Sustaining a Burden for the Unsaved

For the believer sustaining a long-term burden for unsaved is challenging. Oftentimes, hearing a passionate message brings short-term conviction which gives way after a period of days or at best weeks. There is nothing wrong with the initial surge of activity that follows God’s working in our lives. God will often use a message to [...]

Prayer & Fasting: Afghan Believer Jailed for Following Christ

Last night Pastor challenged us to pray and fast one day a month for the evangelism of the world. I came across a story on Friday of last week that has seen some attention on Christian sites on the internet, but has not received attention in the main stream media. On May 31, 2010, 25 [...]

Types of Fasting

Full Fast: Drink only liquids (you establish the number of days). Daniel Fast: Eat no meat, no sweets and no bread. Drink water and juice. Eat fruits and vegetables. 3-Day Fast: This fast can be a Full Fast, Daniel Fast or give up at least one item of food. Partial Fast: A partial fast is [...]

What is a Divine Appointment?

I start each Monday morning planning out my week. I schedule lunches, meetings, planning times to do more planning and appointments. I have planned appointments, but I hunger for divine appointments.  A divine appointment is a meaningful interaction through Gospel conversation with an unbeliever. Pastor has encouraged us to incorporate into our vocabulary at Bethel [...]

A Confident Prayer

One thing that we know about prayer is that when we pray according to God’s will, we will receive that petition. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, [...]

Praise, Prayer & Fasting

“Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21). Wow! I can remember one of the first times that this verse hit me – prayer and fasting? You can define fasting as doing without food for a designated time for spiritual purposes. The intent of this post is to get you [...]

Saved to Pray

Sometimes it’s easy to wonder whether prayer really makes a difference. Have you thought about the fact that prayer was one of the primary purposes for which you were saved? Think about it. Romans 8:29 says, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.” That [...]

Dependent Doing

Many times in churches like ours, there are two types of people: the pray-ers and the do-ers. Whenever there is a need, the pray-ers get on their knees and entreat the Lord to intervene on their behalf. The do-ers sweat and toil to make something happen. The problem is that we’re often either/or instead of [...]

Haiti Hope

“Haiti” and “hope” are not words that seem to go together.  I have never been to Haiti and I cannot begin to imagine what it is like now.  I have a college friend that pastors a church in Haiti and our family is keeping them in prayer.  They have children about the same ages as my children and they [...]

9th Ranked Google Term

I recently heard on a local talk radio program that the 9th ranked Google term in the “How To” list was how to pray. There are a number of different way to look at this. 1st: There is a new religious awakening in America. 2nd: People will often describe themselves as “spiritual”, but certainly not [...]