Wednesday, December 27, 2006

THE BRIGHT SIDE: Life is a TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT!


THE BRIGHT SIDE: Life is a TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT!
Brad Reiches
Dec 27 2006 10:36AM

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*The GodThoughts Monthly Newsletter mailing list is audited at the end of each year.  Only GT Partners, and those who respond to this invitation, will receive the newsletter in 2007.


Wednesday, December 27, 2006
GodThoughtsWired!

The GodThoughts ANNUAL REPORT for 2006 is now available (see above, 3 DAYS LEFT!).

The Purpose Driven Life, by Dr. Rick Warren has become a global influential.  It's impact transcends the Church community as a significant portion of both the secular and the religious communities have embraced it.  Indeed, The Purpose Driven Life has become one of the best selling non-fiction books in the history of the universe, second only to the Bible.  As such, the next several GTW! entries will be devoted to an examintion of that which is helping to shape the perception of Christianity around the world.  This week:  "The Bright Side of...The Purpose Driven Life."

THE BRIGHT SIDE OF
..
"The Purpose Driven Life"
CONCLUSION:  LIFE IS A TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT

"You are just a vapor that appears

for a little while and then vanishes away."
James 4:14

"Realizing that life on earth is just a temporary assignment should radically alter your values."  Right on, Rick!  Have you examined your "heavenly portfolio" lately?  I have a favorite saying that I have developed over the years, it goes like this:

LIFE IS NOT ALWAYS FAIR.
BUT GOD IS ALWAYS JUST...
AND HE HAS AN ETERNITY TO PROVE IT!

God views life through the eyes of eternity and that should be our goal as well.  Jesus said, "Do not lay up treasures for yourself on earth where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal; but rather, lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy and where thieves cannot break in and steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:19-21). 

The Bible warns that we (Christians) are aliens on this earth, foreigners (see 1 Peter 2:11).  And, you know, the older and closer I get to God, the more I feel like an alien, a visitor just passing through.  The Bible reminds us that our true citizenship is in Heaven.  The author of Hebrews summarizes the tragic story of Esau who "Sold his own birthright for a single meal" (Hebrews 12:16).  Can you imagine how devastating it would be to told on the "day of judgement" (see 1 Corinthians 3:11-16) that we had sacrificed "eternal riches" for the sake of temporary gain?  Jesus put it this way,

"What does it profit a man to gain the whole world
yet forfit his soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Mark 8:37

Remember:  The end of THIS life...is NOT the end of YOUR life.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

THE BRIGHT SIDE: Love God WHOLEHEARTEDLY!


THE BRIGHT SIDE: Love God WHOLEHEARTEDLY!
Brad Reiches
Dec 20 2006 09:33PM

The GodThoughts Newsletter* & Annual Report
Would you like a FREE copy of the GodThoughts Annual Report?  Would you like to receive the FREE GodThoughts Monthly Newsletter*?  If so, please e-mail me your snail mail, mailing address and I will place you on our monthly mailing list.  The GodThoughts Monthly Newsletter (hardcopy) keeps you up to date on all of the latest "GodThoughts happenings" around the world (testimonies, subscriber statistics, resource information and global updates).
*The GodThoughts Monthly Newsletter mailing list is audited at the end of each year.  Only GT Partners, and those who respond to this invitation, will receive the newsletter in 2007.


Thursday, December 21, 2006
GodThoughtsWired!

The GodThoughts ANNUAL REPORT for 2006 is now available (see above).

The Purpose Driven Life, by Dr. Rick Warren has become a global influence.  It's impact transcends the Church community as a significant portion of both the secular and the religious communities have embraced it.  Indeed, The Purpose Driven Life has become one of the best selling non-fiction books in the history of the universe, second only to the Bible.  As such, the next several GTW! entries will be devoted to an examintion of that which is helping to shape the perception of Christianity around the world.  This week:  "The Bright Side of...The Purpose Driven Life."
THE BRIGHT SIDE OF..
"The Purpose Driven Life"
PART 3:  God Smiles When We Love Him Wholeheartedly

"I have found David the son of Jesse,
a man after My own heart, who will do all My will."
Acts 13:22

I just wish Warren had emphasized this aspect of the Christian walk a little bit more because the "wholehearted" element of Christianity reigns supreme throughout the entire Bible.  David was "a man after God's own heart" because he was willing to do ALL of God's will (see Acts 13:22).  Caleb entered the promised land because he followed the Lord, God "fully" (see above).  Noah, Joseph, and Abraham, to name a few, all became significant players in the word of God precisely because they were willing to follow God with all their hearts (note:  This does not mean that they were perfect, just perfectly willing).

"I followed the Lord my God fully...
because you have followed the Lord my God fully...
because he followed the Lord God of Israel fully."
Joshua 14:8-9, 14

Warren proclaims, "delayed obedience is really disobedience...partial obedience is disobedience."  Bravo, Dr. Warren!  He says that "obedience unlocks understanding."  Indeed, this is critical information for all believers and "would be" disciples of the Lord, Jesus Christ.  Not only does obedience increase our understanding, but sin takes it away.  "Harlotry, wine, and new wine (sin), takes away the understanding" (see Hosea 4:11, 14).

The Bible tells us that the Lord is a jealous God (see Exodus 34:14).  He requires a lifestyle of worship that is completely sold out to Him.  No, we don't have to be perfect, that's why Christ died, but we do have to be perfectly willing.

 

THE BRIGHT SIDE: Life is a TRUST!


THE BRIGHT SIDE: Life is a TRUST!
Brad Reiches
Dec 20 2006 12:17AM

The GodThoughts Newsletter* & Annual Report
Would you like a FREE copy of the GodThoughts Annual Report?  Would you like to receive the FREE GodThoughts Monthly Newsletter*?  If so, please e-mail me your snail mail, mailing address and I will place you on our monthly mailing list.  The GodThoughts Monthly Newsletter (hardcopy) keeps you up to date on all of the latest "GodThoughts happenings" around the world (testimonies, subscriber statistics, resource information and global updates).
*The GodThoughts Monthly Newsletter mailing list is audited at the end of each year.  Only GT Partners, and those who respond to this invitation, will receive the newsletter in 2007.


Wednesday, December 20, 2006
GodThoughtsWired!

The GodThoughts ANNUAL REPORT for 2006 is now available (see above).

The Purpose Driven Life, by Dr. Rick Warren has become a global influence.  It's impact transcends the Church community as a significant portion of both the secular and the religious communities have embraced it.  Indeed, The Purpose Driven Life has become one of the best selling non-fiction books in the history of the universe, second only to the Bible.  As such, the next several GTW! entries will be devoted to an examintion of that which is helping to shape the perception of Christianity around the world.  This week:  "The Bright Side of...The Purpose Driven Life."
THE BRIGHT SIDE OF...
"The Purpose Driven Life"
PART 2 :  LIFE IS A TRUST

"It is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy."
1 Corinthians 4:2

Indeed!  One of the great tests of this life is found in the area of stewardship.  It is as Warren describes, "Life is a trust."  The Bible delineates a basic premise of life, "Faithful in little, faithful in much...unfaithful in little, unfaithful also, in much" (see Luke 16:10-11).  In other words, if we are good stewards of what we have, it is likely that God will entrust us with more.  However, if we are poor stewards, unfaithful with that which we have been entrusted, then we are in danger of losing what we currently possess.

Warren well notes that, "We never really own anything during our brief stay on earth.  God just loans the earth to us while we're here."  He further describes the reality that we will be "evaluated and rewarded" at the end of our lives based on "how well we handled" that which God entrusted to us.  Significantly, I think, is Warren's emphasis on money.  He says, "Most people fail to recognize that money is both a test ans a trust from God...How I manage my money, determines how much God can trust me with spiritual blessings (true riches)" (see Luke 16:10-13).

So significant is this issue of stewardship, that Jesus devoted one of His most famous parables to this subject.  The Parable of the Good Steward can be found in Matthew 25:14-30.  In essence, it describes the faithful stewards as being rewarded, while the unfaithful stewards are harshly condemned, "Therefore, take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents" (see verse 28).

"For to everyone who has, more shall be given,
and he will have an abundance; but from the one
who does not have, even what he does have shall
be taken away."
Matthew 25:29

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Profile of a False Prophet: 5


Profile of a False Prophet: 5
Brad Reiches
Dec 14 2006 10:01PM

The GodThoughts Newsletter* & Annual Report
Would you like a FREE copy of the GodThoughts Annual Report?  Would you like to receive the FREE GodThoughts Monthly Newsletter*?  If so, please e-mail me your snail mail, mailing address and I will place you on our monthly mailing list.  The GodThoughts Monthly Newsletter (hardcopy) keeps you up to date on all of the latest "GodThoughts happenings" around the world (testimonies, subscriber statistics, resource information and global updates).
*The GodThoughts Monthly Newsletter mailing list is audited at the end of each year.  Only GT Partners, and those who respond to this invitation, will receive the newsletter in 2007.


Friday, December 15, 2006
GodThoughtsWired!

The GodThoughts ANNUAL REPORT for 2006 is now available (see above).

 
"Profile of a False Prophet"
PART 5

#5.  They entice through sensuality.  "They entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality" (2 Peter 2:18).  It has always been this way and sadly, I believe, most of us are vulnerable.  Consider the following example,

"God said to me, 'Son, tell my people, after they receive
the New Anointing, they will experience more answers to prayer
in six months than any period of their life."

About four months ago, this "prophecy" was published as, "experience more answers to prayer in the next 90 days..." Tragically, there are those around the world who believe that this "prophecy" did not come true for them because...THEY DIDN'T GIVE ENOUGH MONEY. 

In 1994 I was at a conference where one of these men was, "ministering."  During one of the breaks I went to a local mini-mart.  I struck up a conversation with the clerk (a woman in her mid-fifties).  When I told her about the man who was speaking at the conference and invited her to come, she began to weep.  It seems that seven years prior she and her husband attended one of his conferences

The "prophet" called out her husband by name, spoke of his terminal cancer and declared in the name of Jesus that God was healing him right then, right there.  The prophet pranced around the stage giving "glory to God."  The family came up on stage (their children were with them).  They celebrated the "miraculous healing."  Two weeks later the husband died of the cancer.

So now I'm talking to her seven years later.  In tears she tells me that she and her family haven't darkened the doorstep of a church since.  She tearfully concluded, "I guess we didn't have enough faith."