Author: Wesley Fryer

Notes from Tony Evans’ Sermon Today in Dallas

discipleship, evangelism, God

These are some of the verses shared by Dr Tony Evans in his sermon today at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in south Dallas, Texas.

http://www.ocbfchurch.org

The church has an education and technology summer program that looks interesting:

http://www.turnaroundagenda.org

If you ever have a chance to hear Tony preach, don’t miss him!

Luke 4:14-20 NLT
“Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently.”

See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/Luke4.14.NLT

2 Chronicles 15:5, 6 NLT
““During those dark times, it was not safe to travel. Problems troubled the people of every land. Nation fought against nation, and city against city, for God was troubling them with every kind of problem.”

See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/2Chr15.5.NLT

James 4:12 NLT
“God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?”

See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/Jas4.12.NLT

Psalm 89:14 NLT
“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.”

See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/Ps89.14.NLT

Deuteronomy 17:18-20 NLT
““When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel.”

See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/Deut17.18.NLT

Leviticus 19:15 NLT
““Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly.”

See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/Lev19.15.NLT

Leviticus 24:22 NLT
““This same standard applies both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.””

See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/Lev24.22.NLT

Deuteronomy 4:5-8 NLT
““Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him? And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?”

See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/Deut4.5.NLT

James 2:1-7 NLT
“My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives? Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?”

See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/Jas2.1.NLT

Galatians 2:14 NLT
“When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?”

See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/Gal2.14.NLT

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Tony Evans on Racial Unity Through Service

mission

I heard Tony Evans preach at a Promisekeepers event years ago and was very moved by his inspired message. I agree with his points in the video below that we need to find unity between our churches through collaborative service. He says it well: “We may have come over in different boats, but we are in the same boat now.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRo_AZ4L38Y

Learn more on http://www.tonyevans.org

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Leveraging YouTube to Tell The Story of Your Church Mission Outreach

digitalstorytelling, evangelism, mission, technology

YouTube and social media websites like Facebook and Twitter offer incredible opportunities for Christian mission outreach ministries to “tell their story” and share with communities both local and international about the work God is doing through their volunteers. For several years I’ve felt God is calling me to use my knowledge and skills with digital media technologies to further the gospel and support the ends of His church on earth… and tonight I had another long awaited opportunity to answer that call in a small way.

Upendo Kids International is a mission outreach non-profit based in Edmond, Oklahoma, which sends teams each summer to Kenya to show God’s love and kindness through a variety of activities. This evening, I had an opportunity to show the nineteen members of the June 2012 Upendo Kids mission team how to use the iPad application “Explain Everything” to briefly narrate five photos from their trip. All together, mission team members brought home thousands of digital photos. Until this evening, however, I don’t think any of them had recorded their voices alongside selected photos and published them as videos on YouTube. Here are the two narrated slideshows we created at the end of their meeting tonight.

Kids Touched by God in Kenya by Kelly Ewing (2.5 min)

Selfless Faith in Kenya by Carly Murray (3 min, 48 sec)

I challenged each of the mission team members present at the meeting tonight, who are mostly high school students, to create a narrated slideshow like these before school starts for them on August 19th. I told them “the devil would do a happy dance” if they stop talking about their mission trip experiences and the ways they saw God at work in Kenya after school starts in August. I dearly hope each one of them will accept my challenge and create a short narrated slideshow about their experiences in Kenya this summer, and publish it on YouTube. Some of the students and parents reported they were providing their trip sponsors / supporters with CDs including hundreds of photos from their trip. I really think a two or three minute narrated slideshow with five key photos from the mission trip would be worth MUCH more to a person or family who donated to make their trip possible.

People say “pictures are worth a thousand words,” but I agree with Margaret Nan Harkey who created the video for Celebrate Oklahoma Voices, “What’s Your Story? The Importance of Telling the Stories of Your Photos.” Photographs can become MUCH more meaningful and powerful when we put our words with them.

Find more videos like this on Celebrate Oklahoma Voices!

I applaud both Kelly and Carly for their courage in sharing part of their stories and experiences in Kenya this year. To check out more Kenya Mission Trip stories from June 2012 and Upendo Kids International, subscribe to UpendoKids on YouTube.

If you’re interested in leveraging the power of YouTube and digital storytelling to “tell the story” of your non-profit, I encourage you to attend an upcoming “iPad Media Camp” workshop on creating narrated slideshows. I’ll be offering this workshop again in Oklahoma City on August 31, 2012, and again on December 18th. Please check the registration page on iPadMediaCamp.com for other dates and registration links.

Also, be sure to check out the YouTube Nonprofit Program and also read the PDF, “Playbook Guide: YouTube for Good.” The price is right: YouTube video hosting is FREE. To create videos like Kelly and Carly’s, you’ll just need an iPad with the app “Explain Everything” along with photos and your voice!

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Make God Holy in Your Life

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When you read a passage in the Bible and the author refers to God as, “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies,” you know you are in the Old Testament. This passage from Isaiah reminds us to make God holy in our lives.

 

Of course God is holy by His nature and our actions don’t change that. However, we can and should do things regularly in our lives which reflect our understanding of God as holy or “set apart.”

 

How are you making God holy in your life this week?

Isaiah 8:13 NLT

“Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble.”

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/Isa8.13.NLT

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Discipline In The Church & Our Relationships

questions, struggles

Discussion of these verses led to a lot of comments today in our Sunday School class. As Amy Schulke pointed out, this passage does NOT say “If your brother or sister sins, treat them as you would a pagan or tax collector.” There are many things Jesus calls us to do when it comes to situations involving discipline.

I added that my experiences as a parent and father have really illuminated my own understanding of discipline and the ways God asks us to approach discipline in our relationships. As a parent I should never discipline my children with a heart filled with condemnation and punishment. My heart in enforcing discipline should always be filled with love. I discipline my children not because I am angry or want to bring them pain: I discipline because I want their behavior to change and come back in line with what is expected. If I did not love my children I would not discipline them. Instead I might ignore them or punish them.
I am called as a parent and follower of Jesus to discern right behavior and act properly in response to those behaviors. Sometimes this means making hard choices and doing difficult things which would be MUCH easier to avoid.
Matthew 18:15-17 NIV
“”If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/Matt18.15.NIV

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God Gives Us Spiritual Gifts to Serve Him & Others

gifts, God, service

These are our sermon verses today. God gives each of us spiritual gifts. Part of our responsibility as followers of Jesus is discerning our gifts and using them as the hands and feet of Christ. The world seeks to lead us astray, using our gifts for selfish purposes rather than in service to God. God calls us to find our identity in Jesus and as SERVANTS of both God and each other.

We are called to serve others and use our gifts in our service.

What are your spiritual gifts? How is God calling you to use your gifts in His service today?

1 Corinthians 12:1-7 NIV
“Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”See it at YouVersion.com:http://bible.us/1Cor12.1.NIV

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Confess Sins Regularly

prayer, struggles

James exhorts us to normalize our confession of sins, and to confess our sins to each other so we can lift each other up in prayer. He reminds us that our prayers to God are powerful when we are “living right” with Him. I think this reminder that our prayer life and prayer power are different if we stray from God’s path for our lives is needed. God always listens to our prayers, but the effect of our prayers on ourselves as well as in the world changes depending on the course of our lives.

 

James 5:16 MSG
“Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.”

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/Jas5.16.MSG

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God’s Plans Prevail

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We all need to walk the line between setting goals to achieve our own dreams, and seeking God’s will for our lives. We are truly and completely fulfilled when we align our dreams with God’s perfect plans. I’m still very much seeking to find and follow that path. I think I am closer to it today than ever before in my life, but it is truly a journey which never ends.

My goal is to join God in the work He has prepared for me to do. That’s my plan and I’m sticking to it.

🙂

Proverbs 19:21 NLT

“You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.”

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/Prov19.21.NLT

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Good Medicine

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Do you have a dear friend who can always make you laugh, no matter how tough or challenging your shared circumstances? I do, but unfortunately I don’t get to hang out often with them these days. Their cheerful spirit IS good medicine, as Solomon noted many centuries ago.

Proverbs 17:22 NLT

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.”

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/Prov17.22.NLT

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