Just because something is spiritual doesn’t make it godly. Learn how to protect yourself and your loved ones from counterfeit Christianity
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Free Book Offer
The first 3 donors to Ta Ethne in the month of August will receive an autographed copy of A Heart Hungry for Worship. You can donate through Paypal at our sister site: http://discernmentministries.webs.com. Use the instruction box to request your free copy. Offer may be combined with other donation offers stated in our newsletter and is valid for both new and continuing supporters.
Thank you and God bless your continued support.
Resources Coming
This month will, God willing, see downloadable resources available for our readers use. Both from this site, and from our sister site, http://www.discernmentministries.webs.com, there will be bible studies added on various topics. Sometime in the middle of August, we will make available, free of charge, a Kindle version of our newest book, A Heart Hungry for Worship for a week. When we get firm dates we will post them. If you do not have a Kindle device, you can download a PC version free from Amazon to use on your home computer or laptop. A PDF copy can be emailed also during that time to overseas friends.
More podcasts of sermons and studies will be posted also. We have been asked about posting video teachings and we will be looking into that for later in the fall. When that becomes available it will be posted on our sister site, which has the capability of storing video.
As you can see, it is going to be a busy August. Will you pray about becoming a monthly partner to help us as we grow? Donations are accepted on our sister site. Commit to praying for us and share our podcasts and resources with friends.
Thank you so much for all the support and feedback we have received. May God get the glory and have His word spread to all peoples.
Why You Can’t Disappoint God
One of the cardinal beliefs we hold about God is that He is all-knowing. That means that He knows everything that you or I will ever do. He knows this in advance from the day you were born, stretching into infinity. One of the ramifications of this is that He can never be disappointed in us. Disappointment, by definition, means to be discouraged or saddened by the failure to live up to hopes, dreams or expectations. Since God knows everything we will ever do in advance, He cannot be disappointed by our failures, simply because He isn’t expecting us to do anything other than He already knows we will do.
He knows these things, and yet loves us anyway. We can sadden Him, grieve Him, anger Him – but we will not disappoint Him. This is both exhilarating and sobering. It is exhilarating because I don’t have to carry around a false sense of guilt of causing Him disappointment. It is sobering, though, when I realize He couldn’t expect better from me because He already knew when and where I would fail.
The amazing thing of all this is that is shows God’s grace standing above all. Despite knowing my failures in advance, He still calls me to ministry. He still empowers me. He still loves me.
One of the other things you can’t do to God is surprise Him. That, though, will be a subject for another day. Praise God for His omniscience.
Podcast – As In The Days of Noah
Eerily similar to our generation, the days of Noah offer us insight into the coming judgment of God upon our world.
FreeJesusMovie.com offer from Voice of the Martyrs
| In the days of the Apostles, it was dangerous to follow Jesus… Today that danger remains.
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Sign up your church today for a FREE DVD copy of
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Repentance, Replacement and Ministry
In repentance, a person is not only moved by godly sorrow over actions that offend and displease God to confess them, asking forgiveness, but to also turn from those sins. The New Testament talks about replacing those ungodly actions with their godly opposites. Beyond that, though, the New Testament command us to begin ministering in Jesus’ name in that same area. For example, Paul tells those who are guilty of stealing to not only stop stealing but to work for what they want. Then he goes further and commands them to work until they have an overabundance so that they can share with others who are in need. In another example, we are told to let no unwholesome or ungodly, corrupt speech come from our mouth. Then we are told to replace it with what it is good, giving praise and glory to God. Beyond replacing bad speech with good, we are told to use our speech to edify or build up our fellow believers.
This is the essence of true repentance. Merely feeling sorry and confessing isn’t repentance. Neither is simply replacing the bad with good. It is going beyond and changing habits, starting new ones that advance the cause of Christ that show repentance has taken place. When that occurs we get off the merry-go-round of confessing, crying, promising to do better and spending next week confessing, crying and promising the same old things. We are now doing something positive for God’s Kingdom, ministering to others, changing our lifestyle to reflect that of Christ.
How repentant of your sins are you?
A king’s heart is gripped by the Resurrection, then hundreds more in his village believe
Wonderful story … had to share
What it Means to be a Pastor
Being a pastor in Montana means many different things to me. Since arriving in 1995, I have served churches in Red Lodge, Columbus and Havre. Being a pastor in Montana means unloading trucks outside at work at 4:30 in the morning in -40°F weather so that the church can still afford to have a pastor. It means reaching out to people who have never heard basic Bible stories such as Noah and the Ark, David and Goliath or the real Christmas story.
Pastoring in Montana means enduring weeks of loneliness, isolated by geography and finances from family, friends and even other pastors. It means driving hours to conferences for the fellowship with friends and the opportunity to sharpen ones skills. It means penetrating reclusive lives and investing time into communities. It means sharing your home with people from all walks of life and all kinds of backgrounds. It means being vulnerable and authentic and living a transformed life in front of a watching world.
Pastoring in Montana means that you start laying the foundation for future works to take place. Very quickly you learn that there is no prestige, no glory, no “bigger” church to aspire to. What there is, is plenty of is hard work, years of discipleship, mentoring, teaching and engaging. There is the joy of seeing a second generation come to know and serve the Lord. There is the joy of seeing families and marriages being put back together. There is the satisfaction of establishing stability and credibility in a community that is constantly watching to see if your Christianity is real. There is the awesome exhilaration that comes from seeing new believers mature and go out in service for the kingdom, taking the gospel to yet another place that needs to hear it.
Being a pastor in Montana is a tale of two extremes. It is a tale of hardships and frustration and of rapture and joy. It will cause you to grow closer to God than you thought possible because there is no one else around for you to turn to. It will drive you to your knees over and over seeking strength, guidance and wisdom. It will also lead you to give God all the credit because only He could possibly penetrate the darkness and hardened hearts of those who do not know Him.
Jeff Iorg, President of Golden Gate Seminary, sums up what I think being a pastor in Montana is all about when he says in his book, The Painful Side of Leadership, “Most leaders easily forget their primary reason for being placed in their leadership role. The primary reason isn’t for you to do things for God. It’s so God can use your leadership setting as a laboratory for shaping the image of Jesus in you.[1]
I pray that the image that is being shaped in me, as I pastor in Montana, is that of Jesus Christ.
[1] Iorg, Jeff. The Painful Side of Leadership. P12. B&H Publishing Group 2009
Companies Ministering
Here at Ta Ethne we salute companies that see their work as a ministry for God rather than for making profit. Not that making profit is wrong. After all, if one doesn’t make a profit, one cannot stay in business. We salute those who see the reason for their business as being a vehicle or platform to extend works of mercy and ministry in God’s name to others. One such business is DaMory Diapers (www.damorydiapers.com). This small business does big Kingdom work. They manufacture cloth diapers, which are good for the environment and for babies. More than that, though, is the fact that they give away new diapers to local crisis pregnancy centers, give discounts to clergy families and discounts to those in financial need. Many times they donate almost as many diapers as they sell in a month. The reason – by sharing with those in need, it builds relationships and opens the door to sharing the gospel.
When a company or business sees itself as an instrument of God’s Kingdom, God blesses them with the ability to continue to impact others. Let us know of other businesses that see themselves as ministers of the gospel so we can salute them too.
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