He Did It With All His Heart

2 Chronicles 31:21 “And in very work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.”

Hezekiah was a king that did good, right, and truth before the Lord God.  He served the Lord, and everything he did, he did with all of his heart.

Sadly, there are many times that we do things half-hearted.  Many times we let other things keep us from serving God with all of our heart.

God looks not just on our actions but also on our deeds.  He is looking to see the condition of our heart.  He wants us to serve Him with all of our heart.

The questions I have for us today are:

• Are we serving God will all of our heart?
• When we read our Bible, do we put our whole heart into it?
• When we worship God and listen to preaching, do we do it will all of our heart?
• When we witness or serve the Lord, is our heart in it?

Let’s recklessly throw ourselves into the service of the Lord.  Let us not hold anything back.  Let us jump in with both feet and watch how God will prosper us.

Faith Promise Programme

I am so excited about what the Lord is doing in the hearts and lives of the people in our churches to stir us up for the cause of world evangelism.  The first week in November, we had our Global Outreach Mission with Pastor Austin Gardner preaching and teaching on world evangelism and faith promise mission giving.

For the next year, the following amounts have been promised entirely for the cause of world evangelism above and beyond the regular tithes and offerings of our people:

• Northwest Baptist Church: £148.50/month (£1782/year)
• Roe Valley Baptist Church: £209/month (£2508/year)

We are looking forward to how the God uses and provides for those who have committed to be a part of this outreach.  If you still want to be a part, just let us know by email or by turning in your card this Sunday!

Last Chance for Summit!

Saturday, 5 December is the last chance for you to reserve a room for the Our Generation Summit in Gatlinburg, TN! It is also the deadline for the $30 discount for college/university students! Be sure to go to www.ogsummit.info and register today.

You are going to love the Our Generation Summit.  Come hear from Pastor Austin Gardner and a many other missionaries, church-planters, pastors, businessmen, women, and youth leaders who are all passionate about one thing – “Reaching the World in Our Generation!”

As Long As He Sought the Lord

2 Chronicles 26:5 “And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.”

This verse always has a special place in my heart, because the Lord used it greatly in my life when Teri and I were talking about our future together and seeking God’s will.  We were both in Bible college.  We liked one another, yet we really wanted God’s will to be done.  In the middle of our friendship deepening, I went to Peru for six months.  We were not really sure what would happen to our relationship while I was away, yet we knew that we wanted the Lord to bless and prosper us.  God helped us with this verse to know that the main thing was to keep seeking the Lord and He would prosper us.  As we sought the Lord, He did make us to prosper.

All of my life, I have see this verse to be true.  I have not always sought the Lord, but when I have, He has made me to prosper.  Uzziah found this to be true.  When he was young, he did right in the sight of the Lord.  God helped him against the Philistines and all his enemies (26:7).  His name was spread abroad (26:8).  He built towers of defence, wells, and vineyards (26:9-10).  He had a host of fighting men (26:11-15).  He was marvellously helped, till he was strong (26:15).

Uzziah did not continue to seek the Lord, and God’s hand of blessing came off of him.  In 2 Chronicles 26:16, when he was strong, he got lifted up in pride and this brought his destruction.  He took too much on himself and thought he was above the law.  He went into the temple and offered incense, which was the job of the priests.  God chastened him with leprosy.

The lesson for me today was: keep on seeking the Lord; do not think God’s blessing has anything to do with me; don’t be prideful; just be faithful to seek Him every day.

Sunday Report

Once again the Lord blessed in the meetings on yesterday.  We had four first-time visitors in the services.  The Sunday morning message was “Right Attitudes in the Family of God” from Ephesians 1:15-23.  We see four attitudes in that passage:

1. An attitude of respect
2. An attitude of love
3. An attitude of thankfulness
4. An attitude of prayer

In the evening, we looked at “God’s Wonderful Work of Salvation” from Ephesians 2.1-10 and how we were dead in sin, made alive in Christ, and saved for a purpose.  The three purposes why God saved us are:

1. To show the riches of God’s grace (2:7)
2. To boast about what God has done (2:8-9)
3. To do good works (2:10)

This week we have alot going on:

• Tuesday (10-11.30am) – Ladies’ Bible Study (Limavady)
• Tuesday (7.30pm) – Midweek Bible Study & Master Clubs (Londonderry)
• Wednesday (6.15pm) – Foundations Discipleship Course (Limavady)
• Wednesday (7.30pm) – Midweek Bible Study & Master Clubs (Limavady)
• Friday (8.00pm) – Christian Institute Meeting (Limavady Baptist Church)
• Saturday (6.30pm) – Christmas Buffet (Derry) – Fundraiser for Morocco Mission Trip; Cost: 5 pounds/person

Is There Not a Prophet?

2 Chronicles 18:6 “But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might enquire of him.”

Ahab the king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah to go up with him into battle.  Jehoshaphat asked Ahab to enquire about God’s will in this matter.  400 men come out, and tell them to “Go up; for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.”  Jehoshaphat says, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord besides that we might enquire of him?”  Ahab says, “There is one man, but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla.”  I would like us to learn some lessons from the life of Micaiah:

1. Micaiah’s chief concern was God’s word not man’s opinion. In 2 Chronicles 18:12, the messenger tell him to speak good to the king because that is what all the other prophets have said.  Micaiah says: “As the Lord liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak.”  That is the kind of men and women we need – those who are faithful to the Word of God rather than the opinions of the world and of men!
2. Micaiah’s words of truth were the most loving thing he could say. Sometimes, people develop the attitude, like King Ahab, that God, God’s Word, the church, preachers, and Christians only have evil to say (18:7, 18:17).  Though God’s message may come across as evil because it warns us of danger and our sin, it is not meant to hurt but to help.  Later when the king gets killed in battle, we see that he should have listened to the truth spoken in love by Micaiah.  Don’t miss it, friend!  The reason we talk about sin, Hell, and judgment is because they are real, and we do not want you being destroyed by them.
3. Micaiah’s words were not well received. If we are going to be a true witness for God, most people will not welcome our words with open arms.  Micaiah was asked to tell the truth.  When he did, the king was angry and put him in prison (18:25-26).  Many people have compromised their message because of the response, but the stakes are too high to that.  People’s eternal destinies are at stake; let us be faithful to preach and share the truth regardless of what persecution we face!

The Need to Prepare Our Hearts

2 Chronicles 12:14 “And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.”

Rehoboam was a young men who took over the throne from his father Solomon.  As I read this verse about him today, I thought of several lessons we can learn:

1. Doing right does not come naturally; it is something that we must prepare ourselves to do.  Evil is what comes naturally, so we must prepare ourselves to do right.
2. We can want to do right, but if we are unwilling to take the time to prepare ourselves, we will still do evil.
3. What we do comes out of who we are in our heart.  The heart is the control of our actions.  If we want to change our behaviour, we must change our heart.
4. To do right, our heart must be prepared to seek the Lord.  The only thing that will keep us from a evil is loving Jesus more than we want to do evil.  We must hunger and thirst after the Lord.  We must cultivate a love and passion for Christ.  We must fall so in love with the Lord that we hate evil and want nothing to do with it.
5. Seeking the Lord and having our hearts right is a process in preparation.  It takes time, effort, and sacrifice.  We must let God examine our hearts and minds.  We must bring everything thought into the obedience of Christ.  We must confess our wandering heart.  We must be willing to take the time each day to prepare our heart to seek the Lord so that we will not do evil.

How is your heart today?  What do you desire more than anything else?  What are you doing to prepare your heart?

Vision Baptist Live

Vision Baptist Church, our home church, recently release a music CD. I have listened to the entire CD and it is awesome! Vision has some of the best music out there!  You will be encouraged by the music, especially if you are looking for music that Scriptural, about Jesus, sung passionately, played skillfully and easy to understand (See “Our Philosophy on Music”).

You can contact the church office to order your copy, call 770-456-5881 or send an email to info@visionbaptist.com.

Thanksgiving in Northern Ireland

Today was a very good day.  It started out helping a friend move his house from about 9.30am until 2.00pm.  Then we came back to the house to get prepared for our Thanksgiving Dinner.  We were blessed to have some friends join us for the meal including Steve and April Baker who were here last Thanksgiving as well.  They are great friends and a real blessing to us.  We enjoyed ham, turkey, chicken, broccoli casserole, scalloped potatoes, asparagus and cheese, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, and a lot of other great food!

I am so thankful for all that the Lord has done for me, for saving me, for giving me a wonderful wife and great children, for allowing me to serve Him here in Northern Ireland, for great friends and family, for a wonderful church family, and for so many blessings.

I hope that you had a wonderful day.  The Lord daily loads us with many benefits, and may we take time to thank and appreciate Him.

No God Like Our God

2 Chronicles 6:14 “And said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven nor in the earth..”

Today is the American Thanksgiving holiday. It is a special day to praise and thank God for all that He is and all that He hath done. As I was reading in 2 Chronicles 6 today, I wanted to just do some bragging on what a great God we serve. Here are a few thinks about God that we see in this chapter.

1. God keeps His Word. (2 Chron 6:4 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath with his hans fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David…”) See also 2 Chronicles 6:10 and 6:17.
2. God is unique in His relationships with people. 2 Chronicles 6:14 tells us that He keeps covenant (agreement with men) and shows mercy unto his servants. Unlike the false gods who change the rules, are inconsistent, moody, and irrational, God is a God who is consistent, unchanging, compassionate, merciful, and personal. We can have a personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ.
3. God is so great that heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. (2 Chron 6:18) No building or temple can contain our God. He is not a carved image or piece of wood, metal, or stone. He is a living God who is greater than the entire universe and solar system. He holds it all in the palm of His hand.
4. God knows our hearts (2 Chron 6:30). God only knows the hearts of the all men. He sees what is going on in our thoughts, our hearts, and our minds. He is not impressed by external and superficial righteousness. He desires truth in the inward parts.

I am so glad that I know and serve a God who can keep His Word, a God who desires a relationship with me, a God who is so great that the heavens cannot contain Him, and a God who knows my heart and can make it clean!