiritual gifts used specifically inside the church (serving gifts)

please do me the honor and send me an e-mail to tell me what scores you received  – gary@vision-covenant.com

Servant Evangelism

Many years ago i was introduced to a really cool way to let people know about the love of God without having to spend time talking and “witnessing” to them. Let me make myself clear – witnessing whether it is house to house or at the grocery store is important – but it is not for everyone. Some people just are not comfortable sharing their testimony or the Roman road with people. This simple activity allows ANYONE to fulfill the great commission.

I am a firm believer that we as the church (Christ followers) need to exhibit a love that is as close to God as possible. As i said sunday – it seems that we have really started to blend in and it is hard for people to tell that there is any difference in us and the world. So some super smart person came up with an idea that will allow the church to show God’s love to them. This wonderful invention is called servant evangelism.

The following was taken from http://www.channelsidechurch.com

“Servant evangelism is a simple, straightforward approach to sharing God’s love in simple, practical ways.  Every person is at a unique place in their gradual awakening to the love of Christ. Servant Evangelism draws everyone it touches closer to accepting Christ regardless of their own personal situation.  Deeds of kindness tenderize hearts, so they can later receive the message of God’s love.  As we serve people, God will provide opportunities to explain the Gospel message and eventually to pray with people to start a new life in relationship with Jesus Christ.

With servant evangelism, people begin to open their hearts to God’s love and Christians are built up in their courage to share their faith with others.  Whether it is giving away cold water bottles to thirsty people, setting up fun games for kids in the park or giving away candy and popcorn to young families, servant evangelism is simply sharing God’s love in a practical way.”

There are several ways “to do”  servant evangelism – and they all work. as the article said from handing out bottles of water to going door to door giving away candy, popcorn, light bulbs or bread to neighbors – it all works!

If you are interested in participating be sure to stop by the church and find out more information.

Words with Friends

(consider this a heads up: while blogging i often will forgo proper capitalization,  and punctuation – if this bothers you please let me know and i will consider adding it)

I admit it – i am word with friends junky – as i sit here and type this i am trying to figure out what word to make with the letters: a, e, e, e, o, u, and z (trust me – not too many plays for me right now) – i often find myself playing with people i don’t even know because the games i have going i’m waiting for the other person to play – the crazy thing is – up until now i have never enjoyed playing scrabble – it was boring and too hard – but words with friends changed that – the ability to play more than one game at a time and letting me know that amore is not a word but  jehus (i got to play this one time while just throwing letters onto the board that looked like a word) is helps keep me from getting into trouble when a real partner challenges me and i lose points and a turn (or whatever the rules are)

I guess word with friends is kinda like church – a lot of people don’t really care about it but certain features added to it or taken from it make it to where they can like it and you’re with people you know and sometimes people you don’t – I’m reminded of a conversation i had with God a few months back when i asked why there were all the different denominations and churches in albany and the surrounding area and His response was look at all the different fast food restaurants and how close they are – mcdonalds, burger king, wendys, and the other non franchise ones as well – all are serving hamburgers but they package it differently – some like their burger flame broiled and others like theirs heated in a pan – with churches it’s all the same message (mostly) but the presentation is different – as long as God gets the glory that’s all that matters!

(by the way i played ooze for 26 points if you were wondering)

also if you would like to play a game or two my username is swgahunter