Giving Thanks

Our past tradition on Thanksgiving morning was to watch the Macy's Day parade on T.V. while we prepared the food.  This spring we cut off our TV service to save some money.  So we spent some time just listening to songs that were about thanks and how awesome God is.  We stumbled upon an album that was so great!  It is called "Together for the Gospel Live".  It is hymns sung my a men's choir.  We loved it and we listened to several of their tracks.  If you get a chance, go to You Tube and check them out.  Here a selection of songs we listened to.

  

Here is the link: http://youtu.be/AfTa1iQOf04?list=PLDB9F36BA1C21E65B


This was one for the kids

Here is the link: http://youtu.be/AFI5egZfDqk?list=PLQ3lUvSd4jim3tMBB7Zfzy2xjXsrQuaRB

Here is the link; http://youtu.be/81hlG0HufZM

We pray that all the ones in the followship have a blessed day reflecting on the goodness of the Lord and his truth.  We are very thankful for all our dear friends and family and pray for each one.

Family Devotions - The Book of Ruth

Rich read the Book of Ruth this morning.  It is such an encouraging book about sacrificial love and devotion.  Great, great story of God protection and provision as we choose to follow Him.  This is a good Thanksgiving story as it is set during the harvest time and afterwards.  We listened to this song and watched this video that retold the story in a dramatic presentation.  Mary loved it.  To have an animation or dramatization of the story is really good for kids.

Here is the link: http://youtu.be/o48GTsB31s0

Here is the link: http://youtu.be/hlRgT7T279s

We always close in prayer, thanking Him for all the people in the followship and remembering all those who are going through trial and the testing of their faith.

Revival in the Millennial Generation

Millennials, who are they?  Well Millennials is a term used for the generation of kids in America born around 1980 up to the mid 90's and have come to adulthood near the turn of the century.  They got their name from a noticeable event that happened in their lives in history.  My generation, the Baby Boomers, were those people born after WW2 when the troops came home, the economy boomed and everybody started having kids. 

What impact do the Millennials have in my life? They are a generation of kids that my heart breaks for.  The first time they came to my attention, several years ago, when I saw a slide show in the church we used to attend, that they were growing up and leaving the churches in America in large numbers.  They were saying that only 4% of them were professing Christianity.  This statistic saddened my heart and I began to read about the Millenial generation in national polls and observing them through facebook and all around me.  Millennials are the children of divorce.  In 1970 the no fault divorce laws came to all the states in the US and the divorce rate zoomed to 50%.  The laws before this time required a much longer waiting time for divorces to be finalized and some criteria to happen before they were granted.  These laws were put into place to stop rash behavior and reckless divorce.  If the Millenial kids themselves were not troubled with divorce in their family, they were friends with or in relationships with people who were.  This huge influx of kids from divorce made a big impact on our society and our country.  Much darker than what  a lot of people realized when these kids were little.  

Now that they are adults they are resonating the things that happened to them when they were young. 

Love and Ministry

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. “These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."  John 14:23-26

The above scripture tells us how Jesus defines our love for him.  In the light of that I share these thoughts.  Love is the key to ministry for us as believers whether we are married or single.  First it is our love for the Lord, keeping his teachings, and second it is our love for one another.  This provides a powerful conduit for the Holy Spirit to operate.  Christian marriages contain marvelous potential in expressing the ministry and  power of the Holy Spirit.  That is why Satan is on the rampage against Christian marriages, because he realizes the power that is present within them.  He comes and attacks the two strategic areas in a relationship that are necessary for the flow of the Holy Spirit.  He attacks and tries to destroy their love for the Lord and he comes and tries to rob or destroy their love for one another.  He tries to destroy the very first and primary reason for marriage and that is love.  For if he destroys the root, which is love, he will also destroy the growth and fruit of the root which is ministry and service to the Lord.  For the single person their love for others is attacked in order to diminish their ministry.

Family Devotions - Give to Caesar What is Caesar's

This morning Rich read from Matthew 22:1-22 22 
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, ² “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. ³ And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. ⁴ Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ ⁵ But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, ⁶ and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. ⁷ But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. ⁸ Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ ¹⁰ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, ¹² and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Tribute to Caesar

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said. ¹⁶ And they *sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus perceived their ^[k]malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius. ²⁰ And He *said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” ²¹ They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He *said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² And hearing this, they were amazed, and leaving Him, they went away.

Our discussion focused in on verses 15 - 22.  Rich talked to Mary about money and had her take a look at our money and whose name and image was on a dollar bill.  She read it and then we told her how they didn't have paper money back them but they had coins that they would put pictures on.  She had quite a few questions about paper money and Rich was so patient to answer them.  He told her that we don't need to trust in money but we trust in God to take care of us.  I love the part where Jesus said for them to give to God what was God's.  I thought of whose image we have, it is the Lord for we are made in his image.  We are to give our lives and heart to God!  

We sang "There is Joy In the Lord"  based on Psalm 95:1 

Here is the link: http://youtu.be/LsfC2V2s_rg

We closed in prayer for the followship and for all the hearts who are hungry for the truth of Jesus' words that will be coming to follow Him with us.