Apostle David Johndrow - Fire And Grace

God's will, what is it for you? For the church? For the world? The basic plan for the Kingdom is to bring salvation to all mankind so that they can share in God's love for Jesus. We were created to be a witness to, and participate in this amazing love. The church has been chosen for this task. (Ephesians 4) But what about you and me, the individuals? How do we fit in the church in such a way that we fall into God's will and bear fruit? How is it that we do the work of God, be led by the Holy Spirit, and stay humble at the same time? God's will isn't all that simple some days, yet there is only one will for you, and one will for me. A few years ago I received and email linking to a pastoral sermon about what we could do for the pastor; how we could pray to make him a better servant of Christ. Now don't get me wrong, I want every pastor to be awesome, but I was bothered by the tone of how we could serve him. Certainly I do think we need to pray for our pastors...

Matt over at The Church of No People asked us what were passionate about on his blog . Matt he's passionate about drinking - drinking water for those that don't have it. Me, I am passionate about different things at different times. Just look at my topic list on lower right - I write about a lot of stuff. As usual, Matt got me to thinking, where does passion come from, why do I have it for some things and not for others? And then, I thought, what would I be so passionate about that I'd be willing to lose my life, or put my family and friends behind me for? Those are tough questions. If you are like me, you want to be blessed by gaining something, not losing something that is important - especially our lives. Our world offers a lot of conveniences. We can easily take them for granted. If you don't think so, listen to the neighbors next time the power goes out for a few hours - hey, I am sure as a Christian you'll be just fine. ;) I was thinking what life would be...

There is one good thing about having your own thoughts – well, if you can remember what they are! For over 10 years now, I have been contemplating church. Until then, I accepted church at face value. Whatever you think church is I am talking about my biblical perceptions. I have studied and thought about all kinds of worships styles, models, teachings, and moves of God from the Charismatic Renewal of the late 70’s to the more recent and short lived Lakeland Revival. Have you said to yourself, “this is what’s wrong with church?” Followed by a thought or an idea that you felt would make things better and more spiritual? I know I have. I have been teaching and blogging about it for years. I suppose that many of my ideas and insights are not new, but bear with me for a bit. I recently was talking to the elder of a church I visit from time to time. He told me that I should check out some of the books by Frank Viola. I didn’t buy any – sorry Frank. But I did go and read some of the revie...

When your car is making a funny noise, or not performing as expected, you take it to someone that can repair it. When you are not feeling well, you go to a doctor to see if there is something they can do to heal your body. When you are in emotional pain, you might see a therapist or counselor. When your house has termites, you call the exterminator. Barring supernatural intervention, most folks in church are smart enough to know when something is wrong. The question, what do you do when your church is has no passion, every new vision seems to be the same old thing, every sermon is one that you've already heard, and you have 800 pseudo invitations to dinner, but never get a date and time? Like most Christians, you go to another church, meet a few hopeful friends and start the cycle of disappointment all over again. Have you sat down to think about why this is happening over and over again? Do you blame yourself for not pressing in, the pastor for not caring, or some other excuse as ...

Sure, just look around you, the world is a mess, and people in it are sick, hurt, lonely and lost. But they are usually an arms length or more away. The insanity is on TV 24/7, and one doesn't need to look far for someone that is really hurting. But you know, that could be you too. You could be the one that is in a tough place. It can be depressing to think about the pain that surrounds us. I ponder some thoughts from books I have read, and one Christian author saw depravity and immorality as the perfect opportunity to share Jesus. At the time, I thought, I am trying to insulate myself from all that. I don't want to see any pain, any hurt, any evil... nope not me. How immature could I have been? Turning a blind eye to the suffering of folks in my town... the ones that I know from work, met in the store, or saw at night school. Even the odd Christian who had a hard time engaging in church. I was more concerned about me, and what was comfortable for David. Somewhere in the dark n...