Go…I love this powerful word…it is strong, direct, and very active in its meaning. It is a clear and simple statement that leaves little room for misunderstanding. As believers, we are to GO…

This one word statement from Jesus is very clear in meaning. Have you ever considered why we are to go…? There is an easy and simple answer to this question…because it is the Lord’s mandate…Jesus told us to.

We are to GO and make disciples. He is commissioning us as His church to do this. I have given much thought to this statement over the past couple of months. Have you ever thought about what this means?

How do you make a disciple?

What should this process look like?

In reading and praying about this passage of scripture it is easy to realize that this great commission was very important to Jesus. Think about it. Jesus is entrusting the making of disciples to believers in His Church. He wants us to “make disciples” by teaching all of things that He had commanded us to do. If we are to make disciples, we need to know what He taught. If we are to be obedient, we need to have an understanding of His word.

So as we are GOing…we are to be teaching the word of God. The word of God is His written revelation to us…if we are going to teach it, we need to understand it.

I am convinced that in many congregations, the discipleship making process is broken. We need to claim Jesus’ promise that He is going to be with us, even to the end of the age…So as we are heading His command to GO, let us teach the things that He taught…GO! I love you all<><

Well…yesterday…I exercised one of my privileges as a citizen of the United States of America by stepping into a voting booth and making a choice for the person I feel best represents my beliefs and interest. My youngest daughter Bethany also had the opportunity for the first time to be a part of the selection process for our parties candidate for the 2012 Presidential election that will be held November 6.

I thought about posting this blog last night, but felt the need to give my thoughts sometime so that I could formulate them with minimal aggression and disappointment.

By reading this blog post, you have probably already figured out that my candidate did not win my state. My daughter’s candidate did not win either. As a matter of fact, the people that we feel best represent our interest were not in the top two spots.

I am not a sore loser or a complainer, I believe in this great country and more importantly I believe in the Sovereignty of God. I realize that He has everything firmly under control but I must admit I cannot help but share my disdain with the current political system.

Even though I am aggravated, I will eventually get in line and by November, I will vote again and choose the person I feel best represents the values that I hold near and dear.

But…does it really matter?

This is the question that I want to pose today. I believe that the current political selection system is flawed and that Money and the Media are actually the ones responsible for making the selection.

This flawed system that politicians with personal agenda’s have created is in need of complete reform and this problem should be on every American’s radar.

I am overwhelmed and ashamed at the amount of money that was spent in the great state of Florida to run negative campaign adds. With our country on the fast track to bankruptcy, politicians from both sides of the isle are willing to drop millions of dollars to make promises they never intend to keep. In watching all of this develop, I cannot help but wonder what kind of sane person would actually want to be president any way.

We need to shift the focus. Our country needs a National Primary that is held on the same day for every American. This would force candidates to consider every state and keep the Media from demonizing individuals they don’t like. More emphasis should be placed on state elections. If as much scrutiny was placed on electing Senators and Congressmen that we place on the Presidential election process the States would be better able to send people to Washington who would truly represent their state and the constituents. Accountability starts at home. Senators and Congressmen not complying can either perform or be replaced in the next election. I also believe that term limits should be placed on every political office. There are clowns in Washington that have been there way to long. Many from my own state who for all intents and purposes, are total embarrassments.

We need to wake up. Something needs to happen. I do not have the answers but I am willing to sit down with people who are tired of the status quo and search for solutions that will help make America great again.

We need to send every politician a strong message! We are fed up and ready for real change.

Thanks for allowing me to rant, would love to hear your thoughts!
I love this country<><

I also hope that you are making much of Jesus today. I am continuing my Blog series on strong statements made by our Lord and Savior. I would love to hear your thoughts so please feel free to leave a comment.

This mornings statement is

“Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven” Matthew 9:2

What an awesome and powerful statement…think about it for a moment…how should this statement affect our lives?

What should these powerful words from Jesus free us to do?

Jesus’ comments are being directed to the paralytic who is lying on a bed and being carried by close friends. Jesus can see “their” faith. He recognizes the faith of the cripple man’s friends. He can also see and understand the faith of the person lying on the mattress and affected by the palsy. In making this statement, it is as if Jesus is actually saying “At this very moment…your sins are forgiven”. This is the powerful passive voice of a Holy God. This strong statement riled up and upset the scribes. The scribes in Matthew 9 were not believers, they were part of the religious elite and did not realize that Jesus was…God.

This statement was strong in Jesus’ day and it is also a powerful statement for believers in the modern Church.

Because we are forgiven…we can forgive others. I love the praise song “I’m forgiven, because He was forsaken” this song truly represents God’s “Amazing Love”.

I believe that Jesus is the only one who can forgive sin. Because we are forgiven, we are set free from bondage. We are also able to forgive others and simple forgiveness, frees us.

So the question of the day for you my friend is…are you free?

Have you forgiven those who have wronged you? Take heart…believer, you are forgiven…so forgive and be free.

I love you all<><

If there was ever a spiritual gift that is under exercised in the modern North American Church, I would have to say it is the spiritual gift of mercy. I know what many of you may be saying right now as you are reading this…Mercy is just not my spiritual gift. Can I offer some commentary on this spiritual gift known as mercy. I believe the gift of mercy is a very special gift. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:24 “But desire the greater gifts…and I will show you an even better way.” He then goes on to teach us about Love in 1 Corinthians 13. The point here is that Love…is the superior way. In order for us to show genuine love…we have to possess mercy. We need mercy…God in His greatest capacity as creator of the universe chose to offer us hope and extend His mercy by sending us Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice. Because of God’s mercy…we can experience life. Think about the fruits of the spirit for a moment. (Galatians 5:22-23) Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self control. As Believers we are to possess some of all of the fruits of the Spirit. If Christ is in us, we will possess these fruits. What totally amazes me, is that everyone of the Fruits of the spirit require some form of mercy.
Jesus in making this statement in Matthew 9:13, is taking us back to the old testament. (Hosea 6:6). He does not need the material things that we have. He wants our lives and loyalty. He wants us to truly know Him more. He wants us to become living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). In truly understanding this strong statement…there is no way that our lives can be lived without mercy. What does the lost world need? They need God’s mercy. If we are to be mirror reflections of Jesus (Ephesians 5:1) we will show mercy…God’s desire for us to kindness and compassion. So as Matthew 9:13 instructs…learn what it means and show mercy to everyone. The rest of the verse says “For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” I love you all<><

Today we are continuing with the second part of a series that I am working on called Strong Statements made by our Lord. I love todays statement.

“The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few” Matthew 9:37

After this past week of ministry, I kind of feel as if I know exactly what our Lord Jesus was talking about. There are so many people who need to hear the gospel and so little time. One of the tragedies of the modern church is that we do an adequate job of ministering to those on the inside, but fail to take the gospel to the world. One of the main reasons I believe for this mis-step is that we have stopped making disciples. Our discipleship process is broken and it appears we do not want to address the problem. If we fail to discuss the process how then can we try to determine how to fix the issue. So what winds up happening is that the church continues piling more and more on the few faithful people who are willing to agree to do the work of the body. This in turn causes frustration and burnout for some of those who are actually doing the majority of the work.

This problem could easily be corrected if leadership would simply empower God’s people to exercise their spiritual gifts. We need to break from the lethargy of church membership and get active. This strong statement that our Lord made should change the way that we think about things. We should see the urgent need to go and make disciples.

Can I ask you some personal questions?
I am assuming you said yes…so here goes…

Where are you involved in God’s work in your local body?
Are you truly exercising your spiritual gifts?
Do you know what your spiritual gifts are?

Jesus knew that the fields were white unto harvest. There is plenty of work to go around for the entire body. The gospel needs to be our walk and work. A lost world needs to be able to see Christ in us and experience the complete body exercising their spiritual gifts. We the church need to be better at empowering our people to be the church! For to many years we the leadership have had very low expectations for our members. A lack of spiritual exercise has caused a whole new generation of pew potatoes. This needs to change…what can we do to change this process? The fields, are truly ready for harvest. I love you all<><
I would be very interested in hearing from you.

Below is a great spiritual gift inventory that I have recommended to many.

http://elmertowns.com/spiritual_gifts_test/

Over the next couple of weeks, I want to share some statements that Jesus Christ made from the gospels. I suggest that if we apply these statements to our daily walk, they will totally change our lives. So let us discuss these statements, and explore how they can actually affect change. I hope and I am praying that you will feel free to give input. You are very important to me and I would love to hear what you have to say. Your IMPORTANT!

The first statement is:

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 (NIV)

This is a wonderful statement…take a moment to think about this statement

Jesus is informing us that He has overcome the world. For this I am thankful. We live on a pretty screwed up planet. But because Jesus has overcome the world, true disciples can take heart.

Jesus wants us to understand that we can have peace in Him. We are to rest in Him.

The christian walk does not guarantee a trouble free life here on earth.

If someone has promised you this or even hinted about this I want to tell you that they are seriously and sadly mistaken. Someone once said “when God is at work, satan goes to work”. One of the devils main devices is to draw unsuspecting disciples into chaos. Satan realizes that when he gets this overwhelmed believer on the ropes, he can truly render their influence on a dark world ineffective.

There are so many ineffective disciples in the world today who have allowed their light to be diminished. Many are walking through life hanging on to un-forgiveness and guilt.

Now I want us to focus on the statement…”take heart”. What does take heart really mean. It means to take or have courage. I have found that my courage is stronger when I embrace the statement that Christ Jesus, has overcome the world. What is going on around me really does not matter because Jesus has already overcome the world. He has given me this wonderful thing called the gospel, which can truly change things and redeem entire cultures.

Take heart…Have courage…Let your LIGHT truly shine before a dark world…Be, the City on the Hill…burning brightly! Make a difference in the world today! I love you all<><

How do I get…to where I need to be?

These are real questions that even the most organized and focused of individuals have pondered.

There are times when we all need direction.

I love sailing recreationally. Understanding how to sail in a certain direction and chart a course for the trip is a skill that you have to work hard at and learn. You develop skills over time by understanding your boat and the wind that you cannot see. One of the things that I really enjoy doing is taking friends out on the water that have never been on a sailboat before. I love to watch their faces as they begin to understand how I can make the boat go from point a to point b. I always find my self explaining that I cannot direct the wind. I go on to inform them that only God can do that but try and help them realize and understand that by trimming and adjusting the sails help make the boat move in a direction that I desire.

Life is like this many times.

Circumstances happen to us and we cannot always control life challenges.

Life has away of bringing things that are often unexpected and many times overwhelming.

We cannot control many of the circumstances that experiencing life brings but we can chose the way that we control and deal with these chaotic challenges.

I have learned that I have to stick with my plan. I have to keep my focus on my life course.

To do this I must look for solutions to meeting and overcoming the challenges that keep me headed in the correct direction.

In sailing…you cannot always go directly to point b. Many times you have to beat the wind and tack the boat and head as close in the direction to your destination that the wind will allow.

But what I have learned to truly love about sailing is that it is not as much the destination as it is the journey.

I have brought this same thought process in to my life course. This process helps me to realize that my life is a journey and I am headed in a desired direction. I eventually want to end up at a certain place.

In knowing this, I can look for solutions to keep me as close to my charted course as possible.

Ok, so maybe you’re now asking what the point of this blog is…it is simply this, stick as close to your life course as possible.

Don’t let others cause you to deviate from the direction that you want to go or more importantly that God is leading you.

Keep a close eye on your life compass and enjoy the journey. As James Taylor said “Since we’re only here for awhile, we might as well show some style, come on give us a smile…isn’t this a lovely ride…” I love you all<><

I had the most wonderful opportunity to spend the first week of 2012 hanging out with about 45 thousand 18-25 year olds at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. My simple words cannot even begin to tell you about what God has begun in this movement of College age students known as Passion 2012. I was overcome with emotion as I listened to passionate people talk about the 27 million people that are currently affected by the slave trade that still persist on our planet. There are more slaves now in the 21st century than there ever has been in the history of the world. I am thankful for the 268Generation helping to bring awareness to this horrific problem that plagues humanity. My prayer this morning as I reflect on this awesome and informative week, is that people will get on board with organizations like Slaveryfootprint.org and Freedom. and make the choice to let your voice be heard loud and clear. At Midnight on January 5, I stood with over 40 thousand people as we lit candles, prayed and sang for freedom as a huge hand was illuminated in the International Plaza across from the Georgia dome. Not only did these young people pray, the raised over 3 million dollars to be able to help put a stop to this horrible problem. I was also impressed that CNN took the time to report on this. I hope that you enjoy the CNN report below.

This was not my first Passion Event, I had the privilege of attending 2010 in Atlanta, and 2011 in Ft. Worth and I am looking forward to 2013 at the Georgia Dome again. I believe in College Students. Sitting in the Dome and watching as worship was taking place I could not help but be very thankful for a generation who gets it. I am thankful that God is allowing me to minister to this group. Pray for Freedom!

Also, check out the survey at slaveryfootpring.org. We can make a difference.

Peace

I wanted to take a moment to tell you that new blog post will be coming soon. I appreciate all of my readers so much and want to let all of my readers who have contacted me that new post are on the way.

I am currently in Atlanta at Passion 2012. All I can say about this gathering of 45 thousand plus college students is WOW! God is at work in my life and also in the lives of many attending the conference. I cannot wait to share with you all that I have been gleaning. I am currently writing and processing and should have something posted by Friday! Happy New year, I love you all!

Jeff<><

I am going to spend the next 35 minutes reflecting and praying about and for the people that God has called me to minister to. I love you all. God bless you all and cannot wait to see you in the new year.

Jeffery Stockdale…