LIFESTYLE EVANGELISM

Luke 8:38-39
38 But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but He sent him away, saying, 39 "Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. NASU
** Not everyone is suppose to be on staff at a church full time…. Notice here, you would think that this healing would be the perfect thing to carry around with you to show people the power of God that is available. But here we see the perfect heart of Jesus showing that our rescued lives are the ultimate testimony of the power of God and by sending this man (who was un-discipled by the way) back into the town where he lived and where Jesus was not welcome, gave the town a chance to believe in Jesus too. Jesus’ whole mission was to seek and save that which was lost and to give that mission to us and get us to carry it out every day where we go… to work, school, shopping, etc. I wonder what ever happened to the town that the demoniac visited…. That would be something to research for those of you who love to research…. :)

GOOD THINGS BAD THINGS

Ps 84:11
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
The LORD gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. NASU
** What a great promise! That means that all the good things are mine and all the bad things…. Well, He’s withholding from me so they won’t ruin my walk. AND…. If I’m receiving bad things in my life, then that’s because I’m NOT walking uprightly. Hmmm, something so simple we have made so difficult….. lets see here: Walk uprightly = get all the good things…. Walk unrightly = get no good things just bad things…… I guess I continue to walk uprightly! 

IS HE REALLY LORD?

Luke 6:46-47
Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? NASU
** Why would you call Him Lord and don’t do what He says? Is He Lord or not? Lord in the Greek means: supreme in authority, controller, Master, Sir. So if He is our master our controller and the supreme authority in our life why do we hold back when He asks us to do something? Do we just like the title of being His slave as a false front or do we REALLY believe that He is the master and we are the slave? Take for instance the great commission…. We are ALL called to go into all the world and preach the gospel (good news) to all creation…. Are we doing that or are we avoiding what our master has commanded us to do? When’s the last time we just spoke the gospel to anyone? This should not be condemnation but we should all be convicted by this. Condemnation makes us feel bad about who we are but conviction should compel us to change the way we are. I am convicted and I need to change my way of thinking about this life that I live and Yes He is my Lord and today I choose to do what He says… “Lord send me in the path of someone who needs to hear the gospel today.”

JUST FOR FUN!

A Cajun was stopped by a game warden in Southern Louisiana recently with two ice chests of fish, leaving a bayou well known for its fishing.

The game warden asked the man, "Do you have a license to catch those fish?"

"Naw, ma fren, I ain't got none of dem, no. Dese here are my pet fish."

"Pet fish?"

"Ya. Avery night I take dese here fish down to de bayou and let dem swim 'round for a while. Den I whistle and dey jump rat back inta dis here ice chest and I take dem home."

"That's a bunch of hooey! Fish can't do that!"

The Cajun looked at the game warden for a moment and then said, "It's de truth ma' fren. I'll show you. It really works."

"Okay, I've GOT to see this!"

The Cajun poured the fish into the bayou and stood and waited.

After several minutes, the game warden turned to him and said, "Well?"

"Well, what?" Said the Cajun.

"When are you going to call them back?"

"Call who back?"

"The FISH!"

"What fish?"

SICK OR WELL?

Luke 5:30-32
30 The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?" 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, "It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." NASU
** It’s amazing to me how churches spend most of their money inside the church building and very little of it to reach out to the lost. Here Jesus sets his mission out very clearly…. “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.” Why then do we spend so much time with the well? Jesus spent most of His time with sinners and the outcast. We need to refocus our churches to include the lost outside of our church and spend time healing the sick.

PASSING THIS ON... THOUGHT IT WAS AWESOME

She had a massive stroke in 2001, with an aftermath that included the loss of speech and the inability to use both legs and one arm. Nevertheless, Charlotte Eardley was completely aware of her surroundings, and wanted desperately for her life to count. She wanted to be recognized as having a passion for life, rather than being seen only as dependent on others. Most importantly, she wanted to prove disabilities need not impede people from making major contributions to the mission of the church: reaching the lost!
Charlotte became aware of a project begun by Foursquare Missions Press: a leather bracelet with five specifically-colored beads on it. Missionaries often give these bracelets to children, but in many countries the bracelets have become even more popular with the adults!
Each of the colored beads in the bracelets represents a facet of the Gospel story:
• Yellow: Have you ever thought about heaven where the streets are made of gold?
• Black: We can’t go there because of our sin.
• Red: However, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from our sin.
• White: Because of His sacrifice, Jesus makes us clean.
• Green: Now, we can grow in Jesus.
Charlotte has made over 45,000 of these bracelets, which literally have carried the gospel message around the world. Her severe disability limits her to using her one good arm and her mouth to accomplish the task, but she has never considered the limitation to be a handicap. Instead, she has found a way to respond to the command, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.”
This amazing, “no excuses” lady is Melinda Scott’s mom. Melinda’s husband, Jim, serves the Northeast as district supervisor, and since her stroke, Charlotte has lived with them. Her story should challenge us to not speak of reasons why we “can’t” do something, but instead to ask, “Why not?” Here’s hoping you and I will leave nothing on the court: that we will fight the good fight, finish the race and not grow weary in well doing. Proverbs 11:30 says, “He who wins souls is wise.” (NIV)

JUST AN EXTRA TODAY FOR FUN.... ENJOY

I WAS SHOCKED

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp—
The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
The alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, 'What's the deal?
I would love to hear Your take.
How'd all these sinners get up here?
God must've made a mistake.

'And why's everyone so quiet,
So somber - give me a clue.'
'Hush, child,' He said, 'they're all in shock.
At the thought of seeing you.'

BIRTHING GREATNESS

Luke 1:29-30
30 The angel said to her, " Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. NASU
** I want to find favor with God! Not because I want a baby (thanks but no thanks…. I’ve done my 3 and am happy to watch them raise theirs) but I want to give birth to something great. I want my life to matter to others that are in need of hope and forgiveness. When I’m long gone and people say the name David McAlister or Pastor Dave, I want them to think of the greatness of God in my life and the ministry I was involved in. I would also say to you who read this, “do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God.” God wants to do something great in and thru you. He wants you to give birth to miracles, hope, love, peace, greatness in Jesus!

VERY SOBERING

Rev 20:11-15
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. NASU
** Today’s reading is very sobering…. One day we will all stand before God and give an account of our works and deeds here on earth. This day, I believe, will be filled with sorrow and weeping like we’ve never heard before. So many people who thought that they had done enough will be revealed and be thrown out forever and ever. My heart aches for them. Oh how I wish they would all wake up right now and prepare their lives for eternity and not for the selfish quick self gratifying sins that they do. The scriptures are very plain when they say…”what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet looses his own soul?” If you are reading this and you know that you have a lukewarm relationship with Christ, please hear me out….. it is not worth it! When you stand before the creator of the universe and have to give an account of your lukewarm life to God, it will not be worth it! Please don’t take the easy road, the easy way. Stand strong against the sin in your life and put it far from you and trust God to help you thru it. HE IS ENOUGH! Nothing is worth missing eternity with Jesus….. no house, no man, no woman, no job, not money….nothing! Lord I pray for those who are balancing between heaven and hell and I pray that they will choose heaven and live their lives for you…. AMEN.

DEEDS FOLLOW US

Rev 14:13
13 And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, ' Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them."
NASU
** Rest from our labors…… Oh Yea! I like that “Rest from my labors.” And note here that it says that our “Deeds” will follow with us…. I’ve often thought that as we are gone and are in heaven, does God continually reward us as people on the earth get saved because of our testimony that we leave behind? It will be amazing when we will be with Him for all eternity and during that time as our “deeds” are continually revealed to people here on earth and they get saved that all heaven shouts and a reward comes to us for our deeds and then we just bow before Him and present that gift to Him…. Hmmm…. Just something to think about. AND, if that is true, then we need to work deeds of righteousness now ( that could be even leaving our journals that we’ve written in and not throwing them away so others will read them when we are gone) so that when we do rest, our deeds will follow us for as long as time exist down here.

TO BE BLESSED OR NOT

Jer 44:16-17
16 "As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you! NASU
** God clearly draws a line in the sand and then describes the blessings and cursings of each decision. I would say that I’m amazed at how these people commit to Jeremiah to do whatever the Lord tells them to do and then when he gives the message to them, they say their not going to do it, but I’m not surprised at all. Why? Because people have been doing that from the beginning of time. All we have to do Is open the bible and see that God says thru His word that if we do this or that…. We will be blessed and if we do this or that…. We will be cursed. So every day each of us have an opportunity to be blessed or curse by our obedience or disobedience to God’s word. The problem lies with those who love to sin. They love doing what their doing and no matter what God’s word says and no matter how many preachers, teachers, evangelist say, they have already decided to live their life of sin no matter what the consequences. So who wins? The obedient…. Those who hear the Word of God and obey. Today, I choose to be blessed!

GOOD TO THE GOOD

Ps 111:1-3
1 Praise the LORD!
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart,
In the company of the upright and in the assembly.
2 Great are the works of the LORD;
They are studied by all who delight in them.
3 Splendid and majestic is His work,
And His righteousness endures forever. NASU
** I love this scripture! Here I just got thru reading 2 big chapters in Ezek. About how God was going to do all these bad things to His people because of their rebellion and because they were making bad choices against His plans for their lives and then I read here in Psalms about David who loved God with his whole heart and you can see the difference between the obedient and the disobedient. Here David is giving thanks IN THE COMPANY OF THE UPRIGHT AND IN THE ASSEMBLY. He is not ashamed because he has stayed obedient to God. Then he goes on to say “great are the WORKS of God.” Why was God’s works great to David? Because of his obedience to God. You see, God can either be great or horrible, good or bad, happy or angry…. What makes the difference you ask? OBEDIANCE TO HIS WORD AND COMMANDS. I wanna be obedient… how about you?

AWESOME THRONE

Rev 7:9-12
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying," Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, " Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen." NASU
** Oh what a day that will be!!!! One day (and I don’t believe it’s too far off) we will all stand before the throne and will sing a new song to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. How awesome it will be to see Jesus face to face and to behold Him full of all His glory! Oh and by the way… notice it says “palm branches were in their hands?”….. it must be like Hawaii…. 

I'M AFRAID OF ME

Rev 6:1-2
1 Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come." 2 I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. NASU
** Unexplainable…. How do you even comment on Revelation and the 6 seals? Today was just one weird reading. It’s hard to capture my thoughts and try to explain anything even to myself  The one thing that I do get is that God is so powerful and awesome, that I sometimes forget the greatness of His being. I mean, I read this in Revelation and if I was standing in the place of John who is writing it, I would be scared to death! Even though I long for the presence of God I also tremble at the thought of Him and standing before Him. It’s not because I’m afraid of Him but I’m afraid of my sinful life! I’m actually afraid of ME! I’ve got such a good thing going here by serving a great and mighty God that sometimes I think of the havoc that my sinful flesh can create and that’s when I get afraid….. I don’t want to lose anything that I have in and thru HIM.