To all Book Club Travelers:
We apologize for the inconvenience, but we'll have to cancel our meeting scheduled for Tuesday, November 30th. Please stay posted for a new date. We're getting ready to switch to a new book. Thanks for your patience and understanding. God Bless!!!
Hi, Book Travelers! In exactly two weeks, we'll be coming together again to discuss the book, Ten Curses that Block the Blessing by Pastor Larry Huch. That's Tuesday, August 31st at 7 p.m. Can you believe we're already in the eighth month of 2010? This is such an important time to be alive. I believe God wants to pour Himself out on us so we can be carriers of His anointing. But we've got to get rid of some baggage along the way. Join us as we get there together.
If you're in the Palatka area, come on over to Abundant Life Ministries. You don't have to be done reading the book in order to be a part of the discussion. Hope to see you at the meeting.
Hi, Book Travelers!
There are awesome discussions on the topics covered by the book on our Daily Devotions page. Please follow and participate in the devotionals from the week of June 28th-July 3rd, 2010. This book is such a powerful resource that we wanted to share it with everyone, not just those who may get the chance to read it in our book club.
We'll be scheduling our next Book Club meeting soon, so keep looking. God Bless.
What an awesome night of fellowship we enjoyed last night, Tuesday, June 15th, 2010. We discussed the topic from chapter 1 of the book, "The Creative Power of the Tongue". Pastor Larry Huch made clear one of the most powerful ways curses are released into our lives: through our mouths. The enemy has deceived many believers into thinking that words are just words, but if God says we'll give account of every idle word spoken (Matthew 12:36), that must mean He doesn't see them as just words. As a matter of fact, He created and placed within us this creative power -- the same power He used to speak the world into existence.
Here are more scriptures to solidify this concept. Proverbs 18:21 tells us that "death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit". Proverbs13:2-3 says, "A man shall eat WELL by the fruit of his mouth, but the soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence. He who GUARDS his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction." The enemy is counting on us not to take this principle seriously. Whatever we spend the most time thinking about, those thoughts will spill over into what we say. And whatever we're saying is being carried out either for us (blessings) or against us (curses).
Book travelers, I encourage you to get this book and allow it to line your words up with the Word of God. I look forward to discussing it with you on this blog or in person. Keep traveling!
Hi, Book Travelers!
Before we even get into the book, Ten Curses that Block the Blessing, we need to begin to understand what a curse is. It can be defined as a negative spoken prediction of what someone desires to see come to pass in another's life. An example of this can be seen in what Jesus did to the fig tree in one of the gospels. Or it can be a situation that one walks into as a result of his or her actions. The only example I can think of in the Bible is Judas Iscariot, when he betrayed Christ. I don't believe that he could have done anything to erase that curse off of his life, so the only thing he could have done was take his own life in order to relieve the agony he was feeling.
Deuteronomy 28 tells of the choices of blessing and cursing that we inherit because of one word: OBEDIENCE. Let's examine our lives and ask God to open our hearts, dealing with us in this area, so that the curses the enemy has planted to stop us from experiencing all of God can be removed.
We'll be discussing this topic for the next few weeks, so get ready...
Hi, Travelers!
The book we've been waiting for is finally here! Ten Curses that Block the Blessing by Larry Huch is ready to purchase or pass around. Our book club has three books that will be circulating among our members, so if you'd like to be one of the first to read it, please get with me this week. Or, you can log on to Amazon.com if you want to buy one of your own books at a reasonably low price.
Pay attention also to this important date: June 15th, 2010 at 7 pm. This is the date of our next meeting, which will be held at the church. We usually bring a covered dish to share as we fellowship and discuss a theme from the book (which you can participate in even if you haven't had a chance to read the book by this time).
I'm just excited that we're going to be meeting soon. Please come -- you will be awesomely blessed.
Hi, Book Travelers!
I just wanted to update you on what we're getting ready to do at ALM concerning the book club. There's no time like the present to read about everything Christ purchased for us on the cross. As a result of that, we'll be reading a book about lifting curses off of our lives and walking in the blessing that's ours as heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Be looking out for the title and author of that book this week.
Keep reading...
Wow! What an amazing time we had last night at the movie night event! I was overjoyed to see so many people show up -- singles, couples, and just fellow believers who understand that spending time together is what creates a bond that the enemy cannot destroy. The food was awesome, the fun phenomenal, but the fellowship: priceless. And after the movie, we were just able to share our hearts and encourage one another with insights we wouldn't have gotten if we had decided to stay home.
Those of you who couldn't make it, I hope this motivates you to push on and come next time. Even when we meet to discuss a book, if you haven't read it, you still have a wealth of experience and wisdom from walking and talking with God that you can share. Please pray about becoming a part of our book club, and you'll find that there are people going through pretty much the same challenges as you. But together, we can overcome anything.
We'll take another two weeks to finish out The Noticer so that those who haven't had a chance to read it yet can do so. Please come up to me after church and request a copy of the book -- I have one available. It's that important to us that you grow and be strengthened in your faith in God. Be blessed, and thanks again to all who turned out to make last night's movie night a huge success.
Much love, Travelers...
In this chapter, wisdom is the principal thing. According to Andy Andrews, it's the ability to see into the future and discern the consequences of our actions BEFORE making choices -- especially life-altering ones. Many of us know to stay away from obviously evil things that have the potential to destroy us. But it's the subtle choices whose consequences are not that easy to see which require much more time.
I think this is such an important chapter, because somewhere along the line we need to pass on to our children the fact that it's never too early to begin thinking ahead of time about what they want out of life, and teaching them to ask for God's help in making those choices. Many people, myself included, wonder why it's so hard for people to remain committed to anything -- especially marriage. But the author makes an awesome point: the commitment wouldn't be as hard to do if the choice made were the right one to begin with. Anyway, I think we'll all agree that serious decisions need to be treated with more seriousness. If I chose a hairdo that really doesn't complement me, i'd only be stuck with it for a few weeks. But friends and potential sweethearts must be chosen very carefully, for they'll stick to you like glue that can't be washed out as easily.
Your thoughts, Book Travelers...
Please join us on Friday, March 12th, 2010 at 7 pm for a fun-filled movie night. We will be watching the movie "Conversations With God", an inspiring film about finding success in the presence of God. It's actually a bit like the life of Andy Andrews, the author of The Noticer, which is why I wanted the church family to witness how God can meet any of us where we are. At our last meeting, we had a discussion of what each person envisioned success to be. This movie answers this question very effectively -- and in such an uplifting way.
Come and be prepared to be blessed. Bring something to snack on that you can share with someone else. Bring a pillow and/or a blanket, or come with nothing at all. We just want you to be 100% comfortable as we fellowship with one another. I'll be getting back to you on whether child care will be available that night, so stay connected.
Be blessed, and don't forget to have "Conversations with God" of your own...
Again, I continue to be amazed at how the old man Jones just happens to be in exactly the right spot at the right time in this book. In this chapter, he manages to take a nap just within eyesight of Walker Miles, another young man at a crisis point in his life. I guess the author is sending us a message that help is always there in the person of the Holy Spirit or even another saint when we need it the most, because once again Jones manages to make Walker think he's offering the old man a ride, when in fact this is an appointed meeting that will change Walker's life forever.
The issue raised in this chapter is a common one: the fact that many of us carry unnecessary burdens of failure because of something our parent(s) may have done or failed to do. It's interesting to note that no matter how often we tell ourselves we will NEVER be like that parent, we find ourselves following in that pattern anyway. In another book by a lady named Ana Mendez, entitled Iniquity, we cannot break away from these generational ties due to satan's twisted scheme to keep us bound and walking in defeat. In order to be completely free, we must go to the root of the failure (habit or pattern that keeps showing up as fruit in our lives no matter how often we pray about it), call it out, repent on behalf of ourselves and our ancestors, and then ask the Father to uproot it from our family tree. For some, depending on how deep the roots go, a process of deliverance may need to take place.
Sounds far out? Then you may want to do some soul-searching about some of the areas in your life in which you can't seem to grow or see any spiritual success. If possible, find out from your older relatives just how many of your family members on either side of you did that same thing. Then begin to ask God to uproot it so that it can no longer keep destroying your efforts to walk in freedom in every area.
I'll be looking forward to reading your own thoughts on this subject soon!
I don't know about you guys who read this book, but I absolutely LOVED the way the old man Jones uses certain animals to characterize each love language. A cat exemplifies physical touch -- they feel and express love towards their owners this way. The love language of quality time is represented by the canary. He actually stated the fact that if a canary is ignored, it will eventually die. Did anyone out there know that? I sure didn't. I guess as people get older, they become like canaries no matter what their love language used to be when they were younger. What I mean is they just want someone -- anyone-- to spend time with them. If there's no-one to do that, they eventually pass away from simple neglect. No wonder why older people in a retirement home just light up when someone comes to visit them. What about the older people on our street who live alone? How much of a blessing could we be to them by just stopping by to say hello every now and then?
Then there's the puppy dog, who is the example of the person who thrives on spoken words of approval. A dog's world is perfect when he is being praised, and crushed when he hears disapproval from his master. And isn't that just the way it works with our children? At a very early age, they learn to look forward to our words of praise, and simply shrink into themselves when we express dissatisfaction in a most negative manner. If we just took the time to think about how we should interact with them rather than react to the things they do, maybe our relationships with our children might grow stronger as they get older.
The goldfish represents our folks who simply want favors and deeds as a token of our love towards them. I may be wrong about this, but it seems as if most women (myself included) love it when our spouse and children do things for us: pick up after themselves, wash the dishes so we don't have to, or keep the car clean and serviced. I wouldn't be surprised if disagreeable moments and spats decreased considerably due to more deeds and services being performed for moms and wives everywhere this week IN ADDITON TO the candy and flowers (NO HINT INTENDED, PASTOR CHRIS -- LOL).
Add your comments to mine...
Even if you haven't read chapter 2 of the book yet, many of us have read about or heard of love gone bad. The couple in this book don't hate each other; they actually claim to still love one another, but can't seem to feel the other's love. If only we could truly understand that love isn't about how much the other person can give to us, but how much we committed ourselves to giving no matter what the other person does or does not do.
After having said that, I am in total agreement with Andy Andrews that it is important to know each other's love language so that we can effectively communicate and fill each other's love bank on a daily basis. We also need to understand that the love language we speak may not be the same as our spouse's, but we expect the other person to communicate that way just the same. Four basic types of love languages are words of affirmation (spoken words of approval), acts of service (favors and deeds), physical touch, and quality time.
Which one are you? How do you think knowing which love language you speak may influence how you relate to the one you love? I'll be waiting to hear from you all...
How many of you have had the chance to read chapter 1 of the book The Noticer? Good for you. Even if you haven't, here is some food for thought. What is it about yourself that you know others would change about you if they could? In other words, what causes you to stop short of God's glory? Do you think that disqualifies you from being and doing everything that He wants you to be and do?
What about the problems you have had or are having right now? If you're like me, it's easy to think our dreams are far from being realized due to all the issues and pitstops. But according to Jones in this book (who by the way represents Christ), it may only look like barren sand, but it has the seed or promise of fertile ground in it. In other words, it's your valley experience that gives you the chance to hope and look for something better -- to grow, actually.
So if you're at a place of failure today, and all around you looks like barren sand, be encouraged. Learn. Dream. Believe. PREPARE for rain like Noah did, when all he saw around him was dry ground. Just because it's never been done before doesn't mean it can't be done by you. Remember: "all things are POSSIBLE to those who believe" (Mark 9:23). Respond to this blog with comments and praise reports of your own...
