Dancing in the Dark

Posted by admin on Nov 23, 2010 in Contemplations, Observations | 0 comments

Like dandelion spores float in the summer breeze, she danced with an easy, effortless grace.

As the music swelled and the people sang, her hair flowed in cascades around her weaving form, the smile on her face like sparkles of sunlight reflected in a stream… joy, unbridled, open, free.

The auditorium was filled to capacity with worshippers, all having come seeking an experience with God, and as the band played and the amphitheater resounded with singing, the dancer was all alone, eyes closed, head back, oblivious to all around her… and she was all but invisible to the crowd.  She was not on stage, but rather off in a corner beside it, seemingly oblivious to all but the music and the Spirit of her Lord.

She was a dancer in the dark.

Some will dance for art, some for attention, some for money or fame, but she danced for one reason only – worship.  Some will “do their acts of righteousness before men”, or play the role on a stage for as long as people watch, but she danced for an audience of One.  For her, the dance was not to be seen, only lived out as an overflow of joy to the One who gave it to her in the first place, and it didn’t matter who saw or didn’t see, for she had only one Person to please.

Feeling Lucky?

Posted by admin on Nov 19, 2010 in Art, Graphics | 0 comments

Think about it…

“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD” -Proverbs 16:33

VIDEO – “Your Dynamic Role in the Kingdom of God” promo

Posted by admin on Nov 18, 2010 in Teaching, Video, Your DYNAMIC Role content | 0 comments

It Will Surely Come

Posted by admin on Nov 16, 2010 in Contemplations | 0 comments

“For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end – it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.” -Habakkuk 2:3

What comfort in times of waiting! When all around us seems stagnant and dead, when the dream seems to have faded away into nothing, it is then that God extends His assurance, “It will surely come.”

What is at stake with the vision is not just the circumstances at hand.  It is not just your life, your hope, your future that is on the line.  No, it is God’s name and reputation that hangs in the balance, that waits for the vision to be fulfilled.

Does God not look after His people?  Does He not care for His children?  Of course He does!  How much more, then, will He look after the glory of His own name?

Traitors and Tyrants

Posted by Phillip on Nov 10, 2010 in Contemplations | 0 comments

“Why do You idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?” -Habakkuk 1:13b

Judas was a traitor, used of God to fulfill His purposes (John 17:12). What of him?

Consider the pagan conqueror Cyrus, “whose right hand I [the LORD] have grasped, to subdue nations [including Israel] before him…” (Isaiah 45:1). What of him?

Think also of the Pharoah of Exodus, of whom God said, “for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” (Exodus 9:16, Romans 9:17) What of him?

What tyranny Pharoah set upon the children of Israel! What hardship came through Cyrus! What betrayal from the lips of Judas, yet all the while it was God, working in the midst of darkness to finally bring forth His light.

To truly have peace in the life of faith, we must be careful to not presume, not only upon God’s ends, but also His means.

A Pink Coat’s Worth

Posted by admin on Nov 8, 2010 in Contemplations, Observations | 0 comments

How much is a pink coat worth?

$7.99 on eBay? $94.99, also on eBay?

My friend Ruth brought in this pink winter coat as a part of our last-minute coat drive for children in Moldova. We have only until Wednesday afternoon (November 10th) to collect coats, hats, pairs of boots and donations to send to a ministry serving orphans there for what is predicted to be the coldest winter in 100 years.

How much is a pink coat worth? As much as the life of the child it might save.

Will you help?

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You can bring items by the Gateway Baptist Church offices or by the offices of KAIO Student Ministries, on the campus of First Assembly of God in Fort Myers.

Psalm 41:1

Posted by admin on Nov 5, 2010 in Contemplations, Featured, Scripture Notes | 0 comments

“Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him.” -Psalm 41:1

All throughout Scripture we see things like this; promises made that those who do X will receive Y. What do do, then, with the fact that there are many who DO “X” but DON’T receive “Y”?

The more I learn and experience of God’s ways in the world, the more I start to think sometimes we have it backwards. Perhaps in this passage, it’s not a promise that helping the poor will mean you always get out of trouble because you somehow earned it.

Maybe it’s not so much about a guarantee, as much as it is an evidence of a God-filled, Christ-centered life, and that lives like that have His power manifested in them already.