Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

NEED: Oxford House in Delaware

I had a chance earlier this year to minister at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Delaware that blew my mind. There is a great work happening there in the lives of many men and they keep expanding. The Oxford house is in need of some materials to bring life to even more men. Here is an email I got from a friend of mine who details the needs. Please consider more than prayer if possible. If you live or work anywhere near Delaware, tell your church and pass the word. They are working hard to restore lives: (email below)

The Oxford House in Smyrna,DE., under the advisement and supervision of Bro. Jim Martin is in need. It is a newly established drug/ alcohol/homeless/ transition/ emergency shelter home. I agree that this Oxford Home is a great addition for our community. The house is in need. It officially opened this past Friday (Dec.11 2009). Some of you who live in the Smyrna area may have read an article in the Sun Times concerning this house. Their is only 1 brother in the home now but the house can supply "life" for approx. 7 men. Jim is not only in need of Prayer but he also is in need of bedding (first).....mattresses, boxsprings and frames. Nothing fancy or new...used is perfectly fine. Please pass the word to your church families and your friends and associates. He (Jim) needs all the help he can get. I have accepted the offer to help him as a community advocate / liaison on a volunteer basis. So, we both need you. Please pray for us and pray that GOD will work through us to provide "realistic" living conditions for those in need. If you have any questions, please call Jim at 302-377-0485 or me 302-399-7958. If we are busy and do not answer, please leave a detailed message.

GOD Bless You All,
Keandre'

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Locals: Please pass along to your churches and inquire. here is the article highlighting the work SEE HERE

From my heart, consider helping. God bless you as we all labor to add to the kingdom!

Tony

“The love of God is one of the great realities of the universe, a pillar upon which the hope of the world rests. But it is a personal, intimate thing too. God does not love populations, He loves people. He loves not masses, but men.”

— A. W. Tozer

A Harvest of Righteousness

Hebrews 12:11 (NIV)
"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

I am humbled from time to time that God uses us but did you know that He uses not just our talents but our discipline? For some know this in their theology and view of God but we have to be reminded while we are being sharpened by the Lord. The righteousness for which He has called us has to come from those times when He sits us down and reminds us where we once were without Him. That discipline brings focus maybe even a re-focus. What we focus on, we will improve. This happens everyday with skills, abilities and gifts that we all have. Give that "thing" enough time and you will be good at it. This includes sin. But God is interested in bringing forth a harvest (reward) for you on the other side of your training in discipline. I like that. Your discipline is training. It's not God scolding you for no reason or even mad at you. It's your heavenly father loving you back into place.

Let His hand guide you into righteousness today. Dont be content with where you are in your walk.

The Christmas Ten Commandments

The Christmas Ten Commandments
(a post by Tim Satryan - Thanks for sharing brother. More at www.wfa.org)

1. Thou shalt give thy heart to Christ. Let Him be at the top of thy Christmas list

2. Thou shalt prepare thy soul for Christmas. Spend not so much on gifts that thy soul is forgotten.

3. Thou shalt not let Santa Claus replace Christ, thus robbing the day of its spiritual reality.

4. Thou shalt not burden the shop girl, the mailman, and the merchant with complaints and demands.

5. Thou shalt give thyself with thy gift. This will increase its value a hundred fold, and he who receiveth it shall treasure it forever.

6. Thou shalt not value gifts received by their cost. Even the least expensive may signify love, and that is more priceless than silver and gold.

7. Thou shalt not neglect the needy. Share thy blessings with many who will go hungry and cold unless thou are generous.

8. Thou shalt not neglect thy church. Its services highlight the true meaning of the season.

9. Thou shalt be as a little child. Not until thou has become in spirit as a little one art thou ready to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

10. Thou shall not forget to share your joy, peace and faith with those around you.

Merry Christmas!

10 Things You Never Hear in Church

Something to make you smile from my brother Kea. Thanks man.

10 Things You Never Hear in Church

1. Hey! It's MY turn to sit on the front pew!
2. I was so enthralled, I never noticed your sermon went over time 25 minutes.
3. Personally, I find witnessing much more enjoyable than golf.
4. I've decided to give our church the $500.00 a month I used to send to TV preachers.
5. I volunteer to be the permanent teacher for the Junior High Sunday School class.
6. Forget the denominational minimum salary: let's pay our pastor so s/he can live like we do.
7. I love it when we sing hymns I've never heard before!
8. Since we're all here, let's start the worship service early!
9. Pastor, we'd like to send you to this Bible seminar in the Bahamas.
10. Nothing inspires me and strengthens my commitment like our annual stewardship campaign!

Trust

Trust God today: Make a molehill out of a mountain!

Jeremiah 17:5-8

5 This is what the LORD says: "Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the LORD.

6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, on the salty flats where no one lives.

7 "But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.

8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit.

“There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out
upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts his foot down he finds a rock
beneath him.”

— F. B. Meyer