Florida
Posted by Administrator (admin) on Feb 07 2006 at 8:19 PM
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This past weekend in Florida proved to be another awsom time of fellowship and reaching out to the community. Our time spent together as riders and staff was taken to another level as Wiley and Amy Peterson took the initiative to get all the Christian riders and wives together before the event and have a time of extended prayer and agreement for the task at hand. These men are serious about using their bull riding to reach the world for Jesus and have had an increased burden for their fans. Wiley said we need to make this more of a team (family) sport. I agree that we have been competing to much as individuals and this time of prayer together before the competition will help us in our unity in competition. We are unified in our efforts to reach the lost but we must gain more unity in our competing. Pray for this! The outreach service was especially exciting for me as a pastor because of the time of worship. This week we were without Brooks and had asked Jaimie Lee if she would sing some special music for us because we didn't have a worship leader. She agreed and when she showed up she had song sheets and was prepared to lead worship. As far as I knew she had never led people in worship, she had always been an entertainer and a wonderful one at that. But, what I saw this weekend was a worshiper and one who was freshly anointed to lead others. She was clothed in humility and grace and simply brought people to a beautiful place of worship through music. What a joy to see her and Mike growing more and more in love with Jesus. The message the Lord gave me for this weekend was on conformity to the ways of the world and how each of us have perceptions based on worldly ideas. For example, most of you have never been to Australia. Your thoughts about Australia and your perception of Australia are all based on what you have seen and heard. Maybe you have met people from there and that has added to how you perceive this far away place. Basically your thoughts have been conformed to or formed after what you know from these sources. In the same way, most of your other thoughts and perceptions have been based on resources that can't be trusted. It has been said that you can tell when you're happy or sad, excited or depressed, hungry or tired, but you can't tell if you have been deceived. When you are deceived, you believe something that is not true. We are living in a time of great deception and false teaching, even from the pulpit. It is our responsibility as God's people to know truth. Jesus said, I am the way the Truth and the Life. He also said his kingdom is reserved for those who know him. We need to know Jesus and our knowledge of him must be based on truth. The Bible is our unquestionable source of truth. We must be students of the word of God to discern truth. I make a practice of confessing to myself and the Lord that I am still walking as a man who has been conformed to the ways of the world and I need his truth to be revealed in new areas of my life. When I go to his word, I have a hunger for truth. I need my thoughts to be formed after his thoughts. What lies are you believing? Romans 12 says to no longer be conformed to the ways of the world but be transformed by the renewing of you mind. Pursue truth, pursue Jesus. Not for what he can do for you, but for what he has already done!!! In the service of the King, Todd and Leslie