Empowered Vision

Stuff of Life...

2012-01-06T17:40:00.001-08:00

“The times most favorable to fits of depression, so far as I have experienced, may be summed up in a brief catalog. First among them I must mention the hour of a great success. When at last a long-cherished desire is fulfilled, when God has been glorified greatly by our means and a great triumph achieved, then we are apt to faint.

It might be imagined that amid special favors our soul would soar to heights of ecstasy and rejoice with joy unspeakable, but it is generally the reverse. The Lord seldom exposes His warriors to the perils of exultation over victory. He knows that few of them can endure such a test and therefore dashes their cup with bitterness.

Uninterrupted success and unfading joy in it would be more than our weak heads could bear. Our wine must needs be mixed with water, lest it turn our brains.

My witness is that those who are honored by their Lord in public have usually to endure a secret chastening or to carry a peculiar cross lest by any means they exalt themselves and fall into the snare of the Devil.”

The words you just read are from one of history’s greatest preachers, Charles Spurgeon. This man of God, who authored some of the greatest books in Christianity, preached messages that far outlived him, and was closer to God than I can even dream of being, died of gout and depression.

My mind goes to 2 Corinthians 12 where Paul talks about his “thorn in the flesh.” We can speculate as to what it was, but we don’t really know. We do know that he begged and pleaded with God to take it from him, and God did not. Paul had to continually conquer his thorn, seeking victory over it day by day.

I too have a thorn in the flesh, a specific temptation that creeps into my everyday life. It creeps into conversation and slithers through my thoughts. The ways in which it manifests itself can be so sly that at times, I don’t even realize it is there. At moments, I have felt like nothing could ever take this thorn away. At others, I have pretended like it wasn’t there. There have been times I have allowed it to conquer me, and others where Satan has told me it will never go away.

Today I came to the realization that it may never go away, and I’m ok with that. I can blame it on people who may have taught it to me. I can become depressed because of the times it has found me out, or I can make a choice - A choice to seek God for victory. It’s not going to get me down anymore. Sure, I may still fall. Yes, I’ll make mistakes. The difference, is this time, I’ll rise up knowing that I can have victory. I don’t have to be a statistic. If God’s greatest men dealt with stuff, who am I to think I won’t. And, if God’s greatest men can find victory, I serve the same god who can give me strength.

Your sin doesn’t just affect you. It affects everyone around you. The people it will hurt most are the people you love most. You can ask God for victory today, and take steps toward improving, or you can let it come to a head, and then deal with all the repercussions. Let me tell you from experience…KILL IT NOW.

Whatever problem you’re dealing with. No matter how big or small. We serve an awesome, mighty God with enough power to conquer them all. When I discover myself in sin’s despair, with no way to get out, His grace and mercy never fail. His love I never doubt. I’m just a human. I’m going to fall. I will be strongest in the areas where I’m weak when I allow God’s power to fill those cracks and holes.

Song in the Night

2011-11-03T23:05:00.000-07:00

It's out of your hands.

You've done all you can do.

You have given God the problem.

It's no longer up to you.

You prayed the prayer of faith, and you're standing on God's truth.

But, while you're waiting on the answer, He has a question for you.

Is anything too hard for God?

Who's got a problem beyond his power to solve?

Are there situations He's not the master of?

Is ANYTHING too hard for God?

Only believe, trust his word, you'll see!

His plans are now unfolding, performing perfectly.

It's clear just how much He loves you.

Look at all He's done!

For all your questions, there's really only one:

Is ANYTHING too hard for God?

These lyrics have been filling my mind most of the day today. If you know me very well, you know I struggle with worry and stress. These two things that I hate with every fiber of my being haunt me through the day. I get so caught up in what other people think and what other people are doing that I forget to realize that ultimately, if God is happy with me, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. I am a person that thrives on fellowship. I put my heart out there in hopes that I can help somebody. Being in the ministry has allowed me to pour my heart into some great people, but as many have found, some will turn around and stab you in the back. I don't know why, but I find myself in these positions so many times. I let the words people say to or about me, the way they treat me, or the attitude they have about me affect my life SO much. There have been times recently where I've just stopped and thought, "how could they do this to me!? This hurts so badly." But, I have to stop and realize that this must be a little taste of how Jesus feels. I have to daily ask his forgiveness for human mistakes I make. Thank you Lord that you said, "where sin abounds, grace much more abounds." No matter how much people hurt me, I want to be like Jesus and extend grace and mercy to them. Nothing I have done merits God's favor, but he gives it to me anyway. When I ask his forgiveness, he buries my sins in a sea, and never remembers them against me anymore!

So have you found yourself in a situation that is just totally out of your control? Don't make the same mistake I have made over and over, and try to take matters into your own hands. FIRST, you must give it to God. Let him handle everything! When you lay your burden on the altar, you get up with an overwhelming peace in the midst of a storm. When people hurt you, literally give them to the Lord. Allow him to change their hearts, and yours in the process. Doc Sandlin used to say, " It's impossible not to love someone you're praying for." Don't try to be the master of your situations anymore. Give it to God, then ask yourself.... " Is anything too hard for God?"

Outside the Lines

2011-09-19T17:58:00.001-07:00

If you have followed this blog for any length of time, we have gone on a musical rollercoaster. I grew up on a steady diet of southern gospel, until I was exposed to the wonderful world of Bob Jones music. When you have grown up on something, you tend to think that is the ONLY way to go, so, my choir teacher challenged me to study out what I believe and why. My study tended to be a little one sided in an extremely conservative direction. With study on the science behind music, the Bible behind music, and the very nature of music, I eliminated anything but ultra conservative “Bob Jones” music from my diet. This lasted for about a year. Finally, I REALLY began to study music and why I believed what I believed. This study brought me to a very simple conclusion. God is so far above cultural preference.

I have sat in services where conservative groups have sung and preached, and watched the spirit of God descend upon that place. I’ve been in services and at camps where southern gospel music was sung, and YOUNG people, not just old, have been touched and brought to the altar. I have also been part of a church where contemporary worship was played and sung, and that SAME GOD has moved in the congregation.

The ultra conservative deem any other kind of music “contemporary” and ungodly.

The SG crowd as a majority looks down on those who prefer the contemporary or conservative flavor.

The contemporary crowd arrogantly deems anything preceding them “irrelevant.”

I can honestly say I have lived in all three of those camps. I have studied their ways, watched their methods, and I have come to the conclusion that they are ALL wrong and right simultaneously. I love relaxing to the sound of well trained choir, and appreciating the beauty and talent it takes to perform a worship song as a mass group. I love the energy and drive that powers praise and worship music. It’s great for getting people on their feet and really focusing on the message of a song. Southern gospel is such a wide genre that it covers nearly every area of music. SG is just a cover label for most all Christian music. So, if you are one of those people who has ruled out an entire genre based on your own personal preference – you are wrong! Something only becomes irrelevant when we SAY it does. Time does not determine a song’s value. For instance, Happy birthday has been around for DECADES! When was the last time you were at a birthday party and they said, “we aren’t going to sing that song because it’s old and outdated?” NEVER! The new generation of pastors and church workers strive to get us to “think outside the box.” In doing so they mock the older generation and their way of doing things, when in actuality the NEW generation are JUST AS GUILTY of placing God in a box as the older generation. You are just as wrong to assume a NEW way of doing things is the only way, just as the older generation says the OLD way of doing things is the only way. Whether it is contemporary worship or the “contemporvant” worship style, these are just a new repackaged form of modern legalism, just as the older generation dogmatically stood on methods and preference instead of scripture.

God has called me to the area of full time music ministry. Whether its preaching to the people through song, or using songs to prepare hearts to receive the word, music is a much-needed ministry. God would not call someone to a field that was irrelevant. It may be a hard road to travel, but it is one I will take confidently as God leads the way. The rollercoaster has finally found its end. I have a direction and a goal, and they are God given.

Family

2011-09-07T21:31:00.000-07:00

This subject of "Family" has captivated my mind and study these past few weeks. Maybe eventually I'll take the time to pen some of the Biblical stuff, but for now I would just like to share some thoughts.

America's perspective on family is so marred by today's culture. With broken homes, divorce, and abandonment, not many kids today truly know what FAMILY really is. A dictionary would define family simply as a bond by blood that exists to provide the physical needs of a group of individuals. That just seems so cold and distant to me.

I come from a broken home, and even though I had some examples of what a family should look like, I just hadn't experienced it to the fullest. Growing up in and around the ministry has allowed me to watch as blood has turned on blood. Family member against family member. Husbands against wives. Parents against children. "Family units" that thrive on drama and oppression. That has just seemed to be the norm for alot of people through the years.

A family could be described as a group of people that accept and love you for you. Not always trying to change your personality, characteristics, and enjoyments. They support you because they recognize God has created you in that manner. A family watches out for its own. They help protect and ward off those who would cause harm. They seek the good and advancement of each other, and don't play them for their own personal gain. I'm learning that a family goes out of its way to demonstrate LOVE. Love isn't just a word that we should use flippantly. It's a passion that exhibits itself in ACTION. Not "love emotion," but rather "love INmotion." You do for each other without thought of reciprocation.

This is all pretty basic stuff, but some of it is totally new to me. I have recently been grafted in to a couple different families. People who are proud to claim me as part of their family unit. God has used them to bless me in ways I could never have dreamed of. Not just physically, but spiritually, and emotionally. I just sit in awe at this. I have never really even begun to understand the concept of unconditional love until this year.

To my dads (you know who you are), thank you for teaching me, defending me, supporting me, and loving me. Without your advice I wouldn't be where I am today. You have totally changed my life and I don't express enough how grateful I am for you.

To my moms, (you especially know who you are ;) ... Thank you so much for your prayers, motherly advice and care. I have truly been touched and blessed by the way you treat me. With families of your own, you still take so much time to make me feel like a son, and I love you for that. Some of the things you do, say, and ask, still shock me...Just be patient as I continue to adjust and learn.

To my brothers and sisters, y'all are amazing. I'm so proud to be "big brother" to some of the most talented and godly kids out there.

I AM SOOOO BLESSED! I could never repay you all for the way you've treated me, but I pray God allows me to be a blessing to you on multiple levels, and that he greatly rewards you for your investment in my life. I LOVE YOU!

Roadblocks

2011-08-05T18:52:00.001-07:00

As we open to the seventh chapter of Matthew, we find ourselves in the middle of some very familiar verses. Verses 13 and 14 relate the Christian walk to a journey. God gives us instructions as to which path to take. One phrase in particular catches my eye, but not in a good way. Broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there be that find it. Why would so many chose the wrong path? Though popular opinion would suggest that the road to destruction is an easy, carefree road, it is NOT.

Consider this. If you were to chose the path of righteousness, beginning with the street of salvation, the road you will take will be rather easy. The road is always straight! The walls are always narrow. Though the road has some mountains that must be climbed and valleys that must be crossed, the Lord will always be there to drive for you.

Suppose today that you have ignored that path. You have chosen the broad path. Let me warn you of the roadblocks you will have to overcome. The first of which is the will of God. John 3:16 says, God is not willing that any should perish. In Matthew 7 we find the Righteous Judge saying, “depart.” As you chose the path that leads to destruction, realize that you are kicking aside the will of God. Don’t FORCE God’s hand, where he must say to you, “depart.”

The second roadblock that God has placed in your path is his very Son. When you chose the broad way, you smack the face of the compassionate, loving, and merciful Son of God. Jesus placed his very LIFE in the middle of the road to keep you from taking the wrong way. Will you kick the face of Jesus Christ?

As you have taken this road that will eventually ruin your eternity, you have also shoved aside the Holy Spirit. That gentle, comforting whisperer that so tenderly reminds you of God’s love. The loving Savior who stands at the gate to the road crying “the bridge is out!” Don’t selfishly drive passed him into an eternal lake of fire.

Finally, you find yourself pushing your way passed God’s linebacker, the preacher. Never take your preacher for granted. Love him. Help Him. Stand in the gap!

I would like to personally thank a few of God’s “linebackers” who have kept me from choosing the wrong path for my life: The preacher men in my family, Dr. Griffis, pastor Darryl Jones, and a select few that have taken specific interest in giving me good advice. Thank you all for taking the time to steer me in the right direction.

Branson GMR - Day 5

2011-07-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

   "It was the best of times. It was the..." Nah we can pretty much stop there. This week of GMR has been spectacular! The move to the Tri-Lakes Center was genius. Though the relocation did result in a smaller crowd, we needed this time to relearn how to do things. Planning for next year has already begun. Advertisements will increase. If you billboard it, they will come. The attitude and spirit of this year was drastically different with the "revival" approach instead of the "convention" approach. Honestly, we just had church each day.

   Friday morning, Bobby Carter of the Jay Stone Singers delivered a powerful word. The main idea of his talk was giving everything to the Lord. He used an illustration of a man taking off his shoes and stepping into the offering plate, giving himself to the Lord. If you were to scan the auditorium there was not a dry eye in the house. As the invitation was extended, every single artist and minister alike brought their all to the altar and gave it to the Lord.

   From chapel, I took my place in the rear sound room to prepare the projector slides, and sit patiently as hours worth of groups would sing. Later, Paige came to relieve me and I crossed paths with Shannon Bunch. If you've never met this guy, you are missing out. He has a heart for ministry, a dynamic personality, and killer piano skills. Until this time, we had never really sat down and talked much, so he invited me to hang out with him and his family for the day. I HAD A BLAST! It is not often in the ministry or "music industry" that you will meet people who are down to earth and actually REAL. I am proud to call Shannon and Melissa Bunch my friends. They also have the cutest little 2 year old daughter who followed me around for the rest of the day. She cried when I told her goodbye...talk about ripping your heart out. I am going to miss this family so much!

   The finale with the Branson family was energy packed, spirit-filled, and just plain FUN! After we had torn down our displays and product tables, we all met at Dino's 24 karrot cake for a time of fellowship. He actually opened his brand new restaurant a week early just so we could come! IT WAS AMAZING. I've never had cake or cookies that literally melted in your mouth. Red velvet, carrot, cinnamon, chocolate, and strawberry.....no words can describe this place. All I can say is you MUST try it!

   God is moving, and making changes. I am looking very much forward to seeing what he does, in my life, at the Branson GMR, and in the ministries of everyone who was present. We serve an awesome God!

Branson GMR - Day 4

2011-07-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

Day Four. Hump Day. This is the day that everyone feels like they've been working for months at the same place, but also dreading the end of such a wonderful time. From the time chapel started until the last song was sung, it was a fantastic day.

We kicked off the day with a "New Faces" segment. The young people from the groups were to perform without the rest of their groups. The name "new faces" is a little misleading. Nearly every young person who took the stage has been part of the ministry for years. They have experienced the bad and the good, and watched God take their ministries from small, local things to nationally recognized ministries. Young people like fast music that gets people excited and clapping. I listened as they each took the stage and delivered powerful, up-tempo music. As Kenny Bishop introduced me, and the applause subsided, I sat down at the piano. I would have loved nothing more than to play a flashy song filled with runs and frills, but I just couldn't. God had one song on my mind. Tears filled my eyes, and my breath was limited as I sang, "He's Been Faithful." I'm sure it was flat, and elementary in comparison to the big bands of others...but I know one thing for sure. God received the glory.

It was my birthday. Julie bought a cake and I was able to celebrate with so many of my dear friends in the ministry. Darlene felt it was necessary to purchase two more cakes...so many of the fans were able to enjoy as well. :)

Truly, the highlight of my day was sitting and discussing ministry with Jeff and Sue Duffield. These two have grown to be two of my dear friends, mentors, and heroes. If I never take the main stage at NQC, if I never make the cover of another magazine, if my name is never listed in the SGM hall of fame, I don't care. I want to have a ministry like these two. I want to leave a legacy, not of talent, but of heart. I believe the advice they gave me was life changing. I love them dearly, and I hope that God allows me to work side by side with them for years.

Branson GMR - Day 3

2011-06-29T23:33:00.000-07:00

   Day three begins center stage, with the spotlight shining down on Sue Duffield. If you have never heard her speak, you haven't lived. God spoke through this wonderful woman and it was exactly what I needed. If I had ten pages, I could not express the blessing and word that God gave me this morning. With the attack that the enemy launched against me yesterday, I needed the encouragement. I thank God that he knows what I need right when I need it.

   Here in Branson, the spotlight is on the message. It didn't matter what level of professionalism each group had, their goal was to encourage one another through song and testimony. I watched as people prayed, cried, and worked side by side to help one another. Though the enemy attacked and worked all day long and tried to discourage the leadership, all in all God received the glory for an awesome day with him. The Shireys sang another segment this morning, and I believe they sounded as good as I've ever heard them. (They do have a killer piano player. LOL )

   My day was filled with encouragement from the Lord. Sue delivered a powerful devotion. Jeff and Shannon took time to sit and encourage me and show me ways that I can improve. Then, to top it all off, I was privileged to sit and talk for over an hour with Jimmy McMillan. (McMillan & Life) This man of God is one who I am privileged to call "friend." Things that I had been struggling with and debating in my mind were cleared up with the advice from someone who's been there and done that. I am SO ready for tomorrow! Not only am I singing and playing some solo stuff in the morning....it just so happens to be my BIRTHDAY! You need to come be a part of the Branson GMR.

Branson GMR - Day 2

2011-06-28T23:49:00.000-07:00

   Today was the first full day of the Branson GMR. The early concerts were amazing. We had way more time to socialize and begin the family reunion. I got to be with some amazing people like Paige Burton, Stone and Emma Carter, and Jake Holder. You really don't have friends, if your friends aren't like these guys. I also got to spend a little time with one of my favorite couples, Jeff and Sue Duffield. Unfortunately, we had a no-show, and the emcee asked Victoria to do a surprise solo segment. I ran quickly to play. This was one of the best segments of the day. Though spontaneous, and unprepared, we worked great together with the help of Stone and Bro. Bobby Carter. God is good. Other than this wonderful speed bump, the morning moved effortlessly until the afternoon break.

   The enemy was certainly NOT happy with what was taking place within the walls of the Tri-Lakes Church. Revival truly did continue and the spirit filled the house. I don't know how every other group was, but satan started attacking mine. The devil will use just about anything and anybody to bring discord and discouragement. If he knows one thing, he knows that a group will crumble if you attack it from within. It only takes ONE Jonah's pride to take the ship through the storm. As a helpless crew member, I watched as the waves began to beat the side of my ship. I would be lying if thoughts of jumping didn't pass through my mind...it seemed the storm would never end. In the end, the storms wouldn't come if Jonah would let God have his way instead of trying to control everything themselves. Desperately, I made my way to the front row to listen and try to lose myself in the music of others.

   I find myself now hearing the JayStone Singers saying, "It's o.k. to feel the way you do, he knows about your pain. Even though you feel like giving up, have faith, just wait." The McMillans sang, "Don't let this storm go to waste." Even though the storm winds continue to blow, and the sailing is rough, I'll wait on the Lord. God has been so good to me. Someone made the statement, "unless you have experienced, or are willing to experience the lyrics to a song, DON'T SING IT!" Though I cannot list every song that flooded my mind, I will tell you that "through it all, God's been good." No matter who has turned their back on me, "I have found a friend in Jesus," and "he loves me like I was his only child." I tasted a bit more of that Revival Rain.

   Thank you Rod and Kelly, Jimmy and Liz, Bobby and Sharona, and all the other people who made this revival possible. I NEED THIS! God isn't done yet, and I cannot wait to see what he will do next.

Branson GMR Day 1

2011-06-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

   God greatly blessed the Shireys Sunday morning and afternoon with two wonderful concerts. God's spirit was so evident. One pastor had canceled on us that evening and a few group members just weren't sure what they were going to do. We just prayed that God would provide, and like he always does, he provided an unexpected, last minute place for Sunday afternoon. Due to other circumstances, we did not get on the road until 12:00 AM Monday morning.

   Hours of travel brought us to the wonderful city of Branson around 6:00 PM Monday evening. Victoria, Rachael, and I quickly showered and headed out to the Tri-Lakes Conference Center for what we thought would be a simple preliminary artist meeting. We were SO wrong. As I entered the auditorium, I could sense the presence of the Lord. The Branson GMR is no ordinary convention. It is a REVIVAL. People began to praise and be blessed as Sue Duffield led worship. I watched as people gave their burdens to the Lord, and tears of relief fell down their face. I watched as people who work day after day to be a blessing to people were able to sing, not to be a blessing, but to receive a blessing. You see, this revival is a family reunion and time of refreshment for the ministers. The audience is very blessed to get to watch.

   It is so easy to become a dried up Christian when you are in the ministry. It seems as you minister to the hurting, thirsty people in our churches today, they pull every amount of moisture from your soul. We don't get to sit in services on Sunday and be ministered to. It is rare that we have people call just to check up on and encourage us. Here in Branson, the clouds of blessing have moved in. God has opened the windows of heaven to poor out a blessing. Revival Rain has already begun to fall. God, please give us a blessing that we cannot contain. The question remains, will you hide in a building while the blessings fall, or will you come dance with us in the rain?

New Direction

2011-05-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

   Popular, though inaccurate, opinion is that servants in ministry do nothing but talk on the phone, and work on Sundays and sometimes Wednesday nights. If this were the case I would have shared each step of my journey as it came to me. However, since I have been super busy over these last couple months, I'll just try and give it all to you in one post. Ready? ....... Ok here goes....

   As many of you know, I was living in Indianapolis prior to May of last year while attending Colonial Christian School, and serving as "music pastor" in every sense of the word at Faith Baptist. God had been working on my heart about being full time in ministry, and opened the door for me to be part of my dad's ministry. (Groves Family Ministries) The emotional and spiritual growth that I experienced here were incredible. I am so thankful that God placed me in that ministry. Late December 2010 God began to stir in my heart once again. My gut reaction was to resist because of the negative connotation that goes along with "ministry hoppers." God pushed and worked in my heart, and I still wasn't quite sure what he was telling me. If you were to ask my close mentors, they would tell you I surrendered to every ministry you could possibly think of and more. The problem was, I was basing my decisions off of convenience and the opinions of others. My pastor challenged me to "minimize me, and maximize Jesus." "Take time to pray and then wait on God."

   WAITING....is the hardest thing in the world, but it pays. No matter what has gone on in my life, my source of praise has always been music. I love to preach, I love to encourage, and I love to praise, and the only way possible to accomplish all these things at once was my main calling: music. So, I loaded up on a greyhound bus for myrtle beach. There I was part of the Singing In The Sun for an entire week. Here, several of my musical heroes, took time to encourage me and counsel me on how to take the next step. Though several doors had been open to me before, I just couldn't get peace about any of them. Before the end of the SITS week, an old friend, Victoria Shirey, came for a visit. While we were talking she made mention that her family group was looking for a piano player. Talk about instant excitement...I couldn't tell you how or why, but I knew this was the one. She invited me for a two week trial tour, and before the end of the second week, they invited me to be a full time part of their ministry.

   I am extremely excited about what God has for me and the Shireys in the years to come. So, what's next? Among our ministry to the churches across America, we will be part of the Branson Gospel Music Revival, the National Quartet Convention, and various cruises singing with many of our dear friends. Someone said, "well you're just living the dream now aren't ya?!" Well....our bus is dead so we are traveling in a small SUV pulling a trailer. Churches don't always know how to support a ministry. But, despite these things, we are having the time of our lives serving the Lord. I'm going to be changing the blog over to a new URL soon, so stay tuned! Keep track of our ministry at www.theshireysministries.com

Which Way To Stand

2011-04-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

This portion of scripture, found in Psalm 1, is extremely familiar to the majority of believers. When I was in school, we were required to memorize the entire chapter in 3^rd grade. When I would come across the phrase, “standeth in the way…” I always pictured something in my mind that was quite different than the actual meaning. When we think of someone getting in the way, we often picture someone blocking a door, or becoming an obstacle in the path that we are trying to take. When you really stop and consider this verse, that definition does not fit at all. The word “way” or “Derek” actually means a method, style, or manner of doing something . Literally this verse tells us not to act like the sinner. Today I would like to show you just a few things about the way a sinner stands, and then conclude with the way in which YOU should stand.

Mark 3:24-25 tells us that a kingdom or a house divided against itself cannot stand. This principle is found in multiple portions of scripture such as “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways,” and “ can two walk together except they be agreed.” The sinner has a stand that is DIVIDED. Because of the division in thought and motive, the sinner will never accomplish anything for the Lord. We can only move in one direction at a time, so decide today whether you will serve the Lord, or seek to please yourself. You cannot do both.

God commands that we not stand in the way of sinners because it is a stand that is DOOMED. In order to live this blessed life that is referred to in Psalm 1, your stand must be on the Jesus, the rock of ages. Psalm 20 tells us in verse 7 and 8 that those who trust in chariots and horses will be brought down, but those who trust in the Lord will stand and not be brought down. I Corinthians 2:5 says your faith cannot stand in the wisdom of men, but ONLY in the power of God. Standing in the way of sinners means standing on ground that is not solid. Just like the foolish man in Christ’s parable, when the storms come, you will be destroyed. The only way to live is to stand fast in the Lord. I Thessalonians 3:8

You may be asking yourself, how do I KNOW where to stand. Look simply to the STAND DIRECTIVE that is given in Ephesians 6. If you ever watched an episode of Star Trek you heard the term “Prime Directive” at least once. This was the most prominent guiding principle to every decision that they made. Our Stand Directive is Ephesians 6:11 “put on the whole amour of God that ye may be able to STAND…” 13 “…and having done all to stand. 14 STAND therefore…” When you put on the armor of God, your stand is clearly identified by anyone as one that is with the Lord. Our master and commander demands that we put on our identification and protection which will enable us to STAND.

Diamond Awards

2011-04-13T12:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

We have been extremely blessed, not only to have been nominated for two Diamond Awards, but also to make it into the top ten and second round of voting. We still need your help! Take a moment to visit SGN SCOOPS/ and be sure to vote JON SAW as your favorite duet and vote Jon Groves, 2 as your favorite musician! We don't have much time so go vote now! Thank you so much for affording us this opportunity. We could not have made it this far without you! Take a moment and post that link on facebook and invite your friends to vote for us as well! See you at the Diamond Awards!

Jon Groves, II

Hithpael Change

2011-03-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 24:21 says,"My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: [and] meddle not with them that are given to change:" (KJV)

   As we dissect this verse it is important to define a few of the words. The verse tells us to fear God and meddle not or busy oneself unduly with something that is not one's concern with them that are given to change. Many preachers have taken this word "change" our of context. I have heard them preach, "You shouldn't fellowship with people who want to change stuff! Bless God we're gonna do everything the same way we've always done it (spit on crowd) Bless God Amen (insert deep breath.) That is not AT ALL what this word means or what this text implies. The word "change" in this verse is originally the word "Hithpael" meaning "to disguise oneself." The writer advises us not to involve ourselves with them that are given to disguising themselves.

   There are many ways to disguise who you are. In my high school there was a teacher named Mr. Jones. He had a way of finding out and noticing if you were not following the dress code to the letter. There were certain students that Mr. Jones liked in particular, and those students knew it and used that to their advantage. Mr. Jones always happened to be walking down the hallway toward his office as the high school students would be heading up that hallway for lunch. Upon spotting Mr. Jones is was not uncommon for students to suddenly realize, "OH NO I forgot to wear a belt!" or " HOW IN THE WORLD did my shirt get untucked!?" If you were one of those guys you then walked right next to one of Mr. Jones favorite students. This somehow placed an invisible shield around your dress code violation and you were safe. You disguised yourself by hiding behind the character of others.

   It is this kind of disguise that I find is most common in our world today. Christians realize that they are severely lacking in their walk with God, and they look for a quick fix to just get by. The way they do this is by surrounding themselves with people they feel will hide their issues. How do we do this? Well, we go to church. In fact, we sing in the choir. We play on the worship team. We go out with everyone on visitation. We work on the bus route. We cook food for the church fellowships. We are on every committee possible. We make it a point to speak with the pastor every week. We mention church folks in our facebook statuses. These are not bad things. The problem comes when we examine our motive for doing these things. Do you genuinely have a concern for the things and people of God, or do you do what you do so that you can name drop in conversation hoping that people will see some sort of spirituality in your life? When you spot the pastor in the store do you try to hide? Would you be ashamed to be openly identified as a Christian? Has someone ever walked up to you and said, "Hey man I didn't know you went to church!?" Are YOU one of those people who is attempting to fear God but disguise yourself as the world? It just isn't possible to manage both.

   Dear Christian, if you are genuinely close to the Lord, it is so much easier to spot those who are fake. Pray for those people. Encourage and Edify them, but do not allow yourself to get caught up with them lest you become one of them."My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: [and] meddle not with them that are given to change:"

Blessings

2011-03-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

This isn't extremely spiritual, just something cool I wanted to share with y'all.

Sunday we started a missions conference at a church in Palm Bay. After the service, a man walked up to me and said, "Jon what can I do for you this week?" I don't believe that anyone has ever asked me that question! It blew me away. Normally, I would've replied something like, "I could really use an iPad. . ." or something to that effect, I could tell that he was being totally sincere! Nothing really came to mind, so I simply said, "you can pray for me this week." He paused and said, "I'm already doing that. I want to know what I can DO for you this week." So, I replied, "I honestly don't know. What can you do?" He said, "I tell you what. I'm going to go ahead and bring my truck by tomorrow and you can use it for the rest of the time you are here. I'll leave you the key. That way you can get around on your own. I'm sure it's probably hard for an adult like you to always be riding around in a small car especially with the little guys."

I think it is amazing how God sends things our way when we need them. If you know me very well then you know I am OCD. I like for things to have a place and be in that place. You also know that I like space. I have to have a certain amount of privacy in the morning in order to focus in my devotions, and space at night in order to wind down and empty my head. So as you can imagine, me currently living in a prevost bus is quite entertaining. =) I'm just so thankful that God laid it on that man's heart to do something for me. I even got to take MY blessing and share it with the fam when we all went out together. God has done some pretty amazing things for me in my time here at the GFM. I cannot wait to see how he will provide for all my needs in the future.

Camp Victory

2011-03-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

When you get the chance, take a look at the camp's blog page!
Visit www.campvictoryky.blogspot.com

Make sure and share it with your friends!!!

What Kind of Light?

2011-02-21T09:43:00.000-08:00

   "You are the light of the world.." This position and responsibility is placed on you at the very moment of salvation. Everything about you changes, because you are filled with a new entity. No matter how dark it gets, a true believer will always put out some form of light that will differ from the worlds. You ARE the light of the world.

   As you drive around your city, or even walk around your house, you will notice that not every light is the same. Some are brighter than others. Some put out more heat. Some merely put out a small glow. Not too long ago, the city of Indianapolis decided to replace some traffic lights in the downtown area with more "energy efficient" LED lights. As the winter season hit hard, the snow fell and and ice covered the traffic lights. Because they were LED they did not put out the heat it took to melt away the snow, rendering them useless and invisible. The city then had to install heaters, which ended up using more energy than the original bulbs that worked just fine. Similarly, my church was doing some stage and lighting changes. They replaced all the stage lights with LED's. It did not take them very long to realize that while LED's seemed bright, they do not put out the same kind of light as a regular bulb. The colors were pretty, but it just was not bright enough.

   As we examine Christians as lights, we will no doubt find these different kinds. My fear is that all too often, believers find themselves being LED lights. YES, they do put out light into darkness. YES, they look pretty in all their different colors. But when the storms hit, they don't put out any real heat. It is then that they try to plug into a heater to keep the cold away, and pretty much suck more energy from others than they are worth. Are you a LED Christian? I want to be a 300Volt incandescent bulb. One that could be a spotlight on Jesus. A light that has to be plugged into the main power source in order to function. We have a never ending power source! We do not have to worry about being energy efficient. The more we draw from Jesus, the more we put out. I want my light to get so hot that no matter what falls on me, it will melt away.

   Examine yourself today. Are you a light that is bright so long as th weather is right? Do you have to suck the power from other people in order to stay warm or even visible? Can you honestly say you are powered by Jesus? You are the light of the world, but what kind of light are you?

update

2011-02-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

   I am SO SORRY for how long it has been since I have posted. January and February have been fun so far. I have been able to experience some cool things like Busch Gardens and Disney World which were definitely exciting! Since January I have been privileged to preach at a couple churches which has been a blessing. While in a camp meeting last week, God crossed my path with an AMAZING piano player. He took the time to give me a few pointers, and allowed me to work right beside him the entire week. I really learned quite a bit from him.

   One of the most awesome things about being on the road is making new friends. God blessed us with some great friends in Palmetto. He gave me the opportunity to be a blessing in the lives of some new friends in Tampa. Then, he gave me some amazing new friends this past week as well. It is so amazing how when you lose a few, God always replaces them with not only MORE but BETTER friends than you had before.

   I have a few prayer requests for you all. God did provide that we go to the dentist. The boys LOVED it! They made friends with the dentist and nurses, enjoyed the process, asked questions, wore the glasses, and can't wait to go back. . . . they are SO not related to me right now. :) Though this was a "great" and needed time, we are waiting on God to provide some additional funds for extra work that each of us need.

   I recently became aware of a piano curriculum produced by our friend, Tim Parton. I would VERY MUCH like to take this course! If you would like to check it out you can visit his website at http://timparton.com/about.aspx

   As always, be in prayer for the future. Pray that God guides and directs each and every one of our decisions. It is our goal to live and serve to please the Lord. I cannot wait to see what God has in his plan for my life.

Jon Groves

Opportunity. Passion. Future.

2011-01-30T21:43:00.000-08:00

You Should Feel Small!

2011-01-27T08:51:00.000-08:00

So far, in our study on confidence we have seen firstly that our confidence, and self worth should be placed in God. We will gain true confidence from God, rather than temporal things. Scripture also reminds us that our Heavenly Father cares for us, making the feeling of insignificance, obsolete. We should never question our self-worth because God has deemed our existence important to him. When we look at ourselves we can KNOW that we are important to God, but when we look back at him there is a contrasting feeling that we must develop.

Psalm 8:4 says What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? The confidence that God will give us is a proper balance between insignificance and self-importance. While it is wrong for us to believe we are worthless, it is also wrong for us to base our importance on our own merit. When we place ourselves at the center of the universe, we replace God, and push him out completely.

It is humanly impossible for us to totally conceive the greatness and power of our Creator. We could never begin to imagine the holiness and righteousness of God. Comparing ourselves with the Father is like holding a nightlight to the sun…Impossible. A feeling of “smallness” is not only o.k., it is appropriate and necessary. Give Him the glory for what He has done in your life. Take off every crown of glory, realizing that they are all God-given, and cast them at the Savior’s feet.

confidence series: Day 3

Confidence vs. Insignificance

2011-01-24T17:42:00.003-08:00

Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

One of the largest opponents of confidence is the feeling of insignificance. The feeling of worthlessness does not take much work or effort to obtain. Negative comments from others fill our minds causing us to feel unimportant. We dwell so much on the opinions of others that we begin to believe them ourselves. Why do we allow ourselves to become so disheartened by the unimportant opinions and comments of others? That is no mindset for a Christian to have.

In the passage we see that our Heavenly Father knows everything about us, down to the very hairs on our head! (For some that might not be as big of a feat.) He notices and cares for every bird. How could he care for these and not notice you? You are of more value to God than the birds! The feeling of insignificance that you may be facing is completely insignificant! The God of the universe thinks YOU are special and it does not matter what anyone else thinks!

This challenge is two-fold. First, do not be the one who plants the seeds of discouragement in someone’s mind. Be the one who encourages your brother and lifts him up! Secondly, because we know that the Almighty God values our life, let us not allow the feeling of insignificance to overtake our minds. You are important to God. Insignificance, is insignificant.

A Question of Confidence

2011-01-22T09:52:00.000-08:00

Dear Reader,

These next few days we will be developing a series on "confidence." We will see how to base our self-esteem in God rather than in fleshly things.

Romans 8:37-39 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John Sargent, an American painter once painted a picture that the critics loved. Though it was just a small panel of roses, many have said it neared perfection. Time and again John was offered large amounts of money for his masterpiece, but he refused to sell it. He considered this picture to be his best work ever. When his confidence would lack and his ability seemed nonexistent, he would look on the roses and remind himself, “I painted that.” This simple reminder replenished the confidence that empowered him to complete numerous works of art.

Society today tells us that we must be confident in ourselves in order to advance. All to often we build our self-esteem and confidence on physical things such as clothes, cosmetics, and commodities instead of grounding it in Christ. You do not have to have the designer clothes, the expensive car, or the strongest arms to have confidence and self-worth.

Romans 8:37 tells us that we are MORE than conquerors THROUGH him that loves us. Scripture reminds us in verses 38 and 39 that nothing can separate us from God’s love. Place your confidence in Christ. John Sargent looked to the past that he might move into the future. When you begin to feel like you are worth nothing, just go back to the moment Jesus saved you. Look back to every prayer that God has answered. The artist who created the world is the same artist who created you, and continues to draw you to perfection if you give him control of your canvas. Today you can be a confident conqueror. All you must do is place your confidence in Christ. He never fails.

JUST DO IT! ... Luke 5:27

2010-12-27T08:06:00.000-08:00

   As Christians we like to classify people as either "saved" or "unsaved." While there are other specific categories that God placed, the major over-all ones are saved and unsaved. However, the Jews and specifically the Pharisees had some other ideas on that topic. As you read through the New Testament, specifically the gospels you will find the pharisees refer to people as "publicans and sinners." The word publican means tax collector. These publicans were so despised that they weren't placed in the same sinners category as the prostitutes, murderers, and thieves. They had a category all to their own: TAX COLLECTORS. These publicans had purchased the right from the Roman empire to tax an area for the empire. They profited by stealing from their own people. They weren't just sinners....they were TAX COLLECTORS!

   Here in Luke 5:27 it says, "After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, "Follow me." Jesus did not ask him to change anything. He took him to a place where he felt comfortable. So in verse 29 we find Jesus sitting at a party with Levi and his friends! Levi did not immediately invite a bunch of church people over. . . he had people who liked him and his kind of parties there. Levi changed to Matthew when God convicted him of his ways.

   I grew up in one of those KJV thumping, judgmental, legalistic churches. People who were not "churched" already HATED being in the services there and around their people. The reason why they cannot and will not reach people is because of their lack of love and outreach effort to reach their community and generation. I remember the church secretary telling me that me dating a girl who wore pants was no different than dating a lost girl. When people did not live by the same "standards" as they did, they claimed that they could not fellowship with them. Not even over dinner! When a lady missed a Wednesday night service because of her job as a NURSE. . . they put her on the "closer walk with God" prayer list. Their set of rules are NOT convictions or Bible principles. They are personal preferences which have brought it from a thriving body to a suffering forty. JESUS IS NOT LIKE THAT! We see him here AT A PARTY with sinners and tax collectors! The pharisees (A.K.A. typical Baptist) is wondering "why isn't he eating with us???) Jesus has not asked us to change our dress standards, music, personal tastes, and friends when we get saved. Yes, those things will change in time as we grow closer to God. Maybe you grew up in a church just like mine. Don't let their ignorance keep you from God. Beginning the Christian experience is totally SIMPLISTIC! The first step you must take is to just FOLLOW JESUS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-24T07:24:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

I hope that each of you has a spectacular Christmas season. As cliché as it sounds, the fact remains true that Jesus is the Reason for the Season. This is a time of celebration and remembrance of our Savior's birth. HOWEVER Psalm 37 says, "Delight yourself ALSO in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Take time to ENJOY your family, the gifts under the tree, the excellent food, and all the other wonderful things about this time. Reach out and touch someone's life. Show them the gift that will last an eternity.

Merry Christmas,

Jon Groves

Empowered Vision

Finding a New Focus...I Timothy 4

2010-12-17T14:57:00.001-08:00

Can you remember back to when you were a little kid? Remember all those times you wanted to do stuff with the grown ups, but it always seemed you heard your parents say, “you are too little for that”? We waited in anticipation for those checkpoint ages like 13 when we could do more things. The Christian life is the exact opposite in that respect. I Timothy 4:12 says, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”

It does not matter how young of a Christian you are. You can have just as great an impact on people’s life as the Christian who has been saved for twenty years. Let no man despise thy youth. REFUSE to let people look down on you for your age. Be an example of the believers in EVERYTHING you do. Christians have allowed myths such as “you have to be a certain age to serve God” affect their lives. What myths have you allowed to sway you from serving God? Psalm 37 says “Delight thyself ALSO in the Lord. . .” This means that we can enjoy the things that teens are supposed to enjoy. DO NOT let people tell you that you must act like an old Christian! ACT YOUR AGE! Yes, we can enjoy the appropriate fun things in life, but at the same time I Timothy 4:15 says, “give yourself wholly to them. . .” Give just as much, if not more enthusiasm and energy to the things of God as you do the things of this world.

Examine yourself right now. What percentage of your time do you spend on school, texting, talking, sports, video games, television, and the Internet? Now compare those percentages to the amount of time you spend at church, reading your Bible, praying, and telling others about Jesus. What do those numbers tell you about your focus? How can you make that change? By being an example of the believers, or taking more time to walk with God. When people walk with God, others can see it! Over the past few weeks we have seen how God can rewrite our logline. We learned that we must step out of our comfort zones to serve God. We saw that learning to listen will not only change our lives, but also the lives of others. All of these have led us to redirect our focus from the things of this world to the things of God. Are you living a life that is focused on Jesus? Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers! Where is your focus?

Acts 2/DAY FIVE/ LIFE

2010-12-14T16:34:00.000-08:00

Life always attracts people. When you see a group of people standing around laughing in the hallway at school, you tend to stop and see what is so funny. When you see a group of people who always seem to have fun, you want to be part of it. As humans, we have a natural desire to have friends and to be around lively things. The coolest parties always attract people. The most fun places are always packed. So next week at church, scoot over and make room for more!

Could you really describe your youth group as something cool that people want to be a part of? Acts 2:47 says, “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” The early church was having a blast praising God. In fact, they had so much fun that people liked them and new people started joining in every day! Is THAT like your youth group? If not, it could be! When was the last time you told someone how EXCITED you were about being saved? How long ago was it that you told your friends how awesome your youth group was and tried to get them to come? The best way to grow your youth group is to get in and get active. Learning and growing in the Lord with others will impact you for the rest of your life.

A professor at Berkeley did a study on the affect that good friendships have on mortality and disease rates. He connected the close social, cultural, and traditional ties to the country’s being number one in health. The more the social ties, the better the health and lower the death rate. Conversely, the more isolated the person, the poorer the health and the higher the death rate. God designed us to be networked. No better web of friends than that which can be found at church. Think of those who have not discovered God’s love. What do you think might happen to them if they never come to know Christ as Savior and Healer? What can you say or do for someone to change their life today? Your community is not just for your select group of friends. It is designed for EVERYONE, because no one should live without God. You have the opportunity to reach the hurting and the lonely. Is your group prepared and ready to help bring them in?

Acts 2/ DAY THREE/ Reach Out

2010-12-14T16:33:00.004-08:00

“When God's work is done in God's way for God's glory, it will never lack God's supply.” J. Hudson Taylor

In Matthew, Mark, and Luke 1 out of every 6 verses deals with money. Of the 29 parables Christ told, 16 deal with a person and his money. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible talks about giving. What is giving? It is a sacrifice of ones possession for the benefit of another. If you are giving what you do not need, it is not giving. Why do we give? God has commanded that we give him 10% of the things he has entrusted us with. Does that just mean money? NO! It means ten percent of YOU, whether it be your time, talents, or money. God judges what you give by what you keep.

In Acts 2:44-45 the Christians are selling their earthly possessions and giving to those who had a need. They came to the realization that their time and material things were for a bigger purpose. It was not just one or two people that were supplying the need; it was the group as a whole! Because they gave, God supplied their needs.

What would be the hardest thing for you to give up? Realize that God is the giver of everything you have. Your gifts and talents are for HIS glory. If God decided to repurpose them, would you let him? Would you sacrifice of yourself to help someone else? God always takes our sacrificial gifts and multiplies them. He then supplies us with more than we gave to begin with. God is not asking that we live in a cardboard box and give up everything so that someone else can have it. He is asking that we reach out to touch someone’s life. Let God direct your giving so that he can supply your blessing.

Acts 2/ DAY FOUR/ Hang Out With Jesus

2010-12-14T16:33:00.003-08:00

Former pro basketball star Bill Bradley tells that at the age of 15 he attended a summer basketball camp that was run by Easy Ed Macauley, a former college and pro star. "Just remember that if you're not working at your game to the utmost of your ability, there will be someone out there somewhere with equal ability who will be working to the utmost of his ability. And one day you'll play each other, and he'll have the advantage." -Daily Bread

The early church met together every single day. When they were not gathered as a whole, they formed small groups in people’s houses. In essence, they were hanging out with God everyday. (“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”) Why do you suppose they met everyday? Their commitment and passion for God spurred their meeting. Because they committed their time, attention, and resources to God, their heart was in it also. (“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”) This church was 100% devoted to God, and this devotion brought about happiness. Acts 2:46 tells us they had gladness and singleness of heart! They shared a common Jesus, which produced a common Joy.

How devoted are you to God? Relationships are built on 100% devotion. A wife that is only 85% devoted to her husband is not devoted at all. God is asking for ALL of you. If you really love someone, then you have a desire to be with them. The same goes for God. If you truly love him, you will desire to “hang out” with him. He has given us opportunity after opportunity to do this, whether through prayer, Bible reading, or being part of the fellowship of believers. What can you do to be with God more? How can you improve the quantity and quality of your time with him? Satan is dedicated to getting you off track in your life. If you are not developing a relationship with Christ, you make yourself that much more vulnerable to the attacks of the devil. Make it a daily goal to spend more time with Jesus. How tight are you?

Acts2 DAY 2 > Influence

2010-12-14T16:29:00.001-08:00

What goes in will eventually come out. This simple truth can be applied to every single area of life. You cannot throw a random variety of items into a blender and expect a fruit smoothie to come out. You cannot punch in a sequence of undecided numbers and expect the answer to your math problem to come out. Just like those things, you cannot feed garbage into your mind and expect that it will not manifest itself again in your actions and attitude. When we are around our family, we act like them and even talk like them. If you were to move to the lower regions of Alabama for a while and then return home, you would notice a change in your dialect. What goes in will eventually come out.

The desire of the church in Acts 2 was to grow. In order for something to grow, it has to be fed. When we look into the chapter, we do not find the church member going to psychologists, peers, or Dr. Phil. Instead, we find them filling themselves with the philosophy and fellowship of the apostles. The believers were together and had all things in common.

As twenty-first century Christians, we also desire to grow. In order for that to happen, we must facilitate growth. Do not allow yourself to feed off the rumors and opinions of the world around you. Saturate your mind with the principles of God’s Word. The early church sat at the feet of the apostles. Each of you knows someone who clearly has a relationship with God. You KNOW someone who knows the Bible. The challenge put before you today is simple. Make time to be around those people. Many of you have godly parents you can look to. But, if you don’t, make time to talk with Padre, Andy, Marla, Brian, Charlotte, and countless others that God has placed in your path to help you grow. The world tries to influence you every day. How will you make time to be around a godly influence? What goes in will eventually come out. What are you allowing to influence you today?

Acts 2:47-42 . . . Focus

2010-12-11T13:48:00.000-08:00

A weakness of all human beings, " Henry Ford said, "is trying to do too many things at once. That scatters effort and destroys direction. It makes for haste, and haste makes waste. So we do things all the wrong ways possible before we come to the right one. Then we think it is the best way because it works, and it was the only way left that we could see. Every now and then I wake up in the morning headed toward that finality, with a dozen things I want to do. I know I can't do them all at once." When asked what he did about that, Ford replied, "I go out and trot around the house. While I'm running off the excess energy that wants to do too much, my mind clears and I see what can be done and should be done first."

Travel with me in your imagination to around 2,000 years ago. It is time for church again today. We walk toward the gathering place where we find a large group of believers. Looking past the clothes and language barrier, do you notice anything different from your church? Look closely. We do not see different groups of people off by themselves. The teens are with the adults. The old are worshipping right along side the young. Thousands have gathered for church, and they are ALL together. Not only are they physically unified; they are also unified in a common focus. Acts 2:42-47 tells us that they developed this focus by devoting themselves to the apostles’ teachings, fellowshipping, giving to those who had needs, and praising God. Because they did these things, they grew! Verse 47 says that the Lord added to their number day by day. The early church had a common focus and a unified heart.

What are you devoted to? Can you think of a time where God has changed your heart or moved your focus? The early church participated in things to help them grow. They devoted themselves to serving God. They gave of themselves to help those who had needs. Something that is alive will grow and reproduce. Channel your focus and energy into things that will help you grow. If that is your heart, then God will provide you with the people and the places to help you grow. Check your focus? What are your goals?

Love the Unlovable . . . Luke 6:27-36

2010-12-10T14:23:00.001-08:00

Luke 6:27-36

In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, "Do not waste your time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbor act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less."

In Luke 6:27-36, the Lord makes reference to doing good to your enemies nearly twenty times. If you take a look at verse 35, it says to LOVE your enemies. God does not just command that we do/say nice things for people, He commands that we actually love. Love is having a concern for someone. Love is a commitment that we keep. Love is a choice that is made. John 3:16 says, “For God SO LOVED the world that he GAVE. . .” Regardless of what you have done to disgrace God’s name, he still gave His Son for you! People mocked, stripped, whipped, beat, scarred, and killed him. Still he loved.

Think of the worst thing that anyone has ever done to you. Now, with that in mind, compare it to the things they did to Jesus. Does it really compare? It's easy to love people who love us and are nice to us, but God tells us we also need to love the unlovable. Now remember, those people might never change. Just because you're nice to someone doesn't mean they will be nice to you, but God could use your kindness to plant a seed in that person's life. The best first step to take is to pray for them. You will find it hard to hate someone you are praying for. Who will you love today?

Philippians 2:3-4. . .Lowly Listen to Lead

2010-12-09T11:02:00.000-08:00

In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident. It wasn't a technology problem like radar malfunction--or even thick fog. The cause was human stubbornness. Each captain was aware of the other ship's presence nearby. Both could have steered clear, but according to news reports, neither captain wanted to give way to the other. Each was too proud to yield first. By the time they came to their senses, it was too late.

Philippians 2:3-4 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Jesus. King of kings. Lord of lords. Almighty. All-knowing. Creator and ruler of the universe. There are not enough words to describe just how great our God truly is. He is the only one with an absolute right to be prideful. Philippians 2 tells us he thought it NOT robbery to be EQUAL with God. He was God, yet he made himself of no reputation. He became a servant and humbled himself to the point of being put to death. Had it not been for his ultimate sacrifice we would never be able to approach God through prayer, much less enter the gates of heaven. Christ esteemed us or placed our good above his wellbeing. He did not “look on his own things,” rather he looked and saw a helpless people that needed a Savior.

If you were to look up the word “Christian” in the dictionary, you would find a italicized place that would read “see Christ.” That is the TRUE definition of Christian. When people look at us they should SEE CHRIST! We should seek to reflect Christ in every action and attitude. Christ gave up every single right he had just to save YOUR soul. Today, imitate Christ’s humility. Give up your right to be right. Your right to be treated a particular way. Listen closely to the needs of others. Have you ever stopped to realize that you may be the closest thing to Jesus that your friends and family ever see? How Jesus do they actually see in you? Listen to others that you might Lead them to Christ. Would you be like Christ?

Matthew 26:36-46 . . . Listening Heart

2010-12-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” (Dale Carnegie)

One dictionary sites empathy as “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” The basic idea behind empathy is felling another’s pain in your heart. The only person who has ever completely exemplified empathy is Jesus Christ. The one who had infinite knowledge and power still found time to weep, in John 11, for his friend. Look in Matthew 26:36-46 as Jesus asks Peter, James, and John to watch and pray with him. The word “watch” means give active attention to. With a heavy heart he pauses and looks back to find his disciples asleep after such a short time. It does not look like they gave much attention or prayer to the need of their Lord and friend. How do you suppose that made him feel?

Who do you go to when you need to pour out your heart? Imagine that you are sharing your problem with that person and they dozed off, or simply walked away. How would that make you feel? Pretty bad right?! So why is it that we turn a deaf ear to a world that is crying out for someone to just listen to their needs. James 1:17 says that when we know to do good, and we don’t do it, that it is sin. If you are a true friend, you can see someone’s heart right through the fake smile they put on. My challenge to you today is this: GO make someone’s day! Learn to empathize like our Savior. If you want to make a difference you must learn to do one thing. LISTEN!

Philippians 4:4 . . . LISTEN&REJOICE

2010-12-05T14:03:00.000-08:00

Buzz Canuck reports that the top twenty most contagious things in America today are the following: Colds/Flu, Applause, Opinions, Fashion, Measles, Fear, Gossip/Scandal, Stress, Negative Energy & Enthusiasm, Obesity, Yawning, Laughter, Smiling, Trends, Rhythm/Music Beat, Goodwill (toward man. . .not the store) Referrals, Violence/Litter, Depression/Suicide, and Memes/Idioms. If you were to divide the list of things into categories, you would find the majority of the contagious items are mental things. Happiness, Negativity, Laughter, Depression, and Opinions are ALL mental things that you pass along to the people that are around you.

Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I say REJOICE.” As we examine this word, rejoice, we discover that in the context of this verse it has TWO meanings. The first and most commonly used is, “to feel or show great delight.” Knowing this definition allows us to interpret the verse as a command to “be happy” in the Lord all the time. But, take a look at the second meaning of this word rejoice, “CAUSE to joy.” This verse is not just telling us to be happy in the Lord. It is a command to CAUSE OTHERS to be happy in the Lord.

We live in a world that is filled with jealousy and discontentment. It is not just hard to rejoice when others succeed, but we also have a hard time being content with the achievements we make. Our focus is on the things that we want and not on the things that God has already provided for us. As a Christian, you are either helping others toward Christ or hindering them. There is no gray area! Which category do you fall in? Evaluate your attitude today. Are you rejoicing in the Lord and causing others to joy or do you find yourself contaminating others with your contagious negativity. YOU are a carrier of either a disease or a cure today. If you will LISTEN to Jesus and Others, You will always find a way to have JOY. Rejoice in the Lord always!

I Samuel 16:7 . . . LISTEN

2010-12-04T11:10:00.000-08:00

Go with me in your imagination to a day about fifty years ago on the property of a Cadillac dealership. The employees all watch as a dirty and smelly bum walks on the property. How could a man like this afford an expensive car? All but one man decided they had “better” things to do than to talk with this man. The one tenderhearted salesman walked out to greet the bum. He asked, “sir, what can I do for you today?” The bum handed the man $40,000 cash and said, “ I would like these five cars.” That man’s name: Elvis Presley. Now, travel with me to Sunday morning at your church. The building is buzzing with excitement as people gather to fellowship and worship the Lord. You stand with a group of your friends in the rear of the auditorium. Suddenly, the door opens to a man whom you have never seen before. His stench fills the room and his clothes are less than adequate. He crawls to the altar and cries, “I need help! Would somebody help me!?” . . . WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

In Matthew 26 we see a woman pouring expensive ointment on Jesus. The disciples did not look on her motive. All they could do was judge by their own standard. The Bible says in I Samuel 16:7 “. . .for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” All too often we pass judgment on people before considering the heart of the matter. We neglect to realize that people’s actions can be based off of past hurts and experiences. Our attitude toward people can be skeptical because we make assumptions based on outward appearances.

The old saying, “you can’t judge a book by its cover” is so true. That’s not the most important part! What is on the inside actually tells the story. To truly have Christ-like love for someone we must learn how to open the pages of their life and listen to their story. Look beyond the cover of people’s lives because it may not represent their story at all. Instead, learn to ask questions that will help you learn their story. Lives can be changed by the simplest thing. . . Listening. Who’s life will you help change today?

James 1:19 . . . LISTEN

2010-12-03T11:32:00.001-08:00

How good a listener are you?  

1) Since you think about four times faster than a person usually talks, do you use this time to think about other things while you're keeping track of the conversation?  

2) Do you listen primarily for facts rather than ideas when someone is speaking?  

3) Do you avoid listening to things you feel will be too difficult to understand?  

4) Can you tell from a person's appearance and delivery that there won't be anything worthwhile said?  

5) When someone is talking to you do you appear to be paying attention when you're not? 6) Do certain words and phrases prejudice you so you cannot listen objectively?  

7) When listening are you distracted by outside sights and sounds?

(Leadership, Vol.1, No. 4, p. 99.)

As you asked yourself the questions above, how did you rate? Is it hard for you to listen to others, and for others to speak to you? James 1:19 commands us to be quick to HEAR, SLOW to speak, and slow to anger. Jim Reapsome reported in Homemade that when teenaged criminals in San Francisco were asked what they needed most they unanimously replied with a statement similar to this: "What I needed most was someone to listen to me. Someone who cared enough to listen to me." It is no accident that Scripture says, “confess your faults one to another,” and “without counsel plans fail.” God wants us to seek good advice when we need help.

The best conversations result from someone knowing how to ask the right questions and then just listening. Jesus took time, over and over in the Bible to listen to the problems of others. Whether big or small he treated them all the same. God asks us to bring our problems to him, and then listen as he speaks to us through his word. As a Christian, you possess a discernment and wisdom that the world does not have. This wisdom is from the pages of God’s Word and the discernment is from the Holy Spirit living inside you. Would you be like Jesus, quick to listen and slow to anger? Can people talk to you without fear of gossip or judgment? Who will you help along life’s road today by doing something simple . . . Listening?

QUICK UPDATE

2010-11-30T18:06:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

I apologize it has been so long since I have posted anything! Since I wrote to you last we have been in three different cities in Florida. I was privileged to speak at Calvary on the very "Logline" series that you have been reading. It was a great time of fellowship with the people there. Concerts and Sunday meetings have filled the itinerary over the past couple weeks. Today has been one of those few and far between "relaxing" days where we take care of the bus and recuperate before heading to the next city. We were blessed to be with our friends the Muscotts for a while. It is always a blessing to be with great friends (and to have my own room for a little while :)

The winter calendar in exciting! We will begin a new series beginning this coming Thursday. Check back to see what the Lord has laid on our hearts. I hope you find that the devo's here are a blessing to you! Please feel free to leave comments. To stay more up-to-date please check out the Jon Groves 2 Facebook LIKE page. A link is located on the right hand side of this page. If you have twitter check out our twitter feed under the name "jongroves02." Can't wait to hear from you!

Jon Groves

Loglines Day Four >>> John 21:15-19

2010-11-22T18:43:00.000-08:00

One day Brian’s mom said, “Brian, go clean your room.” Being just like every normal guy, he “cleaned” by throwing stuff in his closet, under his bed, and behind his door. This version of “cleaning” was not exactly what his mom had in mind, but at least you could see the floor! Not too much time passes, and Brian’s mom decides to check up on the work her son has done. Like every good mom, she checked all the normal places, and upon finding the clothes she wanted put AWAY, she calls out to Brian. . . This time Brian doesn’t hear the sweet and gentle voice of his mother saying, “Brian, please go clean your room.” Instead, he hears something that sends chills up his spine. He knows something is wrong when he hears “BRIAN THOMAS JONES…..” The same goes for every kid! When we hear our first, middle, AND last name, we KNOW something is wrong.

Jesus’ earthly ministry is now coming to a close. He is not going to be present to micromanage the ministries of his disciples like he has for the past three years. He has given his disciples a simple assignment: be fishers of MEN, but now that Jesus is gone we hear Peter say, “I’m going fishing.” He is going right back the life that Jesus called him out of. It could be he was feeling sorry for himself for denying Jesus those three times. He was allowing guilt and sin to control his life. In verse seven, Jesus calls out and they recognize his voice. Peter puts on his fisher’s coat. He is putting on his old logline, identifying himself as just a regular fisherman and without the faith to walk on water again, he swims to the Lord. As Jesus begins to address Peter, he doesn’t use his new name. He says, SIMON SON OF JONAS, do you love me? Peter, had to give his guilt over to the Lord and allow him to rewrite his logline once again.

We have an awesome God who gives us chance after chance after chance. We have undoubtedly majorly messed up at some point in our lives, or even today, but God will rewrite that logline for you again if you will let him. Don’t let the guilt of past mistakes dictate every decision you make. God has given you a calling; so don’t go back to that old lifestyle just because you mess up. Let God take your guilt and give you grace to go on! The Bible says, “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to FORGIVE us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Life comes at you fast, and you WILL mess up. That doesn’t mean you need to quit. Will you let God rewrite your logline again today?

John 8:1-11 >>> Loglines Day Three

2010-11-20T09:03:00.001-08:00

Standing in the courtroom was a young boy. His life had been torn apart by death and disease, leaving him to fend for himself. The judge looked down at the boy who was most certainly guilty of the theft he was being accused of. “Guilty or not guilty?” asked the judge. The boy replied, “guilty, sir.” The judge then declared his sentence of $50, knowing the boy did not have a dime to his name. The judge then stood, took off his robe, stepped down off the bench, and paid the fine of the boy. He then turned to the boy and said, “I’ve always wanted a son. Would you mind staying at my house?” With tearful eyes and the biggest smile you can imagine, he said yes!

As we look to the Word of God, in John chapter 8 we find a woman. Just like the boy, her logline consisted of one word…GUILTY. Every accusation was true. Every punishment that could have come her way, even death, would have been deserved. Yet, we find the judge giving mercy. The Bible does not say what Jesus wrote in the sand that day, but I can only imagine that he began to write out the loglines of each accusing individual. As they read and listened to the judge, one by one they began to turn away. Jesus turned to the woman and said, “…neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more.” That day, Jesus rewrote her logline that read “guilty” to one that said, “forgiven.”

The Bible says, “there is NONE that doeth good,” “There is NONE righteous,” and “For ALL have sinned.” The Bible also says in Romans, “For the wages of sin is DEATH, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” As sinful individuals, we owe a debt we cannot pay. There is not one person who can say they have never sinned, but Christ took of his robe, stepped down from heaven, PAID our debt, and invited us into his family! So, why is it that the forgiven Christians are so quick to judge others? Is it that we have forgotten what Christ has done for us? YOU are deserving of punishment just as much as anyone else, but Christ has forgiven you! Don’t be so quick to condemn others. Instead help REWRITE their loglines! You have a great opportunity to be a witness. Leave the judging to God! Who’s logline will you help rewrite today?

Mark 5 >>> Loglines Day Two

2010-11-19T18:30:00.000-08:00

There was once a worker on board a ship who became very seasick. Because of his condition he was asked to retire to his bedroom quarters where he could wrest and recooperate. During the night, word came to him that a man had fallen overboard. Wondering if he could do anything to help he lifted up his bedroom lamp into the porthole of his room......The drowning man was saved. Several days later, once the sick man had fully recouped from his illness he happened upon the drowning man on the deck. The saved man gave this testimony. He said he had gone down the second time, and was just going down again for the last time, out of air and strength, when he put out his hand. Just then, he said, some one held a light at the port-hole, and the light fell on his hand. A man caught him by the hand and pulled him into the lifeboat.

The scene opens as a man gazes from the tomb out upon the stormy sea. Imagine with me as he begins to tell his story. “From the tomb I could see amid all the lightning and thunder, a tiny ship about to sink. I laughed as they struggled in vain to forge the rough waters. I had seen many a ship go down in storms much easier than this one. But, then something happened that I will never forget. . .I still don’t quite understand it. There was a man in that boat who kept it floating with the simple wave of his hand. He calmed the storm! I knew then in my heart that this man who had the power to calm the storm on the water could calm the storm that was raging in my heart.” Now we find ourselves in Mark 5. We find a demo-filled man. One who could not be tamed or contained by any amount of strength or manpower. But, he is much different now, for he is now sitting at Jesus’ feet. He is clothed and in his right mind. This man’s logline has been COMPLETELY rewritten! The creature who once lurked in the tombs is now proclaiming Jesus, and in verse 20, people are marveling!

Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior? If so, Christ has rewritten your logline! So, what are YOU doing to show it? Are you excited and out telling people about the amazing things that God has done in your life? Are you facing a storm? God may be using that to bring someone to him. The change in the demoniac’s life did not come by chance. It came by example. Christ allowed a storm to come into the lives of the disciples so that they could be an example to the man at Gadara. The disciples’ storm had an effect on the life of the demon filled man who then had an affect on the lives of his entire community! Since Christ has rewritten our loglines we have the responsibility of holding up our lights into the portholes of this world so that they can be saved. Who’s story will you help rewrite today?

What's Your Logline > Day 1

2010-11-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

  Acts 26:4-18
   John Newton was one of the worst types of people you could imagine. After the death of his very godly mother, John was placed on merchant ships with his father until he was impressed into service on a British warship. Finding his service there boring and intolerable, he defected, and was soon after recaptured and publicly flogged and humiliated. At his own request he was transferred into service on a slave-trading ship where he was an abused servant of the captain. An old friend of his father rescued him and made him captain of his very own slave-trade route. One day while drunk, John placed himself on the block to be sold. He was purchased by a black woman who kept him drunk and made him walk on all fours while being led by a dog collar. Everything seemed to be going wrong for this man, until one day when he sobered up. John began to remember the scripture that his mother used to read. He knew in his heart what he needed. . . a Savior! God rewrote the logline of John Newton’s life, which he then penned so eloquently in the song we sing so often, Amazing Grace. The logline that was once written “WRETCH, LOST, and BLIND” is now, “SAVED, FOUND, and SEEING!”

   A “logline” is the one sentence summary of your script. It answers the question: What is your story about? No matter how many plot twists and turns a story can always be summarized down to one sentence. As we take a look at the screenplay that is Saul’s life we find a man who grew up knowing everything there is to know about the Bible. He sat under the greatest teachers of his day. Yet, this brilliant Pharisee is one who God calls in 1Timothy 1:15, “the chiefest (or foremost) of sinners.” He traveled the country MURDERING Christians because of their faith. BUT, God had a different plan. He took the murdering and malicious Saul and transformed him to the modest and ministering Paul.

   If you were to write a logline for your life, what would it be? If we were honest with ourselves and summarized our entire life in one sentence, would it be good or bad? Maybe today your logline is filled with drama and disaster, but it doesn’t have to stay that way! God CAN and WILL rewrite your logline just like he did for Paul and John Newton. The only condition is that we must turn over all author, director, and producing rights to our creator. Not only will you be much happier with your story, but your story will change the lives of countless others. The lives and ministries of Paul and John are still affecting lives today. We have no idea of the negative impact we will make if we do not allow God to edit our story. Turn your logline and life over to God TODAY so that you too can say:

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 >>> the Center Cord

2010-11-17T22:33:00.001-08:00

Have you ever braided your hair, or watched someone else’s hair being braided? If so, you have noticed that the braid is made up of not two, but three connected strands. If you try to braid hair or rope with just two strands, the best you can do is twist the two sections around. The tinsel strength of these two strands very low, so when the two sections are released, the hair or rope falls back into its original state. However, if you separate whatever you are braiding into THREE sections, it will stay together much easier! Its tinsel strength is VERY high and is not easily broken. In fact, three intertwined cords have a combined strength that far surpasses that of three individual cords. (It is not like 1+1+1=3, it is more like 1+1+1+10.) Now, take a look at the hair or cord that you have just braided. Notice something weird? You cannot see the third section! Where is it? It is intertwined in the center of the two outer cords, which enables it to fortify and strengthen the outer two. Not only did it strengthen the two cords, but also it also made itself of no reputation . . . just like JESUS.

That is exactly what Jesus Christ is like. He fortifies us with inner-strength, and chooses to work through us. So, why do approximately 50% of all marriages in the United States will end in divorce each year? Why did approximately 1,000 kids run away from home last year? Why have many of the dissolutions of high-school and college relationships ended with the suicide of one? The answer: Jesus was not the center cord holding the relationships together. Do you have Jesus as the third cord in your relationships? It does not matter if it is a relationship with parents, co-workers, friends, or even boyfriends and girlfriends, if CHRIST is not holding it together it WILL fall apart. It seems that in most relationships today, people are looking for someone exactly like them, and not someone who will build them up spiritually. Don’t go after someone who makes you stumble or challenges you with peer pressure. Proverbs 13:20 says, “. . .the companion of fools will suffer harm.”

My challenge to you today is to evaluate your relationships. What is holding them together? If you don’t have a strong third cord then your relationship WILL fall apart. No matter how strong you may be, if you are tied to something weak the knot will break. The cliché metaphor for marriage is “tying the knot.” It has more truth to it than we realize. If we as Christians (rope) allow ourselves to be tied to something weak like shoestring, our knot will loosen and unravel. Want a lasting relationship? “A THREEFOLD cord is not quickly broken.” Make Jesus the center cord that fortifies your relationship.

Acts 9:8-19

2010-11-15T21:52:00.000-08:00

   What makes people hesitate to share their faith? Here are some of the fears that have been mentioned publicly: "I am afraid I might do more harm than good." "I don't know what to say." "I’m not fast enough to give sharp and quick responses to hard questions." "I might seem bigoted." "I don’t want to invade someone's privacy." "I am afraid I might be a hypocrite." Perhaps the most common fear, however, is that of being rejected. A survey was given to those attending training sessions for the Billy Graham crusade in Detroit. One question asked, "What is your greatest hindrance in witnessing?" 9% said they were too busy to remember to do it. 28% felt the lack of real information to share. None said they didn't really care. 12% said their own lives were not speaking as they should. But by far the largest group were the 51% whose biggest hesitation was the fear of how the other person would react!

   Ananias was no different in his day than the Christians of ours. Here, in Acts 9, God has sent him on a mission to heal Saul. Ananias is extremely nervous, you might even say scared about going, and rightfully so! Saul has devoted a good portion of his life to persecuting, torturing, and murdering Christians. I know I would think twice about crossing paths with this guy! Yet, amidst all the fear and apprehension of what might happen, we find Ananias obeying God. Thanks to Ananias, Saul’s (Paul’s) ministry can now begin. The things that Paul will do for the Lord will also be laid to Ananias’ account for his willingness to obey.

   So what is holding you back from stepping out and sharing your faith today? There is no excuse so great that God cannot help you overcome it. Be like Ananias today, step out by faith , and do something for God. Don’t let fear hold you back, rather let God’s blessings motivate you to get out of your comfort zone and work. Is anything too hard for God?

GET OUT!!!

2010-11-12T22:36:00.000-08:00

Peter started walking (probably more like running or "walking fast" :) out on the water that stormy day. But he started sinking when he began THINKING about how he was afraid. Eleven other disciples watched as Jesus reached out his hand to help Peter. Think of these other eleven disciples. John, Matthew, Thomas, and Andrew to name a few, all sat “safely” on the ship. But, while they sat terrified that the boat was going to sink they missed out on the thrill of a lifetime! Though they were eyewitnesses, they never knew how walking on the water felt.

As Christians we are much like Peter. We are out on the sea of life riding along in the boat that is our comfort zone. Storms come, wind rocks our boat, and waves disrupt our sailing. Christ allows these storms to come into our lives so we will draw closer to him, but in order to do that we must be willing to step outside our comfort zone. . . GET OUT OF THE BOAT! Just start walking on the sea. When you stop and think about it, the outside of the boat is the safest place. When you are walking toward the master he will ALWAYS keep you afloat. Don’t let the waves and the wind scare you or distract you. Keep your eyes on Jesus and walk towards him. Don’t fearfully and lazily sit and watch God bless others! YOU be the one God uses to do what no one has ever done before!

Today, Christ is telling you to do something bold, something challenging! Will you step out of the boat and face your fears? The Savior doesn't just come to where we are, we must go to where he is! I know it can be scary when you trust the Lord that way. But if you never get wet or in over your head you can’t really call it faith! Will you place your life in God’s hand today? There has never been a time when you have cried out like Peter, “Lord save me” and he hasn’t done just that! TAKE THE RISK! Even if you fall, he will be right there to catch you.

Power Up with Acts 1:8

2010-11-11T22:00:00.001-08:00

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”

No matter what generation of gamer you are, there’s always been a standard game…MARIO! When beginning each level, Mario is an extremely short and powerless character in a little red hat. The first thing we begin to look for as we maneuver Mario through the level is the little yellow box containing the power ups. After the mushroom falls down on Mario’s head he can then easily navigate the levels and defeat the enemies. It takes that additional power up to make it through the game.

Acts chapter one takes us to the final conversation between Jesus and his disciples before his ascension into heaven. Here in verse eight we see the Lord giving his last instructions to these men. They will now be starting a whole new level of their life without Jesus present to micromanage their ministry. The controller is placed in their hands and the navigation is at their discretion. Jesus’ words to them are “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. . .” In other words, “this level is going to be a whole lot easier if you’ll just use the power up!” When we allow the Holy Spirit to come upon our lives like that mushroom on Mario, not only will we will grow spiritually, but God will perform things through us we never knew we could do.

The goal for the video game is simple. Defeat the bad guys and rescue the princess. Your abilities progress and prepare you for the main bad guy by taking you through various levels. God is the same way! So, what level am I on spiritually? What is my ultimate goal? Jesus says, . . .”and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The first level is Jerusalem, or the hometown. As Christian teens we have got to be godly examples and leaders in our homes. The word Jerusalem means “city of peace.” If we will defeat our pride and serve God at home, we will have peace.

Just like you cannot skip levels in Mario, God has a gameboard we must follow in life as well. After we have successfully gained peace we advance to a harder level. This is called Judea or by definition, he shall be praised. One of the hardest things to do when we are going through hard levels in our life is praise God. But, no matter how difficult things may seem at times, God always has something good for us if we will just remember to praise him. In order to be a winning witness for Christ we must praise him NO MATTER WHAT!

We have peace, we have praise, and now it is time to hit level three: Samaria which means guardianship or protection. In Bible times, the Jews hated the Samaritans because of their history and bloodline. Because of that hatred they avoided Samaria at all cost. Even though we do not appreciate the Samaria’s or protections in our lives at times, it is vital that we live in them. God has placed protective guardianship over our life. It is imperative that we get under what God has put over us. We will find that life is much easier when we reach a level of maturity where we can learn to submit.

We have made it! That final castle we must enter to finish the game is in sight, only this time it isn’t Bowser’s castle. Christ says go to “the end of the earth.” Simply put, God wants us to prepare for the possibilities in life. The challenge is yours. Only you can beat these levels. We need to seek peace. We must determine to give God praise. We have to position ourselves under God’s protection. Then we prepare for life’s possibilities. The path may look long but the Power Up that God has provided never runs out. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” What level are you on?

So take some time today and ask yourself some questions. Are you using this "power up" that God has freely offered you or are you trying to use your own power and strength to finish the game? How much have you accomplished using your own power and how much more could you accomplish using God's? Here's my challenge to you today. Let God come in and show you how great His power can be. With God amazing things can happen.

-Jon Groves

-Brittany Jones

You can't understand without understanding

2010-11-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

Have you ever sat back and listened as a professor of some sort began to explain his studies and thought, “I don’t know what in the world he’s talking about! I just don’t get it!” When I was in high school, in my junior year I had chemistry. . . I HATED that class. The teacher was a brilliant man who could have easily been a college professor. He was a great guy, but so far above our level of understanding that he had a hard time explaining things where the high school student could grasp them. But the Bible is not an ever changing textbook with errors. It is a living word from the perfect creator. As Christians, we sit and listen to our pastors, preachers, and Sunday-school teachers expound upon the Word of God. While some thoughts and ideas presented in the Bible are above our comprehension it is nothing like a course in school that is hard to understand. God has given us an understanding of his revelation to man.

As I travel across the country, I’m finding a pet phrase of many “Christians” is, “well I just don’t understand the Bible.” I Corinthians 2:13-14 says “ Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. “ So why is it that those people don’t get the Bible? It is because they lack the discerning Spirit living within them. God never presents and idea in his Word that he does not explain somewhere else in his Word! He gives the believer the capability of reasoning those things out. Everyone in the U.S. is blessed to have God’s Word in some format they can understand. So, as Christians we need to get in the Bible, get up off the pew and get out to do what it says! If you don’t understand it then you need to get down and get God!

STUDY!?

2010-10-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

I love doing word studies! When I come across a word or phrase that catches my eye, I like to go back to the originals and see just what that word means and how it applies to my life today. Today I would like to present the word "study." At my christian school the teachers often quoted "STUDY to show thyself approved unto God . . . " Not intentionally, but like many Christians, taking a verse and making it say or imply just what they want. When we would come across something hard they would say "study. . ." BUT this word does not mean in context what they would like to believe! This word is used in 1 TH 4:11 " STUDY to be quiet. . ." Does that mean we have to read books about being quiet? NO! Just like in school, I've heard preachers use this same tactic. When people are not comprehending the writings from centuries ago we hear all too often from the pulpit, "study to show thyself approved!" I do not believe that God intended for the Christian to have to sit down with God's word, a websters 1828 dictionary, a concordance, a thesaurus, and the commentaries of MEN to hear something from God! That does NOT make sense. In Ecclesiastes 12:12 Solomon writes, "and further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books [there is] no end; and much study [is] a weariness of the flesh." Yes, sometimes the Christian life is hard. But, God did not intend the reading of his word to be some difficult energy draining task. We should enjoy it!

So, what does 2 Timothy 2:15 really mean? Study (to hasten, make haste) to show thyself approved unto God, a workman (one who does, a worker, perpetrator) that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (to make straight and smooth, to handle aright, to teach the truth directly and correctly) the word of truth. This verse isn't a command to laboriously research the Bible. It is simply a command to put effort into being pleasing to God. How do we do this? "Rightly dividing the word of truth" OR simply living out what we read in the Bible. So, open YOUR Bible and let GOD speak to YOU. Don't rely on your preacher or the writings of other sinful men to relay God's message to you. Today make the decision that you will let God do the work himself!

This post is dedicated to my preacher! Thanks!

Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for 'study' in the KJV". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2010. 21 Oct 2010. < http:// www.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?
Criteria=study&t=KJV >

Philippians 4:13 - THROUGH CHRIST

2010-09-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

This verse is quoted so often but commonly misunderstood. Let me quickly explain what this verse means.

I = YOU and ME

can do = able

all things = anything

THROUGH CHRIST = you operate through Christ's power

which strengtheneth me = empowers your effort

Many Christians with good intentions have prayed, "Lord use me." Though their heart is in the right place, they are asking God to dumb down his power and operate within their fleshly abilities. Many times when we make this request, God simply says, "no." Stop praying that God would use you. Rather pray that God would make you useable and available. When you see something that needs to be done. . . DO IT! Go and do the things that you KNOW God wants you to do. Make sure that you are doing things THROUGH Christ. God will be able to accomplish so much more when we have a heart to work.

Philippians 1 - What For?

2010-09-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

Paul is one of my favorite authors. It never seemed to matter what storm he was going through, he found the "silver lining." I know I struggle with this most of the time. Since I can struggle with negativity sometimes I try to surround myself with positive people. I guess Paul is one of those people for me. In Philippians 1 of scripture he is writing to the church from prison. Now while prison today is a comfortable place with basketball courts, three meals a day, television, and A.C. . . Paul's was quite the opposite! Though he will find himself in some of the nastiest places of his day, he points out the good things about his imprisonment. Paul makes a point that his bondage has lead to the advancement of the gospel. Now, we are thinking, "how in the world is that possible?" Paul is the leading evangelist/church planter of his day. Well, it seems as though the young preachers of the day are being lazy because of the productiveness and effectiveness of Paul's ministry. Many are saying to themselves, "I can't do anything for God like Paul is doing. Why should anyone listen to me when Paul is out there preaching?" This is NOT the attitude of ministry that we should have.

2 Timothy 3:14 says, "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of. Knowing of whom thou hast learned them." God has given each of us a job to do. Yes, there will always be someone who can do it just a bit better than you. But, just because there are "Pauls" out there who can serve God in different ways than you does NOT mean you don't have to serve God in the area in which you ahve been called. If we, as Timothys refuse to serve God just because of others. . . God will take the Pauls away! The verse above says "knowing of whom." When God calls you to something you should not only do it for the Lord, but also to perserve the ministries of the "Pauls." We cannot afford to lose any more men of God today. Don't sit on the sidelines and watch others run the race. You may not be able to run as fast as others, but that doesn't mean you don't run! Continue in the things you have learned and have been assured of. . . WHY? . . .knowing OF WHOM you learned them. Don't let God take the Pauls away just because you aren't doing what you are supposed to do. If we will ALL serve together, we can keep the Pauls around for longer.

James 5 - Prayer

2010-09-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

. . .The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16

"Things looked bleak for the children of George Muller's orphanage at Ashley Downs in England. It was time for breakfast, and there was no food. A small girl whose father was a close friend of Muller was visiting in the home. Muller took her hand and said, "Come and see what our Father will do." In the dining room, long tables were set with empty plates and empty mugs. Not only was there no food in the kitchen, but there was no money in the home's account. Muller prayed, "Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat." Immediately, they heard a knock at the door. When they opened it, there stood the local baker. "Mr. Muller," he said, "I couldn't sleep last night. Somehow I felt you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up at 2 o'clock and baked fresh bread. Here it is." Muller thanked him and gave praise to God. Soon, a second knock was heard. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. He said he would like to give the children the milk so he could empty the cart and repair it."

I believe that when a person's heart begins to stray, prayer is one of the first things to go. All to often we try to solve our own problems instead of going to the very one who allows us to face each test. God knows every need before we ever ask him. Before we decide to call God's name, he is there. So on the surface level it may seem needless to pray. But please stop and consider the gravity of prayer with me! When we speak his name we enter the very throne room of God. He has said we can come boldly before the throne. What a privilege! Let us never take that for granted, but let us take advantage of this honor. What problem are you facing today? Have you tried everything humanly possible and still come up short? Just turn everything over to God because nothing is too hard for him. Realize the power that could possess as a prayer warrior for Christ. Prayer moves the heart that moves the hand that moves the very world. You may not always get exactly what you want. God may sometimes say "no." However, God never says "no" when he doesn't have a greater "yes" in store for you! Do you want to win your battles? Try fighting from your knees. Its the strategy of our captain and it has never lost a battle. Don't ever give up . . . JUST PRAY!

"Pray like everything depends on God. . . then WORK like everything depends on you."

Strong Godly Leader - BMJ

2010-09-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

What does a strong godly leader actually look like? So many times we say that someone is a leader, but do we really know what it means to be a leader? There are so many different types of leaders. I mean think about all of them for a second; the pastor is the leader of the church, the man is the leader of the home, the boss is the leader of the company, the president is the leader of the nation. A leader is someone God has chosen to guide a specific group. Now how they handle that authority determines what kind of a leader they are. For instance, if a leader never listens to advise and makes all the decisions based on what he thinks is going to benefit himself the most, is he going to be effective? Of coarse not! A strong leader has to be able to listen to the advise of the people around him and make a decision based on what is best for the group as a whole.

Now that we know what a strong leader is, what is a godly leader? A godly leader is someone who lives his life as an example of how God wants us to live our lives. He leads based on God's will and not his own. He is constanlty searching for God's wisdom and he always strives to be the best leader he can be. So to answer the question, a strong godly leader is someone whom God has placed to help guide a group of people to be more like Christ, always humbling himself and putting other people's needs above his own.

- Brittany Jones

James 4 - MORE

2010-09-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

"But he gives more grace. . ." James 4:6

I love how everytime I open God's word he gives me something new and fresh. The book of James has SO much packed in it that there could never be enough books, commentaries, and sermons written about it to cover ever idea presented in this New Testement book. As I began to read through chapter four, while it is filled with numerous life applications, one word stood out to me like never before. This four letter word M-O-R-E. This common word can be taken for granted in this verse if we are not careful. The word 'more' means : an additional quantity, amount, or number. It can also mean in greater quantity, amount, measure, degree, or number. No matter which part of speech it is used in, this word, more always means an ADDITIONAL amount. In order for there to be an additional amount, there has to have been an initial amount to add to.

There will be times in our lives where we will ask ourselves, " am I ever going to receive grace or mercy again?" "How do I know it's coming?" I would invite you to go back to the very moment you were saved. Recall to your mind every prayer that God has answered or need he has supplied. We don't have to worry about where our blessings will come from in the future because of the past that we have with God. The fact that he HAS GIVEN us grace means he GIVES grace and will give MORE grace. Praise the Lord that he is all we will ever need!

James 3 - A Little Spark

2010-09-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

"Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though theybe so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, withersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!"

When the word "ships" is said, usually different kinds of boats come into your mind. Many recall their personal fishing boats, some their favorite cruise liners, and some enjoy boats of history like the Enterprise. When someone begins to talk about ships, my mind usually drifts to the most luxurious and famous boat ever to be constructed. . . the TITANIC! Had this massive ship ever been placed on end, it would have stood nearly as tall as the Empire State Building! That's HUGE! Though this great ship was large . . .the helm or rudder stood only about three stories tall. Something just a little taller than the average american home moved a shipe that was thousands of pounds. It did not take something large to change the direction of this ship.

In our lives we find that it is not always a major tragedy that changes our course. Small things along the way alter our path. What is it that moves you? Is it a tale-bearing tongue? Does it only take a little gossip to through you off the direction God has for you, or are you the fire-starter in someone else's life. "Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth." How are you using your spark today? Fire can be both useful and fatal. The spark of your tongue could light a fire in someone's heart that warms them through the coldest days of their life. Your spark could also be the ignition of a wildfire that destroys someone's life. As rumor would have it, it only took ONE lady, leaving ONE lamp, for ONE cow to kick over to start ONE massive fire that is now known as the California fire that consumed a large portion of this state.

Do you find yourself moved by a tiny temptation? In the book of Joshua we find the story of Achan. The temptation to take the garments and gold that were God's were great in his life. Because of what he thought was a tiny sin, 36 men lost their lives in AI. But, it didn't stop there! Now we have approximately 36 widows, 72 parents, 144 grandparents, and countless children now without their loved one. "Behold how great a matter."

I think the major mover of Christians today is time. Does the realization of time move you or are you simply throwing it away? Time is quickly passing! What are we doing to reach people? When you stop and consider a second it really puts things in perspective. Since the time when Jesus died on the cross there has been a little over 1, 051,200,000 seconds. . . SECONDS! We don't have that many seconds left until the return of Christ! Who are you sparking for God? Be the little matter that begins a large fire in your church, community, and state!

Within your mouth, you posses a tiny muscle with an extreme potential. You can spark others for the Lord, or sear the hearts of people. It only takes a little fire to get a big one started. "Behold how great a matter, a little fire kindleth." Set the forest of your church on fire for God.

James 2 - Faith Investers

2010-09-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

"Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? " James 2:5

The story begins at a little country church. In an effort to raise money for missions the pastor began a different kind of Sunday-School campaign. Each member of the church was given one dollar with hopes that it would increase by the end of the month. Much like the story in the Bible, many proudly returned with their $1 to put in the plate, but one little ten-year-old boy stood out as he placed fifty dollars in the plate. How did this little guy come up with that sort of money? As church members go, many gossiped of how he must have stolen the money. Some questioned whether he had begged it from a grandparent. After a couple weeks the curiosity and talk was too much for the preacher. After church he asked the boy if he could speak with him in his study. The boy happily complied. The pastor asked, " son, I just have to know . . . how did you get that money?" The boy began to explain, "Well sir, I took the dollar and bought three 30 cent packs of gum from the store in town. Since the packs had six pieces in each one, I took them to school and sold each piece of gum for ten cents. By the end of the day I had made $1.80 from the gum. I kept this up for a while and then decided to buy bigger things that the kids in my school liked and I just sort of had my own candy store during lunch at school." The preacher stood in awe as the boy spoke of his investment for the Lord. He wasn't a rich boy by any means. . . he walked himself to church every Sunday in the same set of clothes. . .the only church clothes he had. Though he wasn't rich on the outside, he was rich in faith because of his wise investments. All to often as Christians we get so caught up in the investments of our earthly riches. Then, when the economy goes bad we have nothing to fall back on. God has promised to provide for us when we delight ourselves in the Lord.

Just as it takes wise investing to grow financially, it also takes wise investing to grow spiritually rich. When we invest our money wisely, it grows. So, today make an effort to wisely invest your faith. Faith isn't just a thought or emotion. Faith is a "substance." "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." If we are to be wise faith investers we must put our stock in souls. You have heard the illustration where the pastor says, "you get two, and they'll get two, and they'll get two . . ." IT'S TRUE! If you will invest faith in souls you will see an increase. We must invest our faith in the scripture. In order to glean the gold nuggets and spiritual gems from God's word we have to invest our faith into mining the word of God. We can't just open the book and expect that God will speak. We MUST read. We should also invest our faith in salt. God has commanded that we be the salt of the earth. . . making a difference! But, how do I make a difference? Invest your faith in your local church. Take the time to see if anything needs done. Invest some faithful prayer in your pastor. He and his family desperately need it! Strive to be the best that you can be in whatever you do. I Corinthians 10:31.

You may be in a position where you are asking, "why isn't my faith growing?" The answer is simple. Either you don't have faith to begin with, or you are hording it all to yourself. John G. Wendel and his sisters were some of the most miserly people of all time. Although they had received a huge inheritance from their parents, they spent very little of it and did all they could to keep their wealth for themselves. John was able to influence five of his six sisters never to marry, and they lived in the same house in New York City for 50 years. When the last sister died in 1931, her estate was valued at more than $100 million. Her only dress was one that she had made herself, and she had worn it for 25 years. The Wendels had such a compulsion to hold on to their possessions that they lived like paupers. Even worse, they were like the kind of person Jesus referred to "who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:21).

What kind of Christian spender are you? You can tell what is important to people by looking at what they spend the most money on. Where are you spending your faith today?

James 1 - How Do You Hold Up?

2010-09-20T13:16:00.000-07:00

James 1:11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes...

In this passage in James, a man is compared to a flower. At first glance, we might not realize all the similarities that our lives have with the plant life, but with a little thought we find that they can be quite similar. If you have ever planted flowers outside during the summer there are some rules you have to follow. First of all, they HAVE to be watered. Without water the flower will wilt up and die. While plants do need the water, you have to be careful when you water your plants. If you water them in the middle of the day, the water droplets on the flower act as tiny magnifying glasses to the sun. It doesn't take very long for the sun to just fry the plant. The flowers must soak the water in!

Just like the flowers, we need the water of the word of God to be poured out on our lives. Without the water, our lives will simply wither up and crumble. God's word acts as a magnifyer on our lives. It points out the areas where we need to change, but if we don't soak that water in and use it. . .when the Son shines his light on us, it will fry us! Take a look at yourself today. Are you growing? Growing flowers produce NEW flowers! The roots get deeper and when the wind blows they don't fall over. Growing flowers can stand the heat of the day. So, are you truly growing or are you wilting? When the Son shines do you have to turn away to keep from being burnt, or can you look to the son for growth and food? When the son rises, how are you holding up?

New Pools

2010-09-18T11:28:00.000-07:00

"Once upon a time" (I've always wanted to start a story like that :) Many years before r.v. parks, KOAs, YMCA's, and Super 8 . . . there was a pool by the sheep gate in Jerusalem. In Aramaic, it's called "Bethesda." This pool would have been carved out to retain rain water in the city. Now, you would imagine that a pool would be a great hang out place for the young people...But not this one. If we break this word up into two parts we will find that "beth" means "house" and hesda in Aramaic means "mercy or grace." In another close form of that language, Syriac it would have been called "hesdo" for "disgrace."   We would refer to this pool as a house of mercy or grace because of the healing that was granted at the troubling of the water. Others would have noted this pool as a house of disgrace because it was a gathering place for the sick people.    I imagine the young people would have given it this name. . . I know that when I'm trying to get to the pool and its full of old people in a water aerobics class...the pool is no longer a fun place to be. In fact, its kind of gross! OK SO BACK TO THE STORY. Its that time again for the water aerobics class at Bethesda. All the sick people are especially excited to get in the water today. BUT there's a problem. The Pharisees forgot to install a handicap chair to let the cripple people down into the water. You can imagine how that makes the lame man in John 5 feel.   The waters are troubled. Right as the lame man is about to belly flop down into the pool, another simply walks past him.

       Jesus, being the people watcher that he was, notices this man. Turns out he had been trying to get in this pool for 38 years!!! Well, Jesus walks up to him and says something crazy! Ever noticed how when Jesus says something crazy, something even more crazy always happens?!?! Jesus looks down at this man, and in verse 6 asks him " Do you want to be healed?" The lame man clearly didn't understand that this was a 'yes' or 'no' question because he says, "Sir I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." Jesus takes this answer as a 'yes' and says to the man "Get up, take up your bed and walk."

      Now, to us that would sound crazy. Why would someone tell a lame man to get up and walk? Isn't that like saying "look at this" to a blind person? But, as soon as Jesus tells him to get up and walk...HE DOES!!! While our God is an amazing healer, that isn't the weirdest part of the whole story. One would think that the folks watching would be excited for this guy. But NO! They said, " It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed." As we metaphorically examine the surrounding area don't you begin to see the "no swimming" signs? These people were only worried about people abiding by the same rules they had always lived by. Don't SWIM THERE! Why? Well.....because we've never swum there before. NO SWIMMING! Why !? Well...That water is different color than the water I drink. My opinion: Lets all go swimming for souls. We may not be in the same section of the water, but don't try and keep people from swimming to new depths just because you want to wear the spiritual floaties that you have always worn. If the Lifeguard sees danger, he will stop the swimmer!
      I believe that Christians can be like the Jews in this story. We get so stuck in the ruts of what we like to call convictions, that we won't get excited about the new ways through which God is reaching people. Sometimes we need to stop worrying so much about who is watching, what others think, and what the so-called "rules" are about things and just enjoy the working of God. Christ will speak to different people in different ways! It has taken me a long time to realize that there are different ways the God CAN speak. When I begin to examine and open up to those...He WILL and HAS spoken to me! Don't get distracted by all the "no swimming" signs. There are tons of different pools out there. Each has different people that gather around them. So, take time to enjoy them, and you never know, you might find a new place where God can speak to you more than he ever has before.

Contemporvant . . . Love it!

2010-09-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

Grandparents Day

2010-09-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday many across America celebrated Grandparents Day! As the pastor at the church we were at on Sunday began to talk about grandparents, my mind drifted a bit. I have been blessed, as not many have, to know my great-grandparents. My great-grandparents have been a huge blessing and have had a major impact on my life. My great-grandmother is still living and quite active. She is a blessing to me as she is to many with her fervent prayer life and encouraging phone calls. My great-grandpa was also a major blessing in my life and the example he set continues to impact this country today.

My great-grandpa is Rev. James Barnes. He faithfully served our country in the navy during WWII. With the experience and knowledge he gained while in the military, he climbed to the very top of the business world becoming an executive in American Airlines, but God had bigger plans for him than that. With the call to the ministry on his life, he resigned his position and went off to Baptist Bible College and graduated in the first graduation class. God enabled him to found and pastor Capitol City Baptist Church in Des Moines, Iowa which is still in existence today! Then, God moved him to take a small group of people in Indianapolis and start Faith Missionary Baptist Church. This faithful servant of Christ took a hand-full of people and built a church running over 600 people. God greatly used this man and his ministry in a great way because of his willingness to serve and his genuine heart for people.

Rev. James and Mary Barnes

Several years ago, this man of God, and one of my heroes went home to be with the Lord. If you have ever had a loved one pass away, our human instinct is to think back to the last words we ever said to them or our last memory with them. While I have many great and fun memories with him such as sneaking out to eat at burger king or Long Johns, going to Toys R Us to get something new, or just getting ice cream while Nana shopped in the mall, one memory sticks out above them all. This is probably my favorite memory of him. One Wednesday night, as the children went to their prayer groups and the adults split off, a little nine year old boy began to look for a prayer partner. ( I didn't want to be with the other kids because I was cool like that :) LOL) As I stood at the front, waiting to spot someone to pray with, my grandpa walked up and said, "son, would you be my partner tonight? I don't feel like praying with grandma tonight." (He always used to tease her.) So we knelt at the front pew, piano side. He put him arm around me and began this prayer like every other..."Our dear most gracious God and Heavenly Father, we thank thee today for all of thy blessings. . ." But he added a little something extra this time. . . ."and we thank you tonight for Jon." After we had finished we stood up and he said, "Keep up the good work son. I love you."

Those were the last words I would ever hear him speak. A few days after he was severly injured in a car accident and went home to be with the Lord, his best friend, a couple days after. While many look back and recall hateful words or spiteful actions, I will always remember sharing time in prayer with my grandpa. I love him and miss him so much. I cannot wait to see him again in heaven.

Taking a Look at Love

2010-09-12T14:28:00.000-07:00

"We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it's going to get on by itself. You've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it." -JL

Love is one of those crazy words in the English language. Many believe in its different forms it can be a noun, adjective, or verb. I do not. . . Yes, I know that TECHNICALLY "love" can assume many types of speech. We often describe people as loving, or claim to possess an affection or desire for another. But, when we stop and think about this word, not technically or grammatically, but LITERALLY I believe it can only assume one type of speech. That would be VERB!

One day a lawyer comes to Jesus to try and trip him up. He asks, " which is the great commandment in the law?" So in verse 37 of matthew 22 Jesus responds, "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your sould and with all your mind. . . you shall love your neighbor as yourself."

I think we can find everything we need to know about love in God's Word. First off, we find God commands that we love. Loving people is not just a request that God has for us. HE COMMANDS it!

Love is a concern for someone. I think a major problem with people today is the flippant use of the word 'love.' We hear people all the time say to one another "love you!" But do they really mean it? I think in christian circles we use 'love' like we use the word 'pray.' When people walk up to me and say, "prayin' for ya!" sometimes I just want to stop them and ask, "Seriously? Do you really think enough of me to ACTUALLY pray for me, or is that just an expression?" When we are genuinely concerned for someone our love will not be just an emotion or object. Our CONCERN will be an ACTION!

Love is a committment that we keep. My sis, Brooke Jones said, " Love is SHOWING someone that you care no matter what they do or say. Love is genuinely caring about someone enough to risk everything for them." God is the ultimate example of this love. John 3:16 For God so LOVED the world that he gave his only begotton Son...he loved us enough to give the most valuable possession of heaven for us. ...That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. If we accept God's free gift of love he has committed himself to giving us everlasting life despite all our mistakes and failures.

Love is a choice that is made. Brittany Jones <3 said, " Love is never forgetting the good, but always forgiving the bad. Love is always wanting to learn more because there is always something new you can learn." Here is another way in which Christ shows his love. God has chosen to love us even though we constantly mess up. I am so glad to know that even though my vessel gets chipped and broken, the potter simply picks up his vessel and fixes it. God CHOSE to love me. Because I love God, I chose to strive to learn more about him everyday. If we truly love someone, just like Britt said, we will never get tired of learning new things about them. Ultimately, we are supposed to love God. When we love him it will be much easier to love other christians. We have a common family, we have common faults, and we have a common FUTURE! When we love God it will also be easier to love our critics.

So my challenge to you today is this: Be careful who you truly love. Sampson was the strongest man alive but the thing that brought him down was telling Delilah "all his heart." Don't use the word flippantly. When you say it, make sure you MEAN IT! Make sure this amazing word has a sweet flavor in your mouth every time you say it. If you still have the chance like I do, make this word a "first" that will last for a lifetime. : )

Firsts

2010-09-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

“Let us watch well our beginnings, and our results will manage themselves.” –Alexander Clark

If you sit and listen to others talk for any length of time you will hear constant reference to firsts. As humans, our minds continually take us back to the initial incident that led us to where we are today. Parents of young children reminisce of first birthdays, first Christmas, first tooth, first words, or first steps. You may hear adults talk about their first car, their first job, or their first relationship. People put a lot of stock in “firsts.” First impressions determine how we will think of someone for the remainder of the time we know them. Firsts seem to be extremely important. Walking would be impossible had we not taken that first step. Life would not exist without that first birthday. At the same time, an alcohol addiction would not exist without having taken that first drink. Lung cancer would not be so prevalent if people didn’t indulge in that first smoke.

Maybe you have found yourself saying, “If only I could just start all over again somewhere. That would make life better!” When we get our self in a rut, we look for a NEW BEGINNING! Sadly, life rarely offers a do over. So, how do we avoid the troubles that plague us day to day? START RIGHT!

Over the past several months my life has been filled with many firsts. I wish I had the time to list them out because the majority of them have been spectacular. My favorite of many firsts happened this last week. I met my adopted family, the Jones, for the first time. I played songs I had heard for the first time, for the first time in a praise band. I looked out across the crowd and for the first time saw an entire group of people truly praising and worshiping the Lord. On Monday I had my first one on one talk with ‘padre jones’ who reminded me to be careful of firsts. After that I began a whole new set of firsts on Monday, September 6, 2010 at about 11:30. The firsts that I’ve experienced over the last few days seem to be pointing in the most exciting direction of my life. I know there are more firsts to come in this area and I am awaiting them with anxious anticipation.

God has been so good to me. He continually allows me to serve him in the ministry he called me to. The song says, “If the pen of a writer could write everyday, even the world could never contain how I have been blessed.” Music is my ministry and passion. Be in prayer as the Lord continues to provide “firsts” for me in this area. If we will make an effort to start right, then ending right will not be as much of a challenge. Is the song of your days ending on a bad note? Check out the source of your song! When the source of our song is the Savior, he won’t just be another song on Sunday. He will be the reason we sing. If our ‘first’ notes are in tune and on time, our song will develop into one we will enjoy singing.

OTRA

2010-08-28T20:48:00.000-07:00

Texting . . . an easy way to communicate with people. Most folks use abbreviations such as jk, lol, ttyl, and brb when they text people. When people have texted me within the last couple weeks asking "so whatcha doin?" I have responded "OTRA to NYC, IL, or MO." Invariably people have replied asking, "what does OTRA mean???" To answer this question once and for all, "OTRA" means ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!!!!

Now that this question is all cleared up I can tell you about this last week. :)

MOWEQUA---one of my new favorite places. When we arrived at the church I did the typical evangelist thing...I explored the church building!!!! Room by room, hallway by hallway, door by door I made premature assessment of how services would be in this church. To be honest, I did not expect much. (Riding those automatic chairs up all the stairways was fun though :) The evening we arrived we were to eat supper in this small village of Mowequa with Mrs. Dowd. What usually would have been a fourty-five minute meal made its way to close to 3 hours. . . She was GREAT! I said to myself " well even though SundaySchool is at the ungodly hour of 9 AM : / at least I'll have someone there to cut up with. Well, God certainly straightened me out. . . all the services were AmAzInG! We were invited to the Dowd's house. I've never felt so at home than when were there! I have since adopted them (I think they started it though) as mama Kathy and papa Tim. O.K. so the next night we are headed to Charlie and Jill Dulin's house.......Once again had a fantastic time. Really, it wasn't the great food and fellowship that made it fun. . . it was hanging out with Brooke and us kickin' butt at pool and ping pong! :)

MANCHESTER--- home of the Manchester Gospel Music Festival. We were privileged to be with our great friends the Chosen Ones, McMillan and Life, and the Wanda Mountain Boys.

CHAMPAIGN---God truly blessed us with the ability to record some tracks while ministering here. The church there had a ton of great people! I also learned how to play guitar hero here. Henry and George play the "on the road again" song CONSTANTLY. . . I've progressed to at least playing with two or three songs LOL

SOMEWHERE ELSE---I dont know where they live. . . but I can't wait to be with the Burton family!!!
p.s. Paige, this extra long post is for you since you've been bugging me about not updating...

Keep the GFM (groves family ministries) in your prayers! We serve a great God who is continually blessing above all that we could ask or think.

Blog Challenge

2010-08-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

BLOGS. . . . the dictionary defines it as follows: informal Full name: weblog a journal written on-line and accessible to users of the internet.

By defenition, a blog is a journal written online. I was discussing "blogs" with Paige Burton the other day. We decided that most people follow blogs because they want to know about people's lives. Its an informal way of letting a large amount of people know how you doing. Usually it's a little more in depth than a facebook or twitter status. However, I've been noticing that some use blogs as a pulpit. No, I'm not talking about those who share their thoughts and meditations on the scripture. Those are inspiring and great to read. I'm talking about those ones that are used to literally preach and talk at other people. As I was reading one not too long ago I decided I want people to follow my blog because it keeps them updated and encouraged.

So, my goal is to keep this page updated regularly so that those who chose to, may find out about day to day life in the GFM bus. If you want to stay updated a little faster and more briefly you have a couple of other options. You will notice on this page you can follow me on twitter which is probably the best option. My page is open so all you have to do is click 'follow.' On the right you will see a facebook "like" page where you can click "like" and stay updated through statuses and pictures. In the top corner there is another 'like' button as well. This button will share this blog through your status. Please help us share this page!

Check out the links on the 'sites to visit' page at the top for other great pages!

She'll kill me for this but please visit Paige Burton's blog as often as you can for updates on the Rod Burton family. You can click on her name at the top of the post or visit http://www.paige.theburtonfamily.org/ .

TALK TO YOU LATER!

The Armour Bearer

2010-08-19T20:44:00.001-07:00

I was asked to bring a devotional to some teen boys some time back about an old testement character and the choices they made. My, how the list is enormous with people who made wise to very foolish choices. Two unnamed characters of similar occupations caught my attention. I began to study two chapters in I Samuel.

In one chapter I found the story of David and Goliath. This excerpt from I Samuel is commonly known because it is taught to every young child. As God gives the description of Goliath, one man is made mention of in these verses as well. I believe he is called "one bearing his shield." This "one" went before Goliath. Now, though no major details are recorded about this man, we would assume that he was a mighty man of battle himself. He must have been of great strength to bear such a massive protective instrument before the mightiest warrior of the Philistines, and we would not be crazy to assume that he was of great stature as well in order that he might protect this giant. I would surmise that he had been in battle with Goliath before, but something is odd about this particular battle. As the young and ruddy teen boy advances toward this behemoth of a man. . . no armour bearer is found. Where did he go? What caused this protector of Goliath to flee from the presence of an insignificant Jew?

Just a few chapters prior to David's story, the armour bearer of Jonathan is brought into light. In this story, Jonathan takes his armour bearer and tackles a garrison of the Philistines. Jonathan surmised and rightfully so, that God could defeat his enemy by many or by few. So, these two men advanced and began to melt away the Philistine forces of this garrison. The difference between these two armour bearers: Jonathan's trusted the heart of his master.

These men were in a place of protection. Each had a military if not royal assignment to protect valuable assets of each army. Both were in a position of provision. These men had the job of providing any assistance to Jonathan or Goliath that they might require. Both armour bearers protected persons of power, but Jonathan's had a passionate prayer. (And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that [is] in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I [am] with thee according to thy heart.)

The challenge before us today is twofold. First to be a Jonathan. Are you someone who's heart is so intertwined with God's that someone is willing to put their life on the line because the know you will follow God? Be the Jonathan who can lead people into the battle for Christ, and be used in a might way.

Secondly, to be an armourbearer. No, not the kind that Goliath had who turned away at the first sign of trouble, but rather the armour bearer of Jonathan. Stand up and protect those who you know to be servants of God. Don't allow others to shoot arrows at your pastor or such as that. Be a Jonathan to someone today, and be an armour bearer for a servant of Christ today.

Update!

2010-08-05T22:45:00.001-07:00

Someone once said stepping out into the ministry is like watching your child walk out into a busy street. He might survive but no one wants to take that chance. Well, by the Lord’s hand I’ve “crossed over to the other side.” I stopped and realized the other day it has been a couple months since graduation and I have not updated many as to how the ministry is going. For those who don’t know, God has allowed me to travel in full-time evangelism with my dad, Dr. Jon Groves. The Lord has certainly opened many doors for the Groves Family Ministries. It’s no bitter story that I’d like to share today.

Since the end of May we have been in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. With no time to spare we have moved from church to church, revival to revival and it has been a BLAST! When the Lord made it clear this was the direction he had for us in September, 2009 we began praying immediately for the new needs we would have. Since May 2010 God has GIVEN us everything we asked for. We prayed for a keyboard, sound system, recording opportunities, and some way to get our name started in Southern Gospel. A man called one day and asked if he could ship us a package. Two days later an eighty pound box is arriving at the church we were at. In that box was a Roland keyboard which was the make I had prayed for. Another man asked where we were. He drove from Florida to Kentucky where we were at the time and gave us some great sound equipment. Two recording studios have asked to be a part of our ministry. We were also featured in the SGN Scoops magazine, Gospel Music Today, and Karen Berka Live! We never mentioned these needs out loud. God in his omniscience just provided.

Music has always been a major passion in our lives. We kick started our group “Jon Saw” at the Branson Gospel Music Convention. Here I was also able to play and sing with McMillan and Life, Al Brumley, the Piano Extravaganza, and the JayStone Singers. We also graduated from the Steve Hurst School of Music. Here we not only learned a TON but we were also privileged to sing with Mark Trammel and also the Booth Brothers. I especially enjoyed being with some of my great friends Matt Holt, Josh Singletary, Steve Hurst, and Mark Trammel. (Check out my piano trio with Matt and Josh on facebook.) We also made some new friends with an up and coming group called “the Camerons.” We cannot wait to go and be a part of the school next year!

I was able to be part of the ministry at Camp Victory this summer. I think I enjoyed this summer best of all. A lady from IN told one of my coworkers prior to camp “ There are definitely changes in Jon, you will see for yourself.” Not only did others see the changes, I noticed myself. I was able to take joy in the lesser tasks which made the bigger ones even more enjoyable. Doors were opened about fifteen times for me to preach whether in a service, flagpole, team meeting, or even a cabin devotional. At Camp Victory, the emphasis is always on souls. I began praying prior to camp that God would allow me to win ten to the Lord this summer. He exceeded my expectations and gave me twelve souls this year! Praise God from whom all BLESSINGS flow! As Bro. George would say, “the cleaner the heart, the less it takes to entertain it.”

We serve a mighty God who empowers our vision each and every day. Many have asked, “why do you do what you do?” All we can answer is, God is allowing us to do what we do for reasons that only He knows. Others could be out there in that Prevost bus, but God has called us to do that! PTL One favorite moment from the year so far is a man who got a little upset with the preaching coming his way. He told some folks, “They both are desperately trying to get people to believe they are justified. But in order to do that, they have to disregard the Word of God. I think that is why they seem to be able to get along with backsliders, since those are people who have already disregarded the Bible to some extent.” We took his revelation as a compliment. Jesus was also accused of being with the “publicans and sinners.” Why he even fellowshipped at Zacheus’s house! We praise God for the opportunity to go after each and every soul we come in contact with. Don’t get too upset with that fellow though. I think it's possible for him to turn back and do right and overcome the mistakes he has made. We serve a God of mercy and grace. It would mean that he would have to swallow alot of pride though. I just pray that he will allow the Lord to get a hold of his heart. We have to die to ourselves daily and live for Christ in order to realize we just can’t do this in our own power. Only God can continue to allow this ministry to thrive.

What problem are you facing today? Does it seem too difficult to handle? Never lose sight of the fact that our amazing Heavenly Father always has his hand on his children. He’ll go with us through every fire. If you’re not facing some opposition, check and see which side you’re on! Everyone who lives for Christ will suffer persecution. If its coming from people, you’ll just have to come to the same conclusion that I have. Their problem is not with us, their problem is between them and the Lord. Keep on trucking for Jesus and don’t forget to be in prayer for the Groves Family Ministries!

Quick Update

2010-07-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

God has been so good to us over the past several weeks. I've been privileged to lead many to the Lord while working on staff at Camp Victory. the Groves Fam spent last week in Branson, Missouri at the gospel music convention there. I was able to play for groups like McMillan and Life and Al Brumley. The GFM also sang three times that week. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us over the next few months. Stay Tuned for more!

What God Took

2009-12-25T14:40:00.001-08:00

Dear Reader,
Today has been a great day of reflecting for me. Christmas is often a time where families get together, enjoy fellowship, food, and exchange gifts. It is also a time of remembrance. Not only do we recall the birth of Christ, but also Christmases past. While sitting at the table today my great grandmother told of Christmas traditions from her childhood. She also spoke of gifts she had received through the years. I began to think about gifts myself. Often, gifts are the first thing that comes to our minds when we think of Christmas, but the Christmas story is overlooked.

The meaning of Christmas is not just the birth of Christ. Christmas for me encompasses the cause of his coming, the birth of the Christ child, and the future consummation of everything. So, as we look at Christmas, let’s not put our complete focus on what God has given us. Let us also notice what he has taken away.

Let’s thank God today. Not for the things we remember every day. Not for blessings he’s given us, the promises he’s given, not the peace and joy that we so often experience. Those are great things! But, today let’s thank God for what he took from us. Christ came into this world and took our sin and our shame. All of the blame for each transgression against God, Christ took is as his own. In Matthew 27 he opened his hands without a fight. Though he had done no wrong, just like a guilty man he took MY nails and wore MY crown of thorns. The death, not only spiritually but physically that I deserved he took upon himself on Calvary. THANK YOU LORD for taking all these things away from me.

I’m truly thankful for all the things that God has given through the years. I know that he will continue to bless as I continue to serve him in whatever capacity he provides. Upon comparing the things God has given me to the things he took from me. . . . well, the worth of the “things” I have pales in comparison. Forgive us Lord, for only thanking you for the tangible things you give us every day. We get so concerned and focused on the treasures of this life that we lose sight of what we really have >>> a Savior. Thank God today for what he’s given you, but most of all thank God for what he’s taken from you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Psalm 23

2009-12-24T19:19:00.001-08:00

Dear Readers,
Many preachers have said, “When you read the book of proverbs your relationship with man will improve, and when you read the book of psalms your relationship with God will benefit.” This principle has been especially true in my life. Reading through Proverbs everyday has helped me allow God to direct my thoughts and actions toward others. [Of course, there’s always room for improvement, so I continue to do that. =) ] Until recently, I hadn’t really examined the book of psalm. God has divinely directed my attention toward this book. He allowed me to descend to a place where it seemed the only place I could look was up. Thank God for doing that sometimes! So, I began to search the book of Psalm for comfort and encouragement. Working my way through I came to a very familiar psalm, chapter 23. It is here I would like to pause and magnify one phrase in particular.

Before we look at this phrase, notice with me some grammatical details of this chapter. It appears that each sentence in this chapter is a declarative one. “The Lord IS my shepherd; I SHALL NOT want.” No questions asked, no options given, this chapter reveals what the Lord is and forever will be to the believer. With this in mind, take a look at verse five with me. “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;” Once again this is a declarative sentence. God DOES PREPARE a table for his sheep.

Many have said, “I’m just not being fed!” Some have claimed to be feasting on the goodness of God, while onlookers notice the leanness in their spiritual body. Others are starving, having never been fed at all.

What is the problem? Well, allow me to point out the problems with each of the three conditions mentioned above. First, let’s notice the Dieting Christian. “I’m just not being fed” they say. Notice the verse in psalms once again. “Thou preparest a table. . .” Unlike the shepherd, in verse two, “making” the sheep to lie down, here we see an option. Christ prepares a table for us each and every day in the wilderness that is life. All you have to do is come and sit at it! If you aren’t being fed, its because you’re not choosing to eat. The table is ready, reserved just for you, and running over with food. It’s time that you went to the table and received a little food! Stop dieting and go to where the real soul food is.

Well, “I’m being fed. . . I’m just not growing!” Yes, ridiculous as it sounds, many individuals and churches claim this for themselves. I would like to call this the Deserting and/or the Desserting Christian. In the verse the table is prepared in the presence of the enemy. So, it is out in plain view. The enemy can see the table and the source of sustenance and so can the Christian for whom the table is prepared. However, many Christians have decided to desert the table of God and seek after the dessert they believe will sustain their spirit. The Bible says, “by their fruits ye shall know them.” If someone isn’t growing its because they don’t posses the same fruit to partake of. Many times we get stuck in not just the hoop and hollering preaching that makes us feel good, but also the knit picking folks who’d like to call it standards. Both have their place, but neither one should be the main focus. I’ve been in churches where the people shouted because of the excitement of their pastor, but no one was really receiving anything because you couldn’t understand a word the guy was saying. Similarly I’ve been in places where people get so stuck in their “standards” whether it be music, money, or even dress. Many are instantly turned away from both because they can feel the lack of true spiritual meat that they need. Don’t be a desserting Christian, only eating the foods that you think are important and trying to shove them down other’s mouths. Likewise don’t be a deserting Christian who leaves the principles of God’s word to chase after your own inhibitions.

Finally, let’s notice the Dying. These are those who have never eaten of the food that we so readily enjoy. The Question: What do they need? The answer is simple: SALVATION! Please go out and offer the free food and show them to their place at the table of faith. Folks, this is a family style meal! Our shepherd has prepared the table for us. Let’s eat and bring others with us.

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;” I suppose to figure out whether you are a sheep or an enemy is to look at whether or not you’re being fed. Across America we find churches that are slowly dying. They’re dropping in number every service, facing discouragement constantly, never seeming to grow. Their problem is unanimously this: They’re not getting ALL the nutrients they need. They’re just picking out what they like. Many are turning their nose up at the table that has been prepared. Many have never tasted of this miraculous food. Are you growing spiritually? If you’re not, you need to get back to the table. As I’ve learned over the past couple years, once you start eating, you notice many claim to be eating but they’re rapidly losing weight. Is your church growing? If not, examine the food you’re eating.

There are four kinds of people: The Desserting/Deserting Christian, the Dieting Christian, the Dying Citizen, and the Growing. Which are You?

NORTHLAND

2009-11-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

This week has been truly amazing! I along with the Varsity basketball teams have been priviledged to be part of the Northland International University basketball invitational. We left Indy at seven on Wednesday morning and made it in time for a delicious dinner and the evening service with Ken Ham. This man is truly amazing and brings new and exciting evidence for creation every time I hear him speak. We had two, two and a half hour sessions with him which were packed with great info.

The basketball tournament began early on thursday morning and has continued on until today. Colonial Hills has won all their games and will compete in the Championship game this afternoon against Community Baptist, (also from Indiana) which could be called one of our arch rivals!

The campus of Northland is a rather amazing place. Unlike BJU which could be described as a miniature city, this place is literally in the middle of no where! The buildings are all spread out and surrounded by beautiful scenery. It has been sort of like being at Camp Victory once again. Of course, one question people always ask about a college is: "How's the food?' Well, I've enjoyed each and EVERY meal here! A few of the sweet highlights have been the 24 hour soft serve ice cream, the snickerdoodle cookies (Couldn't even tell you how many of those I've had!), and the "Daily Grind." The "Daily Grind" is the campus coffee shop which has amazing smoothies, lattes, and my all time highlight for the week: SUPERMAN ICE CREAM! I used to get that with my dad at baskin robins and I haven't had it in years. . . so it was great.

The Lord is really using this place for his glory. Several of my classmates have confirmed in their hearts that this is where God would have them get their college education. It is very exciting to see a place that takes a stand for the Lord, and enjoys great gospel music. NIU is truly a haven for many. I have personally enjoyed the peace and quiet here. But especially the peace! : )

Please be in prayer for me as I travel back this evening. . . I'll be getting back to Indy at around 2 -3 in the MORNING! So until then. . . "SAIL ON"

The ArmourBearer

2009-11-08T11:52:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

I was asked to bring a devotional to some teen boys about an old testement character and the choices they made. My, how the list is enormous with people who made wise to very foolish choices. Two unnamed characters of similar occupations caught my attention. I began to study two chapters in I Samuel.

In one chapter I found the story of David and Goliath. This excerpt from I Samuel is commonly known because it is taught to every young child. As God gives the description of Goliath, one man is made mention of in these verses as well. I believe he is called "one bearing his shield." This "one" went before Goliath. Now, though no major details are recorded about this man, we would assume that he was a mighty man of battle himself. He must have been of great strength to bear such a massive protective instrument before the mightiest warrior of the Philistines, and we would not be crazy to assume that he was of great stature as well in order that he might protect this giant. I would surmise that he had been in battle with Goliath before, but something is odd about this particular battle. As the young and ruddy teen boy advances toward this behemoth of a man. . . no armour bearer is found. Where did he go? What caused this protector of Goliath to flee from the presence of an insignificant Jew?

Just a few chapters prior to David's story, the armour bearer of Jonathan is brought into light. In this story, Jonathan takes his armour bearer and tackles a garrison of the Philistines. Jonathan surmised and rightfully so, that God could defeat his enemy by many or by few. So, these two men advanced and began to melt away the Philistine forces of this garrison. The difference between these two armour bearers: Jonathan's trusted the heart of his master.

These men were in a place of protection. Each had a military if not royal assignment to protect valuable assets of each army. Both were in a position of provision. These men had the job of providing any assistance to Jonathan or Goliath that they might require. Both armour bearers protected persons of power, but Jonathan's had a passionate prayer. (And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that [is] in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I [am] with thee according to thy heart.)

The challenge before us today is twofold. First to be a Jonathan. Are you someone who's heart is so intertwined with God's that someone is willing to put their life on the line because the know you will follow God? Be the Jonathan who can lead people into the battle for Christ, and be used in a might way.

Secondly, to be an armourbearer. No, not the kind that Goliath had who turned away at the first sign of trouble, but rather the armour bearer of Jonathan. Stand up and protect those who you know to be servants of God. Don't allow others to shoot arrows at your pastor or such as that. Be a Jonathan to someone today, and be an armour bearer for a servant of Christ today.

Jon 2

2009-11-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

In Job chapter 2, Satan approaches God and tells him to touch Job's body. Satan's reasoning was, if God will touch Job's body, Job will curse him. Satan may have been correct. But WAIT! God didn't give Satan what he wanted this time. God told Satan that he would allow HIM to touch Job's body. (God didn't do it.) While Satan messed with Job, God stood right there beside him to comfort and protect him. The LORD giveth and taketh away, BLESSED be the name of the LORD. No matter what Satan throws your way, God is in front protecting, behind backing you up, and beside you when you need to lean on him.

God has been really blessing me this year. The school year is going great so far. It's always a joy to be with my friends. We've had some amazing times of revival in our chapel services with various speakers. My favorites are Pastor Regier and Evangelist Mike Manor. God has always used them to give me just what I need during the day. I became the editor of our Yearbook this year along with editor of CCS's newest publication: the CURRENT! The CURRENT is a monthly newspaper that is written and published by the senior class for CCS and CHBC. It has been tons of work, but very rewarding.

We've also had some good times at FBC this fall. We had a great revival with Evangelist Brian McBride. I always enjoy hearing them sing and Bro. McBride preach. But, my major highlight is playing the guitar with their family! I'm really looking forward to preaching while Dr. Groves is gone to Burma this winter. Be in prayer for me as I seek God's face on what message to bring to the people of Faith. Pray also for FBC's R.U. ministry, bus ministry, and thos who God has called to be a part of them.

Through good times and bad, God has always been there. I look forward to what God holds for my life the remainder of this year. Thank you for your prayers. God bless!

Jon Groves, 2

Encouraging and Uplifting

2009-10-15T15:46:00.000-07:00

I'm a senior at Colonial Christian School. We have a teacher that is constantly saying "be encouraging and uplifting." My class had always taken this as a challenge to reach out to other students. But, God really gave me someone the other day who was encouraging and uplifting to me. I was going through a rough time and God allowed one of my friends to give me a call. It's amazing how God can use someone to turn your day around. I just want to thank Tim for being my new adopted Big Brother and reaching out to someone a whole state away. So, readers, you never know what you may accomplish in the lives of others by just a simple phone call or a prayer on their behalf. So my challenge to you, as my teacher's is to me: Be encouraging and uplifting!

Quick Update

2009-09-27T17:20:00.001-07:00

Dear Readers,

These past several weeks have been a busy, exciting, and trying time
all at the same time. I was able to travel quite a bit with my school
which is always a blessing. Last week we were at Parker's Chapel
Baptist Church for their annual camp meeting. God really moved and
blessed. Each message was right on target and just for me. God has
been so good! Please pray for several thing with me over the next few
weeks. First, for Faith Baptist's Fall Revival with Evangelist Brian
McBride. Secondly, I have an opportunity to visit Ambassador Baptist
college so pray with me that God would work all of that out according
to his will. I'm very thankful for all that God has done over the
past few weeks and am looking forward to what God will do in the future.

School Starts

2009-08-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

I apologize for the gaps between posts. Our trip to Ohio went very well. We were in the Wednesday evening service at Freedom Baptist Temple. The Lord has blessed us with several new songs, many of which were written by my friend Joseph Habedank.

School has begun and this is my final year. I am a proud member of the class of 2010! To end finish up the first week of school, we will be going to school camp. This is really a school wide revival. Many of the spiritual decisions I have made have been at school camp. To top it all off, one of my favorite evangelists will be there. His name is Mike Manor. He is a combination of other of my favorites. I think he's a mix of Evangelist George Griffis and Evangelist Danny Long. I'm looking forward to seeing many decisions made at school this year.

Pray for me. . .

On the Road Again

2009-08-19T12:05:00.001-07:00

Dear Readers,

The summer is rapidly ending...Hope everything is going great. Pray
for us cause we'll be on the road the next couple days. More updates
coming soon!

Jon L. Groves, II
www.faithspianist.blogspot.com

This Week

2009-08-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

The camp season was great! To date we have seen 101 souls come to know Christ. I'm so excited about Fall Frenzy and Family Camp, both coming up over the next couple months. After living there for another 7 weeks, my heart aches for the place that I love. I feel like I'm suffering from "Camp Withdraws." It seem as though the summer has gone by quickly. I'm so excited about what God has for us next summer at camp. Please be in prayer for me as I make decisions regarding life after high-school. God seems to have opened several different doors, so I'm waiting on what he has for me. On the home front....we're having our FALL REVIVAL this week with Evangelist Danny Long. Please come out and visit us one night during the week. We've already had two great services and are looking forward to five more. For directions, visit our website: www.indy-faithbaptist.com Can't wait to see you!

Camp at a Glance

2009-07-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

The summer is rapidly approaching an end! I cannot belive how quickly it has flown by. Though some look at summer as a relaxing time to catch up on all the lost sleep from the school year, with five weeks of camp behind me and one soon to come I've had everything but sleep! I'm pausing just for a moment now to reflect on the events of the past five weeks. I have been able to win at least a soul to the Lord every week of camp. For me, that has probably been the biggest highlight. Serving at a church camp has provided me several opportunities to preach each week as well as sing constantly. I've had to learn to channel my vocal energy from yelling and cheering for my team to singing tenor in a special just minutes later. I'll never forget the first week where I had been screaming my head off for my team at the morning competition. Then, Dr. Griffis asked me to sing in the morning service just moments before it began. I was already nervous enough at the large number of people but the knowledge of my failing voice only added to the tention. I reached the pinnacle of the song and just as I hit that note!!!.....my voice popped. I've never felt so embarrassed in all my life. I was able to make up for it the next day.

I've learned so much from Brother George Griffis these past several weeks. He impressed a burden on my heart for lost souls. For someone who isn't usually quite as emotional as most, shedding tears for people looked to be a difficult task. But, as the summer progresses I don't find it as difficult to be constantly on my knees for these campers. It has especially been great to see the fruits of our labor in prayer when the altar is flooded, the lost are saved, the backslidden are reclaimed, and people are called to the ministry. We'll never know on this earth what an impact we've had on the world by being part of this amazing ministry.

Now, I must confess, camp is not all about spiritual stuff. We've had TONS of fun these past 5 weeks. Below you'll find some of the pictures from the worker's trip to "Short Creek." This is a creek that flows from a cave and into a second. We had tons of fun traveling there (even if we were in a Ford) and exploring the cave. The only drawback was the FREEZING, FRIGID, 20 DEGREES BELOW ZERO water!!! But, we did find that after a while....your body goes numb and you don't feel a thing! : )

I've made some awesome new friends this year and I look forward to going back again next year. Please be in prayer for our final teen week of the summer. Pray that God's power would be on the Preacher and the Preaching. Pray that hearts would soften even before reaching the camps gates. Finally, pray that this would be the greatest week of camp that we've ever seen. We long to see it "get out of the banks" before Wednesday.

"The cleaner your heart is, the less it takes to entertain you." - Evangelist George Griffis, D.D.

On the Road Again

2009-07-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

I am headed back to Camp Victory. I'll be there for the next four weeks. For specific dates check out my itinerary by clicking the link on the right. I'm so excited to see what God will do for me and each and every camper over these next few weeks. Please be in prayer for 1. Power on the preacher, 2. Power on the preaching, 3. Finances of the camp, 4. Safety for each camper, 5. the spiritual wellbeing of each worker. This is the Lord's doing....Marvellous in our eyes.

Update for the Week

2009-07-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

The camp season has started out very well. The first two weeks of Junior Camp have been relatively small weeks with an average of about 150-175 kids. During the very first week we were able to see 14 souls saved on campus. We received word that some returned home to win their families to the Lord. We were really blessed to see an abundance of 25 saved the very next week! It has been great to see the Holy Ghost really work in each and every services. The dynamic preaching of Dr. Griffis, Pastor Mike Griffis, and Evangelist Sam Robinson has been a tremendous blessing. We look forward to what the Lord will do in these next four weeks of the camp season.

On a more personal note, I celebrated my 17th birthday at the end of June. I was able to go today and get my long sought after driver's liscence. I passed the tests with absolutely no mistakes. So continue in prayer not only for me at camp victory, but even more so for the folks who will be traveling the roads beside me. We are 261 souls away from our goal of 300!

Camp Victory

2009-06-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

Please be in prayer for me this summer. I am working at Camp Victory in Somerset Kentucky. The camp is a Baptist church camp that is run by Dr. George Griffis. If you would like to know a little more about the camp visit its website by clicking here. I am hoping to see at least 300 come to know the Lord this summer. Pray that God's hand will be upon me and the camp.

In His Service,

Jon Groves

Don't forget to visit our media page by clicking the link on the right.

Camp Meeting at a glance.

2009-06-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

Camp Meeting went very well. Of course rest was one of the main priorities. Here, Matt and Justin enjoy one of their many naps on the trip. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with preachers such as Brother Ferris and Dr. Tony Hudson.

I do have to say that one of my very favorite parts was the keynote speaker:
Dr. Larry Groves. The messages that he brought were amazing and a great blessing.

Flying High

2009-05-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

Here at our house we are "flying high." School has finally come to a close. While I enjoy the schedule and fellowship that school entails, I'm definitely ready for a break. I'm really looking forward to Camp Meeting at Camp Victory here this next week. Then after a short trip to Ohio, its off to camp for the summer. God has really blessed me with the opportunity to work there. If you haven't taken time to visit the camp's page you should do so. Its www.campvictoryky.blogspot.com

As Paul said, "I've finished my couse." My junior year has come to a close. Be in prayer with me as I begin the final stage of my high-school career. The Senior Year!

Groves Family

2009-05-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

The Groves Family
I thought I would share this picture with you all. So often on the news you hear of the disappearing family table. Above you see the Groves Family. Our slogan has been "The Real Thing." We're a real family working together for the benefit of Faith Baptist Church in the service of the Lord.

Small Church Mentality

2009-04-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

I have been pondering this matter for quite some time. I would like to entitle this " Small Church Mentality." The name might mislead one into believing that this mentality is possessed solely by those in a small church (not every small church though) , but quite a few "large" church members maintain this mindset. So, what is Small Church Mentality? This begins with People. If you have ever been to church you have probably seen some of those people who are satisfied with "us four and no more." Visitation is a foreign thing to them. They want to complain about not having friends and church finances, but don't want to put forth an effort to reach others outside their little circle.

They are situated in their pews. A pastor in Ohio tells the story of an old Indian woman who came in late to church one Sunday morning. Upon finding another member in her seat, she stood in the middle aisle while the message was being preached. The pastor had to stop and ask the other woman to move so that the Indian lady might cease from being a distraction. Should the Lord ever bless a church with visitors, they ought to feel welcome to come in and have a seat without fear of being rebuked. A church will never grow unless it is friendly. So what!? if you lose your spot on the pew your grandma paid for the plate on, for one service! GET OVER IT!

A third "people aspect" is that a small church thinker find themselves inferior or second to the "Mega-church." God doesn't always bless each called out assemble to run a thousand people. While that would be really nice, God uses smaller churches to do things that large churches can't do. This doesn't mean that we don't try and grow. A church that is truly alive should put forth a large effort into the expansion of their membership. Not by stealing other church members or bribing the world, but by WITNESSING!

The second aspect to the Small Church Mentality is Punctuality. It's not just the lay people that are showing up late to God's house anymore. It's the people in positions. "You just don't know what I go through at home..." Well you wouldn't be going through that if you would leave on time for church!, "I need coffee..." Leave early so you can stop on the way or it won't kill you to drink the coffee the church provides in the fellowship hall., " I had a headache..." SUCK IT UP NANCY!!! Paul had a thorn in the flesh too. , " My kids...." Get them in the habit of getting up on time and leaving on time. Practice makes permanent. They way you treat God's house will be the way your children will treat their future employer. So what should I do?

Be IN TIME! "For what?" >>> EVERYTHING You expect the pastor to be there to shake your hand as you enter. Go early and try to help him out greeting people.

Be ON TIME! What does that mean? If you aren't there at least 10 minutes early.....you're late! If You're on time >>> you're late! PLan ahead. Be ahead. "What does this have to do with Small Church Mentality?" If you were part of some large church you would expect everything to run smoothly. The service always starts on time. Why? Because there are tons of other people beside you. So don't get in the habit of being late because you know the pastor will wait on you. THAT'S NOT RIGHT! Pastor, you be there early to prepare for the message. Song-leader, you be there early to actually pray over what songs GOD would have you sing and give the list to the musicians ON TIME!!!!! Musicians, you be there extra early as well. When I was real little and I heard the piano start to play before the service I knew that it was almost time to start. Now everyone just stands in the back and talks as the piano plays because the piano player is always late too.

Be in time, on time, EVERY TIME! Why every time? Can't I slack off/ live in the flesh and be late once in a while? NO!!! For one, God never was, isn't, and never will be late for anything. So neither should you. This is a matter of testimony folks. Your consistency may be what brings some soul to Christ. I heard a preacher mention how he won his neighbor to the Lord because the neighbor noticed that the preacher's family left the house at the same time every sunday service. Awkward set backs in the service to wait on the bus, song-leader, musicians, pastor, or other worker cause people to turn their ears off because we give a sloppy appearance.

The third aspect of Small Church Mentality is Preparation or Practice. This is a Requirement not a Request. When pastor says, "Choir, be here at 4:30 to start practice." BE THERE! God must have laid that time on his heart for a reason so don't disrespect GOD. Even if the pastor just likes things done early HE'S YOUR PASTOR! Practice enables smooth transitions in the service and God to be glorified with the best of our abilities. Church is not the time to "wing it." The phrase: "Y'all pray for spit whilst the choir practices on you this morning" is such a turnoff to the gospel. That lost person expects to receive something that has been prepared for GOD. It is extremely disrespectful to the Lord. If we're gonna grow, we have to be prepared. It is a necessity not to be viewed as a nuisance.

The final aspect of Small Church Mentality is the misappropriation of power. I've been around pastors long enough to see the people who think they control the church and the pastor. The ultimate power belongs to Christ. But, Christ has placed a Candlestick in each church. HE HAS THE SAY! ( and yes....it's a "HE") The power doesn't belong to the Committee. When we have the Small Church Mentality we tend to think that since 82% of the church is related to us, we can outdo the pastor. That's not the way it goes in large congregations.....It's not going to go that way in smaller churches either. Follow your candlestick. Don't live with Small Church Mentality. God always wants to bless us with more. Job 42:12

WE WON!!!!!!

2009-04-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

THE COLONIAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ENSEMBLE WON FIRST PLACE AT NATIONAL COMPETITION @ BJU!!!!!!!!!! I now sing with the best choir in the whole country.

Quick Update

2009-04-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

I apologize for the long delay in my posts. These past few weeks have been quite hectic. We are having a wonderful revival with Dr. John O'Malley. He is one of my favorite preachers of all time. Since my ensemble won first place we had the opportunity to compete at Nationals down at Bob Jones University. As soon as I find out how we placed you all will be the first to know. I was also able to secure a job at a place called Snapperz. It has been quite a bit of fun. I love working with people and especially kids. Pray for me and my church these next few weeks as we conclude our attendance campaign. I'll be updating again soon.

Jon Groves

Update

2009-04-09T15:27:00.000-07:00

Check out the videos at the bottom of the page.

W/Out Braces

2009-03-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers, (this time one in specific)

I have been requested to post a picture of me without braces. This isn't my favorite pic. but I hope that special someone who's been asking for it will enjoy.....

Just a suggestion: Check out "Celtic Thunder" on Youtube...they're my new favorite group of all time.

A Life of Influence

2009-03-23T17:21:00.001-07:00

Dear Readers,
Here's just a short thought from my message that won FIRST PLACE IN
THE STATE OF INDIANA! PRAISE GOD!

In Matthew chapter five Jesus introduces the guidlines for a blessed
life. We often referr to these as the beattitudes. In verse 12 of
Matt.5 Christ refferres to the prophets that were before us. He then
concludes this listing with a simple command that is often overlooked
in our complex lives. The command is this: "Ye are the salt of the
earth." Why would God choose salt as a metaphor for the Christian
life? When was the last time someone described your testimony as
"Salty"? So my question for you today is :"Are you living a life of
influence?"
First lets take a look at the Declaration of Christ. "YE" is the
subject of this command and referres to all Christians. It definitely
referred back to those prophets in verse 12. Theses were men of great
influence. The continue to impact our lives today. We find many of
them in the "Hall of Faith" or Hebrews 11. The ye also referres to
you as a Christian today. Because you are saved>you are salt. There
is no excuse or exeption. This is a edict from Christ. The second
word "ARE" is a liking verb which links the salt to the ye. It is a
state of being verb as well. The prophets were the salt. YE ARE the
salt. There is also a Danger that lies in this verse. "But if the
salt have lost his savor..." The danger is that salt can lose its
savor or ability to season. As a christian you should stand out in a
crowd as something different. In Bible-times if one impurity made
its way into their salt reserve it was "good for nothing." Just like
their salt, if we allow the impurities of this world to inhabit our
lives we will lose our effectiveness as a Christian. God will no
longer have a use for us and we will be cast out and trodden under the
foot of men. Are you living a life of influence?
Secondly lets take a look at the Distinction of Salt. Again, why
would God use salt as the metaphor? Well, because it has a distinct
taste. Everything else is in comparison to salt. When we eat
something one of our major responses is, "Oh, that was salty!" Salt
stands out on everything it is put on. Your presence should be
manifested in every environment. Salt also has a distinct task. I
would like to nickname this, Operation Preservation by Purity. Like I
mentioned before salt has to be pure in order to season. It can't be
mixed in with anything else. Job 6:6 says, "Can that which is
unsavory be eaten without salt.. . ." Something that is stale, of
course, doesn't taste good without salt. My sister won't eat alot of
foods without salt. Just like that, the Bible is a stale book to
those who aren't saved. Christians being the salt are to enhance the
flavor of the word of God. How can they hear without a preacher. Are
you living a life of influence?
Thirdly and finally lets notice God's Desire for Salt. His first
desire is that we be separate. Christ isn't looking for the commodity
salt, he is looking for the influence of it. You cannot be effective
unless you are separate. His second desire is that we realize THIS IS
NOT A STEALTH OPERATION. This is pretty self explanatory so I won't
go into detail. We've seen Christ's declaration: YE (the Christian)
ARE (presently) the salt, The Danger: You can lose your ability to
season, the Distiction of salt, it has a distinct taste and task, and
God's DESIRE for salt. So I will finish with my question: ARE YOU
LIVING A LIFE OF INFLUENCE?

Braces and stuff

2009-03-19T16:57:00.001-07:00

Dear Readers,

It has certainly been a while since I have posted anything. Life
here in Indy has been quite busy! I love it. This short note it to
let you all know that I GOT MY BRACES OFF WEDNESDAY! Ya....it really
did hurt to get them off. The retainer is an adjustment so pray that
I don't lose or break it. I preached Tuesday at Colonial Hills
Baptist and will be preaching again at Grace Baptist in the Muncie/
Anderson area on Friday. I have been working on a couple "spiritual
thoughts" for you so check back again soon!

In His Service,

Jon Groves

The Dobro

2009-02-24T16:21:00.000-08:00

As you know I love music. I have been practising my newest instrument for about a month and "premired" it in church last week. I now play the guitar, mandolin, piano and DOBRO! The banjo and bass are still a work in progress. Don't forget to visit our media page by clicking the link on the right.

Good News

2009-02-23T19:02:00.001-08:00

Dear Readers,

I had one of the most amazing evenings! I had the privilege of going
with three of my best friends to the Good News Mission in downtown
Indianapolis. This is a shelter for homeless men. In this place they
are required to be employed and to attend the chapel services nearly
every evening. Tonight's service opened with a trumpet/sax trio by
Jordan, Dan, and Mark (my friends). They played "Be Thou Exalted."
Then I sang and opened the service up to congregation music. We only
expected there to be maybe one or two songs but God moved in and we
sang probably ten to fifteen songs. Pastor Jon Fry from Colonial
Hills preached a great salvation message. Then we sang another
closing song. We thought the service was over, but people flooded the
aisles to seek Biblical council. I can't wait to go back. Hopefully
next time we go I will be able to preach. But, as for tonight, God
gave us an amazing service. Be in prayer for us as we strive to serve
God.

Don't forget to visit our media page! Just click the button on the
right.

"One Sound"

2009-02-16T14:15:00.000-08:00

It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to
make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when
they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and
instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good;
for his mercy endureth forever: that then the house was filled with a
cloud, even the house of the LORD; so that the priests could not stand
to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had
filled the house of God. II Chronicles 5:13-14

These verses are taken from the account of the dedication of Solomon's
temple. Many years of labor and untold resources were invested in the
completion of this magnificent structure. During this dedication
service, in impressive building became a holy temple when God's glory
filled the house.

As I ponder this passage, I think of the preparation that went into
every phase of the building project and every facet of the dedication
service. You may rest assured that the musicians practiced. It says
that they made one sound. This means that they were together. That
does not happen without practice. The larger the group, and the more
difficult the music, the more important it is that we practice.

Surely the temple musicians were serious about this service.It was the
dedication of God's temple. In the New Testament Age, the body of the
believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit. In our church services, we
strive to be a witness for Christ to those who are unsaved and
encourage those who are saved to love the Lord more and serve Him with
all their hearts. We should be serious about anything that we do for
God, but especially the music that we prepare for church.

One purpose of a music rehearsal is to enable us to make one sound.
Here are a few thoughts about music practices in general and some
ideas that will apply to choir practices in particular.

1. Attend practice. I know that this is a novel idea, but it
actually works! If you are not there, you do not know what happened in
practice. A choir member may think, I know all of the songs that we
will work on in tonight's practice, and that may be true. But a person
who is not in practice will not carry the same emotional energy into
the service. He will not sense the same tempo and therefore will not
be able to fully participate in one sound.
2. Get to the practice early. Find your music, get in your place,
and start thinking the music before the practice begins.
Instrumentalist may need time to tune their instruments. Vocalist
would do well to do some stretching and vocal warm-ups so that they
are ready to sing. When the director or the person leading the
practice is ready to begin, everyone else should be ready as well. The
larger the group, and the more difficult the music, the more important
it is that we practice.
3. Pay attention. If you have gone to the trouble to be at the
practice, you might as well know what is going on. Choir members,
watch the director. Everyone, focus on what is happening during the
rehearsal. Even when the group is rehearsing another part, follow
along. Knowing more about what other members of the group are doing
will help you to achieve one sound.
4. Invest yourself in the rehearsal. Many people have the idea
that the only thing that matters is when we sing in church. If we can
"get through it" during the service, then everything is OK. That may
be true, but "getting through it" and having one sound are two
entirely different things. Wake up, be alert, get excited, and allow
yourself to understand the message of the music and let that message
stir your heart. (For more on this subject, see October's article
entitled Music From the Heart by Dr. Mike Zachary.)
5. Watch the director. There is no substitute for this one. If we
are going to make one sound, we must all be watching one person. You
may use peripheral vision if you need to look at your music, but you
must be able to see the director, and you must be following not only
the tempo, but also every nuance of energy and interpretation. A group
of people who will discipline themselves in this one area will have a
completely different sound from a group who will not. There are no
shortcuts here, and no exceptions. Even if your instrument has a
difficult passage that demands your attention, you still must find a
way to absorb what is being communicated from the director.

These are simple ideas, but most special music groups and most choirs
would be totally transformed if only 75 percent of the people involved
would implement them. However, we are not going to be satisfied if one
fourth of the group is still not with it, because we are striving for
one sound.

By: Brad Boroff
NVBC music Director

Contemporary ?

2009-02-16T14:14:00.001-08:00

It is sometimes amazing to think of the many different implications of
a single word. The word contemporary is such a word. For starters,
this word may be used as both a noun and an adjective. We might read
that "George Washington was a contemporary of Thomas Jefferson," or
"President Bush's official portrait employed more contemporary
painting techniques than you would find in the official painting of
George Washington."

When it comes to churches and music, the word contemporary has many
different meanings. On one hand, the word contemporary might mean
"existing at this time." So you could say, "All the churches in
America are contemporary," meaning only that "All the churches in the
United States exist at this point in time." Actually, it would be hard
to imagine a situation where such a sentence would even be useful.

On the other hand, the word contemporary is often used to contrast
with old-fashioned in the sense that an old-fashioned church proclaims
the Word of God and some contemporary churches believe that even
carrying a Bible to the pulpit is offensive to today's churchgoers. An
old-fashioned church looks to the Book of Acts for its pattern of
operation; a contemporary church may send out questionnaires to the
community to ask what kind of a church they would like to have.

In the area of music, a very old tradition divides music into several
categories: church music, theater music, and concert music. This
traditional idea essentially acknowledges that church music should be
different from other styles. In some contemporary approaches to church
music, it is believed that all musical styles are perfectly
appropriate for church, whether it is a traditional hymn of praise to
God or a modern dance style with new words. It is this notion of the
word contemporary that gives us pause. I am not aware of any sensible
person who thinks a song is wrong simply because it was written within
the last twelve months; when the term contemporary is used in a
negative sense, it is used to convey the idea of church music that
embraces traditional church music, modern dance music, and essentially
all styles as equally suitable for the church service.

Pastor Trieber has long stated that he believes in using old-fashioned
music in an old-fashioned church service. By this, he does not mean
that a fresh coat of paint may not be used or the church may not
purchase new buses. He means that he still adheres to the idea that
the doctrine of the church should be guided by the Bible, and the
music of the church should be separate and clearly distinct from the
music of the world.

By Dr. Mike Zachary
North Valley Baptist Church

Heroes

2009-02-12T17:22:00.000-08:00

Evangelist George Griffis with Dr. Larry Groves

But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned [them]; -II TIMOTHY 3:14

Dear Readers,

This will be just a short post today. As soon as the dust settles from all the traveling I've been doing I have several thoughts to share with you. Today, I would just like to pose a question to you. Have you ever stopped to think about who your heroes are? Two of mine are pictured above. It is my desire to be a Timothy to these men. Are the heroes in your life "Paul-material?" I've done quite a bit of studying of the life of Paul. At one point, he had to be imprisoned because the "young preacher boys" and others were not preaching and doing the things they should. My question: " Who are your Pauls." My challenge: Today, be the right kind of Timothy so that the "Pauls" can stick around for a bit longer. If you can't live right, just to live right, then live right so I can hold on to my Pauls. Don't spoil someone's ministry or life because you don't have the common sense to follow God.

Meeting the Mayor

2009-02-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

I've had a great week this week. No snow days so far. I'm very excited about longer sunlight and warming temperatures. But, the highlight of my week was meeting with Mayor Greg Ballard of Indianapolis. I had the opportunity to ask him some questions and chat with him for a while. Hope all of you have a great week!
Jon L. Groves, II

Rocks, Rocks, and Rocks

2009-02-02T14:52:00.000-08:00

For many years, Chevrolet has used the slogan "Like a Rock." I began
to ponder different allusions to rocks during a recent message from
our pastor. As I studied my concordance I found three rocks that
really stood out to me. I'm working on putting these in a message,
but I thought I would share them with you today. For sake of time and
space I'll not include all of the scriptures, but simply allude to
them throughout the rough outline I have put together. I found the
Rock of Rejection. Jesus was referred to as the rock that the
builders rejected. Even though he was rejected he turned out to be
the "Chief Cornerstone." After his crucifixion there was a Rock of
Restraint placed in front of his tomb. Praise God the rock at the
door couldn't hold the Rock of Ages! With all of these things to
praise God about, we fail sometimes to outsing the Rocks of
Rejoicing. Jesus said that if we fail to praise him, even the rocks
would cry out. Today as we think back to the Rock of Rejection and
the Rock of Restraint, let us CHRISTIANS not fail to be the Rocks of
Rejoicing. Stand firm "Like a Rock" as we praise the Rock of our
salvation.

This Week

2009-01-28T10:09:00.001-08:00

Dear Readers,

The trip to Marquette Manor was great! I received a great blessing.
I was able also to coach a Junior High Bible Quiz team. Out of about
20 teams, we placed 9th. That was a blessing. Tonight we conclude
our Revival with Evangelist George Griffis. So far it has been amazing.

Marquette Manor Baptist Church

2009-01-21T17:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

Life here in Indy is going great. Please be in prayer for my
church's Revival with Evangelist George Griffis next week. My main
prayer request from you this weekend is traveling to Marquette Manor
Baptist Church. If you'd like to visit their site go to http://mmbm.org/
. I'll be reporting back to you in a few days about my trip there.
Have a great rest of the week and day in the Lord's house.

Back Home Again In Indiana

2009-01-19T14:23:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

I'm reporting back to you from my trip to Quentin Road Bible Baptist Church. It was great! Traveling is one of my favorite things in the world, so of course, the road trip was great for me. It was so cold outside (approx 20 below) that the vehicle's heat could not keep up with the frigid temperatures. We made it to the hotel successfully and enjoyed a refreshing time in the hot tub and sauna. The service in the middle of the day Friday was great. Dr. James Scudder preached. On the left, you'll see me with Pastor Jim Scudder who is the executive pastor of QRBBC in the Christian school's gymnasium. I thoroughly enjoyed the R.U. service that Friday evening. It was great to be in another church almost just like mine. I did get to take a tour of the Bible college while I was there. It was nice to see another King James school that could be a potential option. I am praying that God will allow me to be in a smaller sized school or a place where I can practise what I am learning. I made it back home safely Saturday night. Thanks for your prayers.

In His Service,

Jon L. Groves, II

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Quentin Road Baptist Church

2009-01-12T18:57:00.001-08:00

Dear Readers,

Be in prayer for me this weekend as I travel to Quentin Road Baptist
Church in Lake Zurich, Illinois. I'll be leaving Thursday and I'll
be there until Saturday evening. I'm looking very much forward to
being in their Reformer's Unanimous on Friday night. If you get the
chance, check out their website. You can find the link on our "Sites
to Visit" page.