Month: September 2005

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Too Good not to Steal. . .

From Ronnie Whitehead’s Blog
Brazos Pointe Fellowship

I don’t normally take complete posts from other bloggers, but this was really good. What do you think?

Need vs. Call

Is it a need? Or is it a call from God?

I was at a Small Groups Conference, not long ago, and a statement was made that, at that time, passed over my head and into a “I’ll look at that later” file. It’s one of those things that you hear, you shake your head, and say, “I knew that.” But the weight of it doesn’t hit until later on.

Here’s the statement that was made in context of seeing the vast numbers of needs around us every day:

“The NEED does not constitute the CALL. There are always way too many needs for me to meet.”

This really puts some pressure on me in one regard, but takes a lot of pressure off of me in others. I think we spend way too much time “accessing” needs, and way too little time “accessing” the call of God on our lives. The most recent opportunity has been all of this disaster relief from Hurricane Katrina. What an unbelievable amount of needs. Do those needs demand a true accessing? Yes! It’s a tragedy that has wrecked people’s lives. Do we need to be involved in it? Yes! Am I? Yes!

There’s a story that happened in the Bible surrounding Jesus, His disciples and a woman. This woman, in Matthew 26, came to Jesus and broke a very expensive vial of perfume over His feet and wiped it with her hair. The disciples tried to rebuke for wasting such a valuable commodity, but saying that the “need” was to sell that perfume and give the money to the poor. Jesus then turned and rebuked the disciples by making a shocking statement in vs. 10 when He said, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me… wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Wow!

What did she do that was so amazing? I don’t want to steal any thunder from this weekend’s message at BPF, but let me end by saying this. The important thing is that we stay close to God and listen for His instructions; from His Word and from His Spirit that lives inside of us. Hearing Him, and obeying Him is the key. I have to continually ask myself, “Am I following the needs, or am I following the call of God on my life?” The good thing is, often times, those two intersect.

posted by Ronnie Whitehead @ 9:15 AM 0 comments

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Food –

So over the past 10 months or so my wife and I have lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 80lbs. It makes quite the difference, we feel better, look better and both recieve compliments.

On the down side we both need new clothes. . . 😉 fortunately I have a few new outfits from the w/e before last. . . It’s amazing how the weight has made a difference in people’s perceptions. . .
Now we have a goal to move to excercise and lose a few more pounds to keep an even keel.

This is the least we’ve weighed since College. ..

I thought about this after seeing an article link to Hardee’s Big Burger

wow, that does look good, doesn’t go in my new lifestyle diet at all, but perhaps just one. . .

nahh. . . too big, plus I have no idea where the nearest Hardee’s is. . .
🙂

later,
C

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Unspoken Prayer Request

Hi Everyone,
Just a quick note, asking for prayer. Some interesting things are afoot and I would appreciate you’re prayers for our family during this time:

Thanks,!
C

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Romans – Brings it On

Notice how Paul just lays it out in Romans 1: No fluffy fun stuff other than regular 1st Century greetings: Then in Romans 1:18-32 he just crashes down the boom and lays bare the truth.

God abandons those who abandon Him, when they choose to follow their wanton desires instead of Him, he gives them over to those desires, and thus we find ourselves in bondage, not to the freedom we so desire but to the feeling, the ecstasy, the sin. . . .and what a miserable place to be. . .

Thank you Father for 1 John 1:9 . . .and Rom 3:23 and Eph 2:8-10. . .

wow. . . go God. . .

later,
C

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Romans

Romans 1:8-9
I thank God through Jesus for every one of you. That’s first. People everywhere keep telling me about your lives of faith, and every time I hear them, I thank him. 9And God, whom I so love to worship and serve by spreading the good news of his Son–the Message!-knows that every time I think of you 10in my prayers, which is practically all the time, I ask him to clear the way for me to come and see you.

We are spending the next 2 quarters in Romans. . . time to get back to the basics.
🙂

People need Jesus. . .
Paul loved them, we need to love all of them too. . .
If we love them we will tell them the Truth. . . John 14:6

later,
C