Tag: power

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THE STARTING POINT OF AUTHENTIC TRANSFORMATION

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As we start the fast today globally in Every Nation, I read Day Zero in our Prayer and Fasting Guide (download here). But since it’s also Day 1 here in Manila, I will read Day 1 as well.

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I remember in the old house we were in, my wife and I had a problem with the faucet in our bathroom. Because the water flow was so slow, to be able to brush your teeth, we had to wait about a minute for the cup to be filled. We endured this for several weeks until we got a plumber to help us with our faucet. In 10 minutes, he figured out the problem thus a cup could be filled in 3 seconds instead of a minute.

What you tolerate, you will never change.

I’ve heard that many times on different occasions. What you will allow to continue in your life, you will never see changes. God desires to sanctify and change us into the image and likeness of God. But if we stay stuck in our ways, we won’t be able to move forward.

The Bible says in Matthew 22:19 that “you are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” Change happens all the time. But genuine and lasting change in the life of a person can only happen when God does it. By His power and the power of His Word, we are transformed.

The starting point is with the gospel. We can try to write 10 steps to change or 7 stages to transformation but if they don’t start with an understanding of what God has been done for us rather than what we can do for God, then we only find ourselves frustrated as with many of our New Year’s resolutions.

Jesus became flesh.
Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life.
Jesus was crucified.
Jesus was buried.
Jesus rose from the dead.
Jesus is coming back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

The Scriptures declare that Jesus is Savior and Lord. (Acts 2:36)
And the power of God is the gospel for through it, many are saved. (Romans 1:16)

 

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Watch Pastor Jim Laffoon as he explains further …

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POWER VS. PROGRAMS

I met with one of our small groups leaders last Wednesday.  He was talking about when he first came to church, he would hear statements like “na-one2one ka na ba?” or “na-Victory Weekend ka na ba?”  And when he would get these questions, he felt something cringe inside of him.  In fact, he would feel “does-this-mean-i’m-less-of-a-Christian” feeling.

I told him that sometimes, in our zeal, we throw around these words and statements either as a joke or as an encouragement not understanding how it might come across which is exactly what happened to him.

Don’t get me wrong, our tools have been so powerful that we’ve seen so many lives changed.  In fact, in a few minutes, I will be going down from my office to the Youth Hall because we’ll be having our Victory Weekend.  But tools are exactly what they are – TOOLS.  But what drives those tools to bring about lifechange is the POWER OF GOD, which is available to us daily.  Actually, it has been available since way before.

We didn’t have one2one, Victory Weekend, Training for Victory, Making Disciples Training 15 years ago and yet we’ve seen lives changed, marriage restored and families healed.  We need to watch out that we don’t replace the POWER OF GOD with PROGRAMS.  Programs are good but without the power, they are just ‘good stuff’ devoid of capability to bring transformation.  Then we’re back to religion.

Genuinely love people.  Sit, chat, talk, spend time not so we can get them through the discipleship process.  Sit, chat, talk and spend time because Jesus loves them, therefore we love them as well.

“When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd.” (Matthew 9:35, Message Version)