Author: Believers Church

October 16, 2019 Believers Church

Over the Summer

August found Gnosko cooking up chicken for lunch at the campout following Sunday’s service.  There was no shortage of watermelon and the chicken was something to look forward too.  Grilling is the Summer thing to do!  Our group enjoyed the various tasks to make this food event happen from prepping the food in the Summer kitchen to the manning the meat grilling station, to serving and cleanup.  

Fellowship

In Mid-September Gnosko full group attended the Glenn Kaiser concert held at the bandshell on the waterfront in Hudson!   It was a nice warm, sunny day.  So, Summer came back to us again and we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the day including the music and sharing of Glenn’s testimony and ministry in action along with some great tunes.   Three hot air balloons floated by just through the trees.  They even dipped down into the water and left a trail of water raining down as they ascended back up.  Future fun perhaps to one day take our own ride/turn up in one of those.  What a neat perspective. There were opportunities to get to know the community at large in the audience and the vendors who were present.  Some of us took advantage of pairing up with another couple either before or after and grab lunch or dinner together.  

Heading into Fall

At the beginning of October, we found ourselves flipping flapjacks for the Prayer Breakfast.  It was a lot of fun to be able to serve breakfast for all who attended.

As a Gnosko group, we took a Fall color tour down to Alma WI to meet at Buena Vista Park on Sunday, October 13th. We had a great time although it was very windy and chilly, at least we did not have the 4” of snow that we had when we went last year.

Out of Town adventure!

Our Gnosko leaders are planning an escape room adventure in Rice Lake on Friday, October 18th which is described as a peaceful Ocean Charter Tour until a storm picks up and destroys the ship, leaving you and the other six people aboard stranded on an uncharted desert island… WITH AN ACTIVE VOLCANO???? This should be a good test for us as leaders to see how well we can work together.

What’s ahead

Also coming up this fall we would like to do some local home repair projects in our community. So please be in prayer for us on this and let us know if you know of someone in need. This could be sheetrock, window or door repair, as well as winter-proofing.

October 13, 2019 Believers Church

In all that we do as a church we seek to be obedient to the directives of scripture and fulfill what God has for us. All while being dependent upon His lead, empowerment, and grace. At the end of His time on Earth, Jesus gave His followers, and in turn us, a mission. He directs us to go out and declare His truth, to teach all that he taught. He tells us to make followers of Him. This is a steep order.

It is not something that we can do alone. We need each other. We need the power of the Holy Spirit. Nor is it something that can be done simply by gathering together for a weekly meeting. It is going to take far more than that. It is going to take commitment, striving, and investment.

Stayin Home

To do this we are going to have to do a lot of work internally. We will have to spend time together, growing in unity. All of us have to become individuals who can operate as a team. We are going to have to teach each other and learn from each other. This happens Sundays, Wednesdays, when we come together in fellowship, when we invite each other to interfere in our lives. One way we intentionally do this is with all church workdays.

The last work day we made some improvements to the sanctuary doors, making them more inviting, better protected against the weather, and more energy efficient.

Team of sanders preparing trim for the sanctuary doors. Truly many hands do make light work.
Putting new windows in doors to allow light and visibility
Stamping thousands of logos and websites onto outreach materials

Workdays go far beyond getting a few projects done around the church. They are a tool of discipleship. I have always loved church workdays, because what we physically see happening is a representation of what we intend to be happening spiritually. We come together and make improvements on the church. We chip off the weak areas, replacing the rot and decay with new stronger materials. We improve the “character” of the building. We spend time getting materials ready to be used in ministry. The church building and physical assets becomes more equipped and ready for ministry.

Meanwhile more importantly the church body (the people) are doing the same. We work, sweat, and sometimes even bleed together. We laugh, correct, and teach each other. We get to know each other better. We become more united. God never fails to use these days to achieve His purpose in our lives so that when the day is over it isn’t just the church building that is more equipped for ministry, but also its members.

Projects Are Not the Point

We appreciate your help in pitching in with projects. Undoubtedly there will always be physical and practical needs. But they are never meant to be the focus. It never fails that at the end of a workday a final group stays well beyond when the work has stopped. We sit together and look at the new improvements, what we got done and appreciate the work God has allowed us to do, but more importantly the people that He has called us to do it with.

Let’s continue to invest inwardly, growing in unity and strength, becoming more prepared, refining our character. It is only when we do so that our efforts in reaching out will be found fruitful.

Reaching Out

This time of year is always a busy one for getting out in the community. If we are to make disciples, we need to go beyond our walls and find the would-be disciples of Christ and get to know them. We have two main avenues through which we do this: our college ministry (Street Level) and our Community Group

Street Level is still in the start of a new year and we have continued with coffee giveaways, campus tables, and hitting the halls with fliers for our Bible Study. Likewise, the community group has been getting out to local parks giving away ice cream and meeting new people.

Coffee Outreach at UW-Superior
Community group giving away root beer floats

One new door of outreach that God has opened has been at some local high schools. We have gotten to know some students and staff who are part of a high school Christian organization.  This past week we got to go to a regional event to talk with a high school student about authentic faith and making their lives count for Christ and His kingdom. Please pray that these relationships would grow and God would reveal how we can play a part and be a blessing to the work that He is doing in these students.

Speaking at a local high school football field

God has given us a mission and it isn’t an easy one. All that we have as individuals will not be enough, we need each other. Even all that we have together won’t be enough. We need God’s lead, and His Holy Spirit. Which is good, because I don’t want to do this alone.  All together we can do this. Let us “go forth and make disciples teaching them to obey knowing that Jesus is with us always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

October 10, 2019 Believers Church

In July, 1986, George Holtyzer of Belgium, walked 418 miles in about 6 ½ days…backwards!

Have you ever tried to walk backwards? It’s hard. It’s so hard that most people give up before they’ve gone very far at all. Even George. As impressive as his effort might’ve been, he quit in less than a week, simply because human beings weren’t designed to face opposite of the direction in which they travel. The shape of our feet, the placement of our eyes, and the arrangement of our toes are all indicators that God, when He created us, intended that our focus should remain in the very same direction that we walk. Forward…Always forward.

PREOCCUPIED WITH THE PAST

Most people understand this just fine. They know enough to keep looking onward so that they can see where they’re going, at least in the physical realm. But when it comes to spiritual things, many people are walking completely backwards. They try their best to move ahead in life, but their attention is always on that which lies behind them. They’ve experienced something in the past that has so thoroughly captured their attention that they simply refuse to turn away from it. They’re convinced that who they are today, and where they go tomorrow, has ultimately been answered by what they’ve experienced in the past, for better or for worse.

Walking backwards…can cripple you over time

For some it may be the faulty genes they inherited at conception, the negative influences that shaped them as a child, or a particular trauma they suffered along the way. For others it’s a more positive experience; their “golden years” perhaps, or their college days; their wedding, or the birth of a child. It hardly matters whether the details of a person’s past are upsetting or uplifting. Either one has the same potential to keep a person so mesmerized by the events of yesteryear that they can neither face the challenges nor see the opportunities that lie ahead. Walking backwards might seem exciting at first, and preferable for a while, but it can cripple you over time.  

A DANGEROUS JOURNEY

When a person pays greater attention to where they’ve been than to where they’re going (whether physically or spiritually) they’re making the journey far more difficult, dangerous, and inefficient than the Lord meant for it to be. In sharp contrast, modern psychology insists that every problem we face in life is somehow linked to our past. God, however, designed us to move forward, with our focus in front, not behind.

The Apostle Paul writes to the believers in Philippi saying, “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind, I reach forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). Apparently, God has ‘prizes’ for those who get their directions right. That makes Paul a good example for us to follow. Not George. Paul. Thanks Paul.

FALLING DOWN

There’s no better way to set yourself up to stumble and fall than trying to walk backwards. A person can’t prepare for the future when they’re still staring into the past. Yet many walk this way, not only because they’ve been captivated by something behind them, but because they’ve got so little to look forward to.

Spiritually unambitious, they give little attention to God’s Word which gives them the promise of eternal life. With little or no awareness that their life is eternal, they give little or no attention to what lies ahead of them. With no eternal perspective, their whole life is wasted with tripping over the smallest of sins and obstacles. Their backward walk with Christ is little more than one injury after another. It’s frustrating for them and for Jesus both.

FACING THE FUTURE

God is very intent that His children get a firm grasp of the reality of their spiritual and physical future: “Those who die in the LORD will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy!” (Isaiah 26:19). Jesus wants us all to know that “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live…whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

Why should we walk backwards through this life when we’ve got so much to look forward to and prepare for? It’s a foolish waste of time to remain unable to “reach forward to what lies ahead” because you’re so engrossed with “what lies behind”…especially since you don’t have to! If your “progress of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” is being hindered, it might be your own fault. Nobody walks backward by accident. Not even George Holtyzer. If you’re doing it, it’s because you’ve chosen to. You need to turn around and find your stride. Walking backwards for too long will compromise your entire spiritual posture.  

Nobody walks backward by accident

It’s not as hard as you think to turn around. Anybody can do it. Some people, like George, realize this after only 6 ½ relatively brief, yet agonizing days. For others, unfortunately, it’ll take a bit longer.

PRESSING ON

What’s in your past is history. Have you accomplished great things for the Lord? Congratulations, but there’s more to be done. Have you sinned? Move on. Have you suffered? Get going. Have you fallen? Get up, get some help, and push ahead. You’ll die soon enough, so there’s no need for you to live like it’s already happened. Time is running short for all of us, and the only chance you have to invest in your own afterlife is now while you live. Don’t waste your time. Serve Jesus, fight the fight; run the race.

You can spend your time walking backwards if you like, or you can march ahead like Jesus who, “For the joy set before Him” endured the greatest trauma known to any living being in history. Nothing stopped Him from going forward. May we all, without distraction, move forward like soldiers, undeterred by the experiences and events of yesterday.

October 7, 2019 Believers Church

Andy and Laura are reading “Chasing The Dragon” an autobiography of Jackie Pullinger.

Written with Andrew Quicke

Jackie Pullinger was born in Britain in 1944, and spent most of her young adult life sharing the love of Jesus with the drug dealers and prostitutes of the Walled City in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Unclaimed by either the Chinese or the British government, the Walled City was a dense block of high-rise apartments which became a no-mans-land of drugs, violence, and exploitation overseen by rival gangs. Jackie shares how God had to overcome her assumptions and preconceived ideas about what it means to “minister” until He finally broke her heart with a genuine love for the people of the city. After years of perseverance and personal growth in faith, hundreds were brought to faith through her witness. This move of God toppled the gangs and eventually brought down the Walled City itself.

I appreciate the honesty of this book as the author shares her struggles to trust God and live up to the life that she knew she was called to. In the end, it was the time she spent building relationships and showing other-centered love that finally broke through the barriers and allowed those in the city to understand and accept the love of Jesus. This is a great reminder to me that one of the most effective ways to minister is to simply pour yourself and the love that God gives you into the lives of those around you in practical ways. Jackie still lives and ministers in Hong Kong today.

The Walled City

Find your copy of Chasing the Dragon at the Central Desk at JFBelievers now!

October 4, 2019 Believers Church

Recommended Media | October 2019

Pastor Matt Chandler of the Village Church in Dallas, Texas has begun a series this fall on personal renewal. The series is in process currently and is a group of stand-alone messages that speak to the need in our day to draw near to God. In the series, Matt and other pastors speak wisdom to such elements at the power of God, prayer, fire for Christ, “with-ness”, life in the Spirit, silence, and solitude. In the sermons in the series so far, there has been information that parallels our Wednesday discussions on Simplicity of Life. There have been aspects that speak about spiritual disciplines as we have been discussing in the men’s prayer breakfasts. And this first sermon is to set the stage for those that follow. It speaks in the same direction at our recent October 3rd Place study concerning the act of humble brokenness, remembering, repenting, and committing.

Take some time to watch this sermon from back in late August to whet your appetite for more on this subject. The link below the video will take you to the sermon page where you can pick up the remaining studies in sequence. I hope you will be blessed.

TITLE: A FOUNDATION OF FIRE

Watch More…

Click here to go to the series page.
The studies so far are titled:
1) A Foundation of Fire
2) A redemptive Lens
3) Entering God’s Rest
4) Practicing Prayer
5) A People for His Own Possession
6) Life with the Spirit
…more may be on the way.

October 1, 2019 Believers Church

A Section from the Conclusion

Through the journey of the wilderness, Israel mistakenly believed that they left Egypt behind when they left the country. Then, amid the exposing struggle of the wilderness, their hearts were revealed to be like Pharaoh’s, and they hardened their hearts against God. They did not become the kinds of people who could hear the Word, nor did they give themselves to ways of life that allowed them to walk with God. They were idolaters, and so like the idols themselves, they became people with eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear. They were becoming like the dead idols that looked alive but had no real life in them.

Today, we face a similar problem. It takes a certain kind of life to be a true listener of the Word of God. This does not happen at random, but demands that we give ourselves to the way of Christ. Unfortunately, we can neglect to consider how modern life and technology might hurt our ability to be listeners to the Word. We fail to consider how ways of living could hurt our ability to attend patiently to God’s calling on our lives. We forget that influence and popularity are not intrinsically good. We do not notice that we are becoming like the idols in our lives, and that the rituals of God’s family are boring and lack meaning for us. But this kind of numbing will always be the fruit of idolatry.

In our calling to be fruitful for the kingdom of God, we must discern the way of God (Eph. 5:10), so we must be the kinds of people who can discern this way (Heb. 5:11-14). The “from” and the “for” of our power need to align with God and his way, regardless of how savvy, sophisticated, or skilled we are. As we seek to thrive in whatever position the Lord has called us to, we can still seek to be skilled at what we do, as long as that skill is grounded in our abiding in Christ, and our purpose is oriented to God’s calling to love. In this sense, our skill is like our unblemished lamb that we lay before the Lord in offering to him. Sacrifice was never a mechanistic reality. God wasn’t waiting around for more dead animals. As the psalmist proclaims, “You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” (Ps. 51:16-17 NASB). Our sacrifice is, in part, the mode by which we can come before God in repentance, trust, and abiding. Our skill, therefore, is the way we present ourselves to the Lord, and is the vehicle by which we abide in Christ and serve him. The focus is always on God, and the sacrifice is our means to partake in his work and live in the freedom of his presence. The more skilled we become, however, the easier it is to seek power from within; and the more fruitful our power becomes, the easier it is to seek power for control and our own glory, rather than God’s.

Power in weakness for love is power that bears fruit for the kingdom. Power in strength for control, used to achieve kingdom ends, will ultimately deceive us into thinking we’re living in the way of Jesus, when in fact we are living in the way from below. This power is the power of straw; it is the power that seems invincible, and then one day just disappears. Power in weakness works the opposite way. Power in weakness appears to be powerless in the face of this world and it may even be denounced as foolish within the church itself. We must be prepared to face opposition, rejection, and mockery. We must be prepared to be ignored and passed over for the promotions of “powerful people.” In these moments we ought to pray with Augustine: “Let the strong and mighty laugh at us, then, but let us weak and needy folk confess to you.” †

Getting Some Wise Advice

The above text is a section from the conclusion of a book I completed recently, called “The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb”. During the writing of the book, its authors (Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel) traveled various places to conduct interviews with many seasoned aged ministry leaders and pastors. Their focus was to consider how Christians and Christian leaders can undiscerningly default to worldly/humanly methods to attempt to build the kingdom. They hoped that the perspective of these wise Christians after years of walking with the Lord might have some insight. Each one revealed how easy it is for us to begin to rely on our personal skills, wisdom, and abilities to inch along the progress of Kingdom work personally and in the church. They talked about how easy it is to employ the strategies of the world to generate spiritual success.

In the text, I could really see the illustration of Israel’s post-exodus Egyptian-like tendencies and how that derailed their progress in the wilderness. See, we all struggle with internal elements leftover from our previous way of life. That’s not surprising to us, or at least it shouldn’t be. We are every one of us unfinished and imperfect in this life. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not extending a blanket excuse for us to continue living in foolishness while thinking, “well, I guess that’s just who we are…” Instead, I’m hoping to bring to light the reality that the flesh will never produce righteousness, even with our best intentions. If we can acknowledge that fact and repent of those elements and tendencies, we can humbly re-engage God and begin again kingdom work in His power rather than ours. In all honesty, presuming ourselves to be smart enough and skilled enough to do ministry is to say to the Spirit of God, “Stand back, bro, I got this… I’ll come to get you when I can’t handle things myself.” It’s a mentality rooted in our western culture proclivity toward self-sufficiency and independence.

Abiding or Idolatry

The life-lessons expressed by the sages interviewed for this book (J. I. Packer, Dallas Willard, Marva Dawn, John Perkins, Jean Vanier, James Houston, and Eugene Peterson to name a few) all circled back to the slow and tedious means by which the kingdom is built; relationship with God by humbly submitting to and following Him… talking extensively with God and listening to Him and His word. The alternative is to live as Israel in the wilderness, just as it was expressed at the beginning of this article, “They did not become the kinds of people who could hear the Word, nor did they give themselves to ways of life that allowed them to walk with God. They were idolaters, and so like the idols themselves, they became people with eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear. They were becoming like the dead idols that looked alive but had no real life in them.”

How often do you talk with God about your life, ministry, and purpose? …even the stumbling blocks or roadblocks of your life that seem impossible? Or are your conversations with God more often reduced to pleas for His help to fix things or give you things? If the disciples are any form of example to us, we need to consider their day to day interaction with Jesus in comparison to ours. It’s the gospel call to all disciples to abide in Him. From that position comes peace, hope, purpose, direction… and power in love. For what? …the glory of God and His Kingdom alone. It’s not about focusing on making your life count, leaving your legacy, or being a good example to others. The fact of the matter is if you live your life for the glory of God, you will count, leave a legacy, and be a good example; all which are a legitimate side-effect of a proper Christian focus.

Spiritual Activity in the Flesh

This issue affects our lives in subtle and various ways. Compare the effect of a father who abides in Christ before the eyes of his children versus the one who “behaves as a Christian should” in order to be a good example to his children. Which one is correct or most effective? One is done in the power of God and the other in the flesh. Assuredly the one who “behaves as a Christian should” is more concerned about how he looks than being sincere. In fact, it seems God almost guarantees we’ll look like fools if we abide in Him. Compare the Christian who abides in God amongst the Christian community to take part in the work of God versus the one who tries to “do all he is supposed to do” and “struggles to live up to the expectations of God and the church” to gain a position, attention, or some payoff. Compare the one who abides in Jesus day-to-day submitting to the authority and direction of the Spirit versus the one who lives the way he lives so that he will be remembered after he is dead. Something that seems so honorable on the surface reveals fleshly roots that are so subtle and corrupting. There is such a great pull inside us to make something Godly into a work of the flesh. We can’t take credit for something God has done which is such a blow to our ego. And claiming credit for the work is to claim control of it.

The Doorway Out

Our hope in changing direction in this common-to-man problem is in abiding in God. I believe we all could use improvement in our personal prayer with God. In another book by the same authors, they expressed that, “prayer is not the place to be good, but the place to be honest.” I encourage you to join me as I seek to deepen my relationship with God; as I grow in my desire to abide in Him more consistently; not doing the activity of prayer but communing with God. “Here I am, Lord.”

† The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It
by Jamin Goggin, Kyle Strobel – Paperback – January 24, 2017