Comments for Calvary Fellowship http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog Reaching the lost for Jesus Christ in Mountlake Terrace Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:42:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 Comment on Church Membership by Jim Nattinger http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/04/03/church-membership/#comment-1755 Jim Nattinger Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:42:58 +0000 http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/04/03/church-membership/#comment-1755 Is anyone able to point me to a scripture that states it is necessary to be a part of a church membership. Having our name written in the book of life in heaven is quite a bit different than having your name written in a book a church possesses. Is anyone able to point me to a scripture that states it is necessary to be a part of a church membership. Having our name written in the book of life in heaven is quite a bit different than having your name written in a book a church possesses.

]]> Comment on Are You Over-stimulated? by David http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/05/21/are-you-over-stimulated/#comment-1309 David Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:08:46 +0000 http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/05/21/are-you-over-stimulated/#comment-1309 Thank you for these refreshing words of encouragement. Thank God for His words, available every day, in a wilderness of chaos. Isn't it interesting God exhorts us to be diligent to enter His rest (Heb. 4:9-11)? Yet without faith it's impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:6). Thank you for these refreshing words of encouragement.

Thank God for His words, available every day, in a wilderness of chaos.

Isn’t it interesting God exhorts us to be diligent to enter His rest (Heb. 4:9-11)?

Yet without faith it’s impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:6).

]]> Comment on The Will of God as a Way of Life by luannanderson http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/07/21/the-will-of-god-as-a-way-of-life/#comment-585 luannanderson Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:29:34 +0000 http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/07/21/the-will-of-god-as-a-way-of-life/#comment-585 From the author: For any whose comments were lost when this blog disappeared, I apologize. I'm reposting today! From the author: For any whose comments were lost when this blog disappeared, I apologize. I’m reposting today!

]]> Comment on Our Motivation for Giving pt. 2 by Lorraine http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/07/06/our-motivation-for-giving-pt-2/#comment-523 Lorraine Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:11:16 +0000 http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/07/06/our-motivation-for-giving-pt-2/#comment-523 Truly, everything we have has been provided to us by the Lord. How foolish we become when we forget that and hold onto our blessings not wanting to give God His rightful share. He does not ask us for very much, does He? Yet, He promises us an overflow if we give Him only a small portion of what is His anyway. What a Wonderful God we serve. He promises to bless us if we give Him what is His. (the Ultimate loving parent is our God!) In my own life, I have found time and time again that when I give, the Lord pours out a blessing that is so wonderful. Of course this should not be the reason we give(hmmm...or maybe it actually could be) ..but I think one has to make the connection. We give and then He gives us even more. Although we never ever want a ministry to be built around this law, we also want to share with the Body that it is really true. In Malachi, the Lord asks us to 'test him in this'. There have been times in my life, where I have held back in my giving because of various reasons (lack - being one reason...or the sense of lack...because we who have the Lord never really lack anything). Each time I have held back ....I ended up having less than the times that I gave out of lack. So, although we don't build a ministry around "giving"....It sure is something to be encouraged. Truly, the Lord takes care of those who give to the poor and to "His House" --the local church...He pours out a blessing .... ....test Me no in this, says the Lord of hosts, "if I will not open for you the WINDOWS OF HEAVEN AND POUR OUT A BLESSING UNTIL IT OVERFLOWS. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the filed cast its grapes", says the Lord of hosts. AND ALL NATIONS WILL CALL YOU BLESSED, for you shall be a delightful land, says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:10-12 I don't like admitting this, but the times where I've held back, some of the grapes of my field were tossed to the ground (i suffered loss). But NOT ONCE, when I gave did I lose a grape! Everything was blessed... Because of the Words of Malichi, I don't even think it is wrong to give expecting a blessing. The Lord, after all, asks us to test Him in this. I think it is very wonderful and exciting that the Lord challenges us to do something so that He can bless us above and beyond so that the blessing overflows. THAT IS WHEN GOD RECEIVES THE GLORY! When we tell others, "wow, God's Word is true, I gave and He blessed me beyond what I could have ever imagined". This weekend, we did a craft show in Montauk, Long Island. A beautiful beach town at the end of the south fork of Long Island. The weather was perfect. Too perfect. The show was NOT well attended. It was empty. But Our Lord, He made sure that many of my customers showed up...we had a record show! even though the show was empty! Dare we not give? I've made that mistake....thanks for reminding me not to make it anymore, even at times when we feel we have lack. Think about it, Lorraine ps...here is an interesting story: Who is really poor? And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 2 Corinthians 9:8 NLT Plow Work Dr. Roy L. Laurin tells of a Christian businessman who was traveling in Korea. In a field by the side of the road was a young man pulling a crude plow while an old man held the handles. The businessman was amused and took a snapshot of the scene. "That is curious! I suppose these people are very poor," he said to the missionary who was interpreter and guide to the party. "Yes," was the quiet reply, "these two men happen to be Christians. When their church was being built, they were so eager to give something toward it, but they had no money. So they decided to sell their one and only ox and give the proceeds to the church. This spring they are pulling the plow themselves." The businessman was silent for some moments. Then he said, "That must have been a real sacrifice." "They did not call it that," said the missionary. "They thought themselves fortunate that they had an ox to sell!" When the businessman reached home, he took the picture to his pastor and told him about it. Then he added, "I want to double my giving to the church and do some plow work. Up until now I have never given God anything that involved real sacrifice." From 1001 Great Stories and Quotes by R. Kent Hughes (Tyndale House) p 177 Truly, everything we have has been provided to us by the Lord. How foolish we become when we forget that and hold onto our blessings not wanting to give God His rightful share. He does not ask us for very much, does He? Yet, He promises us an overflow if we give Him only a small portion of what is His anyway. What a Wonderful God we serve. He promises to bless us if we give Him what is His. (the Ultimate loving parent is our God!)

In my own life, I have found time and time again that when I give, the Lord pours out a blessing that is so wonderful. Of course this should not be the reason we give(hmmm…or maybe it actually could be) ..but I think one has to make the connection. We give and then He gives us even more. Although we never ever want a ministry to be built around this law, we also want to share with the Body that it is really true. In Malachi, the Lord asks us to ‘test him in this’.

There have been times in my life, where I have held back in my giving because of various reasons (lack - being one reason…or the sense of lack…because we who have the Lord never really lack anything). Each time I have held back ….I ended up having less than the times that I gave out of lack.

So, although we don’t build a ministry around “giving”….It sure is something to be encouraged. Truly, the Lord takes care of those who give to the poor and to “His House” –the local church…He pours out a blessing ….

….test Me no in this, says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the WINDOWS OF HEAVEN AND POUR OUT A BLESSING UNTIL IT OVERFLOWS. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the filed cast its grapes”, says the Lord of hosts.

AND ALL NATIONS WILL CALL YOU BLESSED, for you shall be a delightful land, says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:10-12

I don’t like admitting this, but the times where I’ve held back, some of the grapes of my field were tossed to the ground (i suffered loss). But NOT ONCE, when I gave did I lose a grape! Everything was blessed…

Because of the Words of Malichi, I don’t even think it is wrong to give expecting a blessing. The Lord, after all, asks us to test Him in this. I think it is very wonderful and exciting that the Lord challenges us to do something so that He can bless us above and beyond so that the blessing overflows. THAT IS WHEN GOD RECEIVES THE GLORY! When we tell others, “wow, God’s Word is true, I gave and He blessed me beyond what I could have ever imagined”.

This weekend, we did a craft show in Montauk, Long Island. A beautiful beach town at the end of the south fork of Long Island. The weather was perfect. Too perfect. The show was NOT well attended. It was empty. But Our Lord, He made sure that many of my customers showed up…we had a record show! even though the show was empty!

Dare we not give? I’ve made that mistake….thanks for reminding me not to make it anymore, even at times when we feel we have lack. Think about it, Lorraine

ps…here is an interesting story:

Who is really poor?

And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

2 Corinthians 9:8 NLT

Plow Work

Dr. Roy L. Laurin tells of a Christian businessman who was traveling in Korea. In a field by the side of the road was a young man pulling a crude plow while an old man held the handles. The businessman was amused and took a snapshot of the scene. “That is curious! I suppose these people are very poor,” he said to the missionary who was interpreter and guide to the party. “Yes,” was the quiet reply, “these two men happen to be Christians. When their church was being built, they were so eager to give something toward it, but they had no money. So they decided to sell their one and only ox and give the proceeds to the church. This spring they are pulling the plow themselves.” The businessman was silent for some moments. Then he said, “That must have been a real sacrifice.” “They did not call it that,” said the missionary. “They thought themselves fortunate that they had an ox to sell!”

When the businessman reached home, he took the picture to his pastor and told him about it. Then he added, “I want to double my giving to the church and do some plow work. Up until now I have never given God anything that involved real sacrifice.”

From 1001 Great Stories and Quotes by R. Kent Hughes (Tyndale House) p 177

]]> Comment on Our Motivation for Giving pt. 2 by Jimbo http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/07/06/our-motivation-for-giving-pt-2/#comment-512 Jimbo Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:46:10 +0000 http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/07/06/our-motivation-for-giving-pt-2/#comment-512 "Giving like that surely has very little to do with our effort, and everything to do with our responding to the work that God has done in our lives (a.k.a. Worship)" Amen to that! “Giving like that surely has very little to do with our effort, and everything to do with our responding to the work that God has done in our lives (a.k.a. Worship)”

Amen to that!

]]> Comment on Our Motivation for Giving pt. 2 by Justin Thomas http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/07/06/our-motivation-for-giving-pt-2/#comment-510 Justin Thomas Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:47:43 +0000 http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/07/06/our-motivation-for-giving-pt-2/#comment-510 Although I agree with your concern, that giving tends to be talked about in terms of our effort, I stand with my point that the ultimate goal(or maybe more-so the ultimate motivation) in our giving is to glorify God. We do this not by increasing "God's bank account" as if God had need of our money to make him more glorious, but by giving the glory to God in our giving. Recognizing that all we have is a gift from him to begin with. Recognizing that God is our provider and will take care of our future needs, and by using our resources to glorify him (quite literally) by investing in ministries who's sole purpose is to promote God's glory. The real question is not IF giving glorifies, but WHO giving glorifies. As I said in the closing lines of the blog, we can give in such a way that we get the glory (blowing the trumpet as the pharisees did) or that the minister gets the glory("Take this, you deserve it") but if we are to give rightly, it must be in a way that God (and only God) gets the glory. Giving like that surely has very little to do with our effort, and everything to do with our responding to the work that God has done in our lives( a.k.a. Worship) Although I agree with your concern, that giving tends to be talked about in terms of our effort, I stand with my point that the ultimate goal(or maybe more-so the ultimate motivation) in our giving is to glorify God. We do this not by increasing “God’s bank account” as if God had need of our money to make him more glorious, but by giving the glory to God in our giving. Recognizing that all we have is a gift from him to begin with. Recognizing that God is our provider and will take care of our future needs, and by using our resources to glorify him (quite literally) by investing in ministries who’s sole purpose is to promote God’s glory. The real question is not IF giving glorifies, but WHO giving glorifies. As I said in the closing lines of the blog, we can give in such a way that we get the glory (blowing the trumpet as the pharisees did) or that the minister gets the glory(”Take this, you deserve it”) but if we are to give rightly, it must be in a way that God (and only God) gets the glory. Giving like that surely has very little to do with our effort, and everything to do with our responding to the work that God has done in our lives( a.k.a. Worship)

]]> Comment on Putting away condemnation…for good~ by Putting away condemnation…for good~ at Away From Here http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/06/26/putting-away-condemnationfor-good/#comment-432 Putting away condemnation…for good~ at Away From Here Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:48:29 +0000 http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/06/26/putting-away-condemnationfor-good/#comment-432 [...] Putting away condemnation…for good~ I just had a recent meeting with two women who are both in the sweet, middle space of life (yes, in their 50’s) and it was so interesting how each [...] […] Putting away condemnation…for good~ I just had a recent meeting with two women who are both in the sweet, middle space of life (yes, in their 50’s) and it was so interesting how each […]

]]> Comment on Our Motivation for Giving pt. 1 by Anita http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/07/03/our-motivation-for-giving-pt-1/#comment-427 Anita Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:32:48 +0000 http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/07/03/our-motivation-for-giving-pt-1/#comment-427 I really appreciate how you have pointed out that Paul illustrates with his own life that it is not filling a need that calls us to give but that it is in how we give... by sharing in one another's lives. It does seem like there is so much in this world that is driven by "need". Yet that is not the deciding factor in whether we should give. Sharing in one's distress is definitely a harder but more beneficial way for both the giver and the receiver. I love how this topic of giving also ties in so well with Wayne's message at church today with the gifts of the spirit given to one member for the benefit of the whole body. Cool stuff. I really appreciate how you have pointed out that Paul illustrates with his own life that it is not filling a need that calls us to give but that it is in how we give… by sharing in one another’s lives. It does seem like there is so much in this world that is driven by “need”. Yet that is not the deciding factor in whether we should give.

Sharing in one’s distress is definitely a harder but more beneficial way for both the giver and the receiver. I love how this topic of giving also ties in so well with Wayne’s message at church today with the gifts of the spirit given to one member for the benefit of the whole body. Cool stuff.

]]> Comment on Thinking of You by wendy http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/07/03/thinking-of-you/#comment-408 wendy Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:40:46 +0000 http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/07/03/thinking-of-you/#comment-408 Thank you, Nancy, for this beautiful picture of how much the Lord loves us. I can't imagine Him wanting to think about me all the time, but His Word says He does, no matter what I am doing. That's amazing! His love, His grace & tender mercies never fail. Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Nancy, for this beautiful picture of how much the Lord loves us. I can’t imagine Him wanting to think about me all the time, but His Word says He does, no matter what I am doing. That’s amazing!
His love, His grace & tender mercies never fail.
Thank you, Lord!

]]> Comment on Language of the Heart by Nancy Aguilar http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/06/30/language-of-the-heart/#comment-400 Nancy Aguilar Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:29:07 +0000 http://www.calvaryfellowship.org/blog/2008/06/30/language-of-the-heart/#comment-400 Thank you, Lorraine, for your reminder to keep praying. Yes, may He increase our vocabulary to touch those He's placed in our lives. Thank you, Lorraine, for your reminder to keep praying. Yes, may He increase our vocabulary to touch those He’s placed in our lives.

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