Remember

Where were you on that day? I remember being woken up by a early morning call from my mom urging me to turn on the TV as something was happening in NY City.

The events of the day unfolded and I remember being in shock at what took place. It was almost surreal...how could this have happened?! 

I remember how some politicized it blaming this or that person and sadly people were also asking "Why did God allow this to happen!?"

Even today, 11 years later people are asking and as the media replays the tragic events of the day - I still stand convinced that God is still good no matter what people say.

There are a lot of people still placing blame and conspiracy theorists adding to the list of "who" was responsible.

For me I simply choose to pray for those impacted by what happened on 09/11/2001 and I urge you to stand with me in prayer for continued healing and for good, even this many years later, to come from this!

God is good and He's still on His throne and He's there for you!

If you're struggling today with the events of that day or even the events of today in your life, reach out to The Lord and those close to you as you're not meant to do it alone.


Let us never forget those 3,000 people who lost their lives on that day and may be never grow complacent in showing appreciation with our words and actions to those in our family, as well as our friends, church family and those who God has planted around us.

I received the following today and on this day of remembrance thought it was fitting to share something to add a little calmness to your day. 

Check out this simple and beautiful time lapse of the Pacific Northwest coupled with music by Ryan Farish when you have a moment: http://www.wimp.com/pacificnorthwest/ 

It reminded me to take a deep breath today and rest in the beauty of His creation which shows His finger prints - His reminders to us that He is there!

Blessings,

rlk

Walking In Love

Hello,

Wanted to share my recent message on Walking in Love from 1 John 4:7-12 and 1 John 5:1-5 that I had the privilege of giving at the Forest Grove Campus of Sonrise Church.

I'm sharing this with the prayer that if you have the chance to listen sometime that it ministers to you in some way because you are Loved by the Father and you are called to also in turn walk obediently in love!

You can go to this link and it should be as of today, the first message you'll see as part of the 1 John series. www.isonrise.com/forestgrove.

Or you can listen to it via the embedded player below in the post or scroll down to the right of this blog and you'll see the sermon player there.

 


Blessings, rlk

Don't Quench The Spirit

We live in a day and age where the Word of God and His Spirit, Our Great Helper are devalued - sadly even within many churches today.

The fact is that The Word and The Holy Spirit really go hand in hand in the life of the Believer. Why, because the key to living a Spirit-Filled and Spirit-Led life is taking God's Word and actively living it out in your life. The more your life is saturated with God's Word the More Sensitive you can, should, will become to The Spirit's leading.

We can and do sometimes ignore the messages we hear and just the reality we know tell us that we need The Word of God daily in our lives because, "I've heard this before". Well maybe you need to actually hear and do something about it this time!?

We can also do things; we can make decisions that cause us to in essence sort of "dull" the voice of the Spirit in our lives. We can also blatantly ignore The Spirit's leading.

You and I need to actively seek to be walking in the Word and in The Spirit and I think today's devotion is a great reminder from a trusted devotional "My Utmost for His Highest".

Take this to heart and actively seek God's Word and direction for the Word and the Spirit each day! Stop trying to do things on your own because to be truly honest this thing called life, sorry but you don't really "got this"! You need His Word and His Spirit to truly live and more importantly live for Him!

Check out the below.

In Christ,
Your Brother and Servant,

rlk
______________________________________________________________

"Do not quench the Spirit" —1 Thessalonians 5:19

By Oswald Chambers

http://utmost.org/do-not-quench-the-spirit/

The voice of the Spirit of God is as gentle as a summer breeze— so gentle that unless you are living in complete fellowship and oneness with God, you will never hear it. The sense of warning and restraint that the Spirit gives comes to us in the most amazingly gentle ways. And if you are not sensitive enough to detect His voice, you will quench it, and your spiritual life will be impaired. This sense of restraint will always come as a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12), so faint that no one except a saint of God will notice it.

Beware if in sharing your personal testimony you continually have to look back, saying, “Once, a number of years ago, I was saved.” If you have put your “hand to the plow” and are walking in the light, there is no “looking back”— the past is instilled into the present wonder of fellowship and oneness with God (Luke 9:62 ; also see 1 John 1:6-7). If you get out of the light, you become a sentimental Christian, and live only on your memories, and your testimony will have a hard metallic ring to it. Beware of trying to cover up your present refusal to “walk in the light” by recalling your past experiences when you did “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7). When-ever the Spirit gives you that sense of restraint, call a halt and make things right, or else you will go on quenching and grieving Him without even knowing it.

Suppose God brings you to a crisis and you almost endure it, but not completely. He will engineer the crisis again, but this time some of the intensity will be lost. You will have less discernment and more humiliation at having disobeyed. If you continue to grieve His Spirit, there will come a time when that crisis cannot be repeated, because you have totally quenched Him. But if you will go on through the crisis, your life will become a hymn of praise to God. Never become attached to anything that continues to hurt God. For you to be free of it, God must be allowed to hurt whatever it may be.

You are not a loser!

Here's a batch of truth I whipped up for you today during lunch. It wasn't originally on the menu for today but came to me so I created it and now I'm sharing it with you.

Click on the image to for a larger view of it

  I could say more about it but think the message in the image is clear.

 Blessings,

rlk

God IS Present!

Do you ever feel alone? Do you ever feel that no one is ever there for you when you need someone? 

Maybe you're going through health, financial, or some other trial today? Let me encourage you that you are NOT alone because God your Father is always with you! He has placed His Spirit in you to help guide and direct you, to help guide and direct you, to help empower you to be His witness to the ends of the earth!

He stays closer to you than anyone and He promises to never leave or forsake you! 

So, if you're feeling any negativity today, any aloneness, any self doubt: know that you are loved and never alone! 

Abide in Him today and know that He is there for you!

Below is a link to a great devotion that is a great reminder of God's presence in your life. 

God is present in your life and wants you to stay in His presence!

Be blessed today! May you be encouraged by these truths and may you be challenged to change your thinking if it doesn't line up with His Word.

Please check out this devotion from Boyd Bailey:

http://www.wisdomhunters.com/2012/06/god-is-present/

In His Strong Love,
Your Brother and Servant,

rlk

Thank You Sonrise Church!

Last week brought my pastoral internship to a close and I'm sending out a big THANK YOU to the pastors, the other leaders and people of Sonrise Church for the opportunity to learn, serve, grow and contribute over this last almost year!!

It's been a privilege to rotate through almost every area of ministry which has allowed me to learn more about the DNA of Sonrise while also getting to meet, know and serve the leaders and many of the people of Sonrise Church!

Thank you for your investment of time in me showing me how things work as well as for sharing your passion for your areas of ministry and most of all for sharing your passion for The Lord, His people and the community we live in!

This has been a fantastic part of my journey and I will look back on this time with deep fondness.

Thanks and many blessings!!

Sincerely,

rlk

Homeschool Planning Resource

If you follow this blog you know I like to pass on information about resources I've created or information about resources others have created as well.

Someone from the home school group we're involved with designed this great homeschool planner. You can check out the link below to see what it's like - It's jam packed with helpful household stuff including your school schedule.

http://www.missionmama.com/homeschool/simply-planned-homeschool-planner

Check it out!

rlk

5GB of Free Storage

I utilize a variety of online file storage and collaboration services and I wanted to pass on the following information.

Lately I've started using SugarSync to backup specific directories/folders as well as to share and or collaborate on files or documents with others. You can also utilize this on Blackberry as well as other devices besides PC's.

Basically you can backup and access your files, photos, and music when you need it with SugarSync... and you get 5GB free!

Click on this link to sign-up:

https://www.sugarsync.com/referral?rf=c2n0foqs8w5js&utm_source=website&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=referral&shareEvent=689876

How Do You Want To Live?

A song has been running around in my head for days now with the spiritual and practical implications of it in my own life and the lives of others. The song is "Live Like That" by Sidewalk Prophets.

So, for myself I'm just posting / sharing my thoughts "as is" as I process what's going on in this head of mine and maybe, just maybe it will help others to ponder these implications in their own lives. :-)

So I started pondering again... I wonder sometimes if I am making a difference in this life and in the lives of others as I seek to pour out my life to help encourage, build up and challenge others to be better than they used to be...to live up to their full ability...to know that they are valued and worth something? 

I'm striving to make a difference in the lives of my family, friends and community in general. I ask myself often, am I doing enough as a husband, dad, friend, employee, etc? Am I making any difference in every relationship and area of my life?

I want my life to matter for something because I believe I'm here to live my life for more than just myself and I hope that I'll live and leave a legacy that is one of honor. I hope at the end of my journey here that I can look back and say that I did make some difference whether in big or small ways!

How about you? Do you you want your life to matter for something more than just the daily grind? Do you realize your life matters?! I sure hope so because you do matter and believe it or not you can and do make an impact in the lives of others!

Furthermore, do you and I see the sacrifice others have made or are making today? Do we see someone living their lives well (not perfect) regardless of economic stature and think to ourselves..."I want to live like that!" Give life everything you have - don't settle for mediocrity! Live life like it matters because it does! Life is too short to not at least try to give it everything you've got!

Check out this song and then evaluate your life and how you want to strive to live!

Blessings,

rlk 

http://youtu.be/GfosSggwQS0

The State of Preaching

Today, Tim Challies posted a summary of an article that Al Mohler wrote in 2006 regard The State of Preaching. He touched on the trends and the things that are lacking and amazingly or not so amazingly these things are still very relevant 6 years later in 2012!

Here's the post: http://www.challies.com/quotes/the-state-of-preaching 

Please take time to read it and then share your thoughts here. 

I'm reminded that one of the first things pastors are charged with is is to preach The Word!

Take a look at 2 Timothy 4:1-5 for the charge and calling!

This is something I actually put on my "ministry resume" as part of my "philosophy of ministry" and here are 9 things in this passage that we are called to do:

2 Timothy 4:1-5 (NASB or ESV):
1: Preach the Word
2: Be ready in season and out of season
3: Reprove
4: Rebuke
5: Exhort
6: Be sober Minded
7: Endure suffering
8: Evangelism
9: Fulfill the ministry

I share this in conjunction with the article for two reasons:

#1: Pastor please remember your calling!

#2: Church, pray for each other and your pastors and other leaders. Uphold them in prayer and be an encouragement to them as they seek to fulfill their calling in shepherding God's Flock! Pray that they'd exalt God and His Word!

If we're not preaching The Word as pastors and lay people, then what are we doing? 

According to The Word, Pastors are called to do many things to shepherd The Flock and correctly handling God's Word is Job One as everything else we do flows from The Word. 

So, if we're not handling it correctly by glossing over things or taking things out of context in order to "fit them" into "our" message then we are guilty of not fulfilling our call and we will lead people astray!  We need to repent of this and ask The Lord to help us do things His Way and not our own because it's ultimately Him that we're representing! We also need to affirm this with the congregation.

Furthermore,  if we aren't handling The Word properly then our doctrine, which flows from The Word, will be skewed as well in theory and in practice!

With this in mind, here are 5 key doctrinal commitments that I've become convinced that pastors should adopt and commit to:

Foundational Doctrine Commitment:
-A High View of God
-The Absolute Authority of Scripture
-Sound Doctrine
-Personal Holiness
-Spiritual Authority

These are one's I've grown committed to even more so over the last several years - especially when it seems that within the church these are starting to become less-and-less valued at times or in some circles of The Church.

I will share another post in the near future that will briefly expand on why these 5 are essential/vital to the The Church universal and individually as pastors and believers in general.

Have a great day and Live for Him!

In Christ,

rlk

Walk Your Faith

Read:

2 Corinthians 5:7, Philippians 2:12 and Matthew 17:20

Walk Your Faith

By Randolph Koch

Is your faith real?

I often wonder if in the midst of all the conveniences we have that our "faith" walk has just become something for when it's "convenient".

Think about it, when was the last time you did something that was a sacrifice of your time in service to the Lord and others?
 

When was the last time you sat in service, which is the typical and only once a week activity many Christians "engage" in, and you didn't check your watch/phone to see when it would be done so you could go on to what you really wanted to do that day?
 

When was the last time you didn't just attend church once a week and decided to actually serve as well and plug into a ministry you believe you're called to serve in? I know life is busy but you do need to serve!
 

When was the last time you served someone with no strings attached, meaning with no expectations of receiving anything in return?
 

When was the last time you invested in others period, through building relationships and ministering in a small group or other ministry?
 

When was the last time you gave sacrificially of your finances each payday or toward a specific mission or ministry need? 

I could make a huge list here but I think this list provides plenty for all of us to chew on for a while. :-)

As those who are a part of the Lord's family we need to make sure that our faith is real and we need to walk it out each day! 

It’s about sacrifice. It’s about service. It’s about putting The Lord first and helping others do the same.

 
Note, it’s a walk, not a run. It’s a daily picking yourself up and walking with The Lord.
 
May you be encouraged and challenged today to step up your faith walk and ask the Holy Spirit to help you not just live a "convenient faith" but a real faith!

If you've been "walking" in convenience let me encourage you to seek The Lord, repent of complacency and start walking your faith out today!

Have a great day!

In His Strong Love,

Your Brother and Servant,

rlk