Fellowship of the Unashamed

 

 (An African martyr’s last words)

I am a part of the fellowship of the Unashamed.  The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.  The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.  My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure.

I’m finished and done with low living, sight-walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.

My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear.

I won’t give up, back up, let up, or shut up until I’ve preached up, prayed up, paid up, stored up and stayed up for the cause of Christ.

I must go until He returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes.

And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.  My colors will be clear.  “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.”  (Romans 1:16)

THE SNEEZE

I received this as an email yesterday; 

 

I think this is awesome!!!

They walked in tandem, each of the ninety-two students filing into the already crowded auditorium. With their rich maroon gowns flowing and the traditional caps, they looked almost as grown up as they felt. 

Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms freely brushed away tears. 

This class would NOT pray during the commencements, not by choice, but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it.
The principal and several students were careful to stay within the guidelines allowed by the ruling. They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for blessings on the graduates or their families. 

The speeches were nice, but they were routine until the final speech received a standing ovation.

A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone. He stood still and silent for just a moment, and then, it happened. 

All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED !!!!  
 
 
The student on stage simply looked at the audience and said,

‘GOD BLESS YOU’ 

And he walked off the stage…
 

The audience exploded into applause. This graduating class had found a unique way to invoke God’s blessing on their future with or without the court’s approval. 

Isn’t this a wonderful story? Pass it on to all your friends………and

GOD BLESS YOU!!!! 

This is a true story; it happened at the University of Maryland . 

Commitment

There are three considerations for living the life God intended.  Actually there may be more, but these are really important:  Conviction + Commitment + Obedience.  Well, while I have used these in discipling others, a few minutes ago I found a quote from Goethe.  Now, it may be that you have never heard of him.  Look him up in an encyclopedia.  In any case, the quote is on “Commitment”.  Here it is:

Until one is committed, there is a hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness, concerning all acts of initiative (and creation).   There is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans; that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.  All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.  The whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way,   Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power  and magic  in it.  Begin it now.

–Goethe

Yes, I do know that the author is likely not a believer.  But please, listen to what he is saying that relates to our doing the will of God, out the conviction that God has spoken and means what He says.  Let’s do it, because we love Him with all we are.

Coach Charles

 

 

My Passion for His Kingdom

Let me start by saying that I am seriously and intentionally out to change the world.  I choose to do this because I heard His command, “As you go, therefore, make disciples….” (Mt. 28:19) on His authority and in response in love for Him and the desire to be in obedience to Him, I wrote this a number of years ago.

My passion, prayer and commitment to fulfill the harvest, by intentionally multiplying laborers.  (Matt. 9:37,38; Matt. 28:19,20; Acts 26;18; Psalm 90:17) 

This works out of having the Conviction that God has so commanded, to which I become committed, and act it out in obedience.

My prayer: Believing that You, God, have called me to the task of helping to fulfill the great commission and to praying that You, the Lord of the harvest, would send forth more laborers.  Therefore, as a co-laborer with You, I am intentionally giving myself to praying, reaching, training, and equipping individuals for the world-wide ministry for Your glory, O God Almighty.

Intend + choose+act   — Phil. 4:13

World wide, world-changing?  You bet.  One person, committed to God who reproduces a disciple a year and  who in turn goes on to be reproductive and to transfer it, will result in everybody coming to Christ in 32 years.  The 32 years is a mathematical projection, and in reality, not all that you reach will become disciples, of those, not all will become reproductive.  However, if enough of us who identify with the Christ, endeavor to do this, it can be done and indeed must be pursued.  I have committed myself to do this, and to persuade everyone I can to do it also.  We have only the world to gain.  Alas, the enemy knows this also and He will resist bitterly unto the end.  God help us.  We cannot do this ourselves, but He can.  Please enable it.

Yours for the fulfillment of the Lord’s final earthly command.

Coach Charles

Stewardship and the Will of God

I don’t remember where I got this, but thought I’d pass it on anyway. 

“My life is a stewardship to God shaped by His will, guided inwardly by His Spirit and the Word, with the purpose of glorifying Him and a commitment to seeing His kingdom come.”

Coach Charles

Following after Christ

“Remember , our Message is not about ourselves; we are proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master…..If you only look at us, you might well mis the brightness.  We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay post of our ordinary lives.  That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us.”     2 Co. 4:6,7   –The Message

The Lord is looking for men and women who will pursue Him.  He is looking fo those when will follow Him without self-consideration, but rather that they would choose to die rather than betray His trust in them.  I, too, want to be that one who follows hard after Him without stumbling over myself.  Do I want to be highly esteemed by others or thought of as being important in the grand scheme of His plans?  Well…..Yes, to my shame.  I too want to the right thing for the wrong reasons.  Maybe we all do in some way.

It may be that you too have faced this kind of subtle attack on your integrity, had similar temptations.  You may have done seemingly wonderful things with the aim of getting attention , rather than being an attraction which points to Him.  The focus being on how we obey, rather than on obeying Him out of our desire for Him.  How easy it is to say that Christ is the center of my life and then to live without factoring Him in.  I do my thing and pass it off as the will of God.  I talk to people about God, maybe even their relationship to Christ in order to prove in some way that I am serving Him.  Maybe I want to be known as an evangelist, or a pastor or a whatever, but it is really about me.  Have I been there?  Yes!  Am I still there?   Yes, all to frequently.  God forgive me.  Maybe I go on a mission, or a short-term mission and my real reason is to visit Poland, a kind of religious vacation.  The is a better and higher motivation.  Have I done that?  Again, “Yes”.

Over the past ten years I have read a lot of John Piper’s books, which I highly recommend.  Repeatedly, John say, “God is most glorified, when I am most satisfied with Him.”  To make God the focus and the motivation of my life and ministry without being double minded, is better that doing something for Him.  The first is a gift of gratitude, the second, all to often, is a pitch.  I do it, because of what I want, rather than because He has already given me Himself.  It is easy to become a customer rather than a contributor.  As Paul said, “What do I have that I have not received?’ Yet I act as if I had done it myself., by my own effort.

So the question I as myself is, “Is this how I want the relationship to be, earning what I can never buy?”  No!  I believe that the centrality of Christ in my life means that I have yielded the citadel of my life to Him, –He now lives in me –He now runs the show.  “I die daily.”

Your servant, Coach Charles

Evangelism and the Return of Christ

In 1991, George Ladd wrote a book titled: The Gospel of the Kingdom: Popular Exposition on the Kingdom of God.  The following quote is about the time of the second coming as it connects to world missions, ie., evangelism.  Here is what he says:

       “God alone, who has told us that this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all nations, will know when that objective has been accomplished.  I do not need to know.  I know only one thing; Christ has not yet returned; therefore, the task is not yet done.  When it is done, Christ will come.  Our responsibility is to complete it.  So long as Christ does not return, our work is not done.  Let us get busy and complete our mission…Do you love the Lord’s appearing?  Then you will bend every effort to take the gospel into all the world.  It troubles me in the light of the clear teaching of God’s Word, in the light of our Lord’s explicit definition of our task in The Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) that we take it so lightly…His is the kingdom; He reigns in heaven and He manifests His reign on earth in ant through His church,  When we have accomplished our mission, He will return and establish His kingdom in glory.  To us it is given ont only to wait for but als to hasten the coming of the day of God (2 Peter 3:12).”

So then, the question is if not us, who and if not now, when?

Yours for the kingdom of God, Coach Charles     http://cli.gs/ueyNNE

How Pastors are Hurting

Many Pastors are hurting.  They are pressured by the responsibilities of their position and are under the assault of the enemy.   David Cannistrici, Current Thoughts and trends. 10-20-03.

Here are some of their common concerns:

• Training.  Ninety-seven percent of pastors feel inadequately trained.
• Domestic Problems. Eighty percent say that their ministry has had a negative impact on their children (and wives).
• Depression.  Seventy percent struggle with depression.
• Financial Trouble.  Seventy-one percent are having monetary difficulty.
• Weariness.  Seventy-five percent have thought recently about giving up the ministry.
• Isolation. Seventy percent say that they do not have a close friend.

Brothers we need to pray for these valiant men and women who serve the church so unselfishly.  It can do us only good, to have church leaders who are the opposite of the list above.  I am a recovering pastor and familiar with what is happening.  I am also a coach to those who would like to get beyond these difficulties and more.  If you, or anyone you know, is in this condition, I would love to talk to them.  In my present ministry as discipleship coach, I do work with the professional Christian worker, as well.

http://cli.gs/ueyNEE    This will put you into contact with me if you wish.

Charles Powell, Coach

“Accepted” Ephesians 2:6

“ACCEPTED”

 

‘Tis not for works which I have wro’t,

“Tis not for gifts which I have bro’t,

Nor for blessings that I have sought,

That I have been “Accepted.”

 

‘Tis not for tears that I have shed,

‘Tis not for prayers that I have said,

Nor yet for slavish fear or dread,

That I have been “Accepted.”

 

‘Tis not for any of these, however right,

That God has formed intense delight,

Nor is it these that have made white

The robes of those “Accepted.”

 

From these I turn my eyes to Him.

Who bore the judgment due to sin,

And by His blood I enter in,

And share His “Acceptance.”

 

His precious blood was shed for me,

And in that precious blood I see

The righteous ground, the perfect plea,

For my complete “Acceptance.”

 

And as I gaze, my joys abound,

For now on resurrection ground

I see the Lamb with glory crowned

Who died for my, “Acceptance.”

 

And when within that circle sweet,

Where God’s eternal smile I meet,

I’ll praise Him for the work complete.

Through which I am, “Accepted.”

 

            —Author Unknown

Praying a Verse a Day for Everybody You Know.

I have used the following system for several years.  In the case where I have little communication with individuals and even if I do, it has been profitable to ask God for these things described in the following verses.  I pray these for all the people on my prayer list, for each day of the month.   These are certainly not the only verses that could be used, so maybe you would like to choose your own.  In any case these have been helpful for me.   May they bless you also.

VERSES DAY BY DAY

(I ask God to bring the truths of each verse into reality for those I am praying for.)

1.Col. 1:28,29  witness, teach

2.Col. 2:7 Rooted, built up

3.2 Pet.3:18 Growth

4.Matt.28:19,20 Make disciples

5.Phil.3:12-14 Finishing well

6.Acts.26:18 open eyes,hearts

7.Isa.40:31 Wait on Lord

8.Psalm 86:11 Worship Him

9.John 15:1-5 Abide in Him

10.Phil.1:9-10Growth knowledge

11.Col.1:9-11 Know His will

12 2 Th.3:1 Get message out

13.Eph1:17 Wisdom, Knowledge

14.Eph.1:18 Enlightened heart

15.Eph.1:19 His power in them

16.Eph.5:2 Walk in love

17.Ps 90:14 His likeness in AM

18.1 Thess. 5:18 Gratitude

19. Phil. 4:13 Rely on Him

20. Eph. 5:18 Full of the Spirit

21. Eph.4:1  Walk worthy of God

22. 2 Co.1:9 Rely on God alone

23.Phil.4:4 Rejoice in Him

24.Ps.27:4 Seek Him

25.Luke 9:23 Put Christ First

26. Hb.10:24,25 Fellowship

27.1Co15:58 Abounding in Work

28.Psalm 1:2,3 Delight in Word

29.John 14:21 Live in obedience

30.Prov.3:5,6 Trust Him

31.Isa.26:3 Keep mind on Him

Coach Charles