You can’t live in the past, it will squelch progress and growth. You can’t live in the present, life is more than a series of here & now experiences. You can’t live in the future, you could live life with only a list of unfulfilled dreams. But God in his omniscience has placed us on this continuum called time. The most significant moments occur when we merge the lessons of our individual and unique history, screened through the truth and energy of the moment to move us forward to a lifetime of fulfilled dreams and God’s calling, one event at a time. Therein lies ‘our call’. Once again we must look at the scriptures to confirm this truth.

In a defining moment , in a fearless God inspired way, at a focal point in his life, David defeated Goliath. In his past he displayed a respect for God which translated into musically inspired worship and absolute divine reliance. As well, out of necessity, this shepherd boy developed acute weaponry skills  in order to protect his father’s flock.  What he did in his past was an shadow of what was needed in Israel’s future.  God used him as an adult king to lead His people into worship and divine reliance as well as military acumen in order to protect Israel, the Father’s  flock.

In another defining moment  the Apostle Paul after being knocked of his horse, laid visionless and alone in a Damascus rooming house hearing the audible voice of God and being blinded by His light. During this moment he was being confronted with a new spiritual reality and was grasping to understand.  His past reveals an energetic young man who had studied the Old Testament writ, the written voice of God. Over time this academic scholarly approach to the Old Testament created a stubborn legalistic icon grasping to defend a covenant he felt was under assault. In his immediate three year future, God was going to use the Holy Spirit to refine that ingrained knowledge from those years of study in order to fulfill Paul’s new calling. Once a missionary of Zionism; now a missionary for the King of Zion. Once a despiser he was about to become the despised.  In his future were love letters written to encourage and correct  the many churches he planted. The most productive season of his life was based on a restatement of what he studied in former years, a redefinition of Old Testament  knowledge clarified through the lens of Jesus Christ. The outcome became the largest portion of the New Testament we read to this day.

I have to wonder if on the Day of Pentecost when Peter was preaching Christ to the crowds in Jerusalem,  he realized his past as a fisher of fish was being radically transformed by God to a future life of being a fisher of men.

I too had my moment. After a ten year life challenge, I transitioned from a pastoral role and graduated as a Career & Work Counsellor. It is interesting that in High School thirty years earlier I wrote a captivating paper titled “How to Find Your Career” driven by years of asking the question, “Why do people do what they do?”. These were indicators of the emergent. God was step by step shaping my divinely designed future. Today, Life Concept Ministries helps people understand who God created them to be so they too can be released into a destiny that God understood even before they were born. Helping people make connections over life’s continuum then joining the dots, seeing the picture and confirming God’s call on peoples’ lives, is an awesome life.

Have you realized your moment?

Have you looked for the clues of God’s divine design in your history?

Is God trying to get your attention to shape His real purpose for your life?

The post Your Life: Realizing Your Moment appeared first on Life Concept Ministries.

I believe that the majority of people who are actively pursuing faith want a genuine sense of God’s presence when they go to church. When God’s presence is sensed people leave feeling spiritually satisfied.  Church, having such a strong social element can display a dichotomous spectrum with relation  to expression.  One extreme has a demonstrative expressive style which others would like to tone down, others exert a non demonstrative seemingly reverent preference making others long for more vibrancy. Either way, they often accuse each other of the same thing…God presence is lacking. For one the God factor has been dried up; for the other it has been blown up.  Statistics however suggest there is yet another group; the sixty to seventy percent in the middle. This  makes it very difficult for the continuum to harmonize.  In this range of preference, how do we complete this need for a genuine sense of God’s satisfying presence? Here is a starting point.

At the beginning of ACTS 2 in verse 1 says…

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven...(at which point things began to happened)

At the end  of ACTS 2 after the recorded event happened,  verse 46 states…

So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.

Between these two verses, God really moved and displayed his person and power. There was a indisputable authentic Presence of God resulting in many people getting saved; 3000 the first day (v.41) plus  daily additions (v 47). This was anything but non demonstrative faith, nor was it human emotionalism. It started with 120 people in an upper room for 10 days, then it grew. Somehow this increasingly large number of believers were able to maintain the essential ‘one accord’ factor and things continued to happen.

One accord can’t happen until we see each other as individually significant to God for a corporate purpose.

Simply put, by divine design we need each other. When we recognize our need for one another in the context of The Body, God’s Spirit of unity and accord come into play. We then begin to see the results of this sincere spiritual action.  The longing to experience His presence will integrate and make us, not disintegrate and break us. Perhaps that is when church growth will be made up of less transfers, and more of the Lord adding daily such as should be saved.

What will you choose? To make it or break it?

The post Church Life: Make It Or Break It appeared first on Life Concept Ministries.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Humanity has been on a quest for centuries towards self understanding. Socrates guiding rule was, “Know Thyself”, and Shakespeare said in Hamlet, “To thine ownself be true”. Similar statements were made by Aristotle, Plato and more recent years,  stores have stocked shelves of books and CD’s reflecting this same theme. Though spoken hundreds of years apart, such statements support a notion that humanity is more often than naught disconnected from who they are…but covertly wants to know.

However, the great theologian and thinker, Augustine opened the door to another perspective when he wrote ,

“Men go abroad to wonder at the height of the mountains, the huge waves of the sea, the long course of rivers, the vast compass of the ocean, the circular motion of the stars … but they pass by themselves and don’t even notice.”

Who did God create me to be? What is my purpose in life? Why am I here? All of us in varying degrees are on this  “Search for Significance”.

I owned a CD Bible Study package that could be purchased at a broad price range based on how much of the content I wanted. The basic package gave access to the basic programs, the most expensive gave access to it all. At any time I could call in, pay my money and get a code which we give me additional resources. Whether a little or a lot however, all the content was on one CD. Some people meander through life accessing only the basic package. Others invest in themselves, dig deeper discovering more of what God created them to be. This discovery leads to a fuller richer life that ultimately brings Glory to God.

Your life was created by God and it can be as deep as it is broad. In a sense, Augustine was challenging us to use the Ask, Seek, Knock Principle as it applies to you.. Ask God to help you discover all he has made you to be. Seek to find  all that lies within. Knock on the  doors of this new found knowledge and God will open the door of life and ministry fulfillment beyond all you could ask or think.

Psalm 84:5 & 7

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage…they go from strength to strength.

It’s your call!

The post Your Life: Dig a Little Deeper appeared first on Life Concept Ministries.

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Armed with biblical authority, parents often take ownership of their child’s future. After all, to fail could be a negative reflection on mom and dad. As dependants, children need to be taught skills that will get them through life however, where does the line need to be drawn when differences exist between parents and their child. Children have to be taught reverence to God and His Word, the importance of manners, safe boundaries and appropriate behaviours; however, lets dig deeper  and see what this verse is really saying. The Amplified Bible exposes a clearer understanding and context of what the author is trying to communicate. It says…

Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Parents procreate; but it is God that creates. Mom and dad, your children are an outflow of your union, but God had your child’s future in mind even before he or she was born (Psalm 139:16). He created them with a destiny that suited His purposes. He gave your child gifts and abilities in order to accomplish divine purposes and these translate into your child’s bent. That bent is a spark to be set on fire.

As a family we love the outdoors and when our kids were young, we did a lot of camping. One of our favourite evening rituals was sitting around the campfire. Lighting it was sometimes a challenge, but if we could start with a spark, then get an ember, then we could fan or blow on it and before long the flame was burning strong.

The role of the parent isn’t only to teach the necessary lifeskills, but also to identify and discern the skills, roles, gifts and abilities that God placed in your children. This is their bent.

This is their spark; and it is your responsibility to nurture it and set it aflame even when this bent is very different from yours.

When they are older they will confidently take ownership of it and continue what you began. This is what Paul was saying to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6 (NIV) when he wrote…

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you…

If you want to be a fabulous parent that will bring out the best in your child, go armed with a new understanding of what Solomon was saying in Proverbs. Make the effort and become your child’s biggest….FAN!

The post Family Life: That Spark in Your Child appeared first on Life Concept Ministries.