CHRISTIAN CONNECTION

One of the most difficult things that I see many Christians struggling to do is "CONNECT" with other Christians. Many of them have a normal and regular routine: they come into the Church find a seat, some participate in the worship experience, they join in the singing, they give an offering, they enjoy themselves and are blessed through the preached Message. They then get up make eye contact with a few people, some may say goodbye to a few folks on their way out the door to their cars, but one thing for sure they seldom or never stop to fellowship and connect with others that attended the Worship Experience that day.

Well, I'm by no means bashing, criticizing or judging those who have trouble with connecting with other believers, but I do want to be an encouragement to those who do. In Acts 2:42 we read that one of the four things the early church devoted AND committed itself to was "FELLOWSHIP". Fellowship and Christian Connection was a very important part of their reason for meeting together. It was one of their objectives. Here are a few benefits that come as a result of True Biblical Fellowship and Christian Connection:

God never intended Christianity to be an isolated lifestyle. The Bible teaches us that beleivers as Christ-Followers need each other for many reasons and it starts with us understanding that we are "one body in Christ over in 1st Corinthians 12:12-17.

HERE ARE SOME GREAT BENEFITS: 1) Christian Connection allows Christians to minister to and motivate one another - Fellowshipping with other believers provide the perfect context and setting for Christians to minister  to and motivate another by serving and being served. Hebrews 10:24 (NLT) says "Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works"


2) Christian Connection encourages other Christians in their faith -  When we Connect with other Christians we strengthen each other's faith. In his letter to the Romans, Paul taught us that when we see the faith in another believer, it encourages us in our own faith. Romans 1:12 "When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours"

3) Christian Connection provides Comfort and Compassion - the bible share with us over in 2nd Corinthians 1:4 (NLT) "He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us"

4) Christian Connection Provides a context for Accountability - Proverbs 27:17 shares with us... "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another"

5) Christian Connection is encourages Christians to Pray for one another -  James 5:16a. (NLT) says, "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed..."

I pray that this Blog on Christian Connection would encourage and motivate you to connect with other beleivers that you might experience Community and Fellowship as you partner with those of like Faith.


PJV

GREAT QUOTE

"Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness"          

 

-- Napoleon Hill

SOME THOUGHTS

Don't use the areas of your life where you're strongest as an excuse to neglect getting stronger where you may have weaknesses and inadequacies.  Face your weaknesses and make the best of every opportunity to get better in those areas in your .life that need strenghthening. Be Encouraged!


PV

DON'T LOSE FOCUS

Hey what's up to everybody that's reading this Blog, it's been a minute since I've posted! Things have been quite busy for me over the last month. Today however, I did want to share some thoughts about "NOT LOSING FOCUS". I've disovered that it's easy to get distracted and in fact stay distracted to the point of losing sight and focus of things that really matter in life. God has Gifted His Children with abilities that will directly impact people for the purpose of bringing Him Glory.

Sometimes we can get distracted to the point of no return, where we stop doing  that which is affective and life-changing. Don't lose your focus to get something IMPACTFUL done for God's Glory, everytime God presents you with an opportunity to use your gift to Impact a life and bring Him Glory, don't pass it up, may be He's gifted you to write, may He's gifted you to encourage someone, maybe He's gifted you to do Missions, maybe He's gifted you to work with Children or the Elderly, maybe He's given you a Technical gift, where you can be a blessing via the World-wide web, maybe He's gifted you to bless the poor, the less fortunated and the homeless in some tangible way. Whatever it is you've been gifted to do, make good on it, it's worth the Investment! TODAY make a declaration not to lose Focus!

Failure

"Failure is an attitude, not just an outcome"
- John Maxwell

SOME THOUGHTS

"Tradition is external; God’s truth is Internal which gives life Eternal"

EFFECTIVENESS

One of the keys to being Effective is "keeping up with the times". I posted something on Facebook the other day that said, "Churches cannot do 8-Track Ministry and expect to IMPACT this Blackberry and IPod Generation". Creativity and Innovation are part of being Effective, if you're trying to reach and Impact People with old Methods and Methodologies, your reach won't be that far.

I believe in the power of Relevancy, but I also believe you have to be Relevant without being Irreverent in order to be Impactful and Effective.  In other words Use the same MESSAGE but with a different METHOD. A 57' Chevy is not designed to do the same things as a 2012 Porsche.


The Word of God will never lose it's Power to accomplish what God purposes it to Accomplish!

Isaiah 55:11 (NIV) "So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,  but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it"

PJV

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

"Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power" -- Shirley MacLaine

ACCOUNTABILITY - PART I

Accountablity is of great importance in every area of life, our families, our homes, our jobs, our organizations and our churches. As an appointed leader I am fully convinced that I cannot hold those delegated leaders accountable for something that I myself don't plan to put into practice. Leaders should never hold others accountable for things they're not practicing. I often tell people I don't teach or preach anything that hasn't first ministered to me. I can't talk to people about what God has said, if I haven't heard from Him. I'm accountable to God first and my expectations of Accountability must begin with myself first. If I'm not Accountable to what He needs me to be Accountable to, then I can't expect the same from others, it must start with me. Accountability promotes effectiveness, order and productivity. Learn to be Accountable TODAY! More to Come...

pjv

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT

On last night during our Mid-Week Connections Bible Study, I taught from the Lesson: "Dare to be Different". We looked at the Life and leadership of a Young Boy by the name of Josiah over in 2nd Chronicles 34, who became King at the tender age of 8. He succeeded Amon, his father who was a wicked King and according to Chapter 33, vs. 21-25 of 2nd Chronicles it shares with us that Amon (Josiah's father) did evil in the eyes of God and led the people to do likewise. The genesis of Josiah's reign as King, saw him being met with having to deal with one of the greatest and most prevelant sins of his time, Idolatry and Idol Worship. His father and some of the Kings before him condoned and endorsed this pagan activity.

However, when Josiah took the helm as King, he "dared to be different". He made a conscious and purposeful decision to follow God and all that God desired. So here's what he did as he dared to be different:

1. He sought God at an early age, as he recieved his marching orders from God in order to get God's endorsement and approval for the decisions he needed to make.(2nd Chronicles 34:1-2)
2. He walked in Right standing before God, therefore he set STANDARDS and stuck with them. .(2nd Chronicles 34:1-2)
3. His Character was right as a result of decision to follow God. .(2nd Chronicles 34:1-2)
4. He removed the Problems of the past, he didn't allow what was always done to be a hindrance to what needed to be done. He (purified) or cleaned up the mess that served as obstacles to success. (Verses 3-7)
5. He brought honor to God as result of restoring what belonged to God (the Temple). (vs. 8-28))
6.. He surrounded himself with like-minded people. Those who bought into the Vision of Daring to be different. (vs. 8-28))
7. He refused to Compromise his Standards. (vs. 31-33)

So as you can see Josiah dared to be different, even at a young age, he made a decision that would positively affect his destiny and those around him. Daring to be different, is a key to making a Difference!


PJV