Today is Every Day

 

Every Day

 

Words and Music by 

Joel Sczebel and Todd Twining 

 

Verse 1 In Your grace, You know where I walk 

You know when I fall 

You know all my ways 

In Your love, I know You allow 

What I cannot grasp 

To bring You praise 

 

Chorus Thank You for the trials 

For the fire, for the pain 

Thank You for the strength 

Knowing You have ordained 

Every day 

 

Verse 2 Your great power is shown when I’m weak 

You help me to see 

Your love in this place 

Perfect peace is filling my mind 

And drawing my heart 

To praise You again 

 

Bridge   In my uncertainty, Your Word is all I need 

To know You’re with me every day (repeat)

Thanks Devil

I am learning to be thankful in the midst of opposition from the enemy. The devil has been active to derail the great work that Jesus Christ is doing in planting Pointway Church in Brainerd/Baxter, MN. 

This morning as I cried out to the LORD of all grace and mercy he encouraged me with the truth he has revealed in his glorious word.

"For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God your may receive what is promised.

For, yet a little while,

and the coming one will come and will not delay;

but my righteous one shall live by faith,

and if he shrinks back,

my soul has no pleasure in him.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls."

~Heb. 10:36-39

I am so thankful for the devils attacks because they drive me to the throne of God and there I find comfort and strength to wage the good warfare. I know that we will prevail and the gospel of the kingdom will advance.

Soli Deo Gloria

O Help My Unbelief

1. How sad our state by nature is! 


Our sin, how deep it stains!


And Satan binds our captive minds 


Fast in his slavish chains


But there's a voice of sov'reign grace, 


Sounds from the sacred word:


"O, ye despairing sinners come, 


And trust upon the Lord."



 

2. My soul obeys th' almighty call, 


And runs to this relief


I would believe thy promise, Lord; 


O help my unbelief!


To the dear fountain of thy blood, 


Incarnate God, I fly;


Here let me wash my spotted soul, 


From crimes of deepest dye.



 

3. Stretch out Thine arm, victorious King, 


My reigning sins subdue;


Drive the old dragon from his seat, 


With all his hellish crew.


A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,


On thy kind arms I fall;


Be thou my strength and righteousness, 


My Jesus, and my all.

 

But there's a voice of sov'reign grace, 


Sounds from the sacred word:


"O, ye despairing sinners come, 


And trust upon the Lord."



 

© 2007 Justin Smith Music.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

THIS IS MY PRAYER AND MY SONG

A Song of Great Comfort Today

Cling To The Crucified

1. Cling to the Mighty One, Cling in thy grief
Cling to the Holy One, He gives relief
Cling to the Gracious One, Cling in thy pain
Cling to the Faithful One, He will sustain

Chorus: Cling to the crucified, Jesus the Lamb who died
Cling to the crucified, Jesus the King
Cling to the crucified, Jesus the Lamb who died
Cling to the crucified, Jesus the King

2. Cling to the Living One, Cling in thy woe
Cling to the Loving One, Through all below
Cling to the Pardoning One, He speaketh peace
Cling to the Healing One, Anguish will cease

3. Cling to the Bleeding One, Cling to His side
Cling to the Rising One, In Him abide
Cling to the Coming One, Hope shall arise
Cling to the Reigning One, Joy lights thine eyes

© 2007 Kevin Twit Music (ASCAP).
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Timely Encouragement

This morning I met with the LORD Jesus Christ and he spoke to my spirit a timely word of encouragement.

"But the LORD is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one...May the LORD direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ."

~ 2 Thess. 3:3 & 5

I thank the LORD for his timely encouragement and praise his holy name today and forever.

Soli Deo Gloria

Life is War

"We cannot know what prayer is for until we know that life is war. Life is war...Our weakness in prayer is owning largely to our neglect of this truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief.It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to cll upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. Prayer gives us the significance of frontline forces and gives God the glory of a limitless Provider.

...Probably the number one reason prayer malfunctions in the hands of believers it that we try to turn a wartime walkie-talkie into a domestic intercom. Until you know that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for. Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission. It is as though the field commander (Jesus) called in the troops, gave them a crucial mission (go and bear fruit), handed each of them a personal transmitter coded to the frequency of the General's headquarters, and said, 'Comrades, the General has a mission for you. He aims to see it accomplished. And to that end he has authorized me to give each of you personal access to him through these transmitters. If you stay true to his mission and seek his victory first, he will always be as close as your transmitter, to give tactical advice and to send air cover when you need it.'

But what have millions of Christians done? We have stopped believing that we are in a war. No urgency, not watching, no vigilance."

Let the Nations Be Glad ~ John Piper

INSANITY!?

http://view.break.com/552105 - Watch more free videos

Please Pray for Asher

Last night as we were getting ready for bed Asher was running around and playing just like any other night. As he did he fell down, just as he does many, many times a day. This time was different though. I heard a very loud and sickening 'crack' and Asher began to cry very hard! 

I cuddled him up for a while and then the cry subsided. I laid him down on the floor to check him out. He showed us where it hurt and I began to touch and squeeze his leg to identify the origin of his pain. He did not react so I stood him up and he could not put any weight on his right leg.

So I rushed him to the emergency room to have him checked out. As we were waiting to see the doctor we got to watch a helicopter take off. Asher loved it!!! We were about 50 yards away from it when it took off, but I digress.

The doctors x-rayed Asher's leg and discovered that he had broken the tibia. The doctor called it a toddler break because they are very common. He had set three of them in the last week. Apparently he just had a strange twist when he fell and the pressure caused a curved crack in his leg. 

Asher is now in a cast for the next four weeks. Please pray for Asher's healing and for Anne as she cares for him and Karis who is 4 weeks old already. 

God has and is showing us his grace and mercy through all of this. Thank you for your prayers.

Soli Deo Gloria

The Almost Finished Product

Launch Team

Pointway Church has an amazing Launch Team! Pointway people have been at our new building cleaning, painting, setting up sound equipment, loving each other, laughing, crying and working together all week.

I am so thankful for the people that God has brought together. I love how God is building Pointway Church!

We will be beginning a series of 4 preview services leading up to our Launch on  September 14th. We are two days away fro

m the first preview service and 

we are psyched to see what the LORD is going to do.

This is the g

reatest and most exhausting

 thing I have ever done in my life. I love it!!!

I am looking forward to Sunday and praying that the Spirit of the Living God would be strong amongst us.

What Will Today Bring?

I have been spoiled lately. As we have been approaching the Launch of Pointway Church in Brainerd/Baxter, MN we have been experiencing an outpouring of God's grace in amazing ways. It seems as though something amazing is occurring daily. This morning, just as I was finishing my morning devotions, one of our launch team members called me with some very exciting news.

He had lead a Bible Study at the jail last night and was excited by the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of a brand new believer. Three others in the study saw her excitement and had questions. Long and short of it, the three others repented of their sins and confessed Jesus Christ as LORD.

Hallelujah!!! Salvation belongs to the LORD!

UPDATE: A good friend gave us a $ 3500.00 gift so we can purchase a computer and building supplies for our stage and sound booth. God is amazing!!!

Preview Services Begin!!!

We are going to be conducting four preview services begin next Sunday leading up to our Launch Service on September 14. Our team is a little overwhelmed, but excited and looking forward to seeing that hand of Almighty God working in our midst.

We are in the process of acquiring a facility for our church to meet in. Our meeting place is at 7756 Highland Scenic Road. Our services will begin at 9:57. 

Jesus Christ is building his church in Brainerd/Baxter, MN and the gates of hell will not prevail against us. We have the armor of God strapped on and we are fighting the good fight with the power and energy that the Father has pour out onto us and flows out from within us.

Soli Deo Gloria

Food for Thought

Top 13 Reasons that Unchurched People Choose a Church
(research conducted by Ranier)

1. 90% - Pastor/Preaching
2. 88% - Doctrines
3. 49% - Friendliness of Members
4. 42% - Other Issues
5. 41% - Someone Church Witnessed to Me
6. 38% - Family Member
7. 37% - Sensed God’s Presence/Atmosphere of Church
8. 25% - Relationship Other than Family Member
9. 25% - Sunday School Class
10. 25% - Children’s/Youth Ministry
11. 12% - Other Groups/Ministries
12. 11% - Worship Style/Music
13. 7% - Location

Top 9 Reasons that Church-Attenders Choose a Church
(research conducted by the Barna Group in 1999)

1. 58% - Doctrine/Theology
2. 53% - People Caring for Each Other
3. 52% - Preaching
4. 45% - Friendliness
5. 45% - Children’s Programs
6. 43% - Helping the Poor
7. 36% - Denomination
8. 35% - Like the Pastor
9. 26% - Sunday School

Top 6 Things that Keep the Formerly Unchurched Active in the Church
(research conducted by Ranier)

1. 62% - Ministry Involvement
2. 55% - Sunday School
3. 54% - Obedience to God
4. 49% - Fellowship of Members
5. 38% - Pastor/Preaching
6. 14% - Worship Services

A Reason for Praising the LORD Jesus Christ

As we rapidly approach the launch of Pointway Church here in Brainerd/Baxter, MN we are continuing to see an amazing outpouring of the grace of God. We continue to see people come to faith in Jesus Christ and grow in their faith.

We also recently had a good friend bless us with a sound system. We received a building for our church to meet in for free.

Today we saw the hand of God on us once again. We are sending out invitations for people to join us at our launch service on September 14, 2008 at 10:00 am. I met with a new friend who is in the advertising business and he is putting our invitations in his direct mailer that will reach 50,000 homes. He is not charging us for this initial mailing, but wants to be a blessing and use his business to bring God glory.

We are humbled by our friends generousity and the amazing grace of God.

Soli Deo Gloria

Asher and Karis

Asher coming home from the hospital - July 2006.

Karis coming home from the hospital - July 2008.

Asher's Adventures

Asher loves his baby sister Karis

Asher at the fair with the pigs

Asher and Karis with Daddy in the mission booth at the fair.

Asher helped daddy make blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

Anne's Recovery

Anne & Karis - 2 weeks

Anne & Asher - 2 weeks

What a Glorious and Exhausting Week

This week Pointway Church set up a mission booth at the Crow Wing County Fair in Brainerd, MN. It was both a glorious and exhausting week. As a dear friend and mentor often say, "I am tired, but it is a good tired."

During the five days of the fair we gave away 80 gallons of Kool-Aid, 100 pounds of candy,200+ copies of the ESV New Testament, 200+ copies of Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Christ Came to Die, 1500+ gospel tracts and 1500+ flyers inviting people to the Launch of Pointway Church on Sept. 14, 2008.

Also during those five days I had the honor of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with many many people and two people professed faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. I praise God for the work he accomplished through us this week. Only eternity will reveal the fruit of our labors.

May the Spirit of the Living God convict the hearts of those who heard the gospel and lead them to repentance and faith for the glory of God.